As a mouse, hiding inside this slim little crack made me feel safe and secure. Warmth and fuzz surrounded me, there was constant, unrelenting movement bellow my feet. The smell wasn’t anything to relish over, too much sweat and dirt and … horse. Sweaty horse. But having spent so much time around sweaty, smelly humans swinging slabs of metal at each other, I felt I could handle worse.
I yawned, I stretched my arms and my back, I let my tail curl up around my feet. I allowed all my aches and pains to wash over me, as I closed my eyes and rested. My whiskers twitched, my little pink mouse nose fallowing the example. I even went so far as to relax my head, laying down completely.
This was a good place to sleep. A very good place.
I propped one eye open to survey the landscape, taking note of those tall mountains in the distance, the type of trees surrounding this area, how far down the road I could see with no sign of a building or farmland. It wasn’t very far, much to my disappointment. Too many trees, too many turns, even if most were minor.
I closed my eye once more and thought … just thought. Yesterday morning I woke up, got dressed, ate breakfast, and reported for guard duty. It was a simple job where, for the most part, you just stand there and stay vigilant. If you weren’t a very good guard it could quickly turn boring, but the very moment that changed you suddenly wished you had remained alert.
I was trained to fight against mystical beasts, massive dragons, armed and armored soldiers from neighboring lands. Before I ever went anywhere near the castle I had gained experience guarding small provinces from roaming thieves, and lived long enough to note the very distinct difference in fighting style they employed.
I had been trained to recognize magic, to avoid offensive spells, and above all, to never … ever … piss off a powerful wizard if I had some other option. Learning that lesson taught me to hate magic, and I don’t think that’s ever left me.
But now? Now I wake up, in the middle of the day, naked, without a weapon, and in a body no longer my own. I was some distance from home, no matter where I happened to be. The castle guard and king Lostral probably thought I was dead. For all I knew, the king himself could be turned into a mouse! The same fate could have befallen the entire guard.
Or, you know … they could all be dead. I am not sure which I would prefer, the king, and all of my friends being degraded in such a manner? Left to wonder the castle walls and fall prey to much more terrifying creatures, and much worse fates than a spell. Or if they were all killed outright, quickly and silently.
Hmm, no … I would rather they live. No matter how horrible life may be at times, it is always better than not having one. That’s the attitude I needed to have, and that’s the attitude I held onto as my mind drifted into slumber. Fallowed very closely by …
“God I hate magic”
And I meant every word.
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