Keeper of Life - NaPoWrMo Entry

Sol rushed through the crowds toppling boxes and carts as she did so. “I'm sorry,” she yelled back as another stand was sent flying, doughnuts on a stick toppling in the air before kids pounced on them like hungry pack dogs. The fireworks distorted her sense of direction and alley ways kept ending abruptly. Where was the trolly when you needed it?

She cursed herself when she took a wrong turn and made to double back, she had wasted so much time! “No, no more going around,” she said.

With placed and steady hooves she backed up, leaned in and took off running. The building approached her rapidly and she made as if to crush through it. Closing her eyes for only a second her hooves glowed. With a soft bounce she bent her legs and thrust upward. The cobblestone around her cracked and she was sent skyward.

Clay shingles buckled under her impact and she began sliding off before grappling to a smoke stack. They skies were clear of smoke tonight, no one was cooking in their homes with the festival.

Another burst above her, this one almost sending her sliding down. It was as if they were deliberately trying to shoot her down, and was reminded of the books about war and things called cannons. With strength back in her legs she set off across the clay pathway skipping from house to house. The jumps got harder the closer she got to the glade, the houses spaced further apart. Amplified jumping took a lot out of her, combined with the pace and her precarious footing. Her lungs heaved and her legs demanded she stop. There was no stopping though, Solar knew what she had to do, where they would be. It was only a matter of time and she had to get there now.

Bodies skirted below, the normal gathering of the festival. “How could they be so naive?” she said. She followed the peakes keeping mind of the gaps as they appeared until she had to use a balcony to descend. No one noticed her, all eyes were at the fireworks, and she was only a dark distraction. One looked casually to her as she landed but didn't seem to care.

It was painful to keep this pace but she did. A group of young ones passed her and she had to weave in and out of them as they dashed around, the one behind blindfolded. “I'll get you!” he yelled as he tried to tag them. It brought a smile to her face and reminded her what she was protecting, why she was willing to die to save all this, and why she must hurry.

She rounded the last corner slowly and ducked into an alley. Only faint trails of the fireworks gave away her position amidst the grocer's boxes and baskets. She watched them corral the demon, back her into a wall, and waited until they finished her off. She wanted to be out there with Valor, to stand beside her, but she knew that jumping out in this situation would only distract a guardian, or even Valor, and she wouldn't give such an advantage to the demon. Solar was smarter then that, she had been trained well. Images danced in her head, of her wearing Valor's armor, of her standing where Valor was right now with the same pride and honor she held. With the control she exerted and the sense of position. How she seemed to command the small battlefield before her as if her will was the only thing holding the scene together, a chess board, pieces for her to move. The guardians fiercely loyal. 'No wonder,' Solar thought and waited for Val to give the order, the words that would finally see them everlasting peace.