"When the Great Horned One takes you in the night it does not kill you.
When the Great Horned One takes you, you were dead already.
You did not know it yet."
- words carved into monolith known as The Finger near Copperwood
Mouse Guard Archives, Spring, 1153
Death's Wings, Part I
Snow was still on the ground and only the hardiest grass was peaking out from the thin snow remaining. No guardsmice had left Lockhaven's gates for spring-time missions yet.
Gurney and Tander would be the first patrol of the new year, each having been promoted to Patrol Guard recently. They were mentored at different times by Finn, an old greyfur sailor who had not returned to Lockhaven after his spring mission.
Gurney was a black mouse with a black cloak, known for sitting in the tavern with a mug of ale, as if just to soak in the camaraderie. He was an independent smith-mouse from Copperwood in the south. The incident between him and Guard Captain Grahame on the fight practice grounds is well documented in last year's archives.
Tander was a bookish brown mouse with a gray cloak, a sling on his hip and with always-searching eyes looking for a safe exit. He was a cartographer, always looking for lost paths in the territories, looking for faster ways for his fellow patrol-mice to travel. Tander was yet another smart mouse inducted into the Mouse Guard from Sprucetuck.
They were often seen together sharing a table in Lockhaven's pub, Gurney smoking a pipe, soaking in the atmosphere while Tander poured over a map of some obscure corner of the Territories.
Gwendolyn called them into her quarters so early in the morning that it was still dark, a morning chill in the air. Her desk was covered, as always, by missives and maps, candles and the chess-like pieces representing the movements of the various Mouse Guard in the territories. This time of year, so close to winter, most were safe in Lockhaven, training for the winter, but some were still errant or spending the winter with family.
"Finn never returned from his spring-time missions and never sent a letter. He might have spent the winter with a lady-friend of his in Copperwood." She eyed the guard-mice carefully, letting their smirks fade. Finn was a former sailor from Port Sumac and his reputation with the mice-maidens was the stuff of Territories legend. .
"He might be hung over in some Copperwood ale-house but I want to be sure; he is too valuable a veteran and more than that, he is one of us, one of the Guard. You two will go find him, not waiting for the full thaw."
They left that morning, the sun only a rumor over the eastern horizon, the sky still the color of a bruise when they left the safety of Lockhaven.
The rain was cold and miserable, freezing as soon as it touched the ground. It was nothing that would kill them, but it might threaten to wear them down, leave them exhausted or worse when they finally reached Copperwood. Hills that would have only been a hard hike became slippery crawls on their bellies, leaving ice in their cloak and frozen whiskers on their face.
They found an overhang in the night, not quite a cave, more of a safe place to stay out of the rain for a time but it was not enough. In the night the wind shifted, causing the rain to find them, even under shelter. They were driven out by rain blowing in sideways, pelting them, ending their attempt at rest.
On the last leg of the journey, frozen branches were falling, shattering on the ground, covered in a layer of ice, like a butterfly's cocoon. The sound of the wood shattering was deafening. The trees that were not falling apart were sagging under icy weight, always threatening to drop a branch that would became dagger-sharp shards upon hitting the snow-packed ground.
An abandoned farm was where they took their final rest before the fields outside of Copperwood but it was long abandoned, holes in the roof and a lack of firewood gave them little comfort.
The hoot of an owl drove all thoughts of rain and ice from their minds. Gurney gripped his halbred, eyes skyward. Tandor slipped his sling from his belt, looking for a safe passage to a defensible position.
They were on the edge of a field just outside of Copperwood when they heard the hoot again. It was a field Gurney knew well from his youth. In the middle of the open field was The Finger, a stone monolith that reached for the sky, tall as a tree. Along the edge of the Finger were stairs, put there by mice in a dark age before the Mouse Guard.
In those dark ages, mice had left offerings for an owl on the Finger. It was unthinkable now, mice chaining another of their kind for an animal to eat. Yet, there was Finn, chained to the top of the Finger, too weak to move. Again an owl call but this time it was clear that it was no owl but a horn, blown by horrid mice, designed to summon a Great Horned Owl.
Quickly the ran for the Finger, hoping to reach their mentor before the winged beast did.
Tander sprinted for the stone itself while Gurney looked at the night sky, noticing the owl's silhouette against the moonlight, its eyes scanning the ground. It would surely eat Tander, so Gurney waved his Halbred, hoping to get the monster's attention.
The little black mouse got the Great Horned Owl's attention while Tander used his knowledge of open fields to make his way to the Finger itself and free Finn from his shackles.
The monster swooped down out of the sky, ripping at the black mouse, claws extended. Gurney hacked at it with his halbred, keeping as far from the talons as his weapon would allow. The owl took off in order to eat its meal on the Finger but the guardsmouse had hacked off a part of its claw.
Wary of further ambush, the owl floated on the wind, looking over the Finger's occupants. Tander sprinted up the stairs while placing a stone in his sling. As he came around to the owl's side of the Finger, he let fly, even as the owl ended his floating, beginning to descend towards the helpless greyfur, Finn.
The stone struck true, taking out one of the owl's eyes, driving it from the Finger. Having lost a claw and and an eye, the owl flew away to seek an easier meal elsewhere.
When Tander and Gurney reached the top of the Finger together, Finn was delirious with hunger and exhaustion.
"You two don't look like an owl," he said, managing to smirk, proud of his former students and surprised to be alive.
"Your smell drove the owl off, Finn," Gurney replied, as he fell into the old caustic banter he had known with his mentor, while looking over the chain with a smith's eyes.
Tander just smiled, happy to see Finn alive and helped him up as Gurney cut the chain from the old mouse's ankle.
As they got him safely down, Finn muttered something about an owl cult, a group of armed mice holding the town hostage all winter, the governor's children taken in the night but it was all vague whispers, as if he was in a fever dream.
Gurney shook his head in disgust that the Copperwood mouse-folk would let mice chain one of their own for an owl's pleasure.
Devin the Smith, a childhood friend of Gurney's in Copperwood proper, welcomed the guardsmice into her home when they entered the town in the night unnoticed. Devin the Smith could not tell her old friend any names to give him any leads concerning the owl's worshippers; she had family in town, a husband to think of and no way to protect them all. The fear was on her.
Gurney knew that Finn needed to be taken back to Lockhaven and that he had Tander were of equal rank in the Mouse Guard; neither had been given leadership of his patrol. "I want to stay and see this through, Tander. I want to know why my home has allowed his to happen and won't be ready to leave until I have some answers."
Tander replied softly but with a firm strength in his voice, "You will have no conflict for me, my friend."
It seemed to Tander that they should gain audience with the governor. When they approached the governor's house, it was already stalked by mice wearing armor and owl feathers (who knows how they gathered it) in their helms.
Tander shook his head. "There is no way in."
They were angry and tired. By the strict letter of Gwendolyn's original mission, they had completed their duties but they looked at these armored mice prowling Copperwood's cobbled streets and knew the mission had only just begun.
When the Great Horned One takes you, you were dead already.
You did not know it yet."
- words carved into monolith known as The Finger near Copperwood
Mouse Guard Archives, Spring, 1153
Death's Wings, Part I
Snow was still on the ground and only the hardiest grass was peaking out from the thin snow remaining. No guardsmice had left Lockhaven's gates for spring-time missions yet.
Gurney and Tander would be the first patrol of the new year, each having been promoted to Patrol Guard recently. They were mentored at different times by Finn, an old greyfur sailor who had not returned to Lockhaven after his spring mission.
Gurney was a black mouse with a black cloak, known for sitting in the tavern with a mug of ale, as if just to soak in the camaraderie. He was an independent smith-mouse from Copperwood in the south. The incident between him and Guard Captain Grahame on the fight practice grounds is well documented in last year's archives.
Tander was a bookish brown mouse with a gray cloak, a sling on his hip and with always-searching eyes looking for a safe exit. He was a cartographer, always looking for lost paths in the territories, looking for faster ways for his fellow patrol-mice to travel. Tander was yet another smart mouse inducted into the Mouse Guard from Sprucetuck.
They were often seen together sharing a table in Lockhaven's pub, Gurney smoking a pipe, soaking in the atmosphere while Tander poured over a map of some obscure corner of the Territories.
Gwendolyn called them into her quarters so early in the morning that it was still dark, a morning chill in the air. Her desk was covered, as always, by missives and maps, candles and the chess-like pieces representing the movements of the various Mouse Guard in the territories. This time of year, so close to winter, most were safe in Lockhaven, training for the winter, but some were still errant or spending the winter with family.
"Finn never returned from his spring-time missions and never sent a letter. He might have spent the winter with a lady-friend of his in Copperwood." She eyed the guard-mice carefully, letting their smirks fade. Finn was a former sailor from Port Sumac and his reputation with the mice-maidens was the stuff of Territories legend. .
"He might be hung over in some Copperwood ale-house but I want to be sure; he is too valuable a veteran and more than that, he is one of us, one of the Guard. You two will go find him, not waiting for the full thaw."
They left that morning, the sun only a rumor over the eastern horizon, the sky still the color of a bruise when they left the safety of Lockhaven.
The rain was cold and miserable, freezing as soon as it touched the ground. It was nothing that would kill them, but it might threaten to wear them down, leave them exhausted or worse when they finally reached Copperwood. Hills that would have only been a hard hike became slippery crawls on their bellies, leaving ice in their cloak and frozen whiskers on their face.
They found an overhang in the night, not quite a cave, more of a safe place to stay out of the rain for a time but it was not enough. In the night the wind shifted, causing the rain to find them, even under shelter. They were driven out by rain blowing in sideways, pelting them, ending their attempt at rest.
On the last leg of the journey, frozen branches were falling, shattering on the ground, covered in a layer of ice, like a butterfly's cocoon. The sound of the wood shattering was deafening. The trees that were not falling apart were sagging under icy weight, always threatening to drop a branch that would became dagger-sharp shards upon hitting the snow-packed ground.
An abandoned farm was where they took their final rest before the fields outside of Copperwood but it was long abandoned, holes in the roof and a lack of firewood gave them little comfort.
The hoot of an owl drove all thoughts of rain and ice from their minds. Gurney gripped his halbred, eyes skyward. Tandor slipped his sling from his belt, looking for a safe passage to a defensible position.
They were on the edge of a field just outside of Copperwood when they heard the hoot again. It was a field Gurney knew well from his youth. In the middle of the open field was The Finger, a stone monolith that reached for the sky, tall as a tree. Along the edge of the Finger were stairs, put there by mice in a dark age before the Mouse Guard.
In those dark ages, mice had left offerings for an owl on the Finger. It was unthinkable now, mice chaining another of their kind for an animal to eat. Yet, there was Finn, chained to the top of the Finger, too weak to move. Again an owl call but this time it was clear that it was no owl but a horn, blown by horrid mice, designed to summon a Great Horned Owl.
Quickly the ran for the Finger, hoping to reach their mentor before the winged beast did.
Tander sprinted for the stone itself while Gurney looked at the night sky, noticing the owl's silhouette against the moonlight, its eyes scanning the ground. It would surely eat Tander, so Gurney waved his Halbred, hoping to get the monster's attention.
The little black mouse got the Great Horned Owl's attention while Tander used his knowledge of open fields to make his way to the Finger itself and free Finn from his shackles.
The monster swooped down out of the sky, ripping at the black mouse, claws extended. Gurney hacked at it with his halbred, keeping as far from the talons as his weapon would allow. The owl took off in order to eat its meal on the Finger but the guardsmouse had hacked off a part of its claw.
Wary of further ambush, the owl floated on the wind, looking over the Finger's occupants. Tander sprinted up the stairs while placing a stone in his sling. As he came around to the owl's side of the Finger, he let fly, even as the owl ended his floating, beginning to descend towards the helpless greyfur, Finn.
The stone struck true, taking out one of the owl's eyes, driving it from the Finger. Having lost a claw and and an eye, the owl flew away to seek an easier meal elsewhere.
When Tander and Gurney reached the top of the Finger together, Finn was delirious with hunger and exhaustion.
"You two don't look like an owl," he said, managing to smirk, proud of his former students and surprised to be alive.
"Your smell drove the owl off, Finn," Gurney replied, as he fell into the old caustic banter he had known with his mentor, while looking over the chain with a smith's eyes.
Tander just smiled, happy to see Finn alive and helped him up as Gurney cut the chain from the old mouse's ankle.
As they got him safely down, Finn muttered something about an owl cult, a group of armed mice holding the town hostage all winter, the governor's children taken in the night but it was all vague whispers, as if he was in a fever dream.
Gurney shook his head in disgust that the Copperwood mouse-folk would let mice chain one of their own for an owl's pleasure.
Devin the Smith, a childhood friend of Gurney's in Copperwood proper, welcomed the guardsmice into her home when they entered the town in the night unnoticed. Devin the Smith could not tell her old friend any names to give him any leads concerning the owl's worshippers; she had family in town, a husband to think of and no way to protect them all. The fear was on her.
Gurney knew that Finn needed to be taken back to Lockhaven and that he had Tander were of equal rank in the Mouse Guard; neither had been given leadership of his patrol. "I want to stay and see this through, Tander. I want to know why my home has allowed his to happen and won't be ready to leave until I have some answers."
Tander replied softly but with a firm strength in his voice, "You will have no conflict for me, my friend."
It seemed to Tander that they should gain audience with the governor. When they approached the governor's house, it was already stalked by mice wearing armor and owl feathers (who knows how they gathered it) in their helms.
Tander shook his head. "There is no way in."
They were angry and tired. By the strict letter of Gwendolyn's original mission, they had completed their duties but they looked at these armored mice prowling Copperwood's cobbled streets and knew the mission had only just begun.
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