EquestrianJade on DeviantArthttps://www.deviantart.com/equestrianjade/art/A-Mysterious-Parcel-682133028EquestrianJade

Deviation Actions

EquestrianJade's avatar

A Mysterious Parcel

By
EquestrianJade
Published:
1.3K Views
blueroanbordercolliecolliecowboyeggequineequineshorsehorsesmysterystrawharpgsealbrownsummervoyagersummervoyagerrpg

Description



Virgil had been planning this trip for days, although it only felt like a few hours. He had gathered all the supplies he would need for several days up in the mountains. He had invited Sarah, his wife, to come along but she wanted to stay home and tend to the garden so Virgil decided he was just going to have a few days to himself. And get things cleaned up there for the next group of tourists. With the storm they had had the night before he was sure that multiple trees had fallen on the trails. And tourists don't like their horses "sailing over a massive tree and almost killing them". He shook his head with an amused chuckle just thinking about it. He tightened up the girth on Blue and made sure the saddle bag was fastened. The blue roan lipped his pocket searching for the leftover crumbs of the alfalfa cubes he had given them earlier. The two mustangs had been adopted by Virgil and he had trained them himself and while they could be ornery sometimes he loved them. 
    It was very early in the morning and Ben was the only one awake, save for Virgil, already getting his chores out of the way. The sun had barely made it's way above the horizon leaving an orange glow in the sky. The young man had taken a few minutes to help tack up the horses with Virgil.
"So how long are you going to be out there?" Ben asked while he tied the halter on Mav. 
"Not sure yet, figured if I want to stay out there longer I'll head on over to the supply shed over there by Rockmeet." Virgil replied, gently pushing Blue's head away from his pockets before removing his halter. 
"Ah yeah, well, have fun. Be safe out there. You have your magnum?" Ben asked, knowing that the bears would be out of hibernation by now.
    Virgil patted his hip where the gun was hidden underneath his tucked in shirt. He only used it as a last resort but figured he'd rather be safe than sorry. He pulled himself up on top of Blue, whose ears pricked when a hairy, black and white mass came rounding the corner bursting into the barn. Sadie, Virgil's collie was apparently afraid of being left behind, coming to a sliding halt next to Blue. "Alright, well the gang's all here. I best be off if I want to get done with my work before night falls." Virgil spoke, grabbing hold of Mav's lead rope as Ben handed it to him. "Thanks for the help. Tell everyone I'll be back soon." he said as he squeezed Blue forward, out of the barn and into the wilderness.

~~~

    Wood chips flew in every which direction, a pile of saw dust accumulating beneath the birch tree that laid like a bridge across the trail. A satisfying crack sounded as it broke in half and Virgil let up on the chainsaw. He set it to the side as he lifted the logs, pushing the logs to the side of the trail. He had took a quick stop at the supply shed to get the chainsaw before making his way here. It was a smaller but effective one, perfect for fitting in the saddle bags albeit it stuck out a bit. He wiped the sweat from his forehead before remounting Blue. 
A few hours later Virgil noticed a trail leading into a clearing that he hadn't ever seen before. All the years he'd been working here, he had memorized this entire area, a vast wilderness where almost everything looked the same, especially during winter, he had memorized it; but he had never seen this path before. 
 He squeezed Blue forward with a curious expression on his face. The two mustangs went forward willingly, Mav curious to see what Virgil's tense manner was about. Sadie trotted ahead, sniffing the trail to gather the scent of anything that might pose a danger to the group. When they passed the first tree Virgil could feel the hair stand up on the back of his neck, Blue coming to a halt abruptly, his ears swiveling every which way, hesitant to go any further forward. This made Virgil cautious, was there a predator around? What was causing the animals to feel off? The sun was beginning to slowly drift down towards the horizon and he would be needing to make camp soon. Before he could make the decision to turn back and stay on the memorized path Sadie bounded off, barking and howling ferociously. He couldn't just let her run off, especially if there was a predator in the area. 
He squeezed into Blue's sides wrapping Mav's lead rope around the horn of the saddle before the roan lurched forward as they chased after the border collie. 
    As they emerged from the trees the land before them dipped down into a small valley where an old building sat. Having lost sight of Sadie, Virgil pulled Blue to a stop, searching the area thoroughly. He saw the black mass of fur making it's way, slower now, towards the wooden barn. Virgil pushed Blue forward, Mav following in suit begrudgingly. As Virgil and the horses came to a halt next to the structure, Virgil pondered on where it had come from and why it had a weird feeling about it. It was an older structure, the wood that it was built with had little openings in between each slat that let light pour inside. He looked out to an older paddock, with wooden fencing that looked like it had come from the civil war era. In the far distance stood several horses, a few brown in color and the other was a creamy grey color and two riders. And what appeared to be some large canines. Perhaps he could ask them where he was, where this path had come from. A deep throaty growl emerged from Sadie's maw, turning Virgil's attention back into the barn. The older man dismounted the roan, carefully leading them into the barn where Sadie stood growling outside a stall. 
    Sadie took a quick glance at Virgil who looked over the wooden divider, seeing nothing but an empty stall with some straw in it. And. Wait. A satchel sat towards the back, covered by some of the straw. And contrary to everything else in the barn, it wasn't covered in a thick layer of dust so it must have been left here recently. Virgil's stomach turned anxiously. This whole situation was so odd. It left a feeling of the unknown in his chest, like when you see something you can't quite explain. He passed the entrance of the stall with a raised-hackled Sadie still standing firm like a statue. He dusted away cobwebs from a tie ring, fastening Mav's lead rope to it. He undid Blue's saddle and set it on the stall door opposite of the stall of mystery, every so often looking back to make sure nothing had moved. or anyone. He then turned and slowly entered the stall with extreme prudence, Blue following while peeking around his shoulder to make sure a monster wasn't going to pop out of the satchel. Sadie trotted ahead of Virgil, standing in front of him defensively. 
    The sun was low on the horizon now, sending warm rays of light through the slats of wood. Virgil kneeled before the satchel, careful to keep a safe distance. What could be inside? Perhaps just some tools or maybe some food. Maybe a traveler had come through and accidentally left it here. Or maybe it was something much worse. Like the severed hand of a john doe. Virgil's imagination ran rampant, creating a host of possibilities. He finally reached out and lifted the satchel's cover, pulling his hand back quickly. What sat before him baffled him. It was an egg. A very large egg. A dull black with contrasting bright red and orange speckles. This definitely wasn't one of things he had imagined being inside the satchel. Sadie pressed up against Virgil's leg, standing just in front of him as if she could protect him if something were to happen. A low rumble came from the collie then a soft 'boof' like when a dog sees something it finds unsavory from afar. 
    Virgil pushed his hat up to get a better look at it, raising a brow as he tried to wrap his head around the concept. At this point Blue had found the courage to walk forward and lower his head to examine this mysterious object while Mav was desperately trying to see inside, giving a quiet whinny, hoping it would convince them to let him in too. Virgil reached forward again and touched the egg, his calloused hand brushed up against the surface of the black misshapen oval. He gave a start when he felt a warm pulse emit from the item. "What in the world..." he spoke, his voice raspy from the quiet vigilance that had overtook him before. That thing was alive, there was something inside it. The egg was so large, it couldn't be a bird. His mind flashed to dragon for but a second. Angela, Cynthia, and some of the other staff at the ranch would talk about dragons sometimes. This didn't make any sense, why would someone leave such a valuable parcel in this place? In the middle of nowhere. Virgil stood up and jogged outside to see if the people he had seen earlier were still there, maybe they could explain this phenomenon to him. But they were gone, no longer in sight. 
    He headed back inside, Blue sticking his head outside of the stall watching as Virgil came back inside. It was dark outside now, a veil of obscurity in the atmosphere. This place was better than any to set up camp for the night, if it happened to rain he would at least have some cover from the relentless moisture. He gave Mav a pat who seemed exasperated still that he wasn't allowed to go see what the commotion was all about. He pulled a halter out of the saddle bag and got Blue set up for the night in the hall of the barn. He grabbed a blanket and his sleeping bag before setting himself up inside the stall where the egg resided. As he got comfortable, Sadie laid across his legs keeping a silent vigil over the mystical egg. As he settled in, he decided that he would sleep on it and decide what to do about the egg in the morning. One thing was for sure, he had a long road ahead. 

~~~

So guess who finally finished this. I had a lot of fun working on this piece again. I really enjoyed freehanding a bit again, it gives me some more creative liberties. I'm excited to work on some more pieces! I'm going to try and get at least one extra prompt done before May ends but if not, I'll do my best to do the extra prompts for the future quests!

Art, Characters, & Story (c) Me
Image size
2201x1400px 2.86 MB
© 2017 - 2024 EquestrianJade
Comments6
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
apodidae's avatar
apodidae
This is awesome! I love Sadie's defensive position. This group looks so fun!