Weekly Short: The Guardian Spirit’s Retirement

It was nice. It really was everything she could have asked for. And she was bored out of her mind. Retirement was supposed to bring peace. All she had wanted throughout the last brat’s life ws to finally be released. She still wasn’t sure it was worth it.

The hollow was all hers. Her reward for centuries of diligent service. Born bound to a human, it was her job to guard one person of each generation that issued from the Original Ancestor. She had done her job faithfully, keeping the family safe from the Forest Folk’s reach.

Some generations were hard. Not all of her bonded one’s descendants were worthy of the name. Many times she thought her ward would kill themselves before begetting an heir. Other times, she found herself wishing they would do just that.

Even the good ones of late seemed to harbor a selfishness that went against everything her bonded soul stood for. The latest brat having been the worst, it really came as no surprise when the stupid man chose to cut off the possibility of children before he had any. It had still hurt her though.

She’d hung around afterwards, watching him destroy himself through indulgence. Any aid the guardian might have offered couldn’t reach him now. It was a relief when the One Eyed god called her to finally retire.

That was almost fifty years ago. She had walked every inch of the hollow, investigated its many occupants, made friends and foes, and all the while he waited.

A new soul. Soon, the One Eyed said she’d be bound again when a new soul line appeared. Her patience was wearing thin. She scanned every meteor shower, wistfully watching new souls come to earth. 

She was done waiting. Approved or no, she was finding a way out of this paradise prison.

Notes: I want to somehow tie this to the Starfall short piece from last month. It would make an interesting addition to the mythos of this urban fantasy universe I’m building.