SEALS
Chapter 2: The Second Sacrifice
Wander ran as fast as he could through the grassy field, a bucket flailing by the handle in his hand. A young woman stood beside a wooden fence, watching him huff and puff, red-faced. She giggled as the young man vaulted over the fence.
"Milk, my lady," he said, bowing to one knee and presenting her with the metal pail.
"Why did you run all the way here?" Mono asked, confused and amused.
"I…" Wander breathed. He pointed back over to the tall grass of the field. A large animal came thundering forth, the seedy grass stalks nearly concealing its brown and white mottled form. Impressive horns parted the grass.
"Oh, Wander; you didn't try to milk my father's bull, did you?"
"Well…" Wander began, getting up, "The cows cooperated just fine when I coaxed the calves out of the way. I milked two of them for you, and then I came to him. With that tall grass, I couldn't see until I'd gotten right up to his hind-end. I'd forgotten how fowl-tempered he was."
Mono laughed a tinkling laugh as Wander rubbed his hair awkwardly.
"I didn't touch anything! I swear! I patted him on the back all nice-like and he turns around and snorts, and, well, I wasn't sticking around. So, anyway, is that enough milk?"
"Well," Mono said, inspecting the pail, "We usually get a little more for the family than this before breakfast, but it's enough for you and me to share for the time being."
"Well, there's that, at least," Wander said, smiling awkwardly.
"This is usually woman's-work… for my sister's and me."
"I wanted to do something nice."
From behind the fence, somewhere in the grass, the breeding-bull bellowed.
When Wander had brought the great stone bull by the sea to its knees, he first found his way up the beast's body by clambering toward its hind-end. A few stabs in its docked tail had the Colossus moaning and writhing madly to shake him off.
The young man ran and leapt over the spine, marveling at the stone vertebrae that moved independently of one another. This creature looked partially dead already, an animal partly in bone made of stone, its life was like an earthquake below his feet as he danced and jumped, struggling to stay on. Wander briefly wondered if his horse had the sense to stay out of the way. He worried about her being crushed beneath enormous hooves.
He was nearly exhausted when he found himself gripping to the hair above the seal on the Colossus' head. Wander wondered if, from the Land of the Dead, Mono could see him riding this bull. He'd always been a coward in regards to her family's bull. Right now, he was not letting himself being chased - he'd been the one to chase this one down.
With one last stab, the stone bull moaned and went down, sending Wander down with it. With that one last stab into the mangled seal, the memory of Mono's face, kissed by the sun, laughing at him for almost milking her father's bull shivered out of existence.