The Inspiration: A story: They had run through the night, leaving the shrouded forest behind just as dawn pinked the sky. She slid from Shi-iro’s back. He pawed the ground, snorting, muscles twitching under his foamed-flecked hide. Her hand touched at where she had hidden the bottle in her sleeve. Still there, a last resort. The key, dangling from twine on her neck, between her breasts. In the grimness of