Protector

You try so hard to stay quiet. Every minute, every day, you try everything you can to be still, be silent, let it sleep. Don't do anything to provoke it. You never last long. The world has a way of getting its claws in you, and squeezing out all that noise you've been holding in. You can withstand it for a while, longer each time, in fact, but eventually, you just can't help yourself. You throw your head back, open your mouth wide, and scream, a scream that echoes back from distant mountains and reverberates around the world. And when you do, it awakes. It rips you free of the talons holding you, without a care for how much it hurts as they rake through your skin, and throws you behind it, ironclad wings spread wide to shield you and sword blazing Bright to strike down aggressors. You cower, licking your wounds as it enacts righteous judgment. You try not to hear the screams. You try not to think about the fact that you feel pleasantly Warm when it's protecting you. You try to remember that it isn't you. Eventually, it runs out of targets. No one left to receive punishment. One by one its eyes shut, after satisfying themselves that there are no threats present. As the last one does so, it plunges its flaming sword back into its chest, issuing forth an agonizing howl. When the sound dies out, it's asleep, and you're on your feet again. You'll be quieter this time.