-Marek-

  My team had just finished our patrol. It was a simple sweep between our town and one of our neighbors. We took the initiative to do it because the duke had mandated his domain to only kill monsters en route for deliveries or the like. Since our town was under the king, we could skirt his mandate slightly and help, but nothing too overt. It had made relations between our towns particularly close over the years, and I had a couple friends who lived there.

  Regardless, as we reach the gate, we are greeted with the sight of civilian men at arms suiting up for battle. Nearly every adult was armed and directed by the guards onto the northern wall. One of the guards organizing the men notices me and immediately breaks out into a wide grin.

  “Sir Marek! Excellent timing! Word just reached us. There’s a horde of monsters sweeping toward the town from the north. Sir Eira believes The Great Bear has begun to rampage again. The other knights have assembled at the north tower.”

  I nod to the man and skip the crowded stairway, maneuvering up the battlements with ease. Then I set off jogging to the northern tower with care to conserve my strength for the upcoming fight. The soldiers on duty see me approach and clear my path; one of them announces my presence to the room. Inside I find Sir Eira and Torulf with the captain of the guard. All look relieved to see me.

  “Scouts went deeper north on a rescue mission and came back with news of the beast tide. This time we should be much more prepared than last, and sightings indicate no presence of any lesser or greater Hive Mushrooms. I’m confident we should be able to drive them away. However, more pressing for you is another issue. Callia returned to the city with an injured Callen.” I almost forced my way out of the room, but he continued explaining.

  “Those two are fine; they will need some time to recover, but nothing irreversible was done. The problem is that Reesia left with Callen, and Callia warned us she was behind the horde. We can drive back the monsters here. It's not our first tide, but I don’t want to wait to rescue the girl.”

  I nod at the man’s statement and turn back. Reesia might not be my blood, but she was still one of my girls. I exit the room and jump from the wall with force, easily reaching a tree and using its branches to maneuver down to the ground. I release my full presence as a warning to any monsters in my path and begin moving into the forest.

  I moved north at a steady pace, and maybe ten minutes out from town, the monster tide appeared in its full force. I keep charging at the monsters, but my presence is like that of a small great monster, and they move around me. I continue north, but not a minute after I pass the horde, a deafening bellow resounds, shaking the forest. The Great Bear was just ahead. It was a challenge. The Great Bear wasn’t just moving nearby; it was attacking our town.

  I hesitate; Reesia might just be safer behind the monster tide than in the town. The town will need me back urgently if we want any hope of repelling a ravenous invasion, but in that moment I see Reesia down by the coast. Before I can even take a step towards her, the ground shakes and I see it. The Great Bear staring down at my daughter with incredible hate. This wasn’t the time to lose my nerve.

  Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

  Steeling myself to do everything I can as I force my way between their confrontation. Deflecting its first strike with all my strength, the giant paw the bear had casually swung at my girl.

  “Reesia! Keep running, go towards the coast, and swim in from the port! Don’t stop, don't look back!” For a tense moment the bear and I stare at each other. It sizes me up, and as we lock eyes, I see recognition. Something had earned its respect, but it hadn’t dampened the bear’s rage.

  “Dad!” Reesia immediately ignored my earlier words, turning back and calling to me, but I couldn’t move, or The Great Bear would move.

  “Go Reesia! NOW!” I had no time to explain, only forcefully commanding her to go. This time it seems to have worked, and she runs.

  Another minute passes with us both tensed at the ready, and the bear seems to finally be done with waiting. It slams a paw into the ground, making fissures spread and sending a great shockwave into the earth. Instead of resisting the shockwave, I ride it and grab a branch, swinging up and reaching eye level with the bear. Then I leap forward, unleashing a flurry of strikes and ending with a power strike, which I targeted at a bone, forcefully sending me away from the bear. Right in time as the bear sweeps its paw in retaliation.

  The aching in my upper arm tells me just how hard the fur is. My spear just barely pierced the skin on my power strike, which had pinned the skin between the bone and my hit. Its flesh was nearly impenetrable. I start circling the bear, testing its speed and inspecting the damage. The fur where I multi-striked had withered, and the spot I drew blood was a small black dot. The flesh had healed, but not the wither affliction.

  My circling had shown that while it wasn’t faster than me, it could keep up. I moved in aggressively, making a feint like I was going for its face, and the bear lifted its head up while slamming a paw down. However, I had already broken off my attack by jumping onto a nearby tree and using it as a springboard down into the paw that was striking the ground. My timing was perfect, and as the paw impacted the ground, my spear struck right between the joints of its claw. The earth was my anvil, and my spear was the hammer.

  This time I felt my spear bite in. The bear bellowed in shock and used its other paw to swipe at me. I abandoned my spear, taking cover behind the wrist of the grounded paw. A loud squelching of twisted meat echoed out as the bear reared back onto its hind legs. My spear had been struck by the other paw and had twisted in the joint of the paw, severing the claw attached.

  I dived forward, retrieving my spear and trying to adjust for my next attack. This time it didn’t wait on the defensive. The bear slammed down toward me with both paws and the full force of its immense size. Can’t stop and can’t dodge. I take my moment to brace myself and thrust towards the gap between its paws. I dive in with every ounce of force I have, trying to deflect the paw and widen the gap enough for me.

  Just barely I leverage a space, but the shockwave from smashing a crater washes over me from both sides, and I cough up blood as my internal organs rupture. I still don’t stop and pull myself up from between the paws, coming face to face with the bear. I lose my left-hand prosthetic as its bindings snap and it falls to the ground. The bear lunges its head down, biting at me, and I have no way to dodge. Instead I strike straight into the upper jaw of the bear, sinking my spear deeply into its soft mouth.

  A Call for Aid

  Baron Eldraine looked at the emergency communication he had just received. The Great Bear was once more on the warpath north of Port Town. Now the peasants who had refused his authority dared demand his aid in the name of their glorious monarch. The gall to order him was astounding. He had already ordered a punitive force to go take the head of the mayor, arrest Sir Marek, and take the man's family.

  How would he get his revenge if the fools died to some beast before they even got there? Well, he also supposed it wouldn’t matter anymore if they all died. The men he sent to fulfill the task were those who were secretly forming a faction to contest his leadership. That Sir Fullart had been secretly helping the people he had punished, and more and more men seemed hesitant to obey their lord.

  Even the power he felt coming into his baronship had faded, and Eldraine was certain that man had been responsible. Even if his order was fulfilled, he planned to send the impudent knight to replace the one he wanted dead. Either way, Fullart would be gone, and he could continue his lavish lifestyle in peace.