As the roar stopped, the sound of clanking armour replaced it. With no hesitation or delay, Eidechse and Thet were already preparing for battle, putting their armour on and grabbing their weapons. Luckily I wasn’t the only one Vyth woke up, as despite being halfway done, Eidechse still took too long. Thet was already good to go and rushed to help my brother. I got up, and flanked around. As I saw what we were up against, my jaw dropped. A southern brown bear, as pissed as it could be. I quickly shook myself out of my surprise and fired off an icy ray. The bear turned to look at me, before receiving an arrow to the shoulder from Thet.

It roared in fury and charged straight for her. Vyth quickly rushed to it’s flank and slashed its side with his sword. It’s hide was too thick, however, and the quills helped block the way. Eidechse, meanwhile, dashed onto the bear’s path. As it came at him at full speed, Eidechse swung his hammer straight for the beast's face. As the bear reached him it immediately stood up to deal a blow of it’s own. But, the strike from the hammer landed on its stomach and put the bear back on all fours. After a few seconds of recovering, quills shot from the bear, covering everything around it. Eidechse was lucky enough to have his armour. Standing that close to it would’ve been his death, had the needles not bounced off.

Another arrow struck the beast. Thet let out a chuckle. Then, she grabbed another arrow and dipped it in a vile she had attached to her belt. The bear charged at her with fury in its eyes. Vyth and Eidechse tried flanking it in a pincer before it reached her, but another burst of quills kept them at bay. Using one arm to cover his face, Eidechse swung wildly with his hammer and landed a hit on a hind leg. It messed up it’s charge. Enough to give Thet some time. As the bear’s jaw was about to clamp down on her, she jumped away. The teeth still cut her, but it wasn’t much compared to what could’ve happened.

Vyth, on the other hand, was doing as well. Several quills had grazed him and two had pierced into him. One was sticking out from his shoulder and the other from his stomach. Blood was streaming out of him. He couldn’t even stand. We had to finish our fight quickly, so Eidechse could heal him. The bear was tough, though. Even Eidechse’s hammer only seemed to stagger it and Vyth’s sword didn’t even cut through. It’s defences were insane.

That’s when I had an idea.

It turned around and swiped at Thet. Instinctively, she put her arms up to guard herself, but the bear’s paw knocked her pack several feet and cut straight through her leather and deep into her flesh. In mere seconds, her arms were completely painted red. Eidechse landed another strike with his hammer. The force visibly vibrating through its body. But just like last time, it wasn’t nearly enough. It stood up on its hind legs and brought another strike down with the full weight of its body. Eidechse was knocked to the ground. I fired another icy ray to draw it’s attention. It took the bait. I quickly climbed up the nearest tree. Eidechse, meanwhile, got up and ran over the Thet. The bear quickly arrived at the base of the tree and started following me up it. As I climbed higher and higher, I shot ray after ray to slow it down as much as I could. Still, it gained on me. This was what it was made for.

Luckily, it gave Eidechse enough time to fully heal up Vyth and Thet. Once the latter was healed up, arrows started flying into the bear. All of which left a green substance on it. Whatever it was, it wore the bear down over time. As I nearly reached the top, another burst of quills was shot out. One of them embedded itself into my right leg. It hurt like hell, but now was not the time to complain. The others shouted for me to fly, but I stayed up there and waited. Flying would only see me get shot down. Instead, I had a better idea. Once the bear was close enough, its jaw opened wide. Before it could sink its teeth into me, however, I sprayed acid into its throat. I rapidly cast the spell several times out of sheer panic. I wasn’t the only one panicking, however. The bear struggled with this bombardment. Seeing this, I let myself fall onto it’s head. It’s grip was weak. I quickly bit into a paw as hard as I could.

The paw let go. I suddenly felt weightless, as we both were plummeting to the ground. I quickly unfurled my wings and slowed my descent. The bear, meanwhile, hit the ground hard on its neck. With a fall like that, it stood no chance of surviving. It was finally over. We started up another campfire and rested for a bit. Eidechse slowly removed the quill out of my leg. The pain was excruciating. It felt like pulling out a long splinter amplified to its extreme. After the agonising period, where time felt like it had stopped, Eidechse cast the same spell that poured light over me and closed up my wounds. Once he was done, both him and Vyth slapped me simultaneously across the face.

“What happened to that big brain of yours?! Huh?!”, Eidechse yelled.

“What happened to always being careful, brother?!”, Vyth yelled as well.

“Careful? This kid goes beyond careful! You’d think he died before given how annoyingly overcautious he can be at times!”.

“You could’ve died, you idiot! One second too late with your spell and you’d be eaten alive!”.

“I get it! I get it!”, I said to hopefully calm them a bit, “It was too strong for us to handle. I saw no other way! If I hadn’t done what I did, we’d all be dead!”.

“You think me and Thet haven’t fought one of these things before? They’re painfully tough, but Thet’s arrows would’ve killed after enough time had passed”, Eidechse lectured.

“Hold on! Don’t you have spells to fight it? Or can you just heal?”.

“Of course I do! But like I said, Thet’s arrows would’ve done the job. Besides, what would I have done if another had shown up? I’ve seen these beasts travel in packs of up to three! You have to learn to conserve your mana. Otherwise, you can get trapped in an unwinnable situation”.

“Conserve my mana?”.

“You’ll learn once you can do more than those little riyitic. Those you can keep casting, since they use up no mana”.

“What did she put on her arrows?”, Vyth asked.

“Well, kid. You can ask her yourself once you learn the language. The village we’re going to speaks both Draconic and Elfilun”.