155. Care Bear: Wiremu.

I started cutting into the bear. I would skin and butcher it later, but I was digging in for the core at the moment. It is a long way into the chest.

Appā came back with the fighter, and they were carrying a body. Mutalil went to help, and Modrica watched silently and menacingly from the side. They lay the body on the edge of the clearing. It was dead. The live fighter was a female dwarf with tears streaking down her face.

I raised my voice, “What’s the story with this Monster and Core?” I asked. I know she was grieving, but the information was more important in case there was more danger.

“The bear was fed a monster core,” she replied.

We all stopped and looked at her, “What?” three of us said.

“One of the people who fled told us he was the son of the Duke of Kirghiz. He had visions of riding back to Kirghiz on a Dire Bear to prove his worth to his daddy or some other pathetic reason. If he couldn’t bond with the bear after it turned into a Dire Bear, he would kill it and at least have a monster kill to his name. That’s what he said anyway.”

“And you are…?” Ört asked.

“Astrid, the last surviving member of Monsters-R-Us Mercenary team.”

“Monsters-R-Us?” I asked.

“We were drunk,” Astrid said in explanation. Dwarves were famous for their drunken antics. “There were five of us. I was supposed to be the healer. Bloody useless healer, I was. I couldn’t even save Anders. Forty years we have been together. Forty bloody wonderful years, and it ends like this. I am a bloody failure.”

“So the other three people here were?”

“The so-called Duke's son and two minders. The minders were reasonable fighters.”

“I was hoping for names and classes if possible,” I said.

“The Duke's son was George. He wouldn’t tell us about his class. He fought with a two-handed sword, but not very well. I would guess his main class was not a combat one. Both minders were sword and shield fighters. I would say ex-army. James is lying over there. Wyatt escaped with George.”

Appā went over to James and started going through his gear. Mutalil started on the Monsters-R-Us bodies, although Astrid would have possession of that gear. She would have to do it if she wanted the bodies carted back. We would bury them here.

“What type of core was it, do you know?” Ört asked.

“He bought it in Duhovno. It was supposed to be from a Mole Monster and earth affinity.”

“Rich nobles, more coin than sense,” Ört mumbled.

I kept working through the conversation and was nearing the core. It wasn’t in the stomach, but it was close. The bear’s attempt to assimilate it had driven it mad. I pulled it out, and several things happened at once.

Firstly Kryddor started barking furiously. Then I was rushed by a dark shape, and the jaws of a teenage bear clamped over my hand with the core in it. My Granite Bones stopped the jaws, but then the bear was flung away from me, and his teeth scraped along my hand, ripping out the core and the middle finger on my main hand.

Modrica had tossed the bear away and was following it. She tackled it to the ground and punched it in the head. “Don’t you fucking eat that,” she growled almost too low for human hearing. “You fucking idiot.” and she punched the bear again.

Ört approached them with his axe ready, but I waved for him to stop. He and I watched Skavt bond with Oske in a most unconventional way, and I was pretty sure this was what Modrica was doing.

“If you are bonding with him, do it fast because you will need to use that bond to filter that foreign core.” When Tāoke ate a core, I am sure it was filtered through our bond. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. However, with a brand new bond at level 1? I am not sure it can be done. If it can, I will help her do it. “Focus on the bond,” I instructed, “The core is most probably Earth aligned, and you don’t have an affinity, so you will need to try to filter what is coming from the core. If it doesn’t feel right, then try to reject it.” I saw her nod.

I stood up, and Ört wrapped my finger stump in a bandage. My Regeneration won’t be able to regrow the limb until it gets to master level, so I will need to pay a healer or wait. It is the middle finger on my right hand, which is my main hand. I will have to see how it goes.

“This will take a while,” I said to everyone, “12-24 hours anyway. We had best make camp.”

“We will start skinning the beast,” Appā said, volunteering his son. Mutalil rolled his eyes.

Skavt was limping over. There were deep orc rumplings from Modrica and the occasional punch thrown. Skavt and I went to Astrid.

“If word of this gets out, we will kill you,” I said. Skavt grunted in agreement.

Astrid put her hands up in surrender, “Nobody is going to hear about it from me,” she claimed. This is the second dwarf to promise me that, and still, there is the problem of drunken dwarves. Seriously, Monsters-R-Us? What more proof do you need? Truth Sensing was telling me she was serious, but … I didn’t know what to say to get across the seriousness of this.

Fortunately, Skavt was here. “Modrica,” she said, “has a Krvne Sestre who rides with us. You mess this up; you mess with both of them.”

Astrid paled and nodded. That was the right thing to say.

We turned to help Ört, who was starting to organise a camp. We would need to return to our old camp and gather the packs.

Then Astrid spoke up, “Do you need another team member? I am a shit healer, but I can heal.”

We turned back. Skavt said, “Why do you want to join us? We only just met.”

“Because you look out for each other and trust each person to do their part. I have been around, and you don’t get that in many teams.” was her reply.

“Interesting,” Skavt said. “You might be surprised to learn that only Sten, Ört, and I are part of a registered team, the Canine Queens. Our other two members are injured. The Catkin and Modrica are not our team members but are here for the experience.” She remembered to use my current alias of Sten.

That did surprise her. “But you work so well together!”

“We have travelled together for a long time. You should also know that we already have a healer.” she indicated Ört, who was starting a fire.

Astrid’s face dropped. “I have no one now that my Anders is gone.”

I was getting a good feeling from her through my Truth Sensing, so I threw her a lifeline, “The Catkin and Modrica work for a small Trading house called the Elemental Traders. If you stick with us, I can introduce you to the owner. There might be a place for you there.”

She nodded.

I went to check on Modrica. She was definitely bonded. The main question now was whether they would survive the foreign core's integration. If they both went mad, we would have a big problem. Modrica was strong. The bear might have an affinity to the core, which is why he grabbed it. He? I checked, and the bear was a male. I hope so because without that, they will both go mad, and we will have to kill them. I don’t know whether we can.

Dawn was just appearing. It had been a long night. Ört and I went to the old camp and brought the gear over, as Skavt still needed to rest. Astrid wanted to bury her teammates alone, so she went off to do that.

Breakfast was cooked when we returned, and we sat down to eat. It would take a while to skin and butcher the monster bear, so the catkin took a break.

Skavt suddenly looked up at me. “Tabitha is on her way. She is riding Dusk, and Oske is leading them here.”

The Steam lands are dangerous to heavy-hooved animals, and you don’t get much heavier than Oske, Skavts's two-metre tall Yak bond. Tabitha must have felt something through her Krvne Sestre relationship with Modrica. I always wondered if that was merely a cultural partnership or something deeper. I think this proves there is a Spiritual connection.

Then a Shadow rose from the ground and spread over Modrica and the bear. Nyx had arrived. That should help ease Tabitha. Even hard riding it will take Tabitha 5-6 hours to get there. Tabitha knows how to ride hard. I pity poor Oske.

I am also pleased Astrid was not here to see Nyx arrive, as it would be tough to explain. The shadow faded as Nyx entered the Blacksteel pendant Modrica wears. Nyx was here to stay.

As the morning wore on, I alternated between checking on Modrica and helping to clean the bear hide. Modrica often rumbled or grunted. The bear occasionally growled or sometimes howled. One time it was shut up by a punch from Modrica. I remember Tāoke changing size and shedding skin as he assimilated his core. The bear was different, but it was definitely growing. It was changing into a Dire Bear, similar to Tāoke changing from a Desert Viper into a Venom Serpent. I thought Cave Bears were big. Dire Bears are bigger.

We cleaned up the bear’s remains. Tāoke and Kryddor fed well. Tāoke was healing well, but it would take a few days. When Astrid returned, she saw our collected materials for the Guild and said she had a Preservation Skill and could stop the Monkey Brains from spoiling. That was helpful.

That afternoon Skavt went with Appā and Mutalil to clear our mole traps. We would probably be here another night, so I said they should shift them and reset them. This will be a test of how well they first listened to me. Ört and I were the best ones to help guide Modrica, so I stayed for that.

Modrica did have some serious struggles at times. There were several times I thought it was going bad. It is just as well she is so stubborn. Nyx would also come out during the bad times, and I am sure Astrid noticed. She didn’t say anything.

About an hour after lunch, the pounding of hooves preceded the arrival of Tabitha. She was jumping off Dusk before stopping and heading to Modrica. I grabbed Dusk’s reigns, and Skavt went to Oske. We settled the animals while Tabitha sat with Modrica and had an arm over her shoulder.

I noticed Astrid standing there with a weapon, staring. We forgot to tell her Tabitha was coming. Weapon in hand was how you met a stranger out here.

“Astrid, we will introduce you to Skygge later,” I said, remembering to use her current alias. “She is Modrica’s Krvne Sestre and owner of Elemental Traders.” That astonished Astrid further. An orc in such a relationship with a human was unheard of, “She is also my sister.” I stated, making sure she was aware of the seriousness of what she was seeing.

Skavt broke her out of shock by leading Oske over to her and introducing her to her bond. We led the animals to the side of the clearing, away from the blood-stained area that held the bear's remains. They started grazing.

Then Modrica and the bear started struggling again. I saw Modrica throw a couple of punches and hold the bear down on the ground. It was fighting her, and it was big now. Then the area was engulfed in Shadow, and it blocked our sight. That was impressive of Tabitha and Nyx in the middle of the afternoon.

I turned to Astrid, “That is also under our confidentiality agreement.”

“You are not going to explain?”

“No.”

The trappers returned with five moles. There were two that were eaten by scavengers before they got there. That is not bad for fifteen traps. We will see how many we get tonight. The moles went under the same preservation skill as the monkey brains.

Astrid helped Ört with dinner. Do all healers have high cooking skills? Tabitha came and got some dinner for her and Modrica. She was briefly introduced to Astrid but soon disappeared with Modrica again.

The night would be a problem as the blood would attract scavengers. We would not normally stay where we killed and skinned, but it was not wise to move Modrica and the bear yet. Tabitha told us Modrica named the bear, Težka.

We didn’t get more than a few broken snippets of sleep that night. Killing scavengers was actually quite profitable. We only really had trouble with a couple of big cats. One we scared off, and one leopard we killed. Even Astrid was killing hyenas and coyotes. She knew her way around an axe and shield combo. It was a long night.

In the end, Težka ended the night with a massive roar. He came stalking out with Modrica riding on his back, and the scavengers just ran. Modrica was the largest orc I had ever seen, and she was riding comfortably on Težka, and Težka wasn’t fully grown yet. He is about the same size as Oske already.