GoCorral

Chapter 11 – Shrine of Artemis (Continued)

Galandir turned and stumbled over a tree root. His pack threw him off balance. Tereman and Blendegad shrugged their packs off and drew their swords. The bear shoved the pile of bodies aside and stalked forward on two feet. It’s gigantic paws raised high to strike Galandir. It roared again.

Galandir rolled out of his pack on the ground. He aimed a fleed spell at the ground. The extra push from the magic vaulted him to his feet. He backed away from the bear and drew his sword.

Blendegad stood on Galandir’s right. He swung his sword aggressively at the bear. “Yah! Yah! Back!”

The bear roared again and swatted at Blendegad’s sword.

Tereman shouted to Blendegad and Galandir, “Don’t kill it! We must not offend the goddess!”

The bear swatted at Blendegad. He and Galandir leaped backwards. The bear went down on all fours and ran forwards at Blendegad. Galandir aimed his sword point at the beast. “Fleed!” The spell stymied the bear’s movement, stopping its charge.

Blendegad shouted back at Tereman, “What do you suppose we do then?!”

“Fleed! Fleed!”

Tereman said, “We have to knock it out or something!”

“Alright,” Blendegad grumbled. “You two handle the front! I’ll circle around back.” Blendegad split off to the right, circling the bear. He glanced at the pool. The nymph was gone but ripples moved across the water.

The bear turned away from Galandir’s sword, focusing on Blendegad.

Tereman shouted, “It wants you, Blendegad! The nymph!”

Galandir switched his stance. He pulled the sword back, keeping the hilt by his waist with the blade pointing at the bear while perpendicular to his body. Galandir cast again, “A’dant!” The bear’s paws tore against the dirt. Galandir’s magic prevented it from touching Blendegad.

Blendegad had been hoping to ambush and drain the beast from behind. Now he was facing the sharp end. The creature snapped and struggled against Galandir’s spell. Blendegad shouted, “I need help so I can drain it! Just enough so it stops fighting!”

Galandir’s control slipped for a moment and the bear lunged at Blendegad. He leapt back to avoid the bear’s teeth. Galandir shouted, “A’dant!” pulling on the bear’s feet once again.

Tereman grabbed his shield and began strapping it on. “Hold on! I can hold it off with my shield, Blendegad!”

The bear tried to swat at Blendegad. He swung his sword at the paw, delivering a small cut. The bear roared in protest.

Galandir strained against the bear, four times his size. He could feel his spell slipping. His voice cracked as he gave Blendegad a warning, “Watch out…” A moment later the spell broke and the bear launched itself at its target.

Blendegad’s instincts told him to stab the bear. He twisted his sword to the side at the last second. Such a blow would be fatal and incur the wrath of Artemis. He flung himself to the left instead. His sword scored the right shoulder of the bear. In return, the bear’s paw swiped Blendegad’s right leg. The claws destroyed his leather greave for that leg and dug deeply into the muscle and bone of his shin.

Blendegad’s leg could no longer hold his weight. He stumbled and fell. Pushing himself to his knees he scrabbled away from the bear. It roared behind him but Galandir stepped in the way again. “Fleed!” The elf’s voice sounded weaker and strained.

Tereman buckled his shield into place and hurried over to the fight. He jumped in front of Galandir, shoving his shield into the bear’s mouth. Galandir’s spell dropped and the bear rose to claw at Tereman. He wrestled with the beast, catching the blows on his shield, with his sword, or on his armor.

Galandir pulled Blendegad to his feet. Galandir told his companion, “You have to drain it!”

Blendegad limped forward. “Help me walk.” Galandir stepped forward to support Blendegad under the right shoulder. The two stumbled towards the bear. Tereman struggled. He slashed at the bear’s paws, trying to reduce its offensive power.

Galandir and Blendegad flanked the bear on the right. The whirlwind of attacks against Tereman made a close approach dangerous. Galandir was unsure what to do next. He worriedly asked, “How do we get close to it?”

“Just throw us at it,” Blendegad said. “As long as I can touch it, we’ve won.”

Galandir took a deep breath. He let out a battle cry and charged with Blendegad. The two collided with the bear’s side.

Blendegad touched the bear’s back with his right hand. He gave the choice, “Abandon your defense of Artemis or suffer!”

The bear chose suffering. It would never abandon Artemis. Energy flowed into Blendegad. The bear’s paws flailed at the three of them, but its movements became weaker and weaker. Slowly it laid down on the ground. Blendegad’s hands flickered with dark red fire.

Tereman unbuckled his ruined shield. It fell to the ripped dirt floor of the forest. He caught his breath and spoke to Blendegad, “Alright. Stop. We can’t kill it. The goddess.”

The dark red fire flickered around Blendegad’s hands.

Tereman said, “Blendegad. Stop.”

Galandir said, “Blendegad. Stop. We have to respect the goddess’s domain!”

His hands blazed with dark red fire. Blendegad was absorbed in consuming the bear’s life force.

Tereman shoved Blendegad in the shoulder. “Stop!”

Galandir pulled Blendegad’s shoulder. “Stop!”

The dark fire flickered.

Galandir looked at Blendegad’s injured leg. He pulled on it. Blendegad yelled in pain and the dark fire stopped. He released the bear.

Galandir said, “Tereman, check on the bear. We can’t let it die.”

Tereman invoked his prayer to Zeus and touched the bear. Sacred power flowed from his hands into the animal, replacing part of the life force it lost.

Blendegad gasped, “Sorry. I got carried away. I couldn’t stop.”

Galandir said, “It’s alright.”

“I’ve got too much life force now. I need to let it out.”

“Don’t! We can’t break or kill anything here!”

Blendegad groaned, “Urgh! I need something.” Blendegad thought back to how he drained life force from plants. He could place some into plants as well. Piece by piece into the trees, grass, and shrubs surrounding the pool. He limped to the water. Blendegad dipped his right hand in the clear water. Energy flowed into the water and from there to all the plants drawing from the liquid with their roots. The forest became even more vibrant and beautiful than it was before.

Tereman stood over the bear. “Done. It’ll live. We’re safe.”

Galandir said, “Let’s get out of here before we see any more nymphs.”

Blendegad nodded. He thought of looking at the pool one more time, but decided against it. He stood with his eyes on the ground and turned away from the water. The group brushed themselves off and limped away from the pool, back the way they’d came.

Hurray! I got to 50k words and completed the National Novel Writing Month challenge. The story isn’t finished yet. There’s a bit more of chapter 11. I think the story is going to span 15 total chapters and a short epilogue chapter as well. I’ll get to those chapters, but I’m not going to be doing them as quickly as these. Gotta get me sleep! I’ll finish chapter 11 soon and subsequent chapters will be released as a single chapter instead of split up into pieces based on word count for the day.