Time had passed all too quickly. The weather was shifting from it’s usual warm summer to take on a slight chill that signalled autumn was fast approaching. It was late afternoon and the four of them were gathered round a table at the Cup and Crow. The bread was fresh, the stew was good, and they were miserable.

“There hasn’t been a new quest for weeks now.” Francis moaned. “It feels like we’re going to be stuck here forever.”

“The people here are good, and the work can be satisfying.” Mark mentioned. “But I know what you mean.”

“I’ve been washing sheets and performing tricks almost nonstop this whole time.” Paul had lain his head on the table.

Patting him on the shoulder, Tim added. “At least you’ve been productive. It feels like I’ve only been working for my supper as of late.”

“How does that iron taste by the way?” Paul looked up questioningly.

“Not as good as it once did.” Tim grimaced. “We had to switch to wood charcoal and that just isn’t the same. But my diet aside, you get anything accomplished on the magic front?”

Paul sat up straight and reached into his satchel. Laying out a number of things on the table. “I had the time to go a hunting as it were.”

A jar filled with dead bugs. “Fireflies, that was a fun evening.”

A package of feathers. “Thanks for this Mark. I’m sure the Chickens didn’t need them.”

A scrap of cured leather. “Cole was prickly, but nice enough about this.”

A Jar of sand. “Visited the river, had to get the soft stuff on the bottom.”

A twig of burnt wood. “This was an actual nightmare to find. Had to talk to Cutter and he only sorta knew where a tree that had been struck by lightning was. Then it was an entire day of walking and searching.”

Mark looked over the items. “And you need these things to cast your spells?”

Paul nodded. “Certain spells require material components when casting. A pinch of sand from the sandman for the sleep spell.” he nudged the sand filled jar. “thematic, I think.”

Mark focused on Tim. “How about yourself? You’ve got your own spells right?”

“I had a long think about this recently.” Tim rested their cheek on their fist. “Some of the items I would need are... expensive. Like a small silvered mirror? I haven’t seen a mirror the whole time we’ve been here. Or holy water! There isn’t a priest here, and I’m not sure I can ‘bless’ anything myself.” Tim returned to having good posture. “So I swapped the ‘prepared’ spells to ones that don’t require stuff to cast.”

“Smart... dwarf, you.” Francis had to think about it. “So we’ve got all this stuff. And not much seems to be happening here these days. Should we be moving on?”

“That is something to consider.” Mark gripped the bowl of stew in front of him. “I’ve been feeling restless these past few days. Have any of you felt... off?”

“Yes!” Francis thumped the table. “There’s this sense of longing that I’m missing something.”

“Like with the metal not tasting as good anymore.” Tim got contemplative. “We need spice to our life.”

“It’s getting on to Fall soon.” Mark broke off a piece of bread. “If we have to move on, we should do so soon, before Winter.”

“Yes, Winter hikes are a different beast all together.” Tim nodded in agreement.

From outside, the sound of a bell rang out through the air. Many of the other patrons looked around in mild confusion. The door was pushed open from the outside and a man shouted. “Hey! Everybody needs to come to the square!”

There was a general movement towards the door as people left food on the table and spoons clattered into bowls.

Francis called towards Greta. “You want me to help clean up?”

“You youngin’s go find out what’s what.” Greta shooed them away. “I’ll hear no end of it soon enough.”

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The four left their table and joined the throng of people who were making their way to the town square.

Standing on top of a hastily erected platform stood the guild master. Their uniform was looking in much better condition than usual and their bearing was fully upright. They were truly a person of authority in this moment.

“Ladies and Gentlemen!” The guild master shouted over the milling crowd. “We have important news to share!”

The crowd quieted down a small amount but the murmur of speculation was still rumbling.

“There is a large bear that’s been in the area recently.” the guild master continued. “From what I’ve been told it’s a full adult, so it’s pretty big. It’s been fairly aggressive and visible, which I think is a sign that it’s set up territory nearby.” smoothing out their uniform, they started listing off things. “So first off I’m ordering that no one will leave town alone. So the gate guards will not be letting anyone out there unless they have someone else with them. Second, everyone needs to be inside the walls after dark. Bill, Eric, I’m looking at you and your families.” the guild master found the two farmers within the crowd and stared meaningfully. “Last, I’m issuing a quest that’s open to anyone who feels up to hunting the animal.”

In the brief silence after the speech, a voice spoke up. “I knew something was eating all my honey.”

The crowd started up discussion which raised the volume in the square to a near unbearable din.

The four took this moment to huddle up and talk.

“This feels like an opportunity.” Francis said. “Kill the bear, save the town, be the heroes.”

“I agree.” Tim chopped with his hand. “It’s unusual for a bear like that to be anywhere near a settlement. It’s a danger to everyone around.”

“So we’re volunteering for this?” Mark gave everyone a look.

“Yeah I’m in for dealing with this thing.” Paul nodded.

With a thumbs up from Mark, he stood up from the huddle and raised his voice over the crowd. “We’ll do it!”

A hush fell over the crowd. Many eyes were searching for who had spoken up.

Mark started pushing his way through the crowd towards the platform and guild master. Upon reaching the older man, Mark pulled himself up to stand next to them. The hushed crowd turned silent.

“We’ll do it.” Mark turned his gaze over the crowd. “Me and my group are ready to deal with the bear.”

The guild master leaned over to speak quietly into Marks ear. “You sure about this kid? Normally we’d get a dozen or so people with crossbows together.”

Mark smiled. “We got a few tricks up our sleeves.”

“Crazy kids these days.” The guild master clapped Mark on his shoulders and raised his voice. “Let’s all thank Mark and his group for taking the lead on this bear problem.”

A hearty applause came forth from the gathered people. Many expectant faces were turned towards Mark.

Francis called out. “Speech, speech, speech.”

Mark rubbed the back of his head. “I don’t know what much else to say. I’m sure that we’ll be able to take care of that wild animal. I don’t want any one else to worry overly much. The bear is probably more afraid of us than we are of it. So we will head out, find where it is, then remove the threat.”

A cheer went up from the crowd. They were happy that someone was on the case, and that it wasn’t them.

Mark stepped down from the platform into the crowd. Many people were slapping him on the back or shaking his hand. He made his way to the other three who were similarly surrounded by townsfolk.

“You be careful out there.”

“Don’t be a hero. Come back to us.”

“We’ll all be sad if you get hurt.”

Peoples voices and well wishes filtered to the group. Though it wasn’t long before the crowd dispersed and the four were able to disengage from the people keeping them in place.

As they walked back towards the Cup and Crow, Mark opened up. “So Tim. I think you’re the best one for this. What can we expect?”

Tim was thoughtful for a minute as they walked. “So a ‘hunt’ might be a strong word for what we need to do. An animal like that is much easier to trap. We can find where it is if we look for claw marks on trees. After that, we set up some bait into a trap and deal with it from there.”

“That sounds easy!” Francis smiled.

“Easier said than done.” Tim sighed. “And It’s not something I’ve ever done personally. Just had to learn it to make sure the park guests knew what they were doing.”

“Your park allowed bear hunting?” Paul asked.

“Animal population management is an important part of wilderness preservation.” Tim looked affronted. “Otherwise things get out of hand. There were permits for this kind of thing.”

“So what kind of bait and what type of trap?” Mark tried to keep things focused.

“I don’t think it’s a panda, so some kind of meat will be the safe bet.” Tim stared straight ahead. “And while I’d love to get a bear trap, I don’t think we can get Smith to make strong enough springs. So we’ll need a net of some kind. Drop the net on them, attack while it’s entangled. Don’t get close if you can help it. Based on what we have available, I think we should ask around for long spears.”

“Oh yeah, the guards have those.” Francis spoke up. “Borrow a couple of those, easy.”

“Bill’s got a net that I’m sure I could borrow.” Mark added.

“There’s that butchers on the north side too.” Paul prompted.

The other three stopped to stare at Paul.

“You guys can’t smell that?” Paul looked perplexed.

“Can’t say I’ve gone looking for a butchers.” Francis continued to walk. “Greta still does most of the shopping or things get delivered.”

“Right, so if we break off now and get those things.” Mark was already planning the trip in his head. “We can all meet up tonight at the Cup and Crow. Then we can be off tomorrow morning, early.”

“Might take a few days, so I’ll see about putting together some camping gear.” Tim gave himself a task. “Beyond that, yeah I should be good to travel tomorrow.”

“Then, gentlemen.” Francis clapped his hands together. “Hunting season has just opened.”