“Bring the apprentices,” a thin man, flanked by soldiers, ordered arrogantly.
Nervous, the villagers accompanied the frightened children to the count’s envoy, who looked at them with a clear gesture of displeasure. It bothered him that he had been sent there, that he had to deal with those filthy commoners, but the count’s orders were absolute. And although they might look dirty and unpleasant, he knew that those two children would be a source of income in the future.
“Follow me.”
They obeyed fearful. The children didn’t like the man who looked down at them, who seemed to hate them, but they had no choice but to obey. They entered behind him to the carriage and occupied the indicated seats, remaining still while the vehicle started moving, and experiencing the indifference of the one who had picked them up.
They hardly dared to look out the window and were clinging tightly to their belongings, as well as to the hand of their twin, with whom they didn’t even dare to speak but with their eyes.
The rattle of the carriage was also uncomfortable, something they weren’t used to, for it was the first time they had traveled in one. And when shouts were heard outside and the carriage sped up, they didn’t even think that it could be something out of the ordinary. Only when the face of their companion took a paler color than his natural skin, they understood that something wasn’t right.
The carriage swayed violently, throwing them to one side and the other of their seats, while the wheels squeaked and bounced on the uneven terrain. They were fleeing for a while, without the children knowing from what, until a little stronger sway caused the carriage to overturn, turning several times over itself.
Although sore, the children hadn’t lost consciousness, since they had been partially protected by the clothes that made up their luggage, which had become their airbag. Terrified, they watched as the badly wounded envoy tried to get out of the carriage, completely forgetting about them, and being traversed by a huge claw, splashing them with his blood.
They dared not move, barely breathe, while the sounds on the outside of the flesh tearing apart made the situation even more gloomy. But when the sounds stopped, they felt a greater oppression.
A claw shattered the door and part of the side of the carriage, giving way to a huge snout that sniffed the inside. Then it disappeared, to the relief of the siblings, but one paw came next, trying to reach them.
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They pressed against the back of the carriage, covering their mouths so as not to scream, but the claw was getting closer as the wooden structure gave way to the huge body of the animal, which also caused the vehicle to swing dangerously. And in one of those swings, an opening appeared in front of them. They took the opportunity to slide through it, leaving their few belongings behind.
A new swing almost crushed them, but they got out in time from under the wagon, crawling as they could. There, they found a show that two children of seven should have never seen. Two huge bears with a horn on their heads were devouring the horses that had dragged the carriage. Three others were eating the bodies of the soldiers who had not managed to flee, and their mounts, while another looked for its prey inside the carriage, not knowing that they had just escaped from there.
They were paralyzed, in shock, being the girl the first to react and drag her brother into the forest, running through it to save their lives. But the bear that was looking for them heard the sound of their footsteps, so it ran after them.
The beast was much faster and soon reached them, but trying to pass between the same two trees that they did, it was trapped for a few moments, allowing them to regain some advantage. However, they were exhausted. Running with all their might had left them breathless.
They discovered a cave and entered, hoping to find a place to hide, small enough so that the bear could not get them. But they didn’t have the time to look for it, because their persecutor soon caught up with them again.
In desperation, they threw all the stones they found, but they couldn’t harm a level 30 being with only a few stones. The bears didn’t belong to those forests, but they had been expelled from their lands by males more powerful than them, and they were wandering in search of a new home.
The bear approached, sure it had caught its prey, but a spear pierced its back and a Burning Wall appeared between it and the frightened children. It turned, to find another spear has stabbed into its skin and burned it. It howled in rage before charging at the man who seemed to have come from nowhere to dispute its food.
Eldi had returned to the cave to continue exploring it, and was looking for other veins of ore. Thanks to the map, he knew exactly which parts he had explored and which parts he had yet to explore, so he had spent much of the day marking the veins for his assistant.
They weren’t too massive caves, so he finished during that afternoon and was taking a break before exploring the other cave, when the sounds of footsteps and screams alerted him.
He threw the rope again and went down it, to find a huge level 30 bear that had cornered two children. He didn’t hesitate, using Javelin twice in a row, in addition to a Burning Wall to protect the little ones. Then, he gripped his axe as the huge animal turned towards him.
His opponent was between 2 and 3 levels higher than him, but it wasn’t the first time he faced a being of a higher level. His biggest concern was to keep it away from the children, so, after dodging the bear’s onslaught, he quickly used Mole’s Power to form a defensive line between them and the animal, as well as several Earthen Walls to hide the traps.