Leah’s POV
We left the cave over an hour ago in search of bears. We only need two more. Emalynn is keeping up my pace pretty well so far. I could smell a bear only a half a mile away. Excitement began to pump through my wolf blood. I may appear human, but the thrill of the hunt is drawing out my wolf instincts. I told Emalynn to spot me when we confronted the bear. She will aim for its eyes and throat. I want to make this fast because I have a feeling those bandits are closer than we thought.
Emalynn returned to my side giving me a nod. She spotted our prey just beyond the tree line. I felt my fangs poke through my human facade with excitement. This is the thrill of the hunt. I gave Emalynn a sign to go high in the branches as I crept behind the tall oak tree in front of me. My heartbeat quickens as I observe my prey from my perch. The bear has its back to me while eating blueberries, seeming so clueless to its unfortunate situation. I draw my sword and take a deep breath to keep my instincts at bay. I would much rather hunt as a wolf instead of a human or a wolf beast. Twenty years of shifting between forms, and I still have to remind myself that humans kill with weapons not claws and fangs. My plan is to have Emalynn hit the eyes as I aim for the throat. A fast and bloody death is in order for this bear after the last one injured my niece. A good kill will curb my frustration. This saber bear was smaller than one from earlier, so this fight should go smoothly if Emalynn is as good as Elias says. One more breath in. As I exhaled, I charged forward with my sword in hand.
Lightly, I treaded toward the bear. I know that he will smell my scent any minute, so I need to make my first strike count. The bears tipped upward, smelling the air. It’s now or never. I jumped, adding force to my wolf strength plunging my sword into the bear’s hip. Blood sprayed and oozed down his thick brown fur. A whimper rolled out of the bear’s mouth as his head shot back to look at me. I abandoned my sword buried in his hip and retreated toward the oak tree. The first blow was all mine. I grinned at my handy work. The bear was already moving slower.
Warning growls from the bear filled the gap between us as the bear sauntered toward me. The bear raised up on his haunches with one paw up to smack me away. I made a sudden choice to jump around the side of the bear. I sliced his uninjured leg with my blade as I ran by causing more blood to trickle down the bear’s fur. The bear howles falling down from his haunches. I know his anger is building as he turns to follow me. Thumping paws pounded the ground as the bear chased me. The injured bear is still faster than me in my human form, but I am enjoying our battle. I am an Alpha Huntress after all. The bear closed the distance between us and made a quick doge to the left causing the bear to go head first into the oak tree. I chuckled as the bear growled again. I love to hunt.
Another pass by the confused bear allowed me to slice the front leg allowing the bear to swat me away, sending me flying back into the berry bush. I started bleeding from the gashes on my arm. Ugh, now I have bear blood and my own blood all over. Ok, no more Mrs. Nice Wolf. The bear rested for a moment, licking his wounds. I pulled the sash from my waist to wrap my arm. It was a sloppy bandage, but I need to end this. Climbing up the nearest tree, the bear turned his attention back to me and started swiping at me. All right, let’s see if the little monkey is actually an archer. I signaled Emalynn to take a shot. Within a second, blood rushed down the bear's face. Emalynn hit her mark. A sly smile grew on my face as the bear pawed at its bleeding eye, leaving its neck partially exposed. In one flying leap, I stabbed the neck squirting blood all over my clothes. The bear fell to the ground with my second sword buried in its neck. One down, one to go.
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Emalynn dropped from the tree branches above with her bow drawn towards the fallen bear. I stood there watching this little gray, brown and white monkey poke at the catatonic bear. I couldn't help but laugh. This little monkey is a serious archer when she wants to be, but she is far from mature because even now Emalynn is playing with the dead bear's ears and laughing. So much for being serious. This girl would not last one day in the Elite Guard back home. I could not decide whether to praise or reprimand the girl. I let out a sigh. Watching this girl grow up with Rory, I could see her skills and her personality mature. I couldn’t help but be a little proud that Rory had chosen Emalynn as her best friend. Just then, the little gray, brown and white monkey grew into her snow white simian beast self.
“All done playing with our kill?” I smirked at Emalynn.
Emalynn blushed with embarrassment at Leah’s words. “I just wanted to be sure it was dead,” she frowned.
“It’s all right.” I gently patted Emalynn’s head. “You made a good shot, kid. Just don’t disrespect your kill in the future. A good huntress respects her prey.” Emalynn nodded. I pulled out my iron laced rope and walked over to the bear. The bear is still gushing blood from every injury we inflicted on it. “Let’s get this bear back to the cave.” We tied the bear tightly with the rope, so we could drag it back toward the road.
Two Hours Later
Together we dragged the bear toward the road over roots, around trees and sometimes through bushes. The brown fur of the bear was matted with dried blood and dirt from the forest floor. My strength is diminishing the closer we get to the road. It has been two hours of dragging this dead, now smelly carcass through the forest. During our break, Emalynn gathered berries and fresh water for Rory to have when she woke up. I could see how loyal Emalynn was to Rory. Maybe one day, we could trust Emalynn with our true forms. It would make these team jobs easier to use my actual strength and speed. I, also, picked more wood for our little fire to keep us warm.
Our added cargo has slowed us down considerably, and the rain has slowed again. This dang bear is heavy even with Emalynn’s help. If only this bear could float or sprout wheels, we would have reached the cave already. At this point, Emalynn is fading next to me from dragging the bear. My human hands are burning from the iron laced ropes. Suddenly, Emalynn fell to the ground, and I realized we would need to rest again. There is no place to hide close to us, which means we are easy pickings for bandits. “Let’s leave the bear. We can come back for it.” I said, helping Emalynn up. “We need to rest.”
“No, I can keep going. Just give me a minute.” Emalynn huffed as she tried to steady her legs. “We can do this. I helped Elias before, and I will help you now.”
“We can come back for it, Emalynn. It’s not going anywhere.” I argued. I admire her spirit, but this bear isn’t worth the danger. Emalynn is trying hard to complete this job, but that could get her killed. I scooped her up in my arms leaving the bear behind us. We still had about half a mile before reaching the main road. Emalynn started to shift out of my arms to go back for the beast when I heard a branch crack. Someone is following us and we almost lead them to the cave. A branch above us rattled, and I could see our stalkers.
This human handicap on my strength and speed is going to have to go if I want to protect Emalynn. I am going to have to trust her with my true form if we are going to get out of this alive, but that means all these bandits had to die. This means I get to have more than one kill today. I chuckled at the thought. This day just got a little bit better.