Sweeter than honey, high in the treetops.
Sweeter than flowers, down in the valley.
Sweeter than the berries that you offered me.
You are the sweetest my baby bear.
Lullaby of the Bear Beast- Folk.
{Fastos Gon Vestos. Quick}
The next day I started my crops. It was late in the season, but I should be able to make enough to keep us in Mama Meals through the winter. It made me smile every time I thought of that. If only I could tell Keven, Matfa or any of the others from my unit. Thinking about them didn’t do me any favors. I had to stop and look around as I counted to four and breathed. Best let those thoughts stay in the past. Thinking too much about them would give me nightmares. I felt something tug at my pant leg and looked down to see Willow. She was pointing at my hoe. “My turn.” She said proudly. I leaned back and laughed hard. Little one was worth every copper. I didn’t know how much I would have paid, but healing like I did would cost seventy silver. They both didn’t cost that much, but to me they were worth a lot. Willow was able to help with the small gardening shovel thing. I needed to learn the names of things if I was to use them. My family were not famers. About halfway through the day, I fix lunch for the four of us. I was tired so we had Mama Meals and Willow got the spicy cheese one. She liked it up until the point when the spice hit her. It made me laugh. The spice wouldn’t hurt her, but she swore she didn’t want that one again. When she and Betty were fed and happy, I sent them out. Moving the bunny to the edge of the bed, I put a bucket under her.
“Darlin, I’m sorry for this one. It will hurt. I will try to make it quick.” I took a good sharp knife and cut the shoulder where her arm had been until it was ready, doing my best to control the blood and pain. Some did slide down and the bunny was crying. It broke my heart but needed to be done. My magic went into her, and the arm began to grow. I stopped the bone at the elbow. Didn’t think I had the mana to fix the whole arm. That would take the mana of a dragon and at least three or more healers. This healing would have to be done in stages. Next the nerves and veins, then the muscle and flesh. It took me far too long and I nearly passed out doing that. I would have to go slower with the others. Didn’t think I had lost that much of my knack. Well, it had been some time since the war. Making sure the cloth was warm, I cleaned the bunny and covered her back up, putting her back in the bed. I moved the pillows and her body so she could sit up and look out of the window. Hope this would make her happy. “You are doing good Darlin. Just keep fightin.” I said brushing her cheek. Maybe Willow would like to brush the bunny’s hair tonight?” I lay in my own bed feeling weak as a kitten. It would take two days before I could work on her some more. Doing ears is easy, but bones, thick muscle and all the things in an arm takes a lot of mana.
Willow came in near sunset and I fixed us all a stew and fed the bunny. Willow was happy to brush the bunny and I hoped this made both of them smile. Tonight, would be slightly cold, but Betty would keep the women warm. The big puppy had claimed Willow. It warmed my heart.
About a month passed and my crops were coming in nicely. Betty and Willow had become best of friends and Willow had been learning to ride Betty. I had healed to the knees and elbows on the bunny, but she had not said anything or moved. Iffen she didn’t cry, I’d worry she wasn’t in there. That being said, she was looking healthier. Her and Willow had both put on some meat. I swear those slavers were allergic to feeding people. The monsters kept away, and I didn’t have to do much more than hunt, plant and heal. Willow asked to come along, and I agreed so long as she stayed on Betty. She was riding on Betty now, her long hair tied back and wearing a rough dress of animal hide. It should help hide her scent, but little ones like her needed softer stuff. Maybe when things get better, I could make a run into town for some proper clothes for the women. Willow stayed quiet as we moved and turned her head with Betty. It was almost like the girl could talk with the dire wolf. We moved around and I looked at the tracks on the trail. “Large winter elk about an hour ago.” I whispered. Both wolf and girl nodded. No clue who was mimicking whom. Betty turned her head and Willow pointed. About a hundred yards out was a nice big buck. Fur white as winter, long yellow antlers with a blue nose. Frost gathered around his hooves as he leaned over to eat the grass. I put a finger to my lips as we slowly stocked forward. Willow and Betty behind me. Just a bit closer and I could try with my bow. The elk kept eating and we moved even closer. Fifty yards and still not a sign that he had seen us. We were down wind and to my joy Betty was taking commands better than she ever had before. Willow’s eyes were wide as she watched the buck. Sorry darling, this may be hard to watch. I raised the bow and aimed. Still no response from the elk. I looked up just as my arrow flew. Just behind its Betty ran with all she had, Willow clinging to her, a huge smile on both wolf and girl's faces. My arrow hit true to its heart followed by Betty who grabbed it around the neck and shook hard making sure the beast didn’t suffer. I expected Willow to be sad or upset, but she was happy.
“Darlin, you know why we had to do this?” I asked. She turned to me and beamed.
“We kill, we eat.” She said happy, the elk still in Betty’s jaws.
“Right, all life demands death, that is the order of things. That being said, don’t go lookin to kill. You kill, you eat. Got it.” I may have been slightly harsh with that, but the girl needed to learn.
“Right.” she said still smiling.
“Do we eat people?” I asked.
Stolen story; please report.
“No, but if they are bad, we can stop them.” I reached up and ruffled the girl's hair making her giggle. “What about monsters?” She asked.
“Iffen you can get away, get away. Iffen it is you or them, I’d rather you be the one alive.” My eyes may have been a bit dark as I counted to four and tried to breathe. Into the count of four, hold for four and breathe out to the count of four. Maybe I was the one not ready for today.
“Does this mean I can hunt with Betty?”
“No, not until you are older. I want to make sure you come back safe every time.”
“I love you, Daddy.” she said jumping into my arms.
“I love you too Darlin.” Her tail was wagging, and I noticed Betty was looking over at me, the buck still in her jaws. “And I love you, you overgrown puppy.” This made Betty’s tail wag nearly sweeping me off my feet when it hit me. “Smack me with that tail all you like, but don’t lose that buck. That is supper.” I growled. We took it back and I cleaned, skinned and chopped it up. It was a lot of work to make something like that easy to eat and I wished I had help, but that would come in time.
{Willow Vestos}
She was lying in bed holding Mama. It had been a long time since her and Daddy had gone hunting. The smell of something had woken her, but she wasn’t sure what. She looked around and saw that Betty was awake. Betty was telling her to stay, her fur was up and eyes on Daddy’s bed. He was tossing and turning. She could smell the fear coming off him. What was he scared of? Was he having a bad dream? Then the thunder clapped, and Willow tucked into Mama. She hated thunderstorms. Did Daddy hate thunderstorms too? She had been here for a long time, but this was the first time she had seen Daddy like this. She wanted to go to him and give him a big hug to make the nightmare go away. It helped her when he did that. She got up and walked to the edge of the bed. Betty growled at her putting her back to Willow. It was like the big wolf was saying “Not safe, stay.” Willow trusted Betty and went back to Mama. The thunder clapped again and again. Willow’s ears were back, and her tail puffed up. She didn’t like this. Daddy was scared, Mama was frozen and even Betty wouldn’t leave her spot. Betty had told Willow that Daddy was not safe right now. He tossed and let out a muffled scream in his sleep. Willow started to cry not sure what else to do. She just wished Daddy would wake up so he could stop hurting. Something moved and started petting her head and she looked up to see Mama. Her eye was open, and she looked blankly out but blinked. Then there was a strange sound. It was like the bathroom noise Mama would make, but this time softer. It changed into a hum, and it made Willow feel better as she moved up to hug Mama’s chest. Papa had healed Mama to the point where Mama now had one hand. The other arm was still a stump ending at the wrist and looked weird. The stump hugged Willow and she sighed. Mama was hugging her for the first time. It made her want to cry and as only Betty was looking, she let herself cry. Mama’s hum got stronger, and words started to come out. Willow couldn’t make them out but was just happy that Mama cared about her. The smell coming from Daddy changed and his thrashing slowed.
“Dry your eyes.” Mama said weakly. It was like her voice wasn’t working right. Maybe Daddy could heal that in the morning. “My little bunny babe.” Willow wasn’t a bunny but didn’t care. She was just happy Mama was here with her. “Little bunny babe.” Mama’s scent told Willow that she was happy, and this made Willow very happy. Mama pulled her into a big hug and stroked her hair until she fell asleep.
{Fastos Gon Vestos. Quick}
We had been ordered to attack the third outpost of the demon army. This was going to be an easy win, but people would die. Keven was by my side, and I looked around at the other troops and smiled. Then the ground shook. My eyes went wide as I saw a mountain move. What we thought had been an outpost started to rise up. It was a behemoth pretending to be an outpost. Not sure how the demons had gotten it here or talked it into working with them, but I didn’t care. It rose up, one hundred feet in the air. Like a huge turtle walking on six legs as larger than any building I had ever seen. Our seven Knights ran forward and started hacking at its legs and Richordous started using his knives to climb up the side of one leg. The monster didn’t even see them It was like an ant attacking a cow. If Knights were like ants standing thirty-five feet tall, what was I to it at only six feet off the ground. Then it turned to look at us. Six eyes turned to focus on me. Bright glowing red with orange flecks making it look like the pits of all the hells there could ever be. Iffen I had my senses, I may have needed a change of pants, but my mind was too far gone just looking into the eyes of death itself. Then it leaned back and roared at us. I was blown back by its breath alone and that may have been the only thing that saved me as spikes of molten stone flew over my head. Some of my friends didn’t make it, missing bits of arms, legs and even a head rolled past me. It was Matfa. He had been smiling just a moment ago and now his lifeless head just looked up at me. How could we win? Then I heard the sound of ballista's twang. Maybe one could land a lucky shot. I looked over the lip of my hiding hole and saw them bounce off the shell. One flew towards me, and Keven pushed me hard to the side. I looked back to thank him and inwardly screamed.
“Keven.” I called out. A ballista bolt had pinned him to the ground taking a large chunk of his chest. “Heart gone, lungs gone, spine severed. Fatal thirty-two seconds.” I said coldly, my training kicking in. Keven just looked at me and smiled. He was trying to say something, but I couldn’t understand him. I looked around for others to heal. Davos was there and he was missing an arm. “Missin arm. Blood loss in five minutes thirteen seconds.” I put a hand on it and sealed everything off. “Fixed, move on.” Next to him was Godos. “Missin lower half. Fatal, five seconds.” Move on. It went on and on like this, heal who you can and keep moving. Another roar sounded and I had to see what was happening. The ground shook and I looked up to see Richordous dive into the side of the monster. He had used his Knight to carve into the side of the monster and had started working his way in. It wouldn’t work, they couldn’t take on something like this. It was all so hopeless. I started crying and I didn’t know if I’d ever stop. Then a sound came to me. It was a soft humming. The battlefield froze and I looked around at all my dead friends. Each one faded before my eyes. The humming got stronger, and I turned. I was no longer at Forge Rock; I was in a field. The bunny was there, and she was whole, sitting under a tree. Willow was sleeping at her side. The bunny patted her lap and I walked to her. “Dry your eyes.” Her soft voice seemed to chase the battle from my mind. It was just so beautiful. “My little bunny babe.” It was the song that the bunnies would sing to their children at night in the camps. I lay down, resting my head in her lap and she reached up stoking my face the way I had done to her so many times to let her know I was done. The pain would stop here. My heart slowed and I sighed fading into a better sleep.