Thus far in all its’ fights, the tactics of You-Who-Are-Not-Bear has been pretty standard. It will roar, charged, knocked down the enemy, swipe at the downed enemy, and then bit his head off. It’s a tactic that had always worked…till now.

As You-Who-Are-Not-Bear charged at the group of humans, Boss stepped forward to face it. The hive was surprised. This was the first time its’ roar had failed but the spirit that was You-Who-Are-Not-Bear did not let surprise stop it. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear plowed on with the charge.

Without a way to stop the spirit bear in front of him, Boss sidestepped the creature as it charges past. His sword flashed and Boss could feel his blade biting deep into the body of the spirit bear. However there was no blood as the bear was all spirit and not flesh and blood. It was something that gave the human pause.

By the time Boss recovered, You-Who-Are-Not-Bear had already reached one of the hunters. Struck to his place, the hunter was knocked down but instead of scrambling to get up, he rolled with the fall. The roll moved the fallen hunter slightly away from You-Who-Are-Not-Bear and the spirit had to take a step to reach the hunter again. That step was enough to save the hunter’s life.

Once again, Boss shouted an incomprehensible word before becoming a blur. He was on You-Who-Are-Not-Bear is a flash. His sword flashed once again and cut You-Who-Are-Not-Bear across the back. The spirit bear cried out and attempted to swipe at the human. Boss stepped back and his speed ensured You-Who-Are-Not-Bear hit nothing but empty air. The fallen hunter rolled to his feet and jumped back, releasing an arrow in mid-jump. The arrow found it’s mark on the spirit’s bear body.

By now, the effect of the roar was over and the rest of the humans could move again. The human with the 2-handed sword stepped forward with Boss to face the spirit bear while the rest of the humans arrayed behind the duo. One of the hunters immediately knelt and laid down something on the ground while the human with the two short swords was flanking You-Who-Are-Not-Bear. One moment the human was with the group, and the next moment he became a shadow and was behind You-Who-Are-Not-Bear.

The hive now noticed the problem with facing multiple enemies. Although You-Who-Are-Not-Bear was stronger, it was outnumbered and worse; was being outmaneuvered. Faced with the problem, You-Who-Are-Not-Bear roared once again. This time though, several of the humans managed to withstand the effect of the roar. The hive quickly noticed the human with the two short swords was not one of them. He was rooted to the spot. As a hive, You-Who-Are-Not-Bear knew the human’s condition the moment the hive did. The spirit bear turned and charged. As luck would have it, the charge took You-Who-Are-Not-Bear away from Boss and the human leader could only cry out a warning.

It was not enough.

You-Who-Are-Not-Bear knocked the human down and much like the hunter, the human tried to roll with the knockdown. It would have worked too but for the simple fact that the roll caused the human to move within range of the forgotten wolves. The last two remaining adult wolves moved in to protect the pups and pounced on the human. The humans tried to help their fallen comrade but were stopped by You-Who-Are-Not-Bear.

Faced with the spirit bear, the human Jundal cast another spell. This time an ice spike shot out from his hand. However the human was not aiming at You-Who-Are-Not-Bear, the spike flew and hit one of the wolves, knocking it away from the fallen human. The force of the spike was so strong the wolf was impaled on one of the walls of the room. The fallen human turned on the ground and stabbed the remaining wolf with his short sword. The wolf gave a short cry and then fell dead onto the ground. The injured human then tried to get up but stopped and fell back onto the ground. His injuries were too severe.

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Seeing the last of their protectors dead, the pups ran from the room. Squeezing between the bars, they ran down to the second floor as You-Who-Are-Not-Bear finished off the injured human with its claws. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear then turned back to face the remaining humans who he discovered had retreated from the spirit bear. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear understood the danger it faced. With their arrows and magic, the humans could attack it without any danger. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear moved forward to close the distance and a loud click sounded.

You-Who-Are-Not-Bear looked at its’ feet and noticed something had snapped onto one of its’ paws. The spirit bear was struck. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear noticed that several of these contraptions were lying around the room and the hive remembered the hunter who had knelt on the ground when the fight started. These…things must have been placed by that hunter!

“It’s trapped!” Boss shouted. “Range attacks now!”

The humans needed no further invitations. Jundal started to cast spells of fire and ice, the two hunters shot arrows and even the hairless human got into the act. A white halo appeared above You-Who-Are-Not-Bear and a beam of light shot down striking the spirit bear. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear felt it’s energy disappearing and for the first time, the hive realized it could lose to the humans.

When the hive first came to all those months ago, it had first known fear because of the human hunter. Since creating You-Who-Are-Not-Bear however, it had believed itself to be safe. It had thought You-Who-Are-Not-Bear would be enough to face off any danger the world threw at it. The hive now knew it had been mistaken. It had been very mistaken!

In rage and fear, You-Who-Are-Not-Bear roared once again and pulled its’ paws from the trap. The humans were expecting it to charge but it didn’t. Instead, it swiped at the two leading human. With his superior speed, Boss dodged the strike but the human with the 2-handed sword was knocked back. A path cleared in front of the spirit bear. It charged straight to the hairless human that had hurt it the most.

The human opened his arms apart, shouted a word and a barrier appeared around him. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear charged straight at the barrier but the charge never reached the hairless human. The barrier held. The spirit bear then rose up and slammed its’ front paws against the barrier, but it held once again. Boss and the human with the 2-handed sword then came from behind and pierced their swords into the spirit bear. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear cried out but by now it had mostly forgotten about the rest of the humans. It rose up, higher than ever, and slammed its’ paws onto the barrier once again. This time it broke.

A bright light engulfed the room as the barrier broke apart and everyone was momentary blinded by it. Everyone expect for You-Who-Are-Not-Bear! The hive could sense almost everything that happens within the tunnels and what the hive knew, so did You-Who-Are-Not-Bear. As the humans were still adjusting their sight, You-Who-Are-Not-Bear swiped hairless human onto the ground and bit into him.

Arrows flew but that did not stop the spirit bear. It kept on the attack till the human with the 2-handed sword stepped up and raised his sword above him. The sword swept down onto the spirit bear’s neck, almost taking the head of You-Who-Are-Not-Bear clean off. The spirit bear slumped onto the ground. That was it. The fight was finally over!

Then, before the humans could get their breath back, the body of the spirit bear began to glow even brighter. The light spread out slightly before condensing onto itself. The green light condensed to one point and a small green crystal appeared. The crystal dropped to the ground and it’s discovery would change the world.