When Maple awoke, Truth and Tiger were standing over her and looking at her, and being a little creepy in all honesty. Seeing that Maple was frightened, Tiger decided not to smack her. Neither did Truth. It would be too mean. Thats a least what Maple thought. She might’ve been wrong.

She got up and sat. Looking inquisitive at Truth and Tiger, she asked “What happened?”

“Truth hit you over the head with a rock,” Tiger said flatly.

“That I did,” he responded.

Maple squinted. Then squinted even more. What are they planning…

A silence followed.

Truth went to the river for a drink.

No one spoke. The silence was somewhat welcome, in a sense. It was relatively calm. But that wasn’t going to last. Silence was in Maple’s mind as well. She was at peace. No thoughts. Nothing. Not a word.

A cracking sound likened to a stick sounded through the cavers.

Crack crack… silence….

Maple and company froze in place listening. What is that sound? Maple thought. Is it another test? Or was it some monster that would be the bane of us all?

Then again crack crack…

Louder now.

Maple was defenseless. Maybe Truth as well as Tiger. Hapless little dragons not yet adults. She didn’t cower in fear though. It wouldn’t be honorable. And she needed to be honorable. Especially after Truth and Tiger found that she’d willingly conformed to the evil people’s ways.

A shadow was cast over them. Turning to look, Maple saw the bear. The bear was named Bjorn. She new that somehow. But she couldn’t speak bear. It just seemed apparent. But as these thought went through Maple’s head, the bear was barraling at Truth.

Knocked into the water, sputtering, Truth threw blind punches. None of them hit. The bear made a swing at his cheek. The attack had drawn blood. Then the next and the next and the next. Truth doged the fourth and counter-attacked, sending the bear into a greater frenzy.

Despite the fact that Truth was wounded, he fought well, but he couldn’t last long

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Maple charged at the bear. I must kill the bear, lest Truth die.

Floods of conflicting emotions flooded her brain as she head-butted the bear. This attack surprised the bear, leaving an opening. Taking the opertunity she forced the bear out of the water, where she Truth, and Tiger would stand more of a chance. But Truth slumps down on the river bank.

Meanwhile, Tiger staying in the sidegrounds, waiting for the bear to come near. The bear, dripping wet, then swatted at Maple. Seeing this, Tiger charged yelling. Doging an attack, he rolled uder the bear and started clawing the bear’s under-belly. The bear roared. But before the bear could no more, Maple ran and bit it’s neck.

Thump.

The bear’s body fell to the ground. It’s body went up high then down low. Up and down. Bjorn the bear roared angrily and made a swing at Maple. She grabbed it’s arm, stopping the attack. After a few minutes of futile wrestling, the bear lay dead.

Maple sat back and breathed heavily as Tiger exhaled his fire to finish the job. It was different seeing a child be somewhat murderous. Not extreamly murderous. Not in the least. But still, murdery is murdery.

Truth was lying on the bank on the river. He did not seem to notice Tiger and Maple walk up to him. Maple, concerned, felt his pulse. Thump. Thump. Thump. So he was alive. Was that a good thing? Or a bad thing? Maple thought that he was working against her. But did that mean he should die? Or was he just an innocent dragon forced to do these things?

She walked over to the maze, leaving Tiger to oversee Truth’s wellbeing. She turned it upside right. Her eyes darted from stop to spot. She peered into the crevices and even sniffed the maze. Nothing seemed to be odd.

Putting her claw in the entrance of the maze, she followed it left, right straight, U-turn. Dead end. Another dead end. It took her several dead ends to find something. It wasn’t big. But is was something.

Her finding excited her. It scared her as well. It was a bit of a prophecy. Though not as vague and more frightening.

She went to grab her satchel. Pulling a book and pencil from it, she thought on how she would word her findings. They were to bring fire.

Fire could be a good thing or a bad thing. Fire keeps you warm, helps meld and shape armor, but i can also destroy and kill. It had many other meanings that were either too wonderful or too horrible the be.

Looking behind her, she saw Truth asleep yet still. But it may have been night and was a normal time to sleep. Then again, any amount of time could have past when she was out. She grabber her ink and started to write. “Fire” and “come to life” were written out on the page. Her claw was tired, impart due to her writing and also due to the fight.

Taking out the book she had “borrowed” from the library before this venture, she continued reading. It was a while until she could share her findings with Truth and Tiger. Besides, after fighting a bear that was likely named Bjorn (for reasons still unclear of how she knew this), it was only right to take a break with a book a way to escape from all this madness. But she wished she had coffee. The fact that coffee was not in the cave made Maple sad.

Time passed slowly. It was quiet again. And cold. They also only had a few more torches to light their way. It was a matter of time before they needed to head back lest they find some dort of stash somewhere.

As she read, Maple fell asleep. Her dreams full of worry and doubt. It was wrong. The sleep, the cave, the cold and everything else. Nothing made sense. But she had to trust whoever was moving the pieces into position. It was a comforting and a horrifying thought at the same time. Was there an option? Maple didn’t know.