“Mr. Wollojek, as we approach your son, we will be fanning out in a fairly large semi-circle. We need you go ahead of us, and keep your boy calm. We should be far enough away to not enrage the bear, but if your boy feels threatened, it’s possible the bear will pick up on that…if they are truly bonded.”

“Ah, yes sir…ah, Marshall sir. I will try my best. I do still feel this seems a bit over-exaggerated, but I have had more time with the bear.”

“That’s fine, that’s fine. We just need to get a dialog going to access the true threat. With the Strong beast a couple hours out, we need to prevent a clash between the two here. Just the ancillary damage could level the village.” And according to my personal scout, we have a high level earth Strong coming. Not enough to endanger the village if everyone is prepared and behind the walls, but enough to cause some significant to walls, and maybe some of those manning those walls. We can’t handle the beast in the open field, so I think getting the boy and…well, his bond…into the village might work. Assuming the bear is as tame at the father seems to think.

“Sir, we are about to come on the field.”

“Yes, Commander Willicks, head back into the village and get preparations ready for the earth Strong. Hopefully the prep for the bear should allow you plenty of time.” With that I walk with Commander Willicks back down the path to rear gate and whisper, “On the first sign the bear is going to attack, or does attack…ring the bell, evacuate the village. I left my people running the transport pads, tell the old bitty in charge she is to remain for 10 minutes after the last transport…no longer.”

“Yes, sir.”I can see the hopelessness in his eyes.

“Don’t worry Commander. This could be nothing more than a training drill by the end of the day.” With a consoling pat in the Commander’s arm, I turn around and head back to my team. I have no idea what is going to happen, but like my old Commander used to say, “If you don’t know what to do, fake it. It will only make things worse if they think otherwise.”

As I approach the group, I can see my scouts staring out past the rear gate.

“Lieutenant Wallace, what’s up, you are looking in the direction of the Strong or the bear?”

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“I don’t know sir.There was a huge spike in the air essences behind the village, but they settled a bit.There seems to be some sort of essence masking going on.If we were on the front lines of a war, I would think that someone has used an untethered transport into a position behind us, and is using a Weak air to forcibly settle the essences.Then again, it could just be a flare up from minor beasts.They could befeeling the Strong coming in and are pushing out of their normal territories.”

It could be beasts. It could also be one of the Duke’s rivals…but I don’t think they have the people for an untethered transport. The King usually holds people of that level of control and power. So, it could also be the King. His goals are probably informational. With his connections, he probably already knows about an event here…and he wants more information for his Shadow Master.

“Ok Lieutenant, let’s not focus there. We are only likely to see help coming from that area…or nothing at all. Focus on the earth Strong.” I weight the words to indicate the fishy nature, but I don’t want him to spend time on those types of people.”

“Ah, yes sir. On that sir, the Strong is picking up pace.”

“Picking up pace? When did this start?”

“Soon after the essence spike. I think it sensed the spike as well, and is heading in for a challenge.” Great, just great. Just another complication amongst other complications.

“Ok, doesn’t change the approach, just steps up the timeline. Mr. Wollojek, lead us in. The rest of you, fan out…and keep it way out.” The few that can see light essence are already nervous. The unknown can do that, but let’s hope distance will keep the tension down.

I can see Mr. Wollojek quickly moving away from us. I am not even sure he waited for me to tell him to go.

As we make our way into the open field, it’s just me, Mr. Wollojek, and the Lieutenant. We all pause for a moment as we take stock of what is before us. The bear is sitting on his rump, facing the boy with eyes closed. The boy, in turn, is sitting cross-legged facing the bear. This I had seen when I reviewed the situation from the tower upon arriving. What I hadn’t seen at the time was intense glow of light essence.

Light essence is not part of my attunement, so the glow that is cascading down from the top of boy’s head to the ground, indicates a density even a Strong would be envious of. Then add in the hair of the boy…it’s glowing at the tips like the bear. He is at least a Strong. Considering his age, when the capacity for essence is lessened, he will be a monster as he grows older.

I think the father has picked this up as well. From the nervous twitching, I can see him working to save his son from a Strong’s life. This I have seen before, when the individual is young, the influence of the essence is minimal, but as he grows through puberty, its too much. They need guidance from a young age or they will break…and have to be broken in turn.

As the father walks up, he calls to his son…and as he does so, the closed eyes of the bear open.The eyes are just pouring out essence like they are the sun themselves.This is not a Strong.This is an avatar of light.

The father takes two more steps, and the bear shakes his head back and forth…almost human like. The father freezes, unsure what to do. We thought we could communicate to the son, but if the son is gathering essence, or sleeping, or something, then we can only wait.

The father looks back to me with a helpless expression. I look between the bear and the father and decide to sit down as well. Even with the earth Strong approaching, this can not be forced…unless someone else can talk in bear.