“I am sorry sir, but what is your full name?” The newly, post-teen, young man pipes up to me from desk in the main healers hall.
“John William Wollojek. We live in the tree reserve about half and hour outside the village.” My voice is like sandpaper and the world is looking a little dim. They did give me a tonic, and I do feel somewhat better. I did hope they would heal me fully, before asking questions, but maybe with bringing a bear to the village, I should expect the unexpected.
“Oh, I know your daughter. It would be great to have her here. Not sure much could survive if she decides to drop a rock on a beast horde.”
“Did you go to school with my daughter?” Fatherly instinct is something cultivated, and this little twat is not getting anywhere near my daughter.
“Yes…well, not actually sir. She was two classes ahead, but everyone at school knew her. The amazing Rock Goddess. I heard some of the nobles were trying to pry her with marriage proposals.” Ah, so he is one those. Apparently my daughter inherited her mother’s looks, and a penchant for attracting the wrong attention.
“Can we get the healing…err, Junior Healer?” I certainly don’t want to call him the Master Healer, but I suspect he is the only one on duty this morning.
“Ah, yes sir. Give me just a moment.” He scribbles for another 2 minutes before sighing and standing up. Coming over to the stone table, he gently places his hands on my shoulders.
“Umm. Ah. Right there, yep. Good. Good. It looks like you got hit by something heavy Mr. Wollojek. Yep, something big.” I would love to comment to his bedside manner, but the minute he put his hands on me, my body locks up. I can feel the foreign essence flowing through my body. Foreign essence is never pleasant, but this love-sick puppy has only passable skill. It feels like every muscle is getting ripped to shreds.
“Oh, well look at that. You have a small problem with your lower spine. Going to fix that while I have you here.” More pain…and I piss myself. Not much I can do here, between the foreign essence and the pain, I have no control over my body.
“Oh, don’t worry about that Mr. Wollojek, happens all the time.” Dam right it does if you are this brutal with your skills. Dammit I need to pass out, but if I do, what will happen to Harry. He needs to run, whether he is a Strong or…something else, he needs to get the hell away from here.
“Just a bit more…oh look at that, your left hip has some damage as well. Just a bit more.” I shit myself and blackout.
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When I awake, I am in a hard wooden bed. I have to keep my daughter away from that psycho. No one should have to go through that much pain. I have had broken ribs before, fixing them hurts, but never like that.
Looking around, I am in the Healing Halls recover room. I slowly shift my weight to the side and swing my legs over the side of the bed. I need to get out of here and back to Harry.
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Just as I am about to stand, Village Commander Willicks strides into the room.
“Mr. Wollojek, I am sorry to see you here. Are you fully healed?” I would love to say no, but considering I am sitting on the edge of the bed probably indicates the contrary.
“Yes, commander. The young healer did a number on me, but I think I will live.” The commander grimaces a bit after I said young healer, so I suspect he has been under that butchers ministrations before.
“Ah, good. He is young, and a promising candidate from the Duke’s second sister. He should learn in time.” So he is a noble…and probably the one looking to marry my daughter. Nope, not going to happen.
“Now, back on topic…your young son. He was going to do his tuning today?”
“Yes, he turned seven this past month, but we couldn’t get time to get to the village before now.”
“You didn’t take the village road to the reserve?” His questions are either really suspicious or just informational. There isn’t a crime here, so go with the truth…maybe?
“No, I wanted to do a loop through the outer tree holdings to see if there was something worth getting. The trip took about 3 hours, looping up to the valley split and then back down.” Truth, fastest way to get to my boy.
“Wow, that is a loop, but I guess that is normal for work. Freshly cut trees hold more essences after all. Now when did you first encounter the light bear?”
“Ah…we stopped for lunch at the black ledge field. It’s not too far out, and the ledge is a nice place to eat. We were just finishing our meal when the world went quiet and bear appeared at the edge of the field.” I can still remember the sight. This whole day has been marked with me losing control of my bowels.
“Did it charge you, or…how did it approach you Mr. Wollojek?” He is scribbling in a small notebook right now. The leather cover is broken and uncared for. The pages look like they are not glued in, but can be replaced via string. The odd part is that he is writing at an extreme angle. Maybe he doesn’t have any free space on the page.
“Ah, well…see, we saw it…and I was able to keep my boy quiet, and we crawled our way back down the ledge and away to the opposite side of the field. We almost made it, and then the bear was just there. I stood up and started to fling darts at it, telling my boy to run at the same time…but the bear didn't even flinch. The darts did nothing. I hit his eyes, nose, tongue…nothing. It would have been more effective to kiss the thing. By this time, the bear swung his arm, batting me away…my boy froze and the bear just walked up and touched his forehead. I am not sure what happened after that. The earth essences in the field went crazy, and both the bear and my boy lit up like two candles. After that, I couldn’t move…well, the bear gave me a growl if I moved too much. I don’t know what happened between them. My boy is not a Strong, but I have never heard of Parities getting a bond…or it’s very rare…but they are usually small animals, not a bear. How does that happen?” I purposely push the idea that my boy is not a Strong. I need to keep everyone calm, or else I will never see my boy again. Who am I kidding, I don’t think I will ever see him again with a bond like that. The military are probably pulling up new battle plans just based on the bear.
“Ah, ok. Did the bear show any hostile intent after the bonding?”
“No, but…” I am not sure I should tell him that the bear can talk to my son. Maybe it doesn’t matter. Maybe there are bonds that have tea and cookies all the time with their bonds. This is really out of my sphere of knowledge. My daughter would know. Might be a good idea to get them together. I need to talk privately with my son.
“But, ‘what’, Mr. Wollojek?”
“Well, I am not really sure if this is common or not…but my son can talk to the bear.” The commander looks at me…then begins to cross out things all over his notebook.
“I assume if you are feeling better, you would like to join your son. Correct?”
“Yes, he is just a young boy. I am not sure he can handle this alone…well, even with the bear as a guardian.”
“Good. Come with me Mr. Wollojek, The Ducal officers have arrived and I think we will all want to have a conversation.”
Commander Willicks helps me up and I begin my shuffle over to a stack of my freshly cleaned clothes. I need to think quickly. If the Ducal officers are here, I am not sure how Harry is going to get out of here without a fight.