Chapter 99: 86. Unbearable

Omen: 1, 9

“Heave!”

“Ho!”

The porters, who were cousins that appeared to be twins, dropped their palanquin.

“You’ve finally returned!” Jeremy, also known as Remy, said.

“Our prayers were successful,” Jeremiah, also known as Jeremy, said.

“Did you pray for my safe return or the gold in my pockets?” Adam asked, shaking their hands.

“That’s right,” the pair said, before laughing.

Adam smiled. “Good. Now, let me introduce you to the party. This is, as you know, my brother Jurot. These are the most magnanimous Kitool, and the most… Jaygak.” Adam leaned in to whisper. “Be careful, she’s not human.”

“We know,” Remy said. “She’s an Iyrman.”

Jeremy nodded, enthusiastically shaking their hands. “It’s our blessing to porter for three Iyrmen.” He gave a look to Remy, who smiled and nodded in return.

‘We’re definitely not dying today.’

“Well then, shall we?” Adam asked, motioning a hand towards the main road. 

“Sorry about Nobby,” Remy said. “He had some family business to attend to.”

“It’s alright,” Adam said, nodding his head, smiling slightly. ‘Let’s hope he’s doing alright.’ He chuckled lightly.

They went to the bakery, where Jurot placed down the basket to one side. 

“Are you here for your prework bread?” she asked.

“That’s right,” Adam said.

“Didn’t you just come back yesterday?”

“That’s right,” Adam said. “We’re going to be slaying a few bears today.”

Kitool and Jaygak were staying near the sides, glancing at the bread, before they noted the posture Jurot had taken. They glanced between Jurot and Pam, before catching each other’s eyes. Jaygak smirked playfully, but Kitool shook her head. 

Jurot paid for the bread and the group all ate the jam buns.

“So you do this every time you quest?” Jaygak asked, noting the looks she was getting from the people around. At first they were terrified, quickly stepping aside, but noting her tattoos, the people quickly calmed.

“Every time,” Adam said. “It’s our prework ritual. Our post work ritual too.”

Jaygak nodded. “It’s a good ritual,” she said, licking her lips.

“Thank you,” Adam said, smiling.

Jurot and Kitool took the lead, helping one another in order to track their prey. Jaygak and Adam kept an eye out, leaving the two to track.

“It’s a lovely day, isn’t it?” Adam said, looking up at the clear sky. 

Jaygak nodded. “The summers are hotter to the south, but they get pretty good around these lands too.”

“I don’t like the heat too much,” Adam admitted. “I’m much more used to clouds and rain.”

“Where are you from?”

“The Greylands,” Adam said. 

“Oh, you’re from the Greylands?” Jaygak asked, her eyes flashing with surprise, before she narrowed her eyes.

“No. That’s a real place?”

“Yes,” she said, still eyeing Adam up. “It’s near where my people are from.”

“Oh.”

“Bears,” Jurot said.

“Three,” Kitool said, glancing at the ground. “Black.”

Jurot nodded his head, but motioned towards another set of tracks. “One brown.”

“Black bears will be simple to deal with,” Kitool said. 

“The brown…” Jurot stared at the prints before glancing to Adam. “We can deal with it. Brown bear first.”

Kitool wasn’t going to go against Jurot’s words, not after seeing Adam dispatch Amokan and Timojin with alacrity.

Jurot led the way, with Kitool following behind, switching from assisting him in tracking to keeping an eye out instead. Jaygak and Adam remained with the porters, who were in between them and the pair of Iyrmen. 

Jurot stopped, noting the direction of the wind, and began to circle around the area. The porters silently placed their palanquin down before following, until the Iyrman raised his hand, motioning for them to stop. 

“We’re close,” Jurot whispered. 

He placed his hands on the porter’s shoulders, motioning to the nearby trees. They had their hands on their javelins. 

“Stay back, on guard,” Adam whispered. “More bears? Scream. Run to us.”

“Away?” Jeremy motioned back towards where they had come from.

Adam pointed to the three Iyrmen around, and Jeremy and Remy nodded. The safest place in this forest was near the trio of Iyrmen and the half elf. 

Jurot led them forward, having donned his shield. The others had equipped themselves too, with the porters clutching their spears. They didn’t want to leave their palanquin, but they understood it wasn’t a good idea to take it with them.

Jurot and Kitool glanced to one another and nodded, raising a hand back towards the others. Jaygak stayed back, behind the porters, since her armour jingled too loudly. 

Stealth 
D20 + 1 = 10 (9)

The bear grunted and looked over towards Adam, in his shiny silvery purple puthral armour. 

“Oh,” Adam said, his fingers gripping tight around his blade. “Hello there.”

The bear snarled towards Adam, the large brown mass easily towering over him, but it screamed in pain as an axe sank deep into it’s hind leg, and a dart struck it in its side. It turned to see Jurot, shield up, face red, flaming axe in hand.

Battle Order
D20 + 1 = 12 (11)

Jurot knew the brown bears, and he understood they needed to kill it quickly. However, there was a moment of hesitation as he raised his shield and brought his axe down across the creature’s hind leg again, deepening its wound. The bear roared in pain as he dug into it, deepening its wound. He would have swung more wildly, but there was something which seized his heart for a moment.  

A staff struck it across its jaw as Kitool landed beside it, spinning her staff around before striking its side with her knee, bringing her staff up to defend herself against it. 

The brown screeched in pain, and wildly struck her with its claws. Kitool brought her staff to meet the blow, but it tore right through her stomach as though she was a piece of paper, blood spilling onto the floor, her guts torn apart. She fell, seconds from dying.

“Kitool!” Jaygak cried from afar. 

It snapped its might jaws against Jurot’s shield. Jurot stumbled backwards, having not expected Kitool to fall so instantly. Her body was quickly growing cold, turning near pale from the mortal wound.

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Mana: 8-> 7
Spell: Healing Word
D3 + 3 = 5 (2)

“Get up Kitool!” Adam shouted, feeling the magic coursing through him, before it took to the woman, knitting her wounds shut. 

Attack (Flanking)
D20 + 8 = 26 (18)
Hit!
1D6 + 2D6 + 5 = (2)(4, 5)
16 damage!

Adam leapt into the fray, his white blade in hand. He charged at the large bear’s side, bringing his blade down across its chest, causing blood to spray over his shield. His blade, flashing white hot for a moment, was full of liquid crimson as the bear slumped before him. 

“Kitool!” Jaygak shouted skidding down beside the woman. 

Kitool coughed up blood, gasping for air as her eyes flashed open, wide. Her face was covered in sweat, pale, and for once her face was full of emotion. She continued to gasp for breath as she reached down to her torn, bloody clothing, feeling the flesh which had been torn apart not moments ago. 

“Are you alright?” Adam asked, dropping to a knee beside her, reaching down to hold her hand.

Mana: 7 -> 6
Spell: Cure Wounds
1D6 + 3 = 7 (4)

Quickly the colour in her skin returned, and though she was still panting for air and covered in sweat, she wasn’t on the verge of dying. 

“I’m alive,” she said, blinking wildly. She swallowed, quickly gathering her bearings, inhaling deeply before letting out a soft exhale. “Thank you, Adam.”

“Any time,” he said, smiling. “How are you feeling?”

“I am okay,” she said, nodding her head. ‘I almost died. If the wound had been just a little deeper…’

“Let’s stick to black bears for now,” Adam said. “One unlucky hit from a black bear we can handle. One unlucky hit from a brown bear, I’m not sure I can bring you back from that.” He glanced back at the porters. “Or you.”

The porters glanced between one another and nodded their heads. 

“I can’t say I disagree,” Jeremy said.

“Me neither,” Remy agreed.

Jaygak hugged her friend tight. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I wasn’t able to do anything.”

Kitool hugged Jaygak. She had no strength in her legs, still thinking about what had happened. One moment she was at the height of her power, the next moment, she was almost dead. ‘So this is why father didn’t want me to leave so soon…’

Victory!
Brown Bear
+50XP

Adam stared at the experience he had gained. ‘Seriously? This is way harder than making magical weapons…’

Kitool gathered herself during the next hour as Jurot parted the brown bear, before helping the porters load it into the palanquin. 

“Should we head back?” Adam asked. “I don’t mind ending the day here.” 

Kitool noted Adam glance towards her. “I am fine to continue.”

“We can continue,” Jurot said.

“If everyone else thinks so, then let’s do it,” Jaygak said.

Adam then glanced to the porters. “What do you think?”

“As long as you pay us well, we don’t mind,” Remy said, nodding his head. 

“Alright, let’s go,” Adam said.

“Heave!”

“Ho!”

Kitool, who had calmed down from her near death experience, kept an eye out as Jurot led them away. He found the black bear tracks with ease, and followed them, leading the rest of the party. 

He had been too busy to think when he was butchering the brown bear, and though he was busy with tracking, he was thinking about what had happened. Kitool, right beside him, falling so easily. 

It wasn’t just Kitool falling which bothered him, but the fact that he hesitated against it. 

‘Fear?’ Jurot thought. He had faced Balrog with no fear, charging forward to strike the man. Adam had promised him one hit, and he had managed it. Balrog was a mightier foe than the brown bear, and yet, when it came to the brown bear, he failed to strike as eagerly as he should have.

He had been too deep in thought, and had accidentally walked in to see three black bears, each beginning to stand onto all fours as they noted the approaching strangers. Yet it was one of them which had caused them to shudder. 

Jurot, with his axe in hand, gritted his teeth. His entire body filled with hot red rage, the veins in his arms popping. ‘Me? A son of the Rot family fearing bears? How dare you shame me this way!’

Without hesitation, he grabbed his axe with both hands and leapt into the air, bringing it down with his full force. The bear, terrified by this sudden attack, jerked away, causing Jurot’s blow to strike the ground.

Battle Order
D20 + 1 = 13 (12)

Kitool, shocked at Jurot’s sudden outburst of rage, stepped forward, but her body grew cold. She tossed one of her darts, which struck the bear beside Jurot, but her body refused  to step closer from her position.

“Hey Jurot,” Adam shouted, darting forward. “Leave some for me!”

Warrior Spirit: 3 -> 2

Attack (Flanking)
D20 + 8 = 11 (3)
D20 + 8 = 10 (2)
Omen: 1, 9 -> 1
9 + 7 = 16
Hit!
1D6 + 2D6 + 6 = (5)(3, 6)
20 damage!

Adam, filled with his Warrior Spirit, struck wildly towards the black bear Jurot had tried to strike, which had the lightest cut from Kitool’s dart, but he almost missed wildly. Feeling too embarrassed to miss after declaring something so cheesy, plucked a Thread of Fate.

A baker in Red Oak, plump with dark hair, almost drooled as a pair of devilkin Iyrmen appeared, ordering a large number of jam buns. 

Adam’s blade, which was going to miss, swerved and cut the black bear’s neck clean, causing its head to drop beside him. He inhaled deeply before flexing his muscles. 

Onward Soar: 1 -> 0

Mana: 6 -> 5
Spell: Hex

Attack
D20 + 7 = 18 (25)
D20 + 7 = 10 (17)
Hit!
1D6 + 2D6 + 1D6 + 6 = (6)(2, 6)(3)
23 damage!

“You damn black bear!” Adam snarled, though quickly lost his anger as an uncomfortable wave of emotion flowed through his body after mentioning its colour. His spell struck the beast and seized its muscles for a moment, before he cut its head clean off as it tried to bite his shoulder, the bear’s head dropping beside him.

The last bear stared at him in utter shock and fear, quickly turning to flee.

“Raa!” Jaygak roared, leaping into the fray beside him, swinging her beautiful blade wildly, but completely whiffing, her sword cutting through the air instead of flesh and fur.

Attack (Opportunity)
D20 + 8 = 23 (15)
D20 + 8 = 12 (4)
Hit!
1D6 + 2D6 + 1D6 + 6 = (1)(1, 5)(4)
17 damage!

Adam, gripping his blade with both hands tightly, stepped forward and thrust into the leg of the bear, causing it to stumble. 

Jaygak, taking the opportunity, drove her blade deep into the creature’s leg, causing it to fall down before them. It panted and groaned, before Jurot, raising his axe high above him, glaring down at the creature, split its skull in half.

Kitool and Jaygak noted the look of rage on his face, which wasn’t the usual rage of a Rage Dancer, but instead, something far more personal.

Victory!
Black Bears
+75XP

 

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So begins the slaughter. There will be no more bears near Red Oak!

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