The next morning, Marcus awoke at dawn. After getting dressed, brushing his teeth, and grabbing his warhammer, he made his way downstairs. He was going to have an early breakfast and head towards the west gate to do some window shopping before his mission started at noon.
The same unsociable waitress was working this morning as when him and Issac first came to this inn. Her name was Melissa, and she would actually warm up to you after a while. She just put on an unfriendly face to strangers. She said that if she seems unapproachable, then most of the men that had bad intentions would likely leave her alone.
"Ah, good morning Marcus. What will you have this morning?" Melissa asked with a smile just for him.
"I think I'll have the cheese and hardtack, but could you add sausages to it as well?"
"I sure can, but you know meat is extra right?"
"Yeah I do, thanks. Oh, and just water to drink." Marcus added while nodding his head.
"Ok, that'll be five coppers."
Taking his money, Melissa walked back to the kitchen. Marcus decided to pay extra for some protein, he figured he could use the extra energy on his mission today. He didn't expect anything to happen today, but it was always better to prepare.
After about ten minutes, Melissa came back out with his order. Setting down his food, she gave Marcus a smile before turning to attend to the other tables. Marcus picked up the wooden fork and began to enjoy his meal.
......
After talking to a tailor, Marcus decided that he'd buy two new shirts and one pair of pants. They had to be custom made because of his size, it would cost him five silvers and take about two days. He paid one silver as a down payment, this left him with just thirteen coppers to his name.
This was an investment that Marcus would have to make. Although Mary was a very good seamstress, the shirt that she'd made still didn't look right. It was hard to make two different shirts look good, no matter how skilled you were.
Milling around the west gate, he waited for the noon bell to ring. The mission said that the person that he'd be escorting would be wearing a blue shawl and her name was Clairissa. He'd already told the guards that he was waiting for someone to start a mission so that they wouldn't be suspicious of him.
As the bells rang through the city, he started to look around for the woman named Clairissa. Spotting someone in a blue shawl, with its hood up, he walked towards them. They had their back towards Marcus as he approached. Tapping them on the shoulder, he tried to get their attention. Turning around, the woman in the shawl gasped when she saw Marcus.
Realizing that this must be her escort, she quickly apologized to Marcus.
"Excuse me, you'd startled me there for a second. Are you perhaps my escort for this afternoon?" She asked as she took the hood off, revealing her face.
She was a very beautiful middle aged woman. She had fiery red curly hair that was maybe shoulder length, tied into a ponytail. Freckles dotted her fair skin, especially the bridge of her nose and cheeks. Faint crows feet were barely visible on the side of her eyes, and laugh lines showed that she smiled quite often.
She was tall for a woman of this world at about five-feet two-inches tall. Marcus could tell that she had a slim waist and large bust through the outline of the white dress she had under her shawl.
"Excuse me, sir?" Clairissa asked again.
Caught staring, Marcus quickly smiled and answered her.
"Yes miss. Sorry, I'm Marcus and I'll be your escort for today. I must compliment your outfit though, it accentuates your beautiful hair."
"Thank you very much mister Marcus." She said blushing slightly, while putting a piece of wayward hair back behind her ear. "But flattery will not make you any more than the five silvers that were posted." She added with a mesmerizing smile.
"And that smile is just the icing on the cake."
Marcus was infatuated with her the moment he saw Clairissa. She was just his type. The mature look, red hair, and seemingly fit body, he couldn't help but compliment her.
Blushing even more, Clairissa quickly changed the subject. Pointing over to the gate as she said, "My cart is over there, let's take it and be on our way, the day is wasting away the more we dally."
Not wanting to push his luck, Marcus agreed. He offered to push the cart for her, but she refused. Saying that she couldn't have her escort having his hands full if something were to happen. With that argument he had to concede. Engaging in idle chatter, they both made their way out of the gate, and towards the forest.
......…
They had been in the forest for about three hours already. The cart was nearing the half full mark. They would park the cart in an area and pick it clean, then move the cart to another area and repeat the process. They talked all the while, with Marcus keeping watch of course.
He'd learned many new things from Clairissa. Some of the inner working of the city, but mostly gossip from around the district that her shop was in. Clairissa owned an apothecary in the merchants district. She specialized in healing potions and salves, but also dabbled in antidotes. She would make a trip out to the forest once a month to collect the needed herbs for her shop.
One of the juicier pieces of gossip was that the baker was having an affair. The baker's wife was bedridden with their first child, all the while he was sleeping with another woman. Apparently everyone knew what was going on, but since the wife was bedridden, she hadn't found out. And no one had the heart to tell her, she wasn't in the best of health as it was.
Marcus and Clairissa had just picked this area clean. They were standing not too far from the cart, enjoying each other's company.
"Shhh!" Marcus said as he put his finger up to his lips. "I think I heard something.
Looking around, he squinted his eyes to try to focus his sight. Scanning the vegetation that surrounded them, he stopped on a large bush. It had a vague yet familiar shape to it. Tightening his grip on his warhammer, Marcus continued staring at the bush.
After a few moments, Marcus turned towards Clairissa, thinking that he was hearing things, that's when it happened. Suddenly crashing through the bush, a gigantic bear came charging towards them both. With barely any time to react, Marcus wrapped Clairissa up in his arms and dove out of the way.
As Marcus was diving with Clairissa in his arms, the bear swung its huge paw, gouging Marcus's shoulder. Unable to stop his momentum, the bear continued forwards for about another fifty feet before stopping. Turning around, the bear looked to see what had become of its prey.
Marcus had already gotten back on his feet with Clairissa behind him. He spread his arms wide, with the warhammer in his right hand, and yelled at the bear in as intimidating a voice as he could produce. Marcus was hoping to make the bear think twice before attacking them again. Although the bear was huge, Marcus wasn't small either.
Not quite knowing what to do, the bear took a couple steps back to reassess the situation. This allowed Marcus to more closely examine his opponent. The bear was absolutely massive. At six feet in height just at the shoulders and a head as large as a beach ball. Its fur was leaf green and had darker and lighter shades of green spotting its fur. If Marcus had to guess, he'd put its weight close to two-thousand pounds.
"Oh no, no no no, what is that doing here? That's a forest bear, it's not supposed to be here!" Clairissa was saying in a low voice behind him.
"Just back up slowly, don't take your eyes off him. I'll keep him occupied, you slowly make your way back to the gate, ok?" Marcus said while he slightly turned his head, not taking his eyes off the bear.
"What about you? You'll die if you stay here!" Clairissa was pale and very scared. She didn't want to die, she didn't want the nice man she'd just met to die either. She could see where the bear had struck him. Four long and deep gashes were oozing dark red blood from his left shoulder blade. It looked like a very painful wound. She didn't know what to do, so in her indecision she stood still.
"I'll be fine, don't worry about me. Just go back to the gate and get some help ok? Really, I'll be fine."
He tried his very best to be calm, but in truth he was terrified. He'd never been in this situation before. He'd been in fights, had guns and knives pulled on him, but never had he been looked at like a meal. His heart was racing, his pupils were dilated to take in all that he could see. Adrenaline was coursing through his veins making it seem as if time had slowed to a crawl, and allowing his body to ignore the pain coming from his shoulder.
Meanwhile the bear had come to a decision. It was hungry, that was the whole reason for why it was hunting in this forest. It wasn't about to let some tiny prey intimidate it. Stomping its feet on the ground, crushing the grass under its weight. It stood up on its hind legs to show its prey just how much bigger it was. Roaring a deafening roar, it fell back to all fours and barreled towards Marcus.
Preparing himself since he saw the bear stomping its feet, he wasn't taken off guard. Gripping his warhammer with white knuckles he prepared to swing. He had to time it just right, swing too early and he would miss, and the bear would bowl right into him. Swing too late and the same would happen. This was life and death, and he couldn't afford to mess up now.
One heartbeat, the bear dug his claws into the ground, finding purchase, it took off like a bullet. Two heartbeats, Marcus gripped the warhammer, tensing his muscles. Three heartbeats, the bear closed the distance, now only ten feet from Marcus. Four heartbeats, Marcus could almost see his reflection in the bear's black eyes. The bear was now six feet in front of him, his muscles bulged straining against the change in momentum of the sixty pound warhammer. With all his might, he swung. The round head of the warhammer met the side of the bear's face. With a sickening crunch, that sounded like bones shattering, the bear was sent careening off to the side. Tumbling and sliding for about fifteen feet, the bear finally came to a stop.
Not moving from his spot, Marcus cautiously eyed the bear's body for any sign of movement. After a few moments of not noticing its chest rise or fall, Marcus concluded that all that was left was a corpse. Suddenly Marcus fell to his knees, gasping for air. He hadn't realized it, but he'd been holding his breath.
"Mister Marcus! Mister Marcus!" Clairissa ran over to Marcus in a panic. She was worried that he'd lost too much blood, the wound on his back was still seeping a large amount. Kneeling down she tried to get his attention.
"You need to let me treat your wound. If you don't you'll pass out."
"Take your shirt off, I have some salve on me for wounds. Hopefully it'll be enough." Clairissa directed him.
Obeying her command, Marcus tried to take his shirt off. Some of the dried blood was making the shirt stick to his skin and he didn't have the best mobility due to the pain. In the end Clairissa had to help him remove it the rest of the way.
Clairissa pulled out a small glass vial, taking out its contents and spreading it over the four deep gashes on his shoulder. Whatever was in the vial helped to stop the flow of blood. Taking off her shawl, Clairissa went to tear it into strips in order to make bandages. Seeing this Marcus stopped her.
"No, don't tear up that, use my shirt, it's already a loss anyways."
Nodding her head, she did just that. After Marcus was all bandaged up they both sat on the ground, resting. Marcus felt very tired after all the adrenaline had left his system. And the pain from the gashes limited the movement of his left arm. Clairissa was also tired, she had just as much adrenaline running through her as Marcus did. She was also distracted by Marcus, it wasn't everyday that you could see a man of his stature.
Finally, Clairissa broke the silence "We should head back to the city. We can't carry the bear, but I'm sure the Association would send someone out to retrieve it. The materials from the carcass should be worth quite a bit."
"Yeah, that's a good idea. Let's head back then. Sorry, but you'll have to pull the cart, I'm down to one arm at the moment"
"Not a problem at all. If it wasn't for you I'd be bear shit right now!" Clairissa said with a laugh and radiant smile as she stood.
Momentarily taken aback by the comment, Marcus started laughing. It seemed as if all the built up stress was released by the joke.
.......
After reporting the bear to the Mercenaries Association, they sent out five men to retrieve the body. Since the hide and everything were in perfect condition, except for the caved in face and head, Marcus ended up making two gold coins.
"Marcus, what're your plans for tomorrow evening?" Clairissa asked as they were walking towards her apothecary.
"Well I was thinking of taking it easy, let my shoulder heal up a little."
"If you don't mind, I'd like you to stop by my shop tomorrow. I'd like to cook you dinner, it's the least I could do for you, since you saved my life. Plus I need to change your bandages too, you don't want to catch the rot."
"Sure, that sounds nice. Thank you in advance then." Marcus said with a wide smile.
Arriving at her shop, they said their goodbyes. Agreeing again to be back the next evening, Marcus waved one last time and turned around to head back to his inn.