"Mister Marcus, how'd you get so big?"
"I ate all my vegetables when I was little."
"My papa said to eat all of them when I was little too, I always just gave them to the animal in the garden. Mister Marcus, where did you meet Sif?"
Marcus let out a sigh, this had been his life for the last three days. He was walking beside Sylvia's carriage, keeping an eye out for any danger, while she had her head sticking out of the window asking him questions. It seemed like she never ran out of things to ask, sometimes she'd ask the same question just in a different way. Marcus was at his wits end, he didn't know if he'd make it Rosevalley with his sanity intact.
"Haa, well, I hatched her from an egg. I'm going to go talk to the lead guard, I'll be back shortly." Marcus said, then quickly walked ahead.
Sylvia started to say something, but didn't get it out before Marcus had already taken off. She puffed her cheeks out a little, then sat back down and started to talk to her two maids. Marcus just wanted to get away from the constant talking just for a minute. The lead guard, Nathan, smiled when he saw Marcus approaching.
"I wondered how long you'd last today, I won the bet." Nathan said, grinning from ear laughing. The other guards were cursing under their breaths.
"What was your bet?"
"That'd you last till noon, not too bad really. I don't think I could take it that long." Nathan said.
"She's a very nice girl, just has a very outgoing personality." Marcus shrugged.
He really couldn't say anything negative about her, she had a bubbly personality and was a social butterfly. She was kind and understanding, so she would make a very good wife one day. Marcus just didn't like getting peppered with questions all day long, but he'd put up with it for the pay.
"Alright, it's noon so let's break for lunch." Nathan yelled out, signaling the rest of the guards.
Nick and Dave were still up ahead about five miles, scouting ahead. Sif was flying high in the sky, you could sometimes catch the glint coming off of her scales. Marcus whistled loudly, calling Sif to come down for now. Soon she softly landed on the ground next to him. Marcus patted her head, she was almost cold to the touch, she must have gone very high up.
The carriages pulled off to the side of the road, the drivers got down and unlatched the horses. The guards got off their horses and let them graze on the grasses that were growing not too far away. Marcus opened the door to Sylvia's carriage helping her and the two maids down. The three girls stretched and moved around a little, riding in a bumpy carriage all day had made them cramp up.
The food they brought along with them was much better compared to the food Marcus was used to while on the road. Lord Bishore had actually supplied an enchanted necklace to Sylvia, it was a storage type enchantment, one of the rarest kinds. To be able to afford it just showed how wealthy Lord Bishore was. In the storage item was enough food to last until they arrived in Rosevalley, along with some other life saving supplies. The food was precooked, since time stood still inside the magical space, they didn't have to worry about the food even going cold.
Sylvia pulled out a simple table from the necklace, then set food atop of it. The guards ate in shifts, never letting their awareness waiver. The maids served Sylvia her food before eating themselves. Sylvia had her own little table and chair set up underneath a tree, with a cool glass of fruit juice along with it. Marcus ate his food not too far away from her, always keeping an eye out like usual.
"Once we're done eating, we'll break for an hour, then set off again. The map says that there is a small pond not too far from here, so take the horses a couple at a time to water them." Nathan gave his orders like usual, this had been the routine for the last few days.
"I'd like to see the pond as well. What do you two think?" Sylvia asked her two maids.
Sylvia was curious to see what kind of creatures were at the pond. Maybe she would be able to find a rare species, or maybe even one that hasn't been discovered yet! That was the whole reason for her trip, to look for new creatures. She'd brought all the encyclopedias that she owned, which should have been all that'd been made, so she could identify and catalog the creatures. She'd spent the better part of a year convincing her father to let her do this, she wouldn't let any opportunity pass her by.
"Of course M'lady." Both Maria and Kelly replied in unison, they didn't really have a voice in the matter.
Just like any guard, Marcus would have preferred for Sylvia to not go and put herself in any dangerous position, but he just had to follow along with whatever she wanted to do. As long as it wasn't over the top, then he would have to stop her. Marcus handed his clean plate over to Kelly, after cleaning up they were ready to go to the pond.
Marcus told Nathan where they were going, then they tagged along with five guards and their horses to the pond. It was maybe half a mile from where they stopped, straight into the forest. Sylvia was wearing trousers, so she didn't have any trouble navigating the weeds and brush. Maria and Kelly on the other hand were wearing their maid uniforms, so they had a little bit more trouble, often catching their dresses on thorns.
In about fifteen minutes, the trees began to thin and the sound of bullfrogs could be heard. Up over a little hill, Marcus could see the pond. It really wasn't very big, maybe only two hundred feet across and three hundred wide. The water was still and crystal clear, you could see the fish swimming about. The middle is where you couldn't see the bottom, it was hard to tell how deep it really was. The guards led the horses to the edge of the water and let them drink.
"Just be careful Miss Sylvia, can you swim?" Marcus asked her, it was always good to know something like that.
"I've never had the opportunity to learn, but I'm sure I could float." Sylvia said, confidence was in her voice for some reason.
"Just don't go too close to the water, ok?" Marcus said with a sigh.
Sylvia nodded, then took off with her two maids, Marcus was forced to follow. She flitted from bush to bush, looking at all the insects and small creatures she could find. She cornered one small rodent, it looked like a field mouse, and it started to chatter at her angrily. She reached her hand closer until it was only an inch away, then the mouse tried to bite her. Luckily she was able to pull her hand away in time. Marcus just shook his head, she was going to end up hurting herself he thought.
Sif was flying in the sky again, she could stay up there all day if you let her. She really only came down to eat, sleep, or to get petted by Marcus. Another group of guards arrived, while the original five returned back to the carriages. Sylvia had managed to find an insect that wasn't in her encyclopedia, this warranted excited jumping and shouting from her. She sketched out the insect in a little book that she had. It wasn't very big, only about the size of your thumbnail. It had eight legs, but looked like a beetle. Two long atenea stuck out from its head, with little pinchers by its mouth. It was a dull brown color that glinted in the sunlight.
Marcus was standing only a few feet away from Sylvia, the two maids, Maria and Kelly were looking at fish that were swimming by the shoreline. Suddenly, Marcus heard footsteps coming from just to the right of where he and Sylvia were at. Marcus stepped in front of Sylvia, putting himself between her and whatever was coming their way. It didn't take long for what was making those footsteps to reveal itself.
An adorable, fluffy, little bear cub came trotting out of the bushes. It only came up to Marcus's knees and had tufts of brown and green fur sticking out all over. Its large black eyes made it look exceptionally cute. It gave a little bear grunt and continued to take little steps towards the pond.
Sylvia saw the little bear cub and made to go take a closer look at it. She was gushing with love towards it, she wanted nothing more than to give it a big hug and rub her face in its soft fur. Before she could even take two steps, Marcus grabbed her and held her close. She was a little confused by his actions, looking up at him she could see the worried look on his face.
"Why does it always have to be fucking bears!" Marcus cursed.
If there was a baby bear, momma bear couldn't be far behind. The baby bear didn't seem to fear people, meaning it probably had never seen them before. It had come up to Marcus and started to sniff at his boots. Marcus tried to shoo it away, but the bear just fell back on its butt and made a cute baby bear noise. Marcus didn't want to be anywhere near the baby bear when momma showed up.
Unsurprisingly, a loud crashing could be heard coming from the forest. It was coming from the direction of the five guards who're watering their horses. Marcus yelled at them to move, they barely made it out of the way before a huge forest bear barreled into the five horses. Two horses were sent flying into the pond, one was driven into the ground with a sickening crunching sound, the other two were sent flying into the forest, hitting trees. The two that flew into the pond could be seen swimming to shore, but the other three didn't move at all, they had died instantly.
The five guards were scrambling towards Marcus, they were practically falling over each other. Maria and Kelly were frozen stiff, they were in between Marcus and the forest bear, a very bad spot to be in. Marcus quickly ran forward and grabbed Maria and Kelly by the waist and unceremoniously three them into the pond, hoping they could swim.
Mother bear looked at the two women bobbing up and down in the water, then turned her attention to the one that threw them. Marcus was by far the biggest threat to her baby she thought. She looked over to her baby, it was currently being held by a human with long blonde hair, seeing this enraged the mother bear. She started to run towards the human, only to be stopped by the man that threw the other two.
Marcus stepped out in front of the large mother bear and swung his hammer at her head. The bear had very quick reflexes for its size, it lifted its head just in time to avoid the hammer blow that went sailing right under its chin. Clicking his tongue, Marcus swung the warhammer with a backhanded swing, this time aiming for the body of the bear. He caught the bear in the shoulder, the pointed end of the warhammer digging deep into its muscle.
The bear roared out in pain, making everyone but Marcus cover their ears. The bear bit onto the hammer with its massive jaws and managed to rip it out of Marcus's hands. Blood was seeping out of the deep wound and the bear was avoiding putting any weight on its right front leg. The bear took several steps back, not taking its eyes off Marcus.
Marcus was pissed off, not only did the bear manage to rip his weapon out of his hands, it even threw it into the middle of the pond. Now he would have to go down there and get it. He hadn't brought any backup weapons with him either, the guards were too far away for him to use one of their swords. He just had to use his hands.
He took a step forward, watching the bear's movements. The bear roared at him, thick saliva shooting out of its mouth dotted the ground. It lunged forward, trying to bite Marcus. Marcus punched straight out, hitting the bear square in the nose. The bear recoiled, shaking its head and blowing out large amounts of blood as it did so. Marcus took the opportunity while the bear was stunned to leap forward and with his two hands held together, struck down on the bear's head.
The bear must have been a lot tougher than the first one he had killed, it took the hit and was still able to remain conscious. Although in a daze, the bear was still on its feet. Marcus let out a sigh, he was hoping to have killed it already. He ran forward, ready to lay another hit on the bear's head when the bear swiped its paw, catching Marcus and flinging him away. He crashed into a tree, snapping the trunk in half. Sylvia screamed when she saw this, surely no one could have survived a hit like that.
The guards' faces paled, the bear started to limp towards them, wanting to vent its rage. In only a few steps the bear was right next to the guards. The guards swung their swords at the bear, the steel only digging in half an inch into its thick hide. The bear reared up and swung its massive paw, hitting an unlucky guard breaking his neck and killing him instantly. The bear then fell forward, landing on another, she quickly started to maul the man. Screams could be heard as he was torn apart by the enraged bear.
The remaining guards backed away as quickly as they could, standing in front of Sylvia and the two maids. Sylvia still had a hold of the baby bear, fear had clouded her judgment. If she only released the bear, maybe the mother bear would have left, but now it was too late. Having killed the guard, the mother bear looked at the remaining people, blood and pieces of flesh were visible on its muzzle.
The bear started to limp forward once again, but this time it only took a couple of steps before it was struck from the side. Marcus had used the broken tree trunk as a battering ram, impaling the bear from the side. The tree had shattered its ribs and punctured its lungs. Amazingly the bear was still alive, breathing ragged breaths, desperately clawing at the ground, trying to reach its cub. Marcus stood there watching the bear and shaking his head. He had a little blood coming out of his mouth and his armor was dented in the front and back.
He walked over to the bear, knelt down, grabbed its head and twisted with a grunt. The bear's neck was broken, its head flopped down on the ground with its tongue lolling out. Marcus rolled his shoulders and heard his joints pop. He had broken a few ribs from the blow, but with his body's regeneration, he had already healed from it. It seemed that over time his healing was getting faster and faster.
He looked over to where the guards and everyone else were standing, they were looking at him with wide eyes and mouths open. Sylvia had finally let go of the bear cub, it was slowly making its way over to its mother's body. Marcus watched as the bear cub nuzzled its mother's face, trying to wake her up. It was crying out, trying to rouse her. Marcus found the sight to be heart wrenching. He had no desire to kill the bear, but it was either the bear or him, so he had to do it.
"Sorry little guy, but it'll be cruel to leave you here to starve to death." Marcus said to the bear cub as he slowly bent down to grab it.
The bear cub made noises of protest, it did not want to be handled, but could not escape Marcus's vice like grip. Marcus picked up a discarded sword from the ground, and was about to kill the bear cub when a scream sounded out. Marcus stopped what he was doing and looked at Sylvia, she was standing not too far from him, shaking.
"What are you doing!? You can't kill that little cub!" She screamed at him.
"We just can't leave it to starve can we? That'll be more cruel than just killing him now." Marcus rebutted.
"I'll take care of him!" Sylvia said, determination on her face.
"Miss Sylvia, it's a bear. You can't take care of him. He might be all cuddly now, but when he grows up what will you do?" Marcus said, in a lecturing tone.
He'd heard of people taking care of bears and them being semi-tamed, but there was always a chance that you'd end up getting eaten by the bear. You could never tell with wild animals what they would do.
"I'll just release him, please, you can't kill him." She started to cry, running forwards and wrapping her arms around the little bear cub.
Marcus looked at Sylvia's red and moist eyes. She was looking up at him like a lost puppy. He let out a defeated sigh and let go of the bear cub. Sylvia's face immediately lit up, she hugged the cub even harder, making it grunt. She walked back to the other group with the cub in her arms. The cub was the size of a large dog, so Marcus was surprised that she could carry him.
"Alright, I'll take Sylvia and the maids back to the others. I'll inform them of what happened and have them send some others to bring the bodies back. Round up the horses that survived." Marcus ordered the other guards.
Since he was Sylvia's personal guard, he had almost the highest authority, right under the lead guard, Nathan. The guards slowly nodded their heads and went to find where the surviving horses ran off to. They had lost two of their comrades, but they had things that must be done before they could give them a proper burial.
Marcus escorted Sylvia, Maria, Kelly, and the bear cub back to where they were resting. He told Nathan all that had happened, Nathan then sent off five of the guards to help bring back the bodies and the horses. Sylvia retired to her carriage, along with the bear cub and her two maids. Marcus walked a little down the road and whistled loudly. Soon, he could see Sif coming over the tree tops and landing softly next to him.
"Where were you at?" Marcus asked her, a little bit of frustration in his voice.
Sif just cocked her head and cooed, asking what he meant.
"A huge bear attacked us, I don't believe you couldn't see it. You weren't that far away."
Sif just hung her head, she did see the bear attacking, but it happened too quickly for her to do anything about it. She could see for miles, but her flight speed wasn't fast enough to react that quickly. Marcus let out another sigh, he'd been doing that alot lately, and patted her on the head.
"It's alright. You were doing your own thing, and it happened way too fast. I can't expect you to teleport to me, can I?" Marcus said with a smile on his face.
"But you can do me a favor. My warhammer is in the middle of that pond somewhere, do you think you could get it for me?" Marcus asked.
Sif brought her head back up and nodded once. She then took off in the direction of the pond. It wasn't long before she came back with his warhammer in her mouth. The guards followed shortly with the two horses in tow, and two bodies slung over the horses' backs.
They dug graves for the two guards and held a small service for them. Sylvia offered prayers to the goddess of death, Mania, to look after their souls in the underworld. Marcus had never heard of the goddess of death, maybe he should ask Sylvia more about the religions of this world. He would have to do it later though, they still had a long way to go to get to Rosevalley.