They crossed another ridge and, instead of cutting down and up through the valley it sided, they skirted around it. The next valley was deep and, even though the temperature seemed well below freezing, the stream that ran through it flowed with an audible gurgling force. The top of the ridge opposite the valley from them sported the cave where Hyden, Vaegon, and Loudin had once waited for Borg to find them.
As Hyden led the group down from the heights through the knee-deep snow he saw something that didn’t alarm him as much as it discouraged him. Animal tracks, big ones, left by a four-legged creature, most likely a bear. Using his keen vision, Hyden saw that they led from the cavern mouth down the rock-strewn slope into the thickly forested streambed and back up again. Apparently the cavern wasn’t empty anymore. If they had to, he decided, they could easily kill the bear and use its meat to sustain themselves. Its pelt would make an excellent cover for the cavern mouth.
The problem was, it might be a female readying for hibernation, with cubs growing inside her. If it was, Hyden couldn’t even run it out of the cavern. He would have to find out before they proceeded. Normally, he would just send Talon across the valley to take a peek, but the hawkling was off searching for Borg. If the bear was cubbing, they didn’t dare camp in this valley. What was worse, Loudin’s valley was just beyond the cavern. To get there, they either had to cross over the ridge right by the cavern mouth, or skirt around the treacherous granite cliffs that formed the knife-like ridge before them. It could take days for them to get around, and for the first time Hyden’s confidence in his plan to leave the village early was faltering.
“Lieutenant,” he called out. “Ease the group down by the tree line and be ready for anything. I will be back shortly.”
“What is it, Hyden?” Phen asked. His curiosity was piqued by the sudden command.
“There is a big bear living in our shelter cave. If it’s a male, we’ll kill it and let its death give us life. If it is a female, then we will be forced to not only find new accommodation, but also a different route.”
“Wh- wh- why d- do we n- need to be ready?” Oarly asked, his chattering voice full of alarm.
“The bear might not be in its cave,” Hyden said simply. “It could be fattening itself up on fish or deer down there.” He laughed at the dwarf. “It’s just a bear, Oarly.”
“Bah!” Oarly waved him off with a grumble. “J- just uh fa- fa- fargin ba- bear-”
“Come on, dwarf,” Lieutenant Welch said as politely as he could manage. “We’ll keep you safe. Let’s get down there by the trees and out of the wind.”
Phen looked at Hyden longingly. He wanted to go with him to explore the cavern. Hyden saw it in the marble-colored boy’s expression. No doubt even a giant ice bear would have trouble sinking tooth or claw into Phen’s skin. Hyden laughed.
“I’m not going to walk over there, Phen, or I’d let you come along.”
“Aye,” Phen said a little dejectedly. “I can’t wait until we get somewhere. I want you to teach me some of your new spells.”
“Soon,” Hyden promised. Then, with the wave of his hand and a smoking, crackling, pop, he vanished.
Hyden appeared a few feet back from the mouth of the cavern. As luck would have it, a huge pregnant female bear was just emerging. Hyden barely had time to blink the smoke from his eyes and take in his surroundings when the protective mother roared out in protest. Hyden, not so used to his newfound magical abilities that he instinctively went to them for defense, did what came naturally to him. He turned and ran.
His first few steps found purchase in the icy rock, but a steep, snow-drifted embankment swallowed him up as he fell into it. A moment later, with the bear lunging through the deep drift as if it weren’t even there, Hyden burst out of its base. Like a tumbling stone, he flipped end over end down to the tree line opposite the quest party. Far too closely behind him, the enraged mother bear charged down the hill like a cat chasing a ball of yarn.
“B- by D- Doon,” Oarly said loudly as he scrambled up onto a boulder to get a better look.
“Oh my,” Telgra gasped, her sharp eyes able to see more vividly what the others were looking at.
“Krey, Mort, ready your bows, and get on your horses.” Lieutenant Welch scrambled to his own animal. “We have to stop that bear before it gets him.”
“No!” Telgra yelled. “Do not harm the bear.”
The Lieutenant looked at her as if she were daft.
“It’s a female, and she's with cub,” Telgra pleaded while Hyden gathered momentum. “Just look at the swell of her belly.”
“Hyden looks like a snowball now,” Phen interjected with a chuckle. “He’ll be all right, Lieutenant. The bear won’t hurt him.”
Lieutenant Welch studied Phen’s expression. This was one of those moments the High King had warned him about. He had heard Hyden Hawk’s speech about protecting the bear if she was with cub, but by the gods, if Hyden were to die out here, what then?
“Bron Omea Hedge,” Hyden’s voice called out from across the valley as he somehow managed to stop his tumble. He was pointing up beyond the other companions. “Bron Omea Hedge!” he yelled again. Then, with a look over his shoulder, he half limped and half ran into the thick row of trees that lined the stream at the valley bottom. The bear was right on his heels.
“By Doon, what did he say?” Oarly asked.
“I think he said ‘brown over the ledge,’” Phen answered.
“He said ‘run!’” Telgra shook her head at the two of them. “Run over the ridge.”
“Why would he want us to run?” Phen asked. “Hyden needs our help. I’m not going to run. I’m going to help him. That bear can’t hurt me.” He stalked down into the trees on a line to where Hyden and the bear had entered.
“By the gods, King Mikahl was right,” Lieutenant Welch said excitedly. “You people are mad, or drunk, or both.” Even as he said the words, Lady Telgra darted off into the trees at a different point and in a different direction, but parallel to Phen’s route.
Oarly tried to climb onto a loaded pack horse, but only managed to pull the packs loose and fall into a heap in the snow. The loud sound of branches crunching underneath something large and heavy echoed through the afternoon. Lieutenant Welch reluctantly jumped off his horse to help Oarly. “Lead the horses up to the ridge,” he snapped at his men. “Hurry, we can’t stand to lose the pack horses.”
Jicks and the archers did as instructed. The lieutenant was glad he gave the order when he did, because just moments later his own horse bolted in terror when Hyden and the snarling bear came tearing out of the trees straight at them.
The lieutenant froze in shock. He’d never seen such a huge creature. Its wide, round head was as big as a horse’s rump, and its tiny black eyes were full of something akin to rage. Nevertheless, without hesitation, he drew his blade and stepped protectively over Oarly, who was struggling in the deep snow.
“No!” Hyden tried to change his course away from them. He knew, though, that it was too late. The lieutenant was committed to protect the dwarf. A sadness came over Hyden that nearly caused him to falter. The last thing he wanted to happen was for the bear to get hurt. He didn’t understand why Oarly hadn’t fled with the others like he had told him to. Now, disaster was impending as Hyden streaked past and the bear turned its attention to the other two.
It was hard to say who screamed louder: Oarly, the lieutenant, or Hyden.
“Dien,” a huge, bellowing voice thundered through the valley, overpowering all of them. “Sepan Leif! Dien! Dien!” the voice continued. Then in the unmistakable common tongue, the same voice said, “Stay your sword, man!”
To everyone’s amazement, the bear, which was right upon them, lurched and veered past. The lieutenant’s immaculately kept steel passed only inches from the creature’s skin. In fact, a tuft of fur came floating lazily down toward the wide-eyed, shock-frozen dwarf at his feet.
Hyden dodged and twisted. He had expected to hear the grunting collision of flesh on flesh, or the lieutenant’s armor crunching beneath the impact of the animal’s great weight, but he didn’t. Instead, he heard Borg. Not sure if the creature was still on his heels, he dove to the side and tumbled to a stop.
“Bahhh,” Oarly growled as he got to his feet.
Hyden shook his head, trying to clear the cobwebs brought on by his tumble. His face was hot and stinging from where branches had raked and slapped it on his flight through the trees. His body was glazed in sweat, and now he was freezing, especially from his knees down where he was soaked from running through the stream.
