“And is that your bear?”
“It is.” I hugged the bear around its fluffy neck to prove it.
“It really won’t attack people?”
“As long as they don’t attack it first.”
“Alright. Well, allow me to formally welcome you to the village. Bogue, please let everyone in the village know about her, and be sure to stress that they should not provoke the bear.”
The guard ran off a second time, and we followed. As we proceeded into the village, it became clear they were in dire straits. Some houses had great crumbling holes knocked in their walls, while others had caved in entirely.
“This is all the guardian spirit’s doing. We can rebuild the houses, but without our fields, we’ll run out of food and the villagers will have no choice but to starve.”
I was starting to feel guilty about accepting any vegetables from them. From the state of the village, it was clear their produce was the most valuable thing they had.
As far as defenses went, all they had was a ramshackle wooden fence, patched and reinforced in places. I figured those were probably the sections the guardian spirit had smashed through. I backtracked to the village entrance and started surrounding the village with earthen walls, using the existing fence as a foundation to build on.
“Let me know if you need other exits, too,” I told Brandaugh.
“Will do.”
I made a lap around the village on my bear, raising two-meter-high walls. It was probably quite the spectacle to them, since more and more of the villagers gathered while I worked. They cheered each time I erected a new section of wall, and the kids ran after the bear.
“Magic sure is amazing,” said Brandaugh.
“You don’t have anyone in the village who can use magic?”
“We do, but all they can do is start small fires. I’ve never seen or heard of magic this impressive before. How are you doing on mana? Please don’t push yourself too hard.”
He clearly didn’t know much about magic, since he seemed genuinely worried about me. “I’m doing fine.”
“That’s good, but let me know if you get tired.”
Of course, I wasn’t tired at all by the time I was done building the wall. I fashioned several gates in the places where Brandaugh directed me to.
“What will you do if the guardian spirit comes in through here?”
“The spirit comes from the mountains, so it won’t be entering from this direction. We’ll still reinforce the gates with more wood later, just to be safe.”
We headed to the village chief to let him know the wall was done. He thanked me, saying they had little to offer in terms of hospitality, but insisted on offering me a meal. The sun was starting to set. In this world without electricity, work ended when the daylight did.
They ushered me into the village chief’s house and sat me at a table. I felt a little bad making the bear wait outside, but it was hardly going to fit through the door. A woman emerged from the kitchen with a loaded tray of food, and Brandaugh started in surprise.
“Marie, what are you doing here?”
“I’m helping the chief,” she said. “Besides, you were the one who brought our guest here, weren’t you? If I can’t be a hospitable wife, then who will?”
“But what about your belly?” Brandaugh fretted. One look at her pregnant stomach told me why he was concerned.
“A little exercise is good for me.”
“I suppose…but please don’t overdo it.”
The food Marie had brought out was bread, vegetable soup, and salad. The bread was delicious—it must have been freshly baked. The soup was a little bland, but it was still a tasty, satisfying meal.
“Miss,” said Brandaugh, “I already discussed this with Marie, but would you stay at my house tonight? We kept you working so late, and we still need to gather some vegetables to give you.”
Honestly, I’d pretty much decided at this point that it wouldn’t be right to take their produce when they were already running so low. There was nothing to stop me from getting back on my bear and heading straight home, but I could see the sun setting outside. It’d be dark within an hour.
While I was debating what to do, a commotion erupted outside.
“The guardian spirit is here!” someone screamed.
Everyone in the village chief’s home stood from their chairs.
“Marie,” said Brandaugh, “you and the village chief stay here. I’ll go.”
He grabbed the bow leaning against the wall and ran out of the house. I ran after him, tracking the sound of the agitated voices, and my bear followed close behind me. When I got to where the villagers were gathered, there was a dreadful sound coming from the wall.
BLAM!!!! BLAM!!!!
“These walls are amazing! They’re holding up even with the guardian spirit ramming into them!” The men who had set ladders against the wall to peer over it were cheering.
“The village is saved!”
“Thank you, miss!”
The gathered villagers showered me with gratitude, but their words changed to shrieks when they heard the lookouts on the ladders say, “The guardian spirit is on the move. But that’s where—”
They were looking in the direction of the entrance.
“Get to your homes!”
“Damn, it’s fast!”
The villagers started to scatter. Brandaugh ran through the crowd towards the entrance, and I let out a sigh before chasing after him, wishing he’d think about his unborn child before plunging headfirst into danger. It wasn’t just Brandaugh heading to the entrance, though. As we made it to the main gate, we were joined by several men with weapons.
“We know where it’ll come in from! Attack together as soon as it comes in!”
“Yeah!”
The guardian spirit loomed at the entrance. Just as Brandaugh had said, it was as massive as my bear. The archers fired, but the creature’s hide repelled their arrows. It kicked off the ground and broke into a run, men with spears jabbing fruitlessly at it as it passed.
The spirit was running straight at me. Just as I was readying a spell, my bear blocked its charge.
“Bear!”
It slammed
