I quickly turn my head back and wink at the five warriors watching from behind and then lean my head towards her ear, "Katherine sent me to save you, giggle now."
She quietly retorts, "What!?" as she attempts to slyly push me away with her right arm.
Of course, I will have none of it and pull her in tighter with my left arm, "Giggle now, keep up appearances, they will kill us."
She turns her head into mine and lets out a short and soft giggle.
Oh not bad, I think to myself.
She then blurts out a command, "Quickly explain your actions."
Simply nodding in agreement as I must do what the lady commands, "The Earl killed your traveling convent under the guise of bandits, he meant to take Kate as a wife, she ran, I saved her life, I'm here to save yours, do as I say if you want to live."
Selene stopped walking for a split second but I nudged her forward, "Keep moving, giggle again, do it naturally." She looked my way and giggled softly. At this I gave a thumb's up behind her back as I continued to walk with Selene under my arm and heard one of the men let out a laugh.
"If I am to believe you, where is Katherine now?"
"At my cabin."
"And where is that? How is that?"
"She traveled north along the river to the east in search of you and after three days arrived at my cabin under attack by wolves. I killed them. She asked me to save you and now here I am. Look we don't have much time, are you with me or not?"
She took a moment to gather her thoughts and replied, "Alright I will believe you, for now. The Earl was always a bit of a fish. What's the plan of escape?"
Music to my ears… I let off a faint smile, finally we're getting somewhere.
I take a moment to gather my thoughts and then inform Selene of the plan, "After we kill the bear and divvy up the meat, look for an opening or make an excuse to briefly get away and slip out, head north then cutback and take the eastern river north, in two to three days you will come across a cabin at the base of a mountain, Katherine will be waiting. I'm going to kiss you, slap me."
As I finished, I went in for a kiss.
For an NPC she had surprisingly soft lips….
SLAP!
I remove my arm from her shoulder and pretend to be staggered, I look at the men with abject shock and horror on my face, and then look back at Selene who was now as red as a cherry; I didn't think an NPC could blush…?
Was it really embarrassment?
Was the AI that advanced?
I didn't have the time to consider these things so I made my way back to the warriors, "Ahhh it seems I have been shot down boys, but worry not for I am not one to give in to minor setbacks!"
The five men all start laughing and howling, it was cheap entertainment while on the move and even if they planned to kill me, a laugh was always worth postponing an execution for another ten minutes.
Chapter 18: Changing of the Guard
(Sunday, March 7th Game Day / Friday, January 22nd Real Day)
A bit past mid-day in-game we had neared the edge of the forest line. The snow on the ground was still packed tightly but the first signs of spring had started to appear. With birds chirping in the distance and critters scurrying up the sides of trees, it was a lively sight. The type of sight that was unheard of weeks before.
The sun was still shining brightly and with nary a cloud in the sky the prognosis was good. Visibility was excellent, the weather was nearing perfect levels, and the hunting was starting to look promising.
Spotting the small black bear from a significant distance with [Keen Sight], I had signaled for the group to quieten their steps and slow their pace.
[Keen Sight] was a skill from the Archery proficiency that essentially enhanced your alertness. If you were already attentive it wasn't much of a skill, but it did help. As soon as that bear was in visual range, a small glimmer of light shined for a split-second to alert me to its position in a tree.
The small [Young Northern Black Bear] was lazily napping in the tree a few feet from the ground. The hibernating period seemed to have ended recently with the uptick in temperature and the lessening snowfall that spring brought.
This little bear must have decided to venture out into the woods for a picnic.
Approaching within bow range, I signaled the group to stop and the five warriors drew their spears while Selene and I drew our bows. We needed a good ambush here in order to be successful. A bear at this stage in the game was quite strong seeing as I was only level 14 after all.
Of course I also had the cumulative stats of someone in the mid-level 100s, but that was my trade secret.
Selene and I took position with quivers out as we each carefully nocked an arrow in our respective bows. Silently drawing the bow and taking aim slightly behind and below the shoulder, I inhaled.
As my chest rose I released the arrow.
Thwack.
Thwack.
Without a pause I quickly nocked a second arrow as I saw Selene do the same. But before I could draw my bow the second time, the bear had roared to life as it fell out of the tree.
I had aimed for the bear's lungs as the heart was too small and was obscured by the leg bone but I couldn't be sure if I had actually landed a fatal hit.
It didn't matter really, as the bear raised on its hind legs for a second to let out its threatening roar. The roar sent shivers down your spine as even a small bear is quite intimidating, especially when it stands upright.
The bear lowered its head and started to charge at me, I drew my bowstring back as fast as I could and quickly released. I had panicked slightly and with my breathing off, the arrow flew off course, landing in the frontal shoulder area rather than the chest.
Selene had more patience than I and had waited a hair longer than me before releasing; her arrow flew straight into the center of the bear's chest but it wasn't fatal either.
I dropped my bow and drew my axe while the warriors stood in the background, they were rather useless honestly. Most likely they were hoping that I would die so they wouldn't have to dirty their own hands.
With my axe at the ready I took a batter's position as if I was going to slug a ball out of the park, whether this was the best position or not to attack a raging and charging 300-400 pound bear was up for debate.
But the jury was still out.
And I needed an answer.
The small black bear came crashing down on me as I swung with all of my might directly behind the skull of the bear, driving deep into the thick fur and muscle in the neck.
It was a solid, clean hit.
It should have cut into the neck by at least three or four inches.
But it didn't stop the bear's charge or swipe which had hit me with full force knocking me on my back. The bear was on top of me but was staggered from the blow of the axe.
As I was directly under the bear I was in a terrible position and couldn't move with the weight of the bear pinning me to the ground.
Selene had rolled over to the right and quickly let another arrow off into the general area of the heart but it wasn't any good. My health had taken a huge hit but my stamina had nearly entirely disappeared from the force of the charge with the weight of the bear behind it.
The bear roared ferociously but a foot from my face as my ears rang from the deafening noise. Lifting its body up slightly as if to crush a can it soon dropped back down on my chest.
Blood spurted out of my mouth as I gasped for what little air I could.
The compressing of my lungs from the bear's weight along with the sudden body slam had all but completely winded me.
My eyes watered as I frantically tried to move my arms in a way to create space, but it was futile.
I wouldn't be able to do much more, so I quickly put my hand on where I thought the bear's heart would be and started casting a [Lightning Bolt].
I simply didn't have the time.
Struggling to breathe as my chest started to collapse in on itself from the weight of the bear on top of me; I looked to my right to where Selene was.