Heart to Heart

Chapter 24

Hearing a rustling from outside, I lifted my head up to see dawn was just about to come. Karlach had fallen back asleep after her breakdown she had. Which was absolutely justified since she had been through so much shit. Carefully getting up, I walked out of the tent to find a baby owlbear digging into my bag. Quietly walking towards the little creature, its head poked out from my bag and turned to face me. Food was hanging from its beak as it cocked its head back and forth.

"Hey," I said quietly. "I'm not going to hurt you."

I crouched down onto the ground, trying to get close to the baby owlbear before it scurried off. As soon as I crouched down, it darted off.

"No," I said, getting up.

Instinctively, I grabbed my sword from my tent and rushed after the baby owlbear. I didn't know if it was hurt or not, or maybe the mother was hurt and it was trying to get help. But as I reached a cavern, I hurried in to find the baby had returned to its mother. Both of them were healthy. I let out a sigh of relief, knowing the baby was going to be alright. Turning on my heel, I carefully started to make my way back towards the camp. Stepping on a tree branch, I squeezed my eyes shut, wincing at the sound of the mother owlbear coming to inspect where the sound came from. If only I had Halsin with me to speak to the owlbear. You would think I would pick up on learning how to communicate with animals without having the need to actually communicate, but nope. I tried with a dog and ended up almost getting mauled. That wasn't fun.

Slowly turning around when I felt a hot breath on the back of my neck, I was face to face with the mother owlbear. Her beak opened and a loud screech erupted from her. I frantically looked around, trying to find where I could escape if I needed to run. Remembering some of the things Halsin said, I lowered myself to the ground and avoided direct eye contact with the mother owlbear. She seemed to get the message, but she stomped her front feet before standing up onto her hind legs. The screech turned into a roar as she slammed down onto the ground. I guess this was my warning or my chance to at least run.

Getting up, I darted towards the mouth of the cave. The mother owlbear roared and swung at me, scratching along my back. I stumbled, but did not fall onto the ground. She jumped into the air and landed in front of me, blocking my path. Backing up now, the baby owlbear came up to me, lightly pawing at my leg. The mother swung her claw and pushed the baby aside and behind her, protecting it. I did not want to raise my sword against this mother, but how else was I going to defend myself. I guess that would be my last resort if I couldn't get out of here. The mother backed me into a corner now and her head was hanging low, the feathers on her back raised like an angry cat ready to pounce. There was no escaping this. Just was she jumped and raised her paw to attack, I sighed and grabbed my sword. I unsheathed it, blocking the attack as the claws scraped across my blade.

"Remember what Karlach and I did. Remember her techniques and what she taught me."

Despite us sparring together for about a few days on the road now, I had learned more than I ever could thanks to her. She really was something, giving me pointers on how to hold my sword properly, make sure I got enough momentum for a swing to deal significant damage, and strengthening my stance. That was the first thing we went over before anything else.

Standing strong against the mother owlbear, I stood tall, trying to make it appear I was bigger than what I had previously led her on to believe. The mother owlbear roared and I opened my mouth, roaring back at her. Sure this could have been seen as a threat, in Halsin's book when it comes to nature and animals, but if I needed to summon my inner Karlach, as she put it. The mother owlbear stood up and went to swing at me again. I dodged out of the way and her claws scraped against the cave wall. The baby owlbear came up and tried to help fight with its mother, but I just easily stepped over the tiny thing. Distracted, the mother owlbear swung at me from behind once more, ripping more of my shirt.

Getting caught off guard, the mother swung once more, getting me in my legs. I fell to the ground and took in deep breaths, trying to remain calm. I was now facing the mouth of the cave. I could make a run for it, but I feared it would end up like last time. I had to take this chance. The mother owlbear went to swing at me once more. I turned and swung my sword, cutting the pad of her paw. She let out a painful screech as I took this as my chance. Getting up, even though I was cut badly in the back of my legs, managed to run off towards the mouth of the cave. The mother roared and tried to run after me. I was so close, so close to tasting freedom, but I could feel the impending doom of the mother owlbear right on my feet. She lunged forward and grabbed my foot with her beak. Falling onto the ground, I rolled onto my back and scrambled backwards as the mother started to walk above me, her beak right above my head. She opened her beak, ready to take my head off.

"Heads up!"

An axe was thrown in my direction and the blade of it lodged into the mother owlbear's shoulder. She backed up, another screech of pain as blood started to seep from the wound. Karlach came rushing in, helped me up, and removed the axe from the mother owlbear's shoulder. She roared at us, but Karlach roared back, exiting the cave.