Kaskia: A Hero's Awakening

Chapter 8

"Get up!" A voice yelled, snapping Aiden from his distraught. "The battle is not over yet!"

Opening his eyes, Aiden saw something he could not believe. The source of the voice did not come from any human, the voice came from what he thought was a light brown bear clad in mail armor. Aiden watched as the bear used his size to overpower the soldiers. The bear held a giant hammer in both of his hands, a hammer he wielded with ease. After the awe of his savior had settled, Aiden remembered his sister was unconscious behind him. Glancing in her direction, he saw another bear, this one looking far different from the first. Where the first bear had light brown fur, this new bear had purple fur, and from what he could tell, appeared to be a female bear. The purple bear, however, did not wear mail armor, she wore a leather tunic and pants, wielding daggers in both of her paws, daggers that she used to protect Rina from the soldiers who had previously captured her.

The male bear kicked a soldier in his chest, crushing the man's armor and sending him tumbling backwards just before the creature swung his hammer into another soldier that was trying to keep Ellie from joining the fight. Ellie eyed the creature, unsure what to make of it as she rushed to Rina's side to protect her. Ignoring Ellie, the remainder of the soldiers, who had been keeping her contained, turned to face the fierce bear, trying to surround him. The bear brought the hammer over his head, swinging it hard in a downward arc, causing the soldiers to dive away to avoid the devastating blow that cracked the ground. The bear reached down, grabbing the ankle of one of the soldiers who dove away, and slung him backwards into the other soldiers behind him, sending all of them flying backwards into an armored pile of defeated soldiers.

The purple bear fought with more grace than that of the hammer wielding giant. However, she wielded far more physical power than any human, using her strength to stab armored opponents, her daggers piercing the armor as well as the person wearing them, destroying both with a single attack. She was far faster than that of her male counterpart. With the soldiers being down, that only left archers firing their arrows at the purple creature. She used her daggers to deflect and slice every arrow that was aimed for her as she slowly made her way to the archers. Once she was close, the archers abandoned their attack, dropping their bows, attempting to flee. The female bear was too fast for them to get very far, she caught up to them, one by one, stabbing them as she passed them, making their end a quick and quiet end.

Before he knew what to do, the battle was over. The purple bear had saved Rina, who still lay unconscious, where the brown bear had dispatched the soldiers around Aiden and Ellie, who was now beside Rina and growling.

"We mean no harm girl." The purple bear said, placing her daggers on the ground in front of Ellie.

"It's ok Ellie." Aiden said, walking towards Rina. "Is she ok?"

"She will be fine." The brown bear said. "But we need to leave now. There's far too many soldiers in the area."

"Do you mind if I carry her?" The purple bear asked. "It will make it faster for us to travel."

"Where are you trying to take us?" Aiden questioned, tightening his grip on his dagger. "Who are you?"

"You can call me Squishy." The brown bear offered. "And she's Grape." He continued, pointing at his comrade.

"We were sent here to warn you." Grape added. "But we were too late. We need to get out of this area before we get surrounded."

"I know of an abandoned shack not too far from here. Will that do?" Aiden asked, unsure what to do in the situation.

"That will do." Squishy replied while marking a nearby tree. "Let's go."

"Aiden!" Rina yelled, searching the battlefield for her brother. She was surrounded by soldiers fighting each other, all of whom paid her no attention as she stumbled the warzone, drenched as rain fell from the sky. She tried to focus on the last thing she could remember, unsure how she ended up in the middle of a battle. The flow of the skirmish passed around her as if she was a boulder resting in a river. The sounds of fighting echoed across the land, making it harder for her to gather her thoughts. Thunder cracked above her as she saw a bolt of lightning strike down a few paces in front of her. "Aiden!" She yelled again, unsure why she was drawn to where the bolt struck. Rina pushed herself past soldiers who were gathered in a large ring, the two armies on opposing sides with two combatants at its center. She focused on the two soldiers circling each other at the midpoint of the ring.