Chapter 21

With the morning sun rising, we gathered our things, left the inn and set off on our journey again. Ann was displeased that nothing had happened during the time we were there, but Wilfred had put up the A class quest in the guildhall as he promised. Although I would have liked to see what a shadow beast looked like, there was no guarantee that there was actually one here in this town in the first place. More likely it would just be a high tier magical beast. The horses and carriage carried on through the path. We pushed onwards until Wilfred had spoken. "It seems like some drop bears are following us, I can't tell how many or what kind" Drop bears were magical beast that would often attack in groups. Their main features were their pointy ears and razor-sharp claws around a foot in length. Although around the same size as a dog still contained the strength of a regular bear. "How long have they been following?" Delbert asked. "Since we left the inn." Bernardo lifted his axe into his hands. "looks like we will have some fun after all." "Let us hope there aren't any Drop bear kings among them." Wilfred said with his hand now on the hilt of his sword. If I had remembered correctly from what my father had taught me, the Drop bear king was a class above intermediate. Which would make it fall into the advanced tier beasts, What amazed me even more, was the fact that Wilfred was able to sense that the creatures had been following us. I had no idea even with my enhanced hearing abilities. The only way I would have been able to tell was if I was to use my dragon eyes skill. "Why did you not inform us earlier!" Delbert complained while looking around to see if he could spot any of the beasts. "I was worried that the children might be sacred" Wilfred said looking towards us. "Ray, Gary I need you two to arm yourselves, be prepared to fight off anything that comes at you. We don't know their numbers so we might not be able to protect you. You will soon become brave knights of Avrion. The most important thing is to stay alive." I drew out my sword in response to Wilfred's words, Gary did the same but I could see he was shaking. Scared of what might happen to us. We carried on moving forward now knowing that the beasts were following us, I activated my dragon eyes. There seemed to be ten Drop bears, but I couldn't be sure. The path we were on was surrounded by trees with a forest on either side. The bears made good use of the trees for cover. Making me lose count every time they moved. As we continued moving forward slowly, we spotted a bridge up ahead that went over a small stream. "That's the bridge just before the gate of Renny town." Bernardo said. "It's most likely they will attack us on the bridge." Delbert replied. The horses started to panic as they were getting closer to the bridge refusing to move.

"Something has panicked them!" Delbert shouted. I looked towards the bridge with my dragon eyes skill still activated. I now knew the reason why the horses were panicked. For underneath the bridge stood a Drop bear eight foot tall. This was not the only problem though for the bear was covered in a dark purple aura, the same as my fathers. Meaning most likely that this was a Shadow beast. The knights had come down from the horses, they had no choice now that they refused to move forward. Each of them wielding their weapons in their hand. Wilfred with his great sword long in length but big and powerful. Delbert who held a shield in his left hand and a long sword in his right and finally Barenardo with his trusty axe. I had left the carriage with the workers inside and went to join the knights, Gary had followed along. I needed to figure a way to warn them about the creature under the bridge. Just as I was about to mention it to Wilfred. The Drop bears appeared out of the trees. The bears had jumped towards our group. One of the bears approached me with it's two big claws in the air aiming at my face. I blocked the first attack with my sword but was pushed back a few steps. The bears were more powerful then the wolfs in the black forest but seemed to move slower. With this I waited for the bear to attack again, instead of blocking the attack, I moved to the side and sliced the beast in half. I looked towards the Knights, who had already Slain two beast each to my one. I then went looking for Gary. He was hurt. blood was dripping down his shoulder where he had been scratched by the bear. As I went to move to Gary's aid the bear struck again. Gary managed to get the bear's claws stuck between his sword. With his other hand free he punched the bear in the face. The bear flew to the floor and he quickly jumped on top of the bear bringing his blade down through its head. Gary was shaken with the black blood all over his hands. Suddenly a scream could be heard from the carriage. Two of the bears had managed to get inside and were attacking the workers. I sprinted towards the carriage to help, when I heard the sound of wind pass by me. It was the other three knights. They quickly went past me and sliced the Beasts in one strike. With the beast slain, a moment of silence came. I started to relax a little until I looked towards the bridge. I had completely forgotten about the shadow beast. Everyone was now looking towards the bridge, as the shadow beast stood on top of it. I was indeed a Drop bear king, but this one was different from other drop bear kings. A black sludge could be seen foaming at the mouth, its fur had patches of purple throughout its body. "A shadow beast." Bernardo said, Gasping at the creature. "Everyone prepare for battle! " Wilfred Shouted.