CHAPTER TWELVE

“Yumi!” Rolf called out. “You alright?”

Yumi raised her left hand and gave him a thumbs up to indicate that she was.

Sven was quick to react and move. With Yumi down with her ass on the ground, Sven positioned himself between the others and the shadow crouching between the trees, his reinforced wooden shield held high and ready in front of him.

They could not quite make out what it was, hidden as it was in the shadows cast by the trees, but they could see that it was huge. It was easily twice the size of a dire goat, which of course was saying a lot considering the typical dire goat easily dwarfed your average horse both in girth and height. It was no wonder at all that the dire goat was no match for it.

The creature was glaring at them in the darkness, its glowing eyes blazing red with fury. It hissed and snarled as it crouched even lower, preparing to lunge.

Then with a deep bellow it spurred into action.

“Here it comes!” Sven cried, bracing himself behind his shield, ready to lash out with his sword in return.

A flash of white in the dark silhouette as the light from the full moon touched upon the creature.

“Damn!” Rolf cursed under his breath as he reached into one of several hidden pockets inside his cloak. He now recognized their adversary for what it was. The creature’s shape and the white pattern on its fur and thick bushy tail were unmistakable. They were in big trouble.

“Badger bear!” he warned the others even as his hand swung out, sending a couple of needle-like throwing blades spinning into the air.

A badger bear. A Rabid Ring-Tailed Badger Bear to be exact. Oh, they were in big trouble alright. Of all the natural creatures in the world, only but a few were worse than badger bears and Rabid Ring-Tailed Badger Bears were the worse of the lot. Indeed, the capitalized letters of the name were well-earned.

Even young adult dragons, known for their brashness due to their age, gave Rabid Ring-Tailed Badger Bears a wide berth. At least according to McMillan’s Encyclopedia of Monsters of the Supranatural. While Rolf himself had never been witness to the rare interactions between dragons and badger bears, he knew one thing. There were ten experienced and skilled Axe Slayers that went in that cave that day so many years ago but only two went out and in defeat at that.

And this one was injured and that made it all that more dangerous.

The throwing knives flew straight and true but they simply bounced off, completely ineffective against the beast’s thick, tough hide. Not that Rolf expected them to do much damage, they still did the trick as he had hoped.

The knives struck the badger bear on the forehead, a little off-center to the right, and provided enough distraction to slow down the creature enough for Sven to sidestep to the left and thus avoid the brunt of the charge.

Still, it took most of Sven’s strength to keep his feet firmly planted on the ground though he did slide a couple of feet backward. Putting everything he had behind his shield, the metal-reinforced wood had groaned and creaked quite audibly under the pressure as though it was about to break but it held.

Sven then swung his broadsword and smote the badger bear on the side, several inches behind the shoulder, as it passed by. The blade dug into the thick hide and drew blood but it only served to further enrage the already infuriated beast and nothing else.

Quick as jack rabbit, Rolf was standing at Sven’s side.

“We need to close in,” he said, “keep it from charging again. It’s not ideal, I know, but the alternative’s worse.”

Sven nodded grimly, breathing heavily. That exchange with badger bear, brief though it was, had taken a lot out him. He knew what his friend was planning; it was a crazy idea to be sure but it was the only one they had. The way he was now, he could probably stand toe to toe with the beast for just one more round, two at best, and Rolf would only have one shot at it. He could only hope for Rolf’s success and for Yumi seeing their through their plan and at the very least not get in the way.

Bellowing and roaring in pain and anger, the Rabid Ring-Tailed Badger Bear plowed through two rows of blood berry bushes before skidding to a stop.

“Right then,” Rolf hissed. “Let’s do this.”

This time, it was their turn to charge.