A/N: A shorter chapter today.

Chapter 6

The Strongblade farm was situated in the region of Heartlands, halfway between the walls of Cheydinhal and the Red Ring Road. It was somewhat obscured from view by lush greenery; people who traveled along the Blue Road paid it no heed. The soil was fertile; somewhat heavy because of silts and loams, but not too hard to cultivate. There was a source of fresh water nearby - the beautiful clear Lake Arrius - and plenty of resources around.

Jhared was used to hard work. At the age of sixteen he was able to manage most labors, both in the fields and near the animals. He was also painfully unable to come up with passable business strategies or hold any of those so-called 'high-class conversations'.

This day he went to chop some timber. The cowshed had to be repaired; since the last thunderstorm the roof was slightly lopsided and Alain was worried that it might collapse. Jhared has volunteered to do the job; the weather was nice, the axe sharpened and - maybe, just maybe it would make his parents happy. Frankly, he was worried about his mother. Lady Gisele seemed to wither in the countryside; during their visits to Cheydinhal she was lively and in good spirits.

He set the axe aside and wiped sweat from his brow. He was on a small glade in the middle of the forest; the sun shone bright and it was hot as fuck. No weather was as hot as a heated discussion at home, though.

Maybe the two of them should move to the city. Jhared would soon be able to run the farm on his own, while his father would manage the finances from Cheydinhal. It wasn't that far away from here.

Thinking about Cheydinhal always led to thinking about Naspia.

He wondered if she'd like it here. During his last visit Jhared planned to invite her here, but promptly forgot about it when... well, when he saw her. It took one smile of Naspia Cosma, one swish of her brown hair and one flash of her green eyes to melt him into a fucking puddle of elation and light-heartedness. It was pathetic.

"Come on, it's really not my fault." he said very loudly, thankful that he was alone "She's just a good friend. And has a cute face. And a great body. Sweet Mara, these..."

"If you are done creaming yourself over the Steward's daughter, you could always go back to work." another voice suggested.

Jhared cringed. Oh crap. SoAlain Strongblade has decided to supervise his son's work.

"I'm almost finished in here." he shrugged, but lifted the axe again "Just took a little break before wrapping it up."

His father shot him a disapproving look "It doesn't look like a finished work to me."

Jhared gritted his teeth. No amount of work done was enough to satisfy this man. Maybe if he had been a little more skilled in this whole wheat business thing his father wouldn't be so strict with him. But he wasn't and nothing would change it.

He continued chopping. Alain sat on the nearby pile of wood and stared at the sky.

"Yarn prices are rising again, especially for the linen one. This time for good, they say." he noted "We should invest in more land to grow flax."

"The soil is too heavy here." Jhared replied without looking at his father. They've had this conversation - about various plants - a thousand times before and it always led to one thing.

"Cheydinhal lies on sandy loams. We should sell his farm and move somewhere near the city, buy a bit of land and start a flax business."

"You know my opinion on that very well, Father. I assure you it didn't change from the last time."

"Running such a big farm is a great endeavor, Jhared. Mother and I are slowly getting too old for it and you will not manage it alone."

"Maybe we'll hire somebody to help?"

Alain frowned "The wages for the hired workers are soaring right now. We won't be able to afford the required number of them."

These were new points. Father's logic was sound, sure, but it was all unthinkable for Jhared. Leave this beautiful place, his first and only home for a little patch of sand near the city walls? He looked over at his father. Alain Strongblade was completely serious.

"I've grown to love this lands too, son. Don't think that it's an easy decision for me to make." he cleared his throat "But it must be done, sooner or later. Just think about your mother..."

That was the one argument Jhared found no reply to.

"Father, please just think this over once..." he began, but a loud, piercing roar cut him off. Father jumped up from the pile.

"What in the Nine Divines was that?" another roar cut through the air, this time much closer "Home. Now."

Jhared nodded, but when he was lowering the axe to the ground a black shadow ran from the forest and onto the glade. It stopped, grunting and growling, the gaze of its small eyes drifting between Jhared and Alain.

"A fucking black bear." his father was pale "Drop down, now, and don't move."

Jhared did as he was ordered to. The beast was looking at the two figures, lying sprawled in the grass. It was curiously sniffing the air. Jhared could only observe as the giant bear was edging closer and closer to his father, as it stretched out one paw and poked the man. As it hit him a bit harder, but enough for the short claws to draw blood. How his father's body jerked a bit and the bear has let out a roar and oh no...

Without a moment's hesitation, Jhared grabbed the axe and rushed at the black beast. The surprised animal let out a low roar which turned into a scowl when the heavy blade struck its neck. It spun - frighteningly fast for such a hunky animal - spraying the grass with bright-red blood.

I struck the artery, Jhared thought. Good. Last summer they've found one of their cows dead after if ran into a treestump; a sharp piece of wood has pierced this very artery in the neck and the cow's eyes were dead, so very dead, unlike this thing...

Oh, Stendarr have mercy.

The beast turned its attention to Jhared. A fucking shadow, all fur and eyes and teeth; it stood on its hind legs, trying to scare him into submission. Its roar pierced Jhared's eardrums, but the adrenaline was still pumping strong within his bloodstream. He glanced at his father; Alain Strongblade was lying still. By the Nine...

"I'll fucking skin you." Jhared sneered at the beast, suddenly unafraid "Come at me, fucker."

The bear charged. Jhared rolled to one side and immediately darted forward. Let it bleed out a little bit, yes, but not too long. How many gallons of blood had a black bear? Jhared had no idea.

Now, when it was too late to play dead, he was staring the animal in the eye. It was observing him, looking for any sign that could tell that he was afraid or faltering. Jhared checked his belt. A throwing dagger, perfect. As slowly as possible he moved his left hand towards the hilt - too careless. The beast noticed it and attacked, with twice as power as before. Jhared managed to duck, but one claw left a shallow gash in his arm.

His thoughts raced. Why wasn't it getting weaker? Judging from the amount of blood on the ground, this thing should be writhing in death throes right now. It seemed that the only one who was getting tired was Jhared.

It charged once more, this time fast enough to pin him to the forest ground. It loomed over him; a dark shape obscuring everything else, an incarnation of a nightmare. The bear was incredibly heavy. The smell of its rotten breath filled Jhared's nostrils. Will these teeth be the last sight he'll see?

Lord Akatosh, don't let me die here, not like this, no...

Something crashed and the bear fell to the ground with a thud. Jhared, trying to avoid being crushed to death, rolled over, only to bump into his father's legs. Alain Strongblade was gripping a heavy wooden log.

"Black bear in the Heartlands? How did it wander that far from the Colovia?" he said and turned to his son "I fear I've only knocked it unconscious. Kill it now."

"H-how?" Jhared was still shaking from his near-death experience

"You were doing pretty good on your own, you should figure it out." his father said in a perfectly serious voice "Maybe stick a dagger through its eye and turn it a few times to make sure that it reached the brain?"

With a trembling hand, Jhared reached for the dagger. He took the handle in both hands and drove it into the bear's right eye with all the strength he could muster. The beast made one final grunt, spasmed and then died.

"Look at this beautiful pelt." his father was kneeling down next to the carcass and running his fingers through the thick black fur "It's worth a small fortune, if you sell it to certain buyers. Good thing that I know someone who'd love to purchase it."

"Shall I... skin it, or something?"

"No, I'll order a professional hunter to do it." father replied sharply "For now let's head home with the Nine-damned timber." he paused for a moment "And... Jhared?"

"Yes?" he stopped picking up timber and looked up. Much to his confusion, his father walked up to him and patted him on the back.

"Good job with the timber. And the bear. The way you were fighting..." he looked as if he couldn't find the proper words "You were calm and collected, just like a real fighter. Maybe you should consider joining the Guild." he nodded once "I think you have potential."

Jhared was dumbstruck. Ring the bells and light the candles, his father has praised him. He really wasn't sure what to say in this situation, so he settled on "Um. Thank you, dad.".

He found no other words, so he picked up the remaining timber and followed Alain Strongblade home.