Chapter 47 - Bears and More

There was a tense pause for the Companions while Xander investigated the cave. After what seemed too long a time, he sauntered back out, tail held high, and approached them.

"As I expected," he said as he reached them. "No hermits, no lions, no chickens, even. There is, however, a family of bears."

There was muttering and groaning throughout the team.

"Just a moment, now," Xander said. "I have spoken with them and explained that we have the Queen of the Thousand Forests among our number. They have eaten well. They have plenty of spare room and would welcome some company. No fires, though. But that won't be a problem. With four adult bears, three cubs and the ten of you, it will be cosy, if none too fragrant."

"When you say 'the ten of you', Xander…?" Corben queried.

"Well, I shall be out on patrol much of the night, as usual," the cat reminded them. "Only because I must, you understand. I do not doubt the word of the bears. They have promised not to harm anyone who does not harm them. You have their queen with you. Bears spend their time in the forests, and not only for the purposes of defecation, I assure you."

"I'll go in first," Lydia said to the group.

"I will… come with you," Oddy added.

His voice was hoarse, but resolute. He headed off up the slope to the cave side-by-side with Lydia.

As they passed through the entrance, they turned to the right. It became dark. Lydia's senses adjusted. She knew the light was low, but she could see as clearly as before. Odysseus would not find it so easy to adjust. She reached out and took his hand in hers.

"I'll lead you until your eyes get used to the dim light," she told him. "Tell me when you can see well enough."

"Does that mean you'll let go when I do?" Oddy asked.

"Probably not," she chuckled. "I just won't be leading you anymore."

"Cool," he said.

Around another corner, they found a spacious chamber. Two of the adult bears were standing on their hind legs, as if to attack or greet them. Lydia was confident she could protect them both against any attack. But it would take magic. Magic would alert the Watcher. Still, she would prefer not to be torn apart by wild animals.

But she could feel no threat or malice from the bears. They were standing as a mark of respect and greeting. They were inquisitive, and they recognised her as their queen. She felt she and her companions would be safe.

"This is weird," she thought. "If I wasn't me, I wouldn't believe it. But, in that case, I wouldn't be in the Anteworld searching for tokens of the Seven Essences. And Odysseus would have to fend for himself."

Lydia reached out with her mind to the larger of the two standing bears.

"Our friend Xander, the cat, said you would allow us to stay here for the night," she thought to the bear.

"Gladly, my queen," she felt him think back. "You can see there is room for you and us together. We would move out for you, but it will be too cold for our cubs outside."

"I wouldn't want you to leave for us," Lydia assured the bear. "Thank you for the offer and thank you for your hospitality. We will not light fires, as Xander agreed."

"Thank you," the chief bear replied. "Bring your clan inside. The dark is coming."

"We'll go and get them," she said out loud.

Oddy flinched at the sound. Lydia turned to him.

"Come on," she said. "They say it's all right. We can bring the others in."

"OK." Oddy's voice was a small squeak.

The two standing bears dropped on all fours. The ground, which seemed to be mud, sand, and dried leaves, shook with their weight. Oddy flinched again, but stood his ground.

"Come on," Lydia repeated, and led him by the hand.

His palm was slick with sweat as she took it. He followed her stiffly, his shoulders hunched.

"They're friendly," Lydia told him as they walked back to the cave mouth. "You couldn't hear our conversation, but they were polite and welcoming. It was like they felt honoured to have us stay. As long as we all respect them, we'll be fine."

She looked at his face, pale and glistening in the dwindling daylight as they stepped out into the open air again.

"You were amazing," she whispered. "You didn't reach for your wand. That must have been hard."

"I trust you," he whispered back.

"You OK?" Dean asked, running up to meet them.

"Fine," Lydia answered. "They're waiting for us. In a nice way."

"I meant Oddy," Dean explained. "We knew you'd be all right, Forest Queen."

"I'm fine, too," Oddy insisted.

"Is it smelly in there?" Dean grinned.

"Not yet," Oddy said. "I should have warned them you were with us."

The others had joined them, laughing with relief.

"OK," Lydia addressed them. "Some ground rules before we go in. Respect the bears and their home. If you don't, then don't expect me to save you. Also, no fires, as Xander promised. It'll be warm enough with us all in there."

"What about lights?" Shona asked. "It's going dark soon."

"Let me ask them first," Lydia said. "I'm sure they'll be fine with them once they know the torches don't burn. They trust us and we mustn't abuse that or take it for granted."

"How do you talk to animals, Lydz?" Corben asked.

"She can go into their minds," Christie said. "We've talked about it. This is what we get up to in our tent at night. Not any of the things Dean might have told you."

Dean gave them a "Who, me?" look.

"I can go into their minds and even take over their bodies," Lydia added. "I don't do it often. It seems ill-mannered."

"Ooh, you do sound like Ambrose, sometimes," Freddie said.

"Look, it's getting dark," Lydia said. "Stop stalling and get in that cave. Odysseus and I will lead the way."

"At least I've got one brave male companion," she added.

Suitably chastened, Dean and Freddie followed them, then Christie and Dev. Sophie looked at Corben and shrugged. They tagged on behind the others. Xander sprang up onto Sophie's shoulder as she walked in.

"It may seem unusual," Quinn said to Shona. "But the bears will respect Lydia and her companions. Fear not, for I am an experienced bear fighter. Should anything happen, I shall defend you."

"You've fought bears?!" Shona sounded astonished.

"Good Lord, no!" he contradicted. "Where do you get such ridiculous notions?"

"I can't imagine," she muttered, following him into the cave.

Inside the bears' cave, only Lydia and Xander could see. Lydia asked their hosts if they could use their flashlights. She assured them they were not like fire and lit hers on the lowest setting to show them. The bears were cautious but fascinated. Then one cub bounced out from behind its mother and up to Lydia, demanding to see the torch by pawing at her. Seeing the cub, Shona squeaked with delight and Freddie gave a long, "Aww!"

They placed a couple of torches against the cave walls to give background lighting. The other cubs appeared, playing first with Lydia, then moving to Shona, Freddie and the others. The Companions settled on the floor and shared their food with their new friends. As Xander had said, the bears had already eaten. They took a little of what they offered out of respect. One cub fell asleep in Shona's lap. With care, Shona shuffled about so that she lay curled around the cub. This delighted the mother bear. Lydia passed on the she-bear's pleasure to the humans.

The cave became comfortably warm with the unusual mixture of occupants. A draught of the night air crept over the floor near the entrance. Dev opened Shona's sleeping bag and laid it over her and the cub. He tucked a pillow under Shona's head. She smiled and thanked him. Dev smiled back and sat down a little way from them. Christie and Corben lounged together and conversed in a murmur for a long time. Lydia took great care not to listen.

Oddy sat with Lydia for a while. They talked about the bears. Oddy remarked that, while they looked like brown bears, they were more sociable and less nocturnal. Lydia told him that, to her, they felt they were from the world she and Oddy knew, but had lived in this world long enough to become different. Most of the animals they had come across had felt this way to her. It was as though they had originated in their home world generations before, but those now alive had been born in the Anteworld. Perhaps Lydia was detecting a hint of the Old Magic in them, Oddy suggested. Lydia thought he was right.

Eventually, all of them had slept, more so than at any time since before they had passed through the portal. In the morning, after Freddie confirmed the mandala was still telling them to move on, he remarked on their sound sleep. Everyone agreed.

"I don't know about anyone else," said Corben, "but I've woken up most mornings feeling like I've been in a fight all night."

There was a chorus of agreement.

Shona shuddered. "I had some horrible dreams about people betraying each other. The worst thing is, I think it was us."

"I don't remember what my dreams were about," said Corben. "But I've been waking up scared or angry. It's been a relief to wake up most days. Today, though, it was a relief to get up feeling so… relieved."

"I keep having dreams," Christie said, "about someone annoying me all the time."

"You sure you're not confusing night and day?" Dean asked with a grin, inclining his head in Freddie's direction.

"Well, I haven't been sleeping great 'cos I'm usually next to Dean or Jimmy snoring all night," Freddie countered.

"I had a dream," said Quinn in a low, deep voice. "In my dream, I was a tree. The winter had come and I had fallen asleep, but I could still feel the tingling of my roots."

He looked around at them all.

"But that is not important," he continued. "I slept here with you and our friends, the bears. I did not go out, nor did I wander."

"You went out though, Xander," Lydia noted.

"Aye, of course," Xander confirmed. "It is in my nature, as Aron would have it. What can I say? I'm the hero. I walk all day and patrol all night. When you're a hero, you have to put in the effort."

"Ha!" Sophie said. "Xander, I carry you most of the day while you sleep."

"And you go out twice in the night for two hours in all," Lydia added.

"They always mock that which they cannot hope to comprehend," Xander said with sagely disdain.

After breakfast, which the bears shared with gusto, the Companions packed their gear and left the cave. They said their farewells to the bears and set off up the slope of the mountain, away from the green forest and towards the forbidding peaks. As they walked upwards, they heard a bellow and the thunder of a bear galloping after them.

"Wait here," said Lydia, then ran back down the slope to meet the bear.

She returned with the two largest bears, the males, following her.

"Bad news," she warned. "The bears can smell mountain trolls. They're going to accompany us for a while."

"Will the cubs be safe?" Shona asked.

"They will," Lydia confirmed. "The bears say the trolls never come down this far. And if they did, they're too big to get through the cave entrance."

"Should we use our brooms?" Sophie asked.

"That would split us up and leave those left behind vulnerable," Lydia explained. "I want to get on the open mountain and see that they're not close by before I'll risk it."

She turned to Oddy and lowered her voice. "I can't feel them, Odysseus. That worries me. I know the bears have a good sense of smell, but the trolls should be close enough for me to detect."

Oddy considered this. "I suspect day-walking mountain trolls are a product of the Watcher — or at least of the Alterworld. They don't have that hint of our Old Magic that you detect in the other animals."

"Doesn't that worry you?" she demanded.

"Have we met?" he said. "Everything worries me, Faye."

"There's something else: why are trolls after us?"

Oddy narrowed his eyes. "You think the Watcher sent them, so how does he know where we are?"

"Exactly."

He sighed. "I can only think someone used a spell absent-mindedly. It's so natural to any of us to use lumos in the dark when we're looking for something. That's not important. What we need now is to know where these trolls are."

"What can I do about it? Should I get on my broom and scout ahead?"

"I doubt the others want you to leave," he reminded her, and looked up. "There are eagles in the sky. Proper eagles, not the Watcher's eagle-vultures. If only we had someone who could see with their eyes!"

She laughed at herself. "Well, I'm glad one of us isn't an idiot."

Oddy glanced around. "Really? Who is this impostor?"

Lydia opened her mind to a wheeling eagle. She felt her way into its mind and looked down at the mountainside. Adjusting to the eagle's vision, she found their team. She did not want to take control of the eagle. Oddy had warned that it might be a step too far with her magic and might alert the Watcher. Perhaps the Watcher already knew where they were, perhaps not. Was it worth the risk?

She switched between the several eagles, searching the terrain around her group. With one eagle, she spotted a troll. It seemed to be unarmed. There was another. It had no club or axe either. There was a third troll. She searched further out. No other trolls to be seen, and none of the three carried a weapon. The bad news was that the trolls were surrounding them, approaching quickly.

"Dean," she said. "Get your broom. We'll fly straight upwards. Trolls don't look up. There's one up the slope that way. There are loose rocks it'll be passing. Let's see if we can start a rockfall and either crush it or trap it. I'll need your muscles."

"Sorry, Oddy," Dean commiserated. "If only you'd tried for the team when you had the chance…"

"Come on," Lydia snapped at him.

"Off you go, henchman!" Oddy joked.

Lydia pulled her broom out of her rucksack, jumped aboard, and flew straight up into the clear sky. Dean followed.

Lydia led Dean round a spur of rock and back down. They came down low to the mountain slope, keeping out of sight of the trolls. She took her broom in to land behind a pile of rocks. To Dean's surprise, she pulled a long-handled pickaxe from her pack.

"I didn't think you'd want to use your broom as a lever," she said. "We rely on them."

"Good thinking," Dean agreed.

They clambered over the boulders, assessing where they might be unstable.

"We need to be knocking rocks out low down on the downhill side of this pile," Lydia said.

"How far is the troll?" Dean asked.

Lydia looked down on the area through another eagle's eyes.

"Shit!" she hissed. "It's coming."

"Give me the pick, and get off the rocks," Dean said, grabbing it and flying his broom skyward again.

Lydia jumped on her broom and hovered behind the heap of stones. With a whoop, Dean swooped down out of the blue, skimmed along the track towards the bemused troll, and swung the pickaxe. It smacked into a rock on the lower side of the pile; the force jerking the handle from Dean's grip. He shot up into the air again, right in front of the troll's face.

Lydia heard the clang of the pickaxe from the other side of the heap of boulders. She saw Dean shoot upwards, holding his broom one-handed, and heard a grinding noise from the rocks. She too shot up into the air, from where she watched the mound of rock and stone tumble down onto the troll. The rockfall swept it away down the slope, burying it. She whooped like Dean and flew up beside him.

"I'd high-five," he said through gritted teeth, "but I think I've broken my wrist."

"Oh hell, Dean!"

"It's OK, I've got a spare," he joked. "Let's see how the others are."

"One of the other trolls is almost on them!" Lydia said, pointing down the slope.