Chapter 4: The Path Ahead

As Marlow peered from his hidey-spot, he could sight what he had come after: a bear. Only, it was a bear's bear, a macho bear who probably ate other bears and used their bones as his gym weights, his hide covered in all the fights he'd surely won. The very thing he ate was what had destroyed an entire hold full of walls and fighting guards and he was just one person. One little person with no formal training, no occupation, and the booty of others corpses' for his tools. He was a kid. Just a kid. He was too young to die.

Telling stories and sitting in a pub drinking ale was easy. He wanted tales of valor and conquest and fun and killing and all sorts of cool, masculine things. But this, this was real life. With a big bear who could probably eat him and who would certainly try.

In fact, every time he built himself up to fight something, whether it be a cave bear or a cute little porcupine, none of it had gone well for him. Only a brawl with drunken sailors had gone adequately but so drawn out he still felt exhausted just thinking about it. He really hadn't ever had a good victory.

And yet he was going to fight the thing that ate the thing that ate the hold ?

It roared and chunks of meat and ooze splattered on his face, unwelcome spittle and with a vile stench. Slowly, Marlow rose, drew an arrow, and notched it into his cross-bow, drawing it back and preparing it to fire. No matter his thoughts, the only option here was to fight, and contemplating on the issue any more would only make him leak his bladder onto his new-found armor. He shut off his brain and hyper-focused his attention the bear, tuning everything else out.


EDIT: Continuing on to fight

TL;DR Marlow readies