Fandri awoke to a large wet tongue licking his face. He spluttered and batted away Wolfer’s large head which filled his vision. His ears pricked up to the sounds of a struggle and Varl’s screams.
When the hound moved, Fandri saw the bear biting into Varl’s shoulder, with the fairy trying to poke it in the eye with a twig.
His heart beat raced. He found Varl’s sword lying in the snow and raced towards the bear. He drove the weapon upward into the bear’s abdomen until it jolted against the spine. The momentum knocked the bear backwards with the squire still in its jaws.
Fandri gasped with exertion and stayed clear of the paw which swung again towards him, before it dropped to the snow.
The bear shuddered and blood trickled from its mouth. The eyes rolled backwards and its final heaving sigh pushed the halfling off its chest onto the ground. It moved no more.
“Varl, Varl.” Fandri-La flitted past him and went to aid the fallen boy.
Fandri crawled across the bear to see that Varl was covered in blood and trembling.
His eyes were wide and his breaths came in ragged gasps.
The fairy gave him low words of comfort and glowed bright. “There, there. We’ll see if we can stem the bleeding. Breathe nice and slow, nice and slow.”
Her magical glow extended to Varl’s shoulder and Fandri watched with satisfaction as the blood flow slowed to a trickle. He took off his outer shirt and scrunched it in a ball in the deep wound.
Varl moaned and Fandri-La clapped her hands. “He will survive. I know it.” Her brows furrowed as she concentrated on the healing spell again.
After a pause Varl’s eyes flickered and then opened.
“Fandri-La, Fandri, where am I? I have experienced the strangest dream in which I was in a cave with two bears and I slew one. The other escaped and attacked you both. Trusty Wolfer discovered that the bear had swallowed the fairy, and you were all unconscious. I rescued you Fandri-La, but was attacked by the creature and then the dream ended. What a strange and surprisingly realistic hallucination. Now, pray tell me why I am laying in the snow. This is most unseemly.”
The creased brow and perplexed set to Varl’s mouth made the halfling and fairy giggle.
“Oh Varl, that is exactly what happened.” Despite his shivering, Fandri laughed so hard his stomach hurt.
His fairy too giggled until tears streamed down her face. “Oh Varl you are hilarious. It wasn’t a dream at all.” Her smile then turned serious. “Have a look at your shoulder if you don’t believe me.”
Varl did as she asked and saw the mangled mess of torn skin and clothes. Fandri could see the agony return as the squire grimaced and moaned.
Fandri-La did what she could to ease his pain, but the halfling was concerned he would fall unconscious again.
“Stay with me, Varl. It’s important to keep your eyes open.”
“So…weary. Must…sleep.” His eyes closed again, despite Fandri shaking his uninjured arm.
“Hey, what’s that noise?” The fairy peered through the snow.
Wolfer was barking loudly and a noise - almost like a crying baby could be heard.
Halfling and fairy raced into the cave and stopped as their eyes adjusted to the darkness.
Wolfer held something in his mouth a little larger than the size of a halfling baby. It was wriggling and crying, but the hound appeared determined to carry it. After one well-placed kick to the muzzle, the creature was dropped in the snowbank at the entrance to the cave.
Fandri and his fairy hurried forward to discover a baby bear with fresh blood around its mouth. It was crying without pause and Fandri felt an ache in his heart at realising the poor cub was now an orphan.
Fandri-La was more practical and examined the cub all over for any wounds. At length, she smiled. “It seems that the blood all came from the parent snow bears. This little fellow seems alright, although I bet he is starving and cold too.”
Fandri’s brow creased and he rubbed a thumb along his chin. “I guess that he is our responsibility now, seeing as Varl and I killed his parents. He’s all alone in the world. I am sorry, little cub, but your parents were trying to kill us. I know you don’t understand. Oh Fandy, I feel so guilty now.” His eyes brimmed with tears.
Fandri-La began to sing a halfling lullaby and Fandri joined her. The halfling cradled the cub, making sure to keep the claws and teeth away from his own skin. “I guess we will have to take him back to the ice castle with us. I wonder what the other halflings will think of him.”
“I don’t think they would normally have bear cubs as pets.”
“He’s a wild animal, so the best thing to do would be to find other bears to care for him. Maybe someone at the castle can help us.”
“Great idea. Now, how can we carry the bear, Wolfer and Varl, and find the castle without getting lost? I have absolutely no idea where we are.” Fandri-La flew up as high as their bond would allow, and squinted through leagues of snow-covered landscape with a frown. “It looks the same in every direction. Which way should we go?”
They heard Varl’s weak voice nearby and raced out to check on him. “Fandri, Fandri.”
The halfling knelt beside his injured friend. He noticed white mist coming from Varl’s mouth and the squire’s lips were blue. He trembled and his breath came in gasps. “I am freezing to death, Fandri. Can you help me into the cave?”
Fandri could feel the temperature dropping. He could no longer feel his feet, and his fingers were turning numb inside the gloves. He knew their only chance of survival was to huddle in the cave out of the growing wind.
With a strength that surprised himself, Fandri dragged his tall friend through the snow and into the shelter of the cave.
“Lay me next to the bear, please.”
He placed Fandri next to the dead bear, which was still warm. The bear cub stopped whimpering and curled on top of Varl’s legs. Fandri was shivering by now as well and he cuddled into the boy’s back. “I wish we had some food.”
“Look in my pocket.”
A quick search uncovered a packet of dried venison, which they shared. Their stomachs rumbled with satisfaction at the tasty treat.
Fandri lay down again with a broad smile. “Well, we may be lost in the middle of no-where, but I’d rather die with something in my tummy.”
Above them, Fandri-La sang a soothing ditty as her toadstool sprung from the dirt floor. She managed two laps of the cave before sinking in a weary heap onto her new bed.