Page 89 of Arrows and Gems
A frightened cry sounded from the treetops, and then a low growl rumbled toward them. Cap grabbed Helena’s arm and pulled her behind a tree. Her momentum carried her into him, smashing him against the trunk.
A low grunt of pain escaped, but he wrapped his arms around her, holding her to his chest. She took a moment to appreciate his soft cloak under her chilly fingers and the firm muscles beneath. Then tugging her bow out from between them, she tried to pull away.
His arms tightened. “Bear,” he breathed in her ear. “Can you climb?”
It was the wrong time to notice the thrill of his lips brushing her skin. Nodding, she replied, “Every tree in Reineggburg.”
“Go.” Releasing her, he darted out of cover. Not to a different tree, but into the open. All alone, with nothing but a staff and a hunting knife to defend himself.
A grizzly bear lumbered out of the trees toward him. Helena felt her breathing quicken at the sight of its large maw andlong claws. What was Cap thinking?
She whipped an arrow out of her quiver, but her hand shook as she brought it to her bow. Where should she aim? Its chest? An eye?
Just as she released her arrow, the bear threw itself up on its hind feet, causing her arrow to fly harmlessly past. The bear released a roar, then charged.
Cap reached for his quiver. What did he plan to do, stab the bear when it got close enough? Helena grabbed another arrow, then startled when Cap slammed the end of his staff on the ground...and drew the strung bow that sprang out of it.
His arrow buried itself in the bear’s shoulder, but the animal didn’t even slow. Helena released another of her own, grimacing when it landed on the bear’s hip instead of its abdomen. She hadn’t properly accounted for its speed.
Cap stumbled backward, sending another arrow into the bear’s upper chest, but it was almost upon him. He wouldn’t be able to get another shot off at that range.
Helena’s heart lurched, and then she yelled.
“Pick on someone your own size, you nasty brute!”
The bear ignored her, lunging toward Cap with its huge teeth and massive paws. He threw himself to the side but let out a cry of pain. The bear’s claws must have clipped him.
Helena sent another arrow into the bear’s side. It roared and turned toward her. “That’s right, look at me! I’m the one turning you into a pincushion.”
Behind the animal, Cap pushed himself up, but he was favoring his right side. She couldn’t count on his ability to draw.
And the bear was coming for her now.
“Margit, climb!” Cap shouted as he pulled the hammer from his belt. When the bear kept coming, Helena stuffed her bow in its sheath and jumped for the nearest branch.
She swung up just before the bear reached her. It stood onits hind legs and swiped at her, but she scrambled to her feet, leaning on another branch for balance.
Could she shoot the bear again from here?
It wrapped its forelegs around the trunk, and Helena scurried higher. Why in the heavens had Cap told her to climb a tree if the bear could follow?
“Relâchez!”
Pausing, she looked down at Cap’s cry. The hammer in his hand stretched into a sword as he rushed the bear.
Their magic-users had been getting quite creative, hadn’t they?
Helena pulled out another arrow. Cap was injured; he would need help.
And between his sword and her arrows, the forest was finally quiet again.
CHAPTER 31
Cap
Cap inhaled sharply. “You’re doing that on purpose!” he growled.
Scrubbing the wet cloth a little harder against his side, Rouge replied, “Yes, I am cleaning your wound on purpose. Because I’m not going to let you die of gangrene because you were foolish enough totake on abearby yourself.”
