The minotaurs were whipped into a chaotic rush by their orc handlers. They charged at Val, flecks of foam flying from their snarling mouths, heads swinging from side to side as they started to run at her. Val couldn't help but think of Bruno as she watched the beasts come closer.
She danced out of the way of the first, brushing his shoulder with her sword. SLEEP, she commanded, and the brute fell to the ground. Val stumbled a bit as the rest of the troop swarmed her. She was not used yet to her larger stature. But she didn't panic; her increased size also made the minotaurs less threatening. She spent a few moments frantically waving her sword, at one point grabbing a minotaur by the horn to hold him back. But after a few seconds all of them were on the ground, asleep.
Val turned to the orcs. They had rushed forward as well, driving the minotaurs to Val.
She didn't bother with the sword with the first one. She drove her foot into his chest, kicking him a dozen feet back where he bounced off the ground and laid still. An orc tossed a short spear, which Val's sword knocked out of the air. She swung her sword in a large arc and three orcs fell dead. Letting her own fury drive her, Val punched another orc, his head caving in under the force of the blow. She turned to the last orc, who turned tail and started to run. Val took two huge steps and was on him, grabbing him by the collar and tossing him against the mountain. The mountain proved tougher than the orc, and he fell to the ground with a wet thud, dead.
Val stood still for a moment, breathing heavy, letting her nerves settle. She was still not comfortable with fighting, though apparently getting pretty good at it. At her feet were a half-dozen minotaurs, all snoring gently. The mountain had become dark, lit only by a rising moon.
Bear, she thought. Where is Bear?
She ran quickly to the top of the crest of the hill, scanning the foothills of the mountain range, the edge of the cliff, the forest rising out of the dark valley...no sign of Bear. The centaur was nowhere to be seen.
Val reached up to her ear. The jewelry she had extracted from Eupraxios was still there, a tiny loop of gold in her large ear.. She hesitated for a second. The gift had been a trap...but it might still work. She closed her eyes and focussed on Bear, holding his imagine her head. She reached out with her mind, her senses, her intuition. She didn't know how the bauble worked, so she tried it all, calling out to Bear.
Suddenly his image appeared in her mind, lying on the ground, his chest supported by a tree. He was close, at the edge of the forest. Val started running.
She found him, guided by the image in her head. He was hidden by the darkness and the underbrush, which had saved him from the orcs. Val tore the bushes out of the way, revealing his limp form. At first he seemed only asleep, his chest rising softly. But the coat on his equine half was matted with a dark liquid Val knew to be blood. His breath was shallow, barely audible, except for a watery gurgle that left Val cold. He was dying.
Val knelt by his side, her face even with his. She took his face with both trembling hands, gently brushing a strand of black hair from his face. His eyelids fluttered, but he did not open his eyes. Tears welled up in Val's eyes. She called out to him softly, her lips brushing against his, her hands lifting his head up. But he did not respond.
Val had a sudden inspiration. She reached around for the sword, that magical arc of antler, and brought it up. Maybe it could do more than kill. HEAL, she thought loudly, and touched Bear with it.
Nothing seemed to happen. REJUVINATE, she thought, touching him again. He might have trembled, but it was hard to see in the dark. She racked her brain for other words, synonyms, anything to convey her wish for him to be brought back to his vital self. BE BETTER! REVITALIZE! HEALTH! LIFE! She mentally shouted as she brought the sword down over and over again on Bear's shoulder.
His hand suddenly shot out to stop her.
"Why are you hitting me?" He asked.
Val took him in her arms, crushing him against her chest with a giant hug. She took his face again in her hands, but this time the better to rain kisses on his cheeks and lips.
Bear happily protested the assault, trying to push Val away a bit so that he could breathe. She finally let him go, only to watch his face drop with shock.
"You,.." he stammered, looking her up and down,"...are huge!"
Val stood up and gave a little twirl, showing off her new size. Bear stumbled up onto his four legs. He barely reached her shoulder now.
In a rush, Val told him the whole story, about Eupraxios and the Maggot, of the birth of the Headless Hunter, of her fight with the orcs and minotaurs, and finally finding him. By the time she was done, Bear was pacing back and forth, excited, his tail flicking up and down in his excitement.
"We won! We did it!" He shouted.
"We still need to deal with lizard men," Val reminded him.
"They will crumble before us!" He shouted.
Val was getting a little concerned about his behavior. This was not the gentle giant she had come to love so dearly. Maybe she had hit him with the sword a few too many times. The growing erections, both human and horse, were a testament to how revitalized he really felt.
Val took him by the shoulders.