8. Farren
Farren
I groaned as my bladder woke me with its complaints of being filled to bursting paired with a heavy weight settled directly over it. With a heavy sigh, I raised a hand to push it away.
However, I was startled the moment my hand came into contact with something large and furry. Memories of last night rushed to my mind as I curled my fingers into the short coarse fur.
That’s right. I had just barely fallen asleep when something smashed open the door. I flinched at the thought and tightened my grip on the fur. The beast that was using me as a pillow groaned and shifted but stayed asleep after it nuzzled deeper against my protesting bladder.
I had to bite back a whimper of discomfort so I didn’t wake the beast. But still, I needed to figure out a way to remove him quickly before I burst.
With a deep breath, I gently lifted his head just enough that I could barely squeeze myself free. As soon as I had freed myself, I eased his massive head back down on the shredded remains of my sleeping bag. He grunted and moved his muzzle around the bedding as though searching me out.
I paused just long enough to see him settle back into sleep before I tiptoed out of the room to look for a place to relieve myself.
Just as I finished my business and stepped out from behind a tree, a large lumbering beast emerged from the building I’d sheltered in last night.
It was a massive creature that stood nearly twice my height once it rose onto its hind legs. The body was that of a bear, however, the colors were unlike what I had seen or heard of a bear before. Even in the early morning light, his coat shone in tones of bright sandy browns.
He huffed and grumbled out a low growl as he looked around in search of something. Confused, I stayed in the shadow of the trees to watch what he would do next.
The strange bear creature paused in his visual search, lifted his nose to the air, and released a loud sniff. A tremor of fear went through me as his head turned in my direction, locking onto where I stood mostly hidden around a thicker pine trunk.
My fear intensified as it started moving towards me.
As I took several steps backward in retreat, the bear matched with massive steps towards me. His steps were much larger than mine, so he closed the distance faster than I could create it.
Before I knew it, we were standing eye to eye. Well, it was more like the bear was forced to crane its neck down to meet my eye.
I swallowed audibly and tried to run through the meager list of spells I knew, hoping that at least one would be helpful in escaping this beast. Unfortunately, my nerves were far too jumbled to focus when faced with such a foe.
At the sound of my swallow, the bear nosed forward to sniff my face. He then lulled his massive tongue for a moment before he ran the surprisingly soft appendage across my face.
I squealed in shock and threw myself back, slipping on the dew-laden grass as I tried to swipe the saliva away. The beast followed me down, continuing to nose and lick at my face.
No matter how much I tried to shove its head away, it pushed back to continue in its ministrations. Fear flooded me more and more with each pass of the bear's tongue over my face.
“What are you doing?!” I cried out between swipes of the tongue.
Eventually, he moved his head down to lap at my neck and focused on where my neck met my collarbone.