Bearly Alive

Alastor was glad to see that Avacyn was following his directions to the letter. It kept her out of harm's way and allowed him the freedom of not needing to keep an eye on her at all times while he did his thing, taunting and enraging the bear while dodging its clumsy strikes. Alastor was not the most agile of wolves given his size and bulky musculature, but the bear was incapacitated enough that it didn't matter. From the corner of his eye, he watched Avacyn studying the way he moved and how the bear moved, looking like a chess master analyzing her next move. Meanwhile, the demented dark brute was laughing and having the time of his life avoiding deadly claws and irritating the hollow husk of the bear. "Nope, not fast enough, you great ball of fat and fur!" he jeered at his opponent, not entirely sure if the bear still held the cognitive functions to understand taunts. The next thing he heard from the bear was an earsplitting roar of pain. A glance beneath the creature found his daughter claws and tearing away at the great beast's soft underbelly. The stench of hot blood filled the air, and when Avacyn pulled back, her face was smeared in the sticky red fluid.

The bear heaved a few angry breaths, then turned on the young violet fae. That was all the reason and distraction Alastor needed to end its life. Charging at the bear with a roar of fury, the behemoth of a wolf barreled into the bear's side, throwing his weight against the ursine's injuries to cause it to topple over in pain. Once on its side, Alastor made an impressive display of leaping on top of the flailing predator, lunging with open muzzle to latch his jaws around the base of the bear's skull where it met its neck. Confused, the bear tried to swing for the wolf on top of him, but Alastor moved faster, large black paws grabbing the bear's head on either side while Alastor held its neck still and then twisted with all his might. The bear's head jerked and turned at an unnatural angle, and a sickening series of snaps of vertebrae popping out of place punctuated the end of the fight. The bear immediately went limp, flopping dead across the ground. Alastor released his hold on his opponent when he heard the final death rattle of breath leave its body, then climbed off of the gargantuan carcass left in his wake.

Alastor didn't bother casting another glance back at the bear while he approached his daughter, looking her over briefly to make sure she wasn't injured. When he was sure she was fine, a proud, beaming smile split the dire brute's lips as he nuzzled his daughter's crown. "Well done, my princess! You were precise and deadly!" Pulling back to look over her blood-splattered face once more, Alastor couldn't have been more proud of how Avacyn handled herself in the face of danger. "Come on, let's go get washed up and find the others. Last thing I want is your mother giving me hell for fighting bear with you alone," he said with a chortle, leading the way down to the river at the base of the fjord. That was more than enough excitement for one trip.

WC: 556
Total: 1819 / 1500

"Alastor Mendacium"