I was mesmerised by the shorter one with the long hair; her eyes were beautiful as she was looking at us. I couldn't take my eyes off of hers, and she couldn't either, until the other kid took her away behind the house.
"Seems like little Jade has a cruuushhh!!!" Said brother teasingly. "No, I don't!!" I shouted, "Let's go!" stated Father from the carriage, not sparing a second glance.
I got in the carriage alongside brother Cedric; I sat at the end of the carriage, with my brother next to me and Father in front of us.
"Where to next, my lord?" Said the driver. "To the guild hub," Dad said, to which the driver complied.
"You will be the one to choose the mission, Jade," Dad said to me firmly. As we remained silent through the rest of the road to the guild hub.
The guild hub is a big house, financed by the sealord himself; it's next to the island of temples. The titan of Braavos could be seen towering behind the guild's roof.
The house's roof was yellow while the bricks were grey stone. It was a 3-storey tall building with only 8 windows, but they were huge; there was a queue of people outside waiting for their turn to put in a request.
Dad and I went to the guild, as we left brother Cedric behind waving. The main hall was big and spacious so that everyone could come in; there was a board with a brown-skinned woman manning it at the right side of the hall, and it was full of sell swords.
My father is the guild's master; that means that he is the one who counts the income and does all the economic things. And this is what I know so far: for everyone who makes a request, they pay 15% of the reward money to the guild.
10% of that income is used to pay the employees, the local landlord, aka the sealord, and the taxes. While the 5% remain with us, we also partake in some missions from time to time.
Most of the people who deposit missions here are merchants, who ask for reinforcement to help defend their carriages and goods whilst they travel, as the land is full of scavengers and monsters.
The sell swords, on the other hand, get 80% of the payment; however, they have to give a 5% cut to the guild so that they are recognised by the guild as solid sell sellsword.
"Hello, Sheryl, I would like a mission. An easy one, if possible, that could completed in a day." Dad demanded from one of the secretaries named Sheryl.
"Yes, master. There are 2 missions that fit this criteria. The first is to deal with a sea turtle; the other is about a bear that has been causing trouble for all the travellers." She said after rummaging through the papers in front of her.
"We will take the bear mission." I said firmly after Dad nudged me on my shoulder. "A bear has appeared at the road to Pentos. Leading to many merchants never making it here or there.
Although not many merchants use the mainland, not all can afford to use boats. Are you willing to take this mission, sir?" Sheryl enquired after informing me about the mission.
"Yes, I will." I was given a piece of paper that had all the information about the mission. "Thank you for the help!!" Said Sheryl while bowing.
"Come, let's go." Said Dad while leaving, with me following closely behind. Reaching the carriage, Dad sat next to brother Cedric, leaving me the spot facing them.
"We are going to the main road leading to Pentos." Dad shouted to the driver, who complied once again. "So... What's the mission?" enquired Brother Cedric. "The mission is to kill a bear that has been causing trouble with merchants." I said eagerly.
It took us about 1 hour to reach the main road to Pentos; the road was barren as no one was around. There was a sign written in Valeryan that said "Danger ahead". We got out of the carriage; in front of us was a huge forest with big trees.
"Jade will go ahead first with me and Cedric following behind. We will not intervene unless you are in grave danger," Dad said, looking at me, then at Cedric. "Okay, sure." I said swallowing a big lump in my throat.
I started heading deep into the road alone, as Dad and brother Cedric already hid themselves in the forest, leaving me alone; all signs of life and civilisation became nothing more than a dot behind.
The road was big at the beginning, but as I moved on, it started to get smaller and smaller. I heard leaves rustling thanks to the strong wind and what I can only assume were wolves howling.
It took forever until I reached the last place someone apparently met the bear. How did I know, aside from the paper that only said to follow north?
The crunching sounds coming from up ahead, as well as the blood marks on the broken carriages and the claw marks.
I started crouching to the ground whilst nearing the sound until I could see it clearly, a 12-foot-tall bear crunching on a human head.
'I almost barfed right now; I can't hold it much longer.' I can feel my stomach churning, as everything I ate this morning is coming back up. 'I need to get as far away from here as possible.' I started backing away when I stepped on a branch.
'Oh no.' As soon as I stepped on it, the bear turned my way as it stood on its hind legs, and what was a 12-foot-tall bear easily doubled in height.
I didn't think as I started the spike spell; the bear still didn't attack just yet, but it plans to. I saw it in its big pitch-black eyes, plain and simple; it got down and started running my way. However, I have already summoned a 4-foot earth spike.
As it got near me, I could smell a rotten smell; it made me feel dizzy for a second. The bear was getting closer and closer; my hands were quivering, and my legs were about to drop me.
But in that moment I mustered what courage I had, and I smashed the spike down with all the strength my sweaty hands could afford. The bear somehow managed to dodge it, but it still got heavily injured in its left shoulder, as its left hand is now impaled in the ground inches away from me.
I didn't celebrate or try to hit it again; I simply started running back as far away from the damn thing as I could.
Although the bear was still impaled to the ground, it was trying its best to get the spike out while at the same time clawing at me. But try as it might, it couldn't; the spike remained lodged in its shoulder. The spike, as a matter of fact, didn't even budge from all the thrashing.
After running a few feet and feeling safe enough, I finally decided to face the bear and put it out for good. So I started charging my 2nd spike.
Once again I had a 4-foot-tall spike on top of my head, and I aimed at the bear's head and once again smashed with full strength. The bear still didn't die, as it moved at the last second, and instead of an easy instantaneous death, it started thrashing in its place.
I couldn't stop myself as my breakfast was sent out of my stomach as I fell on my knees and started puking. I felt a warm hand on my back, rubbing it.