Soldier of Fortu-ne

Of all the horrors Fortu had seen and experienced in his short, unjust and brutal life, nothing compared to what had just happened.

It still made little sense to him. The Bee/Bear 'Beer' creature, though impressively large, initially seemed mostly just ridiculous; A big, fluffy, colourfully striped curiosity.

Although, as a group, they hadn't been together very long, Fortu had already come to trust and rely on the surly, dog-rider; Liga Bur to deal with any wild animals they came across. The rough looking Halfling's affinity with animals was almost preternatural.

While searching the Three-Quarter scale Druid's cave-like home, they'd found the creature locked in a prison-like room. Initially they had considered just leaving it to starve, but Liga Bur had been unhappy with that option. Another factor was that there also appeared to be a large stash of expensive, useful and possibly even magical items stored behind it.

As with all his previous encounters, the little animal-talker gently approached the bear-like creature where it lay and softly whispered to it. Watching from the bottom of the stairwell, Fortu felt confident that Liga Bur would be just as successful in handling this 'animal' as he'd been in all his previous attempts.

The Halfling himself seemed full of confidence, as he made the same slow, unthreatening gestures that had worked so well on the mama bear they'd encountered at the river crossing.

After about a minute or so, everything seemed to be going well. Liga Bur even managed a reassuring over-the-shoulder smile, when suddenly and without warning, the Beer charged!

Covering the twenty-foot distance between them in seconds, four viciously clawed forelimbs outstretched, it only managed to slash at the shocked Liga Burr once, before the agile Halfling managed to roll out from beneath it.

Fortu stared at the towering, six-limbed rearing creature ahead of him. Suddenly not 'ridiculous' anymore but instead terrifying! Up close, he could see its insect-like compound eyes and, as it roared, it revealed row-upon-row of bizarre yellow, needle-like barbed teeth!

Still the burley gladiator knew his role; he had trained his entire life for it. Stepping down off the last step, he closed the short distance between the beast and himself, his heavy bastard-sword, gripped two-handedly, already sweeping upwards. Before his massive blade connected though, two arrows flew past him and struck the creature in its oversized head. One creasing across its brow but the other imbedding itself deeply into the Beer's skull.

Still, bafflingly, despite what would normally be a mortal wound, it didn't fall. Undeterred, Fortu continued his swing, his mighty blade biting deeply through thick fur and chitinous torso. Again though, the seemingly mindless Beer ignored what should have been a killing stroke and continued to press forward.

Despite his proven bravery. Despite his extensive training. Despite his well forged weapons and armour, the gigantic Beer slashed and ripped at Fortu's flesh. Blood gushing from the multiple wounds, the Nine-foot tall Beer pulled the tiny-by-comparison Fortu into its crushing embrace.

Arms pinned and with the air forced from his lungs, Fortu snarled up at the creature. If he was to die, at least he would show his defiance to the beast and all the cruel gods looking down upon him.

Then, just as he began to feel his armour buckle and his ribs begin to crack, another arrow struck the creature in the head. This shaft though, pierced one of its revolting buggy eyes and hit whatever passed for a brain inside its hollow skull.

The creature's jaw immediately slackened and it tottered and fell backwards. It's four-armed grip on Fortu pulling the gladiator down with it before releasing  him on impact with the stony ground.

With a juddering gasping breath, Fortu looked back through the doorway to see the well-dressed Elven archer; Arowe grinning at him.

"You didn't think I'd let my favorite 'meat-shield' die down here did you?"