Loch stood up, Activating Bulwark. He stepped out of the trees, facing the little bearmen. Shifting his feet he Activated Offensive Stance, growing Onyx to its default size.

  “You can run,” he said to the Ursine.

  The monsters started uttering low growls. Loch sighed. No running. The Ursines spread out in a semicircle, from the treeline out, surrounding Loch. They didn’t venture into the trees. Yet.

  “We don’t have to do this.”

  The Ursine directly in front raised its spear. It growled loud, the others responding. They raised their spears high, banging clubs against the ground. Loch sighed. He really didn’t want to fight them but looked like he had no choice.

  He swung Onyx wide in front of him, Activating Thunderclap. The shockwave of energy swept out, crossing the short distance to the Ursine. It slammed into the little monsters. A couple were sent flying, tumbling across the yard. Loch heard bones shattering at the impact, blood and fur ripping out of the Ursine. One fell, not getting up. Groans filled the yard as some tried to recover.

  Loch turned to the left, Activating Windstep and Widecleave as he appeared in front of more of the Ursine. The axe swept through the monsters, dropping three at once. Loch kicked out, catching another as it tried to jab the spear at him. He caught another spear on Bulwark, angling the shield and breaking the spear.

  He knew more were charging behind him. Loch turned, Activating Elemental Surge. Ursine fell, rolling on the ground. Loch stopped a couple more spears, swinging Onyx and cutting some of the weapons in half. The Ursine stepped back, the survivors staying in a semi-circle but putting distance between them and Loch.

  Loch swished Onyx through the air, drops of blood flying off.

  “I told you we didn’t have to do this.”

  The Ursine looked at the first one Loch had killed, the one that had issued the challenge. The apparent leader had been taken out by the Thunderclap, Loch not even needing to do much. Six of the eighteen were dead, another handful wounded with broken bones. One of the Ursine growled, motioning to the others. With a chorus of hoots and growls, the surviving Ursine ran off, heading into the woods at the far side of the house.

  “Thanks,” Loch said, sighing.

  He really hadn’t wanted to kill anymore, sad that he’d had to kill some.

  Walking around the battle, Loch studied the Ursine. There wasn’t anything worth looting as the little monster’s weapons were all wood, and most were broken. Loch had no desire to skin the Ursine for their fur. He doubted anyone would. Briefly he thought about gathering the bodies and stacking them off to the side, but didn’t bother. Scavengers would come later that day and deal with the bodies.

  He walked past the front of the house, stopping in front of the garage. Loch could see where the Ursine had run through the woods, or maybe that was where the Mutated Chipmunks had been chased from. The branches were broken and snapped, a wide trail leading deeper into the woods. It didn’t look like the Ursine had stayed just inside the treeline, waiting to attack. They were gone.

  Heading back to the house, Loch walked up the front steps. Concrete with a thin metal railing. It looked like the style from his childhood. He hadn’t seen a railing like that in years. Studying the door, Loch pushed at it, trying the handle. Locked.

  Grimacing, Loch slammed his shoulder into the door, just at the jamb side. The door burst open, Loch managing to keep his balance. He stepped into the foyer of the house. The stairwell upstairs was directly in front, a hallway leading to the kitchen. To the left was a dining room and to the right the living room. Loch turned to the dining room, figuring it would have less stuff he was interested in.

  ***

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “What did you get up to?” Randy asked, looking down at the bodies of the Ursine.

  “Wow Boss,” Trent started.

  “You wasted these guys,” Brent finished.

  Loch sighed, sitting on the steps to the house. He had watched his Bannermen walk out of the woods. They looked a little worse for wear. Not having a healer meant they hadn’t been able to recover from many wounds, having to carry them through the entire Dungeon. Now that they were out of the Dungeon, out of combat, their natural healing started working.

  “They look like those things from Star Wars,” Brian said, pushing at one of the bodies with his giant axe.

  “You’ve watched Star Wars?” Trent asked, his brother looking at the large man in surprise.

  Brian glared at them.

  They shrugged and started walking around the house, heading for the garage.

  “Anything good?” Loch asked, standing up from the steps.

  “It was full of a variety of bears with different Abilities,” Randy said, pointing at a fur lined hide vest he was now wearing. “The boss was called Ursa Major and was gigantic. A giant of a bear. Overall the Dungeon wasn’t that bad, but having a Healer would have helped a lot,” Randy finished, shrugging.

  “Good job.”

  “Anything good in the house?”

  “Yeah, it was pretty decent.”

  “Got some good stuff in the garage,” one of the twins yelled out.

  “Let’s go see what they found,” Loch said, leading the way to the garage.

  ***

  The group spent the night in the second house. By the time they had scavenged the entire garage, it was getting late. They ate dinner off the provisions they found in the two houses, spreading out through the house and claiming rooms and couches.

  Loch sat in a recliner, feet up, leaning back. The twins and Randy were playing a game with cards at the dining table, using a lantern for light. Brian was spread out on the couch, laying on his back, looking up at the ceiling. Elora was upstairs, looking through the various rooms.

  “Kind of wish we could bring this chair back with us,” Loch said, hands behind his head. “It’s pretty comfortable.”

  Brian grunted. His large axe leaned against the back of the couch.

  “Uno,” Randy yelled out.

  The twins groaned.

  Loch heard some noises outside, turning his head, listening. Lots of growling and snarling, feet running across the driveway. The noises headed across the street. There was more growling and snapping, followed by some yelps.

  “Fighting over the Ursine,” Loch said.

  Another noise came from closer. A sniffing near the windows, moving closer to the middle of the house. Loch sat up, slowly and quietly lowering the footrest of the recliner. Brian’s eyes opened, head turning toward the door.

  The noise came louder near the door. They had broken it open a 2x4 to hold it shut for the night. No crack, Loch couldn’t see out, but was glad there was no light inside. The card game had ended, all attention at the door.

  Whatever was outside sounded large. It pushed against the door, the 2x4 straining to hold it shut. The creature outside pushed a little harder, the sniffing noise louder. Brian sat up, the couch squeaking. The big man grimaced.

  The sniffing paused. The thing outside pushing against the door more. Elora appeared coming down the stairs, pausing with her bow facing the door. The sniffing started up again.

  More howling came from the far side of the road. The thing against the door moved, moving off the steps. It growled, starting a strange howl and chuffing noise. Loch relaxed as they all heard sounds of the creature running across the road.

  More growling and snapping followed by far more yelping and snarling. It went on for a couple of minutes and then ended abruptly. Silence filled the night.

  “I think one of us will stay up tonight,” he whispered.

  Brian whispered a grunt.

  Loch stood up, walking over to the picture window. They had pulled the curtains closed when they’d entered. Loch pushed aside part in the middle, looking across the front yard, road and into the front yard on the other side. He couldn’t see anything moving.

  And then he saw it.

  A large shadow moved past the house, caught by the moonlight. It wasn’t a bear or a wolf. The form was long but the height of a horse. Loch wasn’t sure what the creature was. He was sure it was the thing that had been sniffing around the door.

  He watched as the shadowed shape disappeared behind the other house.

  Loch knew he wouldn’t be getting much sleep that night.