We all jump to our feet and grab our weapons, we have learned to trust Koko's senses completely. By the time we are ready Koko has disappeared, not that that is unusual really. Giles mounted up and moved off a ways so he could charge.

It is my job to bring the bear in and hold it in position, Rachel stands behind me to support me. We are all in position when I first spot the fang bear, this will be the third one I have fought. The other two both hurt me fairly badly, I'm hoping this one won't be the same, but I won't hold my breath.

The bear approaches steadily, but it hasn't reared up yet so it isn't ready to attack. The bear's fur and thick hide mean normal attacks won't do anything, only our special skills can do damage. I wait until the bear comes into range and then use my newest ability since it has piercing power.

"Piercing Light!"

A beam of pure white light fires from the end of my sword and burns into the bear. It only creates a small hole in the bear's side but it goes deep, as soon as the light ends the wound starts bleeding heavily. The bear instantly rears up and starts charging towards me.

Well, I now have it's undivided attention, now I just have to survive and defend myself until the others kill it. The bear roars at me as it charges, I wait until the last second before I roll out of the way. I know the bear has stopped and is swinging at my new location so I stand for a second then duck letting its claws pass over my head.

So far so good, knowing how they move and their most common attacks is vital to surviving. It should be about time, I attack the bear to keep it's attention as I hear the hoofbeats approaching. The bear doesn't even notice until Giles' lance slams deep into its side.

The bear roars in pain and turns to follow Giles, giving me a perfect shot at it's armpit as it does. The bear swings at me even as it is turning, I block with my shield but I slide backwards three feet and my arm goes numb. As the bear is about to attack me again Koko appears on it's back and attacks its head.

The bear spins, throwing Koko off its back, I hit it three times before it returns its attention to me. Everything is going good so far, it is bleeding from several wounds and we haven't taken any damage yet. Then all my confidence goes out the window as I hear another roar, from behind me.

Rachel says "There is a second fang bear!"

"Kinda busy here!"

Giles says "I will try to keep it busy until you can kill that one!"

"Piercing Light!"

At point blank range my ability burns all the way through the fang bear. But even with a hole burned completely through it the bear doesn't fall, these things are too tough! I need to hurry and kill this thing so I can help Giles.

"Koko, can you finish it off?"

No answer, but I don't have time to look around to see what's going on. I block another hit with the shield and get thrown back, I land on my back and the bear is above me before I can get up. Just as it is about to kill me a large silver missile hits the bear and knocks it over.

What? What just happened? What is strong enough to knock a bear that big over? Then I hear the bear yowl in pain and a cold shiver goes up my spine. Whatever it is, I really hope it isn't an enemy!

Emmy says "What are you just lying around for? There is still another bear to fight!"

"Emmy?!?"

Emmy says "Who were you expecting? The easter bunny?"

I hear a crunch and the bear next to me goes still, then I get to see the missle that hit it. It is a wolf, pure silver, at first I think it is fully grown since it is big enough for its head to be level with my waist. But as I look closer I realize its features are wrong for an adult, it looks like a really really big wolf pup.

Emmy says "Good job, Silveria! Let's go help with the other one!"

I sit up and watch in amazement as the wolf pup runs towards the other bear. Emmy hits the bear with several arrows before the wolf reaches it, that is when I notice Rachel is tanking the bear. What happened to Giles? After looking around I spot him, he is on the ground and it seems both he and his horse are injured.

That finally snaps me out of my shock and I jump to my feet and charge at the bear. The wolf gets there before me, it leaps and flies past Rachel who yelps in surprise. The wolf hits the bear and knocks it back several feet, that moves it away from Rachel and gives me a clear shot.

"Shining Slash! Shining Slash!"

My two slashes get the bear's attention, so I stop and let it come to me. Right as it is about to attack me two arrows hit it in the eyes, that was an amazing shot! I didn't know Emmy could shoot like that!

While the bear is reacting to the arrows I manage to stab it in one of the slash wounds. The bear starts flailing around randomly now that it is blind, then the wolf hits the bear in the side again. This time the bear falls over and as it is falling Koko appears and uses its momentum to decapitate it.

"Nice job, Koko!"

Koko says "Cute!"

I am confused for a second but realize what she meant as Koko kneels down and offers her hand to the wolf pup. After seeing what it was able to do to the bears I am a little worried, but since it seems to be Emmy's pet it is probably okay. Remembering Emmy I spin around, grab her, and give her a huge bear hug.

Emmy says "Ack! Ribs are cracking!"

"Oh, sorry!"

Koko says "Soft!"

Rachel says "Oh, wow! She's so adorable!"

Giles says "Hey, I'm bleeding over here!"

"Rachel, you should probably heal him before his whining upsets the puppy."

Rachel laughs and heads over to heal Giles and his horse. Koko is happily petting the wolf pup who has her head in Koko's lap. I have to admit that the wolf pup is beautiful, but after seeing how it hit the bears I can't really think of it as cute.

"Welcome back, Emmy, and this is what you tamed?"

Emmy says "No, she isn't tamed. I formed a contract with her."

"A contract? What does that mean?"

Emmy says "It is something above and beyond taming. Forming a contract with her caused my class to evolve!"

"You are an evolved class now? Congratulations!"

Emmy says "Thank you!"

"So is this what you meant about getting stronger?"

Emmy says "Yep! Sorry if I worried you!"

"If? Of course we were worried!"

Rachel says "Yeah! Once I am done healing this idiot I am going to punish you! Do you know how much of Justin's pacing I had to put up with?"

Emmy says "Haha! I'm sorry you had to go through that. But it was worth it, and I got some information that will help all of us!"

"Oh, what kind of information?"

Emmy says "Silveria's mother told me the location of some ancient ruins where we can get stronger."