A Setup for an Experiment

A bear. I was being chased by a bear.

I sprinted for my life across the unpaved lot, each step squeezing a wet splosh from the sandy soil. Wooden storefronts blurred past, their shutters drawn tightly shut. Behind me, I heard guards screaming, firing from second-story windows in a fruitless attempt to slow it down.

At the very least, it’s focused on me for now. But what the hell did that bear eat to be this strong??

...

Seven hours before my ordinary trip to town was interrupted by a bear high on who-knows-what, I was making my way to a spellbook store while my maid Klara did some grocery shopping. It was a comfortably warm overcast summer day—since long before I was born, the sky was always either overcast, or rainy, and I far preferred the former.

I strolled along the busy street in a frilled black gothic dress, my long curly black hair ever-so out of place after a long carriage ride, when I noticed some claw marks on a nearby wall. They were unusually large and cut deep into the lumber.

The owner, whom I believed I was on good terms with, explained that an unusually aggressive bear had been attacking the town in the past few days. It had already damaged several barns and storefronts, and while by all accounts it was only an ordinary bear, no one had been able to figure out how to pacify it.

I soon learned a wagon of some rare medicinal substances overturned a few days ago. By the time the crew came back they found most of the shipment missing, with muddy paw prints leading into a nearby forest.

I giddied up with excitement. The bear was the perfect victim… I mean test subject, to put some of my theories on ancient magic to test. I had spent years carefully refining a prototype spell, and tested it on small objects whenever I could, but I’ve never had a chance to test its combat efficacy on a real monster (And I didn’t have the heart to try it on small, innocent animals). If I am right, the results should be rather explosive, to say the least.

Plus, if it works, maybe I can use this success to convince my father to send me off to college, hehe. I can already imagine the praise from him and the villagers—maybe he’ll finally let me explore some mountain ruins at the Academy too!

I soon spotted Klara leaving the bakery with a paper bag of freshly baked bread. All I had to do was convince her to stick around till nighttime and hope the bear shows up again.

“Absolutely not, Victoria Rosenthorne.”

Klara folded her arms, her short brown hair doing little to obscure her sharp gaze. Even in her maid uniform, she looked more like a stern parent than a servant, even though she was only a few years older than me.

“But I haven’t even said anything yet.”

“My lady, has anyone ever told you that you’re an open book?”

“I am not.”

“You have that telltale grin on your face. Mind telling me what you have in store this time, my lady?”

I explained the bear situation to Klara, reminding her that this was my Father’s land, that I had a perfectly safe plan, and that I’ll even enlist the help of the town guard and people. Klara still refused.

“My decision remains. Please think about how many people depend upon you and your research. If something were to happen to you…”

Klara sighed, shaking her head.

“I won’t go home unless we try.”

“My lady, please don’t be difficult.”

“I’m not being difficult.”

“You’re refusing to go home so you can hunt an intoxicated bear, a task with no guarantee of success, not to mention the potential damage…”

Ok, I guess if you word it like that, I have no choice.

I puffed out my cheeks and pretended to cry.

“So you’re just going to abandon all these townsfolk? sob. The guards’ firearms can’t do anything against it, and it will take at least a day or two to get another high-level mage here.”

Dramatic pause.

“And my favorite bookstore… what if it’s not here anymore because… because we were too late… I don’t think I can bear that!”

A few villagers had heard the commotion, and soon a small crowd had started forming around us.

“Is that Lord Rosenthorne’s daughter? She’s so young…” someone murmured.

“I think she can help us… I heard she’s qualified as a Master level mage…”

“That maidservant is definitely being unreasonable! I mean just look at the state of the town right now! It’s a mess!”

Klara’s face was red. She looked at me, the crowd, and then finally gave in.

“V- Very well, very well, we can stay. However, should the bear fail to show up tonight, we’re leaving town first thing tomorrow morning, am I understood?”

“Yes!” I beamed.

...

Since the bear could not easily be defeated with conventional means, my plan was to immobilize it first before attempting my experiment on it. That should give me time to complete the lengthy incantation and properly target the spell (curse the ancients for not defining an operation to target bears in their thaumic lexicon). Should that fail, the local apothecary or alchemist should have plenty of material that can put down a bear… given enough time.

From what the villagers said, the bear tended to enter town as night fell, often wandering around the town square.

I spent the next few hours working with the town guards to set up the trap. In the town square, between two trees we tied metal snares and dangled bait just high enough for the bear to reach standing on its hind legs. In the event the bear was particularly tall, the height of the bait could be adjusted by a spotter via a pulley system. There was little chance it could reach the bait without stepping onto at least one of the snares. Once that happens, guards lying in wait would encircle the bear with chains and tie it down for good measure.

After consulting with some villagers to ensure that the tree’s roots would hold, all that remained was to wait.

And wait.

And wait.

Soon night fell, and Klara and I were engrossed in our seventh match of Connect Six when a guardsman knocked at the door, signalling the bear was approaching. We immediately blew out the candle and slipped outside to behind a makeshift barrier made of scattered wagons and crates. Some late stragglers hurried into the nearest building, blowing out lamps and candles as they went.

We all waited with bated breath, the suffocating silence only broken by the occasional breeze, rattling chains, and a powerful raw stench from the bait hook.

A moment later, the bear drunkenly charged into the town square. Its fur was covered in mud, and it looked much larger than I had expected. After stumbling around in the dark for a moment, it noticed the bait.

As predicted, it reared onto its hind legs, directly into the snares.

Snap!

The bear let out an angry roar, thrashing violently, but two pairs of guards had already emerged from their hiding spots with chains in hand. Two were able to bind the bear’s hind legs, the heavy chains pulling taut. The other two weren’t as lucky, being forced to retreat as the bear swiped at them, claws passing mere inches from their face.

One out of two, good enough. The bear tore at its chains, struggling helplessly.

Now’s my chance. I took a deep breath to calm my heart, which was currently beating out of my chest. Casting the spell required absolute concentration to speak a fifteen-second long primer incantation without error, or the spell would fizzle out. On completion, a torrent of mana would rush from my body, pouring into the hundred thousand runes tucked away in my spellbook, where the logic of the spell was encoded.

But before I could begin, I was interrupted by a loud CRACK!, the sound reverberating throughout the square.

The bear had snapped one of the tree trunks in half.