focussing on a way to remove themselves, and the gold, away from The Land of the Bears.
These were dangerous times, as the normal routine of the Bear kingdom had been disturbed. Whatever happened from this point onwards, things would never quite be the same again.
All of the members of the Council realised this, and waited for the contest to commence, with more than a little trepidation. They all knew that there would be a lot of trouble if the Bear King won, and even more if he were to be defeated!
However, all worries had to be placed on one side, as there was a contest to be fought.
The Bear King stood in a foul mood, having been forced into the contest. He had not fought anyone since being crowned King, and was now angry that his normal lazy life of gluttony had now been disturbed. He also had a very low regard for female Bears, and wrestling one he considered to be an insult. It was fair to say that he did not think that much of the male ones either!
The Bear King was only really interested in himself, and was filled with his own self importance, so much so, that he considered himself to be far superior to all other Bears. His arrogance, combined with his greed, had created a void between him and his subjects. He had done little for them, and his leadership had left a lot to be desired. He was selfish and bad tempered, and that, combined with his arrogance, had weakened the kingdom. It was sadly not what it once was, and now even the Council feared what he might do, if he won the contest.
Concordia therefore, not only carried the people’s hopes on her shoulders, but also the Council’s hopes too!
Both contestants took up their positions, and Cuddles could see him standing there, towering above her. He was absolutely enormous, and although she was quite large herself, it did not look a very evenly matched contest. The events of the past day were still fresh in her mind, and she knew that she would have to use all of her skill to be in with any sort of a chance of beating him.
Roggie stood in her corner, along with Nooks, still wearing his hood over his face, as the last thing that he wished to do was to reveal his presence to the crowd. The shock of seeing his face had almost resulted in some of the elderly Council members having heart attacks, and he knew that the Bear King had to be deposed first, before he could reveal himself to them.
They would all believe that the Great King had returned to them, and the Council members had agreed to keep his return a secret until he had consulted with the Wise Old Griffin. However, news had leaked out and rumour was rife, as it was difficult to keep any secrets in Bear culture. Roggie was hoping that he would be able to suggest a way out of this mess, as the only thing that he really wished for was to return to his warm comfortable burrow, and to never venture out of it ever again!
That was not possible, and his presence had given them great hope, and the Council members had willingly endorsed the challenge, even though they knew how unhappy the Bear King would be. It was not his happiness that they were considering, but the happiness of all of their people. They may have thought that he would have been unhappy, but when he was informed of the news, he had gone into such a raging temper, that the Royal Palace had nearly been destroyed as he had taken his frustration out upon it!
It was bad enough in his eyes that someone had the audacity to challenge him, let alone a female Bear, and he still wore the insult upon his grizzly face. At first he had refused to accept the challenge altogether, until the rumour had quickly spread that he was afraid to fight her. This had enraged his already bad temper even further, to the point where the ground had actually shaken under his stamping feet.
Now he stood there fuming, and you could almost see the proverbial steam rising from him, as never before had he been quite so angry. It looked as though he would tear Cuddles apart, limb from limb, in the same way the reputed Dragons would have done to the Bear people, according to the Men.
It looked as though the contest would not last very long, and when the people saw him standing there, many of them began to fear just what would happen to Concordia. They were not on their own, as both Nooks and Roggie feared for the worst.
Cuddles just looked at him with contempt, still blaming him for the disappearance of their father. She was also smouldering from within, but had learnt to channel her aggression in a positive way. Fear was something that she was not feeling, which was just as well, as any sane person would have been literally quaking in their boots, if they had to face the largest and angriest Bear in the whole kingdom!
Even if she had been scared, it was too late to back down now, as the referee signalled for them to make their way into the centre of the ring. The noise increased to almost deafening proportions, as he stood between them, reading out the rules, as the Bear King stared angrily at Cuddles, trying to intimidate her. She remained calm, already knowing all about his foul temper, which was something that she was planning to use against him!
When the referee had finished reading out his instructions, both contestants made their way back towards their own corners, ready for him raise his arm to signal the start of the contest...
Fourteen
The bellowing sound of the crowd, whipped up by the constant drumming, began to fall, as everyone waited for the referee to give the signal. Last minute bets had been exchanged, and quite a considerable amount of money had changed hands. Bears liked to gamble, and those without any money, had made pledges. If Concordia were to win, then those taking the bets would be significantly out of pocket, and if the Bear King won, then there would be some Bears who might wish that they had gone to the gold mines after all!
The air of expectation increased, as they all watched the referee raise his arm, and as soon as he lowered it, the deafening noise returned.
The Bear King rushed across the ring towards Cuddles as fast as he could, looking like a cross between a raging Bull, and a fire breathing Dragon. He made a lunge at her, and just as he was about to grab hold of her, she sidestepped him and he went flying through the air, landing flat on his face. The crowd cheered, although this did little for his mood, and as he got up he was even angrier than he had been before.
He rushed at her again taking a wild swing, which she managed to avoid, by ducking underneath it. He was absolutely livid, and every time he went to grab hold of her, she managed to dodge out of the way.
He roared with rage and swung violently at her, missing again, as she stood there calmly letting him lose all of his self control.
He was still very angry and not thinking at all rationally, as he ran about like some deranged creature. Cuddles knew that he ate and drank to excess, and had little in the way of regular exercise. Her plan was for him to burn himself out, and she did not have to wait long, before he got out of breath.
He stood with his large powerful arms at his sides, as he took a quick breather.
“Afraid to fight?”
Looking down upon her, his mocking words went literally over her head, as he bent forward and charged again.
Cuddles could see that he was tiring, and just like before, ducked under his arms, as they swung at her.
“So they call you Cuddles because you have the weakest Bear hug in my kingdom!”
He was trying to play to the gallery, although most of the audience wished for him to be defeated. He could see this, and began to beat his chest, flexing his giant muscles and roaring like a lion.
“Why couldn’t they find me a more worthy opponent?”
He continued to look down upon her, before charging towards her yet again, and just like before she sidestepped him at the last minute leaving him sprawling on the floor.
“You can’t keep avoiding me, and when I get hold of you, I will take care of you just like I did your father!”
It was now Cuddles who felt a rush of temper begin to flood through her veins, and as the Bear King rose to his feet, he gave her an awful leering grin.
She could control herself no longer, and as he took a deep breath, about to say something else, she charged at him.
The King expecting he
r to wrestle, opened up his great big arms, ready to grapple. Cuddles had other ideas, and lowered her head at the last minute and butted him in the chest, knocking the air out of his lungs. Before he knew what was happening, she grabbed him in a Bear hug, closing her powerful arms around him.
The Bear King was in shock and felt his lungs constrict further, as he struggled to get his breath, Cuddles dug her toes into the ground, and managed to push him backwards, and he lost his balance, crashing to the ground with a thud. Quickly she flung her full weight down upon his upper body, holding his shoulder blades down, as the referee began to count.
“One-ah, two-ah, three-ah!”
The Bear King managed to throw her clear, but it was too late, as the referee had finished counting.
The whole place erupted, as she got up, and the referee held her arm in the air. The Bear King also rose to his feet, but it was too late - Cuddles had beaten him!
The crowd rushed into the ring, raising her high in the air and there was pandemonium as everyone celebrated. It was as though a great weight had been lifted from their shoulders and honour had been restored to the Bear people. The Bear King was fuming, but there was nothing that he could do, as the rules clearly stated that he had lost. It did not stop him from wanting to attack Cuddles, but the crowd had other ideas and a fight broke out.
The Royal Guard quickly