Bart Belly's Arc

Chapter 10 of 21

King Stormy stepped closer, scepter raised, greed bright in his eyes. Bart stood in the wrecked throne room with the golden Speedo still snug on his hips. The strength hummed in his legs. But something felt wrong. A cold ache crept up his back. The warmth was fading. Bart flexed his paw and it trembled again, just a little. "Give it to me," the king said. "Or my guards drag it off your body." Bart tried to lift a fallen door to test his power. It rose halfway, then slipped from his grip and crashed down. The king's guards edged closer with their spears. Bart's heart pounded. The Speedo's strength came and went. He did not know how long it would last. If it died now, he was just a chubby bear against armed guards. A voice cut through the hall. "Father, stop." Princess Glacier came through the side arch, her purple gown dragging over the ice. She was the one who had given Bart the winter supplies at the start. She had trusted him. Now she planted herself between Bart and the king. "He drove the yeti out. He saved your throne. And you want to rob him?" "That treasure is mine," King Stormy snapped. "All treasures beyond the wilderness belong to me." Bart felt the strength drain lower. His knees wobbled. He had one chance before it vanished. He gripped the fallen door again and forced everything he had left into his arms. The wood groaned. He hoisted it overhead, wide as a wall, and held it between himself and the spears. "Send them," Bart said. His voice shook, but the door did not. "You'll lose more men than a yeti cost you." The guards looked at the king. The king looked at the huge door floating in Bart's paws. He saw the power once more and his greed twisted into fear. Princess Glacier spoke low, fast. "Let him keep it, Father. A bear who beats a yeti is a bear you want at your gates, not one you make an enemy." King Stormy's jaw worked. His scepter dropped an inch. "Fine," he growled. "Keep the cursed thing. Take it and go." Bart set the door down slowly. The instant it touched the ice, the last of the strength poured out of him. His arms went to jelly. He caught himself on the wall, gasping, sweat on his brow. The Speedo had held just long enough. Princess Glacier stepped close and steadied his elbow. "It's failing you," she whispered so the king could not hear. "I saw. The power isn't endless." Bart nodded, breathing hard. He had kept the Speedo. But he now knew its terrible flaw. The strength ran out, and he could not tell when. "There's a bear beyond the wilderness who knows this gold," the princess said. "If you want to master it before it fails at the wrong moment, you'll need to find him."