Bab 15: Lava Boar (part 2)

'It's awake,' Doevm thought. He looked at his squad, which was blissfully unaware of the monstrosity that had just awoken. The Lava Boars that were fighting each other were slowed down to the last legs. Before they would finish their duel, the creature would surface. That meant that not only would there be an extra target, but the plan to wait backfired. If they were going to attack, it had to be now. "It's time, we need to strike now," Doevm said. Wade tried to stop him, but he pole-vaulted with his spear and stabbed through the stronger Lava Boar's stomach. The second Lava Boar looked at him, angry its battle was disturbed. Frey shot out of the woods and stabbed its stomach, eliminating the second of five. They looked at each other and nodded. Wade and the rest of squad three came out of the woods at the same time three lava Boars walked out of the den. They looked at the eleven intruders and their two dead family members and roared.

"Split off into groups of four and one group of three," Wade said and got together with Frey and Doevm. He was at the front, with Doevm to the left and Frey at the right. The larger of the three Boars came after them while the other two went after the other two groups of guards. Doevm and the rest dodged out of its way, letting it run into and uproot a tree. It turned around and found a spear sticking out of its side.

"Frey, don't throw your spear at a moving target unless it's a sure hit," Wade advised. "You missed its stomach by inches and now you can't defend yourself." The Lava Boar charged. They all dodged again, but it managed to stick a horn through Doevm's shoulder guard and throw him into the air. He caught himself on branches and threw off his burning hot armor. He hadn't been hit, but the heat had conducted with his armor and spread to give him first degree burns all over his arm. The Boar slammed into his tree, forcing him to swing from branch to branch like a monkey with its tail on fire. Wade and Frey ran behind the Boar and hit it, but it was too fast. It got scraped and bruised, but Wade's spear didn't hit the stomach. Frey managed to pull out his own spear again. Its tip was burnt off.

From the branches, Doevm could see the other groups were doing significantly better. They were calm and composed. One of their men was a distraction while the other three stabbed it from the sides. They hadn't found the stomach yet, but they could kill it by hacking away at its hide. He slid down a tree to the ground and threw his spear near Frey's feet. "Frey, use my spear. I'll distract while you two hit it."

He inhaled as much air as his lungs could hold and let out a wimpy roar that earned him a couple snickers. The beast, on the other hand, understood it was a challenge. Its eyes flashed red. The veins around its tusks bulged and shrunk. It scraped the ground and charged. Doevm rolled out of the way, this time being a little more mindful of its horns. It turned on its axis. Doevm jumped over it and kicked off its back to get more room. Frey and Wade lunged in at the same time. Two massive holes tore through its stomach. It gave one last pitiful roar and fell over. It was dead, but the three didn't rest. They ran over and helped end the last two Boars.

Injuries were minimal. One had a sprained ankle from rolling wrong, Doevm had a tusk shaped hole in his shoulder guard which was lying a few hundred feet away, and everyone was tired, but that was all. They sat down and relaxed for a few minutes.

"What was that?" Wade asked. He was leaning against a tree and inspecting his spear. "Why didn't you wait for them to fight it out? You said so yourself their match is often to the death."

"They do," Doevm said, "But sometimes, when the match is over a mate instead of dominance, they are interrupted. This means we would have missed a chance at sneaking up and killing both of them. I weighed the risks. If they stopped, we would lose a distraction. If we struck first, we would incur some risk, but not that much."

"And you were planning to tell us this after the battle?" Wade sneered.

"..."

"We are guards and soldiers," Wade stood up. "We march as one, we move as one. I'm the squad leader and I still move with you guys. You never move independent. Frey moved with you, but that was because he realized you needed backup first and he was waiting for a fight. If not for him, the battle would have changed drastically against us. Don't do something like that again."

"Understood si…" Doevm hesitated, swallowing his anger at his own ignorance of the way of humans. "Wade. I'm sorry I let all you guys down." The guards shook their heads and gulped down more water and some rations.

"Doevm, despite all your mistakes, good job today. Everyone else as well. Frey, you may have missed with your throw, but that's because you're new. Never take a shot unless you're certain. Your spear is your only weapon against magical beasts. You lose it or it gets damaged and you'll become a burden to the group." Frey nodded and handed Doevm back the spear. He looked at his own spear, which was now nothing but a stick. He threw it down and sighed.

'Wade seems to be angry on the outside,' Doevm thought, 'But he is just strict. It seems like if I follow his rules, I will get closer to the group. While so far, today has been a failure, it seems a second chance finally surfaced.'

"Get ready for a fight." One of the guards stood up and got into an overhand stance. His ears were pointed at the end, but only slightly. "I hear company." Sure enough, at that exact moment, the den vibrated. Bits of dirt flew off as the large body of a Lava Boar made its way out. It looked down at its dead family and roared so loud that the guards had to cover their ears. Its four tusks had grown far out of its face. Tentacles of lava waved back and forth a few feet in front of its face

"It's a tier one magic beast!" Wade yelled. "Formation five!" Even under this threat, even though his voice quivered just a little, he was calm and in a stance.

"Sir," one guard said. "We need to run away from it. We can't fight one of those things."

"We have to," Wade hissed. "We can't outrun it. Formation five!" Doevm and the rest got into a V-shape formation around the Lava Boar. "Doevm," Wade whispered as the beast turned its head at the weakest of the group. "Run!" Doevm didn't have to be told twice. He ran like a bat out of hell up a tree like the coward he was. The Boar looked up and jumped through the air. It headbutted the tree only a foot below Doevm, but one of its tentacles wrapped around Doevm's leg.

The leg piece lit up red. He screamed and slipped his foot out of his leg guard. His burnt flesh soured the air. He fell down alongside the Boar and ran further away. The adrenaline suppressed his pain. The guards all followed behind, but the two were faster. Doevm ran behind trees and ducked out of the way before it was obliterated. He threw piles of dirt into its eyes and cursed at it, but it kept following. He eventually circled it around towards the rest of the guards. Lungs and legs screamed at their abusive owner, but the will to live quieted them down. As the Boar passed, nine spears and a stick hit. Only one spear penetrated, Wade's. A thin red mist erupted from his pores.

"H-He opened the eight gate of death." Frey gasped.

"It's my life essence you colossal idiot!" Wade grabbed everyone's spears. "This fight isn't for you guys. Go find something to slow that Boar down, and I'll stab it in the stomach. Hurry, Doevm's life depends on it." Squad three ran in different directions and picked vines and rocks off the forest's surroundings. Doevm's life essence burst out as well, all though he only had a light green one. His slowing pace picked up momentum. He ran nearly twice as fast as before. The Boar was slowing down. Its breathing was getting ragged. Steam poured out of its nostrils as it chased. Tentacles thrashed around, nearly grabbing Doevm again, but he slipped out of his armor again. For ten minutes they chased each other. Trees exploded, sending splinters into Doevm's flesh. The den collapsed from so much trembling.

The long chase ended when a net of vines and roots was thrown over the beast. "Hold it down!" All of squad three minus the panting Doevm pulled from all ends. The Boar thrashed around, but the net held. She kicked and screeched for her children to help. Wade stood on top of the struggling beast with his spear overhead. She looked at the point heading for her stomach and her entire body went red. The net and the beast caught fire. Everything within a twenty-foot radius flew back. Wade flew into the air and didn't come back down. The Boar looked at Doevm, who had picked up a spear of his own.

'Escape is impossible. The squad is unconscious so I have no back-up. My attacks, at my level of life essence, won't work. Looks like I have no choice.'

"It's a shame," Doevm sighed. "You're such a simple creature that only wanted to live with your family." Mana poured out of his body and into his spear. "And now I have to kill you in such a boring way." Its tip flashed blue. A cool mist hovered around it.