Morning sunlight filtered through the trees, dappling the clearing in shades of gold. The smell of damp earth lingered after last night's drizzle, and the fire crackled faintly as I tried to enjoy a rare calm moment.
I should've known it wouldn't last.
"Kael chop wood wrong again," Borgu declared, arms crossed like a stern instructor.
I wiped sweat from my forehead and glared. "You're an orc. What do you even know about firewood?"
"Orc know everything about hitting things." He smirked. "You hit bad. Wood laugh at you."
I sighed. "I'm starting to think the only reason you hang around me is to insult my woodcutting."
Borgu's grin widened. "Yes."
Sylvara, sitting on a flat rock with a bundle of herbs, tilted her head. "Wood… laugh?" she echoed in halting words, clearly amused.
"Don't encourage him," I muttered.
"Elf wise," Borgu said. "Elf see truth. Kael weak with axe. Weak!"
I raised my axe, pointing it at him. "Say that again and you're chopping the next pile."
Borgu puffed out his chest. "Orc chop better!"
Which, unfortunately, turned out to be true. He grabbed the axe from me and split the log clean in one swing. Show-off.
Sylvara clapped politely. "Borgu… strong."
"…Traitor," I muttered under my breath.
That was when the ground rumbled.
At first, I thought it was just Borgu showing off too hard. But then the vibrations deepened, a steady thumping rhythm that grew louder with every second.
Sylvara stiffened, ears twitching. Her herbs fell from her lap.
Borgu sniffed the air and grinned. "Something big."
My stomach sank. "…Define big."
The underbrush at the edge of the clearing exploded as a massive shape barreled through.
It looked like a boar. If a boar had decided it was tired of being bacon and instead wanted to star in a horror story.
Its body was hulking, muscles rippling beneath coarse, dark fur. But what made my blood run cold were the quills.
Thick, jagged spikes jutted from its back, each as long as my arm, bristling like a wall of spears. As it shook itself, a few quills rattled loose, embedding into the ground with a sharp thunk.
"…That's not normal," I whispered.
Borgu's eyes gleamed with excitement. "Thornback Boar. Good meat. Good fight!"
"Good what?!"
The beast snorted, tusks glinting like curved daggers. Its red eyes locked onto us, and it pawed the ground.
"Oh no," I muttered. "I've seen this play before. It's about to—"
The boar charged.
"MOVE!"
We scattered as the monster plowed straight through the woodpile, logs flying like kindling.
"Borgu, do NOT fight it head-on!" I shouted, scrambling behind a tree.
Borgu, of course, was already running straight at it with nothing but a spear. "Orc tradition! Big beast means big glory!"
"Orc stupidity means early grave!"
The Thornback Boar roared, shaking its massive frame. Quills shivered, then launched like a volley of arrows.
One embedded in the tree inches from my face. I yelped. "Oh gods, it's a porcupine pig from hell!"
Sylvara dove behind a stump, chanting something under her breath. Greenish light shimmered faintly around her hands.
"Kael!" she called.
"What?!"
She mimed with her hands—vines twisting, roots rising.
"…You can use magic?!"
Her expression said Obviously.
"Well, now would be a GREAT time!"
Borgu roared as he hurled his spear. It bounced off the boar's hide like a toothpick. The beast barely noticed.
"Skin thick!" Borgu yelled cheerfully.
"I noticed! Thanks for the update!"
The boar swung its tusks, gouging a trench where Borgu had been a second earlier. The orc rolled, grabbed a fallen log, and swung it like a club into the beast's snout.
It squealed in rage. The sound rattled my bones.
Sylvara thrust her hands forward. Vines burst from the ground, wrapping around the boar's legs. For a moment, it stumbled.
"Nice!" I shouted. "Keep it tied down!"
The boar shrieked and thrashed, snapping the vines like twigs. Sylvara gasped, sweat beading on her forehead.
"Not… strong… enough," she panted.
"Great," I muttered. "Because this situation wasn't bad enough already."
Desperation kicked in. I grabbed a long branch from the wrecked woodpile, pointed it at the beast like a spear.
"Alright, Kael," I muttered to myself. "One more dance with death. Haven't missed you at all."
The boar lowered its tusks and charged again.
I planted my feet. Every instinct screamed at me to run, but I held my ground. At the last second, I dove sideways, jamming the branch into its eye as it thundered past.
The makeshift spear snapped in half, but the boar let out a furious, pained roar, blood streaking its face.
It wasn't dead. Not even close. But it was pissed.
And it turned straight toward me.
"Oh no. Oh no no no no."
Before it could charge again, Borgu leapt onto its back.
"MEATFIST CLANNNNNN!" he bellowed, clinging to the quills like handles.
"ARE YOU INSANE?!" I screamed.
"YES!"
The boar bucked and thrashed, trying to shake him off. Borgu whooped like it was the best ride of his life.
Sylvara raised her hands again. This time, a burst of bright light flared, dazzling the boar's eyes. It shrieked, stumbling blindly.
"NOW, KAEL!" she cried.
I grabbed another spear from the pile Borgu had left. My grip tightened. Memories of the battlefield surged—screams, steel, blood.
No. Not again.
But if I hesitated, we were all dead.
With a roar, I lunged forward and drove the spear into the boar's exposed throat.
It squealed, thrashing violently. The world blurred into chaos—Borgu shouting, Sylvara chanting, my arms straining as I held the weapon steady.
Finally, with a final shudder, the Thornback Boar collapsed.
The clearing fell silent, save for our ragged breathing.
Borgu climbed off the carcass, covered in sweat and scratches, grinning like a madman. "BEST DAY EVER!"
I collapsed onto my back, staring at the sky. "I think I just lost ten years of my life."
Sylvara sank to her knees, pale but smiling faintly. "Kael… Borgu… alive."
"Barely," I muttered.
Borgu thumped the boar's side proudly. "Feast tonight! Elf cook! Orc hunt! Human… bleed little, maybe."
"…You're impossible."
He laughed. "But alive!"
I couldn't argue with that.
As Sylvara gently tended to my scraped arms, I found myself chuckling despite the ache in my chest.
This wasn't the slow, quiet life I'd planned. Monsters, chaos, near-death…
And yet, as I looked at the two beside me, I realized something.
For the first time in years, I didn't feel like I was fighting alone.