Lukas was getting increasingly frustrated at this boar, it had been proving remarkably elusive. This wasn’t Lukas’s first hunt, on the contrary he was very experienced in this particular sport. He’d been hunting since he was 10 that was over seven years ago now, as he was approaching his eighteenth birthday. But this boar was proving tougher than most, his most difficult hunt would always be his first. He was nervous and fidgety, half of his shots ended up in tree barks, he eventually had to resort to trampling the poor exhausted boar to death, the whole ordeal took hours.

       This on the other hand was not due to his incompetence the animal seemed to suddenly disappear and reappear in different places like it had a system of tunnels it used to move around, this aggravated Lucas even more. He had suddenly become very highly motivated to killing this singular boar as he’d ignored many others in its pursuit. He reigned his horse to a stop surveying the area the ground covered in thick grass and foliage flowing gently as the wind blew through it. He watched the grass for movement, listened to his environments. Searching through the sounds the forests produced particularly the grunts of a very exhausted pig. His bow rested in his palm arrow nocked just liked he’d been taught, patience was the vital in situations like this, that and a calm mind all he needed to do was hit it once, just once.

        Then he heard sounds of a horse coming from behind him, a member of his hunting party.

“Gallick?” he guessed.

“There’s no sign of It my Lord.” Gallick responded.

“Patience isn’t that one of your favorite phrases Sir Gallick.”

“Today is an auspicious day, we mustn’t be late there will many more boars and many more hunts.”

“Aye, but this one has crossed me, and wounded my pride surely you would not let such an insult slide,” Lukas said jokingly

Gallick let out a small laugh “When you put it that way…” he was interrupted by the sudden rustle of movement as the boar erupted from the grass darting out ahead of the two men. Lukas spurred his horse in excitement as Gallick whistled to the rest of the party signifying the sighting of the boar before spurring his horse as well. Lukas shadowed the boar trying to get a view of its side before he drew his bow. The Boar didn’t run in a straight line but that was to be expected especially since this creature seemed to be smarter than most, but his mare was also smarter than most and had done this before on numerous occasions as well.

        He reigned it to the far left as he appeared to be riding away from the boar, but his real goal was to ride around its path and come out in front of it provided it didn’t disappear again. Gallick would be responsible for leading it there and the rest would ensure that it didn’t try and wander out of their controlled area. He could see the boar now, brownish black fur, huge ivory tusks darting down the forest as it tried to escape Sir Gallick it hadn’t yet registered him shadowing it yet as it was obviously preoccupied. He drew his bow arrow nocked and took his customary breath. Time seemed to slow as he took his aim angling his shot waiting, anticipating, calculating, then he saw the shot but just before he could release his arrow a dazzling flash of light blinded him followed by a thunderous boom that deafened him, sending him flying from his horse.

       *           *         *         *         *   

        Lukas woke up with a start and a throbbing head, he felt blood trickle down his face, and his forehead was cut. He would have yet another scar on his face, he cursed under his breath. His vision was hazy and he couldn’t hear anything. Ever so gently he tried to get up and after a few stumbles managed to find his feet. He had been thrown some distance as he couldn’t see his horse anymore. The mare probably ran off scared by the blast.

       His vision was beginning to clear as he tried to scan his surroundings, quickly focusing on what could have caused such an explosion, a small fire had started around the forest, and smoke rising above the trees made it hard to see anything in its direction. Who or what could have done such a thing rivals, enemies, Mages his family certainly had no shortage of enemies. He knew he was being targeted but he'd hoped that by now they’d have realized that he wasn’t worth as much as they thought he was.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

      He frowned as the thought of the boar entered his mind, if it wasn’t burnt to a crisp, it was long gone by now. Lukas propped himself onto a nearby tree, his head still pounding from the blast, he was only just starting to regain his senses. His hearing was beginning to return and he could hear the soft crackling of the flames, faint shouting in the air, most likely Sir Gallick shouting his name but he felt too weak to respond. He would find me eventually thought Lukas when the strangest thing occurred. The fire steadily and slowly began to subside which was weird as there was plenty of surrounding grass and shrubs for it to feed on and yet it did the opposite of what it should have done.

      The fire petered out, the smoke clearing as Lukas was able to see again. Whatever this was magic was involved and that reduced the pool of suspects significantly. He began to scan his surroundings looking for clues as to who could have done this. The surrounding area was charred good the origin of the explosion itself was several feet away, any closer and he would have definitely been caught in the blast and that would have left more than a scar.

      He left the relative safety of the tree, walking towards the blast, for if he was going to learn anything he would have to move quickly before the fires consumed everything. Even at that, he wasn’t hopeful. He had only taken a few steps when he could make out the silhouette of someone in the smoke. His would-be assassin must have blown himself up, which reduced the pool of suspects further. Someone with access to magic but not powerful or wealthy enough to afford a skilled caster. He could think of dozens but dozens instead of hundreds was incredible progress.

     He approached his assailant hoping to decipher clues as to who he was and more importantly who sent him. The fire had gone out at this point, the smoke clearing rather quickly. He fought through the heat and the remaining smoke to try and reach the corpse only to find the strangest of things. There on the floor of what looked like the epicenter of the explosion lay a boy and he was completely unharmed, in fact, there was nothing to indicate that he had been affected by the blast. The boy was fully clothed, no burn marks could be seen on him whatsoever, and even the air around him was free of smoke.  

     Lukas took a good hard look at the boy and he could definitively say that he was no assassin, not even an incompetent one. The boy was young his face clearly visible with no attempts to conceal his identity. He had dark brown skin and spiky black hair that was shorter on the sides of his head, a long yet handsome face with the slightest tufts of facial hair under his chin that highlighted his youth. The clothes he wore were unlike any Lukas had seen in his life, he wore a soft grey coat, maybe a jacket over a shirt, blue semi-hard trousers, and black and white shoes. He had never seen anything like them but he found himself instantly liking them. He had a band wrapped around his wrist and just before Lukas could lift the boy’s hand to examine it, he was yanked backward by a firm hand.

“What do you think you’re doing my Lord.” yelled Sir Gallick “This person nearly killed you!” Sir Gallick had already drawn his sword and he didn’t come alone, two horsemen were positioned to his right and left and the hooves of the rest of the company could clearly be heard.

     He was still dazed the blood still trickling down his face even at that he couldn’t stop looking at the boy. How had he survived unharmed and what were his motives?

“My Lord, you are Bleeding!” exclaimed Gallick he was always overly cautious, especially after recent events.

“I am fine!” Lukas replied trying to pry himself away from Gallick and towards the boy. He was unsuccessful.

“More importantly we need to get that boy,” Lukas demanded

“There is more at play here wouldn’t you agree?” Lukas demanded.

“Yes.” Sir Gallick agreed “Strange sorcery is at play here my lord.” said Sir Gallick scanning the area around the boy wearingly.

“Since we can agree on that” replied Lukas, “I think it would be very prudent if we take him with us” Lukas added.

Sir Gallick still looked adamant though but otherwise relented. He understood the need to question him but he also saw the danger in a person who could survive such an explosion unharmed.

“Load him into the cart!” Lukas commanded

“In chains!” added Sir Gallick giving Lukas a very stern look, this factor wasn’t up for debate. Whatever the matter Lukas was happy, this boy intrigued him and he would have his time with him on their journey home.

“Sir Gallick, you wouldn’t happen to know what happened to my boar now would you?” Lukas asked jokingly

“I don’t, but judging by how close it was to the explosion I reckon its cinders” replied Sir Gallick.

“Unfortunate, I was rather looking for to eating that pig”

“As was I, as was I, but on the bright side today couldn’t possibly get any more eventful now can it” added Sir Gallick, and sadly Sir Gallick would be gravely mistaken.