The adventurers made a long loop around the town, walking between acres of grain and rows of different vegetables on their search for clues. Any farmers or farmhands they met were all too happy to give accounts of sightings of the beast or the mess it would leave behind, as well as more or less helpful tips on how to find or even fight it. After two hours of this, Edwin was starting to piece together the puzzle.
Apparently, nobody had seen the beast for at least a few days, maybe more than a week. When it arrived, it usually ate a bunch of whatever was being grown (although it seemed to have a taste for tubers), rolled around in the field for a while, then left in a different direction than it had come from. No two accounts were quite the same, with the direboar having approached from every possible direction at least once. Having finished their loop, the party stopped near the edge of the cleared farmland.
“Did any of you get anything helpful from all of this?” Bordan asked. The others shook their heads as one.
“I’m not sure if they’re just making things up,” Edwin said “but if they aren’t, the boar is simply roaming around the entire area. It might not even be targeting the town, simply crossing through their fields randomly."
"That's what I thought too.” Bordan said with a sigh. “Unless one of you has a better idea, the only thing I can think of is picking a direction and starting to search.”
They didn’t have a better idea, so Bordan chose the direction of the Clawed Woods as the most dangerous area to begin, and they set off. While the day had been nice and sunny until noon, by the time the party was leaving the town, dark clouds were slowly suffocating the sun under their thick blanket.
The adventurers marched away from the town using hunting trails for a while, then Bordan asked Leodin, who was in the lead again, to swing left and loop around the settlement, further away this time.
“We can’t just search randomly, so we keep going outwards in rings until we find something.” He said. Edwin wasn’t sure if it made much of a difference, as the direboar might wander into their search radius from somewhere they weren’t looking. Once it was within their search pattern, they wouldn’t have a good chance of finding it either. Still, he didn’t speak out against it, as that same problem existed no matter which way they searched.
The party marched for hours, always on the lookout for suspicious movement. The sun wasn’t visible behind the dark clouds, although slowly but surely the light dimmed. Finally, it got so dark that searching further would take them into the night and they turned towards the village. Edwin was especially careful on their way back, feeling like the direboar might ambush them now that visibility was worse, and their attention was eroded.
It didn’t, though, and they arrived back in Leshing empty-handed. They washed and changed out of their dusty clothes, and while they were waiting for their evening meal, the headman stopped by their table to inquire as to their progress.
“Told ya we couldn’t help ya.” He said when Bordan relayed their fruitless attempt at investigation. “It’s somewhere ‘round here, we know that, but that’s it. Sometimes it’s longer between attacks, and sometimes shorter, but it always comes back.”
“Wouldn’t it be more useful for us to wait for it to show up then?” Salissa asked with a frown. Of the four adventurers, she was the least suited to walking long distances, and the one most annoyed at having to search aimlessly.
“Ya could, I s’ppose.” The headman replied with a shrug. “Two problems with that, I guess. First is that ya don’t know where it’ll show up, and it might be gone by the time ya get word. Second is that it might be a week before it wanders back into our crops, maybe more. Ya want to wait that long?”
They had more stops to make, more monsters to hunt, so they really didn’t. They ate in brooding silence, heading to bed soon after so they could resume their search early the next day.
--- ----- ---
By first light the adventurers were back on the road, heading to where they had stopped their search the previous day. A thin fog hung over the land, blanketing the fields and meadows and clinging tightly to the trees. During the night, the clouds had opened up with heavy rain, and while it had slowed to a light drizzle, the forest floor was soaked. Yet again, Edwin was thankful for his sturdy boots. They kept his feet warm and dry even while he traversed puddles and traipsed through wet underbrush. And again, Salissa wasn’t so lucky, her mood turning more and more sour with every kilometer they marched.
Noon came and went, the adventurers barely stopping to wolf down some bread and sausages they had gotten from the village, washing it all down with water from their skins. During the afternoon the clouds finally started to disperse, and with the return of the sun, the lingering fog started to retreat as well. Vapors rose from the wet grass where the sun’s heat touched it, turning the fields outside the forest the adventurers were crossing through into a beautiful land, as if straight from a picture or fairytale. Maybe it was this enchanting sight that caught their attention and made them miss what was right next to them, or maybe it was the long hours of marching in wet clothes that were finally taking their toll, but when the earth next to them moved, they were all taken by surprise.
What they had assumed to be an uneven mound of dirt suddenly stared at the passing adventurers with two big, narrowed red eyes. Leodin cried a warning as the direboar rose from the muddy pit it had been resting in, covered head to toe in dark brown sludge. It huffed, turning its big head from one to the other as if to decide which of them to skewer with its long, pointy tusks first.
“Leo, Salissa, back off slowly.” Bordan said in a low voice while readying his spear with deliberate motions. “Edwin, move left. Need to flank it from two sides.”
Edwin gripped his weapon and shield tightly and slowly walked away from the others, parallel to the monster. The direboar was in a shallow pit below them, but he could already tell that it was huge. It was almost as tall as Bordan, its back coming up to Edwin’s were they to stand next to each other. For the first time in this life, Edwin felt real fear. This beast was so big, heavy and powerful, it might actually be able to break his bones and deal lasting damage to him, if not kill him outright. There was certainly no overpowering it, that much was for sure. He could run into it at a sprint, and it would barely feel it.
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The direboar squealed in anger and started running, heading directly towards Bordan and the two retreating marksmen. Bordan grabbed his spear by the very end, held his position for a few long seconds, then he thrust it towards the onrushing monster only to jump to the side immediately after. Edwin couldn’t see the results of his attack, but he certainly gathered its attention as the direboar dug its hooves into the soil to stop, then spun towards Bordan to chase after the retreating man. Edwin gave chase, hoping to catch the beast before it managed to corner the former soldier.
The boar was quickly gaining on Bordan when he put a tree between himself and the massive bulk of the monster in a repeat of the tactic they had used against the mammoth beetle. The boar, however, was decidedly unfazed by his trickery. It lowered its head and slammed into the trunk in a cacophony of cracking wood. Muscles bunched under thick, leathery skin as the boar wedged its tusks into the tree and partially pulled it out of the wet ground, roots and all, pushing it over at Bordan. He had clearly not expected this and was scrambling to the side to dodge the falling trunk, but the monster was already moving again. Edwin reached it just in time to deliver a hefty strike against its back leg. The thick layers of meat and fat absorbed his strike without much effect, but it did cause the beast to turn around to look which little pest had hurt it. At that point, finally, Leodin had gotten into firing position, and a crossbow bolt sprouted from the beast’s shoulder. This time the boar answered with an angry screech, finally proving that it could feel pain. Its head moved this way and that, searching for the cause of its discomfort, but it didn’t seem to be able to spot the marksman that was half hidden behind a tree fifty meters away.
At the same time, something whizzed past Edwin’s head. He couldn’t spare the time to check, but he assumed that Salissa was adding her own projectiles to Leodin’s bolts. Her accuracy wasn’t quite on par with his, however, as she completely missed the large monster. Unable to find the marksmen, the direboar turned to Edwin and charged him without warning. He jumped to the side, rolling out of the way just before hooves thundered past where he’d just stood. As he was getting to his feet again, Bordan ran past and slammed his spear into the meaty thigh of the slowing direbeast. It kicked out wildly, but the length of the spear protected Bordan from serious injury, instead knocking the weapon out of his hands. The direboar spun to attack again, and Edwin yelled loudly to attract its attention to him. The boar lowered its head, leveling the tusks and direhorn at him like three lances. He met the boar’s red eyes, and for a moment time seemed to slow.
This is it. Edwin thought. He could feel the blood pumping through his veins, air rushing into his lungs in hasty breaths, all tiredness, unease and pain forgotten as the adrenaline sharpened his focus to a razor. This is why I wanted to become an adventurer.
The boar charged and Edwin rolled out of the way again. This time, the beast managed to correct its course slightly, but it only managed to bump into Edwin’s legs, causing him to flip over. Edwin scrambled to his feet as another bolt sunk into the boar’s flank. This time it didn’t get distracted, instead charging straight at Edwin again to finish him off before he could get his bearings. Still half crouched from his fall, Edwin got an idea. The boar seemed to be learning, adapting to the way he was evading it. If he tried to jump sideways again, especially with his bad starting position, it would probably gore him before he could clear its path. Instead, he waited for the right moment and jumped – upwards, not sideways. He swore he could see the surprise in the boar’s eyes as it passed by under him, crashing into the tree he had used to pull himself up. Edwin’s ascent came to an end and gravity pulled him back towards the earth – except that there was now a giant angry boar in the way.
Edwin landed heavily on the beast’s back, the sharp edges of the direshield providing him with enough grip to not immediately slide off the mud-slick fur. Immediately, the boar started to buck below him like an angry bull and Edwin held on for dear life. He barely noticed a small rock bounce off his metal shield with a loud ping. Edwin wished he could pull out his dagger to create himself a better handhold but letting go even for a second would have seen him thrown off. He clung to the boar for what felt like minutes but was probably much less, until the beast had enough and rolled over. Edwin realized what was happening in the last second and pushed himself free, the movement making him roll down the small hill in a jumble of limbs. A tree broke his fall and he pushed himself to his feet with a groan. The good news was that the direboar wasn’t hot on his tail, as Bordan was keeping it at bay with his spear. He stabbed and retreated, constantly putting trees between himself and it and forcing it to turn. Several bolts were sticking from the beast’s hide, though they didn’t seem to slow it down much. From the other side, Salissa was running towards the boar.
Edwin took a deep breath to steady himself, then he ran towards the fight again, angling to the opposite side of the approaching mage. The boar was pressuring Bordan hard, and he was running out of breathing room. With a loud yell, Edwin forced his mace down onto the boar’s hind leg. Finally, he felt the crack that he’d been looking for as his weapon connected with the creature’s leg bone. He struck a second time, and the boar squealed angrily, spinning towards him like a malevolent top. Again, he was on the back foot, but this time he didn’t have to rely on crazy acrobatics. Salissa had arrived, and it seemed she had given up on telekinesis for now as her flame ignited with a bright flash. Even covered as he was by the boar’s bulk, heat washed over Edwin, and the boar’s squeals took on a desperate note. It rolled on the ground, trying to put out the fire to no avail. After a few seconds the flame stopped. Edwin used the opportunity to land another strike, but the boar didn’t care in the slightest. It rolled to its feet and spun, charging at Salissa with an earsplitting screech. Edwin gave chase immediately but knew that he wouldn’t catch the boar before it reached its target.
Bordan stepped into the way, planting the butt of his spear to receive the charge. The raging monster ignored him completely, seeking only to end the life of the little pest that had turned half of its pelt into a blackened, blistering mess. The steel spear tip pierced the boar just under the head, the beast’s momentum causing it to impale itself. What had worked beautifully against the direbeaver, however, didn’t take into account the sheer weight and speed of the direboar. The tip disappeared into the monster’s rump, then the wooden shaft began to buckle and bend. The boar slowed, and for a moment it looked like the spear would stop it dead in its tracks. Then, with a loud crack, the shaft snapped in two.
The boar had slowed, and another bolt whizzed through the trees to sink into one of its eyes. It stumbled, and with a pained squeal it veered sideways into a tree and fell down. Bordan scrambled out of the way, barely avoiding getting squished by the massive monster, and Edwin ran past him. The boar was lying on its side, its legs scrabbling at the ground as if running, but it seemed unable to get back up for now. Aiming just under its face shield, Edwin brought his mace down with a powerful swing. He hit it with a loud bang, but the monster’s skull was incredibly sturdy. He raised his weapon and brought it down again. And again.
After half a dozen hits, something finally gave way and Edwin’s mace sank deeply into the boar’s head. The monster stilled.