Chapter 12 The Boar Quest
Tine and Rhalie finally found the others by the forest’s edge. Earlier, Rhalie persuaded Tine to come with her so they “wouldn’t miss out on any of the boar bounty.” After they wandered the city’s streets in search of their friends all morning, Tine was pretty sure that Rhalie just wanted someone along to hear her talk. And talk she did. The gnome rattled on just about everything; birds, food, sex, the bird seller, shopping, more birds. Why is she so obsessed with birds?
It took Tine some effort to keep the search focused on finding Autumnus and the others instead of finding the bird seller Rhalie went on about. Tine was close to suggesting they split up since they wanted to look for different things, when they finally found Autumnus and everyone else who had set out to meet with merchants earlier that morning.
When they came upon their friends at the edge of town, Hafoc, Kylia and Lou were looking for tracks around the road that led west from Svlandir into the woods. They found some footprints in the dirt, but not all of them looked like they were from boar hooves.
Autumnus, dappled in the sunlight, looked solemn, and stood away from the group. He hung back near the bridge out of town when he saw Tine arrive. Her heart fluttered a little when he broke out in a huge smile as their eyes met. She caught her tail in one hand to hide her emotion.
Rhalie, eager for action, barreled past the others and began to scout for danger a few paces ahead of them, her crossbow poised for danger. After a short walk into the trees, she ran back and waved them over. They followed her to find the boars in the distance sunning themselves in a clearing by a pond.
As they approached the clearing, there was a rustle in some nearby branches, despite the lack of wind. Rhalie advanced towards the tree from the far side of the noise, hoping to catch what or whomever it was by surprise.
Slithering sounds hissed from the leaves and Tine’s tail bristled. Rhalie stepped back, crossbow ready, as a pair of legs dropped down from the branches and a scaly figure soon followed. A snake-like woman stood before them.
Tine froze. Another Mutkin! The stranger was clearly descended from the cobra quiver, a strain of Mutkin that were descended from serpents. Cat Mutkin held an ancestral dislike for snakes, and Tine reflexively took a step back.
The Cobra Mutkin attempted to smile through her fangs. “Greetings, strangers. I bow to you. What brings you here today only?” The stranger bowed deeply before them. Tine noticed she was dressed for camouflage. The colors of her clothes complemented her scaly skin, which was also a dark green that would blend in well in the forest.
Autumnus took a step towards the Cobra Mutkin and bowed in return. “Greetings, madam. We are trying to pacify the boars so they don't attack the town anymore. Do you have any idea why they are being so aggressive?” The membranes on the Cobra Mutkin’s eyes flickered and closed briefly before she answered. "That I am not knowing, good sir,” she said. Her tail coiled slightly. "I am wishing to live in solitude,” the snake woman continued. “Still, I am in this forest to be quiet, only." She tilted her head and looked off into the distance.
Tine heard a moan behind them. She wasn’t the only one; most everyone in the group turned to face the noise with a jolt. Rhalie hollered in alarm, Tine looked back to see the gnome pointing towards the suspicious Cobra Mutkin as she escaped into the trees.
As the stranger sprinted away, Tine stared at the fake eyespots on the back of the Mutkin’s flared hood. Tine felt a wave of nausea; there were rumors that Cobra Mutkin were cannibals. What if the stories were true? Tine shook her head. The stranger was gone, anyhow. Don’t dwell on old cat’s tales.
After the Cobra woman vanished into the trees, Kylia shrugged. “Welp, that was interesting.” She turned her gaze back to the clearing, and the boars. “I say we stop messing around and bring home the bacon.” She pulled out a dagger and flipped it with her fingers as she stared at the goal ahead.
Lou twisted his long mustache thoughtfully. "Well, my pork-loving lovely, as far as I know, the lands nearest the forest are owned by farmers. If we can talk them into buying the boars, perhaps our work will be done and we get paid twice. But, in that case, we would need to get them there in fine shape, I think.” He waggled his hand and added, “Y’know, alive-ish.”
Autumnus coughed into a fist. “Yes, about that. It seems to me we’ve somehow promised to both keep the boars safe and sell their flesh…”
Lou snorted. “Ha, you think that grocer is going to wander the countryside to check? For all I care, we could sell the meat to the butcher and let the nice fruit lady know that the sweet pigs are safe.”
Autumnus and Tine frowned at him in unison. Tine crossed her arms.
Lou added, “…Ok, well, safe in pig heaven, perhaps, but safe, nonetheless, no? Might as well get paid twice for the same work, I’d say.”
“True,” Hafoc shrugged. “I guess…”
Autumnus, Tine & Rhalie looked at each other in silence as Kylia continued to stare down the sleeping boars.
Lou threw his hands up in the air. “Fine. We can try to capture them peacefully and bring them to the farm, but if they give us trouble, I’m not above selling them as meat.”
Kylia turned to the others. “Are we ready?”
Autumnus nodded.
Kylia nodded back, raised her dagger high, and ran into the clearing as she yelled, “Bacon! BAA-CONN!”
Tine smacked her forehead. How can Kylia look so innocent until the very moment she went into a bloodthirsty rage?
“Wha—Holy feck,” Hafoc growled and ran after her, with his own dagger ready. “If’n you were just going to kill ‘em all anyway, why did we all have to have a koombayah talk about saving the damn things?”
Lou leaned against a tree and strummed his lute. “Well, I guess boar meat, it is.” As he played, he sang:
Are you ready to battle and kill?
Parry, maim, slaughter and stab!
Draw bow, take aim, and nock your quill…
Parry, maim, slaughter and stab…
Facing the fray, Autumnus lit a flame in his palm. He turned to Tine. “Sorry, I tried.” He sighed. “I admit, that I’m loathe to attack anything that did not first harm us, though…”
Tine pulled her bow out from her baldric. “I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that for long; those boar will be out for our blood any moment now.”
Indeed, the smell of this morning's bacon on Kylia and Hafoc’s breath seemed to make the boars nearest to them especially irate, and they fought with a vengeance. Despite this, the two’s daggers finally made their mark after a few tries.
One of the boars charged Autumnus and Tine, who leapt out of the way as he shot a ball of fire at it. No warning shot this time, she noticed. Suddenly angry, she turned on her heel and headed deeper into the woods, tail thrashing.
Autumnus followed. “Tine, wait! Are you all right?”
She did not answer, but soon stopped in her tracks. She turned back to look at her friends. Am I really leaving right now? When I finally fit in? Or did I? Maybe it was my imagination…
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
As Autumnus ran follow her into the trees, she saw him stumble and fall. The surrounding foliage enveloped him completely and he disappeared from sight.
From the clearing, Time could hear yelling and squeals. Why are animals always considered…lesser? she thought. But then, I eat meat, too. Why do I care so much? She decided to try to forget the thought for now, and trudged through the bushes to find Autumnus who had fallen in the bushes, out of sight. Where are you, you clumsy, stupidly-sweet demon boy…
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“Yes!” Kylia shouted as her blade hit. “Sweet bacon, come to mama!”
One of the boars grunted and charged Rhalie. “Hey! Why me?” Rhalie yelled and ran. “Kylia, do you have to rile them up?” She climbed a tree and called down. “What happened to our favorite introvert? Can’t you go back to being an edgy, quiet death-girl?”
Kylia ran after the boar at the bottom of Rhalie’s tree. “Oh, come on, an edgy, quiet death-girl’s gotta eat.”
“Oh, come on, we just had breakfast, already!” Rhalie said, as she shot the boar with her crossbow.
Hafoc, having decimated another one of the boars, had left it near death, to aid Kylia and Rhalie, who shot an arrow at it, but missed. Hafoc struck at their target from behind, but the boar sensed his approach and trotted to the trees. It looked back at them over its shoulder and paused to fart long and loudly in their general direction. It grinned and shook its rear at them, waiting to see what they would do next.
"Oye, that’s their leader, I bet.” Hafoc yelled. “Get ‘im!”
With one boar mostly dead and twitching, and another burnt beyond recognition, the remaining few boars in the clearing squealed in rage. Seeing their leader taunt the humans and run, they began to race after him into the trees, sharp tusks agleam in the late afternoon sun. Angry as they were, they weren't aiming for anyone specific now; they seemed anxious to stay close as a pack and race past their attackers towards their goal.
As they ran from the far edge of the clearing, the remaining boars began to band together in a line. The result was a running wall of mad swine determined to charge through their opponents in order to reach the trees. Hafoc, Kylia and Lou were soon to be overcome by the sheer force of the galloping mini-herd.
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When Tine doubled back to help Autumnus, she parted the bushes to find him lying on the forest floor with a female elf who was out cold. The elf wore a green cape and light armor. She was also beautiful, with milk-chocolate skin and short, curly dark hair.
Autumnus carefully touched the elf’s face and shook her a little by the shoulders. He sat up, not even noticing Tine, and began to look through his pockets until he pulled out a vial of red fluid. Holding the vial up, he shook it until it glimmered. He cradled the elf's head in his hand and tilted it back to let her jaw drop open before he nursed the liquid in.
After a few moments, she awoke, sputtering, and mumbled. "Sharti am sal?" The elf put a hand to her head. Then, noticing Autumnus, she scuttled back in alarm. "Who are you? What have you done?"
He put his gloved hands up. “Don’t worry; that was just a potion—to heal you, not harm you.” He bowed and kneeled on one knee. “I am Autumnus. At your service.” He looked into her eyes. “How can I be of help?” He offered her another healing potion. “Here, take this. In case you aren’t entirely healed.”
The elf regained her composure and stood up. She blushed, and bowed deeply as she introduced herself, "Thar karask, then I do thank you. My name is Hala Evertrue of the Far Wood. At least, I believe that to be so. I am sorry to say, my thar karask friend, that I do not remember my much of past or why I am here." Hala looked at Autumnus with wide, childlike, blue eyes.
Tine was surprised to see an elf with a war hammer by her side instead of a bow and arrow. Her choice of weapon, chain maille vest and shield suggested someone who was used to melee combat, but her frame was light, and her demeanor, demure. When she noticed that Autumnus continued to look at her closely with concern, Hala’s cheeks turned red and she inspected the nearby trilliums with a seemingly growing fascination.
Tine could feel her cheeks getting hot, too. She rubbed her neck. Well. I guess, I’m not needed here. In fact, as far as these two can tell, I don’t even exist. She looked back towards the clearing.
She saw Kylia in the distance. The tenacious half-elf had grabbed the hind leg of a boar and was busy stabbing at it with her dagger. The boar let out a rage-filled squeal and kicked a hind leg at Kylia in retaliation, breaking free from her grasp. The boars continued to run into the trees towards Tine, Autumnus and his new “elf friend,” Tine called Hala in her head, and frowned.
The clamor of Kylia, Hafoc, Lou and the boars as they came closer caught Hala’s attention now, too. She armed herself, assumed a fighting stance and asked Autumnus, "Are these friends of yours, thar karask?" Her eyes narrowed.
The chaos of the running, fighting and squealing crowd that approached nearly drowned out his answer. “Yes,” Autumnus said, “they are with me.”
This seemed to put Hala at ease. She lowered her weapon as the first boar scampered up to her, followed by Hafoc and Lou, who were close behind.
They each, in turn, skidded to a halt in front of her. Hala looked at the three calmly, then knelt down. She patted the boar they chased on the head, and said, "Hello, friend of my thar karask friend. Glad to meet you."
In response, the boar rolled over so she could scratch his belly. Hala found a wound, and exclaimed, “Oh, you are hurt, my little friend!” She took the vial of healing potion that Autumnus gave her and fed it to the creature as she scratched behind his ears.
Kylia caught up now, or rather, she was pulled along by the boar whose tail she clutched while she tried to stab the beast. She ignored the others and chased it in circles through nearby trees with frenetic abandon. More than once, she shouted, "Bacon, you shall be mine!"
Tine shook her head. How did it get so hard to get a few coin from killing boar? or from just moving them even? she thought, groaning inwardly. At least the mystery elf woman and the boar are having a good time playing "Who's a good boy? You are!” Hooray.
She stole a glance at Autumnus, who still watched Hala with a look of concern. I think he’s forgotten I exist more the moment. Aue, that makes sense. I would, too. She checked to see that her backpack was secure. Guess it’s a good thing I didn’t tell him everything, after all.
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Deep into the forest, Farty boar took a break to get a snack. He was very proud of himself for giving the hoomans, elphs and whatsit two-leggeds a hard time. He decided to treat himself to a buffet of colored mushrooms he found. He ate one. Farted. Hmmm. The gas color change with each type of mushroom. smells different, too. He snickered. The boar life is a good life.
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Lou was determined to interrogate Hala’s new “boar friend.” He flipped to the back of his spell book, looking for something to cast that would make the insolent little bugger spill the beans. Frowning, he read to himself for a minute, then snapped the book shut.
He strode up to the happy creature lying next to Hala. Gods, who wouldn’t be happy lying next to Hala? he thought. Lou crouched, and played a gentle tune on the lute as he spoke to it in a language only the boar could understand. "Ah, I would be happy, too, in your position. If only she would scratch my belly like that, eh?"
The boar snorted in smug reply, and turned its belly closer to Hala so she could rub it more thoroughly. She obliged. Damn lucky pig.
Lou pressed on, "Would you tell me why your little pack has been bothering the town of late, piggy?" He nodded at Hala, who was busy talking to Autumnus. "She would love to know."
The boar rolled over and gave Lou the cold shoulder. Lou heard it mutter to itself that it “Never did trust performers.”
That poor smitten sap, Autumnus, was trying, in his own way to get information on the boar pack’s activities. He doesn’t give up easily. I’ll have to give him that, Lou thought.
Autumnus put a hand near the boar to let him sniff it. “Hala, I’m glad the boar is all right now. Since he is, um, rather attached to you, we could use your help to figure out what's going on here, otherwise he won't be so lucky next time there’s a boar hunt. Do you think you can help us find out what brought him here?”
The boar insinuated himself closer to Hala and looked back at Autumnus cooly.
Hala smiled easily in response. "Of course, my thar karask friend. I will be happy to help."
Lou looked at the sky. "It's s getting dark soon. We should decide if we going back to town or going to ask farmers for help." He put his hands on his hips and looked about. "Say...where did our lovely bacon huntress go?"
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After the boar ran off into the woods and gave her the slip, Kylia, gave up on chasing it for now, muttering under her breath, "Bacon is NOT our friend!” She decided to investigate the surrounding forest for clues as to why the boars have been acting strangely
She picked up the tracks of a running two-legged creature that led her to a makeshift nest. It was empty at the moment. The area around the next was messy, and, curiously, she found a sack filled with dead snakes that was hanging from a branch. Walking carefully, Kylia noticed a tripwire just in time and avoided it.
When she looked up again, she met the gaze of a glowing, green bear, which stood on its hind legs watching her through the trees.