The boar ignored Lakhoni and darted away. Alronna got another slash in before it escaped her long sword’s reach. Her sword cut deeply into its side and left a gaping hole.
Then it was beyond their reach, hurtling through the campsite. Vena leapt away, dragging Prila into her arms. Jasnia backed up and put herself between Lina and the oncoming creature. Lina stood frozen, arms out as if to ward off the terrifying animal. As it ran, it didn’t look left or right, but the glowing red eyes left a trail of red in the darkness, which faded as Lakhoni blinked and gasped. Each breath felt as if it were clouds of knives cutting through his lungs.
He lunged after the boar, confusion and fear forgotten in the pain and fury that filled him. He sensed Alronna and Lamorun burst into a run right behind him. “Lakhoni, wait!” Simra cried out. Lakhoni ignored the shout and flowed into the Dance of the Forest, whipping around trees at full speed. Why didn’t the boar make a sound? He should have been able to follow the boar crashing through heavy forest, but he heard nothing but his own breathing. For a scant moment, the pain in his side and sensation of blood flowing past his hip and down his leg almost caught him up.
He put the pain and sensations in a deep place. He would see to it later. The boar was faster than any Lakhoni had ever hunted, putting more space between them with every step. But Lakhoni was sure he would catch it. They were headed right toward the crisp mountain river the group had crossed hours ago. It was too deep for the boar to splash across. It would have to stop or change direction. The dark shape didn’t even seem to move up and down with its lightning fast legs. It appeared to float, propelled by its powerful strides.
The river was only twenty paces away, the boar just a little less. Lakhoni dug deep and pushed himself faster, his breath coming hard and painful. He fought the discomfort away and lunged at the dark shape.
The boar didn’t slow for the river. It kept running even as it hit the rushing water. No splashes came as it began to cross the water, then it sank beneath the surface and was gone without a ripple. Lakhoni drew up at the river’s edge, gasping. He dropped to his knees, the wet and cold of the riverbank soaking through his breeches. “Where?” He scoured the river, jagged breaths tearing through his chest. “What?” He fell forward, hands going into the shallow water at the river’s edge. Where had the boar gone? What was happening? His strength drained from him. He tried to lean back and sit on the dry ground behind him, but he was already so close to the water and it seemed to pull him. It might be soothing to lie in the water and let it wash his wounds clean--
“Lakhoni!” Alronna’s shout accompanied a mighty pull at his back.
He coughed and the cold, rushing darkness that had taken him for a moment rippled away. River water rained down from his head onto his chest and he spluttered and scrambled backward, helped by two strong sets of hands.
“Lakhoni.” Lamorun bent into a crouch. “Where did it go?”
Lakhoni blinked fast, trying to gather his thoughts. The pain in his side was too much. He couldn’t think past the darkness that tugged at him and the fire in his side and chest that ignited each breath. “Swam away.” That ridiculous image lodged in his mind and he laughed, which hurt more and made him cough, river water erupting from his mouth.
Alronna and Lamorun twisted Lakhoni onto his side gently but quickly, letting him cough all the water out of his lungs.
“What were you doing putting your face in the water like that?” Alronna crouched in front of Lakhoni. “And what do you mean it swam away?”
Lakhoni blinked at her, his thoughts fuzzy like the cloud tree’s flowers. He licked the river water from his lips. It tasted good.
Everything went dark.
Ants chewed on Lakhoni’s stomach. Somehow, an ox was sitting on his chest at the same time. He tried to push the ox off, as if that was going to work, but he couldn’t even move his arms.
“Stop trying to move.” That was Lamorun’s voice. He was very close, just to Lakhoni’s right.
Lakhoni swam out of the bizarre flood of images and into a world of pain and far too much light. He blinked and tried to see what was going on around him, but the light was too strong. Better to keep his eyes closed. “What’s going on?” His voice sounded rough and scraped raw. It reminded him of the first time he spoke in Simra’s village, arguing with Mibli.
“Simra is trying to sew you up, dolt.” Hilana’s voice. She was to Lakhoni’s left—also close like Lamorun.
“Be still or you’ll make it worse.” Alronna. Also to his left.
The last confusing dregs of his dreams dissipated as a sharp pain and tug on his side cut through him. No ox sat on him, but hands pushed down on his arms, keeping him immobile. Hands. Lamorun, Alronna, and Hilana. They were holding him down.
He tried opening his eyes again and found the light much more manageable now. He lifted his head. Alronna and Hilana knelt next to each other, Alronna’s hands pressing down on Lakhoni’s shoulder and Hilana holding his arm down. On his other side knelt Lamorun, holding him down in the same way.
“Why did it go only for you?” Simra was bent over Lakhoni’s right side, working on him. “We were all right here and Lamorun even attacked it. But it only went for you.” She tugged maybe a little harder than she realized and Lakhoni winced at the pain. “Why?”
Lakhoni let his head drop back and found that someone had bundled something soft under there. It felt nice. He focused on a leaf a little ways higher than Lamorun’s head. “I don’t know. It makes no sense.”
“That was no normal boar.” Vena stepped into view, standing just past Lamorun. “I’ve hunted every animal in the forest and that—” she trailed off, growing thoughtful. “That was something from the dark pit.”
Lamorun snorted. “There is no dark pit full of demons.” He gave Vena a look Lakhoni couldn’t see. “At least not outside the dark heart of evil men.”
Vena glared at him. “And here we go again. Words, words, words about evil Molgar and his wicked Living Dead and more words, words, words about how really there’s no way to ever trust any of them ever and why don’t we blame them for every bad thing that ever happens.” Vena twisted her lips and looked like she might spit. But she held back. “I can do nothing to make what happened to you go away.” She turned to go.
“No, wait,” Lakhoni said. The regular sharp pains in his side cleared his head rather quickly. He wondered at the lack of terrible pain from the tearing that the boar had done with its tusks. Why wasn’t his entire torso on fire? “Vena’s right. I’ve never seen a boar, much less any animal, like that.”
“Why did my spear pass right through it?” Lamorun asked.
“You must have missed,” Hilana said. “Though how you could ever miss anything with your incredible skills is beyond me.” She snorted.
“I did not miss,” Lamorun said.
“Lakhoni’s dagger didn’t harm it either,” Alronna said. “I saw him score two hits but leave no mark.” She gave Lakhoni’s shoulder a gentle squeeze. “But my sword cut it open.”
“I saw that too,” Lakhoni said. “But it didn’t bleed.”
“How could it not bleed?” Vena asked. She had turned back to the group.
Simra growled. “Well it certainly made you bleed.”
“So last night we fought a boar that only one weapon could cut, but it didn’t bleed so it didn’t matter.” Alronna met the gazes of everyone gathered. “But it had no trouble ripping open Lakhoni and doing its best to scatter his guts all over the place.”
“We all must have missed it,” Lakhoni said. He remembered the furious, speedy fight, the run through the forest, and the boar sinking into the river. But it felt like a dream. “And it’s an animal, so it had to bleed. It had to be a trick of the light.”
“There is no animal blood on the ground,” Hilana said. “No sign of it. No tracks even, and we all know how easy it is to find a boar’s spore in a dense forest like this.”
Alronna helped Lakhoni take a deep drink of cool wate
r. It soothed his rough throat.
“Lakhoni,” Simra said, moving from her knees to a crouch and sidling around to get a better angle. She pushed carefully on his ribs on his right side. “Where did it go when it got to the river?”
“I thought it swam away.” Lakhoni winced at the pressure. “That hurts right there.”
“Where?” Simra laid her warm hand on his chest. “Show me.”
Lakhoni felt the heat rise to his cheeks at her gentle touch. His side newly stitched and his chest feeling crushed and he still had the ability to react like that? Lakhoni forced the sensation and his reaction away. He tugged to get his right hand free from Lamorun, who released him. He waved at his entire torso, from waist to neck. “Here. It hurts all of here.”
Simra shook her head and pursed her lips, irritated. “Not helpful.”
Lakhoni enjoyed watching her lips move like that, but kept it to himself. She pressed his ribs and chest firmly, but still gently, with her fingertips. It felt like his bones were squeezing into his lungs and everything else in his chest cavity. “Stop!”
“Hurts?”
“I just said that.” It hurt to talk. He glanced at Alronna, signaling for more water.
“I don’t feel much movement in there, so I don’t think any ribs are broken.” Simra leaned back and settled into a comfortable kneeling position. She reached into one of the many pouches she had on her custom-made belt and removed some soft, clean bandage.
“If you two are done with…whatever that was,” Alronna said, helping Lakhoni drink again, “perhaps we should talk about the strange ghost boar that we couldn’t hurt but got the better of my warrior brother.”
“We just talked about it,” Lakhoni said. Simra had Lamorun and the others help him sit up. His vision darkened for a moment as he came to a seated position. He took a slow, painful breath and willed himself to stay alert. Simra began wrapping his battered chest and stomach in the soft bandage, Alronna helping out. “It attacked and then it got away.”
“And it had glowing eyes, couldn’t be hurt, was incredibly fast, and didn’t seem to touch the ground at all.” Alronna passed the roll of bandage back to Simra. “Is there any explanation for that?”
“We’ve all seen animals whose eyes seem to glow in the firelight,” Hilana said. She had stood now that her services were no longer needed and was studying the gathered group. The rest of the people were clearing up the camp. Blankets and hamuks were rolled up and the ashes of their fire were carefully dispersed. “I’ve never been this far north. Isn’t it possible that there is a kind of boar with eyes like that?”
“That’s dogs and jungle cats,” Alronna said.
“Like jaguars,” Lamorun said.
“Speaking of dogs.” Vena drew closer. “Those two didn’t even seem to notice the creature last night. Usually they’ll bark at any animal, even tree squirrels.”
“And how do you explain that we couldn’t hurt it?” Alronna asked Hilana. “And that it didn’t bleed?”
“That’s simple,” Lakhoni said. “It was the ghost of the boar we killed, cleaned, and ate, so it didn’t have any blood left.” He looked around at the gathered people. He snorted. It hurt. “I’m joking.” Simra pulled the last loop of bandage tight. He winced at the quick pain.
Lakhoni kept one hand on Lamorun’s muscled shoulder as he swayed for a moment. His head felt momentarily compressed and his chest threatened to cave in completely. A few slow, deep breaths helped him find his steady center. “I don’t know what it was. I don’t think any of us do.”
“It was strange and unexplainable,” Alronna said. “Like the legends we sometimes hear.” Quieter, under her breath, she added, “Like my dreams.”
Lakhoni continued breathing carefully, doing his best not to make them very deep breaths. “It’s gone now,” he said. “Hopefully it won’t come back.”
“You haven’t answered the first question.” Simra took Lakhoni’s hand from Lamorun’s shoulder and gently pulled his arm across the back of her shoulders, helping keep Lakhoni steady. “Why did it come after you?”
“We don’t know that it did,” Lakhoni said. “It all happened really fast.”
Simra flicked Lakhoni’s hand. “I watched the entire thing. It charged, then changed direction right at you.”
Lakhoni closed his eyes as the pain from his side began to truly wash over him. It came in waves that seemed to ooze right under his muscles, reaching his forehead and squeezing every thought out of his brain. “I don’t know. I just don’t know.”
Simra guided him to a tree trunk that had fallen over. She sat him down. “You lost a lot of blood. You need to eat and drink a lot to get your strength back.” She helped him take a few bites of dried fruit and hard bread, washing it down with water.
By the time the small camp was cleared and everybody was ready to move, Lakhoni felt a bit more energy. With Simra’s help, he stood and took some careful steps. “It would be best for you to rest for at least a few days to start healing,” Simra said. “But I think we’re within a day of my village by now. We’ll go there so you can heal more comfortably. Father should be able to help you, too.”
“We need to track Gadnar,” Lakhoni said. But the very thought of encountering Gadnar and trying to fight him was terrifying. At his very best, he would have to be more than lucky to have any hope of beating Gadnar.
“We’ll use the dogs and track him after.” Simra stuck close to Lakhoni as Alronna led the way north through the woods. “We are in no shape to confront him right now.”
“Simra.” Lakhoni bit his tongue, unsure of how to state what was in his heart. Best to be straightforward. “Having him get anywhere close to you is the worst thing I can think of.”
She gave him a side look. “If you think I’m staying in the village while you and your crazy sister and brother and that knife-loving woman go hunting Gadnar, you are mistaken.”
“I know. But…” He trailed off and chewed on his words while they stepped over a particularly gnarly pile of roots at the base of a tree. The trees’ dark trunks were rough under his left hand as he used them to ease the jolt of each step. He felt like if he stopped and took a slow breath, he could smell the dark earth and leaves and even the clouds. “I’m just scared of losing you.”
“Remember when I thought I’d lost you?” Simra’s lips pressed tightly together for a moment. “I’m not going through that again. We go together.”
Anything else didn’t make sense in his mind, so he stopped talking. And noticed that they were angling somewhat more east than before. “Why are we going this way?”
“We’ll be quicker if we can hit the road and follow it,” Simra said. “I don’t want to spend another night in a forest with ghostly boars that can’t be killed.”
“It wasn’t a ghost boar,” Lakhoni said.
“Then what was it?” Simra helped Lakhoni around a big pile of fallen trees and branches.
Lakhoni shook his head. “I don’t know. But that kind of thing doesn’t exist.”
“Did your parents or village elders never talk about legends of creatures walking the land?”
The stitches in his side pulled with every step and Lakhoni was tired of being gored, stabbed, slashed, and otherwise injured. This had to stop. “Yes, but those were legends.”
“Legends have to start somewhere.”
They lapsed into silence. The forest floor was hard underfoot, dry leaves crackling with each step. Ahead of them, Lamorun and Hilana’s feet raised small clouds of dust. So strange, Lakhoni thought. He’d never walked through a forest without being able to smell moss and old leaves. It smelled like life and green. But this forest smelled like firewood.
They found the hard-packed road before the sun hit midpoint in the sky. Lakhoni’s breath came with less pain now, although stumbling over an unseen rock in the ground a few minutes ago had made him briefly want to die. Simra helped him step over the small hardened clay ridge that ran along the edge of the road. They turned nor
th.
Corzon fell into pace beside Lakhoni. Melana walked next to him. They both carried heavy bags full of supplies. When asked what was in their bags, Corzon laid one finger alongside his impressive nose and smiled in what he clearly thought was a mysterious way. “Our future,” he would respond and that was that. Except Lakhoni checked one night and found thousands of seeds.
“We are going to Simra’s village?” Corzon glanced at Lakhoni, wincing at the sight of the heavy bandage.
“Yes.” Lakhoni concentrated on walking smoothly to reduce the jolting his torso didn’t enjoy even a little bit.
“Do you need anything?” Corzon sounded a little odd.
Lakhoni took his eyes off the road ahead long enough to study Corzon’s face. In doing so, he realized that where the former Living Dead had once been noticeably taller than him, they were now nearly the same height. Either Corzon was shrinking or Lakhoni was getting taller. “I’m fine.”
Corzon nodded. “It’s good work.” He waved a hand at the bandage on Lakhoni’s chest and stomach.
That was it. Lakhoni should have known. He kept walking, enjoying the sensation of having Simra close enough for his arm to still be draped across her shoulders. Corzon had been the healer of the Living Dead. He had treated Lakhoni after Molgar’s demented ‘cleansing,’ as well as when Lakhoni had first arrived in their cavern. Corzon must have been feeling a little out of place, since Simra was acting as healer for the group. “Simra’s good. Except when she puts ant heads in your skin to hold it closed.”
“Ant heads?” Corzon laughed. “That’s funny.”
“Don’t laugh until you’ve tried it.” Simra glanced over at Corzon. “It works.”
“You have to be kidding.” Corzon motioned Melana closer. “Diwa, they’re trying to convince me they use ants to treat injuries.”
Melana angled closer. “Corzon, you believe too easily.”
“No,” Lakhoni said. “We’re serious.”
“Although it wasn’t me that used the vesht ants on Lakhoni’s side.” Simra lightly brushed his stitches with her fingers. “Why is it always this side, anyway?”
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