Chapter 11 #2
“That’s exactly what I was thinking.”
After eating, the competitors met in the commons to meet up with the Game Master.
"In the next challenge," the Game Master said, "you will take on the Darkland Forest Hunt where you'll track down a wild boar across unfamiliar territory.
If you find any hidden traps or quicksand that would swallow unwary pack members, you must leave scent markers or other markings to make the others aware of the danger.
We did not set these traps there, but other fae have, so watch yourselves. "
"Do we have to fight the boar as wolves?" Stone couldn't imagine fighting something so dangerous when none of them were fully grown wolves, even if they worked together.
"No. Use your weapons' skills. Though if one or two of you—or more—choose to fight the beast as wolves, it's up to you.
The task has to be accomplished; that's it.
For those of you who have been gifted with magical swords, you won't be able to access their powers in the Darkland Forest. You'll have to wield them as any sword a commoner might own. "
"Is there a particular boar out there that's being set free so we can go after it?" Silas asked.
"No. It must be a wild boar, no mothers with piglets or pregnant females. If you kill a mother, you will be sent home."
"How will we know if it has piglets?" Iris asked.
"They will stick by her side. You might not know if a female is pregnant. It would be safer to choose a bull boar. Also, no young ones or older ones. You must find one that is suitable for a feast and to show your prowess."
Neither Stone nor Rune had ever taken down a boar. He hoped they could manage this task. They would all have to stick together because getting skewered by a boar's tusks was deadly.
"If you accomplish this mission, you will have a pork feast afterward. Beware of the boar's tusks though. They have killed several fae over the years. You'll be transported to Darkland Forest after you've gathered whatever you need."
They headed to their rooms. Silas said to Stone, "Have you ever taken down a boar?"
"By myself? No."
Silas laughed. "Okay, dumb question."
"What about you with your pack mates?"
"With older pack mates. Sure. It was a rite of passage. But this time we're on our own." Silas got his weapon.
Stone grabbed his backpack. He always had his sword with him because of the trouble he had with Vesper. He hoped he would be all right on a boar hunt. He really didn't know what to expect or how everyone from the two different packs would work together.
"We need to work together," Stone said.
"I agree, though I don't know about the other pack or even if my own will work together all that well."
"We have to learn to do it on missions like this."
"Yeah. So you sat with Rune this morning."
"You were right. It's time we were seeing each other as more than just lone wolves."
"You're lucky."
"Why's that?"
"None of us are seeing anyone else. We're all family in the pack, so we can't have a relationship with our own members unless someone new joins us. And we can't develop feelings for anyone in the other pack."
"That's a shame. There are a lot to choose from, I'm sure."
"Yeah, that's true. For you and Rune, you don't have much of a choice if you want someone more like yourselves."
"We always have a choice."
Then they left the room and headed to the great hall, where they were taken to Darkland Forest.
When they finally arrived there, it looked like any other forest, Stone thought. No darker than the others. But he didn't like the idea that they might find traps that could hurt any one of them.
Then they spread out as they had in the Phantom Fae forest before they tried to cross No Man's Land.
If they walked in a straight line like this, they might find traps and mark them, but if no one was following them, it wouldn't do much to warn others of the danger.
On the other hand, if they caught sight of a boar, they would all tear off to take it down, and then they wouldn't be in a horizontal line any longer.
Rune found a leg trap and set it off with a stick.
It clanked; the trap disarmed. Stone thought that was a better way to “mark” a trap like that: set it off so it wouldn’t hurt anyone.
Then he saw a string in front of his feet, and he moved away from it and threw a rock at it.
Nothing happened. He threw another rock, and this time it moved the string.
Immediately, a log flew through the air at whoever should have tripped the string.
He wondered who had set these traps. He hoped everyone was looking for them also, and wouldn’t be hurt by them.
Then he headed out to look for the boar again, but stayed cautious about the traps.
They had walked for maybe a mile when Iris shouted, “I see one.”
Several of the fae ran for the boar, but Rune and Stone did not. They kept looking for a boar, hoping they would find one that was suitable for the hunt, just in case the one Iris found wasn’t.
“That’s a young female,” Vesper shouted. “You’re an idiot!”
“I didn’t know.”
They all resumed searching for a boar when Rune spied one. “Stone, over here.”
The boar burst from the undergrowth—a dark, low-slung mass of muscle and bristle, tusks pale as bone against the forest floor.
It came straight at them, head dropped, small eyes fixed, moving faster than anything that size had a right to. The creature’s coarse fur stood raised along its spine, each stride throwing up clods of wet earth as it closed the distance.
Stone hurried toward her, careful not to startle the boar. “That’s it. A big male.” And he looked dangerous. He whistled to the others, hoping they would help and not ignore them as they did with the pirarucu.
Rune slashed at the angry boar that charged them. She turned invisible. The boar headed toward Stone, and he swept his sword at the boar, connecting with the boar's tusks.
Then suddenly, Elon came up and shot an arrow at the boar. Caspian and Fang soon joined him. Rune appeared again and hit the boar's right rear leg.
The boar twisted around to try to attack Rune.
Caspian shot another arrow at the boar. So did Elon.
Lolita also struck the boar's right rear leg with her short sword, although Rune wanted to keep her out of the fight.
But the boar was favoring that leg.
Iris used her slingshot to hit the boar in the head while Stone struck it again.
It finally went down, and they finished it off. Rune realized that neither Xena nor Vesper had helped take down the boar. They were just standing nearby, watching, their arms folded across their chests.
But then Stone sighed. He was glad the others had come to help, and knew they would have a great feast.