I followed behind Strevan in a sour mood. Not only had every tree branch and root made me public enemy number one, my closest friend was forcing me to hunt poor, innocent animals to satiate my hunger. I lived in the modern day; food was three degrees of separation from being on my conscience. I hadn’t trimmed a steak much less killed an animal in cold blood.

  “This is cruel,” I said, grumbling.

  “You can have my share of the rations if you want,” He said, not slowing his pace.

  I grimaced, before retorting quickly, “No no, I would hate to take your share. You need your energy.”

  “Uh huh,” he replied, looking over his shoulder briefly.

  “What are we even hunting? Do you know what you’re doing?”

  He chuckled.

  “Of course I do. I’m a professional.”

  “Watching 3 episodes of a survival show doesn’t make you an expert,” I said.

  He shrugged nonchalantly, before replying, “Just watch.”

  The next hour was spent nearly losing my boots in patches of mud, scratching my arms that had been nicked by sharp tree branches, and trying to keep pace with my long-legged friend. I was struggling far more than I was used to, even accounting for being out of shape in real life.

  I panted with exertion, and barely managed to call out, “Stre- Stop, p-please…” before leaning my weight against a tree and sitting down.

  The sting of sweat irritated my eyes, and I wiped my face with both hands. I looked up, surveying the clearing that we had walked into. It was the only reprieve from the dense overgrowth we’d encountered since leaving our ship. The verdant greenery surrounded us in an almost claustrophobic density, and what little space there was seemed to have been the result of an enormous tree falling over; its trunk reached too high to sit on comfortably.

  Still short of breath, I watched Strevan in silence as he closely observed the earth around us, seemingly noticing something.

  “Looks like a trail. Fresh too.” he said. “First clear one I’ve seen. Boar maybe? It’s gotta be massive…”

  He scratched his chin and sighed lightly, before pressing his weight against the enormous overgrown tree and sitting down, parallel to me.

  We looked at each other for a few heartbeats in silence. His face, somewhat red from the hike we’d been on, glowed healthily in the light from his perspiration. I watched a drop of sweat roll from his chin down to his Adam’s apple.

  “Feeling better?” He asked.

  “Yeah,” I said. “You walk too fast. I was dying out there just trying to keep up.”

  He smirked, as if my admission of shorter legs was somehow a personal victory. Bastard.

  He pulled a canteen from his inventory and took a long swig. A stream of water ran from the corner of his lip. I reached my hand out in quiet expectation. Pausing for a breath, he looked at me with quiet indignation.

  “Don’t you have your own?”

  “Yours is already out. Gimme.” I replied, bobbing my hand in place.

  The corner of his lips curled, and he tossed me the canteen. I unscrewed the lid and paused before drinking, looking at the spout he’d just sipped from.

  “Afraid of germs?” He asked haughtily.

  “I’m not 12,” I huffed, glad my face was already red from exercise. The taste was surprisingly sweet, and the cold water soothed my parch throat. I finished the rest before tossing it back.

  He turned it over, and seeing nothing poured from it, gave me a mean look. I smiled innocently, and leaned my head back to close my eyes.

  The fatigue from traveling began to ebb, and I enjoyed the cool, forest-scented wind on my face. I breathed in deeply, and it was as if we were alone in the world. Stress from school or my body, all of it disappeared with the wind.

  “Hey Syl.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Do you remember that time in freshman year when Sandra Kinney asked me out?”

  “Where’s this coming from?” I asked, laughing a little as I bathed in the sunlight.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “I was just remembering her face when she realized we were playing a card game at lunch.” He said, laughter evident in his tone.

  “She looked at the two of us like we were aliens,” I said, remembering the occasion.

  “I remember being so annoyed she interrupted us when I was about to win,” Strevan said.

  “You were about to win? I had twice your health and 3 more cards.” I said, indignantly.

  “How do you even remember?” He asked.

  “I remember so you don’t gaslight me into doing your chores,” I snipped.

  “Sure, sure,” he said, appeasingly. “I was just thinking about something.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “Yeah. I don’t think Sandra Kinney would hike through a bug-filled forest with me. So. Thanks for being here.”

  I smiled at the awkward tone, feeling a bit happy.

  I heard rustling, and opened my eyes to a hand extended towards me.

  “Ready?” Strevan asked.

  The sun’s light, directly behind his head, beamed from around him. Not for the first time, I admired his near angelic visage.

  “Let’s go,” I replied, grasping his hand. He lifted me with surprising ease, and a root caught my foot as I tried to regain my balance. I stumbled forward, and landed directly against Strevan’s chest. I felt the firmness of his body, and both of us stiffened, not moving. From our close proximity, the light scent of his sweat wafted over, bearing none of the familiar sourness I was used to.

  I felt his hand touch my shoulder, and it began to wonder down further on my body, lightly tracing over my back.

  My breath hitched, and I could feel my face flush. I pushed away from him, putting a bit of space between us. Embarrassed, I looked up at him, and found some satisfaction that his face was just as red as mine felt.

  “Sorry I didn’t mean to —” Strevan said, stammering.

  “It’s ok,” I said, quietly.

  We stood there awkwardly for a moment. Strevan looked like he was about to say something when a sudden sound pierced through the clearing. In unison, our heads swung towards the direction of the disturbance. Strevan’s voice paled, and he grabbed me by the wrist.

  “RUN!”

  Nearly pulling my arm from its socket, Strevan dragged me to a nearby tree and, picking me up by the waist, threw me onto one of the lower branches.

  “W-what’s going on?” I asked, panic entering my voice.

  “Just climb!” He shouted, pushing the underside of my thigh.

  I looked upwards and began to climb, and nearly slipped from the bark in my haste. I looked down and extended a hand towards Strevan. His face deathly pale, he reached up, grabbed both my hand and another branch, and hauled himself upwards.

  No sooner than when we had climbed up did a massive boar come charging through the clearing. It was nearly 8 feet tall on all fours, with patchy, unhealthy looking fur, and its eyes seemed crazed with anger. Strevan put one hand on my shoulder while the other’s index finger shushed me.

  The beast, seemingly unaware of our location, sniffed around where we had been sitting. Each breath and vocalization it took vibrated the inside of my chest.

  I swallowed in fear. Ever so slowly, Strevan brought out his gun and aimed it towards the boars head. We looked at each other fearfully. Strevan aimed, I held my breath, and then he pulled the trigger.

  A bright bolt of energy shot forth, scraping the side of the boar’s head. He had missed.

  “Fuck,” Strevan said.

  A screech ripped forth from the creature’s chest, shaking the leaves on the surrounding trees, and its eyes landed on us. It scraped a hoof against the dirt, and prepared to charge.

  In a panic, I grabbed Strevan’s hand and pulled his body towards the fallen log. I jumped, keeping my center of gravity low, and landed on top of it. My feet scrabbled in an attempt to keep balance, and I fell to one knee.

  A resounding crash sounded behind me, and I saw the tree Strevan and I had been sitting in shake violently before being torn from it’s roots out of the ground.

  A moment later the tree trunk shook from the force of Strevan landing near me. The sound attracted the boar’s attention, and it turned its massive body towards us. Strevan lifted the pistol and fired again, sending a bolt of energy towards the center of its body.

  The creature howled as smoke billowed from the scorch the pistol had caused. I could hear the beast’s skin sizzle as if being cooked.

  It charged towards the fallen log, madly, and only through me grabbing Strevan’s waist and pulling him off the side were we not thrown with it. My face hit dirt, but in my periphery I watched with disbelief as the boar’s tusks gored the log and lifted it, before jerking its head to the side and tossing it into the nearby forest.

  Strevan and I looked at each other, and I could see the sheer panic in his eyes. Suddenly, I knew what to do.

  “Take the shot,” I said, before standing up and sprinting to the side. I shouted, waving my arms, and attempted to draw the creatures attention towards me. It huffed angrily, and turned towards me. I saw its foot scrape the dirt again, and my stomach dropped.

  This was a bad idea.

  It charged towards me angrily, and my mind went blank. It neared me, and I could see my life flashing before my eyes. When it was no more than 10 feet away, a bolt of energy shot from Strevan’s pistol, striking directly through the boar’s head.

  My relief was short lived, however, as my brain registered the creature’s massive body was still rushing towards me through momentum.

  I pushed myself to the side, nearly escaping, but a searing pain on my left arm caused me to cry out. The boar’s tusk ripped through my flesh like paper, and I fell to my knees, gasping for air. I looked down to see blood seeping from a gash in my upper arm.

  “SYL!” Strevan shouted.

  He rushed to my side and grabbed my shoulders, steadying my sagging weight. I hissed in pain, consumed by the agony I felt. Wasn’t this just a game? Why had this hurt so much?

  Strevan, with shaking hands, pulled a medkit from his inventory and opened it.

  “I-I think it’s gonna need stitches,” He said, voice cracking a bit.

  “Mm.”

  With the arm that wasn’t hurt, I dug my fingers into the dirt, flexing my hand as hard as I could to try and bare the pain.

  I focused on my breathing as Strevan treated my wound. I flinched when he poured disinfectant in the wound, hissing at the sting.

  “Sorry,” Strevan said, quietly.

  “I think we found dinner,” I said.

  “Don’t talk,” he chastised. “I think we need to find a doctor. I can’t give this proper care.”

  “That creepy guy mentioned a town.”

  “I was hoping to avoid it altogether, but I think we’ll have to go.”

  He finished my care with gauze and medical tape. I raised my arm slightly, before wincing at the pain.

  “Do we know which direction to go?” I asked.

  “I’ll climb a tree, see if I can see anything.” Strevan replied. “Stay here. Don’t move unless you hear something.”

  I nodded quietly.

  Strevan patted my head, and before I could push his hand off he walked to a nearby tree, and began to scale it.

  Left alone, I looked at the boar. I stood up shakily, and approached our dinner. I frowned. There was something odd about its corpse. I squinted, rubbed my eyes and looked again. Still there.

  I could see a hazy outline around the boar, almost like heat waves on a summer day. It was barely visible, but still present enough to irritate me. I reached out my hand to wave it away, when, with a whoosh of wind, it suddenly compressed in front of me, solidifying into an iridescent orb. It looked like oil in water, and refracted light into a rainbow color.

  Curious, I reached a finger out and poked it. It was cool to the touch, almost like ice. Suddenly, after having poked it, the orb flew directly into my chest. Before I could react, I felt a refreshing feeling spread across my body. My brain buzzed with energy, reminding me of drinking an espresso on an empty stomach.

  My fatigue disappeared, and my brain tingled. It was as if a new limb had suddenly mapped itself to my brain, and I had no clue what was happening.

  My train of thought was interrupted by the sound of Strevan carefully climbing back down from the tree.

  “Don’t fall!” I called out.

  “Thanks for the advice,” He shouted back, exertion evident in his voice.

  I smiled at him.

  When he reached the bottom, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and pointed to a direction I figured was eastward.

  “I saw a town that way. Hour’s walk, maybe two. We still have some time before the sun sets, I say we risk it on an empty stomach.”

  “We’re not gonna eat the boar?” I asked, somewhat bummed.

  “It would take forever to clean, not to mention cook. It’d be dark before we got halfway.”

  “Can we take it in our inventory?” I asked, curiously. I hadn’t thought to try.

  With a curious look, Strevan approached the creature and raised a hand. It shimmered with a blue light before suddenly shrinking into a palm sized orb and disappearing into Strevan’s inventory.

  He looked at me with a goofy smile on his face.

  “This is so cool.”

  I smiled back, laughing.

  “Lead the way boss.”

  He nodded, grabbed my hand, and began leading towards the direction he had spotted.