'I will be 24 soon' I thought. It's been couple of years since I started my journey. With ups and downs, I somehow made it to this point but did I want to reach it? Did I find what I was looking for? Did I enjoy myself?
Answer to those questions was 'No'. 'What I achieved means nothing in reality. What I experienced is not even the tip of the blade. I've lost more than I gained, for what?' I thought.
You may be confused my dear reader because I never wrote the reason behind those questions. It will all become apparent soon as I explain what happened after those 3 months of training and getting by, day by day.
We were doing the usual stuff. Training, hunting and resting. Nothing out of ordinary was happening. One day we attacked a group of beasts. It was a group of boars that included 14 Yellow Boars and one White Boar. We didn't have many problems, we already fought this type of enemy therefore the fight was going well. Then it started to go downhill.
When only the White Boar was left, it released a strange cry and suddenly, I could feel the earth tremor. I had a bad feeling about this so I called out to Shelly "Let's run. I don't like those tremors". Shelly nodded its head and we ran in the direction of our shelter. The White Boar didn't chase us but the tremors were getting stronger and stronger.
As we ran at our full speed, I knew we stepped into deep shit this time. The tremors coming from behind us, didn't stop. I shouted to Shelly "Run to the shelter and I will see what it is. Under no circumstances leave the shelter!" and ran in opposite direction, directly towards the tremors. Shelly also stopped and tried to run after me but I shouted at it "I SAID GO TO THE SHELTER!" and Shelly stopped while making some noises.
I saw later that Shelly finally turned around and ran towards the shelter. Now I was alone and on my way to face something unknown. At first, I thought it would be the Flaming Grey Bear but I figured that the tremors were too strong for that to be it.
I ran a bit more forward and hid myself in the trees. I was waiting to see what exactly was coming this way. I thought 'Maybe it's just a coincidence that the tremors started when the White Boar cried". it was a possibility but deep down, I knew something was not right.
The tremors got louder and stronger, so much so that the tree I was one started to sway. I stayed on the tree and kept my high point. Soon I saw a silhouette. There it was, the cause of the tremors. it was a huge and I mean huge creature with long black fur and 4 horns. It resembled a boar a bit but the sheer size and the long fur made it look like a monster for the deepest horrors. It's red eyes stared in my direct. When I saw that creature, only those words could escape my mouth "Oh my god".
I rushed down the tree and ran. I ran like crazy. I knew this was not something I or even 100s of me could go against. I knew that death was approaching, this was not something a human could kill. I rushed towards the shelter while the tremors behind me continued. When I arrived at the shelter, I shouted "Shelly! SHELLY!" but there was no answer. I thought 'Fuck! where did that damn turtle go this time!".
I went inside the shelter just to check but Shelly wasn't there. I then ran back into the forest, shouting frantically "SHELLY! WHERE ARE YOU!". After running for couple of breaths, I finally spotted Shelly, shivering in the middle of the forest. I ran straight to it and grabbed it. There was no time to explain anything. I simply ran for the cliff but because I already wasted a lot of time, the black massive board creature closed in on us.
I thought 'Fick this, if I have to die, I will die fighting!" and threw Shelly as far as I could and shouted "RUN! I will stall for time!" but Shelly wouldn't move, it was paralyzed as if it saw a creature from its horrors. I didn't have time to care about Shelly now. I had to face the giant of a boar that was rushing towards us. The massive boar was not that fast but was closing in nevertheless.
I dropped all my weight and took out anything that would be of use from my bag. I didn't have poison on me, only medicine but that would be as useful as it could be. I placed the vision improving mask on myself and put on the set of dark clothes Nick left for me.
I was using everything I had. I knew I had no chance of winning against that monster but increasing my stealth could allow more time for Shelly to finally run away. I thought 'At least one of us needs to survive. I think my time is up. Nick, I'm sorry. I will be joining you soon'.
The monster arrived and looked at me with its red eyes before stopping. It made couple of sounds but didn't approach. As if it was waiting for a response. I didn't understand what it was trying to say but I took out my daggers and prepared. The moment this massive black boar moved, I would evade and then attack for what it was worth.
We stood like this for a while and the boar didn't move, it gaze then changed direction and looked behind me. I took a glance back and noticed Shelly was there trembling from fear. The boar made some more noises and waited. I didn't know what to do and shouted "Shelly, just run!" but Shelly shook its head and moved towards me. I said "No, run, at least one of us will survive. I will stall it. Go, forget about me!"
But Shelly no longer listened and walked towards me and the creature. I thought 'No other options, I need to attack first'. I bent my legs a bit and released all the strength I possessed in my legs. The speed I reached was extraordinary, even I was stunned by the acceleration but I had no time to be thinking about that and prepared to attack.
I soon appeared in front of the massive black boar then jumped up and unleashed my attacks. 20 daggers flew towards the boar with the maximum strength I could throw. I didn't have to worry about missing my target as it was massive, I was also very close. I aimed for its head. The head was a weak point in most of the animals and creatures, Brain would be there and so when brain died, the creature would too.. The daggers arrived but the creature just stood there as if a fly was just buzzing around.
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!" daggers landed on the boar's head. I wasn't hoping for success, I just wanted its attention on me. The daggers being thrown so hard actually compressed on top of the boar's head but did no damage. I thought 'Shit, I knew this was impossible. Even with my full power, the only thing that got destroyed are my daggers'. I was now falling down towards the ground, I heard or saw nothing before a sudden change of scenery and great pain in left half of my body. I could only guess that what's happened was either the boar's leg or horn hit me from the side.
I had no way of avoiding that attack. It was also very fast, like lightning as I didn't even see it. I flew through the air, fast! Not only the attack was painful and made me vomit blood, the area I flew towards wasn't exactly obstacle free. I hit the tree with my body and broke it. I already had broken bones and now the close meeting with a tree, shattered my right arm bones as well as damaged my spine. "AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" I screamed due to the pain. I then fell down right after the broken half of the tree.
I laid there unable to move, in pain that I never experienced before. Even the fight I had with the bear right at the beginning of my journey was nothing compared to my current injuries. I could only cry in pain, laying there on the ground. Nothing would move, no part of my body was operating properly. I thought 'So this is my end then? I achieved enough right? I proved something right?' I could still see the massive boar standing in the distance while not moving.
'I just hope Shelly has managed to run away. Maybe one day, it will be able to avenge me' I thought. As my consciousness was fading away, I saw something I would never forget.