*** Trigger Warning: Physical Violence/Gore ***
With horses, the fifteen-mile ride went by quickly. The weather was nice, and the roads were uncrowded and smooth. Aayla didn't know how many people normally used that road, but she was thankful that it was so empty. When they arrived at the spot, the soldiers let their horses roam free.
Aayla turned towards Captain Figgins. "Don't we need to tie our horses to a tree or something so they don't run away?"
"We do, but the soldiers don't. Their horses are specially trained to defend themselves or stay out of the way. As long as we make sure that our horses and the pack mules are far enough away, everything should be fine."
When Aayla and Captain Figgins finished tying their horses, they found the soldiers thrashing around in the forest and yelling at the top of their lungs. Captain Figgins and Aayla were stunned.
"What are they doing?"
"Being idiots. HEY, WHAT IN TELLUS ARE YOU IDIOTS DOING?! I HAVE A MAGICAL BEAST FLUTE RIGHT HERE! You don't need to flush out the magical beasts the old-fashioned way."
"A what?"
"Magical beast flute? You know, blow into it to create a high-pitched noise to attract magical beasts?"
"Oh right! A magical beast flute. I, um, misheard and thought you said 'marigold crease suit'."
Yeah, that probably wasn't going to work on Terran creatures. Typically, they kept far away from noises and people. The soldiers probably scared whatever it was away with their previous racket.
Aayla carefully scanned the environment while the soldiers circled up and Captain Figgins played the flute. The eerie screeching hurt her ears. After several minutes of playing, nothing happened. Captain Figgins stopped, and the wait began.
Up until now, Aayla had never actually seen a magical beast up close, aside from the gremlins. When some bushes started to shake, Aayla nervously got out her shield. She was pulled back by a firm grass. She looked back to see Captain Figgins shaking her head.
"Just watch the soldiers for now. If it's not what we're looking for, let them handle it. There's no use wasting your energy on something that's not part of your task. Besides, if whatever comes is too strong, we can't risk a student getting hurt on our watch."
"ATTENTION! Movement 11 o'clock!"
Aayla nodded and nervously fiddled with her hair. The ground seemed to tremor a bit. Aayla glanced at Captain Figgins and questioned how qualified she was to use that flute. How many did she summon for the ground to tremor?!
The bushes started to shake more and more intensely, when suddenly a tiny little deer burst out of the bush and tripped onto the ground. It shook its head then slowly stood up on its wobbly legs. When it sneezed, a strong gust of wind blew it off its feet again.
The deer was barely as tall as Aayla's waist. It had a beautiful dark green coat with leaf like patterns and bright blue eyes. Instead of antlers, it had two small bark brown nubs on its head. The soldiers laughed in relief.
"Ah, it's just a baby forest fae deer."
"My daughter loves this type of magical beast."
"So does mine. They're really cute when their young."
"Shut up rookies!" the commanding officer roared. Some idiots were getting extra training tonight.
Aayla squinted as she checked the shaded undergrowth. She didn't know when, but the forest just got dark only underneath the tree canopy. Her group was fine out on the road, but it was as black as night in the forest. Pupilless blue eyes started opening all throughout the darkness.
They stared at the soldiers in the distance. The soldiers glared back. Something barked in the forest. The dizzy baby deer blinked its cute little eyes then merrily walked back into the forest. The herd of deer and the soldiers stood at an impasse for several minutes. Eventually, the eyes in the forest blinked out one by one.
Soon they were all gone and the forest returned to normal. Captain Figgins and the commanding officer started to whisper amongst each other.
"Why did you summon so many at once?! Haven't you been properly trained to use the magical beast flute?"
"Yes! Yes, I have! FWPD's training and usage requirements are extremely strict thank you very much."
"By the Celestials, you summoned an entire herd of forest fae deer! Are you trying to get us killed?"
"In the first place, this isn't normal. Forest fae deer should be much deeper into the forest. They prefer much more natural places."
Aayla had the distinct feeling that something was going wrong. The two quietly bickered until there was more movement in the forest. This time, it was behind Aayla. The soldiers on that side tightly gripped their weapons. If the tremoring from earlier was a gentle bounce, then this time the tremoring felt like an earthquake. She could see trees shaking and falling in the distance. Squeals and shrieks steadily got closer and closer.
The commanding officer cursed. Properly trained? Yeah, right. He turned towards Captain Figgins.
"This is getting out of hand. Take the student and go. We can handle this, but not while protecting a student."
She nodded and grabbed Aayla. They started to unstably run as the tremors got worse. When they reached their horses, a loud roar knocked them off their feet.
With a loud squeal, a white and bright blue flash roared out of the forest. The formation only held it back for a second. It crashed through the soldiers' formation like a bowling ball through pins. Several soldiers were directly crushed, skewered by its vicious tusks or tossed tens of feet away. All counterattacks, though vicious, failed to leave a scratch.
"Northern Glacial Boar!"
"That f**ker is mana resistant!"
The soldiers paled. That thing should live at the northernmost reaches of the continent! How did such a monster get down here? Not to mention it's also mana resistant. As the ruler of the northern glaciers, the northern glacial boar is the most aggressive, strongest and fastest magical beast in northern Chinebar.
The beast stopped and threw off the victims impaled on its tusks. They crashed into the ground, their fates unknown. It roared in joy as it mauled an injured soldier nearby. The magic attacks on it intensified. Physical attacks with weapons couldn't penetrate the beast's thick hide. Even the horses tried to kick, bite or trample it. Nothing seemed to work.
The monstrous boar was at least twice as tall as Aayla. Bristly, grizzled hair covered its body in white and light blue hues. The bright red human blood dripped off of its pure white tusks. A silver flash occasionally glinted under the fur around its neck.
A murmur rose from the group. "It's not supposed to be that big, is it?"
"Ms. Glowery, change of plans. I'm staying to hold this thing back. You need to leave immediately."
With a wave of her hand, a tornado blasted into the side of the boar, knocking it over. The wild boar merely shook off the attack and climbed back to its feet. It let out an angry roar then locked onto Captain Figgins and the commander.
Captain Figgins agilely kept out of its way and peppered it with air attacks. The soldiers had recovered from their initial surprise and fought back fiercely. Nothing seemed to hurt it.
Aayla quietly untied her horse and tried to calm it down. She was forced to untie Captain Figgins' as well to keep it quiet. Boars on Earth had excellent hearing and sense of smell, but poor eyesight. There was no way that she could take that thing on with her skills. She might be able to flee on horseback if she kept quiet enough. Help from the city might be the only way at this point.
At that point, the battle took a turn for the worse. Annoyed by the flies pestering it, the wild boar decided to get rid of them so it could feast. Captain Figgins and the commander noticed the problem first.
"Wide range magical attack!"
"Stop it!"
Since when could northern glacial boars do that?! The soldiers immediately unleashed whatever they could to disrupt it. Aayla stopped leading her horse away sneakily and jumped on its back. With a flick of the reigns, they fled without any regards to noise.
The soldiers bought a couple of minutes before the wild boar finally snapped. An arctic blast shot out in all directions. The surrounding forest was turned into a frozen tundra. Aayla and her horse were caught up in the edges of the blast.
Knocked from her horse, Aayla rolled and tumbled across the ice and snow. She shivered and wiped the snow off her face. The entire back of her body felt stiff and frozen. Aayla struggled to her horse, only to find it stone cold and its neck bent in a strange angle.
She looked behind her. The evergreen forest was a winter wonderland before, but now it was solid ice. She couldn't see any of the soldiers or Captain Figgins. The wild boar roared in victory and trampled the snow in a victory circle. Aayla slowly crawled towards the trees to give herself some cover.
The hill sized wild boar suddenly started sniffing, then turned its head in Aayla's direction. Her stomach dropped as she felt a violent gaze on her back. The beast roared again. Its hunt had not ended yet.