Boar's Hunt

    “Mama!” Borris watched a spear enter his mother’s chest and exit through her back. He watched as her body was dumped in the river Fire. He knew that the river Fire fed into the roaring waterfall Ice and that lake Ice sat at the bottom. Her body would float down into lake Ice and sink to the bottom, never to be seen again. She would sink to the bottom and join the coral reef of dead bodies.

    “Borris!” Borris whipped around to see his father reaching out to protect his son. Too late. A spear entered his father’s side and drove through to the other. His father now had a spear running through his left side into his right. The spearhead peeked out of his right side like a small child peeking out from behind their parent’s legs.

    Borris felt a sharp pain across his right side as a spear dug past. He had no time to assess the damage before another spear sang past his left calf. He fell to his knees as yet another spear cut into his right thigh. He clambered to his feet as more spears bombarded him. He ran. He ran as fast as his short, six-year-old legs could take him. He saw the last of his clan being thrown into the river, their dead bodies floating in a mass towards the waterfall. His father was the last body over the waterfall and then he was gone. Borris threw all his weight against an attacker. The attacker hit the ground with such tremendous force that he was unconscious within seconds of landing. Borris never even looked back.

*****

    Borris didn’t know for how long he’d been running. He knew he wasn’t in Boar’s Corner anymore but he didn’t know where he was now. He searched for a landmark to help him place himself but with no luck. He fell to the ground, unable to bear the pain screaming from what felt like every inch of his body. As he sat, the events from earlier ran through his mind again, and again, and again. He stumbled to his feet. He kept walking in a vain attempt to flee the repeating deaths of his clan. What had those people had against us? Borris wondered as he limped his way through the maze of trees. What could we have done to provoke such an attack and massacre?

    He wasn’t sure for how long he had been walking when he came upon a small cabin. A trail snaked by and a sign to help guide eager hikers informed that they were at Forest Edge. He stood for a while, unsure of what to do. He knew a village was beyond Forest Edge but he had never left the forest before. His parents had always told him not to. Oh... my parents. The memory of his parents and the massacre of his clan came flooding back to him. He crumpled into a ball and wept silently. He didn’t want to leave the forest. Even with all that just happened, he wanted to stay here. He also knew by the crusted blood all over his body that he wouldn’t make it to the village. He slowly made his way to the front of the cabin. He stood in front of the door for a few seconds before raising his fist to the smooth oak and knocking. The door promptly flew open.

    “Oh mercy me! What are ye trying to sell me this time!?” A stout woman had answered the door with the stance and tone of a door-to-door veteran. Something told Borris she regularly dealt with salesmen.
   
     “Oh!” She took a step back in surprise. “Well, what are ye doing here?” Borris didn’t have time to answer before she shrieked. “Is that blood! Good heavens! Come in quick!” Borris was ushered through the door and sat down so quickly that the room began to spin.
  
   “What happened?” She asked as she pulled back his long hair into a nest on his head and began to slowly wipe the dried blood off. She moved with the delicate touch of a mother.

     “Well, I… my family… we.” He stopped and took in a deep breath.

     “Take yer time sweetheart. It must’ve been somethin’ horrid.”