Kyra burst into a jog, running down the lone country path, Leo by her side, and heading right for the Wood of Thorns.
Chapter Two
Kyra entered the gloomy Wood of Thorns, just west of the fort, a forest so thick one could barely see through it. As she walked through it slowly with Leo, snow and ice crunching beneath their feet, she looked up. She was dwarfed by the thorn trees that seemed to stretch forever. They were ancient black trees with gnarled branches resembling thorns, and thick, black leaves. This place, she felt, was cursed; nothing good ever came out of it. Her father’s men returned from it injured from hunts, and more than once a troll, having broken through The Flames, had taken refuge here and used it as a staging ground to attack a villager.
As Kyra entered, immediately she felt a chill. It was darker in here, cooler, the air wetter, the smell of the thorn trees heavy in the air, smelling like decaying earth, and the massive trees blotting out what remained of daylight. Kyra, on guard, was furious at her older brothers. It was dangerous to venture here without the company of several warriors – especially at dusk. Every noise startled her. There came a distant cry of an animal, and she flinched, turning and looking for it. But the wood was dense, and she could not find it.
Leo, though, snarled beside her and suddenly bounded off after it.
“Leo!” she called out.
But he was already gone.
She sighed, annoyed; it was always his way when an animal crossed. He would return, though, she knew – eventually.
Kyra continued on, alone now, the wood growing darker, struggling to follow her brothers’ trail – when she heard distant laughter. She snapped to attention, turning to the noise and weaving past thick trees until she spotted her brothers up ahead.
Kyra lingered back, keeping a good distance, not wanting to be spotted. She knew that if Aidan saw her, he would be embarrassed and would send her away. She would watch from the shadows, she decided, just making sure they did not get into trouble. It was better for Aidan not to be shamed, to feel like he was a man.
A twig snapped beneath her feet and Kyra ducked, worried the sound would give her away – but her drunk older brothers were oblivious, already a good thirty yards ahead of her, walking quickly, the noise drowned out by their own laughter. She could see from Aidan’s body language that he was tense, almost as if he were about to cry. He clutched his spear tightly, as if trying to prove himself a man, but it was an awkward grip on a spear too big, and he struggled under the weight of it.
“Get up here!” Braxton called out, turning to Aidan, who trailed a few feet behind.
“What are you so afraid of?” Brandon said to him.
“I’m not afraid – ” Aidan insisted.
“Quiet!” Brandon suddenly said, stopping, holding out a palm against Aidan’s chest, his expression serious for the first time. Braxton stopped, too, all of them tense.
Kyra took shelter behind a tree as she watched her brothers. They stood at the edge of a clearing, looking straight ahead as if they had spotted something.
She crept forward, on alert, trying to get a better look, and as she weaved between two large trees, she stopped, stunned, as she caught a glimpse of what they were seeing. There, standing alone in the clearing, rooting out acorns, was a boar. It was no ordinary boar; it was a monstrous, Black-Horned Boar, the largest boar she had ever seen, with long, curled white tusks and three long, sharpened, black horns, one protruding from its nose and two from its head. Nearly the size of a bear, it was a rare creature, famed for its viciousness and its lightning-quick speed. It was an animal widely feared, and one that no hunter wanted to meet.
It was trouble.
Kyra, hair rising on her arms, wished Leo were here – yet was also grateful he was not, knowing he would bound off after it and unsure if he would win the confrontation. Kyra stepped forward, slowly removing her bow from her shoulder while instinctively reaching down to grab an arrow. She tried to calculate how far the boar was from the boys, and how far away she was – and she knew this was not good. There were too many trees in the way for her to get a clean shot – and with an animal this size, there was no room for error. She doubted one arrow could even fell it.
Kyra noticed the flash of fear on her brothers’ faces, then saw Brandon and Braxton quickly cover up their fright with a look of bravado – one she felt sure was fueled by drink. They both raised their spears and took several steps forward. Braxton saw Aidan rooted in place, and he turned, grabbed the small boy’s shoulder, and made him step forward, too.
“There’s a chance to make a man of you,” Braxton said. “Kill this boar and they’ll sing of you for generations.”
“Bring back its head and you’ll be famed for life,” Brandon said.
“I’m…scared,” Aidan said.
Brandon and Braxton scoffed, then laughed derisively.
“Scared?” Brandon said. “And what would Father say if he heard you say that?”
The boar, alerted, lifted its head, revealing glowing yellow eyes, and stared at them, its face bunching up in an angry snarl. It opened its mouth, revealing fangs, and drooled, while at the same time emitting a vicious growl that erupted from somewhere deep in its belly. Kyra, even from her distance, felt a pang of fear – and she could only imagine the fear Aidan was feeling.
Kyra rushed forward, throwing caution to the wind, determined to catch up before it was too late. When she was just a few feet behind her brothers, she called out:
“Leave it alone!”
Her harsh voice cut through the silence, and her brothers all wheeled, clearly startled.
“You’ve had your fun,” she added. “Let it be.”
While Aidan looked relieved, Brandon and Braxton each scowled back at her.
“And what do you know?” Brandon shot back. “Stop interfering with real men.”
The boar’s snarl deepened as it crept toward them, and Kyra, both afraid and furious, stepped forward.
“If you are foolish enough to antagonize this beast, then go ahead,” she said. “But you will send Aidan back here to me.”
Brandon frowned.
“Aidan will do just fine here,” Brandon countered. “He’s about to learn how to fight. Aren’t you, Aidan?”
Aidan stood silent, stunned with fear.
Kyra was about to take another step forward and snatch Aidan’s arm when there came a rustling in the clearing. She saw the boar edge its way closer, one foot at a time, threateningly.
“It won’t attack if it’s not provoked,” Kyra urged her brothers. “Let it go.”
But her brothers ignored her, both turning and facing it and raising spears. They walked forward, into the clearing, as if to prove how brave they were.
“I’ll aim for its head,” Brandon said.
“And I, its throat,” Braxton agreed.
The boar snarled louder, opened its mouth wider, drooling, and took another threatening step.
“Get back here!” Kyra yelled out, desperate.
But Brandon and Braxton stepped forward, raised their spears, and suddenly threw them.
Kyra watched in suspense as the spears flew through the air, bracing herself for the worst. She saw, to her dismay, Brandon’s spear graze its ear, enough to draw blood – and to provoke it – while Braxton’s spear sailed past, missing its head by several feet.
For the first time, Brandon and Braxton looked afraid. They stood there, open-mouthed, a dumb look on their faces, the glow from their drink quickly replaced by fear.
The boar, infuriated, lowered its head, snarled a horrific sound, and suddenly charged.
Kyra watched in horror as it bore down on her brothers. It was the fastest thing she’d ever seen for its size, bounding through the grass as if it were a deer.
As it approached, Brandon and Braxton ran for their lives, darting away in opposite directions.