Chapter 13 13: big game hunting

I would appreciate it if you could post reviews about what you think of the story so far. ------------------------------- I woke up violently, twisting around and grabbing the potato-peeling knife from my belt, breathing hard, heart pounding in my ears. "Shit... again... I'm not in Ukraine, goddammit... not anymore... not anymore," I muttered through clenched teeth, trembling. I'd barely slept. Every crack in the forest, every snapping branch, every distant step from a guard triggered my reflexes like I was still in the trenches. "Again, Albrecht?" someone mumbled from under their blanket, stirring without even opening their eyes. "The sun's not even up yet... still too early for you to enjoy the hunt." "Ungrateful bastard... this is how you repay me for sharing my prize," I grumbled, putting the knife away and trying to steady my breathing. I got up and stepped outside the tent. I went to the nearest water barrel and splashed my face several times. Something in this forest made my gut churn. I had never reacted like this... not even when artillery rained down on us. There was something in the air, in the way dawn crept between the trees, that gave me a bad feeling I couldn't explain. Luckily, I'd prepared one of my tricks last night. I took the largest piece of meat from the banquet and boiled it down into jelly with some vegetables. Since the meat was already well seasoned, I didn't need to add anything. I just added flour. Once it hardened, I ground it down into a kind of broth tablet. I only had to throw it into boiling water to make a decent soup. And the best part: as long as no one saw it, I wouldn't have to share with anyone. I tossed the tablet into a wooden bowl and poured in boiling water. I started drinking the flavorful broth, still rich with the spices from yesterday's meat. No idea what animal it was, but it was salty and tingled a bit on the tongue. That strong, meaty taste felt good when hot. As I drank, the camp started to wake up, the men stirring and moving about. I stayed close to the wagons, where I was supposed to wait for the rest of the hunting party, noticing crates with tied-up pigs nearby. "Ugh... these bastards denying us a single scrap of meat while keeping these nice fat pigs here," I muttered, looking at the cart's contents. When I saw the nobles starting to arrive, I prepared my horse and waited patiently, with a second bowl of soup and a piece of bread I'd stolen from a careless servant. The margrave came out but ignored me entirely, heading to join the other nobles dressed in fine clothes, looking like upper-rank bureaucrats. "Albrecht," came Joachim's familiar voice, though strangely lacking its usual arrogance. "Yeah?" I answered after finishing the bowl. "What do you mean 'yeah'? Shouldn't it be 'at your service, my lord'?" he added, arrogance returning to his tone. "That's for your father... or when you beat me in a spar, Lord Sculpted Legs," I said with a smirk, grinning with irony. "You should be ashamed to fight like that," Joachim replied. "You need to learn to control that ego, Joachim... you fall for provocations too easily. And as much as I'd like to keep pushing your buttons, looks like we're heading out soon. So... you ready?" I said, leaning on my thigh while keeping my horse steady by the reins. "Have you ever hunted wild boar?" Joachim asked. "Not personally... but my father likes to talk about how he stalks prey. He likes to take his time with the hunt, and he's always very detailed about it," I said, looking out toward the horizon, mentally preparing for what was coming. "Good... I can always count on you and your northern barbarian tactics," Joachim said, relaxing a bit. "So now you're going to help me hunt one," he added proudly. "Are you crazy? That's one of the most dangerous things to hunt, and you expect me to help?" I replied, raising an eyebrow and surveying the area. "My father said he'd take me on the next military campaign to clear some mountain passes of orcs. If I bring back a big game trophy—a boar or a stag—it would be enough," Joachim explained, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "Ha... good luck with that. A stag needs a skilled archer, and I can barely pull a small bow. Even if I hit one, I doubt it'd die. And boars are hunted with spears and hounds. I don't see any dogs with you," I said, holding back a laugh. "If I manage to get you out of the worst chores in your service, would you consider it?" Joachim asked, sounding nervous. "I'd be risking my hide... though not having to clean the damn latrines sounds fantastic... I get to keep some of the meat, though. Deal?" I offered my hand with a cocky smile. "Fine..." Joachim said, brushing off my hand. "Grab a few spears. We're going." "And who's coming with us?" I asked, noticing we were heading out alone. "Just two guards. The rest are going with my father's group," Joachim said. "Lovely," I muttered, dismounting. I grabbed a couple of spears from what was available, some rope, and also took a bow and a few boxes. Better to have them and not need them than need them and not have them. We set off quickly, heading into the forest. We rode until the terrain flattened out, always scanning the area. We kept going until something caught my eye. I dismounted and saw clear signs of what I was looking for, remembering what father always said when talking about how he stalked prey in the woods. "Look here, these tracks are from a boar... see the ground? One clearly used its tusks here to dig for something," I said, crouching and examining the marks. Joachim rode up and looked at me, puzzled. "You sure? How do you know it's a boar?" "Honestly? I don't. But it's worth trying here," I said, scanning for a nearby tree. "And now what? Where do we look?" Joachim asked, glancing around. "You and I climb that big tree over there. We'll toss some food beneath it. If we can get up to the branches, we'll be able to see if a boar comes from afar. The food should draw it in, and from above, we throw the spear. With some luck, we pierce a lung or the heart," I explained, pointing at the large nearby tree. "You sure?" he asked, still skeptical. "Is that one of your father's techniques?" "Yeah, my father's," I replied, carefully keeping secret the fact that he actually used hounds and preferred to hunt personally—while I was using a method I saw in a video once when I was bored in Africa. I started climbing the tree, making my way up to a high branch that was well covered in leaves. My clothes, in dull tones, blended perfectly with the surroundings, but Joachim's weren't as camouflaged. His bright colors made him easy to spot, so I told him to cover himself with a piece of cloth I had brought to sleep with, just in case we needed to camp away from the main camp. I made sure to tie the rope around my torso and secure it to the tree for safety. I took position, two spears in hand, keeping watch for any movement in the area. Joachim began to climb, but obviously, he wasn't very skilled at it. He needed the guards' help to get up, and once he was halfway there, I had to climb back down to give him a hand getting onto the branch where he'd be decently hidden. The guards began tossing down bread and some grain that was supposedly for them and the horses. Then they withdrew, leaving just Joachim and me up in the tree. For long minutes, we stayed in silence, observing the area, alert for any sign of movement. "Hey, how much lo—" Joachim started. "Shhh..." I gestured for silence, putting a finger to my lips, and we focused again on the wait. We stayed like that for hours atop the tree, watchful. A few rabbits came near, attracted by the bait, but we scared them off quickly. As expected, they darted away in the opposite direction. Suddenly, a group of deer approached, but they must have seen Joachim's colorful clothes and got spooked, fleeing instantly. The wait was starting to wear on Joachim, and he looked close to losing patience when finally, we heard something in the distance. I turned my head and saw a group of five wild boars approaching. I looked at Joachim and saw the excitement in his eyes. "Let them come closer... go for the male, on the count of three," I whispered as we watched the boars get nearer. We waited calmly as they approached. I needed Joachim to stay focused, so I kept my hand open, signaling that we had to wait for the right moment. The boar had to get close enough to expose its vital spots. When we had a clear angle, I raised three fingers at Joachim and slowly lowered them one by one. I took my spear and threw it. Joachim did the same. My spear hit the mark, piercing the boar's lung. It began to grunt in pain, thrashing at the weapon while blood poured from its snout. It tried to flee but collapsed not far from us. Joachim's spear struck the young boar, piercing its spine and killing it instantly. The rest of the group fled the area. "good, damn it..." I muttered, staring at my downed prey. "Yes!" Joachim shouted, beginning to climb down. "Hey—hold on. Mine's still alive! Wait until it bleeds out a bit before we go down," I said, grabbing the second spear. Joachim sighed, and we waited a few more minutes. Once the boar's spasms stopped, we untied ourselves from the ropes and climbed down. "For a young one, it's pretty big. It must've been nearly full-grown," I said, pulling the spear from the wound and tying up its legs. "Yeah... perfect. Let's check the other one now, the one that actually matters. Unlike this one, that one died instantly. A perfect throw," said Joachim. "Meh... you got lucky. I said to go for the male, and you hit the young one, which you weren't supposed to do... but we can smoke it and make some nice ham out of it. Or, since it's young, roast it with some vinegar so the skin crisps up," I said, thinking about what we could do with the day's catch. We finally reached the adult boar, and I got ready in case it moved. "It's dead. Look at that beauty of a hit—I got both lungs," I said, pulling out the spear and inspecting the hole it had made. "Alright, let's bring the horses and get out of here before the blood draws in some predator." As we started moving through the open area, we caught the attention of the guards, who quickly arrived with the horses. We wasted no time getting the prey onto their mounts and began heading back. As we rode deeper into the forest, I stayed alert to every sound. With a bleeding animal among us, it wouldn't be strange to attract a wolf or two, and we had to be ready for a pack. The air felt heavy, charged with a tension I couldn't ignore. While I kept scanning the surroundings, something caught my attention at the edge of the treeline. I saw a tall, muscular figure covered in thick fur. I couldn't take my eyes off the abomination standing right in front of us. "Beastman!" I shouted, pointing at the creature as it approached with steady, deliberate steps. My cry of alarm rang through the air, and everyone stopped in their tracks. ------------------------- If there are spelling mistakes, please let me know. Leave a comment; support is always appreciated. I remind you to leave your ideas or what you would like to see. -------------------------------