Free Web NovelChapter 152: Ancient Knowledge, Mortal Hands
One of the boars jumped at Liraya with absurd speed.
She did not scream. Nor did she freeze. She simply stepped hard to the side, the exact moment the boar left the ground.
The animal flew past her. Its shoulder brushed her arm, close enough that she felt the heat of its body and the rough hair scrape her skin. She kept moving toward the fire, eyes fixed on the burning branches.
The first boar crashed into the rock face behind her. It shook its head hard. Its tusks scraped the stone. Its eyes watered from the sudden impact. But Liraya wasn’t in the mood to watch all of this. She was running toward the fire with all her might.
The second boar stood at the edge of the firelight. It had watched the first attack fail. But it did not charge right away. It waited for her to come to it.
Liraya stopped just in front of the second boar. The fire was still behind the creature. She could see the flames clearly now, but the animal blocked the direct path. She could not reach the burning branches without going through it or around it.
So, all she could do was stop.
Now on her back was the first boar and in front was the second. Though the first boar was out of action for a little while, she presumed, the second boar was now the real problem. The fire sat five steps away, warm and bright, but completely out of reach.
’If only I could reach the fire behind it somehow.’ She thought while gazing at the boar with an intense look.
While she was thinking about ways to get past the second boar, the first boar recovered. It snorted once, with a low and wet growling sound, then turned back toward her. Blood ran from a small cut on its snout where it had hit the rock. It looked very pissed off.
Liraya looked at the ground. She looked at the narrow space between the rock and the boar in front her. And an idea came to her mind.
She knew their pattern. These corrupted boars always charged low. Their tusks did the work. Their necks could not turn fast enough to adjust once they started moving. This was not just a theory in her mind now, she tested it just a moment ago with the first boar.
She took one slow step forward, then stopped.
Seeing her not charging or anything the second boar charged first. Just what she was waiting for.
She waited until it committed fully. At the last moment she stepped to the side, closer to the rock. The boar’s tusk missed her leg by the width of a hand. It slammed past her and stopped just five feet away from her, as it missed its target.
Just as both of the boars were behind her now, with no one between her and the fire, Liraya almost jumped at the fire. She used the half-second of space and darted toward the fire.
But before she could reach the fire, the second boar lunged at her, as it was closer to her.
Its tusk caught the edge of her dress and tore a long strip of cloth. The force spun her halfway around. She kept her feet and reached out with both hands.
Her fingers closed around the thickest burning branch in the fire.
She pulled it free. The end of the branch glowed red and orange with fire. Heat burned her palms, but she held on tight, as it was her life-line.
The second boar was already turning for another charge.
Liraya held the burning branch in front of her like a short spear. She stepped back until her back touched the rock face behind her. The fire was now in front of her and another burning branch in her hand. The two boars stood in front of her, blocked from the flames.
’Yes, now the fire is mine. Come at me if you can, you stupid beasts.’ Liraya thought in her mind as she waved the branch in front of her to scare the boars.
The first boar, still dazed from hitting the rock before, charged at her, even though in front of it was the burning hot fire. It had a massive running momentum from the looks of it.
But Liraya didn’t do anything even though she saw the massive boar charging at her with full force. She just waited until it was two steps away from her.
Just as the creature reached her, she stepped forward and drove the burning end of the branch straight into the side of its neck.
The somehow sharp branch edge went deep inside its neck. The momentum of the boar’s charge helped the rest.
The boar screamed with pain. The sound was high and raw in the calm forest-night. Its legs kept moving for two more steps from pure momentum, but when it realized it can’t hurt her without getting itself hurt it started to back away, slowly.
But Liraya also held on to the branch with firm hands, not letting the boar go. She drove the branch more inside it, and gave it a twist, making the boar flinch from the pain of the hot and sharp branch.
The creature twisted around a little more, but then all of a sudden the body realized what had happened. With a last attempt at scaring her into releasing it, it gave a loud scream at the top of its lunges. The whole forest almost vibrated as it kept growling with pain.
But Liraya wasn’t the one to be getting scared by simply this, nor was she going to release it now that she had it under control.
After a while of their strength testing, it collapsed forward with a thud, making even Liraya a little surprised. Smoke rose from the wound where the burning wood had gone in.
She didn’t expect the boar to go down with just this much. But still a sigh of relief left her mouth.
The second boar watched all of this.
It stood completely still. Its yellow eyes moved from the dead boar to Liraya. It sniffed the air once. Then it took one slow step backward.
When it saw Liraya move a little forward with another burning branch, it turned and walked away into the darkness. It did not run. It simply left, slowly.
Liraya stayed where she was.
She held the burning branch in both hands. Her arms were shaking. Her fingers were red and blistered from the heat. She looked at the dead boar lying in front of her. Blood and smoke was mixed on the ground. Then she looked at the spot where the second boar had disappeared. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
Her breathing was fast and shallow, still not believing she was safe.
She lowered the branch slowly until the burning end pointed at the ground. The fire crackled behind her. The rock face felt cold against her back.
She looked down at her hands. They would not stop trembling.
She spoke to herself in a quiet voice.
"I knew the charge pattern. I knew the eyes were the weak point on the first one. I knew stepping forward would break its timing. I knew all of that. But.. still..."
She took a slow breath.
"....why is my body still shaking?"
She sat down hard on the dry ground under the overhang. The branch stayed in her right hand, the end still glowing. She stared at the small flames on it.
Her left hand pressed against her chest. Her heart beat so hard she could feel it against her palm.
She had calculated everything correctly, and had used the terrain. She even had used the fire. With over ten thousand years of knowledge about this world and its ways, she still felt like they were not enough when it really mattered.
Yet her body still shook at the sight of those boars. It surprised her more than she would admit.
She looked at the dead boar again. Its side did not move. The smell of burned hair and blood reached her.
’So, this is what it feels like to almost die!’
She didn’t cry. Nor did she scream. She just simply sat there with the burning branch in her hand and let the shaking run through her arms and legs until it slowly started to fade.
The fire in front of her crackled as she throwed one small twig in it. The night stayed dark beyond the overhang.
Liraya kept staring at the glowing end of the branch.
She had survived the first real fight in this body.
But the trembling in her hands told her the truth she already knew.
Her mind might still be a goddess, but her body was not.
And the difference between the two was bigger than she had ever imagined.
