“Quick, we need more arrows on the southern gate!”

“Healers! We have wounded over here!”

“Get that wall reinforced immediately! If that thing comes again with its pack were done for!”

Beside me in the tree line I can hear Luna getting antsy.

“Hold still girl we can’t just appear out of nowhere right now. They are too on edge. We need to be tactful.” She lets out a soft whine but calms her tail for the time being.

I'm sorry girl, but if we appear right now they might mistake you for an enemy and attack.

I ruffle Luna’s fur and look back at the village. We’re currently in the forest tree line out of eye sight for a normal person, but thanks to the blessing from Titum I'm able to see that far with no issue. The village is just a small little hunting village, a few buildings here and there with a simple wooden wall encompassing the majority of it. At the moment the village has been under attack by a giant golden bristle boar about the size of a minivan, who in itself would already be difficult to stop, but with each wave it brings smaller boars that it gathers from the forest. So far from what I’ve seen there’s been no death on the village side, but that are getting worn out fast.

“BLACK BRISTLE BOAR SIGHTED! SOUTH SOUTH-EAST, COMING FROM THE FOREST! FIFTEEN IN SIGHT AND RISING!”

I can heat the alarm bell sound in the village as the people re-man their position on and around the gate in preparation for the attack. If it’s only fifteen to twenty Black-Bristle Boars then they can handle it, it’s just when the Golden-Bristle Boss comes out that they start to get over run.

So far they have been able to defend against the Boss because of a three man combo including a heavily armored tank holding the boar back while a ranger fires arrows at its joints and a mage in the back who’s constantly healing the tank. Though after the last wave the tank took a hit on the side from a smaller boar while he was holding off the Boss, so he seems to be out of commission right now. The ranger has reverted to using his dual daggers due to his arrow supply being depleted, and the mage is out of mana and recuperating behind the wall.

This wave is going to finish them if I don’t do anything.

Luna feels me start to tense up and starts to get excited, wagging her tail once again.

“Alright girl, lets help them out, but stay near me got it?”

Luna lets out a soft bark in acknowledgement and we began to move forward in the tree line. As we get closer I can hear the ranger giving out commands to the various groups.

“Once they start to charge, stab the spears end into the ground and let the boars own momentum push themselves into the blade. They can’t turn on a dime in mid-charge so as long as you brace properly the spear should pierce its tough hide. Archers and mages, aim for the joints and eyes. If we can immobilize and blind them then we can kill them with less resistance. Once you begin close combat, two men will take the agro from the boar in front while the other gets behind. When you strike with your sword go with the bristle not against. Those bristle are almost as strong as a dragon-newts hind end so you have to use its natural weak spots if you want a successful strike. When the Golden-Bristle arrives, do not engage him, I’ll take him myself and hold him off until my team is finished recuperating. Are you ready? PREPAIR FOR COMBAT!”

The villagers roar in response and prepare for the fight. They aren’t trained soldiers but they seem to have had their fair share of fights, not one of them wavered or backed away. The rogue is also a competent leader, being able to calmly strategize and keep the men confident in their abilities. I want to get to know him better after this, if he survives.

While they were getting ready for the fight, Luna and I repositioned ourselves across the plains to a pond about fifty meters away from the gate and we waited for the right moment to appear.

“SQUEEEEEEEEE!”

“HERE THEY COME, THE GOLDEN-BRISTLES EMERGED FROM THE FOREST AND IS LEADING THE CHARGE! BRACE YOURSELVES!”

The boar hoard is about 150 meters away from the gate and 200 meters from myself. Seeing the giant golden boar charging even gave me chills for a bit and I gripped down on the ground in anticipation of the upcoming fight.

At 50 meters away the men began to stab the end of their spears into the ground like they were told and prepared themselves.

25 meters. Some men begin to show some worry and start visibly shaking, or it was the thundering hooves from the boar hoard just shaking the ground?

10 meters. One kid locked his knees and passed out, causing two mages to have to drag him back inside the gate quickly.

5 meters. The first archer released an arrow than landed perfectly striking the first boar in the eye. Causing him to stumble over and got trampled by his own hoard.

Impact. The sound or wood snapping and the board impaled squealing in pain as they blead out, filled the air. Not a second later though the Golden boss arrived with the main group and the close combat began.

In three man groups the villagers were able to hold back the Black-Bristle boars with relative ease, all the while the ranger dodged the Golden boars charge by rolling to the side. As he rolled he used his daggers to slice at the boars’ legs causing him to squeal and topple over. Not a moment later the boar righted himself and turned away from the gate and aimed at the ranger, fire could be seen burning in its little beady eyes.

Charging once again, the ranger was too slow to dodge this time and got caught by one of the tusk, resulting in him being thrown over the battle and against the closed gate bleeding heavily from the abdomen. Seeing their leader get tossed aside like a ragdoll the men began to fall back in fear.

“Alright Luna, It's our turn.” I pat her head and grab a small rock about the size of grape and launch it at the Golden boar. Hearing a satisfying smack as it made contact and caused the boar to turn 90 degrees, it gave us enough time to close the gap and reach the hoard.

“Luna, go for the small guys, I have the pig!”

The moment I finish my command Luna practically disappears and I can hear the squealing for more boars dying faster than before. The golden boar, enraged by being hit with the rock begins to charge at me. Getting the timing perfect I dodge right as we were about to collide. Moving to the right i stab the dagger into the soft meaty muscle on the boars’ side above his front legs, and using the movement of the charge I drag the blade down the length of the boar causing a large gash appear and spray blood on the grassy plain. Stumbling to a stop and bleeding heavily the boar slowly turns around to face me as I grab a broken spear off the ground. The villagers, who at first was in shock by the sudden help, reorganized themselves and once again began to take down the smaller boars allowing Luna to come to my side.

“You need a bath girl.” I look over and laugh at Luna who’s currently covered in boar blood but still smiling happily with a bright glow in her eyes.

“Lets’ end this fast. When it charges, I'm going to make that pig topple over. Then I want you to rip its throat out. Got it?”

She gave an affirmative bark just as the boar began its charge and we ran towards it, a game of deadly chicken. Once again as we were about to collide I slide to the side, but rather than the dagger I stab the broken spear under the joint of the boars front leg causing it to topple once over itself. As soon as it stooped sliding Luna was on it. Her teeth sunk down deep in its neck as she ripped out a chunk causing a geyser of blood to come out. Not even given a chance to let out a final sound the boar died. When it died a large amount of blue mist came from the corpse and split into two groups, one to me and one to Luna. As it reached me I felt as if my arm was on fire causing me to grunt in pan and grip my arm. There was also a notification the appeared but I instantly dismissed it, reading in the middle of a fight is never a good idea. After the leader died, it didn’t take the villagers long to take care of the remaining boars and it didn’t seem like they really needed out help anymore so I grabbed a cloth out of my bag and started to wipe the blood off myself. I attempted to clean Luna up but as soon as I started I heard footsteps…a lot of them.

Looking up I realized that we were completely encircled by the very same villagers we just helped out and most of them in the inside ring had spear pointed at us.

“Umm….Hey what’s with the iron welcoming?”

I keep a hand on Luna to calm her down from the battle high and to keep her from attacking the people we just saved.

“What are you doing bringing that beast here?!” A bald muscle head like guy carrying a two handed halberd stepped forward.

“Well this beast just saved your ass. So I’d appreciate if you’d back off a little, she’s still hyped up from the fight and I'm trying to calm her down now.” I stand up to face the man while keeping a hand on Lunas head.

“It's a man killing beast, it needs to die! Back away from it and let us take care of it.” Pointing the halberd at Luna he tries to move forward but I grab the shaft and hold him in place.

“I’ve killed my own fair share of men and women, far more than she has. So if you want to get to her, you’ll need to go through me first.” I tighten my grip on the halberd shaft until you can hear audible cracks from the wood.

“Why do you defend the beast?!” Veins starting to appear in his bald head, the man struggles to pull his weapon free but with no success.

“First off.” I tighten my grip again causing the shaft to shatter. “She has a name, it’s Luna. So you will stop calling her a beast.” I step forward towards him sharply, causing him to stumble backwards and trip over a dead boar and fall on his ass. “Secondly, I don’t think you have the right to question why I'm with her when we literally just saved you from being killed by an overgrown pig.” I draw my dagger and hold it in a reverse grip wile Luna shakes her head and gets ready for another fight.

“But that’s a bea…..”

“ENOUGH MARCUS!” A loud billowing voice comes from behind the mob of villagers as the split and make a path.

“This man and his companion are our saviors, beast or not. Without them not only would you be dead, but your wife and newborn child as well. So I suggest you refrain from calling her a beast again if you value your life and don’t want your child to grow up fatherless.”

Walking through the path while being supported by the armored tank, the ranger scolds the bald man and controls the crowd.

“Arora heal.” The female mage comes from behind the two and cast a wide range spell over the group. Then I suddenly feel myself get a little lighter for a second as all the dirt and grime from the fight removes itself from me and all the bumps and scratches heal. Behind me I hear Luna whining because she is clan now and no longer had her battle blood.

“Just a quick thanks for saving us.” The mage walks up in front of the mob and smiles. After her the ranger and tank come up to me.

“I'm Aiden, this heavy metal beast of a tank is Crom, and the one who healed you is Mar….”

“I'm Marylin Tross, Nice to meet you. I heard you say her name is Luna correct? Can I please pet her? Please please please? She’s so adorable.”

I look back at Luna who has completely forgotten what kind of situation we are in and is chomping at the small bugs that are flying around her and the corpse near us. I sigh and give her the okay.

So much for being a fearsome beast.

“EEeeee, YAY!” Squealing louder than the boars Marylin practically throws herself at Luna and starts to scratch her all over.

Confused by the suddenness, Luna sits there for a second motionless. Though it doesn’t take long until she’s letting herself enjoy the love from the new friend.

“I'm sorry, Marylin loves all kinds of bea… animals.” Looking as is this isn’t the first time she’s done this the leader reaches out a hand and I take it shaking firmly.

“Thomas Allen, and It's not an issue. Luna’s just a giant puppy anyways so she enjoys it.”

We both laugh for a bit and Aiden tells the crowd to disperse and begin repairs in the wall or to clean up the corpses.

“Why don’t we go to the bar and get a drink, you’ve got to be thirsty after that fight. I’ll pay” Aiden offers and motions to the village.

“Well if you’re paying I’ll gladly drink!” Marylin pipes up while burying her face in Luna’s fur.

“You still owe me 30 silver for the last bar, I'm not paying for you this time!”