1

The beast was pink. Not a frightening color, but certainly unique. With the body of a king snakera, the head of a warthog, and four heavy-hooved feet, it was known as one of the more baffling creatures of the monster kingdom. The boys had seen hunters (not including old man Sign) bring a gorgon swine or two into the market but had never encountered one on the field. This would be a golden opportunity, not only to show off but to gain some experience against a fiend they had never faced before.

“Alright boys,” Sign whispered, steadying, and concealing himself behind a tree. “Make no sudden movements. This is new territory, a new creature for you kids and for me. But I’ve got a plan. We’ll trail it from behind, wait for it to enter a dead end area and then—”

“ATTACK!” Lost in his own little world, Crest yelled at the top of his lungs like the kid he was. His father’s instructions went through one ear and out the other. Running past his brother and Leo, he found himself leaving them in the dust. As he slid down the incline of the hill, he shouted out like a barbarian. “THIS ONE IS MINE!”

“CREST!” his father bellowed. “COME BACK HERE!”

Another hunt, another day of Crest showing off. When Crest was like this, he couldn’t be stopped, no matter how much his father would want him to. Their trips rarely ever went according to plan, but Sign wished for once it would.

“DAMMIT CREST,” Leo was fraught with fury. “I WANT TO BE THE SWINE SLAYER!” Holding out his hand, Leo formed in it a construct….a sword made of pure light. It was not only his weapon of choice but part of his power, his holy stone magic at work. Rushing after Crest, he didn’t lag far behind. As he was sliding down the hill, he drudged up dirt and rocks in his wake. Nothing would have pleased him more than to show Crest up.

“NOT YOU TOO BOY!” Sign exclaimed calling out to Leo. It was too late though; they were already halfway down the hill. Quickly turning his attention towards Seal, he attempted to stop him from doing the same. “SEAL, STAY PUT!”

Seal heard, but he wasn’t listening. He honestly looked offended. Crest and Leo were always like this. All those greedy bastards cared about was looking cool. Well, he’d show them who was really cool. Drawing his short sword from his sheath, Seal rushed into the midst of the mess, ignoring his father completely.

Snapping his fingers, Sign breathed an irksome breath. “Dammit…”

2

The gorgon swine slogged around with beady eyes, probably looking for a meal of its own to chow down on for the evening. It’s serpent-like tongue darted from its mouth, quickly digesting a fly that flew by, but it was hardly fulfilled. It needed something bigger, more satisfying. But where and when would he claim his prize? He hoped it would be soon. The last time he had, had a meal had been God knows how long and he was desperately famished.

But he wasn’t the only one.

As the beast was searching, he could swear he heard an ungodly racket coming his way. Dinner? If only. As he looked up, dread overcame him, it was the exact opposite of a good meal. Coming from the path above him were three human boys with swords. They were yelling with gusto like angry natives. Hunters! Looked like hungry ones at that. Hungry and hunters? If that nasty combination didn’t spell trouble, he didn’t know what did. He had to get the hell out of dodge. Three was much too big a number to handle on his own.

Dashing through a forest of trees next to him, the gorgon swine made his escape. Unfortunately for him, the boys were persistent. None of them stopped, each headed into the forest in behind the him.

Crest laughed to himself. Though the swine was ahead of everybody else, he had not gotten away, the serpent pig was still in Crest’s sight. If he caught up to the creature before everybody else, he’d have a better shot at killing it first, which would mean he’d get bragging rights.

Oh, joy!

A smile spread across Crest’s face. He was grinning ear to ear.

“Mine, mine, mine, mine!” He chanted to himself. But his fun would soon be ruined.

Catching him off guard was the sound of footsteps drawing near him. Oh no! His face of joy soured. On his left was Leo, on his right was Seal. They had both caught up and weren’t faltering.

“Get the hell out of my way, amateurs!” Crest exclaimed trying to pick up the pace.

“I don’t think so Crest,” Seal shot back. “I’m tired of playing second fiddle to you. And I won’t let Leo show me up either.” Running to the far right, Seal sought to cut the gorgon swine off from its side. In mere seconds he was ahead of both Leo and Crest.

“DAMMIT!” Crest’s voice rang out. He didn’t expect to be outpaced when he was already so far ahead. But a jumpstart meant nothing. Seal was just an overall faster runner.

Seal wasn’t the only one who could outrun Crest. So could Leo.

Leo scoffed at Crest with a hardy smile. They were both neck and neck for a moment, but that quickly changed. “Sorry bud,” Leo joked cockily. “Better luck next time.” Running to the far left, Leo would cut the gorgon swine off on the side opposite of Seal. Within seconds he was gone.

Nearly bursting into a fit, Crest was seething. But he kept himself calm. There was still a chance he could make the kill. There was still a chance for bragging rights. Crest powered on through, running down towards the middle of the forest. From where he was, it was a straight shot into another clearing.

3

The gorgon swine stood trying to catch its breath. He had grown tired of running and was exhausted. He fell to the ground in the middle of an open field. That was the disadvantage of being a fat butterball. You couldn’t run very far without wanting to drop dead.

He wasn’t the exception though. All gorgon swine were bad runners. Comedically so.

Unfortunately for him entering the clearing was a death sentence. Terror overcame the poor thing as out from behind the trees on its left came Leo. From behind the trees on its right, came Seal. From the back set of trees came Crest. Enemies surrounded him on all sides, but by the way they were looking at each other, they didn’t seem much like allies. The boys were looking at each other with almost malicious faces. Each circled around the ring-shaped clearing blocking the swine from escaping. Each waiting for a chance to pounce.

Approaching with a gentle step, Leo was the first to come forward. Taking notice, the gorgon swine stepped to his right. But as quickly as he moved, he found that Seal was approaching from the other end. The gorgon swine turned its head behind him. Crest had also begun to step forward. Attempting to escape through one of the open spaces left between the three, the gorgon swine sped forward with the quickness of a road runner.

God, could he run. But his legs weren’t quite fast enough. Appearing in a flash as though he had materialized out of thin air, Leo stood before the beast, sword aimed directly at his target. Beneath the swine, dust and dirt started to fly as his feet came to a screeching halt. Leo swung his sword downward as the creature came only inches away from his blade. But he missed. Quickly changing directions, the gorgon swine went speeding towards an available opening on his left.

Too late! Crossing his path was Crest. With a swift strike he damaged all but the gorgon swine. A deep crack was left in the ground after the rapier swung. By the skin of its teeth, the swine had just barely escaped the blow. The attack had enough force to send him rolling around on his stomach. Having lost control for a moment, he regained his footing after gaining some distance. He tensed. Adrenaline ran through his veins. This was the fate, the curse of being at the mercy of a hunter.

No sooner than he stood up did Crest come flying. And the boy looked heated. The gorgon swine let out a squeal as Crest closed in. The eyes of the hunter were like daggers. But just then, as if like lightning, something airborne whipped wildly Crest’s way. His jaw was suddenly aimed sideways, and spit went soaring from his mouth. Soon the feeling of leather in his face became a little too familiar to him.

Planted firmly across Crest’s cheek was nine inches of dirty, brown boot. The culprit? It was Leo, who had landed the stylishly striking blow. Crest went stumbling back but kept himself from falling over. He stood straight. Recovering from the offense he rubbed his cheek. Looking over his shoulder, he shot a nasty look at Leo, who had landed gracefully and had an equally nasty smirk.

“You plan on fighting me for it, huh?” Crest was livid. “Leo. Leo. Leo….You should know by now, that I am the strongest. When’s the last time you’ve actually won a fight against me?”

“Oh, be quiet you female,” Leo gave a beckoning gesture, inviting Crest to come at him. With his other hand, he pointed his light sword toward him. “Bitches fight with their words; men fight with their hands. Now, are you a man or a bitch?”

Growling like a mad dog, Crest rushed at Leo slashing with an overhead strike. Leo blocked. Metal sword met light sword. Both went blow for blow. They clashed several times but were evenly matched. Common sense would have told them they needed to focus on their target, but now they were distracted and all either of them wanted to do was kill each other; something that had become a common occurrence. Crest, Leo, and Seal fought all the time. Sometimes they would run one on one matches, other times they all went at it at the same time. Finding any old reason to clash swords, the three often fought out of anger, frustration, or some sense of pride.

This time it was minor squabbling. Provoking Crest was petty. Leo wouldn’t have denied that. But equally undeniable was that he was feeling particularly antagonistic. Crest had gotten the last three kills, and each time it went to his head. This kill wouldn’t go to Crest. Leo would make sure of it. But at the moment his eyes weren’t exactly on the prize. He had lost himself in the swordplay, and the battle diverted his attention.

Could this have been the chance the fat hog had been looking for?

The gorgon swine, seeing that they were preoccupied was now looking to make himself scarce. His aim was to make it back through the dense forest where, hopefully, they might lose track of him. Walking backwards away from the scene, he attempted to go unnoticed. Sadly, stealth wasn’t the gorgon swine’s strong suit, its large, clumsy body made sure of that, but it wasn’t like those two idiots were paying any attention anyway. Their fight was going on uninterrupted and for the moment, he went undetected by either boys.

Though in his haste to make an escape, he couldn’t help but feel he was forgetting something.

And as if on cue, something bizarre happened.

Suddenly, day seemed like night. A shadow of darkness hovered above the creature as it was moving. He looked up. Falling his way like a snowflake….no more like a heavy, stupid rock, was Seal. The pig squealed. Landing on top of the gorgon swine, he nearly crushed its back and split him open like a cracked egg.

It was impossible to move. It looked like it was the end of the road for the pig.

Raising his sword to strike, Seal gloated to himself, having caught the creature. “Today… victory belongs to Seal Evermore.” He laughed. “Now perish piggy!”

He brought his sword down with extreme force, enough to cut steel.

Unfortunately, his attack was for naught. He missed. The gorgon swine had moved its head to the left to avoid being struck.

A single sweat drop ran down the side of Seal’s face. Blinking his eyes with a deadpan stare, he looked unamused. He raised his sword once again, this time with a methodical pace. On his life, the monster wouldn’t get the last laugh.

Not that Seal was laughing.

He breathed a calm breath. His grasp was firm on the hilt. Moments later a concentrated strike came thundering down.

But again….

He missed.

This time the swine moved his head to the right. He was like a turtle, slow, but able to protect itself.

Seal’s eyes were bright with rage. Now he was getting to be impatient. He began a series of rapid downward strikes, all of which missed. The gorgon swine must have dodged close to twenty strikes. But the twenty-first strike was Seal’s unluckiest. The last blow was the swiftest, but it was the first that didn’t hit either the ground or the swine.

Seal stared at his unmoving blade with wide eyes. Gripping his blade down its middle was a hand, one that wouldn’t budge. It had the sword locked in place. He looked over. It wasn’t just any old hand. It was Crest’s hand. And he looked pissed. Beside him was Leo, who looked equally irate.

Seal’s face twisted into a jeer. “What the hell are you guys looking at?”

General rule when dealing with someone like Crest or Leo; never ask dumb questions, especially rhetorical ones. It won’t end well for you. Crest and Leo looked at each other, and as if connecting with one another on a telepathic level, they nodded at each other. Crest and Leo revved up their arms, ferocity pumping through their veins as they balled their hands into stiff and hardened fists. Seal’s face started to look a lot like mashed potatoes as the boys’ punch connected on both his cheeks. One second, he was giving them lip, the next second he was seeing stars. Fumbling backward he went careening into a nearby tree.

Leo scoffed, as he watched Seal take the tumble. “What a clown…..right Crest?” He asked bumping him in the shoulder. “Right….?” This time it looked as if he was looking for validation.

Crest looked at Leo with a deadpan stare.

“Right…..?” He repeated once again, as if he wasn’t heard the first two times.

“Righ—” Before he could say it again, Crest made sure he didn’t. He delivered the meanest punch ever when he socked Leo clear across his face. The poor lad fell over on the ground. One punch took him out like a light and now only one hunter was standing sturdy enough to finish the job.

Still recovering from having the weight of a hundred-pound youth on his back, the swine breathed rapid breaths. He looked up in the middle of his panting to see Crest standing mere inches away from him, his sword already raised. Another squeal escaped the pig, but his cries were falling on deaf ears. He started to move, but it was too late! Swinging his sword with a mighty downward thrust, Crest decapitated the gorgon swine before it knew what was what.

It was dead. You could tell by the fact there was no longer a clearly defined line between the neck and the body. Blood oozed out of it like a gushing fountain.

Crest stood there, cold and expressionless, looking at what he had done. It seemed like he didn’t have a care in the world or felt any remorse at all. In fact, he felt good. Really good. His once unsmiling face dawned a wide grin. He was smiling ear to ear now. Ecstasy! A pleasurable feeling really. That’s right! He was the one to get the kill and there was nothing he wanted more at that moment than to let the world know.

Laughing like a mad man, Crest thought it necessary to convey just how thrilled he was. Acting like a neanderthal, he screamed to high heaven and back, holding his sword aloft.

“THAT’S FOUR AND COUNTING BOYS!” He gloated, even though a part of him felt his ‘winning’ was rather anticlimactic. The thing did more running than fighting. And Crest loved to fight. Lame, but he had still won. And winning was everything. “YOU GUYS AIN’T GOT NOTHING ON ME!”

That yelling was loud enough to raise the dead, or at least the boys. Recovering from being sucker punched, Leo and Seal both arose to see a very familiar sight. One that had become too common recently, but one that was expected. Yet again Crest had claimed victory over their prey. And they would have to endure the pain of knowing it….at least for the next 24 hours.

Leaning up against the tree as he stood, Seal shook his head disapprovingly. “Damn. Not again. I almost had it.”

Glum, Leo sighed. He dusted himself off as he was gaining his footing. Not that he was all that dirty. Placing his arm around Crest’s shoulder like a friend, even though he was feeling anything but friendly, he whispered spitefully in his ear. “Couldn’t let anyone else do it this time could you?”

Smiling in response, Crest whispered back. “Nope.”

Seal joined them in the heat of the sun and took note of Crest’s technique. “You were a bit sloppy, but you certainly could have done him worse.”

“Oh shut up,” Crest pushed him in the chest. “Anyway,” he continued. “This ones a little big. Help me carry this thing.”

“Who said we should help you out?” Barked Leo.

“I did, so shut up and do it.” Crest’s wit was sharp as always. “This thing isn’t going to move itself. We’ll need extra hands anyway.”

Seal agreed. “He’s right, come on Leo.”

Leo whined. “Ugh, fine.”

Seeing no need to argue any further, everyone put their swords away. Crest and Seal grabbed the body. Leo grabbed the head.

“Man, this thing is heavy,” Seal remarked.

“I know,” Crest agreed. “And look at kiddie gloves over here, handling nothing but a head.”

Leo stuck out his tongue. “Bleh! I’m helping.” He was making the most stupid face, that the others couldn’t help but find humorous.

They all shared a short laugh and then headed off with their prize.

“This is going to taste delightful,” Crest said licking his lips.

“I know,” Leo concurred. “When it comes to cooking, you guys’ mom is a wizard.”

Mom’s cooking, mm-hmm, Seal thought. Thinking of stew at the mere mention of his mother’s heavenly culinary talents, Seal’s stomach began to growl. “Oh man mom’s cooking….yum. I can hardly wai—”

A howl erupted into the musty, summer air causing the somber setting to become frighteningly hostile. They all froze.

“What the heck?” Seal squirmed under the weight of the pig.

Beyond the clearing, there were shadows of ‘things’ coming from behind the trees. The sound of growling approached. They were being watched. No stalked. But the boys didn’t have to wait very long to find out what was creeping upon them. Out of the woods came a gang of neo wolves, at least a dozen.

The boys were in trouble.