Dashing Devil Omnibus 1: Books 1-3, page 116
Morning bird song and animal calls reach them faintly, carried by the gentle wind that started out at sea beyond Glorith City to their west. The lake was clean, still, and longer than it was wide. Boyd could see movement around the edges. His eyes zoomed in, adapted for flight. He made out several creatures he recognized, low ranked and reasonably docile.
The river that flowed from the lake’s western end wasn’t all that wide or quick, meandering through the lower end of valley, mostly hidden by the trees. Wide rocks were scattered throughout it and along the banks that he could see. The whole scene could only be described as picturesque.
“Woah,” Raev said, once again eloquently voicing Boyd’s thoughts.
It brought a smile to his lips. The two paused for a moment to take it all in while they were relatively safe. Boyd set down the rack of drones and hit the button to deploy them.
“Okay, you ready?” his lover asked once she was satisfied.
“A test, first,” Boyd rumbled back as he glanced around for what he needed.
He found a reasonably flat stone about two feet across. It wasn’t round but would serve as an impromptu discus. Boyd picked it up and moved a bit down the ridge, not wanting to bring attention to the cave’s entrance.
After finding a decent gap in the trees, he wound up and threw the stone out over the valley. His strength propelled it far, despite its aerodynamics being off. Boyd followed it with his eyes as it descended towards the valley floor.
Once it reached about a hundred feet above the canopy, the rock was destroyed. It didn’t just crumble to dust or anything. Multiple streams of energy, fluids, and a range of solid matter shot up from the trees to intercept it. Boyd judged that if he had to fly, he would need to stay at least a hundred feet above the trees to avoid a similar fate.
“Right, flier…” Raev commented from the side. “You all always do that test?”
“It’s a good test.” Boyd shrugged.
Different areas had creatures that reacted differently to flying creatures. The fluorescent birds were likely established and non-predatory, and creatures knew not to bother defending against them. An unknown flying object, though, would typically be considered a threat. If a squirrel could project lasers from its tail, why wouldn’t it attack anything it didn’t recognize?
Boyd activated his comms and asked, “Tinker, are the drones set?”
“I have two assigned to each of you, with two heading to the Crevice Boar’s… huff, crevice. Did they have to be so obvious when naming everything?” Tinker sighed. “Anyway, the other four are going to fly your projected path to scan for threats. I’m detecting mostly low ranked smaller fauna on the ridge. Don’t step in any holes. The flora in this area is mostly docile. Clear for mission.”
“Alright, deploying.” Boyd left his comms open as he turned to his foxy love. He tried to summon the mindset that he was chasing her, not following her. “Good to go.”
She gave him a devilish grin, then vanished into midair. Boyd blinked in surprise, until he spotted the real Raev already fifty yards down the ridge wearing a similar grin and waving at him. Then, she turned, and dashed away.
Raev’s acceleration was no joke, her long powerful legs allowing her to spring forward. Her three fox tails streamed behind her as she leaned low and sprinted from rock to rock along the ridge. Boyd leaped after her, but the narrow ridge prevented him from using his wings to generate extra speed like he normally would. Instead, he tried something new.
He thought about his propulsion pack giving him little boosts and leaned a bit further forward to capitalize on it. It was moderately effective, allowing him to match Raev’s speed but not to close the gap between them. He could tell he could improve… with training.
He watched as Raev twirled out of something's path ahead of him, an inefficient movement born out of necessity. A small furry creature had jumped out from between some boulders at her, too quick to make out any details. She continued on without incident, avoiding the creature who was likely just protecting its home.
Boyd was prepared when he reached the same spot, reversing his hold on his aura. He let it flow, hoping to scare the creature off. It must have worked, because the critter didn’t make an attempt at him, and he closed a little on his fleeing lover.
Getting into the chase mentality had been simple, when the time came. It wasn’t about hunting her for food, but for fun. It was a game he regularly played with Silvie. Not being limited to the admittedly large confines of the suite made it much more enjoyable, though.
The somewhat cool and damp early morning air rushed past his face and over his slightly extended wings, refreshing him. Fresh, clean, natural smells filled his nose with each steady breath. The bare bottoms of his feet pounded against the stone of the ridge, solid enough for him to put his full force into each step. It was relaxing not having to fret about—literally—impacting his environment. Boyd often worried about cracking the tiles of the suite’s floors.
His lover looked good sprinting ahead of him, bouncing from rock to rock, sometimes leaping up the side of the ridge. She took long but rapid strides, her tails streaming behind her. Boyd’s strides were slower but ate up more distance due to his A-Ranked strength being behind each push-off from the ground. The result was that they traveled the ridge at a similar pace.
That is, except for when Raev occasionally had to flip or spin out of the way of aggressive small creatures—which Boyd’s aura seemed to keep at bay. It was either that, or the seven-and-a-half-foot, nearly five-hundred-pound demon with big ass wings was just perceived as something they’d do well to hide from instead of attempt to drive away. Raev’s just shy of six foot, athletically slender frame was probably less threatening, with or without the aura.
Each time she had to avoid a leaping creature or something one of them shot at her, Boyd reduced the distance between—if only just a little. There was also a segment along their path where the ridge opened up enough for him to make use of his wings and where he got better use from his propulsion pack.
When he’d reduced too much of the distance between them for Raev’s liking, she took action. Two clones of her start running ahead of her, leading her by about fifteen feet. Most of the aggressive critter’s attacks started going for the illusions, allowing her to run much more smoothly.
The real Raev still had to dodge the occasional stream of potentially deadly fluid or leaping large insect, but her clones just let them pass harmlessly through them. Boyd kept pounding along, putting as much force into his forward momentum as possible. His aura had always been effective at suppressing low-ranked threats in high-speed movement scenarios.
They transitioned to a second ridge along the north mountain. The peaks connect about a third of the way up, hundreds of feet above them. The second ridge was about forty feet below their first.
Raev bounced down the mountain from one rock ledge to another, finding footing with her tiny feet where Boyd could not. Instead, Boyd just jumped, using a partial extension of his wings to glide down the ridge, shaving a corner off as well as a good chunk of the distance between them.
Raev was only about twenty feet ahead of him now as they ran along the second ridge. This one was a little wider, too, Boyd could easily use his wings to close the remaining distance if he wished. Chasing her was fun, though, and catching her now would have been pointless. They’d also started having to leap the occasional crevice, signs of their prey's presence.
Boyd could sense when his aura reached Raev. It added a separate kind of excitement to what she’d been feeling throughout the spirited run. He eased back on his aura, not wanting to distract her in the dangerous, if manageable, situation.
They reached the crevice the boar had been seen going into this morning within ten minutes of leaving the safety of the base. Neither was out of breath but they both took a moment to gather themselves on the ridge over the clearing where it opened out. Boyd could see the rubble the boar had pushed out to make its home, confirming they were in the right place. He could also smell the beast’s not-distant-enough recent droppings.
They had chosen their target because it was big, loud, smelly, obnoxious, and served no unique purpose in the ecosystem. Everything in the valley knew it was there, and likely disliked it. It wasn’t something you wanted to share a valley with. Its absence would be noted, though, especially when another didn’t replace it.
“I had one of the drones confirm it is inside and sleeping,” Tinker’s voice came over their comms.
Boyd scanned around and saw all ten of the bright pink drones floating nearby. They had not been harassed by anything, likely confused for the local fluorescent-colored birds. If they were the ones Boyd was familiar with, they exploded when attacked. It was a surprisingly valid survival tactic.
Boyd turned to Raev. She had said she would draw the boar out for him. “Alright, so what’s the plan?”
Chapter 41
“I’ll give it something to attack,” Raev explained. “Let me know when you are in position, and I’ll get it moving. Where do you want it to end up?”
Boyd scanned the clearing. He didn’t have a bad angle from where he was, if he could get it to turn. Otherwise, his best options were at ground level or out by the trees. Without knowing what was down there, though, it wasn’t a risk he would take. Standing on an anthill had different consequences when the ants in question could chew through a steel beam in minutes.
“Can you get it to come out then turn it so that I have an angle on it?” Boyd asked. He tossed and caught his spear a few times, getting a feel for the balance in preparation for a throw. He would prefer to deal critical damage before closing the distance and getting into melee.
“Easily,” Raev responded after scanning the clearing.
Boyd moved down the ridge, just in case the Crevice Boar was quicker to react than he anticipated. He didn’t want it to charge the cliff and drop Raev into a crevice while trying to get at him.
“Tinker, how are we looking?” he murmured into his comms.
“No signs of any additional threats,” Tinker reported.
Her drones scattered, spreading out and scanning the wider area. After another moment, Tinker added, “Nothing on the way in, either. Conditions are clear, go ahead when ready.”
“Ready when you are,” Boyd said, letting the comms carry his voice to Raev.
He watched as Raev focused on the edge of the forest where it met the clearing. What came lumbering out made Boyd’s heart sink for a moment before he realized it was one of her illusions. A two-thousand-pound bear with fur as black as coal snuffled the air from the wood line. This one appeared only to be an adolescent—the adults were much larger. Its eyes were burning pits of crimson fire. Flickering flames also rose from its back along the ridge of its wide spine. It was a young Cinder Bear.
It was genius on Raev’s part, really. Everything hated Cinder Bears for the same reason the illusion became obvious to Boyd so quickly. They burned hot—hot enough that the forest around it would ignite when it passed. The flames didn’t need to touch the trees or brush, the bear only had to pass within a few yards of flammable material to ignite it.
A young Cinder Bear could wander into a forest like this one and set it ablaze. They subsisted on and made their homes among the cinders that were left behind. Something like an adult Crevice Boar would absolutely try to kill it before the Cinder Bear could destroy its home.
The Cinder Bear gave off a ragged roar of challenge towards the crevice where the boar had holed up. Boyd heard the rubble shift within the crevice as the boar awoke and shifted to see what was going on. Boyd readied himself as the illusionary bear gave off another challenge.
The boar came thundering out of the crevice. Eight thousand pounds of pissed off muscle and fat screamed out of the split in the sheer face of the ridge right at the flaming bear. Something that size didn’t squeal, even if the sound might be similar.
Its hide was a deep russet brown, though broken up by tough, stone-like dirty gray armored plates. Massive tusks of the same color curved up from its lower jaw, razor sharp and strong enough to break stone. Its massive two-toed hooves shredded the ground as it put all its force into the charge.
The Cinder Bear threw itself to the side just before the boar closed on it. The larger animal slammed its feet into the hard ground to come to a skidding halt and wheeled around to face the bear again. Boyd saw his chance and took it, throwing the spear with every ounce of strength he could.
Boyd’s dumbbells that he curled were measured in tons; he could put a lot of force into the throw. The spear blurred as it left his hand, clearing the distance at speeds once limited to things like bullets. His aim was true, and the spear slammed home right between two plates where they separated between the boar’s shoulder and its ribs.
There was enough power behind the throw to pitch the creature onto its side with a panicked, rising scream. Boyd heard the slight gurgle that confirmed he’d punctured at least one lung, as intended. The beast scrambled about, thumping its feet and squealing its pain and fear to the whole valley.
After a moment, it rose to its feet. Boyd couldn’t tell if it knew it was dying and wanted revenge or was just in denial. Either way, Boyd’s task was only partially complete. Besides, the last foot of his new spear was sticking out of the boar’s side, and he wanted it back.
He fastened his shield to his arm before drawing his sword. Then, with a mighty roar of his own he dove from the ridge, gliding on his wings directly at the massive beast. The boar turned towards him and snorted its rage, preparing to intercept his flight with its huge tusks.
With a flap of his wings Boyd changed his trajectory at the last moment, lifting himself up just out of the boar's reach. It made the attempt anyway, rising up on its hind legs to slash at him. Boyd’s sword flashed down, nicking its snout for its trouble. The boar let out another scream of pain as his blade parted the tender flesh like butter.
Boyd landed behind the boar, spun in place, then threw himself back towards it with another flap of his wings and a surge from his strong legs. The boar was still wheeling around to face him when Boyd drove a hard kick into the stone like armor plate over the creature's ribs. The plate cracked under the force he put into the kick, and the massive boar was sent back to the ground on its side with a crash.
The boar screamed its anger and pain once more and Boyd matched the sound with a roar of his own. The beast scrambled back to its hooves and turned on Boyd with its snout lowered, intending to gore him with a sweep of its razor-sharp tusks. Boyd caught and deflected its natural weapons with his shield.
Crevice Boars were strong, but their Power was momentum based. In a stationary contest like the one they were now engaged in, Boyd was notably stronger. The boar squealed in surprise as Boyd pushed its head up and to the side; that squeal turned from surprise to pain when he stuck his sword into its throat.
The boar scrambled back away from him, trying to create some distance to make use of its Power. Boyd let it, having decided he needed to make some more noise to complete the mission.
“Second pass, he’ll hit the ridge… watch your footing,” Boyd warned Raev over their comms.
“Gotcha. Looking good, Big Guy,” Raev replied.
Boyd could feel the fighting grin that found its way to his lips. He was enjoying himself, likely more that he should let himself do in the Wild Lands. It was part of his mission, though, so he didn’t chastise himself too much for enjoying the exhilaration of a good fight.
The boar charged him, and Boyd leaped backwards with a flap of his wings to lead it towards the trees that surrounded the clearing. Once he reached the tree line and the boar had committed to a charge, he flapped down hard with his wings to throw himself into the air and over the creature’s back.
Charging under him, the boar created quite a ruckus as it crashed into the trees, continuing on for a while into the dense foliage. It flattened a swath of forest, causing other animals to shriek in dismay as they fled. At least one defensive plant tried to wrap the intruding boar up in thorny vines, but it pulled itself free.
Splashes of energy and liquid hit the sides of the boar as it turned back towards Boyd, doing no notable damage and only pissing it off even more. Turning back to face him, it lowered its head and prepared to charge again. Boyd leaped into the air, his wings pulling him back once more to put more distance between him and the boar. This also lined it up with the cliff near the crevice it had made its home in.
The boar charged again, screaming a ragged cry with its one functional lung. It must have known it was dying by then and had decided to take Boyd with it. It seemed prepared for him to leap over it again, so Boyd dodged to the right with a boost from his propulsion pack, instead.
The boar crashed into the cliff at the base of the ridge, a few yards off from its original crevice. The impact shook the ground and produced a thunderous noise. That part of the ridge broke loose, rubble crashing down into and doubling the thickness of the gap of its home. The falling rock partially buried the boar who had tried to stop and avoid hitting the rock wall. With a shake, the boar quickly pulled itself free.
In the time it took to do so, however, Boyd was able to leap forward and deliver a powerful slash to its right hind leg with his sword, severing the hamstring and crippling that limb. Boyd then leaped back, preparing for what he expected would be an exchange. He could have just waited it out at that point, but now that it was done for, he had a responsibility to finish the creature off quickly. He had no reason to let it suffer.
The Crevice Boar let out another shrill cry at the crippling of its leg. Dragging itself around to face him, it supported its bulk on its three remaining legs and wheezed ragged, wet breaths. Boyd could see bloody froth on its lips an knew the creature's time was almost up. Of course, that made it more dangerous than ever.
The boar glared at Boyd, then let out another scream of rage as it lunged forward to close the distance and swing its tusks at him once more. Again, Boyd caught the slashing tusks on his shield and pushed the beast’s head up and to the side. This time, when Boyd drove his sword home into the boar’s throat, he twisted the blade before dragging it to the side.
