Chapter 376: The Wrong Beast

Chapter 376: The Wrong Beast

The marten stopped with its nose just outside the trap.

Beside Jin, Lucian had one hand braced on the stone. He wasn’t moving, and Jin made himself stop leaning forward.

The animal sniffed the entrance, circled as far as the wedged stones allowed, then returned to the open door.

Its front feet crossed the threshold.

Go on.

Glitch’s attention struck through the bond.

Something heavy was moving below them.

Jin looked towards the scrub at the foot of the scree. Branches shook, followed by a harsh grunt.

The marten backed out of the trap.

A stoneback boar burst onto the slope with its snout raised, following the scent of bait.

[Stoneback Boar]

[Combat Rank: 2 — 1-Star]

Grey plates ridged its back. Its tusks were yellow and chipped, and it climbed the loose ground with an ease Jin immediately disliked.

It reached the box before either boy could get down to it.

The first blow snapped the empty door shut. The second tore the trap loose from its position and sent one of the wedged stones clattering downslope.

The marten slipped through the opened gap.

Flicker launched from Jin’s knee at his command. Kite banked towards the rocks above the trap, trying to catch sight of its next emergence.

Below them, the boar drove a tusk into the mesh.

Lucian was already moving.

"Carrier," he said. "Before it knocks the shelf clear."

Their transfer equipment stood off the marten’s route, but the boar’s flank now blocked the approach. Another sideways shove would bring it against the carrier.

"Glitch. Keep it away from him."

The drake rose over the ledge.

Jin followed Lucian down, stopping behind a broad rock a few metres above the equipment shelf. From there he could see the boar, Glitch, and his partner without having to stand in their path.

Glitch’s hide darkened with Harden as the boar turned.

They met shoulder to shoulder. Tusks scraped his plating, and loose shale shifted beneath both beasts.

Glitch braced, forcing the boar away from the shelf.

Lucian came down along its outer edge. He waited while the boar’s hindquarters swung towards him, then crossed the opening with a short Stormstep.

He caught the carrier handle.

The boar turned at the movement.

Lucian snapped his free hand towards its snout. A brief crack of static made it jerk back, buying him enough time to lift the carrier and retreat towards Jin’s cover.

Glitch pressed in before it could follow.

The net bag had slipped from the shelf during the struggle. It lay below Jin’s rock, close to the boar’s forefeet.

"Net’s down there," Lucian said, setting the carrier behind cover.

"I see it."

Jin could have reached the bag in three strides. The boar could have reached him in fewer.

He looked at Glitch, then at the strip of ground between them.

"Back towards me. Slowly."

Glitch yielded a step.

The boar followed, head low.

Jin formed Gravity Press across its next stride, keeping the small patch clear of the drake’s feet.

The boar’s forelegs faltered as its weight came forward. Its chest dipped, one knee scraping the stones.

Jin held the pressure for a brief beat, then released it completely.

Glitch moved across the now-clear ground while the boar struggled to recover its footing. He hooked the net bag with one horn and dragged it within Jin’s reach.

Jin snatched the strap and scrambled back behind the rock.

The cast had taken a noticeable bite from his reserve, but there was enough left. He resisted the urge to spend more merely because the boar was still there.

Above them, Flicker called.

She hovered near a crack while Kite swept across the slope beyond it. For a moment Jin thought they had recovered the trail.

Then Flicker landed and peered beneath the stone.

Nothing emerged.

The boar shook its head and returned to the trap. It stamped on the bent frame, caught the mesh with a tusk, and pulled until the opening widened.

Lucian watched it drag out the bait.

Jin tightened his grip on the recovered bag.

"We could get the box."

Lucian looked at the twisted door.

"Would you trust it to hold the marten now?"

Jin didn’t answer.

"Neither would I."

They withdrew together. Glitch remained between them and the boar until it became clear the animal preferred its meal to another contest.

Jin kept watching over his shoulder anyway.

Only when they reached the upper benches did he realise how badly his calves ached.

They found a sheltered overhang facing away from the sun. A thin seep darkened the rear wall, and the ground beneath the outer edge was dry enough to sit on.

Lucian put the carrier down and checked its frame. Jin unpacked their water.

The beasts came first.

Flicker refused the dish initially. Kite drank and settled on a rock, while Glitch lowered himself with a long exhalation.

Jin ran a hand along the drake’s side.

A tusk had scored two plates without breaking through. He checked the adjoining joints and watched Glitch stretch the leg before allowing himself to relax.

"No limp," Lucian observed.

"No." Jin rubbed the warm plating once more. "Good work."

Glitch closed his eyes.

Jin sat beside him. His legs were tired from the morning’s climbing, his mouth was dry, and dust had worked under his collar. The brief cast had not emptied his Core, but trying to keep chasing on tired feet would make his next decision worse.

Across from him, Lucian flexed his hands before opening a food packet.

Flicker remained on the rim of her dish, glaring downslope.

Jin held out a finger. She ignored it.

"You spotted it when I looked straight past," he told her.

Her head turned a fraction.

"And you found where it came out again. We need that."

She ruffled her feathers.

"I know you wanted to catch it."

He could still remember the burst of hope through the bond when her dash brought her close. The marten had changed direction, and all that effort had carried her past an empty gap.

Jin stroked her back.

"Next attempt, help us keep track of it. Let us worry about closing the exits."

She watched him for a moment before hopping onto his hand.

He brought her closer to the water. This time she drank.

Lucian had finished checking the net.

"Still usable," he said. "Carrier too."

"One hen left."

"And no box."

Jin looked at the carrier.

"We might be able to use this. Not until we’ve checked how."

Lucian nodded. Neither sounded particularly eager to start rigging another trap immediately.

They ate in the shade while the birds settled.

After a while, Lucian picked up a loose flake of shale and turned it between his fingers.

"When we first met in Seven, I thought I knew how far ahead I was."

Jin looked over.

"You were ahead."

"I know. I’d worked for it." Lucian glanced towards Glitch. "I expected you to improve. I didn’t expect to look up and find you in the same class this quickly."

There was no accusation in his voice. He sounded faintly amused at himself.

"Does that bother you?" Jin asked.

"Sometimes I think about skipping the last set of drills." Lucian dropped the flake. "Then I remember what your lizard looked like when I first saw him."

Jin smiled.

"He’d be offended you remember."

"He’d be offended by most things."

Glitch opened one eye at the sound of their voices, then shut it again.

Jin leaned his head back against the rock.

"You moved across that scree like it was a training floor," he said. "I could see where you meant to go. My feet would’ve been somewhere else by the time I got there."

"It took practice."

"I noticed."

Lucian looked at him, and the smile they exchanged felt easier than the conversation had at first.

Jin unfolded the map on his knee.

"We rest properly," he said. "Then we go back to the sunny ledge and watch. No chasing the first time it shows its nose."

"Agreed."

"And we move the spare equipment farther from the bait."

Lucian glanced at the scratched carrier.

"Definitely agreed."

Jin marked the gap through which the marten had escaped. Beside it, he added the direction from which the boar had come.

Flicker tucked one foot into her feathers on his wrist. He adjusted the paper around her and kept drawing.