"Boars don't travel in packs that big," Therus said while picking up his spear.

  "Tell them that. Regardless, we need to break through before we're surrounded," Seth said before running for a gap between two groups, Therus a moment behind. His good lung burned more with each step. Still, the thundering charge grew closer, shaking the ground beneath their feet. He looked to the left and right. They were running too slow.

  Seth formed four spikes of ice as long as his forearm and fired them at the group approaching from the left. A flash of light and heat flew from Therus toward the group on the right. Squeals erupted from both groups. The boars dodged, avoiding fatal blows, but this slowed them down enough for Seth and Therus to break the encirclement. The thundering from behind was closer, though, and Seth looked over his shoulder. He could see them clearly now, only a couple hundred feet away.

  Therus fired another round of flaming darts behind him, and a few boars squealed in pain. Seth formed a small blizzard of five-inch ice crystals above his head. Two seconds later, the small blizzard became a large cloud.

  "Jump!" he yelled, leaping into the air. Therus jumped without a moment of hesitation. Seth flung his hand downward, the crystals above his head flying into the ground, angled toward the boars. They landed on the other side. Seth's lung screamed in pain, forcing him to gasp and choke. He activated leaf on the wind and turned around to face the approaching enemy.

  The first boars reached the small field of ice crystals, and one went down screaming as a crystal tore into its hooves, and other boars slammed into it, driving its neck along more jagged crystals. Another boar hit the field, and more boars slammed into that one so hard he could hear the crunch of bones. As he floated, he formed four more spears of ice, each as long as his arm. They screamed forward, and though one boar dodged, spears ripped through the heads of two boars.

  A miniature sun the size of a fist appeared above the boars before slamming downward, releasing waves of flame and heat. Seth activated a small barrier and used it to let the wave of heat fling him backward. Sweat poured down Therus' face as he panted. Still, he raised his hands, and darts of flame materialized above him. With a downward swing of his hands, the darts of flame slammed into the boars that had survived the explosion. Seven—no, nine of these things are still alive? How tough are they?

  Seth glared at the horde as he formed more ice spears and sent them rocketing into the boars. They tore into the three lead boars, who were already on fire and missing chunks of skin. The attacks only seemed to piss them off more, and they sped up their charge. Seth almost activated his barrier to absorb at least some of the blow, then stopped and used iron arms. Then, he molded the qi of iron arms to create spikes on his fists. That didn't work, so he tried the same with ice qi. Crude foot-long blades of ice emerged from on top of his knuckles, and he smiled.

  The boar was on top of him and tried to gore him with a horn. However, the air pressure from the attack sent him flowing around it harmlessly to the left. He punched the boar's side. The sound of flesh tearing greeted him, and his fist slammed into the boar's side. He felt a momentary jerk backward as the ice blade caught on bone before snapping off, sending him spinning. As he spun, he was face to face with another boar for an instant before the air pressure sent him upward.

  Shit!

  He canceled leaf on the wind and tried to catch his bearings as he spun. There wasn't any time to regenerate the blade on his right hand. He was at the apex of his short flight and was on a collision course with a charging boar. He punched the charging creature in the eye with his left arm, and it let out a squeal of rage as it slammed into him, snapping his arm like a twig and sending him flying.

  The ground caught him with all the gentleness of a hammer slamming into an anvil as bones snapped and he bounced off the ground, tumbling. Twisting his body, he got his feet under him as he slid to a stop. It felt like his legs would snap from the force, but they held on. He threw himself to the right, and another boar rushed by inches from his face. Even though he no longer had leaf on the wind active, the air pressure still pushed him back a bit.

  Another wave of heat washed over the forest, but he had no time to look. Two boars had turned and were charging straight at him. His lung was no longer burning, but his meridians were. Ignoring the pain, he formed a twenty-foot diameter sheet of ice and flung himself backward. As the boars slid across the sheet, Seth created two ice spears half as tall as he was and planted them in the ground, facing the sliding boars. The boars impaled themselves on the spears a moment before launching Seth backward.

  He planted his feet, and his knees screamed in pain. While sliding to a stop, he scanned the forest. Fifty feet away, Therus dove to the side and skewered a boar with his spear. Another boar rushed Seth, with two more close behind. He caught one boar that looked like it was hanging back out of the corner of his eye, but had no time to ponder why that was happening.

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  Seth reformed the ice blades from his hands and rushed forward toward the lead charging boar. The boar tried to gore him, but he leaped to the side and sliced the hamstring on its rear right leg. It squealed in pain. Seth dodged a kick from the boar's good leg, then leaped straight up. Another boar passed inches beneath him, and he slashed at its back with his left arm. The attack bit into thick hide, opening a shallow gash. The boar reared up, trying to impale Seth. He kicked off the boar's head and was staring down another boar before he even landed. As he hit the ground, he started to leap when something wrapped around his ankle, almost tripping him.

  He cut the vine snaking around his leg. Three more vines were rushing toward him, as well as the boar. He threw up a barrier, his meridians blazing from the effort. It blocked the vines, but the large boar smashed through like it was made of glass. Fortunately, it slowed just enough to allow Seth to throw himself to the side and cut at its legs before launching himself into the air once more.

  The vines tried to follow him up, but stopped three feet off the ground. In the air, he opened his qi sight, and the ropes of qi from the vines flowed back to the large boar hanging back. As he hit the apex of his flight, he saw more boars rushing in from the side, trying to surround them again. Whether they were part of the original attackers or had joined in later, Seth wasn't sure. He summoned a barrage of ice spikes, launching them with a wave of his hand. A wall of vines rose to meet the spikes. He heard a snort of annoyance as the spikes tore through and hit the boar. From his vantage point, he could see the spikes bounce off the beast's hide, not having enough force to penetrate.

  As he fell toward the ground, he summoned his needles, filled them with ice qi, and flung them at the target. Unlike the spikes, the needles easily pierced the defending vines and thick hide. When they released their qi, however, the result was underwhelming. The spirit boar twitched, then shook off the cold as if Seth had done nothing. He shook his head and refocused, hitting the ground and sprinting toward the boar.

  Four vines raced toward Seth. One snapped to wrap around his right leg, but he hopped to the left just in time. He summoned a small shield just in time to block another vine snapping in from the left. This time, the vine cracked the air like a whip, and he extended ice blades from his fists. He planted his feet and looked up at the ten vines lunging at him from above.

  A wave of fire passed overhead, forcing him to shield his face from the heat. The vines caught like dry tinder, and flame raced down the entire flailing creature. With a clear opening, Seth launched himself forward toward the spirit boar, healing himself as much as he could before he clashed with the beast. More vines rushed in, and more flames cut off their lines of attack. Seth was thirty feet from the boar when it charged. He sensed the danger more than saw it, and leaped to the side as the air cracked. He slashed at the beast with one of his ice blades, tearing a gaping wound into the creature.

  It leaped back and to the side, and in a blink it was facing him. It rushed forward, and he moved to block the incoming tusk, putting a small shield between the tusk and his blocking arms. The attack consumed the rest of his qi in a flash and shattered the shield like glass. Its tusk continued through his left arm, snapping the bone, but stopped before it pierced his chest. The boar reared and swung its head, almost flinging him off. With the last of his strength, he twisted and slashed at the boar's eye with the blade in his right hand. The blade slashed through the eye like a knife slashing through jelly, and the boar's shriek deafened Seth. He felt blood trickle from his ears down the side of his face. Then, the boar flicked its head, and he sailed through the air for forty feet before slamming into the ground and bouncing.

  As he rotated, he caught sight of Therus' spear going through the spirit boar's neck, a jet of flame erupting from the back. He skidded to a stop and tried to heal himself, but found nothing to draw. Everything ached, and his meridians were on fire. Definitely fucked up. Elise even tried to show me the problem, but instead of training my abilities, I rushed off... If I survive, I'm going to take the time to master these. Even the useless needles.

  Fortunately, the rest of the boars were dead or had run off. Therus limped over, using his spear as a crutch. He held something that looked like a round yellow gem in his arm. He looked at Seth and tried to give a lopsided smile that twisted into a grimace of pain.

  "Damn thing almost ate us," said Therus, softly chuckling.

  "Yeah."

  "You going to live?"

  "Not sure. One second."

  Seth dove into his mindspace and saw the damage to his body from a third person point of view. Several broken ribs, a broken arm, a shattered knee, and several minor cuts. Nothing fatal. He let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Then he looked around the mindspace to see his passengers. His eyes locked on Mal's form, not sure what it was, but something seemed off. It seemed... denser, more substantial somehow. That, combined with others looking muddied and faded, filled him with a sense of dread.

  He opened his eyes. Therus was standing guard over him.

  "I'll live. Can't walk until I get some qi back, but nothing fatal."

  "Good. I'll carry you."

  "No need, we can—"

  "We'll be safer once we're behind some concealment arrays."

  "Sorry, must be the pain talking."

  "It's ok," said Therus, hoisting Seth up on his back.

  The trip back to the camp was uneventful. Therus wasn't being talkative, leaving Seth plenty of time to reflect. Even though they won, it felt more like a loss. He had gotten arrogant, and it had almost gotten them killed.