"Stay back," Lukas said.
Melody didn't argue. She stepped to the side and held her position, sword ready but lowered. If anything went wrong, then she'd intervene.
Lukas faced the boar alone.
It was watching him with small, dark eyes set deep into a wide skull. Its breath came out in short, hard bursts, each one kicking up a small cloud of mist in the cool forest air.
The tusks caught the filtered light coming down through the canopy, their edges worn smooth from use rather than decoration.
It charged again.
Lukas moved laterally, letting the boar's momentum carry it past him.
He slashed at the neck as it went by, but the blade skated off the hide without opening anything.
He reset his footing and looked at the mark his sword had left. Just barely a white line in the skin, not even deep enough to be called a graze.
