slowly. Pinging water. Pig stink. The low growl coming from his own throat.
But the snuffling of that wild pig was not soft. It let out squeals—the ones that had always scared Jak before now. It sounded like a monster, or something he had thought might be under his bed when he was a little boy. The thing he’d asked his baka to check for but that she’d told him, he must face himself if he was strong boy like she thought.
He’d done it then. He’d do it now. Face the monster. Even if it felt like he’d already faced too many monsters.
And he couldn’t figure out if he hoped to win against this one. Or lose.
The pig came out from the brush. A huge male that had to weigh more than ten Jak’s. Prickly white hair covered his black and white body. Short, sharp tusks sticking from his mouth. He had the biggest set of balls Jak had ever seen on any living thing. He grunted when he saw Jak, letting out one of those high squeals and shaking his head back and forth.
Pig stink. Crazy stink. The scent of decay coming from his nostrils like his brain was rotting. As crazy and mean as Jak had ever seen before.
Jak moved toward him, taking out the pocketknife, the blade worn small after many winters and summers of using and then sharpening it again and again against rocks. But he hadn’t known he’d be facing down this beast today, and hadn’t brought the hunting knife.
The sharp gift of life the dark-haired boy had given him so long ago was all he had. It would help him live or help him die. Either was okay.
The pig raised its head, squealing again—the scream of a devil—and Jak felt the first sprout of rage begin to grow, wrapping around his insides. Jak raised his own head, letting out a scream that rang through the forest. He laughed, a crazy sound that came from deep inside his soul, a mix-up of the loss and fear and hurt and suffering he’d lived through. “Come and get me, you DAMN pig!” he screamed, rage exploding in him. “Do whatever you want!”
For a minute, the pig stood there grunting, its head lowered, and Jak thought it was going to turn in the other direction. He leaned forward, ready to chase it, when it suddenly charged forward, taking him by surprise. He stood his ground, planting his feet in the soft earth and bending his knees, the knife stuck out in front of him.
Fear swirled through him, but so did a wild excitement. “Come and get me, you ugly thing,” he said, only this time instead of yelling the words, he grunted them out under his breath, his jaw grinding. The boar lowered its head more and sped up, charging straight at Jak.
Jak had a second of confusion, his instincts screaming at him to run, his mind and his heart saying no. The forest was quiet for a heartbeat, two, like every animal, leaf, and branch had stopped to watch the beast and the skinny man/boy slam into each other, eyes stuck as the animal rushed forward as fast as its fat body would let it. And somehow, that huge animal moved with the quickness of a lightning flash.
Everything exploded through Jak as the animal ran straight into him, Jak’s body flying backward and slamming into the trunk of a tree as the animal let out another war scream and kept coming.
Jak hurried to his feet, fighting to fill his lungs with the air that had been knocked out of him. He jumped to the side just as the animal came at him again, the sick smell of it following him, even though its body went to the side. Jak rolled and hopped to his feet, just as it came up too short and turned back, charging at him again, its eyes crazed, spit flying from its mouth.
Jak held up the knife and rolled again, a deep yell coming from his chest as he rolled away from the pig and stabbed his arm forward, the blade ripping across the animal’s shoulder. It let out another demon scream, this time of pain.
“Come on, you dirty beast!” Jak yelled. “That’s all? That’s the best you can do?” He felt as crazed as that pig looked. Nothing mattered. He would die, but first, he’d get in as many good jabs as he could. The boar wanted to kill him, but Jak would