The bellow of a horn sounded, marking the final moments before the raid would commence. Savo unplugged the cable which connected his smartphone with his laptop and coiled it. He closed the laptop, grazing his hands over the solar cells to make sure none were damaged. Carrying the laptop and cord to his knapsack, Savo had just realized how long he was seated for. Even in his past work, he disliked being seated all the time, and now the faint cramps which trembled through his legs reminded him of the sleepless nights in the office, much like this day.

It might not have been the best idea to stay up… Savo hid away the technology and made a stride for the outdoors. Near the gates, small huddles of geckos sounded with conversation paired with crunching and chewing. Savo found Kilik amongst the crowds, who directed him to the rations officer. Rice, water, but this time also a small, red apple: these were seemingly saved specifically for Savo. As Savo bit into the apple, Kilik had slid through the crowds towards him.

“Tashty, no?” Kilik finished the last bit of insects in his bowl. “We’ve heard that humansh like thoshe.”

“It’s sweet. Very sweet.” Savo tried to recall the last time he had eaten fresh fruit over the usual grab-n-go meals he had.

“We’ll be shetting out shortly.” Kilik marked, marching away towards the bulk of geckos.

Savo finished the apple and scarfed down the rice, filling himself with a renewed energy. As he heard one final blow from the horn and the forming of soldiers in the discussed positions, Savo took his place in the collection. A steady but efficient march began, up towards the mountain

A pained squeal sounded as the arrows penetrated the hide of the boar. Another slash ended the noise. Savo’s hand relaxed soon after, having been responsible for one of those arrows. He felt a strange sense of achievement watching his arrow hit, unlike much of what he had felt in his past endeavours. Savo had realized: it felt as though he was building himself back up again from what was nearly the bottom of the barrel. While he pondered, a gecko had made a mark on a map.

Savo’s eyes scanned the surrounding brushes and thickets as the party continued trekking upwards. A sudden, sharp gasp sounded from Savo’s lips. When several geckos turned to look, Savo was picking himself up from the dirt.

Damn, guess I really should’ve gotten some sleep.

Savo and the geckos managed to score a few more game before the trail mellowed into a curved path of varying elevation with a dense surrounding of trees and shrubbery that shrouded the mountain overhangs. Kilik signalled several soldiers to move towards the forestry and the archers to ready their aim. After the arrows had been drawn and the foot soldiers positioned, Kilik took his sword and shield, and made a loud bang in colliding the two. He repeated swiftly one blow after the other, then stopped abruptly.

All of the shrubbery which was visible began rustling. A faint gust swept through the forestry, and with it, a dozen or so boars were revealed from the darkness. They were large, definitely larger than what Savo had seen of in his world, but they did not surpass the height of the geckos, who stood just below him. The beasts circled the party slowly, several huffing with stone-cold stares. Kilik finally shouted.

“Fire!”

A stream of arrows sailed through the air and fell towards the boars. They began to move more sporadically in response to the shout, and once the first few arrows landed, piercing their hides, they charged towards the shield-bearing geckos. The initial impact of tusks to wood was followed by the squeals of wounded beasts. Slashes marked many of the boars, and several had fallen still. Savo aimed for the stragglers, largely because he did not trust his aim completely.

As another few boars were put down to the earth, the geckos rallied closer towards the forestry. Kilik motioned the advance of the foot soldiers and archers, who now stood just slightly higher in elevation to the shield-bearers. Blood trickled from the furs of the remaining boars. They moved in a noticeable backstep. One perhaps had managed to retreated into the darkness of the shrubbery.

Savo clung to his bow with a sense of pride. He looked about, suddenly picking up the stench of blood and mangled hides. He drew another arrow, readying it for any other signs of movement from the forestry. The last few boars withdrew into the shrubbery as the geckos swung at them. While one or two swords dug into the earth, there suddenly came a familiar rumble, quaking the very foundations of the mountain.

The noon sun had risen to its peak. Below that, the highest trees struggled to stay upright. Any others fell like dominos, crunching against the earth. Squeals could he heard echoing in the forestry. Then, from the columns of trees and thicket bushes, a behemoth of rugged, black fur emerged into the daylight. The geckos at front had fallen back to the slopes along with the archers. Kilik had signalled the retreat moments before the final trees had toppled, revealing a giant of a beast, similar to the boar.

Oh... shit… In a panic, Savo felt for his handgun.

The beast was a bear of monstrous appearance, and it was barrelling towards the hunting party. As Kilik shouted, the geckos had already begun running.

“Run!!” His voice was responded by an earth-shattering roar.

Savo had no plans of standing his ground either.