Excerpt: Brute Force #1

The tentacles still had a life of their own as I blundered down the sandbar, sprinting for the tree line. Ferns and rotten logs crushed under my clawed feet as I tore a brand-new trail through the jungle like the whacky inflatable arm tube man. Behind me, the squealing and snapping grew closer.

The jungle closed in around us like a shroud. I charged through vines that would have strangled the real me, tearing them from the trees. Birds whirled up in a screeching chorus from the branches. Birds with teeth and clawed wings, and long, lizard-like tails. Dinosaurs. I got one startled look at them before the Hyperboar came crashing through the trunks behind me, throwing smaller trees to the side with its tusks.

I floundered up a hill, my stamina meter dropping down from green to yellow. As it did, a huge heartbeat filled my ears, a double pulse tripping underneath my tongue. I charged through the foliage, barely able to see, until some instinct bought me skidding to a sudden stop just before the hill dropped off into a steep ridge. There was a dry gully full of rocks below. No water.

“SQUEEEE! SCREEEEE! WREEEHHH!” The Hyperboar was closing in, surrounded by the stench of burning hair.

Before I thought about it too hard, I put my shoulders down, charged the cliff, and took the leap of faith.

I didn’t know what to do, but fortunately, my new body did. I soared out toward the nearest tree and smashed into it with all the elegance of a deer carcass blowing off the back of a truck into a telephone pole, clinging to it with all eight limbs. The tree swayed, raining debris. A scorpion hit me in the face and was smacked aside by one of the tentacles. The other three wound around any branch they could, anchoring me as I flexed my claws into the trunk. They went through the jungle hardwood like it was made out of soft butter. Suddenly, I realized that not only was I holding onto the tree, I was secure. As long as I didn’t think about it, I was able to climb as quickly as I could move on the ground.

Birds chattered in terror as I burned the last of my stamina to shimmy up the trunk and flop onto the biggest branch there. It was awkward: I still didn’t know what to do with all of my legs, so I let them dangle over the side and watched wearily as the Hyperboar charged through the brush toward my perch.

“Like, seriously... what do you expect you’re gonna do?” I scowled as the giant pig, completely enraged, launched itself after me and slammed its tusked face into the same tree. 

“WEEEE! WRREEE!” It screeched. “WREEEE!!” 

Jesus Christ. I hissed at it, arching my back like a cat. "Get outta here, man! Get a job!"

The Hyperboar pranced and bucked and squealed, and then turned to ram the tree again. This time, it discharged a bolt of lightning. Energy crackled over the wet jungle wood. The tree was fine. The tinderbox of dry ferns and old bark around the base was not. It instantly caught fire.

Before I had time to react to that, there was a hiss to my left. A big green snake, darting its head and striking about half a foot from my shoulder. Before I realized what I was doing, my nose darted forward, and I bit the thing in half. It burst like a ripe berry, and I spat out blood and entrails, gagging at the brief sensation of it thrashing between my teeth.

[You have discovered new creature: Giant Forest Viper.]

[Creature added to Compendium.]

[You gain 2 EXP.]

Great.

The tree shuddered under the impact of another blow, and an ominous groaning sound vibrated through the trunk. I had about half my stamina back, enough to carefully get my legs under me. To my surprise, I could balance easily on the bough, as long as the tentacles behaved. No sooner had I celebrated this than there was a dull ‘crack’, and the tree began to lean to one side.

“Punk-ass pigs, punk-ass motherfucking snakes..!” I clutched back onto the trunk and shuffled around it until I saw another tree big enough to support the weight of a two-ton killing machine. I tensed, wiggled my butt, and leaped out. It was easier than the first jump, but I landed awkwardly on the big Y-fork canopy, jamming one dinner plate-sized foot into a hole and nearly twisting my ankle. Still, there was no time to lose. I wiggled, aimed, and bounded to the next tree over. Then the next. Every time I jumped, my legs and tentacles coordinated to grasp or anchor into the wood, and every time, it got a little easier. 

When my stamina was yellow again, I slunk into the shadowed canopy of the tree and crouched down. An eye-and-cross icon appeared in my HUD as soon as I went still. A Stealth icon? As long as I didn’t move, I was Concealed. That was great, but why the hell was my Stamina refilling so slowly?

[You are Hungry! Stamina regeneration -50%]

The notification made me jump, then sigh. The Hunger icon on my HUD was flashing orange. I’d barely glanced at it when a chorus of shrill screams pierced the air, carrying from the direction of the ridge. A chilling sound, like the laughter of hyenas.

This was fucking nuts. Scorpions. Exploding snakes. Rage pigs, and now hyenas? Said rage pig was still ramming and shocking the first tree. It didn’t know or care that I wasn’t there anymore. The leaf litter around it was letting off a plume of thick white smoke. 

I checked my Channel tab again. To my surprise, there was now almost fifty people watching me play Tarzan. The comments were flying thick and fast:

<HOLY SHIT! THIS IS A BRUTE!>

<IKKRRRRRR omg the Boss is givin us Brutecam now $$$>

<wtf is this gay shit is this fake @ olleri or...??? >

<GUYS STOP SPAMMING ITS NEW FEATURE>

<Put your money down on this! Shit’s real $$$>

<Hell Pigs!!!! OINK OINK MOTHERFUCKER HP4L!>

<Holy shit our boy here is a fucking REAPER NEMESIS my pogs>

<shut up Pigfucker>

<OMG STOP RUNNING YOU’RE A REAPER UR LIKE ONE OF THE BEST LEGIONS IN THE GAME YOU CAN TAKE THEM>

[You have 3 new Followers!]

Just what I needed: more pigs. But the sounds coming up over the ridge weren’t porcine.

“We’re comin’ for your ass, lil’ hoggy!” A man hooted through the hyena-giggling, his voice bouncing off the trees and stones. 

Other men shrieked encouragement. Guttural, deep-bellied roars added to the chorus. Animals? They were big. I risked peering through the vines to get a visual, and when I spotted them, the corner of my eye started twitching.

The Hell Pigs looked like a gang out of a bad post-apocalyptic porno.