Boongar the Barbarian by Joel S. Ogunberry - HTML preview

 

Chapter Five

 

Gishky spoke with Boongar in the holding bay, surrounded by snarling and hissing monsters and the working tending the beasts. It was the day of Boongar’s next challenge, one that spurred the crowd into a fervor outside. But concern between Boongar and his guardian.

“Now the money might be big Boongar, but you know how dangerous it is,” Gishky said.

Boongar, wearing his armored vest with knives and his shortsword, looked at the goblin, now almost eye-to-eye with the woman. “I know. But I can’t progress without overcoming the obstacles in my way.”

Gishky sighed and looked around. She believed in luck, but also that it ran out quick. Their opponent was twice her size; bigger than a man. And though Boongar often walked around stacked with weapons, their adversary was naturally born with knives on his hands and feet, and even his fricking tail. “I’m not trying to baby, you, Boongar, but…”

Boongar had a small smile on his face, warmed to see Gishky was genuinely concerned about him. Boongar was careful, but trying to disembowel his fear. He had stared the arctodus in the face and lived to tell the tale; though he kept it secret from Gishky less she worried about him too much.

Boongar placed his hand on Gishky’s shoulder. “Hope.”

“What?” she replied.

“Hope,” said Boongar. “As long as there’s a flicker of hope, fear can always be kept at bay.”

Gishky frowned, and said, “Put all that energy into your sword instead of fancy words.”

Then the coordinator approached them, clipboard in hand. “We’ll be ready in a minute.”

Gishky turned from the man and flicked Boongar’s nose. “Get ready.”

When the time came Boongar was escorted to the rising gate by the coordinator, feeling a tenseness in his body he fought to suppress. Boongar blocked out the audience as he drew his sword and took a defensive stance, staring at the other gate apprehensively as the commentator announced his name.

The announcer said, “And his opponent. Extremely dangerous. Extremely fierce. None other than one of our resident champions. Akjah!”

Come on. Boongar flexed his fingers on the hilt of his weapon as the gate lifted. He saw the faint figure of the creature until it came outside. What unsettled Boongar the most about Akjah were his slow, deliberate movements, walking upright with calculated steps as if he was thinking. Thinking foes didn’t fall for feints. Boongar was upset that just the flaybeast’s presence had him thinking so much.

No. Focus.

Akjah stared across at Boongar with an expressionless face, whisking his deathly tail and curling his claws. The creature wound his shoulders and took a crouched stance.

“Fuck,” said Gishky. “It’s moving like a person. Is it a ferran?”

“And,” the announcer said, “begin!”

Boongar rushed Akjah, who scurried along on his spindly limbs. Boongar twirled the sword and Akjah halted at the glint of the blade. The two circled each other, Boongar taking empty jabs with his sword while Akjah’s tail searched for an opening. Then Akjah lunged. Boongar stepped forward and slashed, prompting Akjah to leap back. But his tail lashed and Boongar narrowly ducked. Akjah reached for Boongar’s feet but the boy violently twirled the sword, prompting Akjah’s hand and tail to recoil. 

The flurry of movement excited the crowd, but Gishky was left on the edge of her seat. Boongar dodged the whipping tail two more times before he finally counter-attacked, but Akjah was quick, and Boongar’s blade swung at nothing. Then Akjah launched his full body at Boongar. The boy dodged it, but the flaybeast’s tail lashed around Boongar. The claws sunk into his vest and tore out the fibers, but Boongar was already tugging away and the claws barely grazed his skin.

“Shit!” Gishky said in a stifle.

“And Akjah has struck the first blow!” the announcer said. “Let’s see how Boongar recovers from this one.”

Boongar took a quick look at his torso. The vest was in tatters, and his three knives were on the ground. But he still had the one passed down to him on his was and Boongar now quickly reassessed the situation.

Akjah’s movements became friskier as he now sensed a major barrier between it and the boy’s flesh. It lunged once more, using its size and reach to try and smother Boongar. Boongar swung the sword, forcing Akjah to halt. But Akjah suddenly spun, whipping his tail into Boongar. One of his claws slid across Boongar’s arm and the boy yelled and pedaled away.

Boongar winced at the long red gash along his arm, but his grip on his sword didn’t relinquish. He had chosen the sword after Gishky informed him of who his opponent would be. Akjah wasn’t completely indestructible. The monster wore no armor and was still made of flesh and bone. The sword covered a lot of surface area, good for fleshy and quick targets. But Akjah’s size, especially his tail, meant he could distance himself from Boongar’s sword while still dealing damage.

That tai!

Boongar realized to best way to even the playing field. But getting in close to cut it meant Boongar was vulnerable to Akjah’s teeth and claws. One snap of Akjah’s jaws and that would be the end of Boongar.

But that tail!

Boongar bet everything on that tail and attacked. Akjah intercepted his sword and lashed his tail around Boongar’s arms. The boy quickly let go and freed one arm as the clawed appendage constricted and sliced his flesh. Boongar yelled but managed to cut through the flaybeast’s tail in one go. The audience was treated for the first time to Akjah’s scream, something akin to scraping nails on a chalkboard.

Gishky jumped. “Hah! You fucker!”

Akjah paced about, hopping around with an ear-splitting snarl. Its eyes seemed more crazed now as its main tool and limb was spitefully taken. Boongar clutched his bloodied hand close to his chest, virtually useless now, and kept the sword raised in the other.

Boongar would’ve loved to say the playing field was even, but he only had three limbs while Akjah still have four. And the flaybeast wasted no time in finishing up the battle. It took swipes at Boongar, pushing the boy around as he valiantly warded off the attacks from Akjah. Then Akjah’s claws slipped pass Boongar’s defenses and opened the flesh on his bare chest.

Gishky gripped her skirt and swore. “No, Boongar!”

Boongar winced and screamed, and Akjah leaped. Boongar stabbed and Akjah tried to evade. But Akjah’s body was already in motion, and Boongar’s sword slashed opened his side. Akjah reeled and Boongar went to stab Akjah, who kicked Boongar away.

The crowd became more restless now as the two combatants seemed ready to kill the other. But Boongar looked like he would bite the dust first, staggering to his feet and covered in blood. Boongar saw Akjah pluck the sword out of his side with a whimper. It clattered next to him, in the sand blotched dark with his blood. Boongar reached for the knife his father gave to him as Akjah crouched once more.

As everyone in the audience leaned closer, Boongar mumbled a prayer and said, “My great forefathers, I beg your strength.” His blooding hand gripped the hilt of his blade. Boongar tried to move but the pain shot through his body and jarred him.

That was when Akjah took the opening and charged.

Gishky, now standing at the edge of the fence, said, “Dammit Boongar! Move!”

Boongar arched his back, tensed his body and fought through his pain. Give me strength! Boongar raised the knife before him. Give me strength! He took a defensive stance.

Give me strength!

His will beckoned, and Boongar’s desire was answered by an almost electrical flow of light around him that seeped into his muscles and into the knife. It was just for a brief moment, but Gishky glimpsed it.

“What the hell?” she said.

The light around the boy’s knife flickered before expanding into a tapering sword. Boongar grinned, lunging into Akjah with a wicked slash in a clean arc. The entire crowd cooed in shock with half of them standing.

Gishky recoiled, gaping.

Boongar took deep breathes and dropped his arm. His entire body was wrought in heat that seemed ready to burn him to a crisp. He turned around and saw Akjah just before the flaybeast’s torso fell off its hip and his lower half fell on its knees.

The announcer bellowed, “And with an amazing finish, Boongar is our winner!”

Gishky leaped on the fence and shook ferociously like a trapped animal wanting its freedom. But she was laughing hysterically.

Boongar smiled and sighed, slowly feeling the burn leaving his body. Thank you, father. Boongar raised his knife, then collapsed.

 

Ki’zap loved the company of Boongar not because he was a skilled hunter, and great lover, but he also passed on his knowledge to her. Now she could actually fend for herself thanks to the tools he equipped her with.

Electites, like Ki’zap’s small clan, lived in groups comprised of simple mud huts, where they stored berries and fruits they gathered, played, mated and relieved themselves in holes they dug throughout the forest.

Ki’zap stepped out of her dwelling into the surrounding huts, all blotched from filtered sunlight from the tree, and her ears filled with the sound of chirping birds and rustling leaves. She wore a strap where her bow was hung along with a strap of bows. She also had a small stone knife Boongar helped shape for her.

As she was leaving Ki’zap stopped by a hut, where she knocked on it and her sister came out. Her sister had a longer face, and one breast was missing from an encounter she once had with a clawhopper.

“Ki’zap,” she said. “You go out?”

“Yes, Ki’tar,” said Ki’zap. “Ki’zap feal for fish. For her an Boongar.”

Ki’tar chuckled. “Ki’zap wants to please mate.”

Ki’zap pounded her chest. “I…good hunter. I will make our clan stronger, and make Boongar my mate for good. Tell father I will be by the river.”

“I will,” said Ki’tar. “Bring your sister back big fish.”

The two hugged, and Ki’zap walked out of their village and through the forest. The river she was mentioning wasn’t far away, and her clan made sure to mark the area using weavings between the trees that made it easier for them to climb if they encountered some random predator. Ki’zap kept her senses sharp for anything wanting to eat her, which resulted in her being able to detect the clawhoppers as they scurried down the trees. Ki’zap quickly shrieked defensively as sparks spewed from her fur. As the clawhopper took swipes at the stinging, crackling light, Ki’zap put an arrow in the notch and pulled back on the bow. She shot the first clawhopper in the chest and scurried around with blood dripping from its wound, and the second she got right in its face.

Ki’zap left both creatures twitching on the ground as she hurried away. The river wasn’t far, and Ki’zap stood by its edge. Some grazers were there but they seemed oblivious to the small electite. Ki’zap walked into the water, where it reached to her wait. After dropping some grains into the water Ki’zap backed away, and waited. After a few minutes Ki’zap placed another arrow into the bow and aimed it at the spot she once was and produced electricity. The animals fled from the display, and Ki’zap channeled the electricity into the arrow as she had been practicing.

There was a sizzle and crackle in the water and the flash of light quickly went. Then several fishes floated to the top of the water and Ki’zap went into it and collected seven fishes in a snake-skin sack and walked out.

Ki’zap smiled at her accomplishment. Providing Boongar with food would also show him how capable her kind was to the large humans. It was a great victory for her—then Ki’zap suddenly tossed it out of her mind upon seeing the figure dart behind the tree.

Ki’zap erected. She stared at the tree where something as tall as a human was. Something to her left moved and Ki’zap snapped her head in that direction. Then the bush to her right rustled, and gleeful laughter followed. Ki’zap almost panicked and dropped her goods, but held onto the sack and ran. She couldn’t stop and fight them less they corner and overpower her. She heard more laughter and trees crashing around, and tried to trip.

Ki’zap shrieked. “Leave me alone!”

She conjured electricity around her as a shield and glimpsed the robed pursuers around her.

“Run little one! Run!” a girls voice jeered.

Ki’zap was just a few yards away from her village when a mass of black wisps slithered through the trees and tripped her. She quickly discarded the fishes to lighten her load and took out her knife, cutting vigorously at the tendrils that evaporated when severed. She ran again, only to have the marionot fall upon her from the trees.

 

It was a day after Boongar had bested Akjah and he sat in the back of the yard. His wounds would take some time to recover from such carnage but Boongar was perfectly fine waiting. He would still have strength to have sex with Ki’zap, and imaged the different ways he would have her. But sometimes his mind would lean on Gishky. Compared to Ki’zap, Gishky had more attractive proportions that Boongar wanted to savor, and probably could bear him strong children.

Boongar hit his head. “Why am I thinking like this at my age?”

Then Boongar remembered him needing to restore his clan. It was the link to his bloodline in the astral world that helped Boongar. His eyes glanced at the knife next to him on bench, dyed with the blood of his father and grandfather. Their essence boosted his strength in battle, and in a sense, they lived through him. Even in death, the Ekandel were still fighting.

But Boongar put fighting at ease and decided to relax. He still planned on going into the Shaded Boscage, and would need all the rest he could get.

Boongar went back inside, alone as Gishky went to celebrate her winnings with everyone else. Her underwear crossed his mind but Boongar went to the books in his quarters and sat and read them. He went through the bestiary with idle leisure before a memory came back to him. Boongar sat up and went back to the index. Finding the types of animals in a particular set of pages and he quickly skipped through it. He found the page.

“There you are,” said Boongar.

He saw the image of the arctodus and read the details about it. They were solitary animals that only met during the mating season, and were very territorial. All that said, Boongar wondered why it didn’t tear his head off.  Surely Boongar would’ve made a tasty snack, and the arctodus could have done it easily.

Maybe it was afraid of my spirit power?

Boongar decided that if at least the arctodus wouldn’t devour him, it would make his travels safer. Satisfied with that, he found information about another creature he was looking for. One Boongar knew for sure would devour the flesh off his bones. He found the image of the spadee-tailed, reptilian creature with the chest for a head. A snikag. These were derlkia formed from the soul-fragments of those who died clutching their treasure, fused to their precious valuables to create a form of life that lives to spite travelers by luring them with the bait of riches only to be eaten.

After some more reading Boongar put the book down, and decided to hold off masturbating no longer and got up. He pulled away the curtain and stepped into the rest of the house, making his way to Gishky’s dwelling. Boongar was just about to pull the curtain away when through the window ahead he saw a face pull away.

Boongar froze and said, “What the…?” The young man spun around, sped to the weapon on the shelves and fetched the axe.

Boongar’s half-ran half-hopped outside, careful not to open any stitches. But he couldn’t let an intruder just run through his yard. He opened the door, saw nothing in the front yard, and ran around the back. Boongar raised the axe and screamed as he came around the corner, only to find nothing.

“No way they’re that fast!” he said, going to the fence and peering into the forest to see where they were hiding.

With no trace of the intruder, Boongar was about to relax his shoulders when he heard a slithery voice say, “Hmmm, feisty I see.”

Adrenalin exploded in Boongar. He spun around, following the voice to an elevated level. The roof. There he saw someone, something, crouched along the edge of the house.

“Who are you?” Boongar said, raising the axe. He could focus clearly now at who he saw. Fine white fur, large green eyes and a blue body suit. But a look on the face dispelled all notion of a human. A catlike woman was looking back at him.

She stood, with toned legs and arms. She had with a large scythe on her back and a belt with many thin blades and wires attached. The woman leaped and landed gracefully/\.

Boongar was about deliver a strike when her appearance clicked in his head. “I-It’s you! From Grassroot lane!”

The woman looked Boongar up and down as she rested a hand on her wide hips. “So it is true. Gishky got herself a human runt.”

“I’m not a runt,” Boongar said. “And who are you? And what are you doing in my yard?”

“I could ask you as well,” she said. “You stopped at my gate and was staring in my yard like you owned something.”

Boongar said, “I was only curious—but I didn’t trespass.” Then Boongar saw the size of her breasts as they bulged under her clothes.

The woman glared at Boongar with a smile. He slightly recoiled from the piercing green eyes. She said, “See something you like?”

“What? No!” Boongar said.

The woman scoffed. “They call me Kasha. I’m one of the best hunters around here.”

“I could tell,” said Boongar. “I saw a lot of skulls in your yard.”

Kasha lifted a clawed finger and gently touched Boongar’s chest. She made a circle with it and stopped in the center. “Spirit energy. You’re a special one. I can see why Gishky didn’t let you go.”

“How do you know Gishky anyway?” Boongar said.

Kasha said, “Everyone knows her. That girl from the big city.”

Boongar’s forehead furrowed. “She’s, from a human city?”

Kasha suddenly placed a finger over her mouth. “Oops! I think I said too much.” Kasha dropped her hand and chuckled. “My welcome is overstayed.” She pinched Boongar’s cheek, making him flinch. “Don’t get this pretty little face cut now—with your cute yellow eyeliner.”

Kasha turned and leaped onto the roof, then in one bound that astounded Boongar she cleared four meters and reached into a tree.

She is a cat after all, Boongar thought. Then his mind went on Gishky. He didn’t think the woman had any more secrets. She was even willing to tell him about her children who had long since gone on their own adventures, but she never revealed to Boongar her origins.

Boongar looked around for anyone else trying to pay him a visit, and seeing no other visitors he went inside to finish his proclivities. Now Boongar had the image of Kasha along with Gishky’s underwear for stimulation.

Later that night, as Boongar ate a meal of roast chicken and bread, he heard loud singing outside. Boongar got up from around the table with a slice of bread in his mouth and went to the door. He opened it and peered outside, watching Gishky as she staggered through the gate and into the yard.

Boongar sighed, finished the bread in his mouth and stepped outside. “You’re drunk again, Gishky.”

Her cheeks red and her smile unhinged, Gishky stopped, then wobbled as she almost careened over. “N-No I’m not.”

Boongar took her arm and carefully led Gishky inside. She was still humming, and smelt like a tavern. But Boongar saw no physical injury on the woman and hushed his concerns.

“You should’ve been there, Boon,” Gishky said as Boongar sat her on the bench. “We were singing…dancing…and all kinds of stuff.”

Boongar poured Gishky and glass of water. She made three slouchy attempts before finally gripping it. She brought it to her mouth and drank, spilling some on her chest.

“It sounds like you had lots of fun,” Boongar said.

“The most…I had in a long time…” Gishky leaned back on the table. She looked at Boongar and said, “You. You’re something else, kid. Who would’ve known you could use magic?”

“It’s in the bloodline of my people,” Boongar said.

“They’re fine folks then,” Gishky said.

Boongar hung his eyes, going silent. “…They were.”

Gishky realized she just dug up some old bones and sighed. She threw back her head, and leaned and took Boongar’s hand. She brought him close to her and said, “You’re very powerful for your age, Boon. And you’ll grow into a strong man one day. If you ever decide not to seek revenge, you can always restart your clan with power like yours.”

Boongar said, “But the same thing might happen again. I must rid all threats against me.”

Gishky brought Boongar close and hugged him. “Well, I guess I shouldn’t try to stop you. It’s hypocritical for me to have you fight to the death to get me rich and not fulfill your destiny I suppose. You’re really good at killing, so…”

Boongar smiled, patting Gishky’s back. “I am.”

Gishky let go of Boongar and made a loud sighed. “My head is screwed. I really need to sleep tonight.”

Boongar said, “And a bath.”

Gishky took her bath first, then put on a gown before retiring to her room. Boongar read the bestiary about different reptiles before turning off the lamp to retire to bed. But the loud voice that screamed his name forced his eyes open.

“Huh?” Boongar replied.

“Boongar!”

The voice sounded squeaky, but forced like coming from a small throat. Boongar reached for his knife because he knew it wasn’t Gishky’s voice. He stepped outside his cot and saw Gishky hurrying into the middle of the room with her pistol.

She spotted Boongar and said, “Who the hell is that?”

Boongar said, “…Maybe it’s Ki’zap?”

Gishky opened the door and peeped, then flung it open and said, “What the hell?”

Boongar squeezed pass Gishky, freezing upon seeing a half a dozen electites standing in the yard.

Gishky pointed the gun and said, “The fuck you all doing in my yard?”

The small people recoiled and huddled, until Boongar stepped before Gishky and said, “Wait, Gishky!”

“You know these cretins?” she said.

Boongar turned to an electite with a long face and missing breast. “Ki’tar…why are you here?”

Ki’tar said, “Boongar…Ki’zap. She is gone.”

Boongar frowned. “What are you talking about?”

One of the electites gave Ki’tar a set of bow and arrows, and she gestured with it to Boongar “Ki’zap went for fish. But she did not come back. We looked for Ki’zap. We found just this…”

Boongar looked at the weapons and concluded them identical the ones he and Ki’zap worked on. Minus Ki’zap. Boongar saw the depressed look on Ki’tar’s face. Her eyes sparkling with tears.

“Ki’zap was taken,” said Ki’tar. “The forest took her!”

Boongar’s body suddenly felt weak again, and his head felt light. He slowly turned to Gishky with an intense gaze.

Gishky lowered her gun and her shoulders slumped. “Ah shit. I was looking forward for a few days to sleep off the rum.”

 

It was a painstaking task for Boongar. Knowing his girlfriend was out there in the clutches of some filthy evildoer but his body was too weak to act. Four days of mental torture as he wondered what fate befell Ki’zap. But he was preparing, he and Gishky, gathering all the resources necessary to voyage into the Shaded Boscage for her. Now, they both felt the time for wait had passed.

“Boongar, I hope you realize this is a trap,” Gishky said as she checked the rifle she’d purchased two days prior.

Boongar stood in the middle of the room, wearing his trousers and grey padded vest as he swung an axe to test the strength of his arm. “I know,” he said. “They took Ki’zap specifically so I would be forced to come there.”

As Gishky loaded her rifle with bullets, she said, “And you’re just going to give them what they want?”

Boongar turned to her and said, “You didn’t leave me there to die at that river. I won’t leave Ki’zap there either.”

Gishky hung her head and blushed. “Keep your diapers on, boy.”

They debarked early in the morning, making sure they would have as much sunlight throughout the day to work with. Gishky brought along her rifle, pistol and a backpack with ammunition, while Boongar, with his knife of course, carried his axe and sword along with some pocketbombs. It was a slow, quiet walk to through the woods before they finally arrived at the Shaded Boscage.

The two looked at the shaded trees before them, already feeling a creepy air wafting from it. Shrieks and screams could be heard, and Boongar thought his ears picked up the sound of someone laughing.

Gishky unslung her rifle and held it ready. “I paid a few folks for back up. Are you sure you don’t want to wait?”

Boongar readied his sword. “We don’t have the time. We have to move now.”

Gishky, with the better senses, took the lead. The threat, as they walked, was nothing serious beyond curayogs and reptiles Gishky scared off. But still a feeling like a knife tip in the backs still lingered.

Then Gishky did a doubletake to her right as a bipedal form ran by. “Hold it!” she said a she fired off a round at the figure.

Boongar then saw someone else leaping across a tree and said, “Up there!”

Gishky looked up and saw a marionot skipping daintily on a branch. Then one suddenly hopped out of a bush before them, and the goblin and human huddled together and faced the stranger in the tattered garbs,

“It’s the marionot!” Boongar said. “Where’s Ki’zap! Where’s my girlfriend?”

But Gishky, looking at the being before them, said, “Boongar, this isn’t a marionot. I don’t know what kind of derlkia it is but marionots aren’t this big. Who the hell are you?”

The female spoke, and the mouth didn’t move which confirmed to them all it was indeed a mask. “We have been waiting for you, son of Ekandel…”

“What do you all want with me?” Boongar said.

Another of the females ran out, and the third had climbed down the tree to join the, huddling together to form a trio of cackling characters. One had short black hair, the other a cracked mask and the last was bald. The short-haired one said, “Your blood, boy. That special blood.”

“It will make our master proud,” the bald one added.

“Your…master…?” said Boongar.

Gishky cocked her rifle. “Enough of this shit.” She leveled her weapon at them. “You have an electite that we want. Give her back or we start putting bullets in your asses.”

“Yes,” the cracked-mask female said, “we will give her to you…once Boongar comes with us.”

“No deal,” Gishky said.

Boongar said, “Gishky, maybe—”

Gishky pulled the trigger, scoring a shot right in the bald one. She screamed and twisted as she fell, and the other two suddenly shrieked.

“You dare!” the cracked-mask said. “You will pay for this, vermin!”

The short-haired one cradled their wounded companion in her arms and said, “You will follow us, Boongar. You, goblin, will feed the forest!”

And almost on cue movement around the forest intensified. Gishky, her head franticly swiveling around, said, “What the hell’s going on?”

Boongar stood back-to-back with Gishky as dozens of predators appeared. Clawhoppers, stick-insects and all other host of carnivorous monstrosities made after them. Gishky immediately unloaded rounds from her rifle, popping holes into the monsters that came close. Boongar dodged the swipes from a curayog and a clawhopper before slashing their arms and legs, then tossed a charm tag at one of the giant insects, binding it in chains. Gishky tossed a handful of pockets bombs that exploded and repelled a group of insects before a giant lizard fell from above and pinned her down. It was a snikag, and as it opened its jaws Gishky stuck her rifle inside and fired, blowing the back of the creature’s head to a pulp.

Boongar skipped around the claws of a stick-insect, chopped off a limb and made the creature recoil and shriek before cleaving its face in two. Boongar turned from the dead predator to where he last saw the girls, and witnessed them fleeing.

“Oh no you don’t…” Boongar gave chase, and a host of teeth and claws followed him.

Gishky whacked a clawhopper in the head before turning to the boy. “Boongar you idiot!” Gishky tossed another pocketbomb to scattered the monsters so she could move.

Boongar saw the girls getting smaller as they sped away despite the burden of carrying a wounded. Boongar picked up speed, crashing through the underbrush. He was just getting closer until he found himself suddenly swarmed by a gang of knuckdent.

“Dammit!” Boongar said, more irritated than afraid.

There was no way he would progress with these derlkia taking heavy jabs and swings and him and Boongar was forced to stop. Boongar was more prepared than the last time, and reached