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The second hel hound skirted his companion, rol ing his eyes suspiciously toward the writhing form. When the first hound moaned in agony and began to shake violently, the second hound stepped back several paces and began to growl.
We al watched, partial y stunned by disbelief, as the devilish canine on the ground began to bubble and swel .
His tongue lol ed to one side and his ears twitched as if he could hear the sound of his own demise. And then, with an anti-climactic pop, he burst.
Large pieces of his furry hel hound rocketed into the air, erupting into flame and then raining down in a fine spray of ash. The wind carried a gust of the powder into the mine and we al watched it skitter across the dirt floor, stunned into silent disbelief by what we’d just witnessed.
“I can’t believe that just happened.”
“What the—”
“You couldn’t do that again if you tried.”
“My God, I’m good!” Lucius exclaimed.
“And so humble,” Annika teased.
Lucius threw a cocky grin over his shoulder at her and she seemed to eat it up. I was a bit annoyed at their lighthearted flirtation considering the circumstances we were in, but I had little time to dwel on it. I just wanted to get out of the mine, out of the woods and away from evil creatures.
“Alright, tough guy, let’s see you do it again with that one,”
Bo joked, pointing to the second, warier hound as he paced cautiously several feet from the mine entrance.
“That’s the smarter one. He’s already caught on to my plan. He won’t get close enough for me to get something into his mouth. Trust me.”
“Ok, so what now then? Are we just going to make a run for it?”
We al looked at each other, but it was Bo that answered.
“There’s only one of him and five of us. I think we should be alright until we can get out of his territory.”
As Bo outlined how he thought we could get away from the creature without being burned to a crisp, I listened with half an ear, the larger portion of my mind stil marveling over his healing abilities.
When he concluded, I felt satisfied that I’d stil managed to get the gist of what he’d said. We al run, each taking turns throwing salt back at the dog to fend him off. That would serve two purposes. One, it would slow him down and hopeful y keep him from lunging at any one of us. Two, it would pepper the ground with rock salt, possibly making his chase more painful and difficult.
With everyone in agreement and standing at the ready at the mine’s entrance, Bo took me aside for a pep talk.
“Don’t forget that you can run as fast as the wind, you’re strong and capable and you heal extraordinarily fast,” he said, cupping my cheek with his palm. I could see in his eyes how hard he was trying to convince me, trying to al ay my fears. I smiled, injecting al the confidence and assurance I could into the gesture. He returned my smile, seemingly more at ease.
Taking my hand, Bo led me back to the mouth, back to the group, where we decided that Lucius would exit first, pelting the hound with rock salt as the rest of us emerged from the mine and then we’d make our way southwest.
As far as plans go, that one went off without a hitch, thank God. The hound retreated, albeit unhappily, as Lucius hurled wel -aimed chunks of rock salt at him, giving the rest of us plenty of time and space to get away from the mine. As discussed, we started running southwest, each of us taking turns throwing handfuls of rock salt at the hound as he careful y pursued.
I noticed after only a couple of minutes that his feet were smoking, presumably where he was treading on the intolerable substance. That was fortuitous, but decidedly unnecessary in the end.
As we continued our efforts to escape, we ran up a smal incline and topped a hil . When we began our descent on the other side, it was my turn to lob pieces of rock salt, but the hound never appeared at the top of the hil .
“Wait!” I cal ed to the others.
We slowed, looking back the way we’d come, but stil there was no sign of the devilish dog.
“I guess he reached the end of his leash,” Lucius cackled.
“So it would appear,” Bo agreed, though he didn’t look completely convinced. “Alright, let’s get out of here.”
Dropping our buckets of salt, we al turned in unison and struck out at a more relaxed pace across the uneven forest floor. We’d traveled a couple hundred yards from the hil and were rounding a rock formation when the beast leapt out in front of us.
Although Annika squealed in alarm, I was somehow able to stifle my reaction. I imagined that, more than self-control, it was the fact that no sound could make its way past the knot of fear that had leapt up into my throat.
We al pul ed to a hasty stop, tightening our group to make a united front against the hound. He seemed not to notice, however, as his attention was riveted on Lucius.
Lucius was to my right, Bo to my left. As the animal focused his burning gaze on Lucius, I could feel the heat of it washing over my face like rays of black sun. The sickening smel of Lucius’s skin melting permeated the air and we al stood helplessly by as the hel hound began to cook him alive.
“Push him down, Ridley,” Bo whispered, the sound so faint I could barely hear it.
I looked to Bo to make sure he’d actual y spoke to me.
He confirmed he had by nodding meaningful y at me. At his side, Bo waved his hand slightly, holding up three fingers and then lowering one.
He was counting down to a plan that began with me pushing Lucius to the ground.
Understanding what Bo wanted, I nodded and felt my muscles bunch in preparation for Bo’s signal. When Bo lowered his third finger, I turned my body and pushed out with my arms in one smooth motion, connecting with Lucius’s fiery chest and knocking him to the ground.
Motion stirred the air to my left and I turned to see Bo launch himself at the hel hound. He hit the dog in the side and, with a grunt, the dog succumbed to the force and the two of them went skidding across the ground.
For several heart-pounding seconds, they wrestled in the leaves for the upper hand before the dog made his way to his feet. When he did, Bo wrapped his arms around the canine’s mighty head, but the hound was too strong. Easily, he turned his head enough to sink his enormous teeth into Bo’s upper arm.
Bo cried out but didn’t let go. Instead, he seemed to tighten his grip, making it more difficult for the hound to move his head and get his deadly jaws anywhere near Bo’s flesh.
Once Bo had managed to secure the dog’s head in the crook of one arm, he reached around and grabbed the dog’s muzzle. With one sharp crank, Bo snapped the hound’s neck. I heard the wet crack from where I was standing.
