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The creature was getting more hostile. Based on its body language and warning tones, it was preparing to pounce on them any second now. Somehow, she had to find a way to soothe it. Make friends with it.
Oh, what she wouldn’t give for a doggie treat!
Then, all her consideration was shot to hell when Chewie bounded forth with a boisterous bark and threw himself at the three-headed beast.
“No!” Divina cried, trying to leap on top of the fearless puppy before he reached the monster that blocked their way.
But it was too late.
The beast had already opened its massive jaws, two of its heads shooting toward Chewie as if it intended to snap the pup in half.
~ * ~* ~ *~ * ~* ~ *~ * ~
Ere would never admit it, but that overgrown fluff ball of a lion-dog was growing on him. So, when Chewie launched himself to certain death, Ere was only half a step behind Divina going after the pup.
But Chewie was already mid-flight in his pounce, several feet away from Divina and Ere’s reach. And the beast—Cerberus—had already extended two of its heads, jaws wide, the closest one snapping down on Chewie’s head.
Nooooo!Ere screamed in his mind as he watched in agonizing increments the closing of the monster’s jaws around Chewie’s fur.
And then—
A sharp puppy yip.
Silence.
Everyone held their breath. Ere, Sorin and Divina were all frozen mid-motion on the ground, staring wide-eyed at Chewie dangling from the hound of Hades’ muzzle.
Not broken and bleeding as Ere expected, however. Just simply…
Dangling.
Chewie hung limp from the grip Cerberus’s teeth had on his scruff, all four paws relaxed as if he was merely a boneless heap of fur. The only sign that he was alive and unharmed was his slightly panting mouth and his squinted eyes, almost completely obscured by fur.
He looked…happyactually. Not at all concerned that he could have been swallowed whole in the gullet of one of those gigantic heads, or snapped in two by those massive jaws.
Ere could only watch in paralyzed disbelief, along with Sorin and Divina, as Cerberus sat down on its haunches with Chewie dangling from its maw.
It shook the pup a bit, like a rag doll. Chewie didn’t complain, simply continuing to dangle and pant. The two other heads moved closer to examine the Mastiff. One head snuffled his scent and whined in its throat.
At least it didn’t sound like a murderous whine, Ere thought, but he didn’t know much about dogs and their noises. A glance at Divina showed that she didn’t seem to look worried. She was staring at the animals’ interaction with a strange kind of wonder on her face.
The third head nudged Chewie’s exposed furry belly with its snout, and the puppy loosely wrapped all four paws around the creature’s nose, making Cerberus pull back and shake its head, sneezing repeatedly after being tickled by the thick tufts of Chewie’s fur.
Suddenly, the silence was broken by a loud scraping noise, like the sweeping of a heavy broom.
Out of the corner of his eye, Ere saw Cerberus’ javelin-like tail wag back and forth across the stone ground.
Huh.
Before Ere could fully absorb the implications of this meet and greet, Cerberus abruptly got up, turned and padded into the darkness with Chewie still dangling from its jaws.
“Hey! You can’t just take him like that! Put him down!” Divina called, picking up her tunic and running after them.
That was when Ere and Sorin also mobilized, unfreezing, hustling after the dogs and the feather dragon, into the unknown darkness.
He didn’t know how long it took. Could have been a few seconds or hours. All Ere knew was that one moment they’d been facing a seemingly impenetrable darkness, and the next, they’d arrived in a dazzling, cavernous hall.
Before he could fully take in his new surroundings, a low, rumbling voice gained all of his attention.
