“Yeah.”
“What are they?”
“Hel hounds.”
“Hel hounds?”
“Hel hounds.”
“Dam—”
“And the worst part is that we stil have to figure out a way to get out of here in one piece.”
“Why didn’t they come in after you?”
“Salt,” Lucius replied in answer. “Rock salt. They can’t tolerate it.”
“Seriously?”
“So it would appear.”
“Wel , lucky for you, I might just have a solution to your problem,” Devon crowed proudly.
“Our problem?” Annika asked. “Now it’s your problem, too.”
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. You know what I mean.”
“So what’s this big solution then?”
“Come on,” Devon said. “I’l show you.” His voice echoed back to us as he turned toward the depths of the mine.
Bo stood without much difficulty and the four of us fol owed Devon into the bel y of the mine. Despite my sharper eyesight, I stil found it difficult to see and that alone was very disconcerting. We had no sources of light and it was like being swal owed, one step at a time.
“When they brought me in here, we went further down into the mine at first. Just around the bend from where they ended up staking me to the wal there’s a big pile of stuff and a bunch of buckets. I had no idea what it was, but now that you mention rock salt... It’s kind of clear-ish white like that,”
Devon explained.
As soon as we rounded the corner to which he was referring, it was impossible not to see the enormous mound of white gravel. It looked like a pile of hail.
“So what’s the plan then? We get a couple buckets and throw the stuff at them as we run? We’d have to have a dump truck load to make it al the way back out of the woods,” I observed in exasperation. In my opinion, this was no solution at al .
“Now hold on there, lass. This just might work. We wouldn’t have to make it that far. The hounds are shackled to this area. They can’t just roam about freely. Al we have to do is make it out of their territory and we’l be home free,”
Lucius said encouragingly.
His words brought the first bright ray of optimism into the dark interior of the mine. I bent to pick up one of the buckets. It was fairly large and would hold quite a bit of rock salt. If we could each carry two of them…
Wordlessly, everyone else bent to pick up a bucket and scoop up as much rock salt as it would hold and then repeat the process with a second bucket. I had to smile at our like-mindedness.
When each of us had a pail in both hands, we made our way back out to the mine’s entrance. The hel hounds were no longer pacing, but standing perfectly stil as they watched us, careful y peering between the slats of the boards covering the mouth.
We al stopped, forming a semicircle around the hole in the boards that my body had made when Bo threw me into the mine. After a few seconds, Lucius continued on, approaching one hel hound where he stood just on the other side of the break. He didn’t stop until less than a foot of space separated him from the dog.
Taking both pail handles in one hand, Lucius grabbed a single fat rock of salt and tossed it up in the air like a tiny basebal , catching it in his palm. The hound watched him, the hungry fury in his eyes leaping in tal flames that teased the darkness around him.
“Open up for me, big boy,” Lucius taunted, tossing the rock up again.
He lunged toward the hound, bringing himself up short before he passed the salt-rich soil of the interior of the mine.
The hound reacted, bracing himself for attack and opening his mouth wide in a loud bark.
Lucius took ful advantage of the dog’s open mouth. With perfect aim, he hurled the golf bal -sized mineral al the way into the back of its throat.
The hound made no move to react at first. He and Lucius simply stood staring at each other, as if waiting to see who would flinch first. But then, with great heaves of his body, he started to sputter and gag, attempting to spit the rock up.
When after several seconds he could not, it became apparent that Lucius had thrown the salt in too deep and it was already dissolving.
The hound shook its head in discomfort and began to drool even more, his saliva liberal y streaked with thick threads of blood. He closed his blazing eyes and made a strangling sound in the back of his throat.
We al watched from inside the mine, rapt, as smoke began to arise from the hound’s enormous head. A sickening sulfurous odor washed into the shaft, saturating the air with its stench. The wolf-like creature extended his neck and hacked, blood and spit flying out and splattering the ground with its acidic slime. Dirt and leaves hissed under the burn of the saliva then the dog’s front legs col apsed and he al but fel onto his face.
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.”