“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.
When the animal kept struggling, it became obvious that breaking its neck was not enough. Twisting his body, Bo threw the hound to the ground and laid his body across it to hold it in position. I saw him stretch his arm up over his head and I covered my mouth. I couldn’t help it. I knew what he was going to do—what he had to do—but I stil couldn’t stop the lurching of my stomach in response to it.
For the space of one heartbeat, Bo glanced back at me, regret showing clearly in his eyes. In that moment, he communicated to me his sorrow that I had to see what was about to happen, that my life had been reduced to this.
Determined to show him my courage and to ease his always-troubled mind, I dropped my hands and straightened my spine. This was, after al , a demon creature from the depths of a hel we could only imagine. With that in mind, I nodded to him and, like the strike of a snake, Bo shoved his fist through the hound’s ribs and tore out its heart.
As dark life bled from the creature, Bo rose to his feet and stepped away from its twitching form. We al stood watching for several seconds, each lost in our own thoughts, each trapped in a different level of speechlessness, until final y the creature’s movement ceased entirely.
It was almost with a sigh of relief that its body caught fire.
Flames quickly engulfed it, burning away al evidence of its existence before it disintegrated into a mound of ash that blew away like dust in the wind.