Dog shifted, his body restless, but too wounded to make any use of its energy. He turned, focusing on the heat in his back, Harlow pressed against him as they dozed for the third day. They’d eaten quickly, the heat of the fire making it easy to sleep despite the rain that roared outside. His thoughts drifted to Ruby, his belly tight with concern, and Une, fears of what she would think dwelling in his mind. He turned to speak, freezing as a pair of dexterous hands wrapped themselves around his neck.
“Harlow.” He whispered.
“I’m aware.” She said, more awake than he’d expected, tapping up and down his neck, her thumbs rubbing against his flesh, “You won’t stop moving. I’m losing my patience.”
He pulled away, “Stop it. That’s not funny.”
“Am I a joke to you now?” She asked.
He turned, struggling to meet the steadiness of her gaze.
“What’s bringing this on?”
“I want to sleep.”
“I'm not dumb enough to buy that.”
“Surprising.” She snorted, gripping him again, his spine tingling, “I want to kill you.”
“That’s not funny.”
“Something about you has always bugged me.” She replied, “You’ve seen me naked, and you’ve never shown the slightest interest. Even John wanted to see me alone. So why didn’t you? Not good enough for you? Prefer a woman with more muscle like your northerner? You sicken me. I hate you.”
He shifted, “Why are you acting like this?”
“So why?” She asked, thumb lazily tapping at her chin, “Can I tell you something?”
“Right now? What the hells is wrong with you?”
“I want you to remember this.”
“I don’t understand what’s wrong with you?””
She shifted, straddling him and pressing her hands into his chest. She smiled disarmingly, pressing her hands back down around his throat, her eyes burning. He glared, thoughts whirring, a sluggish mess of concern, anxiety, and rage. No matter how much he trudged, or shoved his way through, he found it difficult to hold onto any one thought, each slipping away as quickly as the morning dew.
“Did Victoria ever tell you where she found me?”
“No.”
“She found me in an alley, covered in the blood of one of her men. I was a prostitute, a whore. I wasn’t worth anything my cunt couldn’t take, so he thought it would be funny to leave me dead and dying. I got a hold of his dagger and I slipped it between his ribs. He bled like a pig.” She laughed, “Do you know what she said?”
“Something is wrong.”
“This was before she cleaned up too. She used to be a real vicious bitch. Told me I’d done her a favor and asked me if I wanted to learn the sword. I was fifteen-summers. We’ve fought together a long time, you know.”
“I don’t understand. I can’t think. Can you think? I don’t-”
She glared, her smile rotting, “God, I wish I could hate you. I wish I could just go back to my tent, go back to the easy campaigns. Go back to being everyone’s favorite secret psychopath. I want to strangle you. I’m going crazy. I’m going insane. I hate all of this.”
“You’re not crazy, Harlow. You’re hurting. You’re just like me.”
“Couldn’t you even try to take advantage of me?” She spat, “Could you give me some real reason to hate you? It’d be so easy. So easy to just make everything nasty, and complicated. Then I’d feel good about wanting to strangle you. To rip your throat open.”
“I just want to be a better comrade.”
“Your earnestness is infuriating.”
He pulled her down, wrapping her against his chest, “You can dislike me if you want.”
“Good. I hate you.” She whispered, swallowing her tears.
“You can. It’s okay. I will accept your hate for the help you’ve given me. Thank you.”
“Bastard!” She cried.
“It’s okay to not be okay, Harlow. It’s hard, I struggle with it too.”
“Can you just shut up and stab me? I hate crying.”
“I’m not going to do that, Harlow.” He shook his head, unsure of how to further comfort her, “We’ll get out of this cave soon, and then we’re free. We can pretend nothing happened.”
“You’re too nice to me.”
“We’re both changing.”
“I wish I wasn’t.”
“I kind of wish I hadn’t too. Everything is complicated. I’m bad at this.”
“But it’s horrifically endearing and that makes me want to vomit.” She pounded her fist against his chest, “You try. You try constantly, and you never ask anyone for anything. You give, and you serve, and you give. I feel like I can’t ever repay you. It’s never enough. I never wanted this. Above all else, I never wanted this. I didn’t want to live in debt. I want to be free.”
“Why do you need to repay me for anything?”
“Because I’m useless. I can’t fight alongside you, I’m not our comrades' champion, I can’t do anything. I’m a sneak, and a rogue. I can slip a knife in someone’s neck and scout out troops. I can’t battle monsters, or armies.”
“I don’t need any of that from-“
“I know! What good am I? I gave up everything to become a warrior! But here I am. I want to kill you. I want to kill you just like I killed him. I want to slit your throat!”
“We’re allowed to be weak sometimes.” He said, That’s what mother would say.
“You can only say that because you’re strong!”
“I’m the weakest of my siblings.”
“Then you’re all monsters.”
“Harlow.”
“What?”
“You are my friend. You don’t need to be anything more.”
She stilled, “It’s that simple to you, is it?”
“I’m not clever. I can’t afford to complicate things.”
“You’re such a simple bastard.” She sighed, “I can’t believe what I just tried to do.”
“We don’t need to talk about it.”
“I turned out to be just like Victoria. All I did was push my problems off on you.” She rubbed her face, “I’m sorry, Dog. I didn’t even realize.”
“Well you didn’t take my eye, at least.”
“That’s true. Pretty hard to fuck that up though, in my opinion.”
“You aren’t a bad person, Harlow.”
“Thanks, Dog. I’ll try not to be.”
“You're still trying to choke me.”
“Yep.”
“You really shouldn’t.”
“It’s a pretty nice neck. Might be my favorite, I don’t hate who it’s attached to.”
“There are far too many dangerous women attached to me for my liking.”
“You think I’m dangerous?”
“When I first joined you almost had me a few times.”
“Really?” Her hands tightened.
“Harlow.”
“What?”
“This is a bad idea. Something is wrong with us. Can’t you sense it? It's not naiads.”
“What? Don’t wanna see what a professional whore can do? It’ll be quick.”
“You are my friend Harlow. You’re a scout. A soldier.”
“Spit that filth in my ears.”
“Stop please.”
“You sure?” She grinned up at him, “I won’t regret it if you’re this sweet.”
“You will. Let’s go to sleep so we can leave this miserable place and find Cici.”
She pouted, “I hate that you just leave me in your debt.”
“Friends don’t count debt.”
“I do.”
“Ugh.”
“Sorry.” She relinquished him, “I’m going crazy. We need to get out of here.”
She slid back across the cave, her eyes wide with fear, staring down at her hands as if they’d been stained. She shook, her body vibrating. She looked up at him, and he felt his chest tighten at the raw emotion on her face, the tell tale sign of tears threatening to undo what composure she’d managed to regain all together.
“D-Dog?” She stammered, “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I- I wouldn’t ever. I couldn’t. I’m sorry. Something is wrong… We need to leave. We need to get out of here.”
“We do. Go to sleep.”
“I’ll try.”
----------------------------------------
Dog grunted, the air in his lungs running scarce as a pair of slender hands slid around his neck.
“Harlow.” He rasped.
“Please?” She begged, “I’m losing my mind. I have to.”
“You don’t. It’s fine, Harlow.” He raised his arms, trying to lift her, “Let go!”
“Please? I can’t do this. I can’t think. I can’t hold myself back. Please, Dog. Please end this.”
“Harlow you don’t sound right.” He shifted, pulling her off of him, taking quiet greedy gulps of air. He tugged the relic he’d stashed beneath their pillows free and shoved it down into her chest. Pressing her flat against the floor of the cave.
“Oh god what’ve I done. What in the hell is wrong with me?” She cried, “Dog I’m sorry I don’t know what came over me. I’m so sorry, that- I’m sorry.”
“It wasn’t you.” He replied, “There’s something in the air, in the water, I can smell it. Some kind of drug. We need to get out of here and make for Vladislav. I think we’ve been eating it. It's fae in nature. Merlin’s gift silences them. I should’ve done this last night. I couldn’t think either. We are leaving, I’m well enough.”
She shivered, “I fuckin’ hate this county.”
They packed their gear, smothering their campfire log in the river and scaling the riverbank. Dog climbed a nearby tree, the meager sunlight making Vladislav an easy target, black against the bleak mountains, a stark white backdrop of snow, and stone.
“I’m going to carry you. It’ll be easier if I run. Hop on my back.”
“Just get me out of here.” Harlow agreed.
Dog sprinted through the forest, digging his axe into a nearby tree and swinging himself into their branches. His eyes tracked remnants of a battle, glittering daggers buried in the dirt. He frowned, continuing on as the sun rose.
“What’s wrong?” Harlow asked.
“Those looked like Ruby’s daggers.” He said.
“She was this close?” Harlow asked.
“Sound is poor near the river. The rapids and falls are too loud. But-“ He grunted, eyeing the claw marks on their path, “I think she must’ve ran into something. No blood in the trees, she wasn’t wounded. But she hurt it enough to piss it off.”
“She’s a clever rat. I’m sure she’s fine.”
“I’m more worried about what she’ll do to me.” He replied, “Or Une for that matter.”
They made quick time, hitting the city before midday, and entering the gates with ease, Dog’s armor in tatters in his travel pack. They returned to their tavern, finding it suspiciously empty.
“She’s not here.” Harlow noted, “Is Une?”
“No. They may be looking for us.”
“Waiting for you.” Ruby chittered from the ceiling, dropping down without a sound, “What happened? Healed?”
“I am now. Gargoyle hit me with a tree.”
Ruby sniffed him, rubbing her hands through his hair, “Smells painful. Dog stinks of Harlow. Gross.”
“Rude!” Harlow glared, “We found some weird drug in the air by our cave, and started to head back. I couldn’t help myself without Dog’s talisman.”
“Dog?” Ruby asked, “Okay?”
Dog shook his head, trying to force the scent from his nose.
“Ah fuck.” Harlow moved, “Ruby hold him down! The drugs in his system!”
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Ruby’s eyes widened, and she moved, wrapping herself around his torso and desperately trying to pin him to the bed. He grunted, pulling her free by the back of her neck and pinning her to the mattress. Ruby yelped, claws scratching the floorboard beneath her as she fought against his grip. He turned, knocking Harlow on her rear with ease as he turned to strangle her into the mattress, his fingers twitching, eyes burning, mouth frothing.
“Dog! Snap out of it!” Harlow pleaded.
He growled, leaning forward, before his hand snapped up to his mouth. He dug his teeth into the back of it, blood spilling free as he growled, trying to tear himself free but lacking the strength to fight his own body.
“Dammit, Ruby! Move! You need to fight him! He’s not in his right mind!”
“Can’t!” Ruby panted, “Can’t move! He’s strong! Too strong!”
“Shit.” Harlow dove for him, wrapping around his head with her body as she fought to put the necklace over his head, “Dog! Fight it! You’re hurting her!” Harlow slipped as his body locked up beneath her, his jaw clenched, eyes narrowed.
“Hurry.” He begged, blood dripping down his chin, “Please. I’m sorry. Please hurry. I can’t fight it.”
Harlow dove, shoving him down and throwing it around his neck. His eyes widened as he gasped, head aching.
“Dog? Ruby? Are you okay?”
Ruby stared up with wide eyes, her body shivering on the mattress at his side.
“Ruby?” Harlow asked.
“Ruby okay.” She panted, “Not your failure-fault. Couldn’t stop-control. Ruby is okay. Ruby is okay.”
“Jesus.”
“Dog is strong.” Ruby panted, “Dog-hunter is very strong.”
“I’m so sorry.” Dog struggled for air, unwilling to move, “It must be magic. The talisman disrupts it. Something. Poison. I don’t know.”
“Ruby…” She wheezed, “Ruby feels very dizzy-nauseous. Ruby tried really hard. Pat head please.”
Dog obeyed, laughing to himself as he dropped his hand onto her scalp.
“Dog okay? Not hurt?”
“I'm sorry.” He nodded.
“No sorry.” Ruby gripped his hand, “Safe, all of us. Have much to tell both. Know what caused crazy, think-guess. Red Warriors.”
“Red Warriors?”
Ruby fell to her knees at his side, pulling him into her chest, “No leave me again. Never, ever. Packmates stay together. Forever-always.”
“Never.” He agreed, leaning back to accept her hug.
“Ruby work hard. Ruby fight lots. You stay in Ruby bed.”
“Promise.” He agreed.
“Think found sister. Tower full of cat eye red warrior.” She hesitated, “Went searching with Une. Une danger. Liar. She attack Ruby.”
Dog paused, “What?”
“No attack on purpose-fault. Something… Switch. She big dog-hound. Attack Ruby, hunt Ruby with other dogs. Fight Red Warrior. Red Warrior have sister in fort, full of tubes. They say turn her. Tracking patrols. We go get quiet, sneak away. She need blood, guards say.”
Dog nodded, “You swear you aren’t lying?”
“Ruby promise.” She nodded, “Now come. Dog hurt Ruby, we sleep till night. No excuses! Sleep bed now! Ruby healing!”
“You said you were fine!”
“Sleep now! No excuses-exceptions!”
----------------------------------------
“Harlow…” Dog whispered as they awoke, Ruby readying her gear.
“Yeah, I get it. I’m outclassed and just in the way.” She shrugged, “Don’t wanna fight monster dogs or anything anyways. I’ll prepare for us to head out, get our gear ready.”
“Got it.” Dog nodded, “Ruby, you’re up front.”
The rat nodded, sticking her tongue out at Harlow with a quiet cackle, “Failure-bad! Ruby is best sneaker!”
Dog sighed again, shoving Ruby to the window. They checked over their gear once more, pulling a pair of masks up over their faces, and saying their farewells, before leaping into the darkness. The two vanished into the swirling mist, their footsteps light, and quick. With Ruby at his side their pace doubled, easily able to run all out without worrying about Harlow as they moved like water.
“Coming up on, prepare to be even stealthier-quiet.” Ruby whispered.
Dog slowed, and the two watched on in shock as the chaos before them was unveiled. Hulking beasts swarmed the fort, climbing up over the walls or blitzing through the gates. Battle engaged at every avenue, men and women in red armor desperately trying to regroup as they executed the beasts around them with ruthless efficiency, or were torn apart beneath a hail of claws and gnashing teeth.
Ruby chittered, “There, tower. Roughly. The flying beast is new.”
They watched a bipedal creature soar into the sky, it’s enormous wings flapping and sending out great gusts with incredible speed. Dog focused his vision, frowning as it came into greater clarity. Its body was a lean and muscled feminine form, with dark feathers that glistened with an unusually sharp edge along its arms and legs, wicked talons adorning both, its body covered in an strange and fleshy, tendril-like armor. Dog frowned, noting its six, glowing yellow eyes, set back in the birdlike carapace that composed its head.
“That one is dangerous.” He noted.
“Many eyes. Difficult to sneak upon. We scale fort at the rear, over the pass?”
“Drop down inside?”
“Yes-yes. Then move out through chaos. Dog learns-finds fast.” She praised, nose turned up in pride.
They ran. Dog’s axe lashing out to silence a man before he could speak, Ruby’s knives cutting through the darkness to bury themselves in a wolf's throat, silencing its cry of fury and shock. They hit the base of the tower like wraith’s, molding into the darkness that surrounded it.
“Climb fast. Tell if falling-slipping.” She whispered, before they began to scale the ruinous structure.
Dog felt his anxiety mounting, tension racing through his heart with each step. A portion of his quest neared completion, a sister within reach after so long. He felt sickness swell in his gut, the window within an arm's reach away. Pulling himself through after Ruby, he felt elated, only to find his joy fading quickly after, his heart sinking as he spied the corpse on the table.
“Gods, Cici. What’d they do to you? What’ve you gotten yourself into?” Dog collapsed, tears in his eyes, “Cici? Can you hear me?”
The body stirred, violet eyes fluttering open. She attempted to speak, her voice weak, and airy. Words failed to form, her mouth too dry, vocal cords cut.
He glared. Reaching out and crushing the cuffs holding her arms and legs to the table, the leather coming apart in his grip with ease. His eyes met her own, and relief filled them despite their glassy texture.
“How do I help?” He asked, “You need to tell me how to fix it.” He gripped her palm, wincing at the feel of her skin beneath his gauntlets, and pressed it to his head, collapsing against the table as her thoughts filled his own.
“Dog!” Ruby whispered from the door, “Okay? Hurt?”
“Cici is a mage.” He grunted, “She’s trying to communicate. Watch the door, please?”
Ruby obeyed.
Loyal, isn’t she? Cici’s thoughts rang within his head.
“Very.” He laughed, fighting back tears, “You said you were in trouble. Not half dead.”
What did you think I meant, you silly boy?
“How do I fix it?”
Do not be angry.
“I’m just worried you’re going to die right as I find you again.”
Not yet, sweetheart. I’m maybe… Potentially a vampire fledgling.
“What’s a vampire?”
I’m trying to understand its source. That’s how I ended up here. Unfortunately my physical ability is still subpar, so I was easily captured and they turned me. They are ageless, fast, and strong. They require blood to survive and the kingdom is infested with them. You must take their heart or decapitate them to truly kill one. They are very powerful, maybe too strong for you. They’re a hedonist faction, abusing the peasantry from the shadows and concocting any number of drugs to do so. I was investigating their dumping ground near a local river when I was found. Sound familiar?
“Understood. The dogs?”
What dogs?
Dog sighed, “How do I fix this?”
It's too late to undo the transformation I suspect, you will need to feed me your blood. I should resuscitate based on my notes. Dog didn’t hesitate in slicing open his wrist, Gods above, Light! Be careful! You’ll nick an artery!
“I was hoping to.” He admitted, “I don’t need you dying. Take as much as you need, I can heal fast enough to manage.”
Foolish boy. She sighed in his mind, Good Gods, Light! What’ve you been eating? This is the most potent blood I’ve ever studied. Are you well? This is incredible! I feel like this is… This is delicious. That feels terrible to say.
“Merlin gave me some insight into that.” He said.
“Do tell?” She rasped, her skin shifting and turning beneath him as she was rejuvenated before his eyes. Her skin pinked, muscles filling out, eyes brightening as her injuries mended themselves all at once, strength flowing through her veins in a wave of life, and power.
“I’m what’s called a Champion. I bet you already knew.”
“I had begun to find out we all are.” She nodded, shaking her head, trying to clear the warm haze in her mind.“Though your physical condition is astounding. The data I’m reading is exceptionally interesting.”
“You look like your pretty self again.” He said.
She flushed, rising from the table and stretching her arms above her head, basking in the afterglow, “Such a flatterer. I knew mother and I raised you well. Is this your friend?” She asked.
Ruby gaped, “How? Why Cliste pretty-human but Merlin old-gross?”
“Well, little mouse.” Cliste smiled, “It’s because I’m a better wizard.”
“You’re younger, aren’t you?”
“Hush, Light. Your mouse knows how to flatter. Why don’t you?”
“I just was?”
“Was, darling, was.” Cliste laughed, “I need clothes, preferably armor, then we can go.”
Dog dumped his sack on the table, “Yeah please less naked. That’d be nice.”
“My, my.” Cliste said, “You have grown. My goodness, you’re so wide. So muscular. Haven’t you gotten handsome and smart?” She pinched his cheek, “I’ll be fast. How’d you enter?”
“We scaled the tower.”
“How? It’s wrought iron and has nearly no grooves.”
“It does now.”
“My dear,” She clicked her tongue, pulling the leather chest piece over her head, “At least you remembered my style. Form fitting, beautiful, and intelligent. Where’s my hat?”
He pointed to a nearby table, “Ah, excellent. Thank Mother they left it there. I’d have burned the tower to the ground if they hadn’t. Vampire meat smells terribly when charred. How're we leaving?”
“Same way.” Dog shrugged.
“Can you hold me?”
“Easily.” He nodded.
“Right answer, darling. Very well, let’s go-“ The room exploded into violence before she could finish, a flurry of explosive motion, and steel.
Dog roared, his axe flashing, rage burning, flames licking at his cheeks as he blocked an attack from one of the vampires.
“Oh? Bloodsack was fast enough to react to you, Armand!” The one pinning down Ruby laughed, “Careful. These are probably the witches' bodyguards.”
“You worry too much Desmond!” Armand laughed, before his body was split in two, and then engulfed in flame, his lungs cleaved before he could scream, red armor rent apart.
Desmond watched, his grip slackening as the warrior before him raged, his body cloaked in an ethereal roaring flame, “You!” Dog roared, the blood evaporating off his skin, “I’m going to take your heart!”
He dashed, the vampire stumbling over its own feet amidst their rapid exchange, finding an axe embedded in its skull. Dog roared again, ripping it out and slamming it back down again, cutting the vampires head into a pair of fleshy chunks, it's armor doing nothing to save it from his fury.
“Well.” Cliste shifted, “I had not expected you to have gotten so much stronger. Let alone achieve harmony with mothers fire. Wonderful work. Very proud of you.”
Dog turned, the flames on his face dying, “I didn’t. I can only do it when I’m really angry.”
“How do you feel, Light?”
“Really angry.”
“Well, I’m flattered you’re so passionate about my health.” She laughed, “That was beautifully violent, sweetheart. Good job."
“At least the blood burned off. You okay, Ruby?”
“Fine, yes.” She chittered, “Just caught off guard. Did not hear, too quiet.”
“Oh she’s adorable.” Cliste cooed, “Did you teach her common?”
“We’re learning together. She had the basics.” He admitted, “Hop on, we’re leaving.”
“Oh.” She blinked, clambering onto his back, “You’ve gotten so strapping. You’re going to let me play with her later, aren’t you? I haven’t seen a murid like this before. Only skinny ratty ones I thought might’ve been kobolds. She’s quite pretty, wonderfully kept fur. I need to catalog this. This is the best view I've ever had of one. ”
Ruby chittered anxiously, slipping out the window at their back as they descended, sliding down the metal building.
“What on earth is that!” Cliste whistled, “Some kind of wolf? Interesting. These are the dogs?”
“Quiet, Cici.” Dog whispered, “We’re on a battlefield.”
“Oh.” She apologized, whispering, “Sorry, darling. There’s just so much to see. You know I can’t help it.”
“Later. We’re almost-“ Dog ducked, the wind whistling around his head as a pair of talons raked where he’d stood, his body hitting the ground hard, arms thrown out to break the momentum where he could, saving Cici from the brunt of it.
He glared, noting Ruby chittering as she vanished, his eyes on the sky above them. The demon bird dropped, landing on its hands and knees. It cawed, a miasma of swirling smoke and yellow energy crackling off it as it challenged him, before it was engulfed in the blackened smoke, and strange eldritch energy.
“Hmm.” Cliste hummed, “That’s new.”
“Great.” Dog set her drown, “Stay behind me.”
A woman rose from the smoke in black leather armor, wicked and well crafted, her fiery hair cut short against her scalp on one side, and left chin length on the other. Her lips failed to fully hide the fangs beneath, her mouth covered in blood. Deep yellow eyes watched impassively, her face bored. She cocked her head, square jaw on display set like stone.
“She’s charming.” Cici noted, “Aside from the whole bloodsucker thing. Minus points for the incompetence there. Honestly, she might be compensating. Very dark and mysterious. So spooky. You’re doing great!”
“Cici.” Dog warned, axe held aloft, his body burning and steaming, “She is strong.”
“Oh? You can tell?” The woman asked, her accent thick, tone high, and succulent, “You’re an interesting little fellow. So muscular. You may not taste terrible.”
Dog snarled.
“Oho?” She laughed, “I’m strong, you said it yourself. Why don’t you hand her over?”
“No.”
“Who are you?”
Dog raised his axe, “Some call me the Hound of Highgarden, others Éadrom of Korone, Son of Ghiran.”
The tall woman stilled, “A well known set of titles, there.”
“I didn’t pick them.”
“No, I suppose not. Earned? Maybe. That’s an interesting axe you have there, mercenary.”
“Walk away.”
“Do you honestly think you can beat all of us?” She asked, Dog’s ears detecting a dozen other footsteps on the surrounding structures.
“Yes.” He nodded.
Her eyes narrowed, “So arrogant.”
“I, or you?” He twirled his axe, eyes burning.
They charged, his axe singing with joy as he began his slaughter. His boot found the bird woman’s chest, launching her into the wooden building behind her, before he turned, bisecting three vampires in a single flourish, their deaths so quick they failed to feel his weapon’s bite. It spun, singing a haunting song of death as the blade twisted and burned. Cliste watched in awe as his weapon cried out, a hollow whistling filling the air, unhindered or slowed by any meager form of resistance. A tune they knew by heart, the song of Ghiran’s kin.
“That melody…” She whispered, “You’ve done it. I never thought I’d hear her song again.”
Dog glanced at her, a slight pride in his chest.
“Go, brother!” Cici cheered, “You play her song beautifully. Again!”
“Why can’t we touch him?” One hissed, gargling on his own blood moments later as Ruby emerged at his back, her blades digging into his neck and tearing his head free.
“Damn rat!” Another cursed, “We can’t focus on it, or he’ll advance, and we can’t focus on him, or it’ll stab us in the back like a coward!”
“What the hell is that sound?” Another cried, “My ears are ringing! Is it the axe?”
“It has to be!”
“It’s a song of death.” Dog said, “A song played by the instrument of Ghiran’s children. The song of war!”
“Get back! Where the hell is that worthless bitch? We’re getting slaughtered!”
“The wolves are through! They’re through!”
The team facing Dog turned, surrounded now on all sides.
“Go!” The tall woman grunted, stepping out of the crumbled building, her arm low at her side, “I will retrieve her. Aid the frontline.”
The men fled without a second's hesitation.
She spat, “So… Not arrogance I see.”
“No.” He agreed, his mothers legacy still playing in the air around them, the woman wincing as her head throbbed.
“That’s a problematic weapon you have. It killed my masters without issue. The sound, it is affecting my senses. I cannot think straight. It may not be enough to fell me.”
“Curious specimen.” Cici noted.
“I’m not your traditional beast.” She agreed, “I am Dung, servant of the Red Count, warrior of the eighth clan.”
“Dung?” Cici asked.
“I am Dog.” Dog greeted.
The woman grinned, “Curious. Hound literally, then? But you are not like the beasts at our gates.”
“No.” He shook his head.
“You are truly only here for the witch, then.”
“Light?” Cici asked.
“Hmm.” He grunted.
“Capture her. I want to study this new variant.”
“Sure.” Dog agreed.
The woman laughed, “I may be in some trouble, it appears.”
“You could go quietly.”
“I would rather not. My blood craves this fight, and if I leave, nobody will protect my masters during the day. I’m needed by someone here.”
“So be it.” They clashed, the woman grinned, her claws finding purchase in their exchange, claws punching through his steel armor, drinking of his blood, eating at his flesh.
She grunted in shock, her attack halted by raw muscle and core strength, “How? I’m not hitting a pillar of steel! You’re flesh and bone! What-“ She tried to pull her hand free, finding his arm gripping her own, “What are you?” She hissed, eyes wide with terror.
“I am, Dog.” He shrugged, smashing his head down on her own. She gagged, vomiting at his feet, her vision blurring, as he pulled her up onto his shoulder, “Damn. That usually knocks people out. If you move, I will crush your spine. Okay?”
She nodded, her face smeared with her own blood.
“Ruby!” He called, “Grab Cici, let’s go!”