My feet slid as I ran, the combination of water, soap, and fragrant oils threatening to be my downfall. Behind me, I could hear the clatter of claws on tile, and the heavy breathing of that thing as it followed me. Ahead, the heavy wooden door of the bathhouses loomed closer. I grabbed ahold of the iron handle, but to my frustration, the door didn’t budge.
I pounded on it trying to alert the Matron, my attendant, or anyone that might be nearby of the danger. There was no response. With a snarl I launched myself against the door, hammering the wood with my shoulder. The heavy door remained stubbornly in place and I was forced to give up.
How long had it been since I had last seen the attendant? It couldn’t have been more than an hour. Had the Matron and staff gone home for the night?
No, I realized. The bathhouse door could only be locked from the outside. That could only mean that locking me in had been intentional.
The sound of heavy panting behind me made my heart race. I had checked the stats of the beast in the shadows. And what I had seen had been enough to chill my bones.
Creature Unknown
Level: ???
I had seen this before, but only once. The shadowkin, those unnatural beings that had swarmed us on that fateful night in the swamp. Creatures of the abyss. Demons.
I turned slowly, keeping my grip on my dagger firm even as my heart thundered. If I was going to die, it wouldn’t be with my back to a threat. In the coiling darkness, two red eyes stared back at me. They never blinked even as they drew nearer and nearer.
From the darkness stepped a paw. It was large – larger than that of any dog I’d ever seen, and the red eyes gave way to an unnatural face. It was a dog… but not. Its fur was shaggy and black, its face and muzzle covered in what could only be described as a skull mask. Bones encased its body, white and shining in the candlelight. Bone armor?
A tongue lulled from its mouth and the creature tilted it’s head at me. The gesture was so oddly human, that it unnerved me.
“Don’t kill me,” came a sharp feminine voice. “Please don’t kill me.”
I froze, pulse-pounding as I took inventory of the room. I had thought I’d been alone, and as I risked a quick look around, I could only confirm that fact. And yet the voice I’d heard was unmistakable female. I turned back to the monster in horror.
It opened its jaws, white teeth gleaming. The sound had come from it’s throat.
“What the hell are you?” I hissed, raising Iron Fang. I didn’t know what manner of abomination this creature was, but I was certain that it was incredibly dangerous. This time, when the monster opened its jaws it was my own voice that it parroted back at me.
“What the hell are you?”
Red angular eyes watched me as if waiting to see what I’d do. I clamped my jaw shut and moved slowly sideways, circling towards a nearby pillar. If I was going to fight this thing, I needed every advantage I could get.
The dog-thing watched me move, turning only its eyes, then its head as I slowly slunk sideways. I studied it as I moved, searching for any visible weaknesses. Its bone-plating covered most of its sides and chest, but there were chinks in that armor. It’s eyes were an obvious target, and maybe it’s underbelly.
The problem was going to be it’s teeth and those razor-sharp claws. Without armor, it would shred my skin like wet paper, and I’d be lucky if I lived long enough to bleed out.
The demon dog came on faster than I would have expected. One moment it was watching me, still and eerie. The next, it expanded into movement.
I barely had time to duck behind the nearby marble pillar as it lunged for my head. Razor-sharp claws swiped the air where my head had been only moments before. Dust sprayed as its claws sunk into the pillar, sending chips of marble flying.
I ducked again as it snapped at me and ended up throwing myself across the floor in a roll. As I came up, I slashed at the creature's leg. My cursed dagger bit deep, spraying blood across the tile. Not red blood.. but black.
There was no doubt left in my mind. What I was facing was a demon. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end as the demon dog threw back its head and uttered an unearthly howl. Then it turned those crimson eyes back on me. I swore and threw myself aside as it leaped for me. Powerful jaws filled with razor teeth snapped inches from my ankle as I rolled, snatching up an empty clay jug from beside one of the bath pools and hurling it.
The demon dog swiped a paw, batting the jug aside in a splinter of hardened clay. It prowled towards me, red tongue lulling like some sort of grotesque puppy. I risked a glance away, scanning the room in search of anything that might give me an advantage. Alone in nothing more than a towel, I was already dancing with death. What I needed was an edge.
An idea began to form in my head, as stupid as it was desperate. The Demon doge lunged for me and I jerked back. Lines of fire drew themselves across my bare chest as the claws shredded my skin. I could feel warm blood trickling down my chest but there was no time to examine the wounds. Curling my free hand into a fist I struck out, slamming knuckles first into the side of the dog's head.
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Pain jolted through my wrist as my fist connected with the side of its head. The demon dog's head snapped sideways and I used that opening to drive my blade towards it’s exposed throat. At the last second the beast recovered. A heavy paw slammed into me, knocking me to the floor. My wet body slid across the tile and I scrambled to my feet, nearly losing my grip on my blade.
Blood wept from my chest, splattering in droplets across the tile. The hound, for that’s what I now knew it to be, tilted its head, wide nostrils flaring. It dipped its head and lapped at the crimson droplets on the ground between its paws. My blood. It was drawn to my blood.
Without hesitating I turned and ran. My bare feet slapped the tile as I sprinted back toward the way I had come. As I had expected, the blood-crazed hound tore after me like a hunting dog unleashed on prey. My heart was hammering and the wounds on my chest stung like wildfire.
I vaulted into an empty pool, sliding as I landed and almost falling as I sprinted forward. The hound’s claws clacked against the tile as it followed at a relentless pace. I couldn’t outrun this thing, not like this. I was a fish in a barrel, and sooner or later it would catch me.
I was banking on it sooner. I could hear the panting of the beast only feet behind me, and feel the heat of its breaths on the back of my legs. I gauged the distance between me and the pool for a moment before turning my head.
Come on you fuck I thought. You wanted bait? You got it.
The hound’s red eyes burned with the joy of the hunt. I watched its muscles bunch as it prepared to leap, saw those jaws open wide.
That’s right.
I jerked aside so fast my feet slid on the tile, and I momentarily lost my footing. The hound sailed past me, carried forward by it’s momentum. At my sudden chance in direction, the beast tried to twist but it had already committed to the charge. It slammed into my filled bath in an explosion of water and spray. Suds cascaded over the lip, flooding my legs as I forced myself to my feet.
The hound thrashed, momentarily off-put by the lack of solid ground beneath its paws. That was when I struck. Abandoning all self-preservation I threw myself on top of the thrashing form, landing on top of the dog and bearing it down with my weight. The animal was heavy, and my added weight was enough to force its head beneath the churning water.
I lifted the dagger over my head, gripping it with both hands as I plugged it down again and again. Black blood oozed out, mixing with the water. The hound let out a muffled scream, one more eerily human than animal.
I didn’t slow my attack. Not when the thrashing beneath me threatened to knock me off of the creature's back. Not when my vision went grey from the pain in my chest. In the end, it was the demon dog’s jaws that pulled me off. Teeth sank deep into my forearm as the beast twisted. I registered the pain for only a moment before I was wrenched sideways, plunging into the black water.
Bubbles frothed around me. I could no longer tell which way was up or down. Instead, I reached for the warm core within me. Mana blossomed in the darkness. Bright vibrant blue outlined the blade of Iron Fang and in that light, I saw the outline of the creature. Could see the bone mask of its face as it released my arm.
Too late I thought, as ribbons of blood trailed through the water. A notification popped into my Hud. Iron-blooded was now active, and my damage was increased. Finally.
Gripping the dagger with both hands I plunged it forward. The resistance of the water might have slowed my strike, but with mana behind it, the blade ripped forward and plunged straight into the eye of the beast. The demon dog jerked back in the water, Maw opening in a silent inhuman scream. Bubbles drifted up from its jaws but I kept my grip on my dagger, determined to see it through.
Die I thought, even as my lungs began to burn for air. Die you bastard.
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The guards broke through the heavy wooden door with a clatter, sending chips of wood splintering from the lock. Evan waved a hand, gesturing for the haggard looking Matron to step back.
“Move aside,” he grunted and leaned back. With a heavy kick, he sent the remnants of the door crashing inwards. The six guards rushed into the room and Evan drew his sword, ready for anything. They had heard the shouting and the sound of a scuffle and Evan had assumed the worst.
The Matron had been sitting at her desk, seemingly oblivious to the whole situation.
”Is anyone in there?” Evan had asked, alarmed. “We heard a commotion and there have been reports of some sort of disturbance. Someone screaming.”
The Matron had appeared confused, her painted eyebrows drawing together.
“Only a Knight,” she’d said. “Only Ser William.”
That was all Evan had needed to hear. The door wasn’t even locked. When the Matron had tried the key it hadn’t budged.
“I… don’t understand,” she’d said, horror dawning on her face. “It’s bared… but how?”
Evan knew how. He’d been a member of the guard for seventeen years, and in that time he’d only seen it once before. The door had been barred by magic. He had sounded the alarm then, convinced that whatever was happening in that room was dangerous. The men with him, six of his most loyal, had set about trying to break the door down. For all they had tried, the thing had remained stubbornly shut. That was until…
The resistance on the door had disappeared and with a single kick, Evan had managed to knock it open. Now he and his men rushed in, weapons ready as they scanned the room for any sign of threat. The bathhouse was a mess. Shattered clay and glass littered the floor like fall leaves. He could see smears of red on the tile – blood.
In the center of the room near a frothing black pool of water knelt a man. Black and crimson ribbons of blood flowed down his leanly muscled form. His wet hair made a steady drip drip drip on the tile, the only sound in the room.
“Ser William?” asked Evan, his own voice uncertain. When one of his men started forward he threw out a hand for him to wait.
The Knight turned his head, and his dark eyes seemed to register them for the first time. There was something in them, a depthless anger that made Evan’s skin prickle. That was when he noticed it. On the ground before the knight were the remnants of some sort of animal. It was a large black dog but there was something about it.. something unnatural.
“Throne above,” whispered one of his men, lowering his sword in horror. “Is that what I think It is?”
Evan turned towards him and the soldier pointed with his blade, eyes round.
“I’ve heard stories about those things. Demon dogs that witches summon can summon and sick on their enemies. Death hounds, they call them. Oh they are bad luck, bad luck indeed. They say that when one comes to hunt you, they won’t stop until you kill them. The thing is, they are crazy hard to kill.”
Hard to kill? Evan took a step forward and then another. Ser William blinked, and the cold anger in his eyes seemed to recede. He looked down at the corpse, then at himself covered in blood.
“Soldier,” he said, finally addressing Evan. Evan straightened under the knight's gaze. “Yes, Ser?”
“Fetch me some clothes and some wine.”
The guardsman blinked in surprise.
“Ser?”
Will rose to his feet, blood and water streaming down his body and onto the floor.
“First, I’m going to have a drink.” He said. “And then? Then I’m going to find out what this thing is, and who sent it after me.”
One of his men, the one who had spoken before, made the sign of the saint over his breastplate.
“God King have mercy on them for this dark deed.”
Ser William turned to him, his dark eyes glimmering with something between callousness and amusement.
“He might,” he said, staring down at the ruined corpse of the hound. “But I sure as hell won’t.”
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