There was a low growl followed by a
sharp snarl as the beast leapt. It’s black fur glimmered in the moonlight as
did it’s vicious teeth. Madrona shouted throwing out her hand in reflex. There
was a pitiful yelp and the creature overshot, crashing hard into wall beside
Kassadi’s bed. The Wizard rolled over, snoring… She slowly opened her eyes,
waving her hand with a annoyed look on her half woken face.
“Keep it down will you I have a test in the morning.” She mumbled
in weary dream logic, Kassadi not quite released from her dreams of her school
days. “What are you even doing up this…” She stopped, glanced back, and saw the
hellhound. “Oh butts!”
The
creature was writhing, half on the bed, half pinned between it and the wall. Paws
scrapped against the floorboard but found no purchase, but with each lurch the
best shifted further from the wall, giving more space. The sight was certainly
something, difficult though it was to tell exactly what was being seen. Screw,
nail, and spikes all dug into the skull of the Hellhound. Ethereal and transparent,
but very much there, they drove ever deeper into the whimpering beast all
lashed together with a metal wire into a horrid crown. Madrona raised her brow
at this, wondering where this spell had come from. Drawing her free hand up she
found the book from her dream, the one Miragg had gifted her, clutched between
fingers. It was a strange sensation insomuch as there was a lack of sensation…
Madrona didn’t feel different her mind not stuffed with new information she
just knew she had the new spells now. Strange.
Kassadi
scrambled back, kicking the hellhound hard in the snout with a bare foot. She
shrieked as the beast lashed out and rolled onto her backside. With her weight
off the bed the entire frame shifted and the hound found footing, as Kassadi
stood the fiend lashed out at her despite the agony of it’s conjured crown of
pain. The Wizard wailed as teeth sank into flesh, blood ran free and there was
a distinct smell of burnt skin in the air. Kassadi hauled back and crashed her fist
directly into the beasts face. Once, twice, nothing. The beast held fast and
wrenched Kassadi from her feet and back onto the bed. Panting and with tears in
her eyes Kassadi reached out blindly and found her hand on one ot the nails,
she bellowed as she drove her hand onto it, sinking it half an inch deeper into
the Hellhound’s skull, the creature gurgled and it’s grip loosened allowing
Kassadi to pull free.
Madrona
frowned leaping to Kassadi’s side, who was busy nursing her arm. But that
really only made them a singular target. Glancing back she saw the hound
regrouping. The pain of it’s crown was definitely causing it distress but it
was pushing through. Alright… another one then. She reached for her dagger,
feeling inherited knowledge that she would need it this time. She held her hand
out palm open with the dagger resting atop of it and just as the hellhound
began it’s charge at them she closed her hand over the hilt, clenching tight. A
black void appeared under the beast and suddenly dozens of hands erupted around
it black and ink and snaking over the fur like vipers. The fiendish animal wasn’t
about to allow this to stop him, it lashed out and snapped it’s jaws over one
of the hands, it seemed to burst in a black oozing liquid and shrivel away. But
there were too many. The hands clutched at it’s paws, ay it’s face, it’s flanks.
It grabbed handfuls of fur and gripped it’s tail, three even grabbed the hound’s
snout, keeping it pinched closed. Madrona noticed that the crown vanished as
the hands appeared… Might have to ask Kassadi about that if they lived.
Living
did seem a lot more likely as the two women felt the room shake around them.
They glanced out the doorway which was open to the hallway outside, in the
distance they saw Gild charging down the hall. No longer in a tightly fit suit
now the Jotun was garbed in, well, nothing. Gild slept naked. But that wasn’t
really what Madrona and Kassadi focused on, no they were both staring at the
absolutely massive battleaxe the half-giant carried with him. They just might
live after all. The hellhound struggled, oh did it struggle, and the black inky
arms strained and stretched like rubber. It seemed only a matter of time before
the hellhound would overpower the arms, but Gild would be there before that
happened. Madrona and Kassadi embraced gently as the creature snarled and
growled, they watched flames ignite as it snorted… But they were safe now.
Then
Gild decided to swing his axe at them.
As the Jotun
burst into the room he didn’t take a swing at the bound hellhound as the two
women had expected, instead he purched around it and brought the weapon down onto
Madrona and Kassadi. Shocked, it was only due to Kassadi throwing up her hands
and there was an explosion of brilliant light as the axe collided with Kassadi’s
conjured shield. The translucent half dome already showed a crack in it’s
surface, the power of this giant-kin man was immense! It gave them enough time
to roll and get to their feet.
“Gild what the Hells?!” Kassadi shrieked. “The monster is right
there you know!” Kassadi gritted her teeth, shifting her arms so that the shield
shifted in front of her, the second crack of the axe against her shield put all
notions of this maybe being a mistake to bed. Kassadi’s shuffled back and found
herself against the window. This was bad, no components meant she could only
cast the simpler spells in her arsenal and none of it would stand against this
guy. She glanced back… and had a very bad idea. “Madrona grab my components and
follow me! Oh also my Spellbook!”
“What?” Madrona was about to blast the Jotun with a spell
she was sure would bounce pitifully off his marble like skin but glancing behind
her she saw Kassadi’s end table. There atop it was both the Spellbook and the
satchel she kept her components in. She didn’t have time to argue so she
reached out and grabbed it, turning back to Kassadi. That’s when she saw
Kassadi throw her hand forward and launch three bolts of crackling energy from her
fingertips, two of which crashed into Gild, they did little but cause the man
to readjust himself as he took another swing. The third however burst through
the window behind the Wizard, blowing glass, wood, and drapery out into the night
sky. Kassadi turned and leapt. “KASSADI WAIT!”
Madrona
stared in absolute dumbfounded shock as her companion leapt from a fourth story
window. That was suicide and of course, as the horror of their tether dawned on
Madrona, she was going to drag her along the way! The Inferni woman had a split
second decision, follow Kassadi and hope she had a brilliant plan, or stand her
ground and be murdered by a Jotun butler before her corpse was dragged out of
the window the second Kassadi reached 50 feet down. The decision was harder
than Madrona would like to admit, but seconds after Kassady leapt, so did
Madrona. The Jotun tried to grab for her, but a torn sleeve was all that he
managed to take from the woman.
Kassadi
reached out quickly for her component satchel, there were seconds before they
would splatter across the ground beneath them. Madrona hopped the grass might
be soft, it seemed their only hope. The infeni threw the satchel. Kassadi
snatched it out of the air and dug into it, expertly picking the particular
pouch she needed. Hurling a handful of feathers into the air suddenly the two
of them were no longer in a freefall and
instead were gently gliding down at a slowed pace. As they reached the ground
the magic ended and they felt their weight return to them. They glanced at each
other and then to the window, where the Jotun was staring down at them. They
heard a bark, realizing the Hellhound was freeing itself, and fled into the
woods.
They
ran and ran and ran knowing full well the hound was on them. It had their scent
and there was no head start this time. Kassadi openly bled everywhere they went
and it took them two hours to finally find enough time where Kassadi felt safe
casting a spell. Telling Madrona to cover her she began a much longer
incantation that any of the battle spells Madrona had already seen her cast. It
took three agonizing minutes for the Wizard to finally complete her spell,
finishing with a flourish by producing a small trowel from her satchel and
stabbing it into the ground. The trowel vanished, but then so did most of the
ground. A four foot wide hole appeared and Kassadi ushered Madrona into it before
following behind. It was close, Madrona could hear the beast sniffing for them
as they went in.
“It will be able to find us down here!” Marona hissed. She
glanced about and noted they were suddenly in a ten by ten room, lightly adorned
with a rug, bed, and desk with lit oil lamp.
“No.” Kassadi said, pressing herself against the wall and
sliding down to a sitting position, clutching her wounded arm. “The hellhound
will only see the dirt, only me and you can see the hole.
“Are you sure?” Madrona looked towards the hole and there
she could see it. The Hellhound. Her body froze with fear as she watched it
stick it’s nose into the ground and sniff for them. It moved back and forth
over a six foot radius, seemingly confused as to why the scent ended here. Soon
enough Gild entered the view as well. He said something to the beast but
Madrona couldn’t make it out, it was all warped and garbled but the beast
started off deeper into the woods followed by the large man.
“Yep.” Kassadi said. “Pretty sure actually.”
Madrona
rushed to Kassadi’s side taking the woman’s injured arm. Kassadi hissed as it
moved but Madrona didn’t stop her inspection. The bites were deep but they didn’t
seem to nick anything major, she was more concerned by the red and blistering
skin around the bite… The Hellhound’s bite apparently as hot as its fiery
breath. She grimaced at it.
“Take one of your potions.” She stated.
“We don’t have thhem.” Kassadi said. “I kept them in my
pack, not my satchel.”
“Fine then.” Madrona said and ripped her remaining sleeve of
her pajama top. She wrapped it tightly around Kassadi’s arm, who whined the entire
time. “There, that should keep you till we can find someone with proper bandages.
“What was that?” Kassadi asked, pressing herself against the wall besides Kassadi.
“Uh, that was the Hellhound we saw earlier snacking on my arm
and the butler Gilded trying to take my head off with an axe!” Kassadi exclaimed.
“Other than that I got nothin!”
“Well we have to do something.” Madrona said, slowly pushing
herself back to her feet.
“Yeah? Like what.” Kassadi said, an uncharacteristic pessimism
in her voice. “We left our packs in the house, including our clothes! I don’t
know if you’ve noticed but I’m not wearing any pants right now Madrona!” She
huffed. “And my butt is freezing!”
“You don’t wear any undergarments to bed?” Madrona glanced
at Kassadi, brow raising.
“No Madrona!” The wizard shouted, throwing her hands up. “No
I do not! So I am bare assed and the girls go without support!” She said, gesturing
to her chest. “Which for a girl like me? Kinda significant.”
“Well I’m not exactly wearing support either…” Madrona said,
crossing her arms over her own chest. Kassadi sighed deeply.
“Okay!” She shouted with exasperation. “I wasn’t looking for
a competition but yeah that’s also a fair point! But you have pants at least.” Kassadi
rolled on her hip and pushed herself to her feet. “Sorry for when I inevitably
moon you.” She stated, Madrona tried to keep a straight face, but couldn’t help
but crack a smile. Kassadi frowned. “No seriously, you’re gonna see my butt
Madrona. It’s just gonna happen!” Madrona started chuckling. “Like the whole
ass!” Kassadi added
The two
women shared a laugh and the tension left the room somewhat.
“So what do we do?” Madrona said when the laughter finally
died away.
“Well, we should probably tell Travlona that she needs to
fire her butler.” Kassadi said, rubbing her chin.
“We can’t go back there. Gilld and the hound will be waiting
for sure. The second we’re spotted they’ll tear us apart.” Madrona rubbed her
face, the adrenaline was wearing thin and she was feeling very tired.
“Yeah.” Kassadi glanced at the hole. “This pocket will last
for about ten hours. Probably should get some sleep, let them give up on the
search. When we wake up we can get out of here, find ourselves some clothes,
and then come up with an actual plan.”
“There’s only one bed, Kassadi.” Madrona said, gesturing to the
mattress.
“Well I did say I was cold.” Kassadi grinned.
“Kassadi…” Madrona groaned.
“What?” Kassadi said defensively. It’s a Hideaway Hole!
There’s only so much you can fit into a pocket dimension and I wasn’t exactly
expecting to have guests.”
“Hmm.” Madrona glanced at the bed… it didn’t seem to be very
big.
“I’ll keep my hands to myself.” Kassadi said, rolling her
eyes as she got into the bed, scooting enough to make room for the Inferni
woman.
“Fine.” Madrona finally said, slipping into the bed with the
Wizard.
“Oooh you’re warm.” Kassadi said in a hushed whisper,
already half asleep.
“Always am.” Madrona said, rolling off to her side and finding herself drifting once more into sleep as well.
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