by Jack Porter
“I do. I’m not going to lie and say I’m glad you did it, but if I had been in your position, I would have, too. And I would have killed a Hellhound. So again, thank you.”
“Why didn’t you?” I asked, turning to Nya.
She raised her chin slightly. “I admit to being curious as to what you were doing, but do not mistake me, Jon. I wasn’t going to give a Hellhound a chance to tear out your throat, which could have easily happened. You are fortunate things turned out as they did.”
I wasn’t sure if she was accusing me or not, so I remained silent.
“Jon is a different sort of man than others in Hell, I think,” Sarina said. “At least, that’s what I’m beginning to believe.”
“He is,” Nya said, holding my gaze.
I nodded to her and then turned back to Sarina. “I’m sorry about your village,” I said.
A hurt but defiant look crossed Sarina’s features. “That’s why I am here. I’ve heard rumors about you, even seen things for my own eyes now.”
Nya held up her hand. “Please. Begin by telling us what has happened to you these last few weeks. What was your status? Why weren’t you sold as a slave?”
12
Sarina took a deep breath. “I was claimed by the Wraith King as a personal slave. He wanted to add to his Hellhounds and thought it was amusing to use the High Priestess’ maidens for this purpose. Some of them fought and died, of course. But the High Priestess herself was sent to the Slavers’ Bowl to be sold on the auction block at Blackwharf.”
“And the other maidens in her service?” Nya asked.
“Most didn’t survive the initial transformation,” Sarina said. “It is a complicated spell, and although the Wraith King is a powerful mage and necromancer, it can still go very wrong when the person it’s performed on isn’t strong enough to withstand it. And, I suspect the Wraith King enjoyed watching them die in the throes of agony. He might have even sabotaged their transformations just for sport.”
“Is that how he creates all his Hellhounds?” I asked in horror. Had we been committing murder every time we killed one?
Sarina shook her head. “No, Jon. Most of them are bred like dogs or wolves. He has kennels for such things. Terrible places where they send slaves to be torn apart. Again, for sport.”
“So you survived,” Nya said, returning to the story.
“I survived,” Sarina said determinedly. “With my mind intact. As far as I know, none of the other survivors achieved this. Most of them can still shift to humans, but they are no longer themselves. They don’t know what’s happening beyond what a dog might know, which is a boon to them, I think.” Sarina paused, and her eyes gained a far-off, haunted look. When she spoke again, her voice was quiet but laced with anger. “Sometimes, the Wraith King summons them to him, makes them transform into women, and then uses them.”
“But not you?” Ilana asked. More than any of the elves, the succubus knew what the Wraith King was like and had fled from him as well. I wondered what she was thinking.
“Not me. Not yet, anyway.” Sarina shuddered. “He said he was saving me. He liked that I still had my mind, thought it was an ultimate form of torture to know that I would soon suffer the same fate. But—and I’m not sure he knew this or he would have changed my timeline—I found myself slipping away sometimes. I would wake and not remember why I was lying a kennel. And then other days, I would wake and crave raw meat.”
“How did you escape?” I asked.
Sarina looked me in the eye. “I actually have you to thank for that.”
13
“How?” Nya prompted. “Didn’t you want to kill Jon?”
“Umm… thanks, Nya,” I said.
The blond elf shrugged. “It is a logical progression.”
Sarina nodded. “I did want to kill him. He had taken my life from me. It was stolen, my village ruined, my friends killed or sentenced to a life worse than death. The necromancer made me wish for death on a daily basis. If only I had died defending the High Priestess like some of my sisters… But mostly, I hated myself more than I hated Jon or the Wraith King. If only I had killed this man the night he had showed up in my stable covered in horse shit, none of this would have happened.”
“Why didn’t you kill me then?” I asked. “You certainly could have.”
“I wanted…” Sarina gulped, and if I hadn’t known she was a warrior, I would have thought she was going to cry. “I wanted to amuse myself at your expense. It was childish, to play with a man’s life. Will you forgive me?”
At this, Sarina leaned forward, putting her hands together in a pleading gesture. A large tear rolled down her cheek, and she hid her face on the ground, prostrating herself before me with her injured leg splayed out to the side.
Stunned, I grabbed her arms as gently as I could and sat her up. The urge to brush her hair out of her face was too strong, so I tucked a wild red lock behind her ear. “There’s nothing to forgive. You had every right to question why I was there, and I acted like an idiot.” I smiled.
Sarina shook her head and wiped her face. “No, you acted with honor by not killing me after I shot at you. You had the chance.”
I glanced back at Ilana and Nya, but they looked merely curious rather than uncomfortable. “I wouldn’t have killed you,” I said, letting go of Sarina’s arms.
She blinked away her tears and took a deep breath. “And that is why I did not kill you in the forest the first time we met.”
The maiden clutched my shirt, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nya make a calculated movement toward her sword. Feeling safe, I held out my hand to stop the elf.
Sarina gripped me harder. The gesture wasn’t desperate, but urgent, and I was more than aware of her body so close to mine. The strange wyrm’s fire in my body once again began to heat my blood, but I tried to ignore it.
“I wanted to kill you,” she hissed. “Your appearance destroyed the lives of so many. And I would have had every right, except you’d already spared my life once, and I couldn’t forget that. And then, you did the unthinkable. You approached me, a Hellhound, and removed an arrow from my side without thought for your own safety. Why?”
Feeling Nya and Ilana’s eyes bore holes into the back of my head, I said, “I knew it was foolish, but something about you made me pause. I can’t claim to have known who you were, but I couldn’t kill a wounded animal like that, Hellhound or not. We’d already seen too much death in the pass. Is that when you escaped?”
Sarina shook her head. “I was trying, but the Wraith King’s hold on me was great. I fought it, but eventually my hound form took over, and I trotted right back to his armies even as they marched on Blackhold Castle. When I came to my senses again, I was entrenched with them on the plain in front of the castle walls.”
I gaped at her. “Did you save my life there, too?”
Sarina nodded. “I smelled you when you slipped into camp, but there was no way I was going to let them kill or capture you. Whatever grievances I had against you, they could wait. I didn’t want the necromancer to overtake the Dark Elves, no matter how little they think of us humans.”
Nya’s features grew taut, but she didn’t rise to the jab. To be fair, I’d heard similar complaints about the elves from Ilana. The race wasn’t known for being particularly helpful to anyone but their own kind. But Nya was different, and I said as much.
Sarina nodded toward the elf. “I had heard Your Grace was different. After the battle, I managed to slip away from slavers and came to find you. I have told you everything. I hope you know that.”
The maiden pulled away from me then, as if she realized how close she was and felt embarrassed. She seemed like a far different person from the one I had encountered that night I landed in Hell.
“Do you know how I ended up in your barn?” I asked, looking her in the eye.
Sarina shook her head. “I do not know. I swear by the goddess, I knew nothing of you until I found you in my stable. I thought you’d merely gone in
there to hide. And, I questioned myself then. Because I wondered if you were an escaped slave. I still let you go. Perhaps that is why the goddess has allowed both of us to live, because no one should have to be a slave.”
I stood. “Thank you,” I repeated.
Nya looked grimly at Sarina. “When the Hellhound’s form takes hold of you, do you have warning?”
Sarina raised her chin. “I am much better at fighting it now. Yes, I know when it’s going to happen.”
“Have you ever been able to prevent it?”
Sarina paused, understanding where Nya’s line of questioning was leading. As did I. If Sarina couldn’t prevent the Hellhound inside her from taking over, she was truly a danger to our camp.
Finally, the redheaded maiden shook her head. “No, Your Grace, I cannot prevent it fully.”
14
The entire ordeal was fucked up. I had started all of it, and yet looking back, could have done nothing to prevent it unless I was willing to lay down and die at someone’s feet.
“Shit,” I said. I stood with Nya and Ilana a little bit away from Sarina. With the news that she couldn’t prevent the Hellhound from making an appearance, Nya had doubled the maiden’s guard. The elven camp was beginning to stir, and the sky was a lighter shade of red now.
Nya faced me, and I found it hard to imagine that only a few hours ago, she had been in the water naked with me, our troubles forgotten for a time.
“The shifter’s blood pact is with you, Jon,” Nya said. “So it is your decision.”
“I won’t kill her,” I said. “I didn’t before, and I definitely can’t do it now.”
Ilana sighed as if she had expected this, but it made me angry. I rounded on her. “I would have thought that you of all people would have some compassion for Sarina.”
The succubus arched an eyebrow and looked at me coolly. “I’ve never made it a secret that I hate the Wraith King, and I feel for his slaves like none other can. But I don’t exactly trust this woman’s account.”
“Oh?” Nya asked. “Please explain.”
“I’ve been a thrall in the Wraith King’s service a long time, longer than either one of you have been alive. And…” Ilana’s wings rose in annoyance. “There is much suffering in his dominion, but I have never heard of Hellhound shifters who were able to walk away.”
“You think it’s a trap,” Nya said. “For Jon?”
“Wait a minute,” I said, feeling that the decision was getting away from me. “If it is a trap, and let’s pretend for a minute that it is, Sarina could have killed me several times. Without an audience. Without chance of being caught.”
Ilana turned to me. “We can’t know what the Wraith King has planned now that you’ve killed his most prized pets, the wyrms. Maybe he wants a spy in the elven ranks. If so, Sarina would be perfect.”
“But it was an accident that I ended up in her barn. Or do you not believe her?”
Nya glanced back at Sarina. “I do believe her in that. But it wouldn’t be an accident for the Wraith King to find her after enslaving the village. He likely learned the story quickly. Then, when you defied him, he had a partial plan in place.”
“This really doesn’t make sense,” I said. “He would have had to plan it long before I ever wounded his precious wyrms.”
Nya frowned. “And maybe that’s precisely the point.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. “The Wraith King has been plotting against me since I arrived here? How would that be possible?”
Nya didn’t say anything, but her look said it all.
I lowered my voice. “Something to do with the Prophecy?”
Nya shook her head. “I do not know. It will require more thinking. But come, we must ready for the day’s ride. I agree that we cannot simply kill this maiden until we know more. But Jon, she is still your responsibility even though she has guards. And they will not hesitate to kill Sarina if she shifts.”
“I understand,” I said. I left them to saddle my horse, but I couldn’t help feeling unnerved. What had Nya meant? What point? Landing in Sarina’s barn had been an accident.
But then, I still didn’t know how I had made it into that stable. I’d learned of the portal in the Wraith King’s land leading back to my world, but there was no portal in the village that we knew of.
So, how had I ended up in Sarina’s barn?
As I swung up into my saddle and went to collect her, I resolved to find out.
15
The waterfall at Belledur was the last neutral place. Once we left, heading further south through the mountains, the forest became taller, wilder, and darker. The black trees overshadowed the narrow trail, with the red ambient light of the sky creating a sinister atmosphere as it filtered through the black leaves. Sometimes, the road would be blocked by a tree, and the single file line would stop while a team of elves would work to clear it. And always someone guarded their backs.
According to Nya, monsters weren’t the only thing we had to watch out for now, for we had officially left the dominion of the elves and entered Wraith King territory. Orcs, wraiths, trolls, or any other of the necromancer’s minions roamed these wilds.
I rode behind Ilana, who was behind Nya’s guard. Sarina rode behind me on one of the packhorses whose supplies had been redistributed. Her hands were tied in front of her like a prisoner, and a guard rode behind her. I carried the rope that led her horse although the precautions seemed useless if she shifted into a Hellhound. What good would ropes be if that happened?
The elven guards would be swift if action was needed. And next time, they would kill her. Nya had been clear.
Sarina’s leg, although still splinted, seemed to be stable enough to ride. It had to be. The alternative was leaving her behind to fend for herself. Whatever magic the healers had used on her must have worked wonders because Sarina was managing well.
The deep silence of the forest seemed to oppress us, or me, at least. What should have been a peaceful ride with birds singing in the trees was an anxious journey through dangerous territory.
Although I hadn’t really believed anyone before about the wild creatures living in Hell, I did now. Occasionally, the silence would be broken with a tree cracking in the distance and a rumbling through the ground. They were great noises that sounded like a tree being uprooted. I shivered, wondering what could cause such destruction. Because these trees weren’t saplings. They were mighty towers of bark and limb, as tall as the Redwoods of California, but black. Although the forest had no official name, I began to think of it as the Blackwood, as a sort of hideous parody to a wonder of my world.
As I brooded, the internal fire that I’d felt the day before began building once again. My horse tossed her head, sensing my uneasiness, and I tried to think of something positive. But the rush was still there, flowing through my veins like tiny pricks of lightning. And I couldn’t help but enjoy it even if at the same time it scared me a little. I could have asked Ilana or Nya about it but decided against it. There was no sense in worrying them unnecessarily. And besides, they didn’t know what to do about a man who had absorbed a wyrm’s blood.
To pass the time, I recalled my time spent with Nya and Ilana at the pool the night before, but even that only stoked the fire. Despite the oppressive road we traveled, I wanted nothing more than to grab Nya for another fuck. And it wasn’t a playful urge, spurred on by yesterday’s fun. No, it was baser than that, and a bit unsettling.
Anyway, it was hardly the right time for a romp under the trees, and I shook my head of the thought, concentrating on watching for possible enemies in the gloom. But then, perhaps because of my heightened diligence, I got the distinct feeling of being watched, and I grew irritated, wanting nothing more than a calm ride.
“You are suffering, aren’t you?” Sarina called from behind me.
I turned in my saddle to see her face pale and streaked with sweat once again. I couldn’t imagine what the pain of riding was doing to her, but she otherwise sat tall in the sa
ddle. Hopefully, the elven magic would soon mend her although I didn’t know how long it would take for them to fuse a broken bone together.
“There’s nothing wrong with me,” I said finally. “I’m just not happy about this forest.”
“Nor am I.”
But that was all she said, and we fell back into silence.
After another hour or so, the feeling of being watched grew, and I looked up and down the line to see if anyone looked as uncomfortable as I felt.
“I feel it, too,” Sarina whispered.
I barely heard her words, but it wasn’t like she was trying to be secretive and more like she was trying not to draw attention to us. Turning, I saw her frowning into the gloom to the left of the road. I peered there, too, and was surprised that I could see quite far. My eyes were definitely improving. “What lives in this forest?” I finally asked. “Something feels… evil.”
Sarina didn’t answer, but Ilana did. She had found where I was looking and wrapped her cloak tighter about her. “Nya could probably tell us more about this area,” she said, “but Hell is full of creatures that would like nothing better than to steal your soul.”
I raised an eyebrow. This was news to me.
“Yes,” she said with not a hint of humor. “Demons and spirits that seek a host.”
“Perfect,” I muttered. Just when this place was starting to grow on me. “Next you’ll tell me that the trees attack.”
Ilana frowned. “No, but there are creatures that try to look like trees, so keep your eyes open.”
16
Despite the elevation of the forest, the air was hot and stifling, as it was almost everywhere in Hell. The road took us through a high mountain pass, and a couple of times, we broke through the tops of the trees.
But the sight wasn’t encouraging. In every direction, we saw red sky, black trees, and gray stone.