by Dina James
She was a true Healer now, but would she know what to do?
Rebecca forced herself to think and focus and trust herself. Of course she would know. The knowledge was there, inside her. She just had to let it come to her, and that was hard. It was harder if she fought it or panicked.
She took a deep breath and let herself relax, trying to feel what was in the room. What she was needed for.
A faint light caught her attention over by the restored portal. Rebecca held her candle up again and took a careful step toward it. She recognized light like that. Only one being illuminated itself with fire.
A hellhound.
One that size could only be young, and Rebecca couldn’t help but smile at the picture that entered her mind. They were adorable when they were young.
Scary, of course, but adorable.
Setting her candle down without a sound, Rebecca lowered herself to her knees and bowed her head. She remembered that respect and deference were extremely important to hellhounds, and Rebecca thought it best not to insult this one, no matter how old it might seem to be.
Though she kept her eyes on the floor in front of her, Rebecca could see the faint, glowing red light move closer. It was hesitant, and Rebecca wondered why.
She waited and didn’t say anything. The light dimmed slightly as it approached her, then stopped. Rebecca looked up to see a young, crimson-eyed hellhound, blacker than the darkest night and swathed in flame that didn’t scorch its surroundings, holding a bright yellow daffodil in its mouth.
“Hello,” Rebecca said in her most gentle voice, smiling at the hellhound puppy.The slobber-drenched daffodil was deposited on the floor at her knees.
Rebecca picked it up.
“Thank you,” she said with sincerity as she brought it to her nose. “May I have the honor of your name?”
“They gonna hurt my mama,” the thing said, not bothering to answer her question. “And Father.”
“Who is?” Rebecca’s heart seemed to stop beating for a moment. Is something attacking the Hell Realm in retaliation for the Healers being kidnapped?
The poor thing was trying hard not to tremble, and Rebecca could hear the fear in the little one’s voice. He was being brave, but she knew he was really scared.
“The ones without souls,” he said, his red candle-eyes widening as they dimmed a fraction. “I saw it, in my head. I was sleeping and they came and hurt my mama.”
Rebecca bit her bottom lip and thought a moment.
“You were sleeping when you saw this?”
The little hellhound gave a slow nod of his fiery black head, looking less like a tiny black wolf cub with a shark’s mouth and more like a scared puppy.
A bad dream. He was telling her he had a bad dream. Hellhounds had dreams? Why not? Dogs did. Anything that slept probably had dreams.
“They hurt Kaia, and Jaia too,” the young hellhound continued. “And Porl, he don’t run so good as the rest of us.” His littermates, she understood. Rebecca’s heart ached for the scared little hellhound who had brought her the traditional Healer’s flower in the hopes that she might make his bad dream go away.
Poor little hound. He wasn’t hurt on the outside, but he was hurting on the inside. Rebecca did the only thing she could think to do. She held her arms out.
The hellhound puppy came immediately to her and all but jumped into her arms. She hugged him close and stroked the black fur down his back, marveling yet again at how the flames didn’t burn her or anything else.
“They won’t come,” Rebecca soothed. “I know a couple of those ‘ones without souls’, and I’ll tell them not to.”
“They won’t listen. They’ll come and hurt us!” The little thing sniffed and started to cry.
Oh, man. A crying hellhound. Oh, cripes.
“Hey,” she said, stroking her hand down his back. Wow, was he soft.
She’d never felt anything so soft. “What’s your name?”
“I’m Noth,” the little hellhound replied. “I’m the oldest.”
“That’s a nice name,” Rebecca soothed. She hugged him closer and rocked with him, slow and gentle, wondering how on earth was she supposed to help a scared, crying hellhound puppy.
She remembered something Nana had told her.
“Compassion,” Nana had said. “You’ll need that in abundance, because sometimes, that’s all you can offer. Sometimes that’s all something needs to heal on its own—a safe place to stay and a compassionate hand to hold.” A safe place to stay...and this little guy had come to her to make it better.
She looked again at the little hellhound, already half-asleep against her neck.
“Want to sleep here with me for a while?” Rebecca asked. “Bad dreams can’t come in this room.”
The black pup nodded and cuddled tighter against her.
“All right,” she said. “If you’re sure your mama won’t eat me for this.
Come on. I’ll even stay here with you to make sure no bad dreams try and come here.”
The hellhound puppy giggled. “Mama won’t eat you! I won’t tell,” he assured her, already half asleep. “Father said you help hurt things, so you’ll help if they hurt us...”
Father? Noth? Is this one of Lord Notharion’s babies? A...Nothlet? She remembered what the chief of the Hellguards had said to her.
You and I will have an interesting relationship.
“I sure will,” she assured the baby hellhound, and walked out of the enclave.
Billy was still there, waiting. Rebecca held a finger to her lips, warning the anubi to be quiet. She pointed to the hellhound puppy.
“Bad dream,” she whispered.
“So?” Billy growled, unsympathetic. “What are you going to do with him?!”“Stay up here with him while he gets some sleep,” Rebecca said. “Look at him! He’s so tired. He can’t sleep at home.”
“Bit, that’s a damned hellhound!” Billy argued, scowling. “They guard the Hell realm, and answer to Hellspawn! Want to tangle with demons again?
You’re asking for it if you don’t put that thing back or send him home or something! Get rid of him!”
Rebecca scowled back at the anubi. “He’s not a ‘thing’, he’s a baby!
Have you already forgotten what it’s like not to be able to sleep because you’re afraid something might happen now that you have a safe place to stay?” Billy didn’t reply to that, but Rebecca could tell by his raised hackles and stiff tail that he wasn’t happy about her being so close to a hellhound, no matter how young it was.
“You watch that thing’s teeth,” Billy growled darkly. “He’ll tear your throat out as soon as look at you.”
“He will not,” Rebecca replied. “He’s not like that. Don’t ask me how I know. He just needs a safe place to be tonight, and I’m going to help him.” Billy growled again, unhappy, but resigned. “Your hide. Goin’ back to sleep. Martha gets up before I see you in the morning, I’ll tell her you’re up here with the flaming furball.”
“Thanks, Billy.”
The werewolf snorted and went back downstairs to sleep. Rebecca went back into the enclave and curled up on Ryan’s former bed, the hellhound puppy cuddled against her shoulder. She stroked his back and kissed the little hellhound’s nose.
He was already asleep and snuffled against her neck as he cuddled closer to her warmth.
She wondered if she was the first human to ever curl up for a nap with a hellhound.
She’d have to ask her nana in the morning.
About the Author
Dina James is an unapologetic geek/
gamer girl addicted to writing. She graduat-
ed from high school when she was sixteen,
holds a college degree in nothing in par-
ticular in addition to multiple certifications
in various things that captured her interest
at the time, is an avid knitter and loves
Darth Vader. She lives in Oregon with
her husband and a menag
erie of pets. She
has website at www.dinajames.com which
has a far-more-comprehensive biography than this one. It mentions sushi.
Coming Soon from Mundania Press...
Time Heals
A Stranger Things Novel
Dina James