Hell Hound

by Matthew Sylvester

  I readied my Shield, positioning myself in front of the gaping hole that had once been Nigel’s eye. I hoped to God I wasn't on the Fae's people to kill on a Wednesday list.

  Didn't matter how small something was, if it was determined and psychotic enough, it would kill you. Add some Magic into the mix, and you had a really shit day ahead of you.

  His head moved, a clear sign that the Fae was getting ready to come back out. I caught the glint of four devilishly red eyes glinting in the Fae Light before the assassin flew at me. I raised my Shield and batted at the assassin, sending it careening off course, slamming into the ceiling before dropping—stunned—to the ground, Quick as a flash, Dawn sent her Net flying through the air, covering the assassin and binding it to the floor.

  'Good job.' I flashed her a smile. This sort of thing was beyond most apprentices with as little skill and experience as she had, but I knew the quicker I pushed her through her training, the better she’d be able to cope in the real world.

  'Pretty little fucker,' she said as she knelt to get a closer look. It was true. The Fae was a flower Fae, two large butterfly-like wings, with beautifully coloured spots on them. Its head was somewhat large for its body, allowing for the size necessary to fit in four eyes. I smiled as those four eyes glared up at me.

  'Hello, sweet pea. I think that you and I need to have a chat' It chirruped back at me, replying along the lines of me going forth to procreate, and that I was a dog of the female version that liked to take it up the arse.

  I was always shocked at how such beautiful creatures could be so foul-mouthed and murderous. I leant forward and gently placed a finger on it before sending a jolt of Lightning into its body. It screeched, a high, tinny noise that made my ears itch.

  'As before, I find myself having to teach people manners. I'm Jane Doe, Case Officer, and I'm presuming you already know this. Are you here to kill me?'

  It chirruped in the negative. Then added that it was going to kill me for free. So, I jolted it again. I don't like threats, especially when the person issuing them was more than capable of delivering on them. 'Please, be polite. I'd like to part on professional terms. Okay?'

  It didn't bother replying, just slumped to the ground. I took that as an affirmative.

  'Dawn dear, do you have any honey on you?' Honey was like crack cocaine to Fae. Catnip of the highest order. However, they were mortally afraid of bees—some sort of racial history there—and so couldn't farm the stuff themselves.

  'I do believe I do,' she smiled as she pulled out a small tube of the stuff. We always carried such items as it made talking to people much easier if you could grease the wheels.

  These wheels, it seemed, didn't want to be greased. I thought that dropping to rest on the ground like it did had meant that it was beaten. It wasn't. With a burst of speed, it whipped whatever was in its hands straight at Dawn's face. Screaming in agony, she backed away, clawing at her face as if she was being attacked by a beast. Without thinking, I slammed my palm down onto the Fae as I pushed myself to me feet.

  Running over to Dawn, I slapped her hands away, placed my thumbs onto her eyes and wiped outwards. Immediately, she stopped screaming, but stood, chest heaving as she was racked with sobs.

  'What does my face look like? Did it eat away much skin?' She moaned, trying to touch her face. I let her.

  'It's gone, babes. The little shit threw some Piskie Dust at you. It didn't happen, okay. Whatever you saw didn't happen. It didn't happen.' I pulled the now wailing Dawn into my arms, wishing I'd take a little longer to kill the little shit that had done this to her.

  Being attacked by a Fae was not, as some might claim, a common occurrence. Sadly, I was more likely to be attacked by a fellow human than I was a Fae, Vampyre or Were-creature. Not that I wanted to tempt fate by even thinking that.

  Scooping the somewhat squished Fae off the ground, I led the way out of the chamber, Dawn still sniffling at the memory of her hallucination.

  Five minutes later, we were stepping out into the fresh Devonian air. Dawn had stopped crying by that point, but she was still far too pale. Looking at her hand, I could see it was shaking, a small tremor that made it seem to vibrate.

  Piskie dust is nasty stuff when in the wrong hands, the smaller Fae using it to escape the many predators of Elsewhere that found them tasty. Or just enjoyed torturing and killing them.

  Steve was still recovering from the Compulsion that had been placed on him, so going to him was out of the picture. I wasn't looking forward to seeing him, if I was honest. He was the sort who held a grudge, even if I was totally justified in what I did.

  I sighed, the only other option that was close-by was Mrs. Lebowski and the Book Cover. Another conversation I wasn't looking forward to having. I could have taken Dawn to see Mrs. Beaston, but if Dawn had flashbacks in the car, it would have been utterly disastrous.

  'Come on, babes,' I took her hand and gently led her down to the club. It was only a few yards, but we had to pass the Billy as we did so. I ignored the catcalls and whistles thrown our way, biting my tongue so as not to tell them what had happened to their mate. I'd leave that to the Merlins once I'd dropped them a text.

  In less than a minute we were pushing our way through the door.

  'I thought I said that you weren't welcome here for the time being,' said Mrs. Lebowski in a tone of voice that managed to be completely devoid of inflection and yet still carried images of rent flesh and copious amounts of blood. 'Having Merlins around investigating a murder has also been very detrimental to the club's standing in the community.'

  It felt as though the room temperature was suddenly colder than the North Pole. My mouth dried. If Mrs. Lebowski was angry enough to for us to feel it, things were not going the way I wanted, or needed to be.

  'First off, I would like to apologise and point out that Caroline started it, and no, I didn't kill her, but did kill Stinky Pete's crew. Secondly, this…' I waved the Fae's body, 'has thrown Piskie dust into Dawn's face, and she's a wreck. Could you please help her?'

  I clammed up after that, not wanting to further rock the boat. My breath puffed in the chill air as she pushed her chair back. Standing, Mrs. Lebowski tugged her jacket down, then slowly stalked towards us.

  After what seemed an age, she stood in front of Dawn. 'Look at me, dear,' she said in a considerably warmer voice than she had used with me, clasping Dawn's head with both hands when she didn't respond.

  'Blood dust.' She looked at me as if that should mean something, so I shrugged to let her know it didn't. 'Not used very often. Very nasty. Was it you that wiped it to the corner of the eyes?'

  I nodded, praying that it was the correct response. 'Good, you did the right thing. We just need to get the dust completely out. Follow.'

  Taking hold of Dawn's hand, she led her through into the back, opening a door I'd never seen before. It made we wonder just how many doors this place truly had.

  'Show me the Fae,' she said as soon as the door closed. We were in a snug room, a gently crackling fireplace in one corner with three oxblood chesterfield chairs arranged around it. The walls were lined with bookshelves and had everything from the latest thriller through to a massive tome with the words Family Tree embossed in gold on the spine. It was my idea of utter heaven. I realised that a particularly bony finger had been jabbing into my arm whilst I gawped. Looking at the source, I saw a deepening frown on Mrs. Lebowski's forehead.

  'I'm sorry, did you say something?'

  'Show. Me. The. Fae.' the fire struggled gamely, but it couldn't hope to beat the chill in her voice. 'Right, sorry. I lifted the smashed remains of the Fae, grimacing as a bit of bodily fluid ran down my wrist.

  'Well, well, well, haven't seen one of these for a while. Dawn dear, please sit down before you fall down. We'll get you sorted in no time.' She smiled over at Dawn, giving my still-stunned assistant a gentle nudge in the right direction. 'You go over to that shelf and pull the book titled Elsewhere on Darkmoor.

  I hurried to
do her bidding. Behind me, I heard her whispering to Dawn. 'Yes,' was all that Dawn replied with, and I couldn't hear what Mrs. Lebowski was saying no matter how hard I strained my ears. I could have resorted to Magical means, of course, but then she would have most likely resorted to sharp teeth and ripping my throat out. There was a time and place for eavesdropping, and this wasn't one of them.

  I found the book quickly enough. It was bound in black leather, with the title embossed in silver cursive text. I noticed that it had Volume 1 on it and wondered just how many other volumes there were. Some books just never seemed to make it into the mainstream community, although judging by this cover, it was an old book that might have just dropped out of circulation

  'Chapter ten, page five hundred. Compare the mess to the picture there,' she said as I tried to hand her the book. She was busy with a pestle and mortar, dropping God knows what into the pestle from a myriad of glass jars. I decided I didn't want to look too closely as she added what looked like a scorpion into the mix. A live one. Quickly, I thumbed my way through the book, marvelling at the glorious images contained within. Every single one of them was colour. It was beautiful, and I craved a bit of me time to just sit down and properly go through it. Too soon, I reached the page she had indicated. The picture matched the Fae I'd killed perfectly.

  'I believe you're looking at a Fae of Clan Dog-rider?' she asked. I nodded after skim-reading the text.

  'Yeah. Not heard of them before.'

  'You wouldn't. Sit down.' I sat. 'They don't come off the moors anymore. They were supposedly banned from doing so. Killed too many Mundanes during the Hunting Season.'

  'When? What Hunting Season?'

  'Oh, before your Jesus came. They were forests then. Beautiful they were, covering most of the country except where humans had managed to clear a patch of ground. They were, by all accounts, marvellous hunts. However, the Dog-riders enjoyed them too much. To the point that the humans started to band together, Druids and Shamans brokering a pact that has stood ever since. As a result, the Dog-riders were confined to what became the moors. Hunted the Little Men of Darkmoor to near extinction, they did.' She sighed and took a sip from a cup of tea that had appeared —Magically, naturally— on the table.

  'Please, help yourself. It's perfectly safe.' She waved at the steaming cup of tea before me. 'Hope you like Hob Nobs. They're my favourite.'

  'Ah, the royalty of biscuits. Amazing dunked in ice-cold milk,' I said, forgetting for a moment that we weren't members of the WI having a coffee morning. A sniffle from Dawn brought me back to matters at hand.

  'Can you help her?'

  'Of course.' With that, Mrs. Lebowski scooped up the gunk in the mortar, leant forward and smeared it into Dawn's eyes. Dawn, perfectly understandably, flinched, before starting to scream in pain. 'Hush now child, that'll be the scorpion venom. The pain will pass momentarily.' Dawns screams cut off, and a dopey smiled appeared on her face. 'And that'll be the morphine kicking in. She'll go to sleep for a few minutes.'

  Lost for words, I could only watch as Dawn slipped back into the chair and closed her eyes. The gunk, blood-red in colour, oozed from the corners of her eyes, looking more like blood. My heart hammering in my chest, I looked over at Mrs. Lebowski, 'So, were they Magically banned or was it a matter of honour?'

  'Oh, most certainly honour. Magical Banishments take so much out of a person that they're only worth performing for the most heinous of crimes.' I gulped at the thought that hunting humans to near extinction wasn't considered to be that heinous. 'However, it seems that whatever's happening on Darkmoor has brought them back to the fore. You haven't asked me, by the way.'

  I raised my eyebrows, whilst pinching my mouth shut. My brain raced as I tried to work out what question I should have been asking.

  'Their name, Dog-riders. They rode three-headed Battle Hounds.'

  Of course, they bloody did, I thought. Couldn't have ridden bloody kittens into battle and given everyone cuddles, could they.

  'Every Hearth in the clan would have ridden the same hound. Each hound would have been able to carry at least three dozen of them comfortably whilst on the hunt.'

  Three dozen brain-burrowing assassin! I thought I was going to feel sick at the thought of what the ancient humans had been subjected to. 'How many Hearths were there?'

  'Oh, at their prime, there would have been at least, say, three hundred.' Her eyes narrowed as I dropped my cup in shock. Fumbling, I tried to catch it, succeeding only in throwing tea over a far-wider radius than I would have had I just let it fall. 'Leave it.'

  'Three hundred Hearths. Three hundred hounds?' I gasped, 'Each one capable of carrying dozens of hunters? Not counting all the others who decided to stay at home? Just how many of these Fae are there?'

  'Calm yourself, dear. That was at their height. There can't be more than five hundred living Dog-riders now, as part of the banning meant that they had their steeds taken from them, as well.'

  'But if they're willing to ignore one ban, it's fair to say that they might be willing to ignore another and get their hounds back? That to do so, they might well decide to help whoever it is who wants to Unbind the Hound of Darkmoor?'

  She cocked her head. 'That's a fair assumption, yes. Ah, good, she's awake. Here you are, Dawn dear. Use this and wipe your eyes clean.' She pulled a beautiful red silken handkerchief from her jacket pocket and placed it gently into Dawn's hands. We waited as Dawn did as instructed. I breathed a sigh of relief as Dawn finally looked over at me and gave me a cheeky wink.

  'Hello, boss. Next time, you can give them honey.'

  'Honey? Do you have some?' The hunger in Mrs. Lebowski’s voice made me look over at her. 'I do so love honey.'

  Fair's fair. She's been more than helpful, I thought as gestured at Dawn to give it to her. 'It's not much, I'm afraid. We just use it to grease the wheels, you might say.'

  'Indeed,' she replied as she squeezed the entire tube into her tea before taking a long drink. 'Oh, that is marvellous.' She smiled a huge, thankfully normal, smile.

  'I guess we're going back to Darkmoor then,' said Dawn, her tone grim. 'I'd like to find out who set that little shit on Nigel.'

  I thought before I replied, trying to see any way we could find the information we needed without having to go back there. I couldn't.

  'You're right. We know that the Dog-riders are involved. We know they were willing to break the Ban to kill Nigel and that the person who hired them was most likely the same person that had John beaten, Caroline killed, and us nearly so.'

  After coming to that conclusion, there wasn't really any reason to stay in Mrs. Lebowski's reading room, so we thanked her and left. Walking to the car, I thumbed John a message, giving him a quick update as to our findings. My phone buzzed less than a minute later, a 'Be Careful!' message appearing.

  Of that, he could most certainly be sure.

  There was no way that I was going to try to track down the Dog-riders with just Dawn to help. From what I'd seen, they were more than capable of taking us both out in a most horrific manner, and I knew that if we wanted to walk away from this alive, that we'd have to get help. Unfortunately, that meant telling Dawn we'd be going to see Reeve again.

  'You have got to be joking! Thus far I've been frozen by him, blinded by a Fae, and God knows what else! I feel like bloody Zander right now!' She sat back in her seat, arms folded, lip jutting out as she pouted.

  Well, she does have a point, I thought as I tried to come up with a response to her accusation that she was essentially nothing than a sidekick. A good looking one. But a sidekick, nonetheless. Unfortunately, I couldn't. Apprentices are sidekicks. Otherwise, they'd be the bloody heroes of the story. As it was, Dawn was new to the Magical community, new to Magic, and was the equivalent of a plumber's mate. Handy to have around in most situations, but a bloody liability if left to their own devices.

  I'm definitely not saying that, I thought as she continued to seethe, and I continued to drive.

  'Look, w
e're going up against some very nasty little shits. You saw what one of them did to Nigel, just what chance do you think we'll have against five hundred of the buggers beyond fuck all?'

  'I bloody know!' she shouted back before returning to her seething.

  Well, that went well, I thought gloomily as we continued to drive in silence.

  'Jane my dear! Dawn! How marvellous to see you!' I nearly tripped when he pronounced Dawn's name correctly. It normally took him a long time to get someone's name correct, and he didn't usually bother unless they'd earned his respect. Like I had. Long story short, I'm a hero. Yay. Scars to prove it, too.

  'Sorry we're back so soon, don't want to seem too needy!' I smiled, shaking his hand, and trying not to wince as he pumped it rapidly up and down.

  'Not at all, please, come in. I have cake!' I grinned at Dawn as she rolled her eyes at that statement, evidently going over the instructions I'd drilled into her before our previous visit.

  Following Reeve into his house, we sat down at his bidding in the snug living room and waited until the cake ritual had been completed, teas poured, and cakes sliced before getting down to business. For the sake of brevity, I summed up events as best as I could, dropping irrelevant details, whilst ensuring that the important bits weren't missed. Every so often Dawn would interject with a correction or something to add. All in all, it took about half-an-hour before we completed.

  'And so, we were hoping you'd be able to help?' I hadn't meant to make that last a question, but considering the way Reeve was glowering, I was glad I had. I didn't want to piss off two powerful beings in one day if I could avoid it.

  'They broke the Treaty,' he hissed. The arms of the chair he was sat in creaked. Looking at them, I saw that he was gripping them so tightly that his hands were completely white.

  'Well, it was only honour-based after all.' He looked at me in such a way that my teeth clacked when I closed my mouth.