Twenty-One
Song: Severed - The Decemberists
He opened the doors and instantly I was met with the deafening snarling, barking and growling of the three Hellhounds.
I froze.
They were bigger than I remembered and much louder. They nipped at each other, their huge white teeth and jaws snapping loudly with each empty bite. All three rolled in the dirt in front of us as they played, picking up black sand and rock from the ground and into the cold air.
As normal as the sight may have looked like if they were regular sized dogs, there was no doubt that the hounds in front of me were vicious, deadly animals.
I felt small, so small and insignificant watching them. I could feel the fear constricting in my chest.
Vy stood on the steps leading up to her home with her arms crossed, dressed in similar clothing to mine.
No long red dress, no bangles on her wrists, no jewelry - she was preparing for them too.
The smile on her face was different than the one I'd seen the day before.
There was no malice, no hate only amusement as she watched them play on the black ground.
Julian chuckled as he approached her. "You let them go?"
How could he approach them so indifferently given that they had already attacked him before?
Vy nodded, her black curls bouncing as she did. "I thought they needed to let some of that energy go before we tried to make it to the Gates."
Suddenly, one of the hounds stopped. It placed its nose in the air as the others stopped too.
Vy laughed. "They spotted your pet, Julian."
The three of them looked over in our direction and stared me down. The growls that erupted from them could have easily had made anyone run in terror.
"Shh," Vy said pleasantly. She seemed pleased with their reactions. "It's all right, my loves."
I watched one of them curl its lip as it continued to growl.
She turned to me, her eyes challenging. "Would you like to touch one of them?"
I heard Julian scoff as he walked past me to Vy. "Are you ready?"
Her green eyes moved to Julian. "Of course, love. We're just waiting for you and your pet."
I didn't pay attention to the nickname, I only focused on the three larger than life hounds in front of me. "Let's get this over with."
They listened to Vy, watched her intently, moved with her hand gestures. It was such a drastic change from the night before.
But they definitely didn't like me.
Anytime I moved slightly closer they would either growl or bark. But at least they didn't attack or seem to move to do it.
Vy smiled at me but it was not at all friendly. It seemed to freeze my core. "Don't worry, they're under my control at the moment."
Julian moved with me as I approached Vy, placing himself between me and the hounds. "Remember the plan," he told me.
A large shadowed chain appeared around each of the hounds' necks, the end of which was held by Vy. She turned to us. "As soon as we stop, set up the barrier - they won't be easy to control afterward."
I nodded as Julian took my hand. He placed his hand on Vy's shoulder.
She shook her head and rolled her shoulders as she let out a long breath. "Get ready."
We spectered into darkness. It was the worst that I'd ever felt even as a human. I felt as if I was being ripped apart, the air sucked out of my lungs. I could hear the hounds whining all around us and unlike other times when the world was spinning - all I could see was the everlasting darkness.
Julian tugged on my hand and pulled me closer until I could feel his strong chest against me.
I was going to puke.
I was going to puke all over Julian. I could feel my stomach churning and twisting and my head spinning when as sudden as it all started - it stopped.
We fell to the ground and immediately I took a large gulp of air. I could hear the hounds whining around us, Vy and Julian both coughing air into their lungs.
I tried to get up but failed collapsing on my knees as the dizziness took over.
I forced my eyes open and found that my vision was blurry but slowly coming into focus. A large black shadow danced in front of me then split into three.
A howl rang through the air making me cover my ears.
Another howl louder than the last. Then a third.
The three shadows were getting bigger but one suddenly disappeared.
My hand shot out in front of me, placing a barrier around myself. It was up just as I heard a deafening thud, as if something ran into it. I winced, feeling my magic buckle under the immense force.
Another blow, another thud and loud growling and barking.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, my surroundings came into focus. The hounds were after me, their vicious jaws trying to work around the barrier, their barking and growling reverberated through my chest.
But there were only two.
I placed my hands out and imagined them molding the barrier in front of me.
Carefully, I bent the barrier. I pushed it back and around, able to cover both hounds that still tried to approach me until they were close together, shoulder to shoulder.
I felt my hair fall from the hair tie and the silver strands started to frame my face.
I paid no attention to it, putting all of my focus on the barrier, keeping it as strong and solid as I could.
And somehow, miraculously, I was doing it.
I didn't drop my hands, didn't dare move them.
I looked around and found Julian slowly trying to sit up on the floor.
He had a hand out too, his magic was starting to fortify mine, making the barrier stronger than before.
It was different from mine, while I could see a distinct white wall made of mist coming from my hands, his was black.
Black mist seemed to weave together with mine creating a sort of lattice work around the Hounds.
I couldn't look away.
It was beautiful.
His coughs broke me from my reverie. "Vy," he coughed harshly again. "What the actual fuck?"
One was missing. "Where's the third one?" I asked looking around, not seeing the large black bear-sized dog, "What happened?"
Vy answered. "He's over here, knocked out. He'll come around soon enough."
The other two ran towards me and crashed against the barrier again. "Any chance they can stop?" The barrier was still holding but I wasn't sure for how long.
"They're disoriented," as she spoke she came around the hounds. "Confused, all they can do now is sniff out your magic- they're running on instinct. They're scared." As she came around to face them she began to gently shush them. "Shhh babies, it's all right, it's okay."
It barely had any impact, they continued to growl and snap trying to move forward against the black and white solid mist-like wall.
Vy smiled, turning to me. "Very nice barrier, pet."
"Stop calling me that," I snapped.
"What happened?" Julian finally came around towards me. He still wouldn't drop his hands. "Spectering here was never like that."
Vy sighed. "It's the hounds and the Gates - their magic was fighting mine. It was hard to keep us all together." She suddenly sat on the hard ground. "That was exhausting." She pointed behind us. "But the Gates are just after that ridge."
Julian motioned to the third hound laying on the floor. "He's moving - it's time to get going, the sooner we finish this the better."
Eventually, the hounds quieted finally seeing that they wouldn't be able to break through and tear us to pieces.
Miraculously.
As soon as they quieted and calmed, Vy was able to control them again and in no time we'd crossed the ridge to the other side.
The Gates were inside a cave on the side of a cliff overlooking a large ocean.
As we neared, the Hounds took off into a sprint towards it. From the wagging tails and lagging tongues, they seemed to be relieved to see it. They bolted inside as soon as we reached the mouth of the cave. Vy followed closely with Julian while I hung back at the end.
The inside of the cave was monstrous.
I could barely see the cavernous ceiling over us in the darkness. The Hounds thundering steps echoed around us as they continued inside, barking and whining as they went. Vy and Julian looked small compared to the cavern walls that towered over us.
Vy followed the natural formation of the cave as it wound around the walls and went even deeper inside. The path we followed had white crystals along the wall that illuminated the space around us with some magic.
The cold was seeping into the fabric of my clothes as we descended and the stillness of the stagnant air became oppressing as we continued.
As the Hounds rounded a corner, they were lost from view. Vy followed closely and as she herself turned the corner, her voice echoed in the chamber. "Shit."
Julian had slowed down enough during our walk letting me catch up to him. Now that he was further from Vy, he called out, "Vy? What is it?"
"I found who released them." Her disembodied voice echoed around us.
Without looking back, Julian's hand reached out, grabbing mine. "Stay close."
I followed him as he gently led me forward.
As we rounded the corner where Vy had disappeared we both stopped.
My stomach twisted. Two people, a man and a woman hung by their feet from the ceiling of the cave.
Their throats slit almost through to the back, revealing some bone on the other end.
Their faces were caked with dried brown blood covering all of their features.
Their hands were lose over their heads not quite touching the pool of blood directly beneath them on the floor.
I turned around, unable to look, gripping Julian's hand tightly.
Vy didn't look at all perturbed, her arms were crossed looking more displeased than disgusted or even surprised.
But Julian ...
Julian was frozen in place unable to look away, his hand holding mine tightly.
His face was drained of color, pure terror was in his eyes.
Vy noticed, her voice taking a gentle tone as she addressed him. "Do you know them, Julian?"
Slowly, he nodded. "Yes." He didn't look away. "They're my parents."