Dog Fight

Brone's P.O.V.

Romal, since finding the woman down the mountain, had gone from loyal hunting dog to lazy bastard. The beast spent every free moment curled up next to the foreign guest, coaxing her into petting his head and stroking his ears by nudging his nose against the palm of her hand. At one point, he and Sila had both draped themselves over her, all but forcing her to scratch and pat their heads like some reluctant hostage.

That was all well and good until the time came to venture out into the snow, and I had to call the behemoth to my side. Romal, in the last four years, I had him since training him as a pup, had never needed me to call him to my side to persuade him out the door. Sure, I’d needed to signal him at times when we were already out, but never had I needed to convince my hound to follow me when leaving the cabin.

I would dress, put on my boots, walk to the door and he would always follow regardless of the weather. Only days ago, I was confident that Romal would follow me into a hurricane. Now I struggled to get him to walk out into the snow.

I squinted my eyes at the treacherous mongrel who seemed to be pointedly ignoring my presence in favor of the fair-haired woman who sat on the edge of my bed, all but consumed in my clothing, stroking his face.

“Romal!” I gritted out once more, feeling irritated with the entire situation.

Grumbling, the beast slinked away from her and followed as I made my way out the door, casting a glance back at Adira, who still eyed me with caution.

“You’re more taken with that woman than your own mate,” I hissed at the dog.

It was cold, the ground was frozen, and covered in a thick blanket of white powder that dusted everything in sight. I had to squint against the bright absence of color and ignore that the view reminded me of Adira’s hair.

My body, damned by Akhael, was sore and stiff from spending the last few days sleeping on the ground rather than my own bed. After last night, I’d had enough of sleeping on uneven floorboards.

There was no getting down the mountain, and certainly no coming back up the mountain until spring came. So the woman would be with me until the thaw.

‘Be simpler just to share a bed.’

I thought to myself, gritting my teeth to keep them from chattering against the biting wind.

But I could see how the woman acted; she didn’t trust me. Her green eyes never stopped following my movements; they analyzed every detail. I’d gone to great lengths to slow my movements, quiet my voice and the thud of my boots against the ground, and tactfully make my presence known when I approached, all to put her at ease.

And I was no brute. I’d not so much as lay a finger on an unwilling woman, much less share a bed with her, if only to sleep. Never mind how tempting it was to feel another person’s body heat in this godforsaken cold.

So now I was here, trudging through the frozen powder that doggedly clung to my trousers, axe slung over my shoulder, counting on Romal to watch my back for the things on this mountain that would devise to turn me into their next meal. I needed enough wood to build another bed, perhaps even an addition to the cabin.

‘She eats like a bird, but another mouth is another mouth.’

I thought as I mentally cataloged all of the work I’d need to put in over the next week to keep us fed and warm.

I paused, finding myself deep enough in the forest now that the wind didn’t nip at my face with such ferocity. I’d lost myself in thought and gone further than necessary.

Romal, to his credit, was on alert. His tail twitched as he peered through the woods, sniffing in short bursts of frozen air and circling the area.

“Suppose that means I’d better do my job too.”

I scanned my surroundings for a sizeable tree, my eyes landing on a white ash that stood clear enough from other vegetation that I would have room to work. It branched out greedily, its wide limbs stretching far as if to shove competition away. It was mostly bare now, the last few leaves clinging to the sprigs of the tree pathetically.

‘It’s big enough. Good hardwood too so that it will last.’

So I set to work. Striking and hacking at the tree with all the force my tired body would allow.

It had only been a couple of hours since I’d begun the back-breaking task of cutting and sectioning wood from the tree. I’d gathered a substantial pile and now cursed myself for chopping without having the foresight to bring the fucking sled so that I could pull it back. This meant I’d need to make a second trip, which my aching muscles cursed me for.

‘So distracted these last few days, I’m no better than the dogs.’

However, before I could mentally berate myself, I was snapped back to reality by the familiar sound of Romal’s growl. I stiffened and turned my head in his direction, tightening my grip on my axe.

Romal stood with his head hunched low, dark hackles risen, and his teeth barred to expose impressive canines. I followed his gaze with my eyes, turning my head slightly to meet a figure crouching in the underbrush.

The animal had coarse golden fur with black spots, vacant black eyes, and large, round ears that came to points and twitched against the low rumble of Romal’s warning.

‘Fuck.’

A nightseeker. There was no mistaking it. The distinct coloring of its fur, the size of its ears, and the fact that there were no other animals like it known to reside in this region meant that this was the only thing it could be. A territorial beast whose only defect was its blindness, yet it remained a formidable opponent on account of its speed, strength, and size.

‘They aren’t usually out during the day. I don’t know why the fuck I’d have the luck to run into one right now unless…’

I glanced around, looking for a sign that the creature called this area home. But I saw nothing. No den, no animal waste, not even a pile of bones to indicate the damned thing had so much as had a meal here.

‘This one is out of its territory, during the day, alone. Something isn’t right. Thank Akhael, it isn’t with its pack, or we’d be dead.’

Still, the creature had no business here, and something about its uncharacteristic presence during daylight hours set me on edge.

The creature let out a series of chirps in our direction, using the sound to pinpoint our exact location. The bastards made up for being blind by using echolocation.

Its ears twitched, and it inched closer, far enough that it now stood with us in the clearing to reveal its full form.

The beast must have been almost a hundred and thirty pounds, out-sizing Romal just enough to worry me. But its size wasn’t what struck me most frightfully.

The thing had bones sticking out of its back. Vertebrates from the creature’s spine seemed to have stabbed through its skin, caked in blood.

‘That’s not a normal fucking nightseeker, it’s a goddamned blighted.’

Before I could form a plan, the blighted charged in my direction, coming within inches of snapping its jaws onto my leg. Just before it could make contact with me, Romal closed the distance between us, tackling the creature mid-air.

They tumbled and rolled several feet away into the white expanse, giving me enough time to snap into action. I dashed in their direction, adrenaline overtaking my tired body at the sight of the monster pulling itself back up and snapping its jagged teeth shut against the side of Romal’s neck.

Romal let out a wounded yelp, making me feel like a complete ass for doubting his loyalty only hours ago.

The moment I was within distance, I swung my axe against the beast’s side, feeling the blade sink into its ribs with a nauseating squishing sound. It was enough to force the blighted back, releasing its teeth from my hound’s now blood-soaked neck.

The problem was that it had pulled away with such speed and force that it had yanked the axe from my hand, leaving it embedded in the monster’s side.

Not sparing a second, I barreled toward the woodpile, grabbing a large piece of the chopped tree to use as a makeshift bat.

The demon thing was letting out chirps again, only now they sounded more like guttural shrieks. The damned thing was pissed and meant to have its revenge.

Romal was back on his feet, blood dripping from the gaping wound on his neck. He charged the creature, making its ears twitch in his direction and leading it to pounce. Romal dodged to the side, causing the bastard to stumble, falling against its side and further driving my axe into its body.

I could hear the sickening snap of bone as the axe wedged deeper. Romal took his chance and leapt onto the blighted, sinking his teeth into the thing’s neck as if to enact his revenge.

I ran at the creature, holding the massive piece of wood over my head and swinging down with all my might, hitting it hard against its other side, narrowly missing Romal in their scuffle. It growled, gnashing its teeth and slashing at both of us with its massive claws, grazing against my right leg to leave an ugly gash that felt like fire shooting through the limb.

I stifled a groan, “Fucking blighted bastard!”

It had managed to push Romal off of it and now had the hound pinned, its claws digging into my companion. Romal’s growls were becoming desperate as he tried to fight back against his attacker.

I pushed through the searing pain in my leg and threw myself onto the beast, grabbing the handle of the axe buried deep in its side and pulling. The monster bucked against me, snarling and gnashing its teeth in all directions.

Another pull and the axe was free, releasing a heavy gush of blood from the blighted’s side. If this weakened the creature, it showed no sign.

In our struggle, I’d managed to pull the creature off of Romal, who lay in a heap on the ground, barely moving.

It threw me off, causing me to stumble back into the snow and land with a thud. I groaned, pulling myself to sit upright just in time to see the cursed beast stalk towards me, releasing those awful-sounding chirps as it edged closer. Determined to track even my slightest movement, not willing to let me get the better of it a second time.