INTERLUDE 2: Who Let The Dogs Out?...
I play with Nephews, so fun.
We wrestle and play cowboy, I’m good guy horse. We take turns so no one feels like bad guy long. No one wants to be bad guy.
Right?
Linda was bad though. Maybe, just her.
Sniff-Sniff...
Hmm I smell creature near camp.
“Gram-Mom! I need check woods!”
Outside of the cozy cottage, two small children are pretending to be cowboys while one rides an overgrown German Shepherd around like a horse.
The dog stops suddenly and sniffs the air, “Woof, woof woof!”
A woman in her early 60’s with long and curly white hair exits the cottage. Evelyne smiles down on her grandchildren, content and asks, “What is it, Arthur?”
“Woof Woof!” He signals his nose to the woods with short assertive barks.
She walks down the steps and gathers the children to bring them inside, “Come on boys, let’s leave the cowboy to his real job. Thank you, Arthur. That’s a good Babyboy.” She squishes the dogs cheeks and gives them a good rub.
“Woof!” Arthur responds with a wag of the tail and a quick pant before dashing into the woods.
Before long, he gets a whiff of the intruder but can’t find whatever it is. Arthur sniffs the air a few times, checking the wind to make sure he’s in the right spot. He walks up to a bushy tree that looks out of place and sniffs it.
“EEK! EEK!” A small monster screams in Arthur’s face, causing him to yelp and leap backwards in defense.
Before attacking, Arthur sniffs again and realizes the little bush holds his Father’s scent. He nudges the side of the creature gently to show her she’s safe, then they make introductions.
“Barooro!” Arthur says.
The creature named Sprout responds, “BRRREEEK! EEEEK!”
Sprout reached an arm to her head plucking a nut from the branches. She flipped the nut into the air with her twig-like fingers.
Arthur popped up on his hind legs, snatching the small treat from the air and chomping it down without hesitation. He stepped closer to Sprout, and she saddled him like a horse. Together, they rode off into the forest.
Arthur announced his return, “Woof!”
Evelyne opens the door to greet Arthur, “Good boy! Oh! Okay... Well, who is your new friend, Arthur?”
“Woof!” Arthur beckoned her to the stairs then wrote in the dirt driveway, ‘HER NAME SPROUT.’
“Well it’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Sprout. Welcome to our little home away, from… Welcome to our home.” Evelyne welcomed the native bushling, her tone taking a somber tone as she remembered that her actual home is gone.
“BRRREEEK!” Sprout excitedly accepted the welcoming, reaching up to pluck another small nut from her head then flicking it to Evelyne.
Evelyne smiled warmly, like only a mother can, “Why thank you, my little friend!”
“BRRREEEK!” Sprout voiced.
The two small children ran outside, even more excited than before to see that they had a new friend.
The small group of hooligans ran circles around the pond, screaming and laughing as they dragged Sprout into every game they could think of. The children giggled as she darted up and down the trees, magically avoiding every attempt to tag her. Every daring escape sent another wave of laughter through the forest.
Sniff-Sniff-Sniff...
I smell, something else…
Demuns...
GRAM-MOM! Come get little Nephews fast!
Sprout try to sneak behind me, didn’t work, Sprout ask, “What are you upset about, my new friend?”
“Demuns coming. Big fight. Lot of them. Hide in trees over there.”
Sprout run to tree on other side of pond and hide high in tree.
Now, I run to stop before they get here.
Whoa, Lots of bad guys.
“Grrrr. Leave or I kill you all…”
Floating Demun say, “I’m gonna rip out your tongue and eat your filthy family in front of you!”
Demuns understand me?
I kill that one first...
Armor.
10 flying.
They go first.
Then, I kill the rest…
Jump!
Boom Fizzers!
Jump!
Bite! You hurt no one.
Jump Flash!
10 more down.
Cast yummy spell. They all bleed now. Cast again and again and again until out of Magic Juices.
Fight!
Suddenly, Arthur stopped playing. His hair stood straight up from his neck to his tail. He barked to grab Evelyne’s attention. Evelyne stepped outside with Ava. Upon seeing Arthur’s demeanor, they rushed to pick up the children, then ran back inside to hide in the small bunker under the floor.
Sprout was moving through trees behind Arthur, attempting to sneak up on him, “Woof!”
“BRREEK EEKEEEK!” Sprout screeched.
“Grrr ruff!”
Sprout awkwardly ran to a nearby tree then swam to the very top of the large pine. Arthur ran off toward the highway, reaching it within a few seconds. Down the road was a horde of enemies. He moved to intercept, stopping only yards away from the crowd of demons.
The group was made up of different variations of demons. There were flying Imp-like creatures called, Stone Quazits, that looked like miniature gargoyles with long, devilish horns. They hovered still in the sky without flapping their sharp stone wings.
The others were short demons with horns that curved around their skulls called, Castigation Grunts. The demons wore burnt crimson skin. Each held a small sword, cleaver, or hatchet. Each cluster of Grunts was accompanied by a slightly-taller Demon of the same race tagged as a Castigation Shaman.
Behind the main collection of demons were two horrors called Castigation Maws. The monster looked as if a child created it using a ball of raw hamburger meat and a pack of stick-on googly eyes. The Maw rolled forward, joining the pack at the rear. When it came to a stop the monster revealed how it received its name. Similar to the Choir Leeches but much faster, the circular monster split in half, showing a line of carnivorous teeth around a pit of darkness that could likely swallow the dog whole.
Arthur was undeterred.
He lowered his stance ready to act, “Grrr ruff!”
One of the flying Stone Quazits in the front screamed, “I’m gonna rip out your tongue and eat your filthy family in front of you!”
Arthur cocked his head sideways at the creature, looking perplexed as his armor appeared.
Arthur hopped on his hind legs, then slammed his front paws into the asphalt, creating a fissure that split four ways from his point of contact. Two fissures traveled into the mass of enemies, creating chaos amid the crowd. The other two created a barrier of explosive magma to trap all non-flying enemies within.
Arthur pounced on the talking demon and bit down with Vengeance, turning its stone head to rubble then bouncing through the air to his next target. Using the head of a shaman as a launch pad, Arthur cast Flash Step. In the blink of an eye, every Stone Quazit was turned into pebbles for Brenden to collect, and the Shamans didn’t know they were dead until they hit the ground.
He landed outside of the burning barrier, spam casting Escalating Dissolution on the crowd until he was nearly out of Mana. He picked a target and vaulted back into the bloody pit to devour the rest of his bleeding enemies. He moved through the mess with precise speed and devastating strength, executing the remaining low-tier demons in a matter seconds.
Arthur stood victorious, surrounded by the burning pond of limbs and viscera. The few screaming demons quickly bled out, raising Arthur to Level 24.
He went around looting the corpses and felt like one lucky pup as a new item appeared just for him.
Black Shucks Deft Tail Sleeve
Epic
1 Socket
30 Armor
+15 Bludgeoning Damage
+42 Dark Elemental Damage
+40% Dark Resistance
+10 Dexterity
+25% Increased Area of Effect
+30% Area Damage
15% Chance to Apply Omen of Mutiny on Hit for 10 seconds (Non-Elite Enemies)
Arthur viewed the meaning of, Omen of Mutiny.
[Omen of Mutiny—Causes Low-Tier Enemies to Attack Strongest Ally]
Arthur hummed happily as he walked back to camp, excited to take a cleansing bath in the pond that was finally free of leeches.
Until he caught a new smell.
The smell of humans and another demon, pretending to smell like a dog.
No fake pups live.
He took a lot of cuts and stabs during the previous skirmish but nothing fatal. He called on his inventory for a Health Potion and it delivered as his health bar topped off. He made sure to keep his potions at the ready as he turned back to the road with his new Tail Sleeve equipped with the rest of his gear.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Armors wrong color, not match… Like dad say, “Worry bout it later”, for now, protect.
I put armor away, don’t want to scare people if they good and need help.
Arthur descended the mountain until he saw the new group walking his way.
Five Humans covered in scrappy looking armor and two “dogs” that he absolutely would not consider dogs. The system dubbed the ugly creatures as, Hellhounds of the Fourth.
They were a disgusting abomination. Each hairless hound wore the same Purple skin of those on Seraphax. Each dog had two heads, one head featured a sharp snout with multiple protruding teeth jutting from the bottom. Atop the head were long pointy ears that mimicked the wings of a bat. The other head was like that of a human head with matching eyes and a stubby pekingese snout. They were twisted and demented nightmares in Arthur’s mind.
One of the humans Arthur knew. His Father’s old friend, Josh.
The skinny man walked in front of the rest, two of the humans appeared fearful of Arthur’s blood soaked form.
“Hey there, big, scary dog! We were just walking through the neighborhood. Fancy seein ya!” Josh yelled to Arthur who kept his distance.
“Grruff!” Arthur made it known with one bark that they were not welcome. He stood stoically in the middle of the road, acting as a dead end sign to those who would wish harm.
Arthur called for his armor and the two humans in the back flinched.
Josh turned and walked away, making a clicking noise as he did, “Tch-tch.”
The hounds shot toward Arthur as the two archers opened fire. One of the visibly frightened men was an archer. He loosed his arrows with hands vibrating in pure terror, every one of his shots missed by a wide margin.
The other archer had a much more steady hand. Arthur dodged her first shot but the second bounced off of his hard chitin armor, the next two shots doing the same. Josh and the other melee builds remained behind the archers, watching nonchalantly.
Arthur, still low on Mana, was unable to make use of his spells. He was waiting for his Mana to regenerate so he could cast Escalating Dissolution on the entire gang of humans. The hounds were working to flank and distract him while Josh and his two lackeys broke off into the woods toward camp.
No! Need to stop before bad guys get to camp.
Running with the two hounds hot on his tail, Arthur sped up. As soon as he had 19 points of Mana, he cast fissure. He had felt the drain of an empty tank before and wanted to make sure he left one point at least so he didn’t become sluggish. His Fissures stretched around the three humans that were attempting to reach his family, trapping them in place and giving him time to deal with the main threat. Unfortunately, casting the spell left Arthur open and the faster of the hounds caught up to him.
The head with large jagged teeth locked its jaw under Arthur’s shoulder, the oddly human shaped dog head just watched with a tilted gaze. The round head opened its mouth and dark smoke began wafting around as the monster inhaled.
Jagged teeth tore through Arthur’s skin, the pain demanding his attention.
Arthur turned his head and chomped down on the monsters head over and over, first ripping off the ugly bat-like ears, then locking his own teeth over the same head. He dug his canines into the monsters eye and attempted to remove the tick
He was making some leeway but the other head finished inhaling.
A torrent of energy resembling black smoke burst from the deformed mouth right into Arthur’s face. He was forced to let go, and attempted to pull free as the channeled spell of dark rot removed the fur around his eye and boiled his skin with a dark bubbling poison. The focused blast finally stopped, leaving his side hairless and his entire leg burning beneath the skin.
The other hound had reached the fight and was attempting to latch onto Arthur’s rear leg on the other side. Arthur kept his tail wagging as he dodged and fought to stay out of its grasp. He decided to try out his new tail armor that doubles as a weapon, shooing the monster away with multiple swift bashes to each skull of the hound.
The hound locked onto his shoulder tried to pull him away, but Arthur was too strong. He dragged the large, two-headed dog with him as he moved to the dazed newcomer. With no hesitation he delivered a gruesome slash from the Claws of the Guardian, removing the round magical head. The Hellhound yelped and whimpered in pain as it backed away to lick its wounds.
The two archers were closing in and arrows fell closer with each step. Only one was able to properly aim, and once close enough her arrows pierced his chitin armor. A few arrows struck weak spots in the armor, serving a great deal of damage.
A scream came behind Arthur, “AHH AUGHHH AHHHH!”
Arthur glanced toward the sound to see that Josh had pushed the other scared man into his Fissure. Josh’s bulky follower pinned the man with his foot until he stopped moving. They used his dead body as a bridge to exit their containment.
Arthur, unable to see all of his enemies, was beginning to panic.
No no no... I can’t let Dad and Gram-Mom down...
Arthur almost saved enough Mana to cast Flash Step, but he couldn’t cast until he removes the beast from his shoulder.
Arthur saw two arrows shooting his way, with a third being released. He wrestled with the hound to drag himself into the line of fire, spinning at the last second so the arrows struck the hound, the round head yelped in pain, but the other just dug deeper into his flesh.
The third arrow was shot high. He dragged the hound back but the arrow only glanced his enemy.
The whimpering one-headed Hellhound was finally returning to the fight as the last magical head inhaled the ambient Dark Mana.
Seeing no other choice, Arthur cast Flash Step.
His shoulder separated first.
The rough jagged teeth of the Hellhound peeled his thick skin back like the leather flaps of a heavy, unbuckled cowboy coat.
He was finally free of the monsters grasp, for Arthur time slowed to a crawl, but the pain did not.
He moved to the one-head hound, slashing a claw out to sever the last head. He bounced off of the slow falling body, using the momentum to repeat the process and slay the Hellhound that crippled him.
He ran at the archers, but his skill timed out.
From the archers point of view, it was just a blinding flash of light. When they opened their eyes, the German Shepherd they were ordered to kill was barely standing on three legs.
But, he was still standing.
Behind his hard panting figure was a scene out of a nightmare.
Blood erupted from the headless bodies lying in the dirt as a beaded curtain of blood dripped through the canopy of leaves above.