Kay The Hellhound

I walked slowly through the burning remains of the village. We had arrived too late to provide support, and now we could only saunter about in our pristine armor while looking for survivors. The village had come under attack from a force of shambling undead. I knew this because of the rotted corpses that littered the ground where the villagers had fought tooth and nail. We had hoped to find survivors but that was looking bleak.

"Sir, look at this." the voice of one of the soldiers cut through the sounds of the search. I made haste to his location.

"We found a survivor." he had whispered to me quietly. At that moment, I wasn't sure why he was behaving in such a strange manner.

"Then let us rescue them." I had demanded.

"You should see this first." he had spoken calmly but with calculated reserve.  He pointed.

My eyes were drawn immediately to the young woman's body. She was curled in a ball and I realized why the other warrior had been so careful. She was a monster. A hybrid of woman with the features of a wolf. I was heartened for a moment in my belief that she may be wolf girl, but my hopes were dashed when she opened her eyes and a gout of flame erupted forth. It was a momentary blast that sealed her fate. A Hell Hound could not be suffered to live.

"What will we do?" the young Paladin had asked me. I remember his words in my ears as clear as day. The quiver in his voice told me that he had no interest in killing the wounded hound. I felt pity for him and knew that I had to do it.

"Cover her." I commanded as I gestured at her nude body. She clutched an arm in her hand, it appeared she had been knocked cold during the fighting and had warred against the invasion. She had been injured fighting to protect the villagers. She deserved a quick death. A painless one.

I knelt quickly, scooped her into my arms, and carried her body now wrapped in a cloak towards my operations tent. I felt compelled to conceal my crime. A quick slash of my blade and she would shed this mortal coil. But I knew in my heart it was an affront to kill someone who was wounded fighting to protect the villagers.

"Fast." her voice was weak but demanding in my ear. She knew her time was close. A Paladin had laid hands on her and she knew it was a death sentence.  What ever reason she had visited this village, her refusal to run had been her down fall.

"Why?" I asked her. Morbid curiosity filled me as I laid her softly upon my cot, stepped back, and drew my sword. "Why were you here?" I asked more forcefully.

"I live here." she coughed with ragged breath.

"Impossible. This is a human village." I bristled at her lies. Though I felt no activation of my enhanced abilities to detect lies. The blade in my hand was heavy and I felt a desire to run her through with it.  Her black bushy hair, taught muscles, and tan skin were beautiful even with the filth of battle on her.

"I do not lie. My mother and father were humans who found me as a child. I was raised here in secret." she insisted. The village would have been burned to the ground by the Paladins if we had ever known this. The village was harboring a secret that guaranteed them death and I no longer felt any amount of sympathy for their transgressions.

"Are your parents alive?" I asked.

"No." she choked back a sob and lifted her massive clawed paw up to rest over her eyes. She was crying softly and if not for her beastly visage, I would have believed her voice to be owned by a woman of exceptional beauty. It was her next words that shocked me. "Are your parents alive?" she asked me without malice or hate. A genuine question.

"No." I replied softly.

"I'm sorry." she had spoken sincerely and I knew she meant it. My abilities to detect lies remained still and all the signs continued to lay dormant. She was really and truly sorry that I had no parents.

"Why?" I asked her. I was curious. Why would she be sorry?

"I lost my parents too. Now I lost my new parents too. I know it hurts. Every time." she whimpered and bit her lip as tears leaked from around her giant paw.

"Do you want to die?" I asked her. I was afraid of the answer she would give me. I adjusted my grip and shook the blade as I prepared to end her suffering and my own. The simpering Hell Hound made me feel things I had no interest in feeling.

She was silent and contemplative. I felt the seconds drag on and a great pain formed in my chest. I was readying myself to end her life.

"No. I want to live." she sighed, dropped her hands to her sides on the bed, and turned her head to stare at me. Her eyes held no fire. The orbs were black and lifeless without the passions burning within them. She appeared more like a desperate shell than a dangerous monster girl.

"Why?" I demanded.

"My human mother told me I should always fight for what I want. I want to be a mother and a wife. If I die, I will never be those things." she choked out.

"I cannot promise you more than a life of servitude if I spare you my blade.  Do you love me?" I asked her.

"No." she spoke truthfully.

"Do you think you could learn?" I asked.

"I don't know." she once more replied with truth.

"Do you find me attractive?" I pressed.

"Not really." she whispered.

I smiled as an oppressing feeling passed through me. She had lied. I sheathed my sword, adjusted my armored belt, and crossed my arms with a clank. "Then you should pray every day that your opinions of me change for you will be with me for a very long time."

She shook and stared at me incredulously.

***

"What is your name?" I could see the wince in her facial features and I realized I was being too harsh. "Please." I added as an after thought.

The Hell Hound adjusted the straps on her shoulders, glared at me, and then she spoke with a hurried hush. "My name is Kay."

"I am Anon." I offered in return.

"How did you convince them to let me live?" she asked without pause. She jerked her face in the direction of some of the other Paladins in our caravan.

"A man at arms is permitted to take slaves to carry his gear, make him food, and serve his household until he returns to the more civilized world. At which point he is expected to euthanize the monster in the most humane way possible." I explained as I pointed to the pack on her back.

"How long?" she asked carefully. Her eyes were drawn to slits and she frowned deeply.

"I am free to leave at any time. My debts are paid and my only desire is to serve the public good with the tools and skills I have." I replied with a soft but firm finality. Her life was in my hands and only my continued desire to do battle against the hordes kept life pumping in her veins.

Our conversation was no doubt riveting and engrossing as she tripped over a thick outgrowth of root from a nearby tree and began to tumble forward under the weight of the pack. I reacted quickly, enhanced with super human speed and strength, and lunged forward to catch her with a snatch of the pack. She froze in mid air and I held her aloft for a moment before setting her down slowly and with care.

"Ooof." she had gasped as the straps and the sudden arrest seized her breath from her.

"Are you alright?" I asked as I stood over her now kneeling form.

She raised a single hand to interrupt my question as she rubbed at her chest with the other. She looked winded and shocked but unhurt. Mostly.

I extended my hand to her, a simple gesture of kindness. I was surprised when she reached up and grasped my hand. Her massive paw engulfed my hand, she gripped hard, and I yanked her to her feet. "All right?" I asked one more time.

"Fine." she confirmed with a nod.

I cast my gaze about and noticed many members of the caravan watching our interaction. I could feel their judgmental glances and it bothered me not. I had paid my dues, and if I wished to pay myself with a simple act of kindness towards a broken soul, then it was my frivolity to indulge in.

"Thanks." she whispered as she dusted herself off and began to trudge along again.

I smiled.

***

"Damn you!" I cried out in pain as my legs were swept from beneath me. The purple bolt of magical energy had washed over the ground like a tsunami before flipping me forward onto my face. I could taste blood and the world around me vibrated to the beat of my heart.

"Anon!" Kay called to me. Her voice was muffled and far away.

"Run! Run away!" I spat as loudly as I could. I jammed my hands into the ground and pushed my self up to a kneeling position. I had no idea where Kay was but I couldn't let her be killed. She needed to escape.

"Come girl!" the necromancer howled with a wicked laugh. He extended his hands, summoned his power, and I felt my body lock up. I couldn't move.

"Anon!" Kay cried out again as she watched me stand at attention with no control.

"Come! I have a deal to offer you!" the necromancer laughed. "Take the Paladins sword, slay him, and I will release you." he demanded with a cackling laugh.  "Take your freedom back slave girl!"

Kay approached me, knelt, and hefted my blade in her hand. She stared into my eyes as she held the grip in one hand and fingered the blade with the other.  She seemed to be considering the necromancers words.

"Slay him and claim your freedom!" the necromancer screamed from behind her.

Kay raised my sword above her head, gripped it with both hands, and stood stone still. I wondered what she was thinking.

"Do it!" the necromancer was impatient with her. He seemed to be struggling to keep me bound and sweat pooled in the crevices of his face.

"All right." Kay breathed out softly. Her body tensed and I watched in fascination as she swung the sword not downwards but with an arc. She followed the blade with her body, turned, and launched my sword like a javelin into the chest cavity of the necromancer. He didn't have time to realize he was dead before she rushed him, launched herself into the air, and pounced on his body.  I collapsed forward and could only hear the sounds of her grunts and screaming.  She was tearing him limb from limb.

Consciousness slipped from my grasp and I fell asleep.

***

I was warm. Something soft was draped over my nude body and I was laying on a cot. I had been returned to a unit of Paladins. I couldn't remember how I got there or how long I had been asleep. I knew I was safe. Kay had spared my life.

"Don't fuss." Kay spoke softly into my ear. She was the warm and soft thing draped over my body. She was laying on my cot with me, holding me in her arms.  She wore a look of worry and concern.

"You saved me." I whispered.

"As you did me." she confirmed with a flippant shrug.

"Were you harmed?" I asked.

"No." she replied.

"Good." I felt my shoulders relax and I nestled into her embrace.

"Men came to see you." Her voice was smooth, comforting, and held no fear. She seemed at ease and I was heartened by her tone.

"Who?" I asked her. I could still feel a heaviness I could not shake in my shoulders and a strong desire to sleep tugging at the edges of my mind.

"I sent them away. I told them you were resting and I refused their requests to take you from me." Kay was contemplative before continuing. "One of them identified themselves as 'Ben-ton'" she added.

I snorted. I could not help myself. "Grand Hierophant Banton?" I asked her softly.

"Yes." she confirmed hurriedly.

"Leader of the Order. You chased him away?" I asked.

"I did. I said he could have you when you had your faculties back. He was very understanding. Is he an important man?" she questioned.

I smiled and wrapped her tighter in my arms. "He is of some importance." I confirmed before yawning deeply and snuggling deeper into her embrace. "I will make contact when my faculties return."

"Good." she breathed into my ear.

I nodded off to sleep with haste.

***

"I'm much too old to fight a Hellhound any more." The Lord Banton spoke through a gray beard and an upturned grin. "I hear she saved your life Anon." his voice danced with mirth and he hefted a heavy wooden tankard for a deep quaff.

"She killed a necromancer who ambushed us. Destroyed him utterly. She even carried me back to the encampment and tended to my wounds." I confirmed with a small hint of pride in her performance. We drank a beer made of ginger, brewers yeast, and sugar. A sweet beverage that tickled the tongue and burned the throat.

"The Hellhound is known to be equal parts brutal as well as loyal. A dangerous foe who only grows in fierceness when cornered or injured." Lord Banton mused as he stared into his mug with a contemplative visage.

"Kay is a good girl." I confirmed with a nod.

"Indeed." The Lord nodded. "Inara." he spoke the name with near religious solemnity.

"Lord?" I questioned.

"Inara. A young Kikimora who had the terrible misfortune of becoming enslaved by a young Paladin with delusions of grandeur." his eyes glazed with a thicker covering than that provided by the weakly alcoholic beverage we hydrated on.

"Where is she now?" I offered the words with caution.

"Killed. She died protecting a middle aged Paladin who was once young. She lives on in the memories of a Paladin too old to pick a fight with a Hellhound." he chuckled bitterly.

"My condolences." I offered lamely.

"She was a beast of beauty. I swear on my oath that I once woke in the night to a great weight on my pelvis. She had mounted me in my sleep and gripped a great pair of scissors in one hand as she steadied herself with the other. She demanded I swear loyalty to only her body or face my death." he laughed openly.

I smiled nervously as I nodded. "Did you swear?" I asked.

"Of course not! Not right away at least... I wrestled viciously with her. We locked ourselves in a struggle that up heaved the Earth beneath the tent!" he wiped at his eyes and smiled wide.

"Who won?" I asked.

"Well, it depends on who you ask. She won my loyalty and I won her love. I would say I won but she insisted she was the victor." he sighed loudly.

I drank from my mug with thoughts of the Hellhound. I could see her smiling at me, folding bread and boiling soup. It was my favorite vision of her. I smiled without thought.

"Keep those memories and treasure them Anon. We live hard." he offered.

"I will."