“What is she doing?” Nero asked, watching her and obviously having the same concern as I, that the horror we had had endured was not yet over. That was when I remembered something from earlier. It had been before I'd walked out into the bailey to rescue Nero. A deadly sound I had heard coming from the depths below in the tower.
This was when dread filled my veins.
“Fuck!” I swore as I started running towards the Queen, hoping to prevent whatever it was she was trying to do. But then her evil cackle grew louder until it became like nails scratching the edges of my soul.
“You're too late! Nothing can save you now! Nothing!” The Harpy Queen started laughing hysterically as if the thought of our deaths was one that brought her great joy and even if she did die in the next few minutes, she would now do so happy in that knowledge.
“What the hell is she smoking now!” Nero shouted over to me, but the second I saw her grab the hidden lever, I knew I was too late. I skidded to a halt and started running back to her and before Nero could question why, she said,
“What the...oh wait, never mind.” This last part was in response to the thunderous demonic roar that ripped through the air as it echoed up the tower. The beastly snarling sound combined with that of the thundering footsteps of whatever it was she had released was now running up the staircase.
I turned to Nero with panic in my eyes and said the very last thing that I wanted to as the Hellhounds finally emerged …
“RUN!”
Chapter Nineteen
Nice Doggy
After shouting this, neither of us needed to be told twice as we left these gruesome memories behind when running through what was left of the gatehouse. Of course, the speed we both ran at had everything to do with the beasts that were chasing after us, meaning that we didn't stop, not even when crossing the precarious looking drawbridge.
It was one that had a large section missing from its centre and was merely held together by the beams either side of the hole that stretched to the land on the other side. I told myself the whole way across not to look down, but then again, we had no choice because if we didn't, then one wrong move and we would find ourselves falling into an abyss. The drop below could have been anything from ten feet to a hundred, if not more. I also doubted that you would have landed in any water usually found in a moat but instead through a cloud of fog, and one that could have covered up an endless drop. Either way, neither of us wanted to find out any time soon, hence our caution.
I felt as though I could only breathe the second I made it across. I also noticed that Nero was a lot nimbler than I was, making it across first. But once both of us were on the other side, this was when we got our first break. Because in the end, that giant hole where the missing beams of wood were, was a means of slowing down the beasts. We knew this after they had finally burst through the castle gate and had been forced to a stop, by digging their razor claws in the wood and gouging deep grooves in the planks, pealing it away like skin.
“Holy shit, you've got to be kidding me…seriously, Hellhounds!” I shouted, slapping out a hand in their direction as the demonic dogs snapped and growled on the drawbridge, with its damage preventing them from going any further.
“Oh, they're not just any Hellhounds,” Nero said giving me a bad feeling.
“But of course they're not, because some psycho Harpy Queen wouldn't keep normal pets in her basement, no, no, these ones have to be special Hellhounds,” I muttered sarcastically throwing up my hands.
“Yep, pretty much,” Nero agreed with my mocking reply.
I quickly thought back to that night in the silent garden on the roof of Lucius' German castle and the Hellhounds I had encountered there. But then looking at these now and I could definitely see the differences. Not only were they bigger but that cracked flesh seemed to glow with lava blood in between the broken skin. They reminded me of a cross between a panther and a Doberman, having pointed ears and long snouts. Their tongues whipped out like thin snakes and their glowing red