In the Mortal World
A stallion was playing blues in a small bar and club near Buckland Bog. He was nailing his performance on the guitar, judging from the crowd's positive reaction.
There was one particular mare in the crowd who was looking at the stallion with lust and sparkles in her eyes. Thankfully, she didn't have a boyfriend. At least, none the guitar player could see.
After tuning up his guitar, the stallion gets ready to play another song. He leans towards the microphone and speaks in a smooth voice.
"This is a new song I wrote last night. I hope y'all enjoy it," he says.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FF1FlBNQ2Q
The stallion completed the performance without a hitch. The crowd erupts in applause for the stallions hypnotic performance.
But as the stallion was getting a standing ovation, he couldn't help but notice the sound of a wolf or dog howling in the distance outside the club. He tries to focus on thanking the audience, but the howling seems to become louder and louder.
Eventually, the howling shifts to the sounds of loud sniffing and growling that seem to come from outside the club's doors. He looked and saw that the crowd didn't seem to notice the canine sounds at all, as if they couldn't hear the sounds at all.
A feeling of fear began to rise in the stallion's chest. His heart rate sped up and his blood seemed to run cold. As he looked around nervously, he swore he see large shadows darting in front of the windows.
The feeling of fear was getting worse and worse with each sound he heard. He didn't even notice the crowd looking at him with varying looks of concern. The strongest reaction came from the mare who was gazing at him earlier.
Holding himself together for as much as he could, he held the microphone up to his mouth and spoke quickly.
"Th-th-thank y'all for coming to hear my performance tonight, folks! I just now realized that I have somewhere to be," he said before hurrying off the stage.
He left his guitar on the stage and hurried through the crowd to get out the back door of the club. Some of the crowd tried to ask him what was wrong, but he simply ignored them all. All he knew was that he had to get out of there. He had to get away from whatever it was he heard and saw.
The stallion ran outside the door and made his way through a path that cut through the surrounding swamp. The swamp was strangely quiet tonight. No crickets or bullfrogs to be heard. None of the usually comforting sounds of the swamp could be heard. The wind around him was picking up, blowing dead leaves and the smell of brimstone the stallion's way. Clouds covered the moon, cutting off any light he could use to see where he was going
As he made his way down the path, the sounds of dogs howling, growling, and barking were not too far behind him. Spooked out of his mind, the stallion made started sprinting down the path away from the sounds.
Just as he took off running, the canine sounds started chasing him, as if he was getting chased by dogs. All he could hear was the barking overwhelming the sound of his hooves hitting the ground. He looked behind him to see something really terrifying.
The plants and brush beside either side of the path were moving as if something big was moving in the brush. And they were catching up to him. Dim red light seemed to come from whatever were chasing him.
He pushed himself to run until his chest started to burn. His pursuers didn't sound like they were getting tired at all. He had to hide! He had to get away from these beasts chasing him!
It seemed like Goddess was on his side, as he saw an abandoned ranger's outpost posted in a tree. There even seemed to be a rope ladder. He ran to the rope ladder and started climbing it. He pushed open the door at the top and climbed in. He looked down to see... nothing. There was nothing down there.
He went to one corner of the ranger's outpost, sat down, and struggled to catch his breath. He tried to think about what had just happened. Was he chased by some ghost dogs or something? If he was, why were they chasing him?
The stallion then remembered old stories his grandmother used to tell him. She used to tell him that if he did something bad and didn't repent, the Hellhounds would come after him and drag him to the Underworld to suffer for eternity. As he grew up, he started to not believe in his grandmother's stories. But if tonight was anything to go by, he fully believed he was just chased by Hellhounds.
But that was the thing: the stallion couldn't think of anything bad he did that he didn't repent. However, there was one event that stuck out that may explain why the Hellhounds may be after him.
A year ago, his brother started dating the most beautiful mare in town. But the thing was that he himself had a crush on the mare, too. In his jealousy, he gave his brother a poisoned drink. He died, and the mare ran to him for comfort. He didn't feel any sense of guilt for what he did. Until now, that is.
"Oh Goddess! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry for what I did!" he cried to the heavens.
But all he got what the sound of claws scrambling up the support beams of the outpost at tremendous speed. He hid in the corner and prayed the Hellhounds wouldn't find him.
In the darkness outside the windows, he saw the silhouette of a canid creature stalking around the outpost's exterior sniffing for him. It was large and muscular from what he could tell. This Hellhound looked like it was built for both speed and power. The creature was all black, save for the two large red glowing eyes that scanned the room like searchlights. The creature snarled. Its teeth were glowing the same shade of red as its eyes. Soon it was joined by two other smaller Hounds.
The biggest of the Hounds started scratching at the windows while the other two were trying to break down both the windows and the outer door into the interior of the outpost. The barking and snarling combined with cracking glass and splintering wood made the stallion cower and scream, inadvertently alerting the Hellhounds to his presence. They tried to break in with even more ferocity, now. There was nothing for him to do and nowhere for him to hide.
The glass shattered with a loud ear-splitting sound. The three Hounds had entered the outpost and advanced towards the cowering stallion. The biggest Hound came up to him and bared it glowing teeth.
With no hesitation, all three of the Hellhounds pounced on the stallion. He screamed in agony and the beasts' claws and fangs tore into him. One of the Hounds clamped down on his right thigh, severing his femoral artery. The other Hound held his left foreleg and tried pulling and shaking it. The biggest one clamped down on the stallion's neck and started to shake and claw at the stallion's chest. He was dead in a matter of minutes.
The job completed and the sinner sent to the Underworld, the three Hellhounds started lounging around while eating the body of the mortal they had killed. One of them, a female, started laughing hysterically.
"Did you hear him before we came in?! He was all like, 'Goddess forgive me'! What a riot!" she cried over her laughter.
"We all heard, Killclaw. It wasn't that funny. I've heard mortals say that for the past three thousand years," one of the other males said.
"But it still gets me every time, Ripper," Killclaw said. "What about you, Shuck?"
Shuck, the bigger of the three, let out a sigh. "Honestly, I like it better when sinners try to put up more of a fight before we maul them to death. But chasing them is still fun, too."
"Excuse me, my dear friends," a familiar voice greeted from within their minds.
Each of them recognized that voice as the Lord Hound's voice. He was speaking to them through the Pack-Mind, which is a telepathic link all Hellhounds share. They were all happy to be hearing his voice.
"Well hullabaloo-and-howdy-doo, my lord. What can we help you with, tonight?" Shuck asked.
"It's a troubling matter concerning your eldest nephew, Frightfang," the Lord Hound replied.
That response made Shuck instantly fear for his nephew's life. He loved Frightfang dearly. He played with him, told him stories, and even trained him when he wasn't hunting sinners.
"What is it?! What happened?! Is my nephew okay?!" he thought frantically.
"He's fine. He's just with you in the mortal world. I need you to find him and return him to the Underworld," the Lord Hound replied.
"Do you know where he is?" Shuck asked.
That may be a difficult question for even the Lord Hound to answer. Hellhound pups weren't linked to the Pack-Mind as their minds and bodies haven't matured enough, yet. The Lord Hound could get a few images, but nothing more than that.
"All I was able to see was that he was living in a mortal town. You may have to search diligently for the lost pup," the Lord Hound replied.
And with that, the three Hellhounds were looking down at the now skeletal remains of the sinner they had eaten. Shuck stepped out before them and took a commanding stance, causing the other two to stand at attention.
"Listen up! My oldest nephew is lost somewhere in the mortal world! We are going to go out there, find him, and return him home! Understood?!" he demanded.
"Yes sir, Shuck!" the two Hounds replied in unison.
"Alright, let's start hunting!" Shuck cried before they left the outpost.
Don't worry, Frightfang. I'll help you, little guy, he thought with determination.