Page 24 of Princess

The lead hound came at me, a blur of coiled muscle and jagged teeth.I pivoted to meet the attack, claws flashing as I raked them across its throat.

The sound of tearing flesh met my ears, and black blood splattered around me.The beast howled, its body convulsing violently before it collapsed.I quickly decapitated it with my claws.

Another sprang from the left, jaws snapping at my shoulder.I caught it mid-leap and sliced through its ribs, carving deep.It made a low guttural sound, twisted violently, and its claws raked across my side.Fire lanced through the wounds, but I didn’t slow down.I drove forward, slamming my weight into its chest, sending it to the tarmac.My teeth found its throat and I tore at flesh, and with another brutal bite, its body went limp, and its half-severed head hung uselessly from shredded tendons.

I caught sight of King.A hellhound lunged at him, but he caught it mid-air, his jaws locking onto its neck.The beast thrashed, its body whipping like a ragdoll before he hurled it into two others.They tumbled, snarling, but King was already moving.His claws sank deep into another hound, carving deep furrows down its spine.The creature shrieked, its body spasming before it collapsed.

I caught a rush of movement slightly behind me.Too close.

I spun just in time to dodge teeth that barely missed my leg.Another hellhound struck from the other direction, and its claws raked across my back.Hot pain flared.I turned with a snarl, my teeth finding its throat.Then, I tore.

Flesh ripped apart.

More blood sprayed around me.The hellhound gave a strangled gurgle before it crumpled, lifeless.We killed two more.The remaining beasts hesitated now, hackles raised, their glowing eyes flickering between King and me.They were fucking calculating their next move.

Two lunged towards King at once.One clamped its jaws onto his shoulder, and King roared.His massive hands shot out, and his claws severed its spine.Then he crushed.The glorious snap echoed in my ears.He tore its head from its body, flinging it aside like discarded trash.I took out another and then another.

The last hellhound bolted straight toward the teenagers.

A thunderous growl tore from my throat.I sprinted across the tarmac, my muscles burning.I wouldn’t make it in time.The hound leaped, fangs extended.

The lead male teen moved fast and jabbed his knife into its stomach.One of the girls followed, her knife slicing across its throat though she didn’t sever it.They jumped back, and the other two teens moved in.

Stab.Dodge.Slice.Jump.They worked like a seamless unit.

The hellhound went down and stayed down in under ten seconds.

My breath came heavy as I scanned the nearly silent battlefield.Headless corpses littered the area, their black blood pooling in thick, inky puddles that would soon be dust.King stood over the last one, his chest heaved, his fur was covered in streaks of blood.

His blue eyes met mine.

A quiet understanding passed between us.

The battle was over.

For now.

I shifted back to human, still covered in blood.Intense body aches from the hellhound bites and scratches assailed me, and I tried not to show it.Warm blood trailed down my arms and legs in thin rivulets.The children stared, some wide-eyed with awe, others frozen in terror, their small bodies pressed together like a flock of startled birds.

I turned toward them, forcing my voice to stay calm.“You’re safe now.”

King stepped beside me and slowed his breathing.“Welcome to your new home.”

That was King and I, communication specialists, not.

My gaze shifted to the four teens.“Have any of you been scratched or bitten?”

They exchanged quick glances then scanned each other for wounds.They understood that a single drop of hellhound saliva in a wound or even a minor scratch meant death.

“No,” one of the girls confirmed.

I studied them.“I’m not sure why you’re here,” I said, not unkindly.“You can fight.Surely the outposts needed you?”

The boy who had sneered earlier lifted his chin, his grip tightening around his knife.He pointed it, not in threat, but in fierce protectiveness, toward the children huddled behind the Warriors.

“They are our family.And we aren’t leaving them.”

The sneer may have been gone from his face, but his voice still carried its edge.

---