Wish upon the Stars chapter 504

"You dropped it on my BEAR!" Shouted Jessie as we bolted out the door. "Randall! Hold on sweetie, I'm coming." She leapt into the hole  without a second thought, and I was right behind her, but there was  someone else who was faster. Abel blurred past me, spatial lubrication  letting him slide through the hall and down the hole so quickly even my  vision could barely track it.

Grabbing Jessie, I dropped  into the hole, stepping off air with Ripple Running, State of Grace  slowing us down. As she landed, safely, I let her go, and shifted into  Mephistopheles as I tossed her the collar. "We've got him, charge that  thing up with your most subversive life force."

Slamming  the butt of my staff down, I vaulted across the empty entryway, hurling  myself toward the Hellhound as Abel smashed into the side of its head.  Randall was torn up, but he'd held out for the few second we took to get  there. He might not be some crazy uber powerful demon beast, but he was  a bear the size of a fucking bus, and he was coming up quick on the  peak of F-rank.

Abel's punch had been enough to jerk the  hound's head to the side, but not stop it. I slammed my staff right into  its exposed eye, dumping in all the hellfire I could muster.

The  Hellhound howled, jerking back and stumbling away, eye burning.  Mephistopheles used Marked for Death as part of its base, so defenses  could be bypassed. The thing might normally be tanky as hell (pun  intended) but my hit was doing SOMETHING at least. "Ok." I growled to  myself. "Let's try this again." I triggered Pit of Despair. This time,  thankfully, it didn't drop into another floor. It just dropped into the  dust. I made a mental note not to use that skill when I'd gone up  stairs, at least not to its full depth. I felt Callie prepare to subdue  it through the bond. "Jessie! NOW!"

A sea of darkness  leapt up, wrapping the hound from snout to tail, though it was already  starting to break down as I watched. Jessie didn't need to be told  twice. Leaping forward, she snapped the collar around its neck, the dark  metal device snapping shut as the symbols carved into it glowed a  bright vital green. The hound howled, tearing free and throwing her  aside, where she was caught by Nat.

"Everyone stay back!" I  yelled as I backed away from the thing where it was struggling. It was  free, but every time it tried to move, sparks of green would come off  it, causing it to yip and snap. "Bethy, you're about up here. You ready  to do your part?" The glow of the magma from the hound's mouth was  starting to dim slightly, which seemed like a good sign, but that didn't  make it much less terrifying.

Seeing it like this in the  middle of the room gave me a new appreciation for the thing. It stood  about five feet at the shoulders, close cropped ears and lean features,  kind of like a hunting dog. Its eyes (or eye right now) blazed a deep  ruby red and its obsidian teeth shone in the residual glow from its  mouth.

As I watched, its snapping became less and less  frequent, and when it finally ceased attacking enough to be vulnerable,  Bethy charged forward with a triumphant squeal of. "PUPPY!" And hurled  herself onto its back. Its non injured eye went wide, and it started to  buck and shake, but Bethy held onto the collar, riding its back like a  bronco at a rodeo, shrieking with delight.

As we watched,  the ground began to change, black grass sprouting, tombstones rising  from the dirt. Above them a red sky unfolded, black clouds partially  covering a bloody moon. With almost no warning, Bethy's legs clamped  down as she leaned sideways, planted a hand on the grass, and flipped  the struggling animal up and over, slamming it back first into the  ground.

She blurred forward, leaping on top of the  Hellhound, and like a striking viper, sunk her fangs into its throat  just above the collar. It struggled, but she quickly pulled back,  slashing open an arm and dripping the blood into its mouth before she  grabbed it around the neck in a chokehold and held it still.

The  dog was terrified, bucking and fighting, but Bethy's eyes glowed bright  red as she made shushing noises, muttering softly to the animal that it  was alright.

When it calmed down, she rolled off of it,  looking down at her dress with a pout. "What a bad boy, you made mommy  all messy. Oh well, it was our first time meeting, so I'll let it  slide." She looked down at the cowering dog and scratched behind his  ears. "Who's mommy's good boy? Who is it? You are! Yes you are!" To my  shock the Hellhound's tail actually started to wag, the great beast  straightening up.

Callie stepped up next to her. "I  uh...brought his bone?" She said uncertainly, passing the lure to Bethy,  who nodded happily. "So can he tell us anything?"

"I've  named him Luggage!" She pronounced. Apparently breakfast foods were cat  names. "And yes, he can tell us all sorts of things. But he's shy right  now. I'm going to have to patch him up, since mean old Shane put one of  his eyes out. Jessie can you heal Luggage?"

Our healer was  currently patching up her bear, who was mostly done bleeding. She  glared at the vampire, then at the whining dog, and sighed. "I guess.  Randall is ok anyway. Mostly superficial wounds. Have..." She grimaced  saying the name. "Luggage, come over and wait by me. I'll patch him up  next."

Bethy clapped happily, tossing the bone lure  casually. "Luggage, go play with your toy while you wait." The dog's  head jerked up, and then he blurred across the room to snap up the bone  excitedly before lying down to gnaw on it.

"Alright. So...that was easier than expected." I said cheerfully. "Sorry about Randall, Jessie. Is he doing ok?"

She  sighed, nodding as she stood up. "I have him patched. I know you didn't  mean it and he's fine so it's water under the bridge." Walking over to  the hound, she knelt down and placed a hand on his flank. He growled  slightly, but Bethy cleared her throat and he settled down. "Wow, his  fur is so soft." Said Jessie as she channeled power into him, smiling  softly.

The  Hellhound had a glossy black coat that seemed to actively suck in light  around it, and it made the demon dog hard to spot unless you knew where  to look or it was in action. It was interesting that it was soft, for  some reason I'd assumed it would be like barbed wire or something.  Something durable and defensive.

Once  she finished up the healing, Bethy was at the dog's side in a snap,  rubbing her face on his fur. "Oh, you're feeling all better now aren't  you? Did Auntie Jessie fix you all up?" She gave us a serious glance.  "Dog's need more affection than cats. Donuts and Poptarts are too  independent for cuddles, but Luggage is a good boy, aren't you?" She  cooed to the hellhound a bit more, and its tail started wagging again.

"That's  nice to know." I said slowly. "But we're in the market for some other  information. To start with, why don't you tell us about the Hellhounds.  Is Luggage the only one?"

She  cocked her head, listening as the dog made snuffling grunting sounds,  and then shook it quickly, hair bouncing. "Nope. He says there's a whole  litter of them. Thirteen total, counting him. He's the youngest.  Apparently all his brothers and sisters are bigger too."

I  sighed in defeat. "Of course they are. Of course we ended up catching  the runt of the litter." A deep growl echoed out from the hound and I  cleared my throat, holding up my hands defensively. "Sorry, man. No  offense."

"Did  mean old Uncle Shane make my baby sad?" Bethy cooed to the massive  infernal killing machine. "It's ok, you're mommy's good boy. Now, do you  think you could show us a way to the headmaster's office without  running into any of your siblings?" She paused for a bit as the dog  snuffled. "I..." She looked at us. "How would you describe a specific  location to a dog?"

I  paused. "Shit. That's a really good point." I said quietly. "Ummm...oh,  ask him if there are places where some of his siblings can't go?" She  looked at him expectantly, and he snuffled, which she translated with a  nod. "Ok, well is there a place in the MIDDLE of all those places where  ALL of them can go?"

She  listened for a minute. "Apparently he calls it...well, I can't  translate that, but the closest approximation is 'bad place with mean  things that don't smell good'." She paused again. "Or possibly 'mean  place where smell is bad' I think he might be saying his sense of smell  doesn't work in the headmaster's office. But yes, he knows where that  is. He says he knows a smelly path that dogs don't like."

Callie  sighed. "Well that sounds promising. But presumably smelling bad beats  getting eaten alive by a pack of Hellhounds, or at least as many as can  get to us in the F-ranked section."

I  nodded. "Abel, can you get Randall up through that hole if I give you a  boost? I figure it'll be easier than trying to get him through that  tiny ass stairwell. Straight line rather than a spiral at least." I  glanced at Jessie. "He's good to be moved now, right?"

She  nodded. "Definitely. The hallways up there are big enough too  thankfully. Though I really need to find some kind of bear shrinking  artifact. Maybe I can wish for it. It'll be so convenient." She stopped,  frowning at the bear. "No I'm not trying to turn you into a teddy bear.  Well, yes, obviously I'm going to cuddle you to sleep when you're tiny,  what does that have to do with anything?" She threw her hands up.  "You're a BEAR, you don't even have a reputation!"

I  nodded to Abel, who snickered as he walked over to where the bear sat.  "Come on huggles." He snickered. "Let's get your giant ass up to the  second floor."

Reaching  out, he manifested the massive hand of his Ragam, then grabbed up the  bear and shoved forward. The hand closed around the animal, space  rippling and shifting as Randall started to fucking SHRINK so he could  fit through the opening. I blinked in shock as Abel kicked off the wall,  slipping through after him. "I didn't know he could do that." I said  blankly. "Did you guys know he could do that?"

I'd  seen him do a lot of crazy shit, but shrinking was new. Everyone else  looked just as shocked. We all made sure we had what we needed and then  headed back to the spiral staircase, which was easier than going through  the hole in the floor. When we got to the top, we found Abel and  Randall lounging insouciantly, obviously trying to look cool.

"Good  work Abner." Said Bethy cheering as she and Luggage ambled past the  spot they were resting. "You're the best pet mover ever. I'm totally  gonna remember this. I'm so happy for you, you finally found something  you were good at!" She sounded so genuine that if I hadn't known she was  almost definitely fucking with him, I never would have guessed.

Abel's  face turned purple with rage, and he sputtered as she walked past. I  stepped up next to him as he stood, patting him on the shoulder. "Don't  feel too bad." I said with a reassuring smile. "Didn't you notice?" At  his blank look I nodded after her. "She got two letters right this  time." That was when I lost my composure and started laughing. It felt  good to get some of the tension out.