Hound

Hound jumped onto a small hill as the animals ran past him. Deer, birds, bears and other miscellaneous creatures ran past the Bogsneak in a rush. His head fins lifted in curiosity as he stared toward the direction in which they had ran from a few moments before hand. The beastmaster took a curious step off the hill before placing all four paws on the soft earth beneath him. The dragon blinked as the soft earth soon turned cold and dry. He stared at it in confusion as his claws dug into the tough crust bringing up soil dust.

“Soft, wet soil does not turn to dry, hard soil in a matter of seconds,” he said as he went to sniff the ground.

The Bogsneak lifted his head as a snarl was heard in front of him. Hound lifted his head before staring at the dark furred wolf that stood before him. It’s upper lip twitched as the snarl continued as if the wolf was trying not to snarl at all. The dragon made a noise of surprise when he looked into the beast’s eyes. They were clouded over yet shiny at the same time. Again, it was fighting whatever urge it had at the moment.

“Beast?” he muttered as he moved closer to it.

The wolf growled in warning before inky black trails of goop began to fall from its mouth in streams. The goop trailed down its maw and onto its neck as well as the forest floor. Whatever was still there withered away its touch. Hound moved backwards fast enough. He didn’t know what was going on, but he knew something bad had happened when he spotted the bite mark on the wolf’s neck as it stood straighter. The Bogsneak turned fast to get away from the diseased creature before something stopped him. Whispers surrounded Hound before he turned toward the wolf. It’s fur was on end, but the beast had a calmer look around it at the moment. The clouded eyes had cleared for that moment.

“Dragon,” the wolf spoke startling Hound.

“You can speak dragon tongue,” the Bogsneak said as he stared at it.

“Dragon,” the wolf repeated. “Please kill me. Make the suffering stop not only for myself but for the others in this forest.”

“I do not kill beasts without reason,” Hound said as he went to take a step back.

The clouded look returned into the wolf’s eyes as it’s head shook from side to side. The black, inky goop had returned before the beast lowered itself as if to pounce. The upper lip curled back before a snarl escaped its throat. Hound didn’t have time to form a plan of action when the beast leapt on him. The Bogsneak gave out a grunted noise of pain as it pinned him to the forest floor. The cloudiness disappeared some as the wolf crawled off Hound before cowering a few inches from him.

“Please, kill me, beastmaster,” it begged.

“I ---”

The wolf cut him off. “My pack was infected by the Shade. It started with one of us. They attacked the others. I’m … I’m the last of my pack.”

The wolf gave him a pitiful look. “The urge to cause destruction is immense; however, I do not have packmates anymore to attack. I do not want to spread …”

The wolf growled as the clouded eyes returned. It stood before advancing on the still recovering Bogsneak. It’s claws dug into the ground before leaping toward Hound.

“Kill me!”

Hound limped toward his home as his fins fell flat against him. Blood flowed around his right front paw as he moved it. His eyes seemed distant and defeated. The Bogsneak made it to his den before falling over in front of it. He had no more strength left to make it inside. His sides heaved up and down as a familiar Guardian came out of the den.

“Hound!”

“Mirage,” he muttered before he closed his eyes.

The Guardian grabbed him before carefully dragging Hound inside the den. He needed to be healed and bandaged up. The wound on his right paw looked nasty. Hound opened his eyes to stare at Mirage as his mate helped him. He was concentrating so hard on getting him into the den that he didn’t notice the cloudiness that seemed to flicker in his eyes before he closed them again to sleep.

lore by SilverOtter!