point; he wanted to hear the details of the fight. Boys!
Johnathan drew in a breath. “We fought; I won … that’s about it.”
“Johnathan! Give us the details, man! No one takes on a Devil-hound alone and beats it. Come on! Tell us how you did it,” Alec practically yelled.
A Devil-hound was about twice as big as any breed of dog known to humans. Twice as big as a Bull Mastiff or a Great Dane. And they were all muscle, teeth, and claws. They were practically hairless and ugly as a baboon’s butt. Their jaws were big enough to completely clamp around a person’s head—and with one shake of its massive jowls it could easily decapitate a human from there. They could leap about fifteen yards in one jump. Yeah, formidable opponent.
“Okay, fine,” Johnathan muttered. “The hound started to go after the boy that stayed to help. That gave me enough time to pull out my channeling rod. I blasted it with a fireball that basically just knocked it off its feet and rolling into the trees. That ticked the stupid beast off enough, though, that pursuit of the boy was forgotten. The hound jumped back to its feet and snarled loudly enough to shake the trees. I looked around, desperate for something to stop it with. As it crouched to leap at me I spotted the pile of wood the kids had been using for firewood. There were a bunch of old two-by-fours
full
of nails.”
“Oh, yeah!” Seth yelled, pumping a fist, realizing that Devil-hounds came from the Fae … and the one thing the Fae could not tolerate was metal. Iron was the worst, burning their skin with just a touch.
Johnathan nodded at Seth. “I couldn’t pull the nails alone, without the wood, so I just hoped enough of them were poking through the other side with their sharp points. I concentrated on the metal and levitated it. To my surprise, a bunch of nails came up from the fire where they’d burned free from the boards. So those nails, along with the boards and nails from the pile, whipped up into the air, and I sent them flying at the hound just as it made its leap. I must’ve had a butt-load of adrenaline rushing through me because some of the nails flew so hard they went straight through the hound.
“I wasn’t fast enough to avoid the collision with the leaping monster, but I did start to tuck and roll. It hit me almost full force and knocked the wind out of me. I hit my head on a rock when I landed. The thing was thrashing around like crazy. I could smell its flesh burning where the nails were still embedded, boards and all in some places. They’d all hit on its right side and there was a board stuck to its head. It rolled off me and continued to thrash. I think I must have been a little dazed, because it didn’t occur to me to move away from it until I’d been smacked in the face with the board/head combination a couple of times.”
He touched his bruised face and shook his head. “I finally rolled away to a safe distance, but didn’t dare stand up just yet. I was afraid I would black out if I did.
“The hound howled and yelped and even thrashed around in the fire. Sparks and ashes flew everywhere … I’m surprised the trees didn’t go up in flames. Skin singed and smoldering, the whimpering hound finally crawled away in the direction it’d come. I was worried that the wounds weren’t mortal, so I stood up slowly—and, yes, I was dizzy—and followed the beast. It was headed toward a large plastic culvert pipe sticking out of the ground at the edge of the trees. I was too weak to throw any big magic, so I concentrated on weakening the ground around the roots of a huge pine tree—I gave the tree a magical push until it toppled over on the wounded and slow-moving hound. It was crushed quite beautifully. All that was left was a big pile of smoldering ichor.”
We were all silent for a moment. Johnathan eased his head down onto the table, resting it on his folded arms.
“Wow. Quick thinking with the nails, Johnny.” Alec pounded him on the
Johnathan drew in a breath. “We fought; I won … that’s about it.”
“Johnathan! Give us the details, man! No one takes on a Devil-hound alone and beats it. Come on! Tell us how you did it,” Alec practically yelled.
A Devil-hound was about twice as big as any breed of dog known to humans. Twice as big as a Bull Mastiff or a Great Dane. And they were all muscle, teeth, and claws. They were practically hairless and ugly as a baboon’s butt. Their jaws were big enough to completely clamp around a person’s head—and with one shake of its massive jowls it could easily decapitate a human from there. They could leap about fifteen yards in one jump. Yeah, formidable opponent.
“Okay, fine,” Johnathan muttered. “The hound started to go after the boy that stayed to help. That gave me enough time to pull out my channeling rod. I blasted it with a fireball that basically just knocked it off its feet and rolling into the trees. That ticked the stupid beast off enough, though, that pursuit of the boy was forgotten. The hound jumped back to its feet and snarled loudly enough to shake the trees. I looked around, desperate for something to stop it with. As it crouched to leap at me I spotted the pile of wood the kids had been using for firewood. There were a bunch of old two-by-fours
full
of nails.”
“Oh, yeah!” Seth yelled, pumping a fist, realizing that Devil-hounds came from the Fae … and the one thing the Fae could not tolerate was metal. Iron was the worst, burning their skin with just a touch.
Johnathan nodded at Seth. “I couldn’t pull the nails alone, without the wood, so I just hoped enough of them were poking through the other side with their sharp points. I concentrated on the metal and levitated it. To my surprise, a bunch of nails came up from the fire where they’d burned free from the boards. So those nails, along with the boards and nails from the pile, whipped up into the air, and I sent them flying at the hound just as it made its leap. I must’ve had a butt-load of adrenaline rushing through me because some of the nails flew so hard they went straight through the hound.
“I wasn’t fast enough to avoid the collision with the leaping monster, but I did start to tuck and roll. It hit me almost full force and knocked the wind out of me. I hit my head on a rock when I landed. The thing was thrashing around like crazy. I could smell its flesh burning where the nails were still embedded, boards and all in some places. They’d all hit on its right side and there was a board stuck to its head. It rolled off me and continued to thrash. I think I must have been a little dazed, because it didn’t occur to me to move away from it until I’d been smacked in the face with the board/head combination a couple of times.”
He touched his bruised face and shook his head. “I finally rolled away to a safe distance, but didn’t dare stand up just yet. I was afraid I would black out if I did.
“The hound howled and yelped and even thrashed around in the fire. Sparks and ashes flew everywhere … I’m surprised the trees didn’t go up in flames. Skin singed and smoldering, the whimpering hound finally crawled away in the direction it’d come. I was worried that the wounds weren’t mortal, so I stood up slowly—and, yes, I was dizzy—and followed the beast. It was headed toward a large plastic culvert pipe sticking out of the ground at the edge of the trees. I was too weak to throw any big magic, so I concentrated on weakening the ground around the roots of a huge pine tree—I gave the tree a magical push until it toppled over on the wounded and slow-moving hound. It was crushed quite beautifully. All that was left was a big pile of smoldering ichor.”
We were all silent for a moment. Johnathan eased his head down onto the table, resting it on his folded arms.
“Wow. Quick thinking with the nails, Johnny.” Alec pounded him on the
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