Destroyer

’Run, running is the only thing we can do right now.’ The ugly, crimson red and black hound said in his mind. His marked and nailed paws hit the ground with a rumble of a mountain.

‘We must run, our brothers will think we betrayed them, what will we think of us? We did not want to be alone, we did not want to be tortured anymore. For we had said the sacred word.’ The mutt had finally reached above ground, darkness surrounded him with lit circles and a round ball high in the sky that glowed brightly. The paws of the hound digging into the soft ground had startled him.

‘Where are we? What have we done?’ The hound kept thinking to himself, no longer hearing paws like his behind him, he knew that his brothers would not follow into the forsaken world, the world above.

‘We have betrayed our brothers...our sisters....our Lord...our master.’ The hound leaned its body against a winding stalk in the ground, it had been colored with brown and was flaky; he hadn’t known what his surroundings had been, he had never known that the big ball in the sky was called a moon, he had never known the straws he steps on would be called grass, for he had no knowledge of anything.

’We are free now, but free isn't the forsaken word we wanted to speak aloud, to speak in our mind. It was a word that no hound should ever speak, the word was ‘I’. We had never known that word, until this day. When we had been doing our daily patrol around the cells of crimson stained blood, we had heard the word, for that word was, ‘I’, and we spoke that word. Now we have escaped, still not knowing of what that word means.’

The hound spoke carefully in his mind, Not knowing of the impending tiredness ready to strike him. His thoughts swirled like the water would in a bottle, he was scared. His brothers were not meant for the forsaken world, the legends said if a hound was to sent to the forsaken world, monsters who walk on two legs would get them, would kill them and eat them live.

For months, the hound had been questioning his faith in his master and the cells of the two-legged monsters he was to guard. They called him a monster, an ugly beast. Teeth so sharp and big it would scare the beast back, but they are the ones who could speak with movements of their mouth. The hound had no information regarding this beast until one had said the word which was not supposed to be spoken. Now, he escaped his torture that had seemed like millennia for speaking one word that he had no knowledge of.

The lashings on the hounds back had soon healed, but his strength still low, his eyes had drawn weary and his body felt limp, the hound's body had slumped down to the bottom of the brown stalk and his lidless eyes seemed to close, his body being engulfed in darkness once more.

‘We are traitors, we are bad. We are nothing but the flesh of a beast’s to be discarded and thrown out to the ghouls.’ One by one, piece by piece, the hound tore off the scales on his leg for punishment. Black blood gushing from his wounds as he did so, not a whine coming from his mouth.

As he pulled at his scales and skin he wasn’t noticing the other hound nearby. A growl had been heard behind him and he whipped around stepping back away from the other. Weak from tearing his flesh off of his body he dropped down and his head was bowed. He didn’t take the time to look at the other hellhound ready to attack him, instead, he was ready for his death.

“Alpha! Its...it’s a hellhound! What should I do?” The voice had rung through the hound's ears, it talked just like the ones in the cells that he had guarded.

“Don’t leave it sitting there, pick him up and carry him over, looks like he’s bleeding.” The male walked forward, getting closer to the animal, the hound quickly snarled softly, he was ready to die but never to die by the hands of the two-legged beasts.

“Whoa...Alpha I don’t think-” The male was stopped when this Alpha had come into the view of the hound's eyes. The word Alpha was often used back down where his brothers and he worked. It is what they would call their commanding hound.

The Alpha had come into view, it was a broad man, a blue t-shirt with a chest pocket and blue jeans, he seemed like just any regular twenty-five year old, but the hound had no idea what a twenty-five-year-old was in the first place.

“Wow, a hellhound. No one has ever seen one in...ever. It’s weird how one could spot one so easily.” He stated, the other one taking a look over his shoulder.

“You're right, its ugly.”

"Hey! Don’t just say that Silas, your mutt is uglier than the hounds and I say he’s quite...Handsome?” The Alpha had stated and reached out his hand, the hound had smelt no hostility, the hound slowly lifted its weak body and let his paws push him forward to the male, his snout sniffing his hand.

As the hound had done so he pressed his flaky face into the man's hand and his lidless eyes had closed and he had seemed to fall into this man’s arms.

“Wow Alpha, did you just tame a hellhound? In a matter of three seconds?” The Alpha laughed softly and took the hound into his arms, walking to which they had come from.

“Yeah, I guess they did. I thought that hellhounds were supposed to be...you know, vicious. Hellhounds are supposed to be from hell, evil animals that the devil had made as pets.” The man had stated and looked at the black blood coming from its body.

“Perhaps those stories are just lies? It sure does seem like it, this hound was tearing its flesh off of its body, who does that?” The Alpha shrugged off the question and looked at the sleeping hound in his arms.

“It is not what we thought, I don't think we should look too much into it though, let's get him cleaned up.” The two males came into a large clearing outside of the forest, it was a town. It was a quiet little town in the middle of Texas. It was rarely ever bothered by other towns or other predators, it was exactly on the map of Texas.

People had been walking around, greeting their alpha and his beta, but eyeing the hound that was in his hands and immediately people knew it was a hellhound. It seemed as if the only person that though the hound was something to be cared for was the alpha, Alpha Archie Clockwork, Alpha of the Nightshade pack.

The Alpha had walked with his beta all the way to their clinic of sorts.

“Hey doc, I got a find for you, but he needs help more than anything else.”

"Of course, who will the patient be?” Archie had walked into a room, there were five different hospital beds, all of them vacant. Archie placed the hound on the bed as the doctor was over a sink washing his hands and placing gloves on.

“Oh...well just a...new friend?” Archie stated and crossed his arms as he leaned against the wall near the bed the hound had been laid on.

“Okay, lets- what in the hell?!” Archie laughed at the males reaction and released his arms from a crossed arm position.

“It’s a hellhound Jake, nothing to worry about.”

“How did you even get close to one? Why the hell is it even here? What if it starts to rampage-”

“Jake, jake calm down, he’s fine. He let me take him and he was in pain, I don't think he was going to attack either way. Silas was with me anyway.” He raked a hand through his chocolate hair and placed his hands on his hips.

“What the hell am I supposed to do with...this?” Jake asked him and closed the curtain to make sure no other could see what was going on.

“Well, you’re a doctor at the age of twenty-nine going on thirty, I’m pretty sure you can think of something.” Jake moved his glasses up on his face and rubbed the bridge of his nose.“Alright alright, give me a second, let me just see what’s going on.” Jake brushed him off and pushed him out of his work area. Archie popped his back as he was shoved out and had walked out of the clinic.

’Where...where are we? What have we--this is not where we were last time.’ The hound was blinded by the white light in the room, it had never been so bright before, so his eyes had to take time to adjust.

He had bandages on his arms and legs, black spots of blood seeped through some patches, his body still ached but he was still able to stand.

He moved off of the bed and moved his head to search the unfamiliar surroundings. Jake, the doctor had walked into the curtained room as the hound was off the bed, he dropped his clipboard and furrowed his brows.

The hound had parted his mouth and let out a snarl, his lips curling upwards to show his jagged yellow teeth.

“Whoa, better watch it.” Jake grabbed a syringe from his doctor's coat. The hound had no idea what was going on, his blinded vision had made him swish his head different ways and able to smell unfamiliar liquid and the male.

The hound then jumped at the male, jake blocked the lunge and tried to grab its neck but failed.

‘Attack first, don’t let others get us. Fight to kill.’ The hound had spoken to himself and slid into a cabinet, he was stabbed with a scalpel in one of his hind legs. He howled and whined but still was upwards.

“Jake! What the hell did you do?” A familiar voice was heard to the side of him and he snapped his head back to it.

“I didn’t do anything! He just attacked me!” Jake furrowed his brows. The hound looked towards the familiar voice and saw the man named Alpha. He had been caught off guard when he felt a sharp sting in the side of his neck and a burning liquid being injected into him.

He let out a whine and slowly stumbled towards the man and dropped at his feet. Archie got down to the hound and placed his hand down onto his head. He once again placed his arms under the hound and set him on the bed.

Jake had removed the scalpel from his leg and patched him up once more.

“I’ll take over from now. He just needs to know he’s safe. He’s like a lost puppy, he IS a lost puppy you know?” Jake nodded and took off his gloves. As Jake walked out of the room, Archie had started to watch over the hound. He couldn’t help but feel as if he had a connection the hound.

A little while after it began to wake up.

“Hey boy, its okay don't be afraid…” He looked at him and then held his hand out.“It’s just me you know?” He told the hound who was wary of him still. Archie helped him on his feet.

“The names Archie...Do you have one?” Archie asked him and set him on the floor. The hound had furs like scales and black eyes. He wasn’t a creature you should take out in public or the military would go crazy.

The hound tilted his head and shook its head.

’We have no name...We are the only hound.’ He thought to himself and kept his head down. Learning this man was the Alpha he had to keep his head bowed in front of him.

“You have a mind if your own...can you speak? Mind link of course?” There was a power that all hellhounds have, not the same thing of course but some type of power. The hound lifted his head to the kneeled down man. He looked to his hand and slowly crept forward to him.

“Want me to pet you? Or is that a yes?” He asked and held his hand out. The hound placed his snout into his hand and his eyes turned black as well. He felt all the emotions that the hound has felt, also with seeing what the hell this hound was into.

He saw that there were many hellhounds like him where in hell, the amount of torture they all had to endure and what life was like. No individuality, he saw and heard the screams of trapped and lost souls and felt the pain of the hound in front of him. The evil that split the bottom of hell. Removing his hand from his paw. Archie looked at the hound with shock and he took some steps back. Archie stared at him for the longest time.

“I know what to call you now...Destroyer.” The hound looked up, his new name was now Destroyer. Something that meant what he is, but in the eyes of his new master, his friend...it meant to be strong.