Chapter 10 – four dog night

The lowlands still looked the same. Flat as a pancake. The land rose up further in the distance. The sky above was gray.

Boomer's tail wagged. Mine did too, a little. Home. We were home.

I used to roam around here with the rest of my litter mates when we were pups. Plenty of room for us to stretch our legs. My mom used to let us run until we tired ourselves out and we'd usually sleep through the night after that. That might seem like a sneaky trick to pull on a pup, but we were a handful.

The wall ahead looked like a mountain range that rose up to Hell's roof. It stretched from one end of the horizon to the other. There was a gap in the wall. The Gate of Hell. I recognized the Guardian of the Gate. He looked like me, black and furry, only he was huge. Bigger and longer than some of the ten story buildings I'd seen back on Earth. He was my favorite uncle but it had been at least a year since I saw him last.

I wasn't sure he liked me any more.

Cerebrus laid on his belly with his heads on his paws. All three heads slobbered. And snored. So did his tail, a giant anaconda that slept coiled up on the ground behind him.

Okay then. I could do this. I walked up to him but I stopped at a respectful distance like a young dog with manners. My mom taught me that. I cleared my throat. My voice was clear and loud. "Ummm...excuse me?"

The middle head raised up and sneezed. It was good that he was so tall, because the wind from his sneeze was pretty strong. It moved the air over our heads. All three heads blinked. The tail snored. It was always the last part of him to wake up. Sometimes my other relatives teased Uncle about that.

Cerebus tilted his heads to first one side and then another. I remembered that Cerebus's sight wasn't the best. He squinted at Dean and Boomer. Boomer whimpered.

"Easy now. We're okay." Dean sounded calm enough.

The heads reared back and then stared at me. Three pairs of ruby red eyes widened in shock.

"Well I'll be damned," the middle head boomed out. "Hey! Hershey!" He always was quickest on the uptake.

"Boy, where have you been?" The head on the left sounded surprised.

"Your momma's been worried sick about you!" The third head piped up.

That made my ears stand straight up. "Huh? What?"

All three heads nodded in unison. "Yeah!"

My legs shook as my mouth dropped open. I sat down on my rump with a thump. I finally remembered to close my mouth. I stammered, "She - she is?"

"Oh sure! She goes up there to look for you every chance she gets!"

"She – she does?"

"Oh yeah!"

My head moved in quick nervous jerks as I looked around. I wanted to see her there. "Is...is my mom down here now?"

"Nope. The King sent her topside on a job."

The snake tail snorted noisily. It uncoiled as it raised up behind Cerebus. "What? What's going on?" His head was the size of a school bus. He blinked red-eyed at us, then his mouth dropped open. "It's the pup! I thought you said he ran away?"

"We didn't tell you that! We knew he didn't. King Crowley sent him to those people topside. Nobody believed us about what they do to us four-leggers. Hershey ran away from them. And he found himself a Knight of Hell, too!"

What? I suddenly had what the humans call a sneaking suspicion. I turned and looked at Dean.

Dean gave me this fake innocent look. Boomer wasn't fooled either. When I didn't stop frowning at him he shrugged. "Okay, so last night I came down here and talked to some hounds." As if it wasn't a big deal, not really.

But it was.

All three heads nodded. "He sure did."

"Knight of Hell?" the snake tail exclaimed. "Lemme see!" He stared at Dean intently.

"Take a picture, dude," Dean snarked. "It'll last longer."

A look of confusion flowed across the snake's broad scaly face. "That's not Cain!"

"No, you dummy, that's the Winchester. Don't you remember?"

The snake's eyes went to slits, as though he suspected we were all playing a trick on him. My mom always said he wasn't the brightest snake in the garden. He cocked his head to one side. "Are you sure?"

"He's got the Mark of Cain," the middle head snapped. "Can't you feel it?'

"Oh, yeah. Sorry."

Cerebus crossed one foreleg over another. "Where you guys going?"

"To see Crowley," Dean replied.

Cerebus leaned down and winked at Dean. "The King didn't like it when you ditched him. He called you his two legged Hound of Hell. Joked about getting a collar for you."

"Is that a fact?"

"Yep, that's a fact. I'm supposed to stop you if I see you."

Dean grinned. "Yeah?"

"But that's only if I saw you. And I didn't see you. I didn't see anybody." The ground trembled as Cerebus stood up on all fours. He moved aside.

The gate was clear.

I stood up and walked forward. Uncle lowered all three heads and very gently touched his noses to mine, one head at a time. His nose leathers were dry, slightly bumpy and at least twice as long as my entire body, from nose to tail. His warm breath ruffled my fur.

I walked through the gate. At first I didn't understand where the hard lump that rose up in my throat came from. I tried not to but I grinned like an idiot.

My mom still loved me.

My pack didn't hate me.

Another tremor as Cerebus sat back on his butt. He smiled at us as we walked past. "I wanted to take some time off a couple of months ago. First time in centuries. They think I love being stuck at this gate forever. My request was denied. The pack masters and Crowley said I'm a valuable resource. Said having me here is tradition." He sneered. "Pure bullshit. Nobody else wants this job, not even for a week or two. When you see Crowley give him a thump upside the head for me."

Dean nodded. "Will do."

Boomer was so fascinated by Cerebus he hung his head over Dean's shoulder as they walked past. The pup smiled and waved with his right paw. "Bye bye!"

Dean's power filled the air around us and we disappeared again.

When we came back we were up in the mountains. We must have been further inland because I couldn't see Cerebus or the gate, not even on the horizon.

Dean knelt down, put Boomer on the ground next to me. We looked up at him, confused. His face was blank. I couldn't read him.

His voice echoed inside my skull. I knew Boomer could hear it too. I'm going to send you guys away from here, all right?

Why?

We're boxed in. Stay low and stay together. It's okay. Don't worry. I'll come get you later.

Dean reached out with his right hand. First Boomer, then me. He meant to send us away with a touch. He radiated calm. He didn't want us to be afraid.

That made me angry.

NO! I pushed Boomer away from Dean with my body. I snapped at Dean's hand. My jaws snapped shut an inch away from his fingertips.

Boomer picked up on my mood and growled at him.

"We're not leaving you! We're not leaving and you can't make us!"

Dean jerked back, startled.

"You see that, Knight?" a deep voice behind us rumbled. "Damn mutts. You should give them to us. We'll teach them to behave."

TBC next week