Chapter 22

Herry was blaring through the twisting roads of the mountain. He was totally engrossed on his driving, making impeccable passes and flawless turns with every shift in the path. Hands gripping the steering wheel in the proper ten and two position, eyes focused on the road. The rest of the team latched onto armrests and doors, watching the pines and the redwoods blur together from the window.

"Shit," he slammed on the breaks and they all lurched forward, the seatbelt ripping into sides and forcing the air from lungs. Still Herry whizzed past the police car at ten over the speed limit. He hissed through his teeth and instantly looked to his rearview mirror for the blaring blue and red lights, but the cop stayed put. He let out a relieved laugh and speed right back up again.

"You lucky bastard," Odie said to him, looking over from the truck's right side mirror.

"You have no idea," he said, "I have never been pulled over and I speed all of the time, all of the time. It's got to be some rub off effect from Neil."

"Yeah, you know it," Neil smiled and buffed his nails on his shirt.

"What would you say if you ever were pulled over?" Archie inquired, "Do you know how fast you were going sir?"

"Oh, you know, I'm just late for my appointment, saving the world," Herry said animatedly.

"Right," Archie nodded and flipped open an imaginary ticket book, "Well, that will be a five hundred dollar fine, and your vehicle's impounded."

"Gods," he groaned, "I would lose my shit." A good laugh was just what the group needed to bide of the nerves as they approached the blinking red dot on the GPS of Jay's PMR. Herry swerved his truck off road and they crept into a clearing in the woods. They heard the tremor of a deep growl the moment the door of the truck opened. With quiet toes they stepped out onto the bed of soft pine needles, waiting ready to meet the beast that was making that noise.

A two headed dog the size of a pick-up burst through the redwoods, snarling and snapping. Air was sucked from lungs like a vacuum and refused reentry. The dog was covered in a short black fur. Both of its heads broad and dense, heavy with thick bone. Its snarled mouths full of razor sharp teeth, all tapering to a piercing point. Its pointed ears were folded back against its neck, yellow eyes watching and waiting.

Jay waved his sword, instantly drawing the dog's attention, it charged growling. Jay rolled out of the way. The beast was agile and was on top of the boy before he could recover from his dive. Archie propelled his whip through the air. Snapping the dog's mouth shut as the wire wrapped around its jaw, just before it closed its teeth around Jay's shoulder. The small distraction was enough for Jay to dart away before the second head had the change to lunge at him. The beast struggled to get out of Archie's restraint. In its distraction Atlanta threw her bolas to tangle its front paws, sending it face first into the ground with a tremoring thud.

A growl resonated from its bound mouth and a deep bark from the other. Biting at the bonds on its feet, its razor teeth easily sliced it free again. Bounding back up the beast jerked its head away from Archie, pulling the hero off balance and sending him hurdling into the ground. Lying in the pricking bed of needles Archie lost his grip on his whip. With the tension gone the dog shook off the whip and lunged for him, helpless on the ground. With a scream, Herry intercepted it, stopping the beast dead in its leap. It snapped its teeth at him but couldn't make contact before it was thrown sideways into a massive douglas fir. It let out a sharp yelp when it landed on its back at the base of the tree. In an instant it had overcame its shock and was rolling back onto its feet, snarling wildly.

"Glad you could make it," Cronus voiced in cheery nature as he followed the beast into the clearing, like a friend welcoming guests to dinner, "Do you like my pet?"

"What is that thing?" Jay asked, stance wide and poised for combat. With nerves on edge he watched the monster, its lips pulled back in a snarl and drool dribbling from its maw. With its glowing yellow eyes the dog watched Jay, its muscles twitching in anticipation to lunge.

"Orthrus, Cerberus' brother, can't you see the family resemblance?" Cronus said with a smirk.

"Yeah the multiple heads and the snake for a tail," Herry scoffed. Cronus just smiled and smacked the dog on its rear, Orthrus instantly barreled into a charge, hardly giving the group enough time to tumble out of the way. Neil shrieked and ran for a hiding place. The dog picked up on the screech and scanned the trees as it rampaged. Neil wrapped his arms around his head and dropped to the ground like a boulder through water when the beast started running towards the tree he was huddled against. Orthrus sailed over top of the boy and face first into another tree. The force of the collision ripped the spruce from its roots and it crashed to the forest floor, sending the dog in a tumbling spectacle of summersaults.

"Huh," Neil said looking up from the ground, arms still over his head, butt sticking up in the air. Odie sprung on the chance to fire a balled net from his shoulder mounted gun. The force of the shot sent the small boy staggering back a step before he could regain his balance. Unfolding like a spider's web the net swooshed as it swirled through the air to tangle the beast. Herry was the first to the captured monster, quickly he drew any openings in the trap closed, ensnaring the dog further. Orthrus thrashed and struggled against its bonds, snarling in its frustrated anger.

Realizing his pet was in trouble Cronus jumped into action. Striding over he sliced the ropes of the net with his scythe. A simple knick from the god's weapon left Herry in a dangerous position beside the unrestrained and furious monster. Free of his bonds Orthrus sprang to his feet. One snapping jaw lunged for Herry with teeth bared. It was too close range for him to process the scene and react appropriately. The only thing Herry could manage to do was toss up his left arm for the beast to latch onto rather than his throat.

The dagger teeth slipped through the meat of his forearm as easily as a well sharpened knife. He felt the muscle part. The pain burst. He hollered as it surged up to to his shoulder, across his chest to seize his lungs. Orthrus shifted his jaw, mincing his arm with his teeth. Vision spotting black Herry let out a deep growl and pushed himself off of his knees, back to his feet. The teeth imbedded in his flesh twisted and ripped the muscle in his forearm. He screamed in frustration and desperation, instinct brought his right fist into the temple of the mouth that held him. Herry's fist coming in contact with the dog's thick boned skull made a sickening crunch of fracturing bone.

Atlanta jumped to his aid and unleashed a flurry of crossbow bolts towards the beast, the purple bolts dug into its flesh. The pressure on his arm disappeared and he felt the warm wetness of his blood on his skin as it began spewing from the open holes, quickly mixing with the saliva soaking his arm.

"Herry?" Jay yelled.

"I'm fine," he called in harsh reply, staggering back to the ranks. At his side he experimentally clenched the fist of his wounded arm, a jolt of pain shot up through his muscles. He groaned in frustration and slowly rotated his wrist, and more knives swam up the nerves of his arm.

"You're the only guy I know that would almost get his arm ripped off and then brush is off as just a flesh wound," Atlanta said.

He sent her a bemused smirk, but he could tell he was losing blood fast, even if he couldn't feel the symptoms yet. He could feel the warm, continuous stream flowing down to his fingers, painting his arm crimson. His blood dripped to the needle cover from his fingertips like a leaky tap. He knew there was damage that would take months to reverse. He could feel the uncomfortable strain on every tendon and ligament. It would be a long while before his left arm became as capable as his right once more.

Cronus laughed a sharp, cheery laugh seeing his pet had struck one of his opponents, "Looks like your back's against the wall Jay." Orthrus lowered both his heads and barked a sound that would make thunder cower. His ears were pressed right back against his head. If they had thought the dog was mad before, he was furious now. Jay panted as his mind raced, the beast had already knocked them down without being at its full potential. His muscles jumped with anticipation. From the corner of his eye he caught Herry sway, holding his hand over as many of the tooth marks as he could, but it wasn't enough to keep the danger of him bleeding out at bay.

They could try to retreat, but Herry's truck was yards away, Orthrus blocking their path to it. The keys were tucked away in Herry's pocket, and there was no way he could drive with the amount of blood he was losing. His team was standing firm through their exhausted heaving. Every single one of them would fight until the end, he knew, but this couldn't be the end. It was just a dog. They had gone up against much tougher monsters, but they had never had someone in danger of sever blood loss either. Jay growled in frustration, gripping his sword in a white knuckled fist. Time was not on his side.