6 Chapter 6: Death Hound
The night air had a particular chill to it that made Max have goosebumps as he found himself marching through the woods with a group of 5 other goblins.
The Night in the Labyrinth was similar to what Earth had, a little bit of light similar to moonlight lit the world, but an eerie darkness and lack of any stars in the sky made the atmosphere tense and haunted.
"We're about to leave our tribes territory,"
"Be on guard," Ivan said in a gruff voice as he made a little gesture toward Max.
The other goblins were experienced hunters... Max could barely be considered a beginner. It was clear who those words were targeted towards.
Max nodded in return and focused on his surroundings as they moved.
The grass and the general wildlife were getting more and more chaotic by the minute as they traveled.
Max's basic tracking skills were almost useless in the dense forest floor that was packed with thick grass and tree roots that snaked through the ground.
The other hunters were dead silent while they moved through the depths of the forest. Not even Drynn, the most talkative goblin Max knew, made a single noise.
It was unnervingly quiet.
They moved through a patch of shorter grass and eventually ended up in a small glade that was relatively easy to transverse compared to the other part of the journey.
'Finally... a break from all those fucking ankle breakers,' Max thought while releasing a sigh of relief which brought a few goblin's eyes towards him with worry.
Max was about to relax a bit but before he could relax his muscles a sudden noise put him on high alert.
It was a light rustling noise that could have been easily mistaken as the wind. But something wasn't right about it... and the goblins knew it.
Ivan grabbed his spear in one quick motion as he aimed it silently at the general direction of the noise. Drynn moved back a few feet while grabbing a pinch of some strange powder that he kept on his belt.
Max took in a deep breath as quietly as possible before pulling the long spear off his back and aiming it at where the other hunters were staring.
Their hunting party was at a dead standstill for what felt like hours as Ivan's eyes darted through the grass intently.
'Maybe it was the wind-!' Max began to relax before a goblin on his right was enveloped by a mass of black goo.
The goblin let out a gurgled scream before his mouth, ears, and nose became filled with the black ooze and he became completely consumed.
Ivan leaped back and the expression that was on his face was enough to send chills down Max's spine.
"Everyone Retreat!"
"It's a Death Hound!" He shouted as he hurriedly began gesturing towards the other hunters who were frozen in fear.
"Holy Shit," Max whispered as he felt his body become paralyzed as he stared at the pile of tar-like liquid begin to form into a ragged and feral wolf.
The wolf seemed to be grinning in glee as it took a single step toward Drynn who had thrown the powder toward the wolf in a hurry.
It moved like a beast yet had a liquid quality to it that made it look unreal. It was as if Max's nightmares had taken physical form.
The powder that Drynn had thrown at the Death Hound made it falter for a second as a glazed-over expression appeared on its face, but all it took was a moment before it regained clarity and its sinister smile turned into a snarl.
The beast stared down at Drynn and lunged at a lightning-quick pace, its body threatening to engulf the small goblin almost instantly.
Drynn panicked at the sight of the beast and lost his footing as he tried to dodge out of the way. He fell and hit the ground with a heavy thud as the Death Hound swallowed up Drynn in an instant, the only thing remaining to be his echoing scream.
Max stared, dumbfounded at what had just happened, and stumbled backward as his body tried to follow Ivan's orders.
'There dead... just like that,' Max repeated in his mind as he stared at the Death Hound that was slowly digesting Drynn.
Its body churned like boiling water as blood-red bubbles escaped and painted the forest floor bright red.
"Move! Your gonna get yourself killed!" Ivan yelled as he tackled Max to the side, barely dodging one of the bubbles that hit the ground where Max was moments before.
The grass and roots that were covering the forest floor seemed to be smoking as the blood burned through whatever life was present there before.
Ivan shoved Max away again as he turned to face the beast, intent to make sure that no others were killed by this monster.
"GO!"
"I'll hold it off while I can!"
"Tell the chief!" He shouted in a grim voice that was muffled by the shriek that the Death Hound released as its acid-like blood bubble missed its mark.
Max felt his body finally come back under his control as he felt the fear that gripped his heart become adrenaline.
"No..." Max muttered as he stared at Ivan.
He was a goblin warrior who had fought many monsters off in the past. Why couldn't this one be defeated like those before? Why did he have to sacrifice himself?
'I can't just run,'
Max breathed in heavily as he felt energy flood through his body directly from the fight-or-flight instinct that was ingrained in his being.
'But won't we both just die if I stay?' Max hesitated.
'How can this thing be killed?'
In just a few seconds these thoughts raced through his mind. He had already activated Keen Eye the moment he had noticed something wrong in the glade, but it wasn't doing him much good.
The Death Hound stared at Ivan and Max viciously as its inky maw reformed into a jagged abyss that seemed intent on devouring the both of them.
Its jet-black form was almost intangible as it fluctuated constantly.
"Oil... Tar... Fire," Max muttered as he stared at the Death Hound with desperation in his eyes.
'It's a stretch... but just maybe...' Max thought as he focused on the feeling of his feet on the ground and the connection between himself and the earth below him.
'Activate Mana Sense,'
A web of intangible translucent threads was winding through the air in all directions, constantly pulsing with faint black energy that was emanating from the hound.
Max focused on the feeling of his shoes on the dirt floor of the forest. He imbued mana into the threads that connected the two and sent as much of his energy as he could into it as he ground his heel into the dirt and slid towards the Monster.
'Friction,' Max thought as he focused on the resistance that the movement imposed on him.
'Heat,' He focused harder as the sensation of his hands and knees burning from the friction exploded throughout his pain receptors.
"Fire!"
He slid forward, directly in front of Ivan who was on the verge of being pounced upon by the Death Hound, and intercepted the wolf's path of carnage.
The threads in the mana web surrounding Max lit up like fireworks as the inky blackness that was filling the area was engulfed by blazing crimson energy.
The crimson energy consumed the dark threads and exploded outwards as the oil-like substance fueled it like coal would a furnace.
The night forest was engulfed in a swirling storm of fire as the Death Hound howled in agony, its form burning into nothingness as the fire blazed on.
Max felt a flash of searing pain cover the front of his body before his mind became blank and the fear that filled him slipped away into unconsciousness.
'At least it's dead...'
---
Max awoke what seemed like moments later to the pungent smell of herbs slamming into his senses.
"What The?!" He shouted as his hands flew up to his nose to protect it from the god-awful stench that was assaulting him.
"Wake Wort does that to a person, sonny," An old voice cackled out in laughter as the smell dissipated in a gust of wind.
Max stared at the goblin in front of him in a daze as his mind finally began to catch up with what he was seeing.
"Rial," He muttered as he stared at the Goblin Shaman who looked as if he had aged dozens of years overnight.
"And your Max," Rial chuckled as he moved forward and pinched the side of Max's head with his rough hands.
He inspected Max's eyes intently and smiled again after finding whatever he was looking for.
"It seems like you have recovered," Rial said while dusting his hands off and leaning onto a long bone staff that was by his side.
The image of the Death Hound filled Max's eyes at Rial's words. The gurgled scream of dying goblins. The forest floor that had been dyed in blood.
Tears fell down Max's face as memories of Drynn filled his mind. Memories of the short goblin teaching him what tracks to look out for while hunting. Memories of sharing meals together and meeting Drynn's friends.
"They're dead," Max stuttered out as he felt his chest tighten and his mouth becomes uncooperative.
"Aye," Rial said in a solemn tone.
"Two of our tribe dead,"
"Drynn and Vaun,"
"But 3 others made it out alive, including my brother Ivan,"
"And you stopped what was to come if that Cursed Hound had lived,"
Max remained silent as he wept.
Though Rial had always been somewhat confident when Max had visited him, he was anything but confident at this moment. He awkwardly placed his hand on Max's shoulder and got closer to the much taller human.
Though Rial wasn't confident he was deadly serious as he began to speak once more.
"If that Tar Hound had lived I'm not sure if you or the other members of the hunting squad would have lived,"
"And even if some of them did live... they would have died when it started to make attacks on our village,"
"Whether by attacking or prey in the forest or directly attacking our people, it would have ended us,"
"I'm not some fancy fire mage... I'm just the tribe's shaman,"
"I know my way around the cauldron and I know some basic spells... not anything to deal with that monstrosity,"
"You did nothing wrong, Max,"
"You did what you could and no one can blame you for the deaths of our people... and I think that includes you,"
Max sobbed in silence as he reached in and hugged Rial tightly.
Rial gently held on to Max silently as the boy cried.
'This is the Labyrinth,'
'No one is safe,'
