Multiple loud growls fill the air as the three heads take us in. It's surprising because this creature does resemble a dog on Earth. The entire body has short, merle fur and flames are bellowing out of their mouths as they breath. Their teeth are twice the size of a normal dog and its eyes glow red.
"Stay back, Christina. Please let me take care of this."
He takes a step toward the animal with both hands in the air in surrender. "We aren't here to cause trouble." The head in the middle begins growling so hard it shakes.
I wish he'd come back over here. I don't think this is going to end well. Maybe we need to figure out another way in.
"Calm down, boy." His tone is soothing like talking to an injured animal.
Yeah, let's see if that works. I bet the Devil's guardian dog is just going to roll over and want its belly scratched because he's talking so nice to it.
A deep bark comes from the middle one and it strikes out at him.
He rolls out of the way and it hits the ground. The one on the right side blows out a huge flame right where he is standing, but he jumps at the last second and kicks the middle one in the mouth as he drops back down.
Lashing out, the head on the left attacks and he swirls around and jabs it in the eye with his knife.
It whimpers in pain and flinches back, desperate to get away.
Holding on tight, he is able to keep his weapon and turn to watch the other two heads that seem even more enraged now the other one is injured.
I'm impressed with his abilities and he's able to keep up with these things, even though he's never been down here in an environment like this before.
Not wasting any time, the middle head attacks again breathing out fire as its eyes stay locked on his every move.
He is able to dodge the fire, but the other head begins making its own blaze so both will intersect.
Shit, he's going to get burned alive. I don't know how to help him.
Despite logic, he turns and runs toward both of them. They follow him, their fire pouring out of them full force, but he doesn't hesitate. He just focuses on them. When he gets close enough, he jumps and stabs the middle one in the neck. It screams and turns its head to attack him but hits the adjoining head instead.
The other one reacts and jerks in the same direction and they burn each other. They both screech and jerk away.
Using this to his advantage, Dax jumps up and holds the knife out, slicing the throat of the middle head.
It gargles and whimpers until goes limps and falls.
The other head is in so much obvious pain, it doesn't realize what’s happening and it's just jerking and trying to get away. Dax spins around and stabs the knife in its neck.
A horrifying cry echoes in the cave. When Dax pulls it out, blood pulses from the wound in huge gushes. It doesn't take long before the whole creature lays down and stops moving.
The cave descends back into complete darkness.
I wait to make sure it's really dead before jumping up. Thankfully, my eyes are still adjusted. "Are you okay?" I run over to Dax.
He’s wiping the blood off the knife on his black shirt when I get to him before he puts it back in his harness. "Yeah, sorry it took so long."
Is he being serious right now? He just took down a three headed monster all by himself. "No worries. I'm glad you're not hurt."
"Come on, let's get moving. We've already taken too much time." He grabs my hand and pulls me around the animal.
We walk further into the tunnel and come to a door.
Why there is a random door in the middle of a rocky tunnel will never make sense to me, but I've learned this is just how things roll now in my life. It's a dark door, almost the same color as the tunnel walls. It is almost camouflaged, but something about it stands out to me. "Hey, do you see that?"
"Should we open it or keep going?"
For once, I'm the person expected to make the call. Wow, that's a new feeling. I close my eyes and look for the flame. I feel a tug that direction. I have no clue why, but I'm going with my gut here. That's all I have. "I think we should go through it."
"Then let me open it." He steps between me and the door and opens it. "Uh ... are you sure about that?"
I look over his shoulder and find a dusty, desert looking world in front of me. "I really want to say no, but yeah, I think we need to go through here."
He nods. "Okay, let’s go."
We go through the door and walk a little way. The sky is a dark red, and there is no sun. We continue walking for miles, yet there is nothing but sand and flat land. I close my eyes and still it pulls me toward the same direction we've been heading.
"Are you sure we still need to be going this way?" Dax's face is lined, but he hasn't complained.
"I don't know what's going on. I'm still being pulled this way, but my tracker power isn't working the same as on Earth." At home, I know exactly where things are. Down here, I'm just tugged in a direction. I don't like it.
Sweat tugs on my brow and I realize it feels as if the heat has increased at least ten to fifteen degrees since we've been down here. "Is it hotter to you or is it just me?"
"No, the heat has been increasing for a while." He wipes his brow.
Great, so the heat is rising,
