Chapter One

Victoria encounters a deadly threat during her first true trial to become a Huntsman, though it appears there may be other forces at play.

Maggots spilled from its gaping maw accompanied by streams of viscus black bile. Its eyes burned a bright smoldering yellow, like iron fresh from a blacksmith's forge. 

The hound growled, a low guttural gurgle. Victoria stared at the beast, her left hand gingerly sliding to the dagger at her side. There was no doubt in her mind, the beast before her was a Hell Hound - a mid-tier Harrow. 

Victoria’s hand had barely met the hilt of her dagger when the hound lunged towards her, black clawed paws clattering against the old wooden floors. In the blink of an eye it had toppled her, gnarled teeth snapping at her neck, covering her in bile, spit and wriggling maggots.

Victoria had managed to hold the beast back from tearing into her flesh by bracing its throat with her forearm. Her free hand grasped desperately for her dagger, managing to free it from its sheath. Her heart drummed in her chest as she drove the dagger into the side of the beast.

To her horror, the hound did not so much as flinch at her attack - its undaunted eyes glaring down at her as its teeth inched ever closer to her throat. Her eyes squeezed shut and in a frenzied panic she unleashed a fury of desperate thrusts into the hound, maybe a dozen, maybe two dozen, perhaps even a hundred. 

She was still stabbing when her eyes slowly opened to see the dead beast laying atop her, blood seeping from its neck and mouth. She didn’t know which blow finally did it in, it could have been the second or the fiftieth - but it was finally dead. 

She choked back tears as she shoved the corpse aside, pulling herself to her feet. She slumped against a nearby wall wiping the spit, bile and blood from her face with a trembling hand. Her eyes glared down at the dead hound, her stomach churning violently. Despite her best efforts she could not hold back the torrent of vomit which erupted from her mouth onto the wooden floors.

The Huntsmen had taught her, they had trained her, but nothing could have prepared her for the terror she had just survived. This was hardly how she had envisioned her first Harrowing, though she now knew the reason for the name. 

“Hell hounds…” she muttered softly.

She took a few more moments to compose herself before the realization hit her like a ten tonne brick - hell hounds. These Harrows always traveled in packs. Her heart sank into her stomach as her eyes darted around the dim corridor, lit only by the moonlight. 

“S**t, my torch!” 

Her eyes scanned the ground, frantically trying to find her flashlight which the hound had knocked from her hand when it tackled her. It wasn’t long before she saw the metal cylinder, but it was obvious the bulb had been shattered. 

Victoria stared at the broken flashlight for a while before beginning to laugh softly, it was an uncontrollable chuckle born from frustration - perhaps she was laughing at her own predicament or as a way to cope, she wasn’t sure, but she laughed. 

After another minute or two of wallowing in her despair, Victoria tightened the grip on her dagger and proceeded down the hallway. She had no intention of dying at the age of twenty-two, especially not during her first trial as an apprentice. 

Though she tried her best to stay within range of the moonlight she knew she would have to go back into the darkness eventually. She clenched her eyes tightly for a few moments before stepping into the shadows and reopening them. While it was dark, the corridors were not pitch black and her above average night vision was proving quite useful. 

She could make out the rough outlines of furniture, decorations and paintings; at the very least she wasn’t going to stumble over anything. She stifled another chuckle at the realization that she found the dark somewhat comforting - afterall, the eyes of hell hounds glow.

If she could just find Lexington she would at least have some level of comfort fighting alongside her mentor, but the manor felt like a maze. Each corridor just seemed to lead to another even longer than the last. It did not help that she couldn’t make a proper mental map of her environment.

She had just turned down yet another corridor when she heard an owl hoot from the darkness. Her ears perked up and she couldn’t help but smile with relief. The owl call was Lexington’s way of alerting her to his location without drawing unwanted attention. She could just about make out the direction of the sound and headed towards it. 

The call led her back to the main entrance of the manor. She could just about see the stairs when she stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes locking on two glowing orbs moving through the darkness at the opposite end of the hall. Then, they stopped - transfixed on her.

The unmistakable growl of a Hell Hound echoed in the entrance hall as the beast prepared to lunge at his would-be prey. After taking a steadying breath Victoria readied herself, lowering her stance and shifting her center of balance to avoid being toppled.

Without warning the hound pounced, Victoria’s breath caught in her throat as she awaited the impact - then she heard it. The beast cried out in pain, its voice cut short as a crossbow bolt flew through its neck pinning it against the wall in the middle of its leap. 

The hound scratched and kicked, gurgling noises bubbling up from its impaled throat as it choked on its blood. It was a vicious, vile creature of the damned but in that moment all Victoria could see was a suffering animal.

She approached the hell hound cautiously, her dagger at the ready.

As she neared it the hound glared at her, even in this moment its eyes still burned with a vicious rage. In one swift stroke Victoria stabbed the beast through its chin, piercing its brain. Its body instantly fell limp against the wall. 

Victoria took a moment to observe the bolt, it was absolutely massive, she had never seen a bolt this large - it may as well have been a railroad spike. What kind of weapon could have fired something this heavy, and better yet what kind of person could have wielded it. 

At that moment it occurred to her “Master Lexington?” she called out swinging her head to look down the stairs. As she suspected Lexington stood at the bottom of the stairs, his crossbow still trained on the stairs.

“How many?” he asked

“I’m sorry?” Victoria replied

“How many did you kill?”

 “Just one”

“Interesting”

Lexington’s tone changed as he lowered his crossbow glancing off to his left. Victoria’s eyes followed and widened as she saw four hell hounds piled into a mound in the center of the entrance hall. 

“Six is too small for a normal pack” Lexington observed “And there is no sign of a pack leader”

“Well there could still be others in the manor” Victoria replied glancing back up the stairs “how can you be so sure the alpha isn’t still here?” 

“It would have come by now. Pack leaders share a spiritual bond with their pack, if one is killed it would rally the others and seek out whatever killed their kin”

Lexington stared at the mound of dead hounds, his brows twisting with confusion “Six...and no pack leader. They were just bumbling about” he murmured, more to himself than Victoria.

“Regardless” he said turning to face his pupil “Go fetch the one you killed and bring it here. I’ll take the decoration down” he smirked as he gestured towards the hound pinned to the wall.

“I’m sorry, you want me to lug that thing down here?” Victoria asked, sounding exasperated “I don’t even know if I can find it, this place is a bloody maze”

Lexington stared at her for a moment, his eyes narrowing. Victoria's gaze dropped to the floor, her hand instinctively trying to hide some of the blood and filth which stained her uniform - her other hand moved to try and smooth down her hair, but quickly retracted with disgust as she felt a maggot squish between her fingers.

Lexington shook his head before sighing “Fine, I’ll go get it. Shouldn’t be that hard to find. In the meantime, I need you to go to the car and fetch the propane, devil’s powder and Florian’s sacrament.”

Victoria looked at the mound then back at Lexington, now she understood - a cleansing ceremony. With a nod to her mentor she made her way outside and back down the long stone walkway to the main gate.

Author's Note

I would love to hear your feedback on all aspects of my writing. If there were any things I could improve or things you think I did well, please let me know. Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated! You can also let me know if you would like me to add more chapters of this work.