Page 51 of Guarded By the Gargoyle

I woke confused, my eyelids fluttering open. I was alone in the bed and the room was bathed with a reddish-orange light. I was terribly hot—something at the end of the bed was emitting heat like a furnace.

At first, I thought the cottage was on fire—there was a scent like rotten eggs and burning in the air. But then I saw the source of the heat—there was a huge iron door, right at the foot of the bed. It was open and I could see a hellish landscape beyond.

Barren, hard-packed earth crisscrossed with cracks and fissures was lit by burning red light. In the background, a jagged mountain range rose. There was a river running sluggishly through the landscape and at first, I thought the water in it was being turned red by the strange light. Then I realized the truth—the river was filled with bubbling lava!

“Oh my Goddess,” I whispered shakily. “What in the world…?”

And then I saw something moving towards me—some kind of animal. It was coming up fast, approaching the open doorway at a kind of gallop. But despite the reddish-orange light, the land I was seeing was full of shadows. So I didn’t recognize it until it was nearly at the door.

As it got closer, three sets of burning eyes and three slavering mouths came into view. A volley of hoarse, growling barks filled the room as the Hell Hound that had chased me earlier suddenly loomed in the doorway.

I felt helpless and trapped. I scrambled to the back of the bed, my shoulders pressed against the carved wooden headboard, so hard I was sure I would have marks later. I wanted to get off the bed and run but I was frozen to the spot and besides, I wasn’t sure I could get around the door. I needed a weapon!

“Cottage—give me a gun!” I begged. “A loaded one!”

A heavy revolver suddenly appeared in my hand. Luckily, Carlo had taught me how to shoot—mainly because he wanted someone at the shooting range with him that he could show off for.

I aimed the gun at the approaching Hell Hound and shot through the open doorway.

But though I saw the bullet fly, I must have missed. Or else maybe Earth weapons couldn’t hurt Hell Hounds. Whatever the reason, it only snarled at me with all three heads and kept coming.

I shot again… and again and again and again with the same results.

Then I heard a voice calling from the hallway.

“Willow? What’s wrong? What was that noise?”

Kael ran into the bedroom and saw my predicament at once. The Hell Hound was nearly in the doorway by now and I was shivering against the headboard with the gun held out in front of me with a stiff arm.

“Get out of the way—I’m going to try to shoot it again!” I yelled at him when ran to the door.

“No—you can’t hurt it like that. We must close the door!”

He was already changing, his eyes burning red and his feathers melting into leathery wings. His face grew twisted and ugly and he seemed to get even bigger.

“How can you shut it?” I demanded, putting down the gun. The iron door wasn’t open from my side—it was open in the Hellscape. I could see it outlined against the red glow—it was standing ajar. We would have to reachintothat horrible scene to grab the knob and drag it closed. I didn’t see how I could do that—not with the Hell Hound coming.

Kael didn’t answer. He stepped forward, coming right up to the burning doorway. Then he leaned in to grab for the knob.

But he couldn’t reach it and then the Hell Hound was there—trying to get through.

Kael grabbed one of its heads by the throat and punched it, knocking it unconscious. It was the middle head and it sagged in his grip, but there were still two more on either side, slavering and baying for blood.

My guardian gargoyle was holding it back by sheer strength but the thing was huge—as big as a horse! I knew he couldn’t hold it for long.

Kael seemed to know that too.

“Mistress,” he panted, turning his head to look at me. “Run!”

But I couldn’t just leave him.

“No—I have to shut the door!” I exclaimed. “I’m the one who opened it in the first place—I have to shut it.”

“Then let me get this hound out of the way first!” He punched another head and it slumped, drooling, to one side. But the third head was still howling and I was afraid the middle one might wake up again soon. Its eyelids were already flickering.

Holding the third head on the far left by the throat, Kael put his shoulder against the beast’s broad chest and began to push it backwards. It had been trying to get through the doorway at me, but slowly he shoved it back into the Hellscape.

There was just enough room on the right side of my gargoyle protector for me to put one foot over the threshold and reach for the doorknob. I leaned forward, stretching, trying to keep as much of my body in Hidden Hollow as possible while still trying to reach the knob.

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