Chapter 22 - Road Trip
Ewan and the gang have yet another narrow escape as they plan their trip to find the Dragon's Tooth
Welcome to the latest chapter of this epic exclusive YA urban fantasy saga. Feel free to reach out or comment if you like this story. Your feedback is what keeps the magic flowing. If this is your first time finding this story or you’ve missed a couple of episodes then I’d suggest following the link to the index page where you can start reading the entire series for FREE!
Mac continued to crunch the gears and spin the tyres as he carried on with the erratic driving, skidding round corners and narrowly missing parked cars.
“Fer god’s sake Mac, slow doon, before ye get us all killed,” Anna said.
Ewan and Dylan sat frozen in fear in the back of the car whilst Anna tried to calm Mac down.
“What in hell is going on? What were those things? Dogs don't just explode like that. I need to get back to check Archie’s ok.”
“He's fine,” Dylan said, “I saw him get back in to the office and shut the door before those things ran off.”
“But what were they doing there, what did they want with Archie?”
“I don't think they were after Archie Mac.” Ewan took his time to complete the sentence, “I think it was me they were looking for, I think who ever took my dad sent them.”
They all sat in silence digesting this thought as Mac finally managed to bring the car under control.
Ten minutes later Mac pulled up outside the small block of garages that backed on to the row of rundown terraces where he lived and they all got out.
“Jesus, will you look at the state of this, what the hell did those scunners do ta ma brother’s car?”
Mac just shook his head and the others looked on in shock as they surveyed the damage.
One of the front headlights was smashed and there was a crack in the windscreen. The bonnet and sides were covered in scratches and small dents and the back bumper was cracked and broken and looked like something had tried to take a bite out of it. But the worst of the damage appeared to on the roof where several deep claw marks had been gouged into the surface leaving bare metal showing through.
“What in gods name am I gonna tell Jamie, he’s gonna kill me fer sure.”
Anna put her arm around Mac’s shoulder, “You saved us Mac, you’re a hero. Without you we’d ha bin dog food by now.”
“Look at the state of this, this was’ne done by any dogs I've ever seen.” Mac looked at Ewan, “What’s going on here, what’ne the hell have you gotten us in to? What’ne the hell am I gonna do about my brothers car?”
Ewan just stood, head bowed, holding his backpack in front. “I, I don’t know. I just wanted to find my dad.”
Anna could see that Ewan was starting to tear up again and she moved to put her arm around him instead. “Leave him alone, It was’ne his fault, he’s no more clue what's going on than the rest of us, I'm sure we can sort this out, and I'm sure Uncle Lenny will pay for any damages to your stupid car. Ain't that right, Ewan?”
“I guess so.” He said.
“Woah, Ewan, I’ve just realised something,” said Dylan.
The group all looked at Dylan who was standing a few feet from the car and who looked to be deep in thought.
“What now, I don’t think I can take any more shocks today.” Ewan said.
“Those dog things, I think I recognise them, I think I know what they are and where they’re from.”
Anna interrupted before Dylan could finish “Ok genius, what do you know?”
Dylan glared back at Anna as if daring her to interrupt him again. “Those aren’t dogs, at least not as we know dogs, they look just like the Hell Hounds that Ewan wrote about in his latest story.”
Anna gave a Dylan a withering look, “Are you trying to tell me that those dogs, are figaments of Ewan’s imagination?”
“No, I don’t know, ask Ewan, he’s the one that makes up the stories. I mean it’s just that those things look and sound exactly like how Ewan described them. The Hell Hounds were created by the Demons to be like some kind of cross between guard dogs, blood hounds and infantry cannon fodder. When Mac hit one and it exploded, it was just like when Dragon and Tiger got cornered by a large pack of them and they had no weapons and they used some branches off a big tree and…”
Anna interrupted him before he could continue.
“That’s enough Dylan, you’re talking nonsense. Hell hounds? Demons? Are you sure you didn’t bang your head in the car? If you haven’t got any thing useful to say then keep quiet.”
Dylan looked down at his feet, feeling a little stupid.
“Actually I think he might be right.” said Mac.
Anna looked across at Mac, one eyebrow raised, “What? You agree with him?”
“I’m not saying that, it’s just that he’s right, when I think about it those things do look an awful lot like the ones in Ewan’s stories and I’ve never seen any dog like that before.”
Now it was Anna’s turn to shake her head, she faced Ewan who was still standing fiddling with the straps on his backpack. “What stories are these? Do you have any idea what’s going on?”
Before he could answer Dylan spoke to Mac, “Woah Mac. I didn’t know you were a fan of the Dragon Tales blog, how long have you been reading the stories? How far have you got.”
Mac was about to answer when Anna punched him on the shoulder, “Seriously, now is not the time for stories, you can all nerd out about hell dogs later, we still need to get across the Trossachs and find Uncle Lenny remember?”
“Hell Hounds, not hell dogs.”
“What?”
“Miss McCawley, I fear the boy Dylan is correct as is his large mechanic friend. Those were most definitely Hell Hounds, most likely sent by a powerful Demon Lord and if they’re pursuing us and they have our scent then they could be here any moment and we should expedite our departure.”
Ewan had opened the straps on his bag and they could all see Bai’s head poking out of the top.
Mac was the first to respond, “Ewan, why have you got a lizard in your bag? Does it bite?”
Ewan shook his head but before he could answer Dylan interrupted, “It’s not a lizard, it’s a Dragon, and yes it does bite but it also breathes fire.”
Mac looked at Ewan and then Anna and they both nodded, he looked back at Bai, “seriously, what the hell is going on, why does Ewan have a lizard in his bag? This is just too weird for words.”
“Mr Connolly, I can assure you I am no lizard, and regrettably I have to admit that once more the boy Dylan is correct. I am the physical embodiment of the immortal Dragon Spirit, I was summoned by the heir to the Spirit Orb and I have agreed to aid young Master Wu in the pursuit of his errant patron.”
Mac thought for a second and then replied, "So let me get this right, you’re a dragon spirit, sent to help Ewan find his father who apparently has been kidnapped, most probably by the demons that set a pack of hell hounds on us.”
Bai nodded,
“Cool.”
“Ok, great, now we're done explaining everything. Can we get on please? We still need to find Uncle Lenny.” Anna paused and looked down at Bai, “Wait, did you hear that, he spoke English, did you guys hear that?” Anna looked again this time a little closer at Bai, “Is he ok?”
“I have been listening to your insistent wittering since I first awoke and I have learned that efficient communication can best be expedited if I engage with you in your mother tongues. To this end I have revised my communications to best transfer my desired intentions directly to each of you in a manner most befitting your ethnic heritage.”
Dylan nodded and gave a thumbs-up, “Wow, he’s learned to speak fluent English since this morning, cool.”
“Miss McCawley is however regrettably correct in her observations. Holding this physical form for so long and so far from the Spirit Orb is taxing and the enhanced effort in communication is draining my energy reserves at a quicker rate than anticipated. I suggest you follow your original course to find the Dragon’s Tooth as soon as possible before I am too weak to provide any assistance.”
“What, The Dragon’s Tooth, that place up by Ballachulish?”
Anna looked at Mac suspiciously, “yeah, that's the place. There was a message on Uncle Lenny’s phone arranging to meet him there. Wait, do you know where it is?”
“If it's the place that I think it is then aye. Back when I was a wee bairn, me mum and da would take Jamie and me ‘oot on these trips in to the countryside. We never had the money for proper holidays but me mum would pack a picnic and we’d have these days ‘oot.” Mac paused as he thought back. “Me da, always told us tales of this Dragon’s Tooth place. It's a big rock that sticks up out of the ground. He used to say it was a magical place where fairy’s and monsters could be seen, but it was just local legends and we never saw anything. It’s a nice place though, all quiet and peaceful.”
“Do you think you could find it again?” Anna asked.
“Aye, probably, but we’d need to get some petrol for the car as it's a fair ways. And ye may want to grab something to eat and drink as well.”
“Well that's sorted then. Ewan, go find Dylan and tell him we’re going. We can stop at the garage on the way.”
Ewan looked round but Dylan was nowhere to be seen, “Did anyone see where Dylan went?”
“I think I saw him head up to the house, probably needed the loo or something.” Mac had opened the garage door, “There should be a couple of petrol cans in here that I can use to fill up tank, Ewan why don’t you put your bag in the car and give me a hand?”
Ewan did as he was asked and followed Mac in to the garage who was busy moving boxes around to make a path to where the petrol cans were stored at the back.
Anna was left alone by the car and she shivered as a cloud passed overhead. She passed the time by looking over the damage that had been done to Mac’s brother’s car, she ran a finger along the roof where the hound’s claws had gouged deep scratches and shivered again. Her finger caught the ragged edge of one of the scratches and left a deep cut, and she immediately put her finger in her mouth to prevent the blood dripping. Cursing to herself she looked round to find a tissue or something she could use to stop the bleeding and looking down she noticed something strange stuck in the rear bumper of the car.
At that moment Ewan and Mac returned each carrying a metal can, Ewan put his on the ground near the back of the car and Mac opened the lid to the fuel tank and began pouring the contents of his can in.
“Hey guys, have a look at this.”
Mac put his can down and came over, worrying about the prospect of finding any more damage.
“There’s something stuck here in the bumper, it looks like some kind of tooth.”
Mac looked closer, there was indeed a large black tooth about 3 inches long sticking out of the corner of the bumper, it was jet black, curved and tapered to what looked to be a sharp point.
“Jees, look at that. What ever tried to take a bite out of the car left us a present.” Mac said.
The end of the tooth was covered in black goo.
“That look’s like it got ripped clean out of one of those Hell Hounds mouths, I hope it really hurt.” Mac added.
“Ew, that’s gross, can you get rid of it?” Anna said.
“I’m not touching that.” Mac replied.
“Well we can’t just leave it there, it might be infected with something.”
Ewan piped up, “In my stories the Hell Hounds would often leave a tooth in something they bit so they could track it later.”
“Ewan that’s disgusting, why would you think of something like that?” Anna said.
“It wasn’t me, it was in the dreams. I just wrote down what I dreamt.”
“So what did you do in your dreams if you found one of these?”
“I never, it wasn’t me in the dreams, it was Dragon or Tiger or one of the others.”
To Ewan’s surprise Mac responded, “I remember that one, I think Tiger found one in a cart or wagon or something and they threw it in the fire to destroy it.”
Without pausing Anna asked, “Well can we do that?”
Mac turned to Ewan, “Can you grab me a pair of pliers from my toolbox. Anna there’s an old oil drum in the corner if you move it over there,” Mac pointed to an empty space away from the garage door, “I’ll wrap it in an old rag and drop it in the drum with some petrol, that should do the trick.”
Whilst the others did as they were asked Mac finished filling the petrol tank and left enough in the can to start the fire.
“Ewan is Dylan back yet, if one of those hound things is still tracking us it could be here any second. We need to move now.” Ewan could hear the trembling in Anna’s voice and it didn’t do anything to silence his own fears.
“Shall I go up to the house and look for him?”
“No, we should stick together, let’s burn this tooth thing and then we’ll all go and find him.”
Mac used the pliers to work the tooth free being careful not to leave any of it behind, he used his free hand to cover his nose and mouth. “This thing stinks like rotten eggs.”
With a final pull the tooth came free and they could all see the sharp curve ending in a needle sharp point.
Anna handed Mac the small towel that she’d found in the back of the car and had been using to stop the bleeding on her finger, “Will this do?”
Mac nodded and carefully wrapped the tooth being extra careful not to touch any of the black goo, “hang on, this has got blood on it, where did you get it from?”
“It's mine, I cut my finger on one of those scratches on the roof. I found the towel in the back of the car.” Anna said.
Mac looked worried, “Are you ok? Do you need to go to the hospital?”
Anna shook her head, “No, it's stopped bleeding now, I just feel a little stupid, it's was a dumb thing to do.”
Anna showed Mac her finger and he could see where the blood had begun to clot around the wound.
“That looks deep, we should get it cleaned up as soon as possible, god only knows what you might catch from those things.”
“Err Mac, is it supposed to be doing that?” Ewan pointed at the towel in Mac’s hand. There seemed to be more black goo oozing out of the broken end of the tooth and it appeared to be crawling towards the blood stain.
Anna screamed as the goo oozed closed, “quickly burn it, I can feel it crawling towards me, it's like it's sniffing me.”
Holding the towel Mac dropped the tooth into the oil drum on top of the rubbish that was already inside, as they looked inside they could see the black goo oozing back towards the broken end of the tooth. He then liberally doused the contents and the towel with the last of the petrol from the can.
Mac warned the others to stand back as he pulled a lighter from his pocket and touched the flame to the corner of the petrol soaked towel.
The towel caught immediately and a bright yellow flame licked across the material, before it could reach his hand Mac dropped the towel into the oil drum and with a whoosh the contents caught fire and began to crackle as large yellow flames kept into the air.
After the initial rush consumed the partly vaporised petrol the flames died down as the fire took hold of the tooth and the rest of the rubbish in the drum.
The three of them watched the fire for a few seconds and then turned back towards the house to find Dylan.
A loud scream pierced the air followed by a howl as if something was in excruciating pain, then silence.
Dylan came running back towards the group with one of Lian’s studded clubs in his hand.
“Quick, they’ve found us, we need to leave NOW.”
Dylan scrambled into the back of the car quickly followed by Ewan. Mac and Anna got in to the front and they sped off.
It took Dylan a couple of minutes to get his breath back and to start to answer Anna’s seemingly endless list of questions about where he’d been, what happened and how he’d got away.
Dylan told everyone that he gone off to look for a toilet and then after he’d felt hungry and wondered if Mac had anything they could take on the road trip. He was just coming out of the kitchen with some biscuits and crisps when he noticed one of the Hell Hounds sniffing around. Frozen with fear he waited hoping it would go away when all of a sudden it started to howl as if in pain and thrash about wildly banging it’s head against the wall and the floor.
Dylan saw this as his opportunity to escape and ran out of the back door. As the door slammed shut the creature looked up and started to move towards him and he could smell its fetid breath and see smoke coming out of the side of it’s mouth from where one of it’s fangs was missing.
Not knowing what else to do Dylan had swung at the creatures head with the club he’d picked up at Lian’s gym and as soon as it made contact the creature exploded into a black cloud, streamers of black smoke radiating outward before fading away. He’d then run back as fast as he could.
“I tell ya, it's a good job I went to the loo before I saw it or else I'd have wet myself.” Dylan said.
The four of them sat in silence focusing on the road ahead so much so that none of them noticed the dark shadow that passed overhead as Mac drove away.
The unusual creatures in this story are fascinating. Hell Hounds… the damage to the car and the tracking tooth are unexpected and make me shiver. I love that Ewan’s own writing is steering this story somehow.