PA 3.5: End of a Tail

Chapter XXVI Part IV

Dell took in a deep breath, then muttered out, "... Hey."

"AAHHH!" Olive shrieked, bowling themselves over in fright.

Wordlessly, Coco and Brownie's faces went grim as Cujo froze up. "Wait! I want to help!" she yelled, heart beating quickly as the potential of a lethal bolt of magic became very real, and she realized the fake wand might not be enough to keep her safe. Suddenly, she felt very, very stupid.

"Dell?!!" Cujo yelled in disbelief. His breath stopped in his throat as he stared on at the terrier, choking on his words with his hands held up to his midsection fearfully. She winced at his reaction.

"YOU!?" Coco yelled, quickly whipping her wand out from under the cover of her witching robe and dropping the chalk she was using to scribble the rune onto the wooden door frame. In an instant, it was pointed at Dellanor.

"Hey!" Brownie shouted, pointing at Dell. "It's Patches' girlfriend! Why the hell are you here?!"

Dell's terrified expression at seeing Coco's wand was momentarily swapped for a twitch of her brown eyebrows, then she threw both of her arms down to her side angrily.

"Can you get another joke?! I am NOT his fucking girlf-" Before Dell could finish, wire erupted from the air around her, and she had a moment to gasp in surprise before the bright yellow barbs suffused her, wrapping her up and squeezing her taut, instantly forcing the wind from her lungs as her eyes bulged out from the pressure. 

"Oh my Dog! Coco!" Brownie yelled, recoiling at the suddenness of the spell.

Coco scoffed, turning to Brownie. "Seriously? She has Mitt's wand, she could kill us at any moment!"

"I think you just broke her neck!"

Coco relented, looking unsure, and easing up on the pressure afforded by the vibrant wires. Were it not for her fur and clothes, the protruding barbs would've sunk sharply into her flesh and drew chunks from it, instead, fibres were the only thing they stole.

Olive fearfully put their paws up to their mouth, staring on at Dell in apprehension. "A-Are you okay?" 

Still dazed, Dell had no hope of responding to the worried mutt in a timely manner.

"Dell, what are you doing here!?" Cujo pleaded. She let her gaze fixate on him, hoping she'd see animosity towards Coco's violent tendencies but found none. She only saw a vicious anxiety he had on his face that he'd wear whenever she tried to insert herself into whatever conversation he was having with someone else.

"W-Wait, please-" Dell ended her sentence with a fit of coughing- each burst of air that came into or out of her lungs was fire, she could feel an attack coming on shortly, but her medicine kept it at bay for now.

"Dell..." Cujo muttered, still in shock and backed up against the wall as his floppy ears piqued up as much as they could. "This is just... too much... how..?"

"I'm giving you guys the wand!" Dell begged, "I know where Patches is, and I know what he's going to do!"

Quiet descended over the room as Dell went back to wheezing air into her lungs, coughing at every bit of wind that irritated her throat.

"C-Cujo," she muttered.

Hesitantly, the golden took a step away from the wall, forcing a smile. "Yeah? What- What is it, Dell? Are you alright?"

"Can- Please, can I talk to you?"

Brownie grimaced, sucking in air past her teeth. "That sounds like a bad idea."

Cujo turned to Brownie, scoffing. "Eh? What? How is her talking to me bad?" He gestured to the captive for emphasis.

"Because, you dummy!" Brownie exclaimed, her bandages starting to shift off of her head as she clenched her paws up into balls and hopped up onto her tippy-toes. "How the heck would she have gotten Mitt's wand if Patches didn't give it to her?"

"I-" Dell swallowed phlegm before raspily gasping for more air, then continuing, "I stole it from him."

Cujo stammered about, unable to comprehend something which he soon vocalized. "How in Dog's name were you able to get out of the cellar, then? Mitt had to open it up last time."

"I..." she meandered, trying desperately to get herself to lie to the dog, "I- I- Cu- I... I'm sorry, I ah- I- he- he let me out, I told him I was going to work with him, then he let me out." It was for his own good, she told herself. "He teleported us here, then I- He has your friends upstairs, but-"

"Woah woah woa, he's upstairs?!" Coco exclaimed.

"Yes! I took his wand and ran! I don't want-t anymore dogs to get hurt," she drew in air, then coughed it out alongside an apology directed at Cujo, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"I don't care if you're sorry," Coco stoically exclaimed, interrupting the conversation with her grim expression. "You're giving it to us, I'm locking you in the kitchen, and we're going upstairs to deal with Patches once and for all." Although her voice was largely monotonous, the rear of her sentence flared with barely contained and spiteful anger.