PA 3.5: End of a Tail

Chapter XXVII Part III

Both dogs got up onto their feet- first Brownie, and second Rover with some assistance. He winced as he put weight on his injured leg, and Brownie only let go of his shoulders when she was certain he'd be able to stand.

"Coco! I have an idea!" Brownie shouted, moving away from the terrier, pressing her back against the cat's in a display of camaraderie. "Don't worry about the monster, keep him distracted!"

"Whatever your plan is, I'm sure it's terrible! Just give me a second to think up-" before Coco could finish her sentence, Brownie lept into action, rushing over to the bottom of the staircase and waving for Olive, much to the cat's chagrin.

Coco was growing more reckless, and he was forced to listen to her exclamations of denial and insult towards the dalmatian with each blast. Despite this, his eyes were trained on Olive, with the occasional glance spared towards Rover or Brownie to make sure they weren't up to anything. As long as the demon did what it was made to do, he had nothing to worry about except-

Another reverberating crackle of energy slammed against his shield, shaking him from his thoughts. He grit his teeth in irritation, baring them at the cat. "Oh would you stop that?!" he barked out, staring her down. Although she only responded with another attempt at ensnarement, it distracted him long enough to be pelted in the head by one of the cushions that had been sprawled all over the room.

The sensation made him flinch. His head twisted to the far corner of the room, where Rover had started to pick up random objects and haphazardly throw them at the dog, much to Coco's immense frustration. He watched as the terrier grabbed a tea set and adopted a pitching stance, a scowl on his face the whole while; the whole thing was surprisingly menacing to Patches, especially considering just how mad the dog seemed.

"Rover!" Coco complained she watched a teacup get pelted through the air and shatter against the wall just where Patches' head had been. "Couldn't you have used something else?! Those are Angel's!" the cat demanded, her hair and hat rustling as Olive and the demon ran past her. Although the jack russell ignored her, he vocalized a loud cry of effort as he whipped another piece of fine china at Patches; this time the cup impacted against his collarbone, staggering him and causing a new bruise. His eyes shot open wide as another bolt slammed into his defensive shield, causing a very visible grey crack to form along the otherwise invisible spell. "Ah-hah!" Coco bellowed triumphantly.

Patches began to backpedal up the stairs; he hadn't expected the dogs to work together so seamlessly- nor for Rover to be as determined and angry as he had been. Where was the terror? Where was the feeling of superiority he felt whenever a bunch of dogs were at his mercy?

Olive ran past the large table centerpiece to the room, and dashed as fast as they could towards the staircase, tears and sweat pouring down from their face as they heard the sounds of the creature barreling past the table and felt it's cold lanky hands just inches away from their back. Their life flashed before their eyes as they tripped forward- their paws getting caught up on the rug's pom-pom, inadvertently dodging a swipe from just behind them. The immense luck was hardly comforting, but a quick catch from Brownie put the dog back on their feet.

"Up the stairs! Go!" Brownie demanded, shoving the dog without a moment's hesitation. The terrifying spindly-armed demon jabbed itself forward, elongated fingers slamming into the wall, just a few inches from where Olive would've been.

Although the mutt wanted to protest rushing towards the dalmatian trying to kill all of them, they could only let loose a "Wauuh!" of shock at the turn of the events. Their wide eyes were stuck on Patches' own furious visage.

"You stupid bitch!" Patches spat, backstepping up the stairs as quickly as his body would allow. With another strike from Coco, the shield waned and shattered, denying him any further protection as his body sagged from fatigue.

Wordlessly, Coco paused, staring down the dog as the development softened her features. The moment Patches' eyes caught hers, and the wand in his hand fizzled. She grinned and raised her weapon, firing off a shot that Patches nearly didn't dodge- he leapt back, tripping his heel over the top stair as his whole body slammed backwards and onto the cold hardwood.

Olive and Brownie rushed up the stairs as fast as their legs would take them, although the insistent paw on the mutt's back made it hard to keep balance, causing them to fumble a bit over the stairs and nearly trip again.

"BROWNIE!" Coco shrieked, trying to warn the dog as the oversized ghost leapt up with its horrid mass onto the staircase and swiped at the duo. Her warning was punctuated by a crackling slam of magic that splashed against the beast in waves, causing it to roil and bellow as it slammed against the wall. When she saw the dripping red from its elongated 'fingers' she panicked, and let her spell wane as she looked over to the corgi.

She hadn't even heard the claws sink into Brownie's thigh, carving out a gouge of flesh from the poor dog's rear and leaving her to gasp before wailing in pain. The whole mess was blurry- made even more so by the yellow magic beam warping the air around it, but seeing the corgi on her stomach, screaming her head off put something fierce into the cat.

Coco's yellow eyes bulged with fury before they began to glow, then that aura engulfed the whole of her being.