Craster's Keep looked more intimidating at night. The dark shadows danced ominously against the animal bones that Craster displayed proudly at every entrance point. No doubt that it was meant to look sinister, but the bones had a childish air about them, as though it was all Craster could do to warn off intruders. Well, fuck me if some pig bones make me turn back. Someone should tell him what those bones attract, I thought bitterly, then he wouldn't cast them about like dolls.
I pointed over at the hall where Craster and his wives sleep, two flaps of deerskin blocked the entrance. "That's where he'll be, sleeping with the wives." I told her, and she followed my hand to where I was pointing.
"I don't understand," she had one hand trained on the bow she had convinced me to let her bring, apparently she would rather carve out her heart with her own arrow than and these are her exact words, let that daughter fucking dog put his wrinkled hooves anywhere near her cunt. I was going to tell her that hooves wasn't the word she wanted but something in her expression made me stop, how was I meant to argue with that logic, "why are we fucking about instead of just going in there?"
I kept my eyes looking around, wondering where Helga might be and then realised that she would most likely be in the sleeping loft. With Craster. Only the older ones and the ones who weren't broken in yet slept in the tent he constructed with me. And those old hags would sooner rather beat me to death than help me out. No, I thought, it had to be Helga. It was only a while later that I realised that I hadn't answered Red's question.
I turned to face her and breathed in, wincing slightly at the thought of her reaction to my news. "Because...let's just say that he wouldn't give me a horn of ale if he saw me now."
And just as she opened her mouth to question me or scorn me - I couldn't quite tell which one it was that she planned, she looked past me, and froze.
Then, quiet enough that I just about heard it, she said, "don't move, just keep still," her eyes stayed locked to whatever it was behind me.
I tensed immediately and made me head turn ever so slightly. I needn't had to. I know what it was that made Red so afraid and I cursed to myself quietly for forgetting the wretched creatures.
Craster's Keep was home to hell's very own hounds, it was one of his main defences of the forsaken place, seeing as all of the women there couldn't hold a weapon let alone defend their home. Most of them wouldn't want to, they already think Craster is the devil sent from the Gods. These dogs were charged with the defence of the Keep and everyone inside it from any wandering wildlings that wanted to get lucky. One time, a pig of Craster's escaped the pen when the dogs were prowling in the night and the beasts ripped that pig apart, cock to nose, and scattered the remains around the Keep like decoration. I fancy that that was where Craster got the idea for his own decoration from. It takes a certain amount of crazy shit to get to where these dogs are now, starved just enough to make any sort of flesh desirable and abused in ways unimaginable until they froth at the mouth at just about any living creature that wasn't Craster. Loyal fucks as well, would destroy anyone but the man who made them like that.
My first night here, one of them found themselves wandering too close to the tent I slept and Night had shown it that it wasn't the only blood-driven animal around, it left slumping to lick its wounds. The dog made sure to keep a wide berth from my tent after then and barked viciously every time her pack was in the area. If only Night were here now, I had left the whole pack behind in case the animals that Craster had started making noises from smelling the wolves. I had forgotten all about his hell hounds.
Red's hands reached back slowly to grasp one of her bows, I watched the action with wide eyes and shook my head quickly. I whispered quietly, "how many?"
I tried to keep my breathing under control, these hounds could taste the fear rolling off of someone. Inhale, exhale. I kept the mantra up in my head, inhale, exhale. Craster only lets them out once all the wives are safely inside the loft to avoid confrontation between the wives and the dogs. I tried to rack my brain for how many of them there where.
"One." She mouthed, fixing the arrow into her bow. Breathe, I told myself, a dog can't be the way you die.
At least the whole pack hadn't crept up behind me. "Good, the others don't know. If you kill it, the rest will fuck us before we can run." I can see Red considering what I said with a dawning understanding, dogs hunted in packs, if we killed the one behind me, it would make a noise and the others would flank us from every direction and pick us apart for supper. She took her bow out of the nook of the arrow and held it beside her instead. I slowly lowered myself to my knees.
"How close?" I fought urge to turn back. If it hadn't attacked now, that means it was still thinking, weighing, recognising the threat I posed. If I turned back to face it, it would be seen as an automatic threat and the dog will attack out of defence. At least that is what I had seen with my wolves and I hoped to apply the same logic here. When my wolves hunted, the smaller, submissive ones would attack from the back, and the dominant more aggressive ones would attack face first. I thought about why the dog came from behind me, and then I realised that this dog might have been the one Night bullied away my first night here. It was probably wondering where my wolf was, unsure to attack in case my wolf retaliated.
"About five steps away, its looking back and forth." I nodded in confirmation, it likely was the same wolf, it was indecisive, its prey drive wanted nothing more than to kill me but it also had remembered something about my smell, about a pain that came with it and was suddenly unsure again. I closed my hands into fists and felt the coolness of the metal on my dagger digging into my hip bone and everything in my body fought to grab the dagger, turn around and bury it so far into it's snout that it fucking swallows it.
"I need you to go away and howl like Night does." I whispered, looking down, even closed my hands shook.
"Are you touched? Your wolf can't help us now, Blue." She shouted as loud as her whisper would allow and her light blue eyes widened.
"I know she can't but the dog doesn't." I explained, my heart was the only thing I could hear, its frantic pumping against my rib cage and I brought my closed fists around my neck as achingly slow as I could bear. My wolves rip out the throat of its prey, it was the quickest way to kill anything so protecting the neck was my first instinct. Even if it did sacrifice my hands to do so.
I could of swore that I could feel the hound's rancid breath against my neck but it could have just as easily been the wind that was picking up. I heard Red retreating but didn't bother to look up. My mouth felt painfully dry.
So this is what the moment before you die felt like. Such a stupid mistake, forgetting those stupid hounds. Their feral eyes had been burnt into my mind while I stayed here and the smell of the Keep when some of the intestines of the pig that had not been found started to rot was unbearable at the time, I thought I'd never forget it. How did I forget them?
Then over the wind and my own panicked heart, I heard the sound of Red howling, the sound was strangely authentic, it rung off the vast plain of Craster's neighbouring forest with a chilling realness.
There was no time to waste.
I stood up, hands locked at my neck, elbows drawn towards my chest and turned around but kept my eyes tightly shut. I backed away once and listened. Nothing. I heard the sound of Red's faint howl again, and then a chorus of them, all interlocking. In any other situation the strangeness of that would have occurred to me but right now, I couldn't think besides not getting eaten. I took another step back. Then another.
But then, almost as if my own body wanted me dead, I felt an urge to open my eyes. So I did.
The first thing my gaze locked onto was the dog's black, bottomless eyes and then it's lip curled back, and unblemished teeth shining in the light of the moon. It's hackles fluffed allowing the dog to look taller than his already impossibly intimidating frame would allow and ears fully erect. Everything about the dog screamed on thing at me: attack.
Fuck. I knew...I fucking knew not to look a dog in the eyes.
I only had time to raise a leg to kick it wherever I could. The dog was jumping at me, teeth bared and paws forward before someone jumped on it, bringing it to the ground.
It was momentarily distracted, torn between its prey and defending its self against the attacker but tried to turn quickly to bite whatever it was holding it.
I grabbed my dagger out from my hip bone and slit the dog's throat, avoiding its snapping teeth and it whimpered as the blood drained from it. Some of the blood hit my face and body and I wiped it off with my furs. I would have to remember to wash myself in the nearest body of water we came across. I felt my stomach turn, as I watched the emotion drain from its black eyes and its body relax. I remembered the rest of the dogs and grabbed the girl sitting on the hound up, her hands hadn't relaxed since she jumped on the dog. Most likely the poor woman was in shock but we didn't have time to waste. Once the other dogs caught this scent, we couldn't out run them. Then I saw who it was who risked their life
Helga. Her delicate face was slack from shock, she couldn't keep her eyes off the dog who was bleeding out on the floor. I grabbed her arm and yanked her forwards.
"Helga. We have to go, now!" I told her, and I started running away from the dead hound on the floor, from Craster's fury and his stupid Keep and from the rest of the hell-hounds who were soon going to be on our trail.