Fenn continued his inexorable pursuit through the forest with nary a thought for the obstacles in his way. The earth and trees in his wake bore marks of his advance in the form of deep gouges where his claws had sunk, broken tree branches, bent trunks, and large scores in numerous trunks where coarse black scales had brushed against them.

The hound had locked into a singular scent, one he had felt before, faintly, at the site where he had first seen the destruction of a Seal. One that had once again been present when a thin blade had split his hide and torn his stomach open. The scent was stronger now, burrowing into his snout with a numbing intensity. It reminded him of the sickeningly sweet stench of rot.  

It was in his mouth now too.

Along with broken tree branches, his path was littered with the bodies of the crazed demons, where they had accosted him in his path. The hound had answered with fangs, claws and monstrous strength, and many of the creatures left behind were now missing limbs, or had had their bodies bent at impossible angles. A good number had not even been killed, left instead to squirm and cry piteously in their broken bodies, but the hound hardly cared.

The sickly scent may have been wafting from them, but they were not its source.

Even as he had been forced to slow down his approach to accommodate for his bulky frame amidst the trees, it did not take long for Fenn to reach the scene of the carnage.

Numerous demons lay dead inside the clearing, haphazardly strewn about wherever they had fallen. The corpses were covered in wounds, the still fresh blood splattered over their surroundings seeping into the forest floor. The cloying scent he had followed mixed with that of the charnel, stagnating in the air over the clearing and giving it a dense, viscous quality, almost as though he was breathing in mud. 

The hound marched to the center of the clearing, senses attuned to his surroundings. If his prey was to be found in the vicinity, however, it had concealed itself capably.

An irritated growl built inside the demon’s throat. “[i]I know you can hear me, snake![/i]” he challenged, powerful voice sweeping over the still surroundings. “[i]You who sunk your fangs in me before you shed your skin! Face me, so I may return the favor![/i]”

Outside the hound’s field of view, there was movement. Three of the demons that until then had been as corpses stirred. Darkness cloaked one of them, a black cloud lifting it above the ground, while the other reptilian monsters brought their limbs under them and began to creep forward. From underneath the cloaked demon’s darkness, a single, clawed appendage was raised with a sharp talon pointed at the back of the hound’s neck.

It the blink of an eye, it had stretched and covered the distance.

But rather than soft flesh, it was caught in Fenn’s fangs. A baleful eye stared back at the small demons as steaming blood began to drip where the blade was being held.

The two reptilian demons shrieked, surging forward. Fenn turned to face them, roughly pulling at the cloaked demon by its talon. With a heavy wrench of his head, he smashed it to the ground, the blade finally snapping from the force. Fenn swatted away the first of the smaller demons with his tail as he turned, but as the other jumped forward over it, the hound brought up one of his tree-trunk arms, snagging it off the air. 

Without stopping, Fenn raised it over his head and leapt at the cloaked demon. Dazed from the previous impact, it barely had a chance to look up before the combined weight of Fenn’s fist and the squirming demon in his grasp fell over it with a meaty crunch. 

The two creatures shrieked and squirmed as he held them under his weight, motes of flame beginning to gather where he held them. Finally, with a snarl, the hound pressed down. A detonation rocked the clearing, fire spreading from its center.

There, the hound turned, bringing his weight away from the charred remains. Where since he had arrived at the human’s settlement all that had adorned his scales were the chains affixed to his arms, orange flames now rose and flickered over his fur, bristling like raised hackles.

The hound spat the remains of the cloaked demon's bladed talon, and snarled furiously as he saw more of the corpses rise, the cloying scent growing in intensity the moment the purple poison seeped into the bodies. From beyond the confines of the clearing, he could hear the screeches of more demons rising, the forest coming alive with their cries, yet his quarry still did not show itself.

“[i]COWARD![/i]” Fenn howled. “[i]It shall be known that the dreaded architect of the Seals’ destruction quails at the thought of facing a single hound![/i]”

When all he received in response to his taunt were the howls of the newly revived creatures, the hound’s expression grew darker. His lips moved, the words now low and grave, if no less filled with menace. “Very well, then. I shall leave nothing left of this place for you to hide in.”

The ground under the corpses glowed for but a moment before plumes of fire rose from under them.

From afar, smoke and flame could be seen beginning to rise from the forest, the unchecked fires brought about by the demon beginning their rapid spread.