"Let them come," Orion murmured to the empty air. He turned, leaving the quiet threat to hang in the silence.
A moment later, he reappeared as a streak of light on the hill where Dirtclaw waited.
"My lord," the hound asked, his voice rumbling with awe. "Is the enemy dead?" He had heard the violent clap of thunder and the concussive boom that followed.
"Dead."
Orion's tone was flat, but to Dirtclaw, that single word was the very definition of absolute power.
"Take this." Orion tossed a single beast tooth to the hound. Dirtclaw caught it in his maw and swallowed, storing it safely in his dimensional gut. He didn't know what it was, but if his lord wanted him to have it, he would guard it with his life.
"Let's go," Orion said, turning south. "We continue driving the demonic monsters forward. I have a feeling our true enemies are not far off."
And so, man and hound bathed in the pale moonlight, herding a sea of monsters as they pushed ever deeper into the south.
***
