Bits and pieces of wood and plaster rained down as the walls and ceiling shook violently from the explosions rocking the fortress, dusting Rygen's matted fur like too much seasoning sprinkled over one's dinner.
As the rumbling in the hallway faded, the hellhound sniffed the air with curiosity. Something was happening outside, and perhaps there was more prey to hunt. He would need to ask Samedi after finishing off the annoying bitch.
Shaking his head of the gathered specks, the hellhound dropped his focus back to her, drawing his long, saliva-coated tongue across his lips in anticipation. "I've never tasted witch before. I hope you're not too tangy."
Cassie tensed and glared at him. "Just get it over with!"
Complying with glee, Rygen lunged at her. Thankfully, the few seconds of distraction had given her time to recover and plan her next move. Seizing her Bō, she put all her strength into her good leg and launched herself out of the way.
However, the hellhound had been learning her patterns and anticipated her dodge. As his claws struck the grimy floor, he twisted and unleashed all his strength in a shoulder tackle. The collision slammed her against the wall, shattering her collarbone with the force of the impact.
The sharp explosion of pain and impact against the wall knocked the air out of her. Cassie gasped loudly as she dropped her weapon and clutched her injured shoulder. Burning tears flooded her eyes, and she quickly wiped them away, trying to focus through the white-hot ache radiating down her arm.
When she could finally see again, she inhaled sharply. Rygen's enormous muzzle hovered just inches from her face. His glowing eyes bore deep into hers, now free of her powder spell. It was almost as if he were staring straight into her soul. His lips lifted in a snarl, revealing razor-sharp teeth set in blood-red gums.
His throat rumbled as he spoke, "It's been fun, but it's time to die!"
The pain, dread, and threat of imminent death sparked something deep within Cassie. She felt a stirring in the middle of her chest, radiating warmth and a tingling sensation that spread outward, flowing through her veins like liquid fire. Her eyes began to glow a vibrant green, pulsing just as intensely as Rygen's, countering his menacing evil with a vibrant glow of pure Earth energy.
A spell she had never practiced, nor understood in the moment, emerged from between her slightly parted lips. "Canem esse caecum daemonium!"
Jaws open, teeth hovering just millimeters from her neck, Rygen paused. He jerked back in confusion from a sudden throbbing sensation behind his eyes and blinked rapidly.
Cassie watched in fascination as his eyeballs began to bulge in their sockets, and the demon gasped in rising panic, reaching a claw up to poke at the sudden flare-up on his face. The swelling continued to grow until his face looked as if someone had pasted those funny googly-eye stickers on him.
Then, with a sickening burst, both eyes burst like water-filled balloons. Black blood spewed out, splashing onto the dusty floor, and sinewy strands coated his muzzle. The howl he bellowed shook the walls and rattled the ceiling as he fell in a heap, kicking up dirt and dust around his massive, crumpled body. Then Rygen went still and silent, knocked cold from the experience.
The initial shock—both at what she'd done and Rygen's reaction—faded as urgency commanded action. Using her staff as a crutch, Cassie stood cautiously, gritting her teeth from the sharp pain in her leg. Wincing as she tested the injury, she felt relief that it could, with the staff's support, bear her weight. She needed to put some distance between herself and the hellhound before it recovered.
Fueled by determination, training, and a fierce urge to avoid becoming the demon's next meal, she pushed through the pain, limping toward the chamber where her trap awaited. Every few steps, she glanced back, checking to make sure that the beast was still unconscious.
Yet, even though he did not move, she heard the pained whines of an injured dog seeping from his throat. For just a moment, Cassie felt that automatic pang of sympathy one gets when hearing such cries even from the most vicious of predators. Swallowing a surge of bile in the back of her throat from the searing heat in her leg and shoulder, she fell against the door frame and looked back once more. The moment of empathy blinked out of existence.
Rygen had risen to his feet, ears perked, nostrils flaring as he sniffed the air repeatedly. After taking a third deep breath, his head turned slowly in her direction until he faced her, as if he still had his eyes to see.
The two seconds that ticked by felt much longer as the hellhound took slow steps, claws tapping on the cold floor. His lips curled up all the way, teeth gleaming in the low light. When he spoke, his voice was barely above a whisper, but she heard every word clearly: "I am going to slice your belly open and feed you your insides, you vile cunt."
Rygen's threat sent a chill up her spine, and Cassie released a shaky breath, trying to maintain her composure. Despite her dread, she needed to carry out her plan. Backing into the room, she tapped her Bō against the floor, drawing him to her. As she reached the far wall, Rygen appeared in the doorway.
He halted and inhaled deeply, pulling her scent deep into his lungs. With deliberate slowness, he pivoted his head toward her, snarled once again, and stepped into the room. His massive frame all but extinguished the light from the hallway, pitching the small room into near darkness. Shoulders hunched, the beast began to close the distance, only to stop abruptly. Suspicious, he lowered his muzzle and took a whiff of the floor.
A grotesque grin formed on his lips. "A trapping circle? Really? You may have stolen my eyes, bitch, but I can smell the blood." Rygen shifted to move ominously around the circle, deliberately following the perimeter to show off how he could easily detect it with his powerful olfactory senses.
His declaration hit her like a physical blow. The masking spell had worn off sooner than she expected, and now she was caught in a kill box, with her only escape blocked by Rygen's massive form.
Cassie's shoulders trembled as the weight of failure crushed her spirit. She'd tried everything, but ultimately, her magic seemed to have let her down. Even the burst of power she'd felt moments ago seemed to have deserted her. Rygen was simply too powerful. There was no demonic creature quite like him.
With a grunt, she stepped back until she was pressed against the cold stone wall, struggling to control her terror. She took deep breaths and, with her good arm, held her Bō in front of her as a protective barrier, though she doubted it would help.
"No prey has ever hurt me like you have," the hellhound's cold voice declared. "But in the end, you end up like all the others—prey to Rygen the Devourer!"
"You're a pathetic, worthless imp, Rygen," Cassie hissed and squared her shoulders, putting on her best, boldest act. "I won't scream one time. Pup!"
"Oh, you'll scream," he promised, "until you choke on your blood, bitch!" Rearing upward, muscles in his legs tightening, Rygen lunged.
Cassie braced for impact and gripped her staff as tightly as she could, hoping to deflect him and knock him aside so she could escape out the door while he recovered. In that brief moment between his launch and when he would strike, the same spark of power she'd felt before returned with a surge of energy that started in her shoulders and shot up her arms to her wrists.
There, the energy burst over her Bō's tip, forming a solid silver spearhead that wrapped around the base. Beneath her lower hand, vine-like strands shot out from the weapon, winding around it repeatedly to create a hilt against which she could rest her hand for added support.
When Rygen fell upon her, Cassie shouted and thrust the spear upward, driving it deep into his throat. The sharp silver tip tore through the fleshy mass of his gullet and burst out the back of his neck, transforming his roar into a gurgling, bubbling mess. Taking a stumbling step forward to unbalance him, she twisted her body and pulled the spear around, carrying the struggling demon with it, and dropped him into the trapping circle.
When he landed with a deep grunt, the circle burst into a fiery, crackling mass of energy, and he screamed in terror and agony. Flailing with fear, he couldn't break the circle's binding power. "No!" Rygen's battered throat made the word nearly unintelligible. "You can't do this!"
Cassie limped to the circle, gathered a glob of bloody phlegm from the back of her throat, and spat harshly on the flailing demon. "Oh, I fucking can!"
With a scream of rage, Rygen jutted his claw out of the circle, aiming to slice Cassie in half, but the flames flared along his arm, tearing flesh from bone. Before he could pull it back, she slammed her spear down and trapped his skeletal claw against the concrete floor. She let his screams soothe her pain and leaned forward so he could feel her presence mere inches away.
Rygen opened his mouth, trying to speak, but blood poured over his lips and spilled onto the floor.
Still, Cassie could make out "bitch" somewhere in the mix of his gurgling. She shrugged, "Maybe, but this one tops."
Initially, her goal had been simply to trap him within the circle, ensuring he would be out of her way for later disposal. Yet, as her newfound powers swelled within her, she sensed she could accomplish something much more permanent. She didn't know how, but she would question it later. The power convinced her she could break Samedi's curse and send him back to Hell.
Again, the words came to her as if she'd known them all her life. "Redi ad Inferos, Canis Infernus Rygen, te libero!"
"Noooo!" Rygen's mangled voice roared in panic as the fiery energy turned black and engulfed him. His mind screamed: You can't do that! I am not bound to you! HOW?!
Cassie didn't know how either, and right now, she didn't care. All she wanted was for Rygen to die. She felt nothing but intense satisfaction as his body burned and melted, his form liquefying and dispersing into the concrete, until finally nothing remained but his bony claw, still held to the concrete by her spear.
Tearing the spear out, she glanced at the claw briefly, then kicked it forcefully against the wall. She marveled as the energy that had imbued her staff faded, reverting it back to its original state. Using the staff as a crutch, Cassie limped to the doorway, where she stopped to lean against the wall and gather her wits.
After four steadying breaths, she looked back into the dark room, her eyes glowing green in the shadows. Where the trapping circle had been, only burn marks remained in the layered dust.
Satisfied the hellhound was dead, she cursed into the blackness, "This time, you miserable fucker, stay gone!"