The yelling and screaming seemed to go on for eternity. Ryia did not dare move. The person who was hitting her had stopped at some point but had also stayed away since then. She did not know how badly she had been beaten, but the fiery burn of pain had faded to severe stinging. She knew she had a bloody lip but beyond that was anyone's guess. The girl whom she had been shielding with her body had not stirred one bit and Ryia did not even know if she was alive at all. Ryia had lost all sense of time. Her whole world revolved around keeping her head protected and the terrible swirl of her thoughts, 'Were the Christians right? Is this Hell?' The tiny bit of her mind that still functioned rationally argued against the idea, 'It doesn't fit. The Christians claim that Hell is a lake of fire where monsters torture you forever. This doesn't feel like that. Perhaps the ground collapsed and we're under the Earth in a cave.' That thought was nearly as terrifying as the thought of being in Hell, 'We'll all die of thirst down here and nobody will ever find us.'

Her thoughts were shattered as a deep howl echoed out of the darkness behind her. The chilling sound echoed through the room, 'Oh no! We ARE in Hell! The monsters are coming for us!'

* * *

Tooth raised his head and howled the call that all puppies were taught. It was a common thing for puppies to get lost in the old tunnels before they were collapsed and the Diamond Dogs knew to prepare for it. The howl was warm and friendly. It was a call associated with home and family. It was a howl used by bitches to call their puppies home from play. It was something to be answered quickly. The riotous noise died down to whispers and no return howl came from the tunnels. Tooth and his Guard Dogs were confused, 'It can't be puppies. Puppies would have howled back. What else could it be?'

Tooth had a sinking feeling in his stomach, 'Something is wrong.' He turned his head and spoke to his Guard Dogs, "Follow me and keep your eyes, ears, and noses open. Something isn't right." His right paw gripped the bronze mace hanging from his belt, 'I hope I don't have to use this.'

* * *

Ryia heard a deep voice speaking out of the inky blackness in some fell tongue. It was the most hideous, evil thing she had ever heard and it sounded like it was close behind her. She clenched her eyes shut and wrapped her hands over her head, 'Go away! Just go away!' Hot fearful tears streamed down her stinging face, 'Leave me alone! Vishnu, I call upon you, have mercy! Save your people!'

A scraping sound came from behind her and the terrible voice spoke again, louder now. The people had moved away from Ryia at the sound of the voice. She heard a clicking sound and saw tiny sparks of light throw deep shadows from behind her. The clicking continued for a few moments, 'Why would a monster need light to see?'

* * *

To say that Tooth was puzzled would have been a drastic understatement. He was numb with shock, 'There must be hundreds of them.' His eyes had easily grown accustomed to the darkness of the tunnels, the minuscule amount of light thrown off by the luminescent moss way back in Gem Fount was enough for he and his Guard Dogs to see. All Diamond Dogs had keen eyes and moving about with little to no light was not a foreign concept to them.

Tooth had led his Guard Dogs to the source of the noises and was confused almost beyond reason, 'What are these things?' The creatures, and there were hundreds of them in the old meeting chamber, were all hideous. They slightly resembled proper Diamond Dogs in the shapes of their bodies, but their proportions were all wrong. They had no paw claws or foot paw claws, their bodies were pinkish and they had no fur save for their heads and crotches. Their legs were too long, their arms were too short, their torsos were too thin and short, and their limbs were lanky as if they were malnourished, 'What are these monsters?' he wondered silently. Tooth could not see any proper jowls, no claws, nothing right about them. With them lacking any sort of muzzle they reminded him of skeletons bearing their teeth. It was a frightening thought, nevertheless his mind stayed keen, 'They may be monsters but they have not attacked. Why?' a look closer at their eyes told him what he needed to know, 'They're... frightened?'

An errant thought occurred to Tooth, 'They're all looking over to the chamber wall, not directly at us...' the truth struck him quickly, 'They can't see!' He turned his head and looked back to his Guard Dogs, "These creatures aren't puppies." The obvious statement caused more than a few snickers, "I don't think they can see, that's probably why they're making so much noise. Let's give them some light and maybe then we can find out why they're trespassing."

Tooth reached for his leather belt and withdrew a pair of flints from one of the leather pouches hanging there. Rot Nose, one of the younger Guard Dogs and son of Governor Scar Nose, handed Diamond Tooth a small oil lamp. Diamond Dogs often had need of oil lamps. They provided light during the day and helped the moss collect light to shine at night. Day and night were subjective to Diamond Dogs. They did not often venture above ground for any reason. Why would they? They had all they needed down in their tunnels and cities. Obviously at some point in the distant past some Diamond Dogs had gone to the surface to catch cows and pigs and chickens to breed and eat, but there had been no real need to do so for ages beyond count.

In general, Diamond Dogs were quite happy to ignore and be ignored by the rest of the world. There were tales of a distant City/State having a trade agreement with Ponies, but Diamond Tooth could not bring himself to believe them. He knew, all Diamond Dogs knew, that Ponies despised them. The other races hated Diamond Dogs because of the legends. Tooth had heard them all before. The stories of his ancestors going to the surface to capture and enslave Ponies and other races for labor. He did not believe the stories. He always asked why: why would Diamond Dogs enslave other races to dig? It made no sense. No other race could dig as well as Diamond Dogs, it would slow the process down to a crawl. Those same legends told of supposedly mighty Diamond Dog warriors fighting with their claws and teeth, tearing enemies apart. The very notion disgusted him.

All puppies knew that their claws and teeth were gifts only to be used for natural purposes. Hunting, eating, and digging were all fine, but killing a self-aware being? The very idea was repulsive. To taste the blood of another thinking being was nauseating. To forever stain one's beautiful claws with the blood of an intelligent creature was a thing of nightmare. Tooth admitted that it MIGHT have happened far back in history before Diamond Dogs became civilized, but the thought was beyond repulsive to modern dogs and bitches.

Rot Nose handed the oil lamp to Diamond Tooth and the commander set it on the ground. He knelt down and struck the flints together to light the lamp. Little sparks danced in the darkness, too bright for the Dogs to look directly at comfortably. They shielded their eyes and backed away from the sudden brilliance. Tooth finally managed to light the lamp. The sparks caught on the oil soaked wick and he quickly grasped the handle while his eyes attempted to adjust to the sudden glaring brilliance.

* * *

Ryia saw the light flicker to life and could not stop herself from turning her head over her right shoulder. The thing she saw made her eyes widen in horror beyond horror. A creature out of ancient legends and tales stood not five meters from her naked back. It was crouched down and at first looked like a person wearing thick furs and skins. It raised its inhuman head and Ryia's blood ran cold. It had the most hideous, monstrous face she had ever seen. Two beady eyes reflected the light from behind a deep, sloping forehead. It had droopy ears and long jowls like a bulldog. Wickedly curved fangs poked out from its muzzle. It resembled a rabid, mutant hyena.

The monster slowly rose to a standing position. Its long arms ending in terrible black claws that hung down almost to its feet. Its legs were short and stubby but its feet shared the same claws as its hands. Ryia recalled legends of similar monsters from her childhood. The name of the beast ripped itself from her throat in a terrified scream. It did not look exactly like what she had heard, there were some differences, but there was only one thing it could be, "RAKSHASAAAAAAA!"

As the word left her throat, the Rakshasa turned and looked right at her. Ryia could hear people screaming and running all over the place trying to get away from the man-eating beast. The thing tromped toward her, its claws and fangs glistening in the light of the lamp it held. A fist-sized rock suddenly flew out of the darkness and struck the monster right on the tip of its muzzle.

The beast recoiled and dropped the lamp as both its paws went to its muzzle. The lamp shattered on the ground and the small flame eagerly leaped onto the spreading oil on the stone floor. The oil on the ground caught fire, sending flickering shadows all around the cavern. It was like a scene out of Ryia's most horrible nightmares. Snarls and growls erupted from behind the first creature and seven more beasts stepped out from behind the first one. They snarled and barked harshly at the people who were trying so desperately to get away. They crouched down and leaped forward into the darkness beyond Ryia's vision. The terrified screaming reached a crescendo, followed by more terrible howls and the poor young woman could only imagine how the other Rakshasa were tearing the other people apart. Her heart beat out a heavy rhythm in her chest as the first creature let go of its bloody muzzle and gazed at her. Ryia's breath came in short, ragged gasps as she faced down her death. Vishnu's mercy seemed to descend on her like a cloak and she fainted dead away as the thing reached for her.

Author's Note

Let me know if you spot any typos. We're just getting started. The Diamond Dogs in this story are supposed to look similar to the Wargs from The Lord Of The Rings as they were represented in The Two Towers. This is how they look in the face: