Tale of a Pup: In the Dog House

[Isabelle]

Continued from “Tale of a Pup: Part Time at Retail”

Isabelle warped into her house. The first sensation to hit her was the darkness. The second was the cold. The third, was the silence.

The still air of the home was interrupted by the sounds of banging, something distant from above. She hurried across her dream house, stumbling around her funiture heading for the first opening she could find. She climbed through a window and fell back down onto the grass below.

From this position, she could finally see it. The geode had a crack in it, running down the center of its shell. The pounding persisted, and it was obvious by now, something was breaking through.

“What can I do to save you?” Cried out Isabelle as she climbed to her feet. “What can I do to stop them?”

Suddenly, the ceiling of the rock lit up, displaying images. It displayed Isabelle praying to her house. Suddenly, the house turned into a palm sized globe and leapt into her hand.

“Well, if it would help you, I’ll try.”

She stood in front of her dream house, praying to omni, praying her home will be portable. The Omnilium emerged from her body, encapsulating the house. She tried not to let the pounding break her focus. She devoted her whole mind to the task at hand. It was the only thing she could do for him right now.

Eventually, her house shrunk down, floating in the air and landing gently in her paws. It was a tiny glass orb, a miniature of her house in the middle. She quickly pocketed it and looked up to the geode.

“What should I do next?” She yelled up.

But suddenly, she heard something break. The crack was finally big enough, moist aroma of dirt filled the air. Izzy looked up and saw a head poking through, the head and long neck of some lizard which was looking directly at her. It licked its chops.

Izzy was shivering in place, but she also knew she was a prime. It was her responsibility to protect the vulnerable secondaries, even if it would put her through trauma.

“I will fight for you, where should I go?”

Suddenly, a piece of the geode opened up into a doorway of sorts, just at the outer rim of the island. Isabelle figured she knew the plan. She’d go outside, climb up to where the monsters are, and stop them before the can make the crack worse. With a deep breath, she stepped through…

...to be greeted with a long cave, one that was leading clearly the opposite direction.

“Geode, this doesn’t lead to the lizards at all-”

But as she turned around to speak to the rock, not only has the doorway already disapear, it was pulsing a light. It was making some strange noise, something that was a kin to energy building.

“Oh no, oh no!”

Izzy took off in the opposite direction, she ran as fast as her stubby legs could take her. Then suddenly a loud explosion rang through the enclose cave, a gust of air tosses the dog off her feet, sending her flying for yards.

Her ears were damaged, but she didn’t need to hear right now. She knew it would heal. All that matter is her vision. Up ahead there wasn’t much of a cave anymore, it opened up to a giant empty hole. Not a single sign of life.


It took Isabelle a long while to make it through the caves. It was a long time to her thoughts. She had brought a piece of the geode with her, and she spent much of the hike looking at it, wondering what she could have done to change fate. She stopped when she hit a dead end, she stopped when she had to sneak around more lizard people, but much of the time, her mind was filled with regret.

When she finally made her way to the Nexus gate, she felt kind of empty. She wasn’t even sure how long it had been. She had felt many things in this journey, loneliness fear, guilt, but something about this emotion, she wouldn’t wish it on anybody.

Before she stepped through, she took one more look at the Ashen Steppes. She thought to say goodbye, but then she decided she shouldn’t even bother.

To be continued in “Tale of a Pup: Part Time at Retail”