Dog Years

"Can you hear th....?" began Fred, but was silenced by Astra's hand sweeping up and clamping itself over his mouth.

"Sssshhh!" hissed Astra, the full reality of the dangers of these caves infecting her with sickly, smoky terror. The clicking noise was louder now.....and more rapid. What fell beast had they awoken, here in the dark?

"Yip, yip!" came the noise, just feet from where Astra and Fred stood, clutched together in mutual horror despite Fred's lack of threads. Shakily, Astra raised her torchlight to reveal the source of the sounds.

It was a tiny dog.

"Mhh. Nnmmm ymmm mmgmmm!" mumbled Fred as best he could through Astra's hand. The princess released her hand from Fred's lips and took a good look at the creature. It was a lean, wiry pooch, with short white hair and a patch of black over its left eye. Its tail wagged expectantly. Astra turned back to Fred, who was for the first time covering his manhood with his hands and staring at the canine with utter disdain.

"Have you seen this dog before?" asked Astra, kneeling down to get a better look at him....or her. It couldn't be more than a few weeks old, yet it seemed attentive, almost disciplined in its behaviour. Still it sat patiently, apparently content to let the humans get their bearings.

"For my sins, yes." muttered Fred, who was beginning to edge his way around the cave towards the exit tunnel. "Blasted thing. Two years I've been chained up in this prison. About three months in, this terror finds me and decides he wants to play a game...."

Astra, only half-listening to Fred, tentatively reached out a hand to the little dog's nose. It sniffed her fingers once carefully, then gave her an appreciative lick. The princess smiled.

".....fairly simple rules, really. I stand bound against the wall with my pieces hanging out, and this godforsaken creature jumps up between my legs and tries to eat them. Lord, the number of manoeuvers I've learnt in the art of keeping one's jewels out of reach of rabid mutts must surely surpass that of grandmasters...."

"Hold on." said Astra, standing up to her full height once more and turning to Fred. "You said you had been here two years."
"That's right. Two long, hopeless, dark ye...."
"And this dog turned up three months into your imprisonment?"
"That's what I said, didn't I? Honestly, women...."
"So," said Astra with more than a little impatience "That would make this dog almost two years old?"

"Y...." began Fred, but then his expression fell blank for a moment. He gazed intently at the dog, realisation seeping in. The dog looked back.
"This dog," said Astra "Can't be more than a month old."

Suddenly....

1. The dog began to change....
2. Fred remembered something....
3. Astra's torch was mysteriously snuffed out, plunging them into darkness...
4. Part of the cave wall cracked loudly, and slid aside to reveal a secret passage.....

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