Growler’s ears twitched and his eyes snapped open when he heard the scream. On pure reflex he rolled from his makeshift “house” and into a combat crouch with nose up, sniffing the air. Immediately he knew that something was wrong.
Despite the odors of garbage and decay, the intruder’s scent came to him as another scream sounded. A low, menacing rumble started in his chest, and Growler took off at a full sprint. He heard various sounds in the distance while bounding through the labyrinth of debris, garbage, and assorted junk left behind by Seattle’s downtown corporations. Even without his heightened senses, he’d have found these intruders easily.
He skidded silently to a halt next to a rusted dumpster and slowly peered around it. In the alley’s dim light he saw a middle-aged human woman wearing a modest business suit with a gleaming NeoNET employee pin on her lapel. She held up a bloody hand as she cradled a teenage boy. Growler recognized the boy—an arrogant corp brat who liked slumming. Damn mongrel finally bit off more than he could chew. Blood streamed down his face as he lay limp against the woman; both were on the ground against a chain-link fence.
Two humans and an ork surrounded the pair. All three wore white and grey synthleathers and sporting the skull facial tattoo of the Dissemblers. Their hands gripped long, curved knives.
“P-Please … let us go!” the woman pleaded to the gangers as blood dripped from her hand. “I just want to take my son home.”
The big ork chuckled. “You here that, chummers?” he said to his companions before turning back to the woman. “Sorry breeder, but this here is a special night. My two boys here got to prove what they got, and to do that proper, we need nice … fresh … meat” The three laughed in unison as the woman sobbed.
White-hot fury sparked in Growler. Magic surged through his body, and he started to bark and snarl.
Now centered, Growler charged from behind the dumpster with a speed that belied his dwarven stature, barreling toward one of the humans. Before the wannabe ganger reacted, Growler dipped slightly and smashed a vicious uppercut into his target’s groin. The wannabe’s eyes went wide as his lower abdomen caved in.
Using his upward momentum, Growler rose to his full height and grabbed the ganger’s belt. His senses already told him the ork was attacking. Growler pivoted on his foot and slammed the human into the ork, sending them both to the ground.
After releasing his target, Growler turned and charged the second human. Fear flashed in the wannabe’s face as he desperately swung a sweeping blow that Growler easily dodged with a quick sidestep. As the knife and arm swung past him, Growler seized the limb then twisted and yanked the captured appendage in one quick motion. The shoulder joint separated with a wet shunk sound, and the human crumpled to the street, screaming in pain.
Growler turned to face the ork who was back on his feet, but the ork just laughed and said, “Halfer, you just fragged up bad. Mr. Grey will pay a nice bonus for your sweet meat!”
At both ends of the alley, several more figures appeared, all wearing white and grey with skull tattoos on their faces. Each of them joined the ork in laughter, swinging clubs, chains, and knives as they advanced.
Growler snarled then turned and bared his teeth. He crouched low as he felt the bones and muscles in his smiling face take on canine features. “Bring it then, because haven’t you heard?” he said in challenge “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight. It’s the size of the fight in the DOG!”
