Time seemed to slow as the hellhound charged between her and the priest, and Heidi felt her body lock up entirely. Her mind told her she was dreaming and none of this could be real, and another part of it screamed at her to run. No matter what she tried to do, however, her frozen body refused to comply. She felt an overall sense of utter hopelessness and helplessness as she stared at the creature, all confidence and excitement seeming to begin to drain from her the longer she looked at it. When it finally turned it's hellish red gaze towards her, she felt time almost stop around her. Any thoughts of fighting instantaneously vanished were overwhelmed and smothered by the overpowering size and stench of the thing. The rancid odor of burning corpses and blood flooded her nostrils and threatened to bring up what little breakfast she had managed to eat that morning. Her mind told her to run, to run as fast as she possibly could, but her feet were rooted into place.

She stared down the beast, her mind grasping at any hope for survival. She thought back to when she had hunted wolves over the Finnish-Russian border near Murmansk, and how she had brought down a huge black alpha with her hunting rifle. But she didn't have a rifle with her now, and she wasn't nestled safely on a cliff a hundred yards away. And this wasn't just any old wolf. She was staring down a hound from the depths of hell, and it was napping and snarling in her face. Its breath was hot on her face, and it stank of... herbal bath oils?

The bucket! Heidi had a chance yet. She adjusted her grip on her bucket and suddenly threw it out in front of her, sending a hissing spray of boiling water and hot steam straight at the beast's face. She knew nothing of hellhounds, if they were resistant to heat or if water weakened them, but she knew at least the thick, sweet aroma of the oils would confuse the beast's nose. After it was free, she took her axe into her dominant right and after bringing it far back in a powerful backswing, sent it hurtling towards the beast's left shoulder.