Darkhounds are a particularly nasty form of Shadowspawn. They look like very large dogs or wolves. Their saliva is deadly poison - a single drop on the skin can kill. They are extremely difficult to kill. Once they sense their prey they never give up. The only thing that stops them is rain or running water. They leave footprints in stone but none in soft ground.

References (Possible Spoilers)#

  1. In The Dragon Reborn
    1. TDR,Ch9 - Darkhounds are hunting Rand. He balefires one of them.
    2. TDR,Ch33 - At Remen, Perrin smells a sulfurous odor later identified as Darkhound.
    3. TDR,Ch43 - Lan discovers footprints of a Darkhound outside the Easing the Badger inn.
    4. TDR,Ch44 - Moiraine says that Sammael sent the Darkhound. Later, they are attacked by a pack of ten Darkhound. Perrin kills one with an arrow and Moiraine kills the rest with balefires.
  2. In The Fires of Heaven
    1. TFoH,Ch6 - Three Darkhounds attack Rand and others go after Mat and Asmodean. Swords do not kill them. Rand resorts to balefires to get rid of them.
  3. In Lord of Chaos
    1. LoC,Ch3 - Rand warns Mazrim Taim about Shadowspawn including Darkhounds.
  4. In Crossroads of Twilight
    1. CoT,Ch5 - Perrin smells Darkhounds in the wolf dream. When he sends the scent, the wolves tell him that the Last Hunt is coming, then they break contact.
    2. CoT,Ch6 - Perrin and Aram scout around the camp. They find the trail of a huge pack of Darkhounds that came from the north, circled the camp, then headed south.
    3. CoT,Ch7 - Masuri Sokawa, an expert in Darkhounds, examines the tracks. She studied traces of seven different packs. Many believe there are few packs, seven, nine or thirteen. During the Trolloc Wars, Sorelana Alsahhan wrote that there were a hundred packs. Earlier, Ivonell Bharatiya wrote of 'numbers like unto the nightmares of mankind.' This is a new pack. It is huge, maybe fifty, instead of the normal ten or twelve. There is also a sense of urgency in the trace.
    4. CoT,Ch8 - A Shadowbrother is the soul of a wolf corrupted by the Shadow. Darkhounds and wolves will fight in the Last Battle. Darkhounds can eat the souls of wounded wolves turning them into more Darkhounds. Perrin wonders if they can eat the soul of a Wolfbrother.

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