Nemesis (Sparta Online Book 1)

by J. F. Danskin

  “So what do they say?” asked Glaucus. He had crawled closer and wiped the tears from his eyes.

  “It’s all in Greek,” said Plato, still speaking softly, “but I know a few words. Let me see… on the yellow one it says ορυί. That’s like ornithology, and I think it means a bird. The red says πυρομαντεία, and that’s like pyrotechnics, or pyromancy.” He looked around at their blank faces. “Fire, numbskulls.”

  “Good, good,” whispered Troy, shuffling a little closer. “And the other two?”

  “The blue is… parakeltos… that means help.”

  “Healing, maybe..?” asked Troy. “That would be useful.”

  Plato shrugged. “Perhaps. Maybe even some kind of temporary invulnerability, if we’re lucky. But it’s hard to know. And as to the white one, I’m even less sure. It has two words – φίλτρον and then μαγεία. That sounds like maya… or magi…”

  “Magic?” suggested Troy, looking at the white vial; there were some kind of purple flecks in the liquid.

  “Maybe. But aren’t they all magical?” he replied.

  “Vague, unspecified magic,” murmured Ajax. “This sounds like a test – or a trap. Rather you than me.”

  “Shut your mouth,” hissed Troy, turning to the red-faced boy.

  ”Well, maybe he has a point,” said Plato, turning the vials over in his hands again. “I mean, if the old woman is to be trusted, all of them are magic. Perhaps the words give us a little bit of an idea of what that might look like, but not much. And we also don’t know how to use it, or how long it will last.”

  “True,” whispered Troy. “But in the current circumstances, it seems worth a shot.”

  Skill boost! You have developed your grit. +5XP

  “Well I’m in, regardless,” announced Glaucus, his eyes popping even wider than usual. He held his hand out, palm upwards. “Surely these are put here to help us with the quest!”

  “You pick first, Troy,” Plato replied, looking to his friend. “After all, you got them for us.”

  “White, then,” he said, remembering the old woman’s words. ”Magic sounds positive to me.”

  Plato handed over the white-and-purple vial, then looked to Glaucus, holding the remaining three out.

  “I’m thinking,” said the hoplite eagerly, “that the blue might make me invulnerable… but the yellow potion might make me as fast as a bird…” He grabbed the vial with the yellow contents, then drank it down without hesitation. Troy was still sniffing at the uncorked white potion. He had noticed that purple specks were actually made up of little swirls, like threads. It didn’t look appetizing at all, but with a shrug he drank his down too.

  “Fire,” said Ajax, holding out his long pale hand.

  Plato scowled, and then handed the boy the red potion, clutching the remaining blue one in his fist. “Stay close, then. A water creature is not going to tolerate…”

  But Plato didn’t finish his sentence

  For out of the corner of their eyes, both he and Troy had spotted something rising up above the ruined wall. A huge, blue, snakelike head with diamond patterns around the eyes and multiple spikes and ridges down the back of its vast neck.

  “Hydra!” yelled Troy, leaping backwards and pulling out his hatchet.

  As he did so, he noticed a glow of white light from around the palms of his hands.

  Level: Hoplite (Level 3)

  XP: 0630 (unspent: 0180)

  Hit points: 25/25

  Luck points: 1

  Mana points: 10

  Equipment: belt; canvas bag; coin pouch; dagger; empty glass vial; greaves; hoplon shield; iron hatchet; waterskin (63%); wooden club (short).

  Chapter 22: The Hydra

  The boys scurried away from the rock and spread out.

  The beast’s long neck kept on coming, kept rising, until at last all five evil, glowing-eyed heads were far above them, towering over them, at least twice their own height. If the necks were like snakes, then they were like the full body length of the longest of pythons, and just as thick, too, though they had flared hoods just behind the heads like cobras.

  Below, the body of the hydra had slithered up onto the shore. It was lizard-like, squat and strong, though its legs were stumpy like those of a crocodile. Behind, multiple snakelike tails thrashed in the mud.

  “Attack,” called Plato, running around to the left of the ruins to approach the creature’s flank. Glaucus followed him a few paces behind with his bow in hand, his shield now slung over his back. Troy began to move to the right.

  Ajax, however, now stood transfixed at the wall, crouching down, apparently unable to move or act. The hydra advanced, and then placed one of its forelegs up against the wall as it reared above him.

  Troy felt the energy of the potion flowing through his body. He felt light, powerful, energetic, and there was a cold, crackling feeling across the palms of his hands. “Use the fire,” he called out urgently, looking back at Ajax.

  But the tall hoplite still stood there immobile. Had the potion failed, Troy wondered?

  And then the creature struck. One of its ferocious heads slammed down towards Ajax’s neck, aiming for the gap between his armor and helmet.

  But at the moment that it made contact, a blaze of flame rose up around Ajax’s body. The boy himself staggered and then fell backwards, while the beast itself recoiled, shrieking.

  “Now move yourself,” screamed Troy, pointing his fist in Ajax’s direction as his companion rose slowly to his feet. Unbidden, a beam of white light flew out from Troy’s hand and shot out like a fireball, impacting his fellow hoplite. A protective blaze once again covered Ajax, but it wasn’t enough to stop the boy being propelled several yards down the slope, and rolling into the tall marsh plants with a hiss of steam.

  Skill boost! You have developed your combat skills. +5XP

  The white light hitting the flames had caused an explosion of energy outwards from where Ajax had been standing, too, and the hydra had recoiled once again, for a moment flattening itself against the slope that lead up towards the ridge, and then beginning to slowly back away towards the river’s edge, all five heads writhing.

  WORLD EVENT UPDATE: Landing a first hit. You gain 20xp!

  As it did so, Plato and Glaucus stalked it from the other side, keeping a distance, and Troy noticed that a yellow-colored energy was now ringing Glaucus’s arms and shoulders. What had the potion done to him?

  The question was soon answered. The retreating hydra struck out at Glaucus with one of its heads, and the boy stumbled backwards, just managing to get away. But at just the same moment, the yellow energy formed into a pair of ethereal wings just above his shoulders, each almost as long as the hoplite was tall. They flapped twice as the hydra attempted a second strike on him with a pair of heads this time, and Glaucus was lifted out of reach and into safety.

  As the creature strained upwards to reach the hoplite, Glaucus drew his bow and fired an arrow into the beast’s body, but it bounced off and fell harmlessly to the ground. He tried again, this time hitting the hydra head that had been singed from its attack on Ajax. But although the arrow now pierced the skin and lodged into the beast just below the eye, it didn’t appear to have much of an impact.

  Glaucus fired off two more arrows, both of which penetrated the creature’s back, but again they seemed to be doing little to harm the creature. Watching on from the other side of the slope, Troy raised his hatchet in the air. “We need to cut off the heads,” he called out. “Can you do that? Use your axe!”

  Skill boost! You have developed your interpersonal skills. +5XP

  “Take this, then,” shouted back Glaucus, dropping his bow to the ground.

  As the bow fell, the hydra snapped out at it with the same head in which an arrow was still embedded, crunching on the wooden weapon and splitting it in half. But as it did so, Glaucus – still hovering just out of its reach – hacked out with his axe. It was a powerful downward cut, decapitating the head entirely, and the b
east’s other heads roared and writhed in response.

  The hydra had turned and retreated even further back now, but as it reached the river bank once again it had stopped, the presence of the nearby water somehow helping it to rally. Troy held his breath as he backed away, ready for the severed head to regrow – or worse. And sure enough, the stump had formed into a lump, and now a scaly growth. Something was returning, regrowing.

  But as the seconds passed, nothing further happened to the stump where its fifth head had been. It remained a misshapen lump protruding from the severed and burned neck, only partially grown. And then Troy remembered – from the depth of his memory, and something he had read long ago – flame, fire. Fire was the answer to defeating the hydra.

  Skill boost! You have developed your knowledge. +5XP

  “Ajax, get back over here,” he yelled, running back up towards the ruins as the hydra reached the river once again and turned towards them. Back in its element, it turned, and struck out towards both Plato and Glaucus at once. Glaucus, still airborne, swooped to the side to dodge an attack by one hydra head, and then dived away from a second, spiraling away towards the ridge once again, where Ajax had now regained his feet and returned to the ruined wall.

  Plato, meanwhile, fended off an attack from a third of the snakelike heads using his sword. But as his attention was occupied by that attack, the fourth head swung around low to the ground. It slammed into his leg, the huge fangs puncturing the boy’s thigh. Plato fell to the ground at the rocky edge of the river with a yelp. The other heads next reared above him, and the boy raised his shield. One and then another struck down, battering at the shield, and Troy could see more of the gloopy acidic substance dripping down onto his friend, covering his armor and his wounds.

  Troy rushed forward just as the monster paused, rearing above Plato and ready to bring all four of its monstrous snake heads down towards the stricken boy. “No!” he cried, holding up both fists towards the hydra and trying to summon once again the white energy which he had accidentally fired towards Ajax. A glow shot out from his hands once again, and this time it was aimed at the hydra itself rather than a fellow hoplite. The impact was less spectacular, but the beast recalled, writhing, and was forced along the edge of the river by several yards. It stumbled, flailing around, before regaining its footing with a hissing snarl.

  Glaucus now swooped once again, his axe clashing against the back of one of the hydra’s heads, but this time the head was not cut clear. A wound appeared, but it swiftly closed up again.

  Meanwhile, Troy crouched at his friend’s side, looking to Plato’s wounds. The picture did not look good. The huge puncture wounds in the boy’s leg were open and ugly-looking, bright red and swollen, and while the boy had successfully fended off multiple blows using his shield, he had sustained a massive slash across his shoulder which was also very strange-looking.

  “It’s poisoned, health status says,” murmured Plato weakly. “You must get back, man… the acid.” With this, his eyes closed.

  Troy reached down with his shield towards the river, and used it to splash water across his friend, hoping that this would once again reduce the impact of the acid. Then, gritting his teeth with rage, he rose from his friend’s side and moved up towards the hydra, which was now advancing back up towards the ridge where Ajax was positioned; Glaucus also hovered near the peak.

  As he hurried after it, Troy raised his hatchet high above his head as he approached, and slashed it downwards. The weapon was surrounded by the same white energy as his hands, and as the blade struck one of the monster’s tails, it cut it clean off with an electrical hiss. The monster roared, twisted, and then struck out towards Troy with two of its remaining heads; one blow he blocked with his shield, and the other with the glowing hatchet itself.

  Skill boost! You have developed your combat skills. +5XP

  Anger was pulsing through him, driving him on. But to continue to attack directly would be suicide. It would not avenge Plato. Wiping tears from his eyes, Troy backed away, as the beast also rallied. And then he turned and ran, hoping to loop around the top of the ridge and put the ruined wall between himself and the monster.

  Skill boost! You have developed your grit. +5XP

  * * *

  As he rounded the slope and hurried back towards the stone wall, Troy asked himself if the energy that was infusing the axe could permanently damage the hydra’s heads, the way that the fire had. Could he cut them with the axe, and then scorch them with the magical energy? But to cut them, he would have to be able to reach them. He looked ahead of him; Ajax was now huddling low behind the wall, and Glaucus was still close by, hovering just above the ground.

  “Glaucus,” he shouted out to his comrades from a few yards down the slope. “Plato is down. You are in the best position to cut the creature’s heads. Can you do that? Then Ajax and I can try to blast the neck stumps to stop them regrowing.”

  “I’ll try,” called out Glaucus.” The young man looked petrified, but he rose away from the ground once again on his glowing golden wings.

  Ajax, still behind the cover of the rocks, had begun throwing one fist-sized fireball after another at the hydra. This was having the effect of keeping it at bay, but the blows themselves didn’t appear to be having much of an impact, leaving only small and superficial scorch marks on its scales. The creature was wary now, but it continued to stalk towards them, rising up the slope from the river, its four remaining heads high and menacing, its body low to the ground.

  “Can you flame up your sword, and hack at one of the heads?” muttered Troy.

  “Are you crazy?” said Ajax. “The flames aren’t doing anything. It’s barely touching that thing. We need to run for it. This is a bust.” With this he stopped his attack and ducked down behind the ruined wall again.

  Glaucus then swooped in and aimed an axe blow at one of the heads. His blade struck home, but again he did not cut the head clean off. He glided past, banked and circled, and then came back in. This time his blow was true, striking one of the necks in a clean, horizontal blow. A second head fell to the ground, and Troy aimed the white power from his hatchet and shield together at the same point. A blast of light shot out. The neck sizzled and bubbled as if it had been dipped in hot oil, and then slumped down, hanging limply at the monster’s side.

  WORLD EVENT UPDATE: A mighty blow! You gain 50xp!

  Skill boost! You have developed your combat skills. +5XP

  However, Glaucus was now in trouble. And as he flapped furiously to stop and change direction after his successful hit, two more of the beast’s heads struck out at him, one hitting his shield, and the other landing a blow on his shoulder. The hoplite yelled in pain, flying away from the monster and then seeming to stall in midair before falling several yards downwards to the ridge along which they had first approached the area. He hit the stony ground with a crunch, and then lay still.

  The three remaining hydra heads turned to look at Troy, now standing alone a few yards below the top of the ridge, and he took a step back as the hydra began to move towards him, slowly at first, and then faster and faster.

  Level: Hoplite (Level 3)

  XP: 0725 (unspent: 0275)

  Hit points: 25/25

  Luck points: 1

  Mana points: 4

  Equipment: belt; canvas bag; coin pouch; dagger; empty glass vial; greaves; hoplon shield; iron hatchet; waterskin (63%); wooden club (short).

  Chapter 23: Arrows, Sword and Flame

  All three of the hydra’s heads now struck down towards Troy at once, and it was all he could do to crouch down out of the way, trying to keep his body low and tightly tucked in behind the small round shield.

  But somehow, the white light that had covered his hands and equipment appeared to have a protective effect, as the flames had for Ajax. As soon as the hydra’s mouths with their blade-teeth came within a foot of him, it reared back as if stung. Time and again it struck out, but it was unable to land a telling blow.

  It
then paused, moving downwards again towards the river, perhaps aiming to get around towards Troy’s back to find an unprotected area. And as its rain of blows let up, Troy pulled out his dagger and flung it at the beast; the glowing blade impacted on one of the necks, leaving a large blackened, rotten-looking spot and then fell to the ground.

  Troy then sprinted up the remainder of the slope, towards the wall and towards where – he hoped – Ajax was still waiting.

  He looked at the others as he moved. Plato was still lying on his back by the edge of the river, but Troy thought he spied some movement from his friend, even if it was little more than twitching. The young man had taken the worst blows of any of them, but perhaps the potion had indeed given him some resilience, if not invulnerability.

  Troy realized that the rest of the group must do what they could to keep the hydra from wounding Plato further.

  Glaucus, however, had not just fallen to the ground, but was now lying prone and limp upon the ridge further back where it was low to the water. His head was below the surface on one side and his legs on the other; if the hydra’s wound hadn’t killed him, drowning soon would.

  Swearing loudly, Troy hurried around the ruined wall again, and spied Ajax still crouching with his head between his knees, his sword dropped at his feet.

  “Come on,” called Troy urgently, pointing. “Glaucus has fallen wounded into the water. We need to pull him clear.”

  “You go,” said Ajax. “I give up.”

  With no time to argue further, Troy sprinted down the other side of the ridge towards Glaucus, going back the way they had come. “No, please, no,” he murmured to himself as he crested the ridge and began to run back down the other side; their comrade still wasn’t moving, and he was still face-down in the water.