by Brent Tyman
We didn’t have much time left before there would be no one left to challenge it.
“Alright, where are these crystals?” I asked, looking around the Arena.
Sure, there were columns supporting every stand and platform, but they all looked the same. I supposed that was the point…
“Hmm, one is there and another there,” Clarissa’s father said, pointing first to one end of the Arena and then to the opposite end.
Neither column looked different from any of their brethren.
“And the third?” I asked.
He grinned, pointing up. We all looked up to see the obsidian walls of Tringall looming over us.
“The city state council put a crystal in a small room at the top of the wall. Good luck destroying that one,” he said.
“And what will you be doing, father?” Clarissa questioned.
“Oh, you know rulers like me don’t involve themselves in such barbaric fights. I shall be cheering you on from the sidelines,” he said, smirking.
I saw why Clarissa thought her father was a pain…
Juliana’s father suddenly smacked a large hand into the blonde man’ shoulder, causing guards in red and green to tense up. “If you wish to survive, then I suggest you do more than just cheering,” the Sovereign growled.
I could tell the two men were going to start arguing, yet again. Honestly, I didn’t have time to listen.
“Alright, let’s get the Hydra’s attention and see if we can’t trick it into smashing a head into the columns with the crystals,” I said, looking up into the spectators’ stands.
It seemed everyone had gotten as far away as they could away from the fighting pit. As long as the Hydra didn’t keep crashing forward into the arena’s supporting superstructure, no one else should be affected by the damage it caused.
“What about the one atop the city’s walls, Alex?” Juliana asked. She stared up at them with a frown.
“Uhh,” I said, trying to think. “Are you any good at climbing, Anny?”
Anny blinked at that as she looked above us at the walls.
“Its… uhh, a long way up… and down,” she said, before taking a deep breath. “But I can do it… I think.”
“Alright,” I said. “See if you can make it up the wall and destroy the crystal when you get to the top.”
She nodded, and I watched as she blurred out of my sight, rushing back into the room from which we’d just exited.
“Let’s do this,” I growled.
My women nodded.
Our plan was pretty much to disable the dampening magic and throw as much as we could into the Hydra right after. I was hoping Aurielle’s Ethereal magic would finish the Hydra off, at that point.
We all drew our weapons and dashed towards the monster, with the Sovereign and Clarissa’s father breaking off to join the few soldiers that were still fighting.
“I hope my father…” Juliana began.
Clarissa just waved a hand. “They will be fine,” the blonde assured her. “I’m sure our fathers will be capable enough to make somewhat rational decisions about staying alive.” She frowned, looking over to the thinned green ranks, “although admittedly less so for my father.”
When we got close to the Hydra, it had swiped its claws across its end of the fighting pit, striking multiple soldiers and practically blowing them away, kicking up sand in the process. It then proceeded to knock over a group of mages that had gotten too close to it.
I tried to examine how the Hydra chose its targets. It seemed that a head was able to attack multiple people at the same time, each head acting independently of the others. At least it mostly stayed in one place.
Unfortunately, we needed it to charge towards us…
That would be the fastest way to destroy the crystals and should have the secondary positive impact of injuring the hydra. Apparently, we wouldn’t be able to destroy the crystals with their dampening magic at its height. That meant, if Anny was to have any hope of success, we had to destroy the two crystals at either end of the arena first.
“Uhh… anyone got any ideas about how to attract its attention?” I asked.
Aurielle tried her Ethereal Spears once more and we watched as the translucent spears sailed through the air. Not even one of the Hydra’s heads bothered to look in our direction, though, when the magic ultimately fizzled into its side before dissipating into nothing.
Jeez…
Maybe they had tuned this dampening magic up a bit too much. Either that, or it simply meant that the Hydra, even with its defenses suppressed, was still incredibly powerful and deadly.
Juliana tried her fire magic next, holding onto the magic in her hands to cast one of her largest fireballs at the Hydra. Again, the magic didn’t cause the Hydra to so much as flinch, though the fireball streaked through the air and struck one of its heads.
This was going to be much more complicated than I had anticipated.
“Uhh, handsome…” Clarissa said, poking me in the shoulder. “Don’t you dare do what I think you are going to do…”
“What?” I said, gripping my sword tighter. “It’s clear magic isn’t working. But maybe mine and Aurielle’s Strength will.”
A soldier’s limp body arced through the air above us to strike the ground hard. Clarissa quickly pushed out a heal to him while still giving me a ‘you had better not’ look.
“That sword of yours won’t do any good against a Hydra,” Clarissa said.
“I agree, Alex,” Juliana said as she watched the fighting. “We must fight from a distance, if we wish to survive the day.”
Since Aurielle hadn’t protested, it was clear she felt the same as I did. Her eyes remained locked on the Hydra.
Juliana and Aurielle continued to pepper the Hydra with more of their spells, and I figured I should join them. Maybe our spells were doing some damage, even if we couldn’t see the limited results. As soon as I cast my Icy Clouds spell, though, a sudden change occurred in the Hydra.
It completely ceased its attacks and all five of its head rose up… and looked our way.
“Uhh… what did you do, handsome?” Clarissa asked, a touch of concern in her voice.
“I dunno,” I said honestly.
“Its attention has been drawn by something,” Juliana agreed, still preparing to cast another fireball.
Figuring that I didn’t have enough time to work out what was going on, I pushed forward and cast my Blast Currents spell. I tried to aim all of my ice spikes to attack one of its heads, but for some reason, the Hydra seemed almost mesmerized by my attack.
That was, until one of the ice spikes struck it right in one of its many eyes. The ice spike dissipated just as I’d expected it might, but the Hydra growled in anger.
Its many heads all turned to glare directly at me.
We all froze when we became its sole focus. Before I could even puzzle out what its odd behavior might mean, it had swiped away the soldiers in front of it and dug a claw in our direction.
“It’s coming for us,” I shouted, before turning around. “Run towards the crystal.”
The others were still a lot faster than me, given my still paltry Speed stat. This was definitely a time where I wished Anny was still around to just drag me to my destination. I turned my head to look over my shoulder and saw the Hydra baring down on us.
All five of its heads roared and snapped at the air.
“It’s gaining on us!” Clarissa shouted. “All of these columns look the same. Which one was it, again?”
“I believe it is the one right in front of us,” Aurielle said.
I looked forward to examine the protruding column she’d indicated. It was pretty decorative with its fancy patterns, but so was every other one. I watched as spectators darted to the sides, seeking to get well clear of this section of the Arena.
“On my mark, jump to our right,” I ordered.
“Here it comes!” Juliana shouted.
I didn’t want to look back and end up smacking
into the wall because I wasn’t watching where I was going, as that would not be pleasant at this stage. The massive stomping of the Hydra’s paws as they pounded into the ground was more than enough indication, though, of how far it was behind me.
And how quickly it was catching up to us.
The women began to slow their pace to match mine. I knew I had to get the timing just right. When a claw struck the ground only a few feet behind me, I knew it was now or never.
“Jump!” I shouted.
Immediately, almost all of us jumped to the side. I had to pull Juliana with me, though, as she didn’t quite react in time. The shadow of the Hydra washed over the two of us for a brief moment before four heads hissed loudly, its fifth head darting forward to strike the column.
By the time we hit the ground, a large blast shook the Arena and the ground trembled beneath us. Bits of debris and splinters of wood splattered all around us. I focused on protecting Juliana from any such shrapnel.
“Alex… I…” Juliana said, her eyes in a daze.
“That was a close one,” I agreed, pulling the gorgeous brunette to her feet.
I kept an eye on the Hydra as I helped first Juliana and then Clarissa, who was spitting out small bits of sand she had gotten in her mouth, to stand. The monster was momentarily stunned, covered with the shattered remains of the wall. Luckily, it hadn’t managed to get deeper than the first row of the stands.
As I watched, its body shuddered and four sets of eyes blinked slowly. Surely it couldn’t be this easy?
A haze of dust spread from the impact but thinned out soon enough. The wreckage shifted slightly and then parted as the Hydra got back up and roared, howling at the top of its lungs.
I looked over its body, using the momentary respite to see how badly it had been hurt. There were no visible injuries on this side of its body, but I raised an eyebrow when it turned around to meet us.
I had initially thought the damage caused by this plan would be decent, but nothing too substantial until maybe the third crystal. We were mostly interested in getting rid of the dampening magic so we could deal as much damage as we could, preferably before the Hydra could escape into the city.
The blast had shredded one of the Hydra’s heads—leaving only a messy blob at the end of that wilting neck. I could only assume it had crashed into the column with that head, and that it had taken the brunt of the damage. Four heads now glared at me.
I was close enough to use my sword. “Aurielle, I’m going to see if I can hurt it,” I said, feeling a bit reckless all of a sudden.
“I shall join you,” she said.
We both leaped forward to meet our foe.
One of the Hydra’s heads reared up to hiss at me before arcing down swiftly, its mouth wide open. I managed to turn to the side, out of the way of its many teeth. That head slammed into the ground beside me.
This gave me a decent opening to attack it, and I didn’t hesitate. I raised my sword and with all the Strength I could muster, slammed the blade down onto the Hydra’s exposed neck.
Clink!
While I had managed to pierce its scales, my sword only made the smallest of cuts along its neck before bouncing back. This caused me to stumble back from the force, my arms somewhat numb. It almost felt like I had just struck metal of all things. A similar sound reverberated beside me, which I could only assume was Aurielle.
The Hydra shook with rage when I raised my sword for another strike. It slammed both me and Aurielle back with its two remaining heads. Despite my decent Defense stat and high Strength, this blow hurt a heck of a lot more than I was expecting.
Aurielle and I were both blown back towards Juliana and Clarissa.
“Jeez…” I wheezed as I picked myself up from the ground, this time in a lot more pain than the last time. “That thing hits hard.”
Clarissa’s healing magic coursed through me, and she quickly tended to Aurielle, who also looked rather dazed by the Hydra’s attack. She had managed to get her shield up, which mitigated some of the damage, for her at least.
“Alex, look!” Juliana said, pointing back at the Hydra.
I looked over to see the Hydra’s heads roaring and snarling at each other.
It was almost like they were talking to one another. Suddenly, one of the heads shot forward and bit deeply into the neck beside it, causing a hard grinding squeal as its needle-like teeth crunched down through hard scales.
I wasn’t entirely sure what was going on until I realized that the Hydra head being attacked was the one that Aurielle had injured.
“The artifact’s toxic properties are having an effect on the monster,” Aurielle said.
Once the Hydra had finished doing… whatever it was doing… it had broken off a large chunk of scales on that particular head’s neck, leaving a pinkish gash behind.
I figured it didn’t like whatever the artifact was doing to it.
Fireballs streaked through the air above us, striking the Hydra’s wound. I looked back to see several groups of soldiers running our way. They had, no doubt, taken a moment to rest and assess the situation.
Unfortunately, the Hydra had its eyes focused on Aurielle, specifically on the sword she carried.
“Quick, Aurielle,” I ordered, “run to the second column!” I proceeded to cast another Icy Cloud spell.
Juliana had also cast some fireballs, joining the ones thrown by the mages from around the Arena. Unfortunately, the Hydra still didn’t seem to be much affected by them. Once again, though, it hissed and reacted strangely to my Icy Clouds spell.
Two of the heads were mesmerized like before, but the others remained focused on Aurielle. It roared and jumped forward, those two heads snapping at Aurielle as she ran towards the other end of the Arena.
I, too, had to jump out of the way with the rest of the women, leaving me no chance to cast my Blast Currents spell.
The Hydra roared again, before calmly walking over to my Icy Cloud spell. Two of its heads stared at the spell in silence for a moment before raising one massive, clawed foot high and stomping on it.
Small floating crystals were scattered by its giant claws and at first, I thought my spell had done very little damage. It seemed to snap the beast out of its daze too, as it had dealt with my Icy Cloud spell. That was, until I watched it stumble, its front right leg stiffening up suddenly as the crystals from my spell clamped onto its scales.
I wanted to get up and attack it while it was distracted but, unfortunately, it managed to recover quickly and apparently shook off my spell like it was shaking off snow.
One of the heads did turn around and look back in my direction, pure anger smoldering in its eyes, but nevertheless it ran forward to chase down Aurielle.
“Come, we must support Aurielle,” Juliana ordered, helping a still unsteady Clarissa.
“Did anyone else notice that Alex’s magic has some kind of effect on it,” Clarissa said. “Or was it just me?”
“Indeed, but I am unsure as to why that was the case,” Juliana admitted.
“Let’s work it out later,” I said, looking up to see the Hydra still chasing after Aurielle, roaring the entire while. “We’ve gotta get going.”
My women nodded and we dashed after the Hydra.
For some strange reason, some soldiers thought it was a good idea to get between Aurielle and the Hydra. That didn’t turn out quite like they’d expected, though, as a quick swipe across the ground from one of the Hydra’s heads knocked back any who dared get in its way.
Juliana’s father stood at the far end of the Arena, bellowing out orders from what I could see. Clarissa’s father was nowhere to be seen. That honestly didn’t surprise me, not at this point.
Aurielle pulled the same move we had used with the first column, jumping out of the way just as the Hydra snapped at her with one of its heads. She barely avoided its needle-like teeth.
The Hydra did manage to slow down significantly just as it was about to smack into the wall, but it was still going too
fast to come to a complete stop. With a resounding boom, I watched as the wall caved in before the Hydra’s reduced charge. It bent, then broke, exploding and sending debris flying in every direction. The creature, swallowed up by a thick plume of smoke, disappeared from my sight.
This explosion seemed even more powerful than the last.
Just about the time we reached Aurielle, as she was in the process of getting up from the ground, the unthinkable happened. Instead of the Hydra roaring to announce its presence, a single head shot out of the thick smoke, catching Aurielle by surprise.
She was just starting to raise her shield and sword, but before I could call out to warn her, the Hydra’s head crashed into her, tossing her into the nearby wall.
“Aurielle!” I shouted as I watched her limp body slide slowly to the ground.
Unmoving.
30
I felt a chill run down my spine as I stared at her still form.
“Clarissa, you have to heal…” I started to say, but then the Hydra emerged from the smoke.
Another head had been destroyed, its middle one, leaving it looking very strange, indeed. The neck of this middle head stood up straight, almost as if it still had a head attached to it. It wiggled weakly in time with the other destroyed head, although they didn’t share the same height. This blast had caused a lot more damage to the middle head, compared to the previous crystal.
Clarissa threw a heal out, her green magic streaking through the air before connecting to Aurielle.
“Handsome, Aurielle doesn’t look too good…” Clarissa admitted. “She’s taken a lot of damage.”
“The dampening magic is now at its weakest, making the hydra’s attacks extremely powerful,” Juliana explained.
“Either way, I’ll have to get closer to her to provide more significant healing,” Clarissa said.
“Yeah… I don’t think the Hydra is gonna let that happen,” I said.
The Hydra roared as the mages’ attacks started up again. It stubbornly stood its ground in the face of all of the spells being lobbed its way.
