by Elon Vidal
“I suggest we see the sights while we’re killing time,” Damon suggested.
Dawn arched an eyebrow at him, “What happened to this not being a vacation?”
“Hoist by my own petard,” Damon admitted. “It so happens I have been to Chios before and know a few hidden spots.”
“That sounds intriguing,” Elijah said as he tore himself away from the pearl.
The rest of the afternoon was spent exploring old alleys filled with curio shops and bookstores which thrilled Elijah. For a moment the direness of their quest seemed a million miles away, but soon dark came and it was time to retrieve the pearl and find the mermaid.
The museum looked somehow more formidable at night, almost like a fortress. They approached the building casually and kept watch while Dawn climbed first, helped on her way by Elijah’s magic. The other two followed quickly and soon they were all on the roof. No alarm went off as they padded delicately across the roof and they came to the skylight. Out of her peripheral vision Dawn noted a shadow move. She nudged Damon with her elbow and tried again to locate the movement but whatever it was seemed to have disappeared. She shrugged and shook her head as they watched Elijah work.
“This is weird,” he said as he looked at the skylight. “This sigil is a protection spell that I’m not completely familiar with.”
Damon walked up behind a focused Elijah. He watched Elijah flip anxiously through a pocketbook of esoteric and mystical symbols, attempting to decipher each element of the sigil.
With his arms folded across his chest, Damon shook his head. “May I?”
Elijah allowed Damon to trace his hand over the stone carvings. Dawn watched as his fingers drew zig zag waves, spirals, and crosses. She blinked, a sudden flash coming into her memory. Where had she seen this before? She looked down at her fingertips, in awe. She could feel the rigid stone moving across her fingertips. Before she could say anything, Damon stepped back and covered his mouth with his hand. “Oh no,” he mumbled.
“What?” Dawn said, stepping closer. “Damon, what is it? What does it mean?”
Damon snatched Dawn’s wrist. Before she could snap something to the likes of get your paws off me, you buffoon! He raised his pointer finger to his lips, begging for silence, and looked every which way on the rooftop, scanning the area for some potential threat.
Elijah and Dawn shared a confused glance at each other. Damon nodded slowly, composing himself. He pointed to the exit, almost in slow motion, as he mouthed let’s get out of he—
But it was too late. An awful hiss echoed throughout the air, coupled with a sort of churning sound, as if someone were dragging a shovel through sand. From the rooftop’s edge, an enormous, scaly body slithered their way. Their eyes followed its windy form, where its massive fangs waited for them, panting heavily as its glassy slit eyes savored what could be its next meal.
Dawn’s jaw trembled as she saw her own reflection in the onyx orbs. If she didn’t think about the fact that a massive snake was sitting right in front of her, and she simply imagined it as a part of the museum exhibit, its eyes were actually quite beautiful. A mixture between the golden amber iris and a sparkling black pupil, Dawn felt as if she were looking in a bizarre kaleidoscope. But that was not the case.
“Guys—” Dawn whispered, but not daring to break eye contact with their reptilian companion. “What do we do?”
She tried to swallow casually, the normal way any human or magical being might swallow when there isn’t a humongous, possibly blood thirsty snake in front of them. Unfortunately, her swallow sounded more like in the cartoons. On hearing her gulp, Dawn practically saw a lump coast down her throat in her mind’s eye.
Excited by Damon’s fear, the creature’s massive head jerked towards him. He raised his hands up, terrified as the snake slithered closer and closer to him.
“Well I don’t know if they taught you about Hydras in your Greek Mythology classes,” Damon explained as he took steps back as the creature slithered too close for comfort. “But this is a Hydra. And well, if you remember anything about Hydras, they um, well, they have the most poisonous, deadly toxins that the magical and natural worlds have ever seen.”
Dawn remembered how the Hydra ate all the warriors that charged at it. And the green goop that came from the Hydra’s mouth. She, of course, remembered all of this from the animated film, Hercules, and not her Greek Mythology classes. But so what, she knew what a Hydra was.
Green, translucent slime oozed from the Hydra’s mouth. Well, at least the movie was faithful to the lore, Dawn thought for a moment.
The Hydra lunged, prepared to feast on Damon’s magical flesh, when Elijah unsheathed his sword and sliced the Hydra’s head off in a swift motion. Damon released all the air from his lungs. He embraced Elijah, making Dawn smile. Maybe this mission wasn’t going to be so difficult after all.
A hideous cracking sound ensued from behind them. Blobs of slime splattered on the ground as a shadow grew higher and wider behind the trio. Without turning around, Dawn already knew what was happening.
“They’re the ones that grow new heads if you try to cut them off, aren’t they?” Dawn asked.
“Th— that’s right,” Damon said, finally bumping into the cold, marble wall. “So, um, I would just like to reiterate… Can we please get out of here? I’m terrified of snakes.”
Elijah whipped out his sword again, a determined expression graced his face. He raised his sword into the air. “We have to get that pearl!” Elijah declared, obviously feeling very cool about the timing of that first kill.
The Hydra writhed in pain and wrath. As soon as Dawn and Damon drew their weapons, two more heads emerged from the slimy stump where the first head was.
“Quick— what did Hercules do to kill the Hydra?” Dawn asked, gripping her sai blades tight. “‘Cus I’m not a big fan of snakes either.”
The Hydra charged down, several heads gnashing and flailing, furious at the intruders. The three sliced, maimed, and stabbed the snake heads as they came and went.
“God, I can’t remember!” Elijah shouted, swinging off reptile heads left and right.
“Damon?” Dawn called. “Damon, what do we do?”
When he didn’t respond, she looked around. Where is he? She froze when she spotted him. One of the Hydra heads had chased Damon to the opposite corner of the roof. It was stalking him, feeding off of his fear once more, as if the longer it took to strike, the better his flesh would taste to the infinitely growing beast.
“Damon!” Dawn shouted.
Elijah followed Dawn’s gaze, where he saw Damon in danger. He drew his sword and charged forward, jumping onto the creature's back. “If I stab it in the heart, maybe it’ll finally die!” Elijah yelled, straddling the Hydra’s neck. He jutted his sword down into the Hydra’s head. The creature wobbled, losing its balance after the blow. It crashed to the ground and Elijah went along with it.
Dawn dropped her sai blades and ran to Damon, who was huddled in a corner, trembling. She hugged him, as if that would calm his tremors. With her ear pressed to his chest, she listened to Damon’s breathing, expecting his breaths to become deeper and longer. Instead, Damon started to hyperventilate.
“Damon, it’s over now. Try to breathe,” Dawn said.
“El— el— el—” Damon stuttered.
Dawn frowned. She sat up and stared at Damon, whose eyes remained fixed on something behind her. Before she could turn around, the shadow from before grew against the wall, swallowing all the light, save a few gaps where Hydra heads snapped and hissed, hungry for vengeance. Oh brother, you’ve got to be kidding me!
Dawn snatched Damon’s hand and darted away from the wall just as one of the Hydra heads came barreling towards them. Practically dragging Damon, praying to himself as Dawn tried her best to ward off the Hydra hands with one of her sai blades in hand, a terrible question entered her mind. Where is Elijah?
Dawn looked around between jabs, unable to spot the moonlit blond warlock. She couldn
’t lose him again, not after what happened. And it wasn’t going to be because of some snake either. Even if it was sent by the god of the underworld. Damon noticed Dawn looking around frantically. He lifted a trembling finger where Elijah’s petrified body laid.
“No!” Dawn shrieked. “What’s wrong with him?”
“It’s the— the—” Damon struggled to speak.
Dawn frowned. She grabbed Damon’s shoulders and shook him.
“The what, Damon?” She turned around and stabbed another Hydra as Damon tried to speak. When she turned around, Damon had cowered further into the corner. Alright, Dawn thought. Brute force isn’t always the option. She took a deep breath, stepping closer to Damon as she continued to find the Hydras single-handedly.
“Damon,” she said. “Please, I need your help. I can’t do this on my own.”
Damon took a deep breath. He removed his hands from his face and nodded.
“It’s the slime,” Damon said as he conjured a sword. Now in his hands, Damon took the sword, trying to hold it upright, but still cowered as the Hydras neared him. “He needs a specialist, Dawn. When this is all over, we’ll have him cured.”
“Right, when this is all over,” Dawn grumbled. She took a deep breath again. Be nice, Dawn, she thought. Nobody ever got anywhere good by yelling. “Well let’s try and get Elijah first. Will you help me?”
Damon nodded, raising his sword as they sprinted to Elijah, who laid on the other side of the roof.
“Remember what you taught me? Check your blind spot!” Dawn shouted.
Damon turned around, finding a massive Hydra head chasing after him. He sliced its head off, shrieking as he did. But once it fell to the ground it seemed like something came over Damon.
“Not so bad, is it, warlock?” Dawn teased.
“I suppose not,” Damon responded as he attacked another.
The pair finally got to Elijah. Dawn pressed her palm to his forehead as she stared into his glassy eyes. Tears welled in her eyes as she watched her friend struggle to breathe.
“Can you hear me?” she asked.
Elijah nodded.
“Gods, it burns” he whispered.
Burns, Dawn thought. “Burns!” Dawn yelled. “That’s how Hercules killed the Hydra, with fire.”
“What do you mean?” Damon asked.
“Look, I’ll cut their heads off, and you conjure fire. Burn the stumps, so they can’t grow back!”
“That’s genius, Dawn!”
He dropped the sword and put his hands together. He summoned the element of fire, creating a ball of crimson between his hands. Dawn grabbed her sai blades, one in each hand. A grin came over her face.
“Are you ready to do this?” she asked.
“I am now.”
Dawn jumped up at the first Hydra head that rammed its way towards her. She sank her blade down into its neck and dragged it all the way down. The head slammed to the ground and slime spattered in translucent green blobs all around her.
“Careful, Dawn!” Damon said, his hands cupping a red globe of warmth. “I can’t do this all on my own either.” The exposed flesh hardened and crystallized as Damon’s hands worked up the wound. As soon as the heat reached the top, the neck fell limp, weighing the Hydra down.
“It’s working!” Damon yelled.
Similar to a dance, Damon and Dawn pranced about the roof, slicing and burning Hydra heads as if they were the leads in Swan Lake. Dawn could practically hear the airy flute notes in the background, and the tremendous brass coming inas the beast’s body finally fell to the ground in a thud. Dawn and Damon panted for breath. Well, if she wasn’t in shape before, killing Hydras was definitely a new fitness plan. Dawn caught her breath.
“Are you alright, Elijah?” she called out.
Elijah moaned in pain. Dawn was about to run towards him when Damon put his arm out in front of her. Before she could say what gives, Damon pointed to the Hydra slime coated all over the roof floor.
“We don’t want any more injuries this evening.” He waved his hand, whispering a cleansing spell under his breath. It was like watching a video backwards, Dawn mused as she observed the slime disappear in patches, depending on which Hydra heads they cut off first. As soon as Damon flicked his wrist and returned it to his side, the rooftop was immaculate, free of dried leaves to Hydra corpses.
The two ran to Elijah. Dawn put her hand on his forehead. It was hot to the touch and beading with sweat.
“Is there a spell that can help him?” she asked.
“I’m afraid Hydras are a particular case. You see, Hydras… are creatures of the underworld,” Damon replied.
“You mean Hades.”
Damon nodded, his eyes shut as they felt the weight of their mission in that moment. The pearl certainly must have been important if Hades had sent a next-to-immortal being to protect it from intruders like them.
“He needs a specialist,” Damon said.
“I’ll be okay for now,” Elijah managed. “Please, go get that pearl. That’s the easy part.”
They had already come this far, and they weren’t going to let Hades win that easy. This was only the first leg of the mission, anyway. They were going to have to toughen up and learn how to manage toxic reptilian slime. You know, normal everyday stuff, Dawn thought. Like looking both ways before crossing the street.
Dawn drew a smile on her face. Making little jokes with herself always made it easier to deal with everything that was going on. It was definitely much better than freaking out and crying about it. That was for sure.
“Let’s go get that pearl,” Dawn said, her determined smile brightening the boys’ faces as well.
Damon and Dawn got up and walked back to the skylight. They peered over the window, admiring its iridescent beauty from up above. Dawn always thought that pearls were supposed to be smooth, but as her eyes fixed on its uneven facets, she realized they were actually quite imperfect. She sought comfort knowing that imperfections were what made things beautiful.
Dawn rattled her head to shake out the philosophical ruminations. Now was not the time to reflect on classical beauty standards! She cleared her throat, turning to a pensive Damon, whose forehead pressed against the skylight dusty glass.
“So how do we do this?” Dawn asked. “Should we get some pulleys, some rope, maybe a drill?”
“Silly humans,” Damon smirked. He placed his hand over the glass and began to move it like a puppet master would to his dolls. The pearl rose up from its pedestal, almost dancing in the air, following the dexterous movement in Damon’s fingers.
Dawn rolled her eyes. She could feel a void bubbling inside her, a terrible question she didn’t want to beg because she already had so many times before. Do I swallow it and move on? What if I get too angry again and I hurt him? Is this just Hades messing with me? Dawn bit her tongue, focusing on the pearl below.
Damon tucked his chin back as he pulled the pearl up in slow pulls. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
“If you mean it, then quit saying it.”
Dawn watched the pearl rise to the top, so close that it touched the glass. It tapped against the surface, yet the more Damon tried to move his fingers, the pearl wouldn’t go through.
“Hm.” Damon frowned.
“You can’t just make a portal so the pearl can go through the glass?” Dawn asked.
“Well, it’s not that simple. Because from what I can feel, the pearl has water magic protecting it.”
“More Wiccan lingo?” Dawn asked, raising an eyebrow.
Damon nodded. “I think I know a spell that could make the glass permeable like water, but I’d have to—”
Before Damon could finish his sentence, Dawn grabbed a nearby rock and smashed the glass. She snatched the floating pearl from the open skylight and placed it on her lap.
“Silly warlocks,” Dawn teased. His mouth hung open in disbelief, but before he could give her a lecture, Dawn went on with her plan. “So here’s what we’re going t
o do—you’re going to make a double so no one knows it’s missing. I’m going to put this somewhere safe and check on Elijah. Got it?”
“Whatever you say, your lightliness.”
Dawn rose up, the pearl heavy in her arms. It really was teeming with energy that she had never felt before. It was cool to the touch, and as she walked closer to Elijah, for a moment, Dawn could have sworn she was swimming instead of walking. It was like the pearl granted a sense of fluidity that allowed Dawn to glide about surfaces. Or perhaps even through them, Dawn thought. Maybe I didn’t even have to break that glass. She shrugged her shoulders to herself. Oh well.
Dawn plopped down next to Elijah. She showed him the pearl, to which he nodded weakly. His breathing had become shallower since the Hydra slime got him. Dawn placed her hand on Elijah’s forehead. He was burning up.
She followed Elijah’s arms to his hands. They were wrapped tight around his belly. She lifted his wrists gently, revealing a nasty wound, framed by a dark green bruise. Elijah winced and lowered his hand back down to cover his belly.
“How do you feel?” Dawn asked.
“Well,” Elijah started, his voice shallow. “I’ve been better.”
Dawn smiled, her cheeks tucking the tears behind her eyes. She stuffed the pearl in her backpack, quickly wiping away the tears before he could see.
“Where are we supposed to find a specialist?” Dawn asked.
“I think I know someone we can go to,” Damon replied.
Elijah smirked. “You would.” His words were punctuated by coughing fits. “You would know someone.”
“Let’s get him up,” Damon said.
They wove Elijah’s arms over their shoulders, helping him walk as they made their way to solid ground. And as they worked their way off the roof, Dawn felt a pang of fear ring from her feet all the way up to her hands. Perhaps holding Elijah, poisoned by a creature of Hades, had made Dawn feel this way.
