Fyre Fly: Chapter 47 - Hydra

A wave blasts into us, knocking everyone but Ollie from their feet. My fingers drag through the flooded grass as I try to claw my way to a stop. The air resonates with a deep roar—not Ollie’s roar. I cough out a mouthful of water and wipe more from my eyes, looking up.

A long, serpentine neck cranes above us. Its face is somewhere part way between a dragon and a snake, with catfish-like whiskers, yellow eyes, teal scales, and a fan of fins crowning its head and sweeping down its neck. Its head is smaller than Ollie’s, but it towers above us, and is almost certainly longer.

“Oh god,” Sandro cries, staring up at the sea serpent. “We’re screwed!”

“Everyone get up,” Mirzayael shouts, hauling Sandro to his feet. Gardi and Salvia are nearby, also picking themselves up. “We’re not screwed. Weapons out!”

“And back away,” I add. “Slowly. Don’t take your eyes off it. It’s aquatic—let’s just get away from the bank.”

“But—” Sandro starts.

“Move!” Mirzayael shoves him behind her, her gaze flicking to me, then Salvia and Gardi.

The serpent flicks its tongue at the air, craning its head down toward us. From its length, it could easily pick any of us off.

Ollie steps forward, roaring into its face. The sea serpent flinches back with a hiss, its attention turning to Ollie. My heart skips a beat. By sheer strength I’m sure Ollie would win the fight, but I’m still worried about him getting hurt. What if it’s venomous?

I Check the creature.

“But guys,” Sandro tries again, his voice lifting an octave in desperation. “I don’t think getting away from the water will work! It’s a—”

[Check,] Echo says. [Hydra.]

The water to the left of the serpent’s head ripples.

“Ollie!” I shout. “Get back!”

A second head explodes from the water, darting toward Ollie as he’s still focused on the first.

“AH!” Ollie startles as he jerks back. He swats a paw at the second head, batting it away, while the first takes advantage of the distraction and lunges for his neck.

I blast my Jets on, sending up a spray of water and dirt as I rocket toward him. The first head bites down as Ollie tries to twist away, its teeth glancing off his shoulder. I don’t have time to feel relieved, as the second is already striking again, the two heads keeping up a relentless assault.

“ICE BEAM!” Ollie thinks as he unleashes a blast at the nearest head.

At the same time I launch a Fireball at the other. Ollie’s ice clips the neck of one, frosting its fins, while my Fireball catches the second in a hiss of steam. Both heads shriek, and dive back underwater.

“Fall back!” I shout, swooping down toward Ollie. My flight is clumsier with the water weighing my feathers down, but it’s the least of my worries. I cut out my flames, falling to Ollie’s neck. I grip his spines with hands shaking from adrenaline, watching the two ripples where the head had disappeared. “I’m here. Get back!”

Which is when the third head strikes.

This one doesn’t burst from the water. It moves slow enough I don’t even notice it until the tip of its head breaches the surface. Mirzayael must notice it, too, because she lets out a warning shout.

The head stays flush with the ground, darting out over the grass. It’s the furthest from Ollie and I, but the others are within striking distance.

I can feel Ollie inhale a breath, readying for another Ice Beam, while Sandro draws his sword, and Mirzayael and Salvia ready their spears. The hydra’s mouth opens, revealing two giant fangs.

Instead of striking, however, a jet of water blasts from its mouth. It strikes Salvia and Gardi head-on, and knocks Mirzayael and Sandro from their feet. Ollie lets loose his second Ice Beam, and the head snaps away, retreating back into the lake.

“Gardi!” Salvia shouts.

The harpy managed to dig her spear into the ground to anchor herself, but the wave of water swept Gardi into the lake. The felis isn’t far—already they’re struggling to push themself to their feet in waist-deep water, but a V shaped ripple is rapidly shooting their way.

With a burst of wind, Salvia leaps after Gardi, splashing down at their side.

At the same time, the two side heads reemerge, one going for Ollie and I, the other for Mirzayael and Sandro.

Ollie snaps at the one targeting him, and I summon another Fireball. My heart is in my throat. I want to help the others, but we can barely protect ourselves.

“Mirzayael—” I think, following up Ollie’s attack with a blast of flame to keep the serpent at bay.

“I’m fine,” she replies shortly. “Focus on your fight. I’ll take care of this one.”

Salvia and Gardi have stopped running for the bank, both turned and ready for the head that’s coming for them. It bursts from the water, mouth wide. Salvia slashes their spear, a blast of wind accompanying it. The head is knocked off course. Salvia wraps an arm around Gardi, crouches, and then the water around them is blown back with a gust of wind.

They’re clearly not used to carrying so much weight—given the harpy’s lightweight bone structure, Gardi must weigh at least twice as much—but it’s enough to launch them back toward the bank. They both hit the sodden ground and go skidding back with a spray of mist.

For a moment, I think they’re out of harm’s way. Then the heads lift from the water, along with two sinewy claws, as the hydra pulls itself up the bank. Running away just became a much less viable option.

Ollie lurches to the side, and I pull my attention back to our fight. I can’t afford to be distracted—Ollie needs my help. As soon as we’re done with this one, I can worry about the others.

I quickly scroll back through the rest of the description Echo had given me about the hydra—I hadn’t had time to take in what she was saying in the moment, but it’s imperative to know if this hydra is like the one in Earth legend.

[Hydra, level 48.] That’s higher than Ollie’s forty-five. [These reptiles are solitary creatures, though their multiple heads effectively make them pack hunters. Ranging from one to five, a hydra can continue to live so long as one of its heads persists.]

The head’s won’t regenerate if they’re cut off? I ask quickly, pushing a Blaze in a shape of a wall toward the hydra’s head.

[Negative,] Echo says to my extreme relief. [No known variety of complex animal can live once its head has been cut off.] She might as well have thrown on an ‘obviously’ at the end.

“Sandro!” I call, who’s hesitantly backed away behind Mirzayael. She whips her spear in a blur before her, forcing the hydra to back off. “You can kill it. It won’t grow back.”

“Are you sure?” he calls back, not taking his eyes off the serpent.

“Yes!” I throw another Fireball at the hydra. “It’s not like Earth hydras. Fight back!”

“What?” Mirzayael mentally wonders.

“Explain later,” I think.

[Mana depleted,] Echo reports. [Further uses of mana will access Bonus Mana.]

Shit. That’s the mana dedicated to keeping the city afloat. Of course, we have a month’s worth of mana, still, but if I use too much, we won’t have any choice but to land here; there won’t be enough left for any backup plans.

I grit my teeth, torn.

“Mirzayael, is this it?” I quickly ask her. “Are we committed to this place?”

Mirzayael has lashed several threads around the hydra’s head, and it’s thrashing in her grip, threatening to yank her off the ground.

“Is now the time?” she grunts.

“Yes,” I say. “Quickly. Is this it?”

The hydra snaps at Salvia, catching their spear in its mouth. It jerks its head to the side, snapping the weapon in two and jerking it from their hands. Salvia is sent sprawling to the ground.

“Yes,” Mirzayael says. She yanks with all her might, wrestling the hydra’s head toward the ground. “This is it. Monsters or not, we will make this place our own.”

That’s just what I needed to hear.

“Ollie, try to pin it,” I tell him. “I’ll distract.”

“PIN? OH, UH, OKAY!”

I tap into the bonus mana and summon the largest Blaze I’ve ever made.

The third hydra’s head lunges for Salvia. Gardi steps in front of them, launching a jet of ice straight down its throat.

Mirzayael shouts, “Now!”

Sandro races forward, bringing his sword down on the hydra’s neck. It doesn’t cut all the way through, but the creature screams.

I circle the wall of flame around our own hydra’s head, placing it behind the sea serpent. It hisses, following the fire. I pull back, and the fire races toward it. The head jerks away—toward us. Ollie lunges forward, snapping it between its teeth. The serpent shrieks, whipping around. There’s enough of its neck left exposed that it could bite Ollie back. He slaps a paw toward its head, blocking its strike, then slams it into the ground.

Ollie lets go with his teeth, planting his other paw further down its neck, keeping the hydra pinned despite its desperate thrashes. He’s breathing hard, but swings his head back toward the others.

Sandro retreats as the hydra he and Mirzayael are fighting pulls free of her silk, but its head is hanging awkwardly and bleeding profusely.

Salvia and Gardi’s hydra is encased in ice, thrashing desperately. Gardi helps Salvia to their feet.

Time to end this.

I jump off Ollie’s back, activating my Jets to slow my fall. I land near our hydra’s head. “Keep it still,” I tell Ollie. I point a finger at the creature’s head and focus another Blaze at my fingertip.

I focus the flames, compressing them as tight as I can manage while funneling more mana into the attack. Denser… denser…

“Ollie, how are Mirzayael and the others doing?” I ask.

As soon as Ollie turns to look, I let go of the attack. A blindingly bright condensed beam of energy shoots straight through the hydra’s skull, and it goes limp.

[New spell obtained!] Echo says. [Lightbeam. A spell which focuses a burning beam of light on an intended target: the power of the spell scales with mana expenditure.]

“I THINK THEY’RE OKAY,” Ollie says, oblivious to the execution I just performed. He survived the battle with Jorria; he hunts live animals. He’s no stranger to death, sadly. Yet it still doesn’t feel right to have him watch as I kill the creature he’s holding down. “THE OTHER HEADS ARE STILL FLAILING AROUND, BUT THEY’RE SLOWER NOW.”

“Then let’s help them finish it,” I say.

Ollie looks back at the head he’s standing on. “OH! IT STOPPED MOVING. I MUST HAVE KILLED IT.”

He says it so casually, like he’s remarking on the weather. I need to forge a better life for this kid. I can’t let him become numb to death.

“Hey!” Ollie’s translator calls rather quietly. His thunderous leaps do a far better job of announcing his presence. “Let me help!”

I sigh, Jetting after him.

As Ollie stops by Mirzayael and I fly to catch up, I keep an eye on Salvia and Gardi, in case they need my help. The hydra’s head is engulfed in so much ice, I’m not sure it can even breathe. Salvia leaps into the air, pausing above the hydra’s slowly thrashing head. They blast themself down, ramming into the hydra’s neck and sending it crashing to the grass. Gardi fires more ice at it, anchoring its head to the ground.

Salvia lands beside them. I can’t hear the exchanged words, but Gardi appears to say something, touching an arm that Salvia’s holding awkwardly against their chest. Salvia shakes their head with a smile.

“Ollie, grab its head,” Mirzayael says as I land beside her. “It’s too far back for my lines to reach.”

“Okay!” Now that they hydra is injured and moving slower, it’s exceptionally easy for Ollie to bite the hydra’s head. He sits down with it, resting his chin on the ground. “Like this?”

Sandro steps forward, a yellow light washing over his sword. He’s frowning—not out of fear, but concentration. When he swings the blade down, a fan of magic follows the strike, and his sword passes through the hydra’s neck as easily as if it were made of foam.

“Ollie,” I start to say, but he’s already tipped his head back and crunched into the severed hydra head, and in a few more quick bites, it’s down his gullet. Sandro has returned to looking extremely nervous, which is understandable given the carnage that’s dripping from Ollie’s mouth.

“That’s tasty,” he says, licking his muzzle. “Like fish, but enough for me to actually eat!”

Well, so much for ensuring it didn’t have venom, first. Hopefully it will be fine since he ate it, rather than it being injected—assuming it has venom at all.

I head over to Gardi and Salvia next. “Everyone all right over here?”

“Salvia’s arm is injured,” Gardi says.

“It’s nothing,” Salvia objects. “A guard should be able to handle far worse.”

“Even so, make sure you check in with Opal to get that looked at when we get back,” I tell them. “It won’t help anyone for you to not be operating at your full capabilities when we need you.”

They bow their head. “Of course, my lord.”

Gardi snorts. “Sure, you’ll listen to her but not me.”

“Why would I listen to a prisoner?” Salvia’s tone is teasing, like they’re partaking in some sort of inside joke.

Gardi’s eyes dance with mischief. “I can think of a few reasons.”

Huh.

“It’s your fault,” Mirzayael thinks, amused. “You forced them to spend all their time together for the last few months. What did you think would happen?”

“I was just hoping they’d come to not hate each other,” I admit. “Technically, mission accomplished.”

Mirzayael laughs.

As Salvia and Gardi continue to flirt, I step away to examine the frozen hydra. It’s stopped moving, but it doesn’t hurt to be safe; I put a Lightbeam through its skull.

[Hydra defeated,] Echo says. [EXP threshold met. Level up!]

“Oh!” Ollie lifts his head. “Echo says it’s defeated.”

“I got a Level-Up,” Sandro says, his gaze going distant.

I turn my attention to my own Stats. “Me as well.”

I’d actually managed to level up a couple times over the last few months, training with Mirzayael and practicing my spells. Defeating this creature pushes me up another two.

[Name: Fyre]

[Species: Harpy]

[Subspecies: Phoenix]

[Class: Psion]

[Level: 30]

[HP: 100/100]

[Mana: 650/650]

[Bonus Mana: 17,925,173]

[Role: The Dark Lord]

That Bonus Mana is starting to make me nervous. By my count, it will last for another ten days of flight—more if we power off non-essentials. We should still have time to clear out some of the remaining threats and move the Fortress inside, but it’s cutting things a lot closer than I’d like.

[Threshold met,] Echo continues. [Path of the Mage: +150 mana.]

Goodness. My mana pool has quadrupled since I first arrived on this world. I’ll pass Ollie’s mana pool soon enough—though I suppose his health being twenty times that of anyone else I’ve seen (save the gods) probably makes up for it.

“This is very odd to witness,” Mirzayael remarks, watching the three of us.

“What are they talking about?” Gardi asks.

I blink my stats away. “It’s a… quantitative type of magic. Don’t worry about it.”

Salvia raises an eyebrow. “I wasn’t before you said that.”

“Later,” Mirzayael says curtly. “For now we need to get back to the Fortress—before we run into any more surprises.”

Salvia straightens. “Yes, my lord.”

We check each other over for injuries, then check Ollie’s saddle to make sure the transport’s harness wasn’t damaged in the middle of the fight. Everything appears in order, so we climb back aboard, and Ollie is more than happy to fly us home.

Mirzayael, who’s seated next to me, holds out a hand, and I take it, resting my head against her shoulder. She traces feathers down the back of my hand. 

Gardi and Salvia are also seated next to each other, not touching, but speaking in private tones. Seeing them like this makes me smile.

And Sandro is seated alone, looking out over the floating rocks and clouds we pass by. His legs are tucked up close, and the Cloak is wrapped tightly around him, but his hands are loosely clasped around his knees, and he seems to be holding his head a bit higher. Perhaps speaking with the Cloak, or just reacting to a thought, his face lights up in a grin. I’ve never seen a smile like that on him. Maybe defeating that hydra was a much-needed boost to his self-esteem.

Mirzayael mentally chuckles at this last thought. “It seems he got to slay his first dragon after all.”

She’s right. I let out a sigh, closing my eyes. “And may it be the last.”