Thanks! And thanks to everyone who’s been reading. I’m certainly having fun writing this.
Here’s the next part:
3: Battle Plan
The first light of dawn was just appearing over the Ogron Mountains to the east, and the entire Company of the Spear was on the move. Squads of warriors and spellcasters were taking up positions at various points along the mist-filled valley, lying in wait for the monster they knew was coming.
There was also a low reddish light coming from behind a hill to the north, as if a forest fire was approaching.
Akwedas gestured. “There’s the hydra. It’s setting fire to everything around it.”
Drumnadrochit nodded and pointed to a low hill. “We’ll take our position over there. We’re fourth in the line, right after Alexandra’s squad. The Captain ought to be starting things off any minute now…”
A bright blue flash lit up the northern sky as bright as day for an instant, quickly followed by a loud crack of thunder. An unearthly scream split the darkness, and the reddish light intensified.
“There they go,” the dwarf continued. “Time to find our places.”
“What was that?” Siara asked, her voice full of awe.
“That was the Captain,” Akwedas explained. “Didn’t Drum tell you why this is the ‘Company of the Spear’? The Captain has a spear that shoots lightning bolts. It’s a relic from the Demon Wars, centuries ago. It’s the strongest weapon we have.”
The dwarf gestured towards the hilltop. “Zila, Siara, you take the top of the hill. Akwedas, right behind them. Jeremiah, behind Akwedas.”
“Where will you be?” Siara asked.
Drumnadrochit swung his axe around to loosen up his shoulders. “In the front, of course. Where else?”
“Drum’s axe is our best weapon against the hydra,” Zila explained in a low voice. “But he has to get in close to use it. Our job is to keep the titan occupied while he charges in. We also need to give Jeremiah some time to build up his blast. It’s powerful but it takes time to draw enough mana to do it. Akwedas is our healer, so he’s here in case we get singed.”
“Got it,” Siara said, stringing her bow and prepping some arrows.
Akwedas stared at the ridge to their north. “Captain’s squad is falling back,” he reported. “Torvald’s squad is moving to intercept.”
“Then Alexandra, then us,” the dwarf said.
“We’re drawing it away from the town?” Siara asked.
Zila nodded. “We’ll keep it moving in this direction. That way even if we fail, then hopefully the hydra will just keep going up into the mountains. We’ll at least give the town a chance.”
“We won’t fail, though,” Drumnadrochit told them. “We’ve taken out bigger beasties than this one. But we won’t take it out in one go. We’ll likely be at this all day. So lass, when Zila give you the word, you fall back and we’ll regroup. We’ll have another chance to hit it later.”
“When the titan is in range, you and I hit it in its weak spots,” Zila told Siara. “Eyes, ears, leg joints, the places you’d expect. Also the spots where the necks join are vulnerable. And underneath the tail.”
“Meaning that if you can put one of those lovely green magic arrows of yours up its ■■■■, take the shot,” Drumnadrochit added with amusement sparkling in his eyes.
“I’ll concentrate on the heads, try to blind it,” Zila continued.
“Won’t that be hard with so many heads?” Siara asked.
“Not as hard as you’d think. This is definitely a case where five heads are not better than one.” Zila smiled. “Stun one head, the other four get confused. They’re all connected, you see.”
“Torvald’s squad is falling back,” Akwedas reported. “The titan is coming over the ridge now.”
The first thing Siara saw was a reptilian head, with glowing red eyes and smoke coming from its nostrils. And then another. And another, screaming in pain and fury. The other two were low to the ground, snapping at targets that Siara couldn’t see. Soon the vast bulk of the hydra came lumbering over the hill.
It looked much the worse for wear. One head was missing an eye, there were patches of missing or damaged scales all over its back and sides, and it was visibly favoring its right foreleg. This did little to make the beast look less intimidating; its forty-yard-long body was sufficient to strike fear into Siara.
“Don’t let it spook you, lass,” the dwarf cautioned. “It’s big, yes, but it’s mortal. We’re going to win this.”
Akwedas pointed. “Here comes Alexandra’s squad… now!”
Suddenly bolts of gold and red light lashed out at the hydra from out of the mist at the bottom of the ridge. Glowing vine-like strands of green light slithered up from the ground beneath it, entangling its legs. Purplish stars seemed to surround its heads, distracting it. One head found one of the attackers, and breathed a gout of intense flame downwards. But a bluish light formed around the woman, shedding the flames.
The squad of warriors hit the hydra again and again, unleashing tremendous magical energies at the beast. But they could only wound it. In all too short a time, their magical attacks ceased and they fell back away from the titan.
“And now it’s our turn,” the dwarf announced, gripping his axe handle in anticipation.
“Breathe, Siara,” Akwedas said in a low voice. “Ground and center. Find you mana and use it.”
“Ground and center,” Siara whispered, nocking a shaft and drawing the bowstring to her ear. “Ground and center.”
She closed her eyes then. Another kind of sight took over.
Beneath her feet she could see currents of mana flowing through the earth, streams of mystical energy in a rainbow of colors. With her mind’s eye she could see her comrades as well; Zila a golden glow beside her, Drumnadrochit like an incandescent blue diamond in front, a warm red glow from Akwedas at her back. Jeremiah was a darkness limned in purple; she couldn’t as much see as feel his magic, drawing energy and slowly shaping it into a weapon of terrible potency.
She found her own mana then, the green flow of life that had always spoken to her the loudest. She drew it to her, feeling it rise through her feet and fill her with power. She took that power and bound it to the arrow she held, turning it into a dart that would pierce the hydra’s armor.
The hydra itself was like a vast bonfire, pulling a prodigious amount of mana from the earth merely to keep itself alive. It reared up in front of her, and Siara could feel waves of heat emanating from it. And yet she could also see weaknesses, vulnerable spots where its armor was less effective or where it had already been wounded. She narrowed her attention to a bright spot where two necks joined the body, and took aim.
“Ready… Attack!” commanded the dwarf.
Siara opened her eyes, found her target, and released.