by Logan Jacobs
“Why’d he shut his light out?” Ariette demanded as a wave of sewer water flew up and soaked the entire backside of my body.
“Just keep going,” I ordered as I bit back a gag. Now was the absolute last time to stop, especially if Razor had continued forward in the dark without us.
Ariette’s dark silhouette started to crawl forward once again, and I reached my hand out to find footing further down the pipe.
That was when I heard it. The sound was so faint that I thought my mind was playing tricks on me, but Ariette’s gasp was all the proof I needed.
Somewhere in the maze of tunnels behind us, something very, very big had let out a huge, angry roar.
“What do you think that was?” Ariette asked with fear in her voice.
“Just keep moving,” I said calmly. “It could be echoing from anywhere. It’s probably not even coming this way. But I really, really don’t want to find out if it is.” I didn’t know who I was trying to convince more, her or me, but we had no other option. We had to keep going or we’d lose Razor.
“Right,” Ariette replied, and then her silhouette scuffled forward.
We plodded forward in silence. I made a very concerted effort to ignore the fact that the waves of sewer water had increased in both volume and speed, and another roar sounded not so distantly behind us.
I just hoped whatever was roaring didn’t catch our scent. I never thought I’d be saying this, but thank God we were covered with sewer water.
Meanwhile, Razor was nowhere to be seen or heard. I wasn’t sure why he’d turned his flashlight off. Maybe it was because of the roar that continued to echo down the tunnel, or because he knew we were behind him. Neither option was good, as one meant he was preparing to launch a counterattack, and the other meant that whatever was making these noises was much, much more dangerous than we feared.
The rocking of the water intensified until it had grown to steady waves whose shadow looked like they were nearly five-feet-tall. The waves of sewer sludge crashed down on Ariette and me and soaked us to the bone. Debris and pieces of God-knows-what floated in the water, and I could feel the impact of many unidentified solid objects in the heavy waves. I tried not to think about what those objects were as the waves grew more intense and reappeared so fast that it felt like I was in the middle of one of those wave machines at a sickly water park.
I spluttered and struggled to breathe as the water crashed over me again and again, and I could hear Ariette cough as she gasped for breath. I concentrated on gulping air in between the powerful waves, and I didn’t even care about the pungent stench that was sucked into my lungs. I’d rather have that nasty smell pervade my nostrils a thousand times over than drown in sewer water.
The roar sounded again, closer this time, and it reverberated off the concrete walls of the sewer tunnel. I could literally feel the pipe vibrate with the intensity of the sound, and my arms started to shake with the effort it took to keep my body pressed up against the wall and off the ground.
And then everything went dead still.
The roar cut off abruptly, the pipe stopped vibrating, and the water sloshed to a complete standstill. The sharp inhale and exhale of Ariette’s breath and the sound of my pulse racing in my ears were the only sounds that could be heard.
My ears were on high alert for any noise, any clue as to what the hell was going on. Thanks to my enhanced senses, I could hear the faintest flutter in the air, and the slight creak of the pipes along the tunnel walls. It was almost as if something much, much bigger than ourselves was breathing. Then, a hissing noise emanated from somewhere back down the tunnel, and it was all too close for comfort. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up stock straight as a shiver crawled down my spine.
“Ariette, move!” I shouted, but she didn’t need to be told. The elf crawled with lightning speed along the bars, with me hot on her heels.
The hissing echoed through the tunnels louder and louder until I wanted to rip my eardrums out just to stop the assault of the noise. I knew the thing was closing in too quickly for us to outrun it, but we still had to try.
That’s when something warm and alive flicked my ear. I flinched, and then a tiny metallic screech bounced against my eardrums as Ariette shifted positions slightly and craned her neck around.
The outline of her head tilted upward, and a small gasp escaped the elf’s lips as she turned to flee. Before she could escape a huge, thick thing like a tree branch came down from above and wrapped around her waist. The hissing continued as the mystery beast coiled around her body, and it now grew into a terrible mixture of static, gravel, and glass. The part of the creature that I could see was as long as a car, and I could just make out a huge, serpentine head shaped like a diamond at its end. Then the thing yanked back and tore Ariette away from the wall as she kicked and struggled and reached for her sword.
I lunged after the helpless Fae, but something thick and slimy slammed into my stomach and knocked me back against the concrete wall. Ariette’s figure disappeared into the darkness, and then another roar sounded right behind me. This one was so powerful and close that the hair on my head blew forward like it was in a wind tunnel. There was a disgusting smell similar to moldy cheese as little droplets of liquid landed on the back of my neck. I shuddered when I realized they were probably spittle.
“Hydra!” Ariette screeched from somewhere in the darkness.
Hydra. Well, that explained the hissing. Hydras were the monsters every child feared was under their bed at night. Of course, unlike the monsters feared in the days of the ancient humans, these things were a very real threat. They were like fifteen snakes in one, and basically a one-reptile army.
As quickly as I could, I spun around on the pipe and pressed myself into a semi-standing position. Then, I squinted in the dark and tried to pin down the location of the slippery serpent. My Hand tingled as it waited for my eyes to find my target, but all I could see were serpentine-like outlines that swirled around the tunnel.
A huge lightning bolt illuminated the tunnel for a split-second as Ariette tried to hit the beast with her own magic. The bolt slammed one snake head down into the water, and steam evaporated around its figure as it hissed and twitched with the impact of the electricity. I could momentarily see the elf as she flew through the air and got ready to jump for her life just as the light from the bolt disappeared.
The quick flash had given me a peek at what we dealt with. The beast was about ten feet tall, with a thick body like a dragon’s, just a hundred times smaller. Attached to the body were four muscular legs with huge, clawed paws at the end, and a massive tail ridged with spikes. The whole thing was covered in forest green reptilian scales. But where a singular head should have been there was a thick, scaly neck with about fifteen massive snakes. They were as big around as a python, and about five feet long. Each snake head bared two sharp, terrifying fangs.
One of those heads lunged at me, and tiny white fangs bared as they glinted slightly and headed straight for my face. I swung my arm up and knocked the head to the side, and there was a sickening crunch when it impacted the concrete wall. I leapt from the pipe along the wall into the sewer water and began to search for Ariette. Only, as my hand went to my flashlight, I realized it was missing. Had I somehow lost it in the fight?
“I can’t see anything!” I hollered into the abyss, and my heart pounded like a war drum in my chest. As much as I wanted to search for the Fae, standing in this water made me a sitting duck. I was reminded of this as another dark shape shot in my direction, and I leapt to the side as it struck the water where I'd been standing. I quickly grabbed onto the pipe and hauled myself up so I could stand flat against the wall. At least now I could defend myself.
I ran the tip of my index finger along the trigger of my gun, but I knew I couldn’t fire it in here. I couldn’t see anything, and it was a ridiculously small space. I didn’t want to risk accidentally hitting Ariette, and I certainly didn’t want to fire a bullet straight into the pipe alo
ng the wall of the tunnel. I didn’t know what flowed inside of it, and I don’t think I’d ever want to know either.
The power in my Hand vibrated as I called upon my magic, but I couldn’t connect with anything. The darkness made it nearly impossible to get a sense of my target, especially since it had so many heads, and the last thing I wanted to do was mess up and kill Ariette by accident.
“Ariette!” I shouted into the darkness. “Could I get some light in here, please?”
A flash of white lightning lit up the tunnel for a moment, and I caught sight of the hydra once again. The power in my Hand made an instant connection with its blood, but the illuminating spell was gone too soon. I ripped out the blood of whatever I had ahold of, and the pathetic hiss that emanated from one of the snakes told me I’d killed something.
“I need it longer!” I called back to the elf as an angry snake head dove into my shoulder. Instantly, I grabbed onto it and yanked, and then I heard a satisfying crack and a squelch as it detached from the creature’s body. I threw the lone head into the water just as I heard a hiss of air slice right by my face. The foul beast flicked its tongue against the tip of my nose, and I shuddered. I pressed myself further against the wall and then swiftly sidestepped along the pipe to try to get out of the way of the incoming deadly snake heads.
“Hold … ON!” Ariette screamed, and the sound was uneven as she was flung through the air in the hydra’s grasp.
And then, suddenly, a flash of blue sparks danced in the blackness and then grew bigger and bigger as it floated toward the top of the tunnel. The sparks illuminated the tunnel like a million tiny stars, and I could finally see enough to call on my Hand.
The cells in my palm tingled and vibrated with the magic, and I focused in on the blood of the hydra’s body. It felt thick and viscous in my palm, but as I tried to rip all of it from the beast’s massive body, it felt like I dragged my hand through drying concrete. My heart started to pound with the effort as I concentrated on the beast’s blood and ordered my Hand to rip it from the hydra’s body. This time, one of the snakes exploded in a mess of putrid green blood and pink guts, but the body remained completely intact. The amount of blood in the beast’s body made me feel as if I was under a huge, weighted blanket and couldn’t get out, and I started to feel the exhaustion grow.
“There’s too much blood!” I shouted through gritted teeth. A snake lunged at my waist, and I was forced to let go of the connection.
The creature tried to wrap itself around me, but my enhanced agility proved too quick for it. I gracefully sidestepped the lunge, hauled back my boot, and landed a solid kick to the hydra’s head.
The creature squealed in pain as its head struck the concrete wall, accompanied by a wet pop. The monster’s head went limp and collapsed into the water below.
“Yes!” Ariette cried out, and I whirled around to see she had finally freed her sword from its sheath. “Try to get to the body. If you can’t, chop the heads off, and I’ll burn them!”
“Won’t they just grow back?” I demanded and sidestepped another attack.
“They can’t grow back if we cauterize the necks,” the elf explained.
Ariette’s silver blade gleamed in the light of her electricity as she brought it down as hard as she could. The blade struck just inches below where the snake held her, and its head was chopped clean off. The elf escaped the grasp of the first head, but almost instantly another head whipped through the air and grabbed her by the waist again. Her hand struck out quickly, and a flash of white came down upon the head she had just decapitated just as it was about to reform. The smell of charred meat pierced the air as the new head exploded, and all that was left was a smoking black stump.
“Shit!” Ariette screamed as she was thrown through the air once again.
A bolt of the fae’s lightning lit the room with a bright white light as it slammed into the hydra’s body, but the electricity fizzled out and left nothing more than steam.
“We need to get in between the scales,” she shouted at me as she grabbed onto a head, just underneath the jaw, and squeezed until it burst. Then, she quickly burned the nub. It was going to take forever to kill all these heads one by one, and even then, we’d still have its claws and spiked tail to deal with.
I leapt forward to help Ariette, but another snake slammed into my chest, coiled tight around my ribcage, and pinned my arms to my sides.
“How many of you bastards are there?” I snarled as I struggled in the hydra’s grasp.
As Ariette was tossed into the air once more, I managed to yank one arm free and get a grip on the snake’s head. This thing was about the size of my hand, and I squeezed the skull as hard as I could as I worked to pull my other wrist free. There was a loud pop, and the bones of the creature’s skull caved in beneath my hands and let loose a spray of brains and blood onto my face. I gagged as the putrid innards slid down my cheeks like pieces of chunky soup.
“Ariette, light this guy up!” I hollered at the blonde elf.
Her head swung around, and I pushed myself backwards as lightning came down on the snake’s body. Three down, twelve to go.
Two snakes came toward me so fast I had no time to react, and they sideswiped me straight into the concrete wall. I groaned in pain and annoyance as I struggled to my feet.
“I don’t have time for this,” I spat, but then a flash of movement caught my eye.
The snake that held Ariette sailed angrily up to the ceiling of the tunnel, and then it slammed itself into the hard concrete so violently that the stone cracked under the impact. Ariette cried out in pain as her sword flew out of her hand and splashed into the murky water. Then, the sparks that lit our battle ground flickered and started to die out as Ariette was slammed into the floor once more.
“Ariette!” I shouted as a deep rage began to burn inside me.
My fears were temporarily squashed when I saw the fae catch her breath and throw her Hand to the side.
Instantly, the sparks came back to life, and the hydra heads hissed in displeasure.
“God dammit,” Ariette grunted. “HC, I can only keep the light up for a few more minutes. It’s too draining.”
“I’m working on it,” I shouted back through a mouthful of sewer water.
My own Hand tingled as I raised my arm, and I felt the viscous blood that ran through the hydra’s veins. I established as strong of a connection as quickly as I possibly could and prepared to bring this beast down. I yanked my hand to the side, and there was an explosion of blue-black liquid as another head was destroyed.
Without warning, something brushed past my feet underwater. A huge snake flew up right in between my legs and flipped me backwards into the air. I smashed through the water and into the concrete at the bottom of the tunnel, and then all the air left my body in a stream of bubbles. Sewage rushed into my mouth, and I wanted to hurl right then and there.
I scrambled to my feet and gasped for air when my head broke through the surface of the sludgy liquid. I looked over to see Ariette throw another lightning bolt at the snake, and the head I had just demolished with my Hand plopped down into the water lifelessly.
Just then, I felt the edge of something sharp and hard against my ankle. I looked down into the murky water to see the soft glow of Ariette’s sword, and then I shoved my hand down and grabbed onto the hilt. The second I touched the weapon, a shock of electricity raced up my arm and filled me with the same energy that it normally granted the fae.
I heaved the sword out of the water, readied it behind me, and ran back toward the hydra. I leapt and ducked out of the way as I evaded the hissing and waving snake heads that tried to attack me with their fangs that glinted brightly against Ariette’s sparks.
The elf threw lightning bolt after lightning bolt at the snakes, but only a few heads got caught in her onslaught.
One snake head made a mad grab for me, fangs forward, and I leapt over its trajectory. The creature missed and buried both its fangs into the concrete.
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br /> When I came within reach of the hydra’s body again, I readied the sword in my hands and looked for a weak point in between the scales. On the left side of its chest, there was a dark black spot where the scales didn’t quite meet. Another snake lunged toward me from my right, and I hacked it off its neck with a spray of blood. As I dashed toward the hole in the dragon’s armor, I heard the sizzle of Ariette’s lightning as she burned the beheaded stump into a crisp.
With a grunt, I swung the sword above my head and aimed for the hydra’s weak point. The muscles in my arms twitched as I threw all of my strength into my jab and brought the sword down in between the monster’s scales. The blade sank into its chest as thick green blood spewed back at me, and the snakes above me froze in place and let out a huge, collective hiss. The beast’s massive body twitched in pain, and then it stopped moving altogether. The creature let out a final death rattle and began to sway back and forth.
There was a huge splash as the hydra’s corpse hit the water, and it loosened its grip on Ariette. The elf somersaulted onto the ground and then sprung up excitedly, and little blue electric sparks danced around her head. She wore a huge smile underneath the thick coating of grime that layered her entire body.
“Charging a hydra head on?” she asked proudly. “That takes balls, HC.”
“What can I say?” I shrugged as I wiped a glob of green blood from my forehead. “You’ve seen ‘em, so you should know.”
“I’m sure that won’t be the last time” the elf said as I flicked the blood away from me.
I raised my eyebrow at the elf. “Only if you play your cards right,” I flirted through the grime.
I reached up to dislodge her sword from the hydra, and it came away covered with green blood and the remnants of dragon innards.
“Swords are fun,” I chuckled as I handed Ariette back her weapon. “I may just have to get me one of these things.”
The elf clambered off the slick head of the hydra slowly and took her weapon back with a look of disgust on her face.