When Katrine awoke the next morning, it was to the cacophonous sounds of men running and screaming, and the ground underneath her shaking and rumbling as something moved. "Are we under attack?!" She shouted as she pushed herself out of the bedroll she'd taken, and for once her question was met with absolute silence. Where the hell had the Pawns run off to?
She pushed herself out of bed and strode from her tent, only to hear a scream and to nearly be collided with as someone landed at her feet with a cloud of dust and the sounds of cloth on stone, as well as a wheeze of breath from... Tyri? "What the hell's going on!?", the Arisen asked as she looked around. Men running, all of them away, blue sky, decent weather, hydra head- She paused, eyes going wide, and did a double take back toward the rear of the camp.
"A FUCKING HYDRA!?" came the question as she took steps backward, away from the creature. Tyri pushed herself to her feet and turned back to look at Katrine, that same deadpan expression as ever, already starting to cast a spell.
"The others are already combating the beast, Master. Please hurry." The Pawn turned back and unleashed her spell, flame spitting from the tip of her staff in several firebolts to pelt the creature, spattering magical fire across several of the heads and their necks.
Kat drew her new blades from their sheathes with a grumble, twirling her daggers in her hands. Time to put these supposed gifted skills to the test, apparently... She quickly ran toward the hydra, having to dodge rubble of a tent and crate tossed her way by a slap of the creature's tail, and sure enough as she got closer, Scellia and Hiei were already combating the creature. Hiei had managed to climb one of the necks, stabbing his own pair of daggers into the scales, but they kept glancing off, even throwing sparks. What was this thing made of!?
Scellia stood at the base, several soldiers at her side, dodging blows by the heads as the creature struck again and again, nearly burying it's snout into the ground with each strike, throwing up clouds of dirt. The Pawn even managed to deflect one, somehow, stepping to the side at the last moment and letting the hydra's head glance off of her upheld shield. "Scellia! Hiei, I'm coming!", shouted Kat as she quickly made her way closer, daggers at the ready. She approached just as the hydra struck again, glancing one of the soldiers and sending him skidding off to the side screaming in pain- his arm looked like it was hanging limp from his side.
Daggers raised as she ran, she took the offered opportunity to stab her blade deep into the creature's eyesocket, and unlike her Pawn's attack at it's neck, this one found a home, wickedly-hot hydra blood splattering across her arm and chest as the exposed eye ruptured. The hydra screamed and recoiled, and she grinned, having drew her blade free in the nick of time. She continued running until she stood at Scellia's side, her Pawn nodding once at her approach, too out of breath to say anything else.
Hiei lost his grip and tumbled as the hydra recoiled, but he managed to roll to his feet, daggers held out to the sides so he didn't stab himself. He sprinted toward them, eyes fixed on the hydra as it hissed and writhed. One of the heads was biting over and over at the one that'd been stabbed, attacking the pained area. "What do we do, Arisen? Our blades cannot find purchase in such a beast!"
Kat spun her dagger in hand, glancing to the two Pawns. "Mine did. Scellia, I'll help you distract it." She gestured with one hand toward the Hydra, then turned to Hiei. "You climb one of those towers and pelt it with arrows. Aim for the eyes." She held up her bloodied blade, then gestured toward the towers. The two Pawns nodded, both of them moving off to follow her orders as Kat followed Scellia.
What the hell am I doing? I've never fought a hydra before...
She didn't get long to worry, however, as the massive creature, dwarfing even this large military camp, seemed to have recovered enough to renew the fight, blood streaming from it's damaged eye. Katrine unleashed a growl and readied her blades again, Scellia doing the same. Several of the soldiers had returned upon hearing the hydra scream, and seeing the Arisen and her pawns fighting the creature seemed to fill them with the valor that they'd been lacking in it's first assault, and they quickly joined around Katrine and Scellia, Tyri among them.
The sorceress raised her staff and intoned a spell, shouting 'Take my flame!' as she completed her incantation, and the weapons of those around her, including Katrine and Scellia, burst into magical flames that licked at the metal of the weaponry. "Oh this is great..." Katrine actually laughed, then gestured from Tyri to the creature. "Give it all you've got!" She raised her blade and looked at the men around her. "Attack!"
With a collective roar the men and Pawns and Katrine charged the creature, who assaulted anew, heads slamming into the dirt and the tail swaying and slapping at all the targets presented to it. Several of the men were claimed almost immediately, and though she struck at the creature with all her might, Katrine could do no more than Hiei had before, her blades skipping off of the scales. They'd need something big in order to deal with this monstrosity...
She barely dodged to the side as a head slammed down where she'd been standing only moments before, and as she looked up to check if any others were readying for an attack, her heart leapt into her throat as she watched a man struggling in it's jaws, screaming bloody murder. "Help me! Help me please!" He struggled for a moment longer before the jaws of the beast snapped shut with a sickening crunch, armor and all standing no chance against the sheer strength of this horrific monster.
Anger stirring in her heart, Katrine attacked once more, standing at Scellia's side as the Pawn used her shield to deflect blows and protect the Arisen from the creature's swipes, hacking away with her own, larger blade to just as little effect. "It's not working, Arisen! How can we fell such a beast?"
As if to answer them, the hydra screamed again, steaming blood splattering the ground around them, and Scellia and Katrine both looked up to see an arrow protruding from another eye. She was just about to shout encouragement over the din of battle when she felt herself roughly yanked to the side as Scellia dove, and moments later the entire serpent surged forward, carving a huge rut in the dirt where they'd been standing only moments before- it seemed the creature wasn't about to recoil this time.
She heard before she saw the crash, turning her head in time to see the hydra wrapping itself around the very tower the Pawn had been inhabiting only moments before. "HIEI!"
The snake hissed and constricted, and though the wood fought back with a groaning protest, armored scale and giant muscle were too much. The entire watchtower seemed to explode all at once in a shower of splinters and dust, sending shrapnel raining down around them. She could just barely see a figure leaping free as the top of the tower toppled to the side, her Pawn somehow getting out of there.
"Come! We must prevent it from escaping the camp!" She raised her dagger and charged again, using herself as a rallying point for the surviving men around them. She swung her blade toward Tyri. "Tend to the wounded as best as you can! Save them!", she shouted behind herself as she ran.
When they approached, she could see Mercedes doing much as Scellia had done before, fighting up close and using her shield to protect herself and one of the men- the Corps commander stood out due to her stark white cloak. Scellia and Katrine and the men with them quickly joined the fray, the Arisen looking for Hiei but not able to spot him in the commotion... She soon had bigger concerns, however, as even with all the men currently present they were still hard-pressed to hold the creature at bay.
Their fight very nearly seemed hopeless, until a familiar voice started shouting for her attention. "Arisen! Arisen, quickly!"
She extricated herself from the fight, having to dodge another head to do so, to find Hiei, safe and sound aside from a few cuts and rapidly-darkening bruises. "Arisen! These barrels are explosive powder."
It didn't take her long to realize what he wanted her to do. "Okay! Can you hit a target like that?"
He nodded, and she took that as all the reassurance she needed. "Good! Get into position, when I say so, shoot it!"
The Pawn hurried away as she hefted one of the barrels, finding to her dismay that they were heavier than they looked. How would she...
Her eyes went wide as she realized what she had to do, and she quickly carted the thing back into the fighting, having to jump to the side to avoid another blow by one of the heads as she did so. "Scellia! Scellia, come here." Her Pawn disengaged to come to her side, and she quickly laid out her plan to the woman.
"Are you certain!? You could be killed!" It was the first time she'd heard genuine concern in the Pawn's voice, but she nodded.
"It's the only way. It's too heavy to throw. Are you ready?"
Scellia frowned, but nodded, and the two of them quickly got into position.
Wobbling on her feet, Katrine was quickly raised up on Scellia's shield, the Pawn grunting beneath her as she struggled to get the Arisen and the barrel into the air. She could vaguely hear a 'the 'ell are you doing!' from Mercedes, but she couldn't spare the attention to look in the woman's direction as she hefted the barrel over her head. She screamed as loud as she could, hoping to get one of the head's attention, a wordless yell that seemed to work, several of the heads glancing her way. A long tongue flickered free from one of them, and Katrine tensed as she readied herself.
The head struck, faster than the eye could follow, and Katrine felt crushing pressure around herself as she was engulfed, along with the barrel she'd been holding. Wet heat surrounded her, and she could feel pricks and points of pain across her torso and one of her legs as the snake's jaws covered her. She was glad she'd gotten the updated armor the night before... She struggled, using a foot to shove the barrel deeper into the mouth, hoping that the snake'd choke on it or something... she screamed in pain as she felt the mouth wrench around her, the hydra loosing another scream, and daylight streamed through as the snake's maw opened wide.
She took the opportunity, likely the only one she was going to get, and threw herself from the snake's mouth as hard as she could. She screamed in pain as she tumbled and fell, feeling something tear across her arm and her leg where the armor didn't cover. Kat landed with a thud that crushed the air from her lungs and left her wheezing for breath, tears streaming from her eyes at the pain of it all. Her head fell to the side and she saw Hiei, standing upon the gate, something affixed to an arrow that was currently ablaze. He drew back, pulling his bow further than she'd yet seen, the wood flexing like it was going to snap at any moment.
He released his arrow with a snap that could have rivaled thunder... or perhaps that was what came next. His bolt impacted the bulge in the hydra's throat where the explosive barrel was being swallowed, and with a noise like she'd never heard before, there was a bright flash of light that burned spots into her eyes. The hydra roared in pain, louder than any before, a chorus of screams and hisses joining together in one long riot of sound that faded into the distance. The ground rumbled beneath Kat as she finally drew in a breath that only ignited more suffering in her chest- she was sure something was broken.
She managed to sit up just as something landed about twenty feet away from her with a sickening, wet slap and a crunch, and a cheer went up from the men around her. Kat felt a hand on her own, pulling her to her feet, and where she expected to see one of the Pawns was instead Mercedes. "That is one of ze STUPIDEEST things I 'ave ever seen!" The woman's gaze bored into Katrine for a long moment, and the Arisen swore she could feel her soul withering away by inches, before the Captain's eyes softened. "But you saved my men, and for zat, I am grateful."
Mercedes stepped away, and Katrine's eyes were drawn to the snake's head as it let out one last hissing wheeze and grew still, an odd red symbol fading away upon it though it flared brightly one last time. She couldn't ponder for more than a moment, however, as three bodies quickly impacted hers, surrounding her in chittering Pawns. 'Master we did it!' 'Let me tend your wounds, you're bleeding.' 'The Hydra won't be back from that too quickly!'
Katrine laughed and hugged the Pawns to herself as best as she could, though Tyri was correct and she was in fact bleeding, judging by the pain from her shoulder. "Okay okay, step back. Let me breathe..."
She turned as Tyri began readying a spell, to see Mercedes and her men watching the four of them, something like a smirk on the Captain's face. "I am impressed."
With those words the men rushed forward, surrounding the head and murmuring to themselves. One of them, who appeared to have arrived late judging by the lack of dust and blood on his armor, let out an appreciative whistle. "Cor! This your handiwork? For truth!?" He waited only until Katrine gave him a proud little nod, before he joined the others in touching and examining the blown-free head of the hydra. Katrine winced gently as Tyri's spell began to work at her flesh, sewing her cuts back together- she'd have to wash later to get the blood off, and patch up her new jacket and pants...
"Oh, what were the like of a hydra doing here anyway!?", one of the men asked, drawing several similar questions from other men nearby.
Mercedes stepped closer, back in her military bearing, hand resting on the hilt of her blade. Katrine could see the sweat on the woman's olive skin, but her breathing was already easing- clearly someone used to the physical exertion of military life. "Ancient tales of the Arisen are all well and good, friend, but make a gift of zis 'ead to ze Duke..." Mercedes smiled slightly. "And you might 'ave yourself a real title."
"A title? What sort of title?" Katrine tried to mimic the woman's pose, hands resting on the hilts of her daggers, but quickly abandoned it after the woman's smile only grew wider.
"Likely zat of the Wyrm Hunters. The Duke's elite forces, chosen to 'unt down the dragon." She turned to look back at the hydra head and the men standing around it. "I see better now from whence the legends arose. Good, if... interesting judgement, swift footwork... Impressive, truly." She nodded her head once toward Katrine.
"In any case, ze Duke will want to know of zis attack." She looked around herself at the damaged encampment, and the soldiers crowding around the head and sighed quietly. "I'd 'oped to gather a larger force before leaving for the Capital..." Then she turned back to Katrine, and the smile on her face was clear as day. "But a hydra's head and the Arisen who claimed it make up the difference amply."
Katrine felt pride well up in her chest for the first time since she'd picked up a sword on the beach the other day, and she nodded in response to the praise. "Thank you."
"We will take the head through the pass, though I cannot say what it will hold for us. It is rarely traveled zese days. You will need your strength." She looked toward the head. "We'll need a cart, and it will be slow going. I daresay you will 'ave no trouble catching up?" She looked toward the Arisen with a raised eyebrow.
Katrine was about to answer until she head someone calling her name, and her attention was drawn to the gate. Someone from Cassardis was waving to her? What in Gransys would they want? And why were they here now...
Mercedes gently put a hand on Katrine's shoulder. "We'll meet at the waycastle. Tell then, I bid you rest well. 'Tis a long road ahead. We will wait no more than two days before we head on to Gran Soren on our own."
Katrine nodded with a quiet 'thank you', then headed off toward the man calling her name. "Elvar? What are you doing all the way out here?"
"That terrible creature- I saw it from my spot at the post... what was it?" The man wrung his hands, looking past Katrine and the others toward the hydra head, which some of the soldiers were starting to load onto a cart that had been brought over.
"A hydra. We managed to drive it away, took one of it's heads."
"It's been dispatched then? Thank the Maker..." He looked around for a moment, then held out a hand. "Er... hold a moment. Is Quina not with you?"
"Quina? No, we haven't seen her since we left Cassardis yesterday."
"She was said to leave the village in search of aught for your wounds. I thought you accompanied her..." He continued when Katrine shook her head to the negative. "These are dark times for a girl alone in the wilds. Any idea where she might be off to?"
Katrine shook her head, and he did the same.
"I fear for her if she is not found soon..."
Katrine pursed her lips and looked to the Pawns. "Back to Cassardis. Maybe Adaro knows where she's gone."
The three nodded, and they set back off the way they'd come.