Author's Notes: Hello everyone, Glad that you liked the last chapter. As always I own nothing.
Karl knew what he had to do but the thought of it made his stomach turn. He glanced over to where Yuviel was sitting and his stomach clenched. Everything about her disgusted him, the way she reveled in her bloodlust; while he felt the same impulse at times but he did not give into it like she did, not as often anyway. Her casual approach to sex shocked and appalled him but it was more than that.
She was a Norscan, the ancestral enemies of his people and the thought of getting close to one of them made him feel as if he were a traitor. But most of all, she was a devotee of the Dark Gods. By being near her he could be endangering his very soul. But if he did not then he and the others might never escape from this place and that was unacceptable. He gritted his teeth he would not like it but he had to do it. He had a duty to the Empire and its people and he had to return to them.
Before he could make his move the guards came in and ordered everyone into the cart. It seemed that Lord Bonesnake was going to put on a show before the festivities began. When they arrived at the arena they were ordered into the room where they had been before. Unlike before there was a long table and on it were an array of weapons. Looking them over Karl selected a long sword and a short sword, Yuviel as always selected a spear. The Dwarf took up a two-handed axe while Wilfred took up the hammer that he had used in his previous fight. Sir Coty took another long sword and a shield while Agliar selected two short swords. Once their weapons were selected they were all ordered out into the arena. They stood alone in the arena for a moment then the sound of the large gate on the other side of the arena caught their attention. At first nothing was visible, only the sound of low hissing, then their opponent emerged. At first Karl thought they were fighting dragons as a series of lizard-like heads stared at them. Then the creature emerged fully into the arena and Karl saw that all the heads were connected to a single massive reptilian body.
"Hydra!" Sir Coty hissed, his eyes wide with a mixture of fear and excitement. The creature stared at them for a moment, as if it could not quite decide what to do, then with a deafening bellow it charged toward them.
"Spread out!" Agliar bellowed to the others; "Confuses it! Watch its jaws and fire!" The Dwarf paid him no mind and rushed at the creature just as it shot its heads forward and fire spewed from all five of its mouths. Fortunately for the Dwarf its aim was off and the fire shot over him as he charged. The others also escaped injury; they had heeded Agliar's advice and threw themselves to the side and the flames missed them. Karl had thought that the hydra would spit fire at them again but instead the creature charged at them.
One of its heads shot out to snap at the Dwarf. At the last second the Dwarf side-stepped and the jaws snapped shut on empty air. Before it could withdraw its head the Dwarf brought his axe down on top of its skull. The blade bit deep into its flesh, causing the creature to roar in pain, but failed to deliver a killing blow. The creature jerked its head back and prepared for another strike, apparently unperturbed by its injury.
Off to the side Sir Coty went down on one knee as another of the heads snapped at him. He swung his shield and caught it underneath its snapping jaws. The blow nocked the head up and he swung his sword at the monster's throat. It connected but Sir Coty lacked the Dwarf's strength and it barely broke through the scales protecting the throat. The hydra roared in outraged and lunged forward again and the knight was barely able to doge it.
Wilfred had found himself confronted by two of the heads. They attacked him simultaneously, one from the right one from the left. Rather than wait for them to reach him the old priest ran towards them. Bellowing out prayers to Ulric and his eyes blazing he struck right then left. The blows did not seem to do much damage but they were enough to knock the heads away before they could grab him and Wilfred pushed on with his attack.
One head shot at Karl, he jumped to the side and brought both of his weapons down on its outstretched head and neck simultaneously. It felt like he was hitting a block of stone, both of his arms went numb and he nearly dropped his weapons. The beast took advantage of his situation to launch itself at him. Fortunately for Karl its neck would not bend enough and it struck him with the side of his head. It still struck him with enough force to throw him several feet to the side and he landed heavily, nearly knocking the wind out of him.
A whooping cry caught his attention. Yuviel, apparently seeing that a direct attack would not work, was trying a different approach. Screeching and laughing in wild joy she was bouncing around waiting for the head attacking her to strike. When it did she evaded the strike and launched one of her own aiming for its eye in an attempt to blind it. Her aim was slightly off and her blade struck just under the eye and bounced off of the scales. So intent was she on her target that she did not see that one of the heads that had been attacking Wilfred was now coming to strike her from behind. Part of Karl just wanted to let it happen but he remembered that she was needed for them to escape so he acted. Before the head could snap down on her he rushed up and tackled her and the blow passed harmlessly overhead. Her eyes still wild she looked up at the thing that had nearly claimed her life and then at Karl and laughed in his face.
"So you do like girls after all! I must applaud both your timing and your vigor!" She reached up and nipped his ear with her filed teeth. "Remind me to thank you properly later." With that she was up and back the attack. Karl followed rubbing at his ear. He was distracted when he caught sight of Agliar, who he had not seen since the fight with the hydra had begun.
The Elf had used the distraction created by the others to circle around the creature and come at it from behind. Taking a running leap he landed on the creature's back. He then took a reverse grip on his weapons and drove them into where all the creature's necks emerged from. While his strike was powerful it, like the others, failed to go in very far. The attack, however, did have an effect on the creature. The hydra went stiff for a moment then gave a shrieking cry that was part pain and as close to rage as Karl thought it could get. It immediately forgot about the others and all its heads turned to strike at the Elf. Some were not able to reach him but others could and Agliar barely managed to jump off in time. One of the heads spat fire again but it only managed to singe Agliar's clothing.
"What in the name of Sigmar were you doing?!" Karl yelled at Agliar when he landed.
"The base where all its necks join is its weak point!" The Elf yelled back at him.
"Good to know," Sir Coty said, as he dodged another attack and launched a counter-attack that had no more success than his first. "Though it might have been even more so if you had seen fit to let us know that ahead of time!"
"This is no time for bickering!" Wilfred snapped at them; "A frontal attack isn't working! We need a plan or the thing will simply wear us out!" Before anything more could be said a bolt of lightning shot from the stands and struck the hydra which, after getting Agliar off of it, had just been standing there. It hissed in pain and look about for something to retaliate against and its eyes focused on the combatants' and lunged at them, seemingly forgetting that it could breathe fire in its eagerness to get at them.
Its charge drove them apart with Karl and Agliar diving to one side while Sir Coty, Yuviel and Wilfred dove to the other. But the Dwarf had done neither. With a bellowing roar he jumped at one of the snapping heads and landed on its neck at the base of the skull. Wrapping his short but powerful legs around the neck and grasped one of the quill-like spines that jutted from the back of its skull with one hand. With the other hand he swung the axe repeatedly into the side of the hydra's skull. The hydra hissed in anger and shook its head vigorously but it failed to dislodge him. It seemed to forget the other combatants and its other heads turned to join in the efforts to dislodge the Dwarf.
"Quickly," Agliar yelled at them; "While the beast is distracted! Attacking the heads individually is not working, we must combine our efforts and focus on one head at a time!" No one said anything but when he rushed at one of the heads the others followed him. They went for the one on the far left of the body, the creature was too focused on the Dwarf to notice them approaching. Agliar swung at the base of the neck, though as before it failed to penetrate very deeply. He jerked it out just as Sir Coty brought his own sword down into the wound the Elf had caused. It too failed to penetrate the neck but it went in deeper. Karl saw what they were doing and, thrusting his short sword into the ground and taking the long sword in both hands, while at the same time feeding as much of the wolf as he could into his arms. Again a shock ran up his arms and made his teeth rattle and the blade snapped. The blow had its effect, however, as the blow severed the creatures spine. The head roared in pain then fell listlessly to the ground and was still.
As the crowd roared, in either approval or derision Karl was not sure, the hydra at last became aware of their presence again and several of the heads turned to strike at them. Fortunately for its attackers the Dwarf was still on one and another was still trying to dislodge him. With them having severed one of the heads that left only two to attack them. One came at Sir Coty but before he could bring his shield up Wilfred got between the head and him. He swung his hammer at it, the shock of the impact threw him back onto his back but the strike was knocked to the side and it impacted into the dirt rather than the knight's chest.
The other head came at Agliar, who was busy sawing at what was left of the tendons of the partially severed neck. Yuviel thrust at it with her spear, it grazed off its scales. While the blow did not do any significant damage but it did cause the hydra to draw its head back.
"Whatever you are doing Elf do it fast!" She screamed at him.
"It is already regenerating!" He yelled at her. "If we don't sever it now we will have to fight it again!"
A sudden commotion drew Karl's attention, the Dwarf had finally lost his grip on the hydra's neck and a finally shake threw him off. The Dwarf sailed through the air and landed with a heavy crash and Karl was sure that bones had broken. Free of the Dwarf the two heads turned to face its other foes, who were forced to scatter to avoid the strikes. With them scattered and without the Dwarf to provide a distraction they were unable to focus on a single head and that was the only way that Karl could see to take the thing down. Then Karl remembered what Agliar had attempted earlier and an idea came to him.
Diving into a roll to avoid one of the heads he sped toward the severed head. Agliar had not been able to finish severing it and while it was happening slowly it was beginning to regenerate. Springing over the still motionless head Karl land on its back. Taking his sword he drove it into the creatures back near where Agliar had been cutting before. Using the blade as an anchor and wrapping his legs around one of the necks he changed his free arm till it bulged and sprouted black fur and claws sprouted from his fingers. The wounds that the Elf had inflicted before had mostly regenerated but Karl could see where they had been. He then used his free arm to claw and tear at the wounds reopening them.
The hydra bucked and thrashed but could not dislodge Karl. With him acting as the distraction the others rushed to take advantage of the opening to attack another of the heads. The hydras' bucking forced Karl to focus on his efforts to remain on its back. This hampered his to tear through its flesh which seemed only slightly less tough once he got through the outer layer of scales. Becoming more desperate as the bucking intensified he allowed as much of the change to his head as his collar would permit. Opening his now enlarged jaws he dug his teeth into the hydra's flesh and began to rip and tear at the creatures flesh, blood covering his face and chest and gore stuck in his teeth. The creature gave a final buck greater than those that had come before while it simultaneously jumped to the side.
Karl's sword slid from the creatures back and Karl tumbled to the ground and had to quickly roll to the side to avoid being stomped by one of the creature's feet. Looking up he saw that the others had cut off another of the heads. The one they had attacked earlier had visibly regenerated and was starting to move, though not yet able to attack them it would not be long.
Just then a cry caught his attention. The Dwarf had regain both his consciousness and his feet. Though some of his bones were clearly broken and he was obviously in great pain he was not letting that stop him. The creature heard him as well and though the thing did not seem overly intelligent it did seem to recognize the Dwarf and the threat that he represented to it. One of the heads turned towards the advancing Dwarf, it reared the head back, preparing to breath fire. Karl jumped to his feet and dashed forward. Feeding all the wolf he could into his legs he sprang up and grabbed the head. His weight was not enough to bring it to the ground but it was enough to ensure that the fire just missed the Dwarf. Another head shot towards the Dwarf but Sir Coty got in the way and brought his shield up. His shield splintered on impact but the Dwarf was beyond it.
Reaching the hydra the Dwarf grabbed hold of a torn fragment of flesh and hauled himself up onto the hydra's back. Standing on its back he took his axe in both of his hands and bought it slamming down into the wound that Karl had made. Karl had nearly made it to the bony hump where all the necks sprouted from and the Dwarf's blow cut through to and then penetrated it. The three remaining heads were thrown back, throwing Karl back to the ground, gave hissing wails and then fell to the ground as the hydra's legs collapsed under it.
For a moment everything was silent. Then the crowd began roaring, though again Karl could not tell if it was in praise or outrage. He was distracted when Yuviel ran up to him and again latched onto him and began rubbing her face in the blood on his chest.
"Blood looks good on you god-touched. And I have not forgotten my promise." The thought filled him with revulsion and he felt the urge to push her away but as he looked around he saw Agliar and the look that the Elf was giving him and he remembered what he had to do, he had to ensure that they had her support, he thought of the Empire and steeled himself for what he was about to do. He reached down and grabbed her blood-streaked ponytail and wrapped his hand in it. He then jerked back hard, pulling her face up to look at him. She gasped in a mixture of pain and delight. They stared at one another for a moment then he then planted his lips on her blood smeared ones.
Author's Notes: Hey everyone I hope you like this chapter. Did I make the fight to easy? Please let me know. May be a little while till next chapter school and work. Till then please pray for the victims of that mud slide and their families as well as the people on that flight, sounds like they found the wreckage, the Americans held abroad and all who need it, bye and may Jesus bless you.