(short chapter. Sorry. There will be more with the next one)

The Foul Hydra was a beast of the deep places. Normally Hydras's where not this large but this breed had been cultivated for the soul purpose of war. Their bodies were armour plated, their crested jagged with spikes and their fangs dripped deadly venom. The defenders manning the walls of Raelag's citadel had just enough time to leap out of the way before their emplacements were trampled underfoot.

Urged on by the Dark Elf riding its main head, the beast trembled the walls like a rampaging wildebeest and the attacking army let out a resonating cheer that echoed through the cavern.

Raelag began swearing in a dozen different languages that Sareth had never heard before.

"The use of Foul Hydra's in warfare is outlawed throughout all the Dark Elven kingdoms." He remarked as the dust from the crumbled walls rose high and the beast marched through to begin an assault on the citadel itself. "When news of this spreads through Ygg-Chall, ever other clan will rise up to crush them."

In spite of his words he did not appear all that optimistic. He glared around at Sareth then around at the battlements around him as the Hydra roared again.

"Up there!" The clan chief stated, pointing up. Sareth followed his gaze and saw that directly above them, on a higher set of battlements was a ballista, mounted onto the edge of a turret that jutted out from the parapet. "Get up there and man that engine. We have to kill that monster before it destroys my entire defensive line."

Sareth blanched.

"But… but I'm…" He began with wide eyes and wavering lips.

"This is war Sareth, you've no time to be a child now!" Raelag barked. "Get up there and man that weapon."

"But… can't you do it?"

"I have to lead my reserves in battle if we're to keep that army from following the Hydra through into the city. I don't have anyone else to spare." The Dark Elf clasped Sareth hard on the shoulder with a metal gauntlet. "Grow up, Sareth. It's time to prove yourself in battle!"

Then the clan chief turned and ran, heading towards a flight of steps that led further down towards the Citadel gates which had not yet fallen.

"Sareth, you heard him." Xana's voice almost yelled into his unsuspecting head a moment later. "Hurry! Before we are overrun!"

The young man remained stationary for just a moment longer. This was not the first combat situation he was in… but it was the first where he would take a direct hand in the fighting without aid.

His thoughts flashed back to Menelag, the old wizard, alongside whom he had fought off the Ghouls and the Wight with.

He had been brave then of course… but this hydra… its enormity and sheer power made him cringe.

Sareth was afraid. He could not deny that.

Yet still, he managed to put one foot in front of the other as he made for the stairs leading up to the Ballista.

Racing up a narrow corridor, Sareth stumbled once as the Hydra began pounding at the rock of the main citadel with its front legs as if trying to kick the whole thing over. Righting himself, he charged up the rest of the stairs before emerging out onto the short stone bridge that lead to the turret.

From here, he could see the devastation that the Foul Hydra was leaving in its wake. The Soul Scar army before the city itself was beginning its march, preparing to follow the Hydra through the hole in the defensive walls.

Sareth made a dash for the Ballista. As he was half way across to the turret when the Hydra about faced, moving faster than its bulk suggested and slammed its enormous tail into the Fortress. The shockwave that passed through the ground was enough to knock the feet out from under him.

Falling, he hid his head on the stone and fell, over the edge and would have fallen to his boom had Xana not manifest beside him.

Her hands grabbed his and held him, preventing him from falling as she tried to pull him back up.

"Hold on!" She grunted, pulling him up, displaying greater strength than her smaller body should have. Sareth took a hold of the edge when his free hand was within range and hauled himself up.

It took a great deal of effort to pull his weight off of that drop to oblivion but somehow he managed it. But he didn't rest. Instantly he was on his feet, scrambling for the ballista as fast as the narrow ledge would allow.

The ballista was not a complicated mechanism. By the use of gears and ropes, it could fire a spear the size of as fully grown man a great distance especially from this vantage point and the spears that it was loaded with where special as well.

The tips were not jagged metal but rather earth ware jugs, containing a strange brew that smelt like sulphur. An oily rage was attached to the end alongside it and instantly Sareth understood its use.

He cupped his hands and with a single incantation called forth a fireballs spell. He did not let it fire but rather he used its embers to set this rage ablaze and as soon as it was sparking, he bolted for the levers that controlled the siege weapon.

With Xana's help he tugged on the ropes that directed it and the massive weapon began to rotate, but not fast enough and the Hydra was causing a great deal of damage down there.

Then, without expecting it, the two of them felt another pair of hands on the rope aiding them.

"Wha..?" Sareth asked, glancing back to find that helping them was Leanna, hastily dressed in her mages outfit and armed at her side with a sword She smiled at them and tugged at the rope.

"Oh little miss pretty getting her hands dirty!" Xana remarked with a large smirk.

"Not now!" Sareth told her and pulled hard on the rope again. The three of them pulled hard together and with a loud groaning, the ballista rotated until its firing end was pointed directly at the Hydra.

"Alright, I'll aim you pull the triggering mechanism!" The young man told them, hastily climbing up into the leather seat with the wooden levers that controlled the bow itself were. With these he manoeuvred the frame on which the weapon was mounted, directing it as best he could without experience until he lined up one of the creature's massive heads.

Leanna and Xana stod at the ready by the firing leavers and then, when the Hydra reared up to screech again, it put itself directly in the line of fire.

"Now!" Sareth shouted and the two girls pulled the trigger. The tightly wound ropes inside the ballista mechanism burst forth after being released and the spear shot forth.

It soared through the air, whistling as it went the flaming rag on its tip left a trail of sparks.

Then the spear collided with one of the Hydra's heads. The spear itself was not large enough to cause the beast that much concern but when the jug on its tip burst, it sprayed its contents all over its skin. Then the rag set it all ablaze and instantly that massive head was engulfed in fire.

Its scream of pain, from five mouths, was deafening. It staged back, nearly tumbling over its own massive feet as all of its necks arched in pain and the wounded head hung low, desperately trying to put the fire out.

"Quickly, fire another one!!" Xana cried out, impressed by the effect the ballista had had.

The siege weapon however did not reload that quickly. Another spear had to be lifted into the mechanism itself and then lit which Sareth let to as quickly as he could while Leanna manipulated the leavers that rewound the bowstring.

The Hydra was not prepared to wait for them to fire again.

Its rider, enraged that such a blow had been dealt to his beast, directed the main head towards the turret where the three of them worked frantically to reload. The hydra needed little prompting and with a roar of outrage, it scrambled towards the high parapet.

"I think we'll only have time for one more shot." Leanna shouted up, judging the distance between them and the Hydra.

"Then it'll have to count." Sareth remarked. There was a loud click of metal against metal and the thump of wood on wood as the new spear was slotted into space.

Again the young man took aim, keeping his grip on the levels so tight his knuckles turned white.

The Hydra was rearing itself up as it crossed the ground, preparing to lash at them when it got within distance, its steps shaking the ground more and more as it got closer.

Sareth pulled the trigger again and the ballista responded with a loud 'twang' as the second spear fired.

With the Hydra charging, this time there was no missing it. As the giant reptilian monster began to pass beyond their line of sight to the base of their turret, the spear's tip burst forth with naphtha and fire across one of one of the large shoulders, the spear itself sinking through the scales and into the muscle.

The beast roared in pain, its three moving heads swaying back and forth as it spewed its venom in all directions.

Wait… Sareth paused. The hydra was supposed to have five heads… he could see three moving, and the one he had injured hanging back to try and recover. So where was the fifth head?

With a loud screech, that missing head rose up directly in front of them, having skimmed up the wall of the turret to tower over them with its massive jaws arched open.

Acting on pure instinct alone, Sareth dove from the seat of the Ballista and in the same fluid motion, he grabbed both Xana and Leanna and threw them out of the way as the Hydra's mouth slammed down on the ballista and it burst apart in a spray of wood and metal.

Sareth cried out as a few of the flying fragments impacted into his exposed back, some of them sinking in deep. The pain flooded from him as the blood began to seep down to stain his torn clothes.

The sheer weight of the Hydra's head with the force of its bite caused the turret to crumble, the stone cracking apart until it flew off to fall down towards the cavern floor.

The pain overwhelming his senses, Sareth staggered forward as the stone catwalk beneath him began to crumble.

"Sareth!" He heard someone cry out and it sounded like Xana.

Slowly, the Youngman reached around and ran his hand over his back. He brought it forward and stared in silence at the blood that was thick on his fingers.

Slowly at first but then quite quickly, Sareth could see his senses being heightened.

As before in the confrontation with the dark elf Vayshan, the ringing in his ears override his ability for caution and filled him with what could only be described as an explosion of anger.

He thrust away the hands trying to help him and turned back to face his enemy, ignoring the pain in his back and the dripping blood running down onto the ground. The Hydra had demolished the Ballista and the turret upon which it stood and its massive head was turning about to face him, its small eyes leering forward as its jaws parted, the stench of its breath unbearable.

The pain sent everything into a mysterious and bloody frenzy and it was as if Sareth's entire personality, his fears and anxieties all turned to misty vapour to be tossed upon the winds.

The smell of blood was in his nostrils and it was enough to fire his primal senses to where he was gripped by some instinct that had lain dormant.

"Sareth, what are you…" Xana began but before she could finish, the Hydra lunged forward, its mouth gapping wide.

Sareth didn't move. He stood there, waiting for the oncoming crash. Then, displaying skill that had eluded him before he somersaulted backwards and in that same motion hauled the two girls out of harms way back to the general safety of the fortress. Then, he took off, racing down the steps.

Hissing, the massive head turned to follow him, watching as Sareth ran alone down through the stone archways.

Maddened and enraged by the blows and scolding's it had suffered, the giant beast followed him, intent on having its revenge.

It moved, keeping up with him as its many heads swayed back and forth almost fighting each other to have a first shot at their victim. The Dark elf onto of the main head did not seem pleased that his monster was distracted and was whipping it furiously, trying to make it turn its attention back to demolishing the city defences so the SoulScar army could invade.

It ignored him and slammed one of his heads down through the wall of the fortress, missing Sareth by just a few meters. The young man kept running, drawing the beast's attention.

It slammed head after head after Sareth, breaking through ways and smashing open buildings in an attempt to crush him.

The smell of death was every in this city but in his heightened state, Sareth did not care… in fact, the stench of the dead actually excited him.

The side of him that was normally in charge found that repulsive and could not understand how death and the spell of blood could possibly be so provocative, yet that part of him was less than asleep and now the 'other him' was wide awake.

Bursting out onto the edge of a parapet, Sareth could see from here that the invading army was almost to the giant hole in the defensive walls and that the archers from the battlements weren't doing enough damage to stop them. Raelag's main force could not go out to engage with that Hydra still there.

A hiss from above alerted him and glancing up, he saw that high above him, staring down at him through a gap between two buildings was one of the Hydra's heads. It drew back its lips and snarled, then thrust its mouth forward in an attempt to bite off the entire parapet with Sareth.

The young man bolted to the side just in time and the monster bit down into stone.

But before it could raise its head out again, Sareth leapt forward and grabbed a hold of the beast by the edges of its armour plating. As it rose back up, Sareth was carried along with it, higher and higher as the neck craned upward.

A massive eye rotated around and then down, to stare directly at him as he clung to the side of the scaly face.

Pulling himself up, Sareth climbed quickly out of reach as the mouth beneath him opened and a thick wet tongue slathered out like a snake in an attempt to grab him. He kicked the wet muscle away as it tried to wrap itself around his foot, climbing up the scales until he managed to hoist himself over the edge of the Hydra's nose.

It was there that he stopped, pausing only for a moment, just long enough to wrench one of the large pieces of wood out from his back and the pain…

The pain opened up a whole new world to him.

Through that pain, through its banishment of his human frailties, he was in someway… made pure.

Blood dripping from his back, he turned to look up at the main head of the beast, towering above him and the barley distinguishable rider, the dark elf at the reins.

He had no weapons.

He had no armour.

But he did not need them.

He cupped his blood stained hands and then with barely a whisper of an incantation, thrust them forward, calling forth a burst of concentrated lightning. It crackled through the air until smashing with a thunderous clap into the exposed eye of the Hydra.

The eyeball almost seemed to boil in the socket and the beast screeched in utter pain, its head arching back with its mouth wide open.

The Foul Hydra staggered back from the fortress, backing up almost directly into the path of the charging army, which at the sight of the giant reptile faulted in their attack.

Even while the beast was still raging, Sareth leapt from the head on which he stood towards the neck before it. Clasping onto the neck of the main, now injured head, he hang there halfway up from the shoulders as the reptile staggered about the cavern in pain.

The pain, the adrenaline and the sheer thrill… it all conspired in this mind and left him seeing the world through something of a red haze, as if everything was tainted with blood.

Inch by inch, he began to climb again, pulling his way up the tall neck. His arms didn't seem to tire and his muscles, which by all logic should have given out long ago, seemed only to grow stronger as he went.

Reaching the back of the Hydra's skull, the ridges there provided ample footing for him to pull his way upon onto the top of the head to face the beast's rider.

The harness and reins used to steer the Hydra were complex and quite cruel.

Levels and pulleys where spread everything in a complex almost clockwork like mechanism, the ropes intertwined with spread out over the scales like a web. Attached to the end of these ropes were hooks, hooks that where set beneath the scales on nerve endings so that the rider could inflict sever amounts of pain on the creature if it did not do what he wanted it to.

For a moment, the part of Sareth's mind that was asleep, felt a deep surge of pity for this creature.

That moment past however when he saw who was directing it.

As he had seen before, it was a dark elf, clad in ebony coloured battle armour but with a gauntlet and pauldron on his right side that was blood red. His skin was almost snow white and his features angular and hawk like. His raven black hair was long and tied back into a flowing pony tail and his eyes were blue and as harsh as a winter's night.

Sareth had seen him before.

This was the dark elf who had pursued him along with Phenrig during their mad and terror filled escape from the cultists.

This was Thralsai.

Realizing that he was no longer alone, the dark elf swung around to face the young man with a curved blade in one hand. The reaction had been instinctive and the sword had almost pierced Sareth's heart before it stopped.

"You?!" The dark elf proclaimed with wide eyes. "How on Ashan did you…"

His expression of shock then quickly softened into a smirk of intense and evil delight, his lips spreading in a wide grin.

The heat and pain in Sareth;s body were an intoxicating brew, driving forth a rage he had never known to lie within him and without even thinking about it he lashed forward with his arms spread out wide.

His motion was a savage animal like motion fuelled by adrenaline and blood lust.

Not expecting the lunge from a being smaller than himself, Thralsai let go of the Hydra's reins and grabbed at the young man's wrist to hold them back.

"I am not your enemy, boy!" He spat through clenched teeth. "Do not force me to strike my master's champion."

Sareth hardly heard him, his gaze fixed on the dark elfs throat and the through of breaking it with his own hands.

Snarling, Thralsai raised a free hand and dealt a powerful blow to the back of Sareth's head.

His strength was surprising and Sareth felt himself go numb, his vision clouding. He collapsed to the top of the Hydra's head with a loud crash.

Thralsai bared his teeth and spat.

"Bah…weakling."

He turned and took up the reins again.

"Nothing more than a human whelp. I care not whose son you are, you are not my messiah."

The bloodlust inside of Sareth did not dissipate. He found himself, for some reason that logic could not explain, enraged by Thralsai's words.

How dare he…

How dare he question him?

How dare he question his birthright!!

Slowly he began to rise to his feet, inch by agonising inch with the blood and the sweat dripping off of him.

"I…" He began and the dark elf swung around.

"Am…" Thralsai simply scowled and drew his sword. He thrust his weapon forward, attempting to wound the young man in the arm, but Sareth reversed it on him, grasping the dark elves' wrist in a grip in iron.

His eyes widened and they became blood red, the iris jet black.

"I am the blood!"

He slashed his left arm forward and as he moved, the tips of his fingers turned black and grew into claws.

The slash racked Thralsai across the chest, cutting through his armour to slice into blood and flesh. The dark elf tried to get back, clutching at his chest in pain and surprise.

"It is you who are not worthy of me!" Sareth declared and then he struck the Dark Elf, lashing out with a kick.

The blow was far stronger than it should have been and it sent Thralsai flying, tumbling off of the edge of the Hydra's head.

He screamed as he fell, falling down and down until he landed on another head further down and impaled himself, landing directly on the pointed crest. It sank into his back and then burst out through his chest, spraying fragments of ribs and organs out in a powerful spray.

Thralsai gagged only once before the life was torn out of him and he lay there, tossed back and forth like a rag doll by the Hydra.

Sareth stared after him and he stood there, simply looking at the body with a detachment.

This other persona…the other Sareth… knew that it had killed someone but it simply didn't care.

That frightening thought was what broke Sareth and when he did, the other him vanishing and his true personality broke forth.

"By Asha, what have I done?!" he asked but that was all he managed to get out before he fell to his knees, unable to stand the pain. He emptied his stomach right there, directly on top of the Hydra's nose.

The reptilian beast let out a loud screech. Its sense of smell was acute and it could not stand the foul smell so close to its nostrils.

Glancing up weekly, Sareth saw that the SoulScar army was nearly at the walls of Raelag's city and were attempting to march right through the giant hole made by the Hydra.

His need to act overcoming his sensitivities, he managed to get to his feet. Eagerly he grasped the reins that drove the beast and manipulating them as best he could, he urged the Hydra to about face.

It took some persuasion but eventually the reptilian beast obeyed and turned to face the invading army.

That had been the difficult part. It was easy to make a beast of war, particularly one this large, charge forward.

If any of the SoulScar troops realised what was happening it was too late for them to do anything about it.

With a thunderous roar, the Hydra abandoned its seigh of the fortress and stampeded straight towards the invaders.

Its giant feet ran roughshod over them, trampling entire regiments underfoot.

The SoulScar could not face down their own weapon and so chaos set in and they broke rank.

The Shadowbrand defenders let out a load cheer and then, with the SoulScar running, Raelag ordered the doors to the fortress opened and the massive horde that was the Minotaur elite guard came out to chase their enemy.