The next morning, Vanya and I rose before the sun in order to come up with a course of action. It seemed as though all we had to do was walk out into the woods for a while in order to draw the attention of one of the creatures. That part seemed easy enough. However, we needed to find out if there were any survivors. That meant we could not immediately take out the serpents, but at least one of us would have to go down with it.
"If we could get all three to come to us at once, that would be the best… But how we make that happen is beyond me," I pondered. As Vanya began to brew us some hot tea, I could see that she was in deep thought.
"Is it not true that no one in this village has power outside of physical strength?" she questioned after a long pause.
"I suppose you're right..."
"Well, maybe if we show one the power that we as wizards possess, the other two will appear. If that does happen, I will act as though they are too strong for my abilities. One will take me down with it, you can distract the other two, and I will do whatever I can in order to find any survivors and rescue them," Vanya proposed as she brought me a cup of tea and sat on the floor in front of me. I, for one, did not at all like the idea. So many different things could happen to her, things that I could not prevent unless I was by her side. "You are worried for my safety, Lady June. I see it in your eyes," she added.
"I just don't want you to get hurt, Vanya. I don't doubt your strength in the least, but going into the snow with an unknown creature and no assistance does not sound like a great idea," I explained. Vanya looked at me, a glimmer of what looked like happiness in her eyes. She then reached out and put one hand on my shoulder.
"With my transformation abilities, I can change into a creature that is able to get all of the civilians out at once. Do not be uneasy about me, Juniper. No matter what, I shall find a way back to you. Trust in your comrade."
I held Vanya's eyes for a moment. I knew I could trust her; there was never a moment when she did not have a level head. With a sigh and a nod, I reluctantly agreed to her plan. We then prepared ourselves for the cold, Vanya bundling up and me wearing as little as was acceptable. I woke Eldrid and wrapped all but her head and wings in a scarf that Vanya had brought along. As the sun rose and the village still slept, the three of us went into the lair of the beasts.
"What do I get to do, huh?" Eldrid chirped as she flew around our heads.
"Just stay out of reach, okay? If anything starts to go wrong, fly back to the tribe. Let them know what's going on. If we don't come back by nightfall, get to Fairy Tail," I explained.
"Of course, I do not think that we will need any help in this situation," Vanya smirked, reaching into her pocket and taking out a deck of cards. "Our victory is in the cards. I read them last night as you slept. Though our victory may come with struggle, we are to win."
Well, I guess Cana's Card Magic did have some use to it, at least.
It was very shortly after we began walking that we all noticed the forest change. Where there had been many trees standing tall, they were now uprooted and fallen, if not totally destroyed. Every once in a while, I would sink in the snow and my leg would brush articles of clothing or toys thrown by fallen children. These observations made my stomach turn and my adrenaline rise.
Without warning, Vanya threw her arm out in front of me. I looked over at her as she put a finger to her lips and then pointed to the ground in front of us.
A circular indention in the snow where no trees grew around. It had to be at least seventy feet across, and that was an understatement.
As soon as it had registered with me what this was, a rumbling began under our feet. A deep groaning noise began to get louder and closer to us from the ground.
"Eldrid, get out of sight, but keep watch," I spoke.
"But, June—"
Before the phoenix could finish, a monster slammed through the ground's surface so hard that Vanya and I almost toppled over. It rose above us hundreds of feet, its dark green scales almost blinding with the light of the sunrise. One red band went around its throat, matching the color of its catlike eyes. I could tell that most of its body was still beneath the surface; there was no telling how much was left of the beast.
"Fly, Eldrid!" I hissed out, throwing a glare up at her. Terrified of the beast looming before us, she flew away at a speed that I could only compare to Darren. I glanced over at Vanya to see that her body was beginning to change in a smoky yet bright light.
Vanya's long, black hair slicked back in order to reveal a prominent widow's peak on her forehead. The ends of her hair formed two large spirals that rested on her broad and revealed shoulders. Small dragon's wings rested on either side of her head, fully functioning. Tanned and ripped cloth hung loosely over her breasts from her shoulders and hugged her hips. Along with all of this, the right side of her body became completely covered in scales, her right eye becoming sharp and catlike, even her right hand resembling more that of talons than human fingers. Many jewels hung from her head, neck, ears, wrists, and fingers.
Vanya's Wyvern Queen.
"You're going to make me look bad," I chuckled, quickly tapping my pendant to unsheathe my armor.
"Now, Miss God Slayer, we both know you could take many other forms if you truly wanted to," Vanya smirked, not taking her eyes off of the beast.
"Fair enough," I replied, putting down my face guard, pointing the horns on my head skyward, and reveling the small wings on my back. "Shall we?"
Before Vanya could so much as nod, the monster that loomed above us bellowed out and flicked its forked tongue devilishly at us. Suddenly, the serpent lunged at us at an incredible speed. Vanya flew quickly upward, momentarily confusing our opponent. As it looked up at Vanya soaring up into the sky, I threw up my hands, commanding thick chains to come up from the ground and bind the beast's body. Before it knew what I had done, its narrow snout, neck, and body was confined to the ground. But even though the creature had a slow mind, its body was strong enough to make up for it.
The snake began to thrash underneath the grip that I had on it, so hard, in fact, that I had trouble just standing my ground. I willed flames to engulf the chains, in hopes that the heat would subdue the creature. For a split second, the serpent halted at sudden change in temperature. Then my brain began to catch up with what I was actually doing.
Snakes become more active at warmer temperatures, you dumb ass, my thoughts spoke.
With one firm movement of its head, the binding of the snake's mouth came undone. I let out a gasp at the sudden and sharp pain that coursed through my body. The creature called out again, this time louder and full of fury. Now it thrashed around many times harder than it had before.
"Um, Vanya! A little help here!" I called out. I looked up in the direction she had flown for a quick moment before noticing she was far ahead of me.
Still hovering midair, she held her hands together. Her wrists were touching, palms facing the beast diagonally. A large dark mist had formed between her human and wyvern hands, resembling a sharp and powerful set of teeth. Just looking at the spell made my stomach drop not for me, but for the creature.
Before I could focus again on my target, I felt another pain, this one much worse than the first one. A small cry escaped my lips and I fell on one knee. Looking over, I saw that the snake had managed to get off three of the chains at once. The only one that remained was the one at the base of its neck. When I noticed this was when I heard Vanya's voice ring out, commanding and clear.
"Wyvern Fang!" she yelled out. I looked back up just in time to see the completion of the spell; a jaw inlayed with a full set of large, sharp teeth heading straight for the end of the serpent's body where it arose from the snow. Seeing what was coming towards it, the snake wriggled under the last set of chains that held it to the ground's white surface to no avail.
With one bite from Vanya's spell, the beast's body was snapped clear in two.
The serpent gave one last quake before it stopped cold. I watched its eyes glaze over as Vanya landed beside me. I looked over at her as she looked at her work, almost looking unimpressed.
"You made quick work of that," I commented, lifting up my face shield.
"Thanks to you, Lady June," she replied with a small bow. I watched her eyes move from the snake's body to the hole from which it had risen from. I followed her gaze and saw that not only was there very little blood, but where the rest of its body should have been, there was nothing. Vanya and I glanced at each other and nodded before walking over to the hole. When we approached it, we saw nothing but a deep and black abyss.
But only for a moment.
Once again, the ground began to shake, only this time it was amplified times a hundred. Vanya and I were both forced to fly skyward as two more serpents arose from that same space we had both been looking down, each the same size as the first one. These must have been the same two that the village had complained of… But there was one detail that didn't match up.
"Vanya…"
"They look exactly the same as the one we just fought," she noted. "There should be two different ones coming up. This is very odd indeed."
Then came the ear-piercing noise. One so loud that it made my armor quake.
No… Not one single noise.
All around us, three more serpents rose, erasing many more of the forest in their wake. One was pure white with orange, circular marks all down its body, its crimson eyes piercing. The other two were solid black with a singular yellow stripe from their snouts all the way down their backs.
In an instant, we had gone from one beast to five.
I looked over at Vanya as she watched the creatures snapping at us from below. I saw a hint of panic and confusion in her dark eyes. I felt a pang in my heart at the look that adorned her usually strong and powerful face.
"We'll save them," I told her. Her eyes shifted over to me, the worry and doubt disappearing.
"Tha—"
Without warning, one of the black serpents lunged upward, latching onto Vanya's ankle. Before I could grab her, the snake plunged back into the white snow, leaving her startled cry echoing in the brisk air.
"Vanya!" I screamed out. I dashed downward as quickly as I could, only to be blocked by the remaining four creatures. I zoomed around them, attempting to find another way, only to be continuously stopped by the maze of winding scales. "Give her back!" I yelled, cocking my shoulders back to make my cannons reveal themselves. Before I could make a clear shot, the white serpent lunged for me, making me fly upward once again.
"Ah, Forged One, shall you endanger your friend in order to defeat us? Or better yet, to multiply us?" the white snake spoke deeply. At first I was surprised at his speech, but on second thought, it wasn't like I had not heard talking monsters before.
Wait… To multiply?
Before I could think about the statement further, the second black snake lunged for me just as the other one had for Vanya. Instinctually, I threw out my hand and forced large flames to engulf the beast. Again, it took my brain a moment to catch up to my actions. Instead of stopping, it only moved faster, latching onto my torso before I had a chance to fly higher. Instead of pulling me into the snow like had been done with Vanya, it only pulled me amidst the other serpents. While one held me down, two more wrapped their mouths around the cannons on my shoulders. Still not understanding what the white one had said, I fired all rounds of both cannons into the two snake's mouths. As the remainder of their bodies fell to the ground and the black snake released me in surprise, the white one continued to glare at me, a pleased look resting in his catlike eyes.
"Why the fuck are you smiling?! I just killed two of you!" I shouted at its mocking face.
"My, my. Clearly power and wit do not go hand in hand for humans," he replied. Furiously, I flicked both of my wrists, making my sword and shield appear. Before I could slay the white snake, the ground began to rumble again. I, as well as the other two serpents, paused and watched as a swiftly flying figure arose from the snow, a deck of cards in hand. The figure was immediately followed by, not one, but two other serpents.
Vanya.
She flew as high as she could to make sure she was out of reach. Even from a distance, I could see her bloodied ankle that the serpent had latched onto. Her body language told me that she had not only fought, but had admitted defeat to an extent.
Then it clicked.
"It's a hydra!" she screamed out.
I looked back over to where the bodies of the creatures I had killed had fallen to see that they were no longer there.
"Now you see," the white snake spoke. "Not even your fire can extinguish us in this world, we move quicker with the heat. All you can do is force us to multiply and take more prisoners for our meals," he bellowed.
"Not exactly," Vanya spoke from above. I looked up and watched as she shuffled her deck of cards.
Each one contained a villager.
Our victory was in the cards.
Four more serpents then rose from where I had slain the other two, making nine in all.
"What have you done, you witch?!" the white snake hissed. When he said that, all of the others also realized that their meals were contained in the cards that Vanya held. I quickly outstretched my arms and then slammed my hands together.
"Cerberus' Confinement!" I called out. In an instant, a large, spiked collar brought all nine of the snake's necks together. Attached to the collar was a thick chain that grew in length until it came to my wrist and wrapped around it. When they group realized that they could not get away from each other, they began to quarrel. Only the white one kept his eyes on me.
"You have bound us like a dog…"
"Vanya, get back to the village."
"June, I am not going to leave you."
"But do you really know what to do with us now?"
"I said to go. I'll be fine."
"But…"
"Our strength cannot be contained by the shackles of a mere mutt!" the serpent bellowed. He began to thrash around in within the choker; it took everything I had not to be thrown around with it. When the eight others saw what their apparent leader was doing, they began to do the same. I quickly threw Vanya a stern look. She paused for a moment, let out an angry groan, and flew back to the Frost Tribe. I let out a relieved sigh before the force of the hydra became too much and it threw me so hard that my body broke a tree clear in two.
My head spun for a moment before I was able to focus again. When I could see straight, I saw the hydra pulling the rest of its body from the snow. This reveled not only more to the length of each snake, but a large body that they were all attached to. Six legs held up all nine snakes and a bulky body that shared the colors and patterns of each serpent. I had thought the beasts had been huge before, now it was five times the size it once was.
I had gone up against many creatures in my life, but a hydra resistant to fire… Now this was a first.
With its increased size, the monster easily broke the collar in two. I bit my tongue so hard to contain my outcry of pain that I could taste blood in my mouth. My ears started to ring faintly as the chain that wrapped around my wrist disappeared with the rest of my spell. I staggered to my feet and gave a small jump to fly up. Before I was able to get out of the hydra's range, I felt a set of fangs bite into my armor, right where my wings were placed. The razor sharp teeth not only went through the metal, but also through my clothing and to my skin. Like a mongrel with a chew toy, it threw its head from side to side until my suit finally gave way, sending me flying through the air. Too damaged to be of use, the suit sheathed itself back into my pendant.
But instead of plummeting toward the ground, I felt something grab my shoulders and soar upward. Dizzily, I looked up and saw a group of blurred red and orange feathers.
"Eldrid?" I questioned. Without looking back at me, she continued to fly up until we were in the clear.
"You told me to keep watch and get help if you needed it. I'm the closest help you have, Miss June. What's the plan?"
I continued to look up at her, confused at her change in demeanor. She was usually so carefree, but I suppose she became like this when things were serious. I glanced below and watched as the hydra's continued to bite at the air below us. They were only about ten feet below; it was only a matter of time before they found a way to make us their next meal.
Think. I knew that they were immune to fire now. I couldn't just cut all of their heads off and burn each neck like had always been done. They had stayed underground this whole time, I assumed to keep themselves warm. So the cold must be what hurt them, right? It was worth a shot. If Grey was here, it would be easy just to freeze them. I had to find a different way to do that if I wanted to save the village, but how?
Click.
"Eldrid, fly up. Let me get a view of what's around us," I told her. Without so much as a chirp, she did as I asked. I let my eyes scan the area. The village was to our right, untouched forest to our left… But in front of us I saw exactly what I needed. "I have a stupid plan," I couldn't help but chuckle.
"It's better than nothing," Elle chirped back optimistically. Once again, I outstretched my arms. "June, they can break that!" Elle cawed.
"Cerberus' Confinement!" I called out, smacking my hands together once again, the ringing in my ears growing louder. Again, the large spiked collar latched itself around the hydra, only this time around its torso. Not only this, but now two chains came from the collar, one wrapping around each of my wrists. They hydra struggled again, but found that it did not have as much leverage as it had when the collar previously broke.
"Elle, fly forward! I know it seems like you won't be able to move them, but just trust me!" I shouted to her. Again, without comment, she did as I instructed. I channeled strong flames to come from the bottoms of my feet, giving us a great boost. We began to move forward, slowly but surely. The hydra began to thrash around harder, being angered by the movement.
"This will do you no good!" the white serpent snarled, lunging as hard as it could towards me. I could feel its tongue barely lick my flames. He was getting closer to us, but not for long. I held out both of my palms toward the beast, feeling great power forming between them.
Come on, Leo, don't let me down now, I thought.
"Lion Brilliance!" I yelled out. At the mention of the new spell, every head of the hydra stopped squirming and looked up at me. As soon as every eye was focused on me, my attack of unworldly bright light was released. I watched as each pupil became immeasurably small but was unable to close. After all, snakes of any kind did not have eyelids, now did they?
Stunned, not one of the heads of the hydra knew what had happened or where they were. They were blinded, at least for the time being. Acting quickly, I formed nine large swords. Still forcing flames from the bottoms of my feet, I willed the swords to slice off each of the hydra's heads. The more heads what were cut, the lighter the load became, making us move faster. Not only this, but the inability of being able to retreat into the warm underground made it harder for the heads to regenerate.
"Come on, Eldrid! Just a little more!" I called out. I could feel wind coming from every strong wingbeat. As soon as I knew she was giving it all she had, I wrapped the chains a couple of more times around my wrists and let go of it with my hands. I now shot fire as much as I could from my palms as well and the bottoms of my feet, propelling us forward at a far quicker pace.
As we plowed through the trees, I kept glancing down at the serpents. The closer we came to the area we needed to get to, the more I could see the heads of the serpents begin to bud up again. The white snake began to rise again, now two instead of one.
"You… Fool!" they both hissed out at me.
Before I could respond, the trees suddenly disappeared and revealed a clearing.
With a large, iced-over lake in the middle.
Giving one final push, we slung the beast into the water. The weight of the hydra broke the icy surface of the water, its body sinking deep. I dissipated Cerberus' Confinement and began putting metal bars across the lake. For several minutes the severed body flailed around, every few seconds breaking a bar that I had put up. I kept replacing each one and adding more in an attempt to keep the monster confined.
Then, after about fifteen minutes, the thrashing stopped.
Eldrid slowly flew me to the ground where I fell to my knees, my ears ringing and my vision growing blurry. I kept one hand out toward the lake, willing the bars to stay put until I knew for sure that the hydra was dead. Sweat was dripping down my face, the cool air making my whole body burn. Now that I had stopped for a moment, I could feel where the hydra's fangs had sunk into my back. Even though I knew it would heal fairly quickly once some of my magic returned, it still stung to the point of almost making me lose consciousness.
"Thanks, Elle… I appreciate the help..," I panted, giving her a smile and she stood in the snow beside me. Her eyes had gone from serious to scared and concerned.
"Will you be okay?" she questioned, her tiny voice shaking. I looked out at the lake and saw how calm the water's surface had become; not even an air bubble came to the top. I waved my hand that had been outstretched and made each metal bar disappear before pulling myself up to a sitting position. I opened my arms for her to jump into, which she did cautiously.
"You can't get me to go down that easily… I'm just out of practice with having to use actual spells is all," I replied, still trying to catch my breath. Already my vision was back to normal, the ringing in my ears also beginning to die down. Eldrid rested her head on my leg, getting as close to me as she possibly could.
"I understand now," she muttered. I looked at her questioningly before she continued. "I understand why Mister Yolric worries about you… You do whatever you can to save people, but what about saving yourself? Someone has to make sure you're safe, you are for sure not going to do it…"
I sighed and held her feathered body closer to mine. I suppose I could understand that, too.
It wasn't long before Vanya found Eldrid and I still sitting in the snow. By that point I was as good as new; even the fang marks on my back were completely healed. On the way back to the tribe, she told me how most everyone had survived the hydra; fifty-two people were unharmed. They had explained to her that the purpose of them catching the people was for when the other animals they had been eating eventually ran out. Unfortunately, some of the people were still devoured, each one a woman. While this turn of events was devastating, the tribe was overjoyed to have so many people actually survive the attacks. They were to have a celebration of life that evening for those that had fallen and those that were still amongst the living. Vanya also explained to me that the chief's son had been able to slay one of the serpents, but that was when they realized that killing the beast was harder than they had imagined. Despite that, he was able to make it out alive. I asked her about her ankle that was now wrapped up, but she only shrugged her shoulders.
Before I could explain how the hydra had been taken down, Eldrid began her own version of the story. Even though it was accurate for the most part, she included many more sound effects than were actually involved. I glanced over at Vanya and she gave me a wink, knowing which details of the story were most likely true. Honestly, I was relieved that I didn't have to be the one to tell what had happened, just thinking about it made me exhausted all over again.
When we made it back to the village, Eldrid and I were given the warmest of welcomes. All of the people that had survived crowded around us, shaking my hand and giving us expressions of gratitude. I couldn't help but blush from the affection; I had never been good on what I should say back to people thanking me. I kept looking over at Vanya, who replied with a look of her own that said Been there, done that. It was after the warm greeting that the three of us were asked to stay for the evening before we left on our next job. After very little thought, we agreed to the offer.
Until the evening time, Vanya, Eldrid, and I were catered to as much as the tribe could possibly do. Warm baths were prepared, a delicious variety of foods were made, our reward of different gemstones and a large amount of silver were given. Vanya and I tried to refuse the gifts, but the treasures were all but forced upon us. Even by the time we were finished being pampered, we still had quite a few hours of daylight. The three of us ended up going back to our hut for a while in order to have some time away from all of the immense gratitude.
Once we were all settled, I sat upon one of the quilts and unlatched my pendant from my neck and gently tossed it to the ground. As soon as it hit the floor, it bounced upward and displayed my armor. The suit hung itself slightly above the ground so I could see all of the damages that had been done to it. The entire back of the suit had been shredded, the mechanical wings nowhere to be seen. Where the cannons connected to my suit was literally hanging by a wire. Even the torso of my suit was bent inward having become weak and almost punctured by the hydra. I rubbed the back of my neck, knowing how much magic I would have to use in order to get it back to how it had been.
"That's odd," Vanya began. "In our world, that metal could never be broken. You have fought a hydra before in that armor, have you not?"
"I have, and not even a dent was left," I sighed.
"Maybe the metal one can help you with that," Vanya spoke. I knew instantly that she was talking about Gajeel.
"I suppose I can ask when we get back," I muttered.
If he doesn't try to throttle me first, I thought to myself.