Chapter Eleven

Time seemed to move in slow motion as I struggled to my feet, desperately trying to put myself between my friend and the monster bearing down on her. Before I could make it two steps, however, London appeared in a flash - throwing herself across the room to tackle Hunter away, only to be caught in the powerful jaws of one of the heads.

She cried out in pain and shock as the acidic saliva burnt its way through her flesh, struggling to get free even as the other three heads moved to pin her in place. Fixing me with a pleading look in her eyes, London mouthed, "Fight on." With one last shriek of pain, the heads pulled harder causing her to vanish in a shower of dry leaves.

I stared in mute disbelief as the dry leaves drifted down to settle on the cracked tile floor. The hydra seemed confused as well, having lost it's meal. Three of its heads sniffed the ground where the leaves had fallen - a strangely mammalian action for such an overgrown reptile. The fourth head, however, had already turned its attention back to the other fallen hunter.

Thinking fast, I grabbed up a chunk of the rubble from the floor and threw it with all my strength at the fourth head. It connected with a meaty thunk, causing the beast to look up in confusion more than pain. I threw another one to ensure I had it's attention, and then two more for good measure - missing the target head, but still glancing off one of the others. I gulped as the hydra hissed menacingly, rearing up to it's full height. I definitely got its attention. Yup.

I yelped as the monster reared its four heads back and began spitting a rapid volley of sickly green acid spray in my direction. I barely managed to dodge out of the way of the first volley, only to tumble into the second. I gasped as the corrosive liquid began to eat through my jacket and the shirt beneath. Thinking quickly, I ripped the jacket off and threw it aside.

Despite not liking wearing the jacket due to my own body heat making it almost unbearable, I still felt bad that I had already gotten it destroyed. Maybe some of the material could be salvaged later? The sound of acid hitting the ground at my feet snapped my attention back to the fight. Oh right, there was a monster. For the next several minutes I jumped and dodged, narrowly avoiding being sprayed by the acid.

Unfortunately, I couldn't avoid the splash damage and my outfit was getting totally wrecked. One of the heads suddenly lunged forward with open jaws to take a bite out of me. I guess it must have been tired of all the spitting. Panicking, I impulsively swung my knife in a wide, slashing arc. The blade made contact, and resistance gave way to pressure as, with a thud, the now severed head tumbled to the ground turning to dust at my feet. I could only let out a groan as I watched the severed neck split and grow a fifth head. I stumbled slightly as I felt my back press against the wall behind me. Fuck my life.

In that moment I realized that I truly was alone with a monster that couldn't be killed. Hunter was unconscious at best. London was... dead. I shuddered, feeling a chill that had nothing to do with the temperature. This task was impossible. If this was a work of fiction, then maybe I could tie up the monster's heads like Hercules in the Disney movie. Of course, this was real life and, according to Hunter, that movie was entirely filled with outright inaccuracies and anachronisms that made James Woods' portrayal of Hades seem minor by comparison.

Besides, tying a hydra's heads together wouldn't work since bones don't work like that. Not to mention even Heracles himself couldn't kill the hydra with brute force alone. In fact, hadn't Hunter mentioned that it was his nephew - inspired by the goddess Athena herself - that had finally come up with a way to destroy the monster? Simply cutting the heads off on their own would result in another head growing back. A process that I was intimately familiar with by this point. But if the stumps were burned shut before they could regenerate... Maybe this task wasn't as impossible as I had thought.

I grinned, then had to suppress a giggle as the monster regarded me warily. Honestly,I couldn't blame it for being confused. By all rights, it had me backed into a corner with no way out. I inhaled slowly to steady my racing heart, recalling Ari's instructions, before pulling on my inner flame to ignite. Exhaling quickly, a blazing fire erupted around the knife that was gripped tight in my hand before the flames focused directly through the bronze blade itself - turning the divine metal red hot in an instant.

The hydra reacted instinctively, rearing away from the fire that had suddenly appeared. I braced my foot against the wall and kicked off, launching myself toward the serpentine beast. Now it was the monster's turn to be on the defensive. I slashed and swung my flaming knife in quick, powerful arcs - finally making contact with one of the beast's necks.

The monster screamed as its flesh hissed and seemed to melt away from the hot blade, the wound cauterizing almost instantly as it cut clean through all the connective tissue until the head dropped lifeless to the ground, turning to dust on impact. The wounded neck bubbled and blistered, but didn't split. My grin widened into something predatory.

"Four more to go," I said with a slight lilting tone.

I stood gasping to catch my breath as the last head dropped to the ground, the larger body crumbling away to dust around me. I was filthy, covered in steaming sweat and caked with dirt and blood on every inch of my exposed skin, which was a lot as my clothes were completely ruined by the hydra's acid spit. Movement near the seating area caught my eyes, and I snapped my attention to see Hunter starting to stir.

"Hunter!" I ran over to help her sit up.

"W-what? Penny?" She looked around, blinking confusion away before tensing. "Where's London? Where's the hydra?"

"Dead," I answered, thickly. "It got her. I got the hydra."

Just then, the door to the outside flew open, "I'm back! I... Missed it?"

I stared, slack-jawed and dumbfounded as London stepped carefully over the ruined threshold and into the restaurant. She looked exactly the same as she had before she had exploded in a shower of dry leaves.

"London?!" I shouted. "How are... I thought... I saw you..."

"I'm a nymph," London said, laughing slightly at my blatant confusion. "Specifically, a wood nymph. Unlike other kinds of nature spirits, my physical form is just a projection. As long as my tree is healthy and unharmed, any damage to my projected form is temporary. Don't get me wrong, it still really hurts of course, but I can just discorporate back to my tree and recover. When ol' snake-y tried to bite me, I poofed away on instinct. Sorry for leaving you in the lurch like that, by the way. Still, it looks like you did alright."

"Better than alright," Hunter chimed in, "She managed to kill it herself, apparently. Even got a trophy for her trouble, too."

I looked to where she was pointing and recoiled. Lying on the floor was the last Hydra head that I had cut off, it's eyes staring blankly at nothing, and it's tongue lolled out like a cartoon.

"Why didn't it turn to dust like the rest of it?" I asked, nudging it with the toe of my shoe. It wobbled slightly but made no move to attack. I guess it really was dead.

"Sometimes a monster will drop a trophy," Hunter answered. "Spoil of war. Whatever you call it. Usually only the really strong ones drop anything of note. A three headed hydra is pushing the limits of the low end, really."

"What about a five headed hydra?" I asked.

"Five heads...?" Hunter asked, then seeing my face turn red she gasped. "You didn't!"

"It was an accident, I swear!"

"An accident!"

"You really are something else, entirely," London said, laughing. "Still, your kill means your trophy."

"What am I even supposed to do with it?" I asked, looking at the grotesque head.

"Some people have them stuffed and mounted," Hunter said. "You could take it to a taxidermist."

"I doubt Uncle Joe would appreciate that," I said, shuddering at the thought of hanging a monster head on the wall. "Maybe if I just..."

I ripped off a strip of cloth from my ruined shirt and, reaching down, grabbed hold of one of the creature's sharp fangs. Making sure I had a strong grip, I braced myself and pulled with all my strength until the tooth finally came free in my my hand. A little of the sickly green acid had still remained on the tooth, but luckily it seemed to have lost most of its potency after death. At least I assumed as much when it didn't manage to eat through the cloth wrapping. Tucking the cloth-wrapped fang into my pocket, I summoned up my flames once more and set the head on fire, grimacing apologetically to London as the wood nymph yelped and jumped back in shock.

"Why just a tooth?" Hunter asked.

"Well," I said. "I thought it would be cooler than some shark tooth necklace like those California surfer bros wear sometimes."

"You're so weird," Hunter laughed. I chuckled too, then swayed slightly before steadying myself. "Whoa, okay you need to sit."

I didn't argue, not that they would have listened. With both girls helping me to one of the less ruined benches, I sat down. My whole body ached and my skin felt raw in places where the hydra's acid had got me. "Thanks," I said.

"Let's just take a minute to rest up before we make contact with the lieutenant," London said, noticing Hunter also swaying slightly. "In the meantime, there's more spoils to be had than a scary ol' snake head."

Hunter and I looked at each other in confusion before turning to London, who simply gestured to the front counter and the still pristine kitchen beyond, "Donuts! It's not like they'll do anybody else any good just sitting there rotting away. Might as well dig in, yeah?"

My stomach rumbled loudly at the thought of food, causing us all to laugh. "Save me a jelly filled one," Hunter shouted as London went to grab our well deserved and just desserts.

"Why stop at just one?" I asked, "I'll take a baker's dozen. Or two!"

London returned a couple minutes later, her arms burdened with no less than five boxes filled with every assortment of donuts, various fruit filled kolaches and something Hunter identified as a klobasnek - which turned out to be a pastry filled with sausage and cheese. I had ten. Once we had eaten our fill, London reached into her pocket and pulled out three plastic wrapped trading cards. Keeping one for herself, she passed one each to both Hunter and me.

"Mythomagic?" I asked, reading the name on the back of the card. "What's that?"

"It's only one of the most popular games played by demigods ever!" London said. "It's a TCG-based Miniature Wargaming RPG. It uses miniature figures for tactical play, and cards in place of dice. Some cards are super rare, though."

I looked for further elaboration from Hunter, who just shrugged; "Nerd stuff."

London puffed up with indignation, "Don't listen to her, she's just sore 'cause she never wins! Go on, open it up and see what you got!"

I ripped open the plastic covering and turned the card over. "I got a Hydra," I said, looking it over. The face of the card showed a many headed Hydra over a multi-toned red background with holographic gold trim design on the top and bottom of the image.

"Ooh, that's a rare one!" London said, grinning. "I got a laurel wreath. They're uncommon but definitely not rare."

"Sword," Hunter said, holding hers up for us to see. "You can have mine if you want."

Both girls handed their cards over to me and I grinned, "Thanks!"

"Pretty soon you'll have enough cards to make a battle deck," London said. "Of course, you'll still need the mini figures too."

London spent the next half hour talking my ear off about tactics and points and all the different terminology. Apparently the game had been really popular in the mid to late '80s and had even gotten an animated series. Though by the early '90s it had proven to be a passing fad, and the series had even been cancelled before it had stopped airing. If nothing else, it would be fun to at least collect the cards and toys even if I never played.

Our relaxation was cut short by the appearance of Zoë Nightshade appearing head and shoulders out of thin air over the table between us. Surrounded by a colorful haze, she gave us all an appraising look before addressing Hunter; "Report."

"Mission success," Hunter replied with a nervous chuckle. "Other than a few hiccups, all within acceptable limits, the extermination pretty much went off without a hitch."

Zoë raised an eyebrow, then turned to London; "Dost thou have anything to add?"

"Unfortunately, I was not present for the bulk of the fight as I was forced to discorporate early in," London admitted. "By the time I made it back, the fight was already over."

"I see," Zoë said, turning to regard me. "And what of thee?"

"Took some splash damage that basically ruined my outfit, but I managed to kill the monster before it could kill me," I said. "That counts as a win in my book."

"I see," she said after a short pause. "Very well, enjoy thine spoils for now, however, be aware that we shalt be meeting back at Giuseppe's in one hour's time."

"""Yes, Lieutenant,""" we all chorused, causing us to break into laughter as Zoë rolled her eyes and vanished.