Chapter 17: Chapter Seventeen: The Hydra

“Lernean Hydra?” Malique asked, his eyes opening wide. “I thought Hercules killed her.”

“He did,” Wolfric said, watching the nine heads. “She had laid eggs that no one knew about.”

“But if she was the only one, how the fuck did they hatch?!” Malique growled.

“They weren’t full Hydras,” Wolfric said, pulling his sword out from his back.

Malique did the same, and Akira followed.

“You’re not getting involved in this,” Wolfric said, looking at his Havent.

Akira smirked. “You have seen that I can take care of myself. I am helping.”

Wolfric snarled.

“Don’t snarl at me, Dog Boy.”

Wolfric’s eyes opened wide, and he stared at her. How could she—then he looked at Malique. He must have told her their secret. With a snarl, he pulled her against him and kissed her, then turned and ran at the Hydra. There was no escaping it—they must fight it.

“Nice one,” Malique said with a smirk.

She looked at him with a scowl. “Go help your friend, Vamp Boy.”

Malique laughed so hard he doubled over. When she kicked him in the ass, he laughed even harder, then ran toward the nine-headed creature. They were all doomed, but at least they will go down together.

Akira smiled as she watched her Warriors fight the creature. Well, she cannot stand around and do nothing. With a war cry, she jumped into the fight and lopped off the nearest head.

Wolfric and Malique stopped and turned to Akira.

“No!” Wolfric hollered.

He ran to Akira and pulled her away from the neck that was flopping around without a head.

“I should have warned you,” he said, holding her backside to his chest.

“What?” she asked, looking up at him. “We need to kill it, don’t we?”

“We were discussing how to kill it without lopping off its heads,” Malique said as he joined them.

The creature was thrashing around, its headless neck squirting blood all over the blackened ground.

“Why can’t we lop off its heads?” she asked as she watched. “Hercules killed the original that way, right?”

“He had help,” Malique whispered.

“Help?” Akira asked.

“When you chop off one head…,” Malique started to say.

“Two more grow in its place,” Wolfric finished.

They watched two new heads grow in the place of the one Akira had lopped off.

“Ah shit,” Akira hissed.

“And now there’s ten,” Malique said, watching the ten heads.

“But how can we do this without chopping off their heads?!” Akira shouted.

“Find his heart,” Wolfric ordered.

Wolfric pushed Akira and Malique out of the way as the two new heads slammed onto the ground where they had been standing.

“GO!” Wolfric bellowed, jumping out of the way of another head.

Malique took hold of Akira’s hand and ran.

“We can’t leave Wolfie!” Akira screamed.

“We’re not,” Malique said as they ran around the beast who had his full attention on the Wolf Warrior.

Akira turned and watched her Wolfie shift into his giant white wolf. He jumped onto the neck of one of the heads and bit down, then spit something out and jumped to another neck, making a third head bite down on the neck he had just bitten.

“He’s making it bite itself,” she said as she watched the wolf jump away again.

“Making him poison himself,” Malique said, then skidded to a stop.

She bumped into him and looked up. “Will that kill him?”

Malique shook his head. “No. But it will slow him down, give us enough time to find his heart,” he said.

They started running again, this time toward the Hydra.

“Did you find it?” she asked, following him.

He shook his head. “No, but I can hear it beating and smell the blood pumping through it.”

She wrinkled her nose. “What does a Hydra’s blood smell like?”

He stopped and turned to her. “Like ash and rot,” he said, watching her.

She smiled up at him. A noise came from where they had left Wolfric, and she turned her head to find three heads trying to pin Wolfric to the ground.

“I need to help him,” she said in a panic.

“No,” Malique said, pulling her to his chest.

She looked up at him. “Don’t make me use my Havent voice,” she said, eyeing him.

Malique sighed, then kissed her, making her moan against his lips. “Try not to chop off too many heads,” he said, then let her go.

She smirked. “Can’t promise anything. Now go find that heart and destroy this monster. Before there are too many heads to fight off,” she said.

Akira turned from her Vampire Warrior and ran toward her Wolf Warrior and the Hydra’s heads. Malique watched her and smiled—they were lucky to have such a brave Havent.

Malique looked up at the sky. “Thank you, Brynhildr, for keeping her safe and training her to be a brave Warrior,” he prayed.

Malique looked at the Hydra’s body and ran toward it. He can still hear and smell the foul beast’s heart.

~⚔~

“Akira! What are you doing here?!” Wolfric yelled in Akira’s head.

Akira ignored him and lopped off the three heads, then knelt beside her Wolfie.

“Damn it, woman! Now there will be six more heads!”

She continued to ignore him as she laid her hands over his body and watched the amber glow surround him. In moments, every scrape and broken bone was fixed.

Wolfric stood and shook out his fur.

“I couldn’t leave you like that,” she said as she got to her feet and wrapped her arms around him.

He sighed and laid his giant head on top of hers.“You shouldn’t be here.”

She smirked. “Yes, I should. I should be anywhere that my Warriors need me.”

Wolfric laughed in her head, then shoved her aside when two heads swiped at them.“No more cutting off their fucking heads,” he growled.

“It’s okay. Malique found the heart—he is headed there now. So, for now, we keep the beast occupied, and what better way than to lop off his heads,” she told him.

Akira jumped into the air when a head came at her. When the head hit the ground instead of her, she came down with her sword and lopped off the head.

“Damn it, Akira, we don’t want to have too many that we can’t handle them all,” he growled.

Wolfric leaped out of the way of three heads, making them collide with each other. A sound in the sky had them looking up. They expected to find a Dragon or another crazy ass creature ready to eat them. But what they saw made both of their mouths drop open in shock. Wolfric quickly shifted to his human form as they watched the new creature.

“Can’t be,” he whispered. “They haven’t been around since Hercules’s time.”

“He’s beautiful,” she whispered.

They watched it swoop down and kick one of the heads before it landed smoothly on the burned ground.

“Don’t look into his eyes,” Wolfric warned her.

“Why?” she asked.

Akira watched the beautiful creature walk toward her, his wings folding in.

“Because he may have his ancestor’s gift of turning people to stone,” Wolfric said as he placed his hand on her shoulder.

“But he won’t hurt me,” she whispered as she took a step away from Wolfric.

Wolfric swallowed and watched the creature stop in front of her. The newcomer’s eyes were for Akira and only Akira. Two heads swept toward them, and Wolfric jumped into the air, knocking both heads away with his sword.

Akira stared into the sky blue eyes of the magnificent beast before her. His forehead pressed into hers as he stared into her eyes. With a pop, the creature was gone, and a man stood before her.

“Hello,” he said, still staring into her eyes.

“H-hi,” she said, her tongue sticking to the roof of her mouth.

“Why have I been pulled to you for the past two days?” he asked, looking deep into her eyes.

“Uhm,” she said, her eyes still on his.

They were so beautiful.

A head swept at them, and he turned his head to it. When the Hydra’s eyes met his, a shimmer passed between the two, and the Hydra’s head turned to stone, then fell to the ground.

Akira shrieked and took a step back from the man who stood before her in a… What in the world is he wearing? She has never seen anything like it, except in the movies.

Oh my God, it’s a toga. And not something Akira has seen on TV—it was the real deal. Akira looked the man up and down. He was very handsome. His straight white hair made him look like a God, and his cheekbones were so sharp, she was sure they could cut glass.

“Who—who are you?” she asked, watching him.

He looked at her, and the softness in his sky blue eyes had her heart leaping from her chest.

“I am Darius Filo,” he said, then took a step toward her. “And you are?”

“A-Akira Hendrix.”

“Akira. I like it—it suits you,” he said, his face inches from hers. “Why am I drawn to you?”

She swallowed. She did not want to be turned to stone. But she knows, deep in her gut, even though he has not realized it yet, he is one of her Warriors. How magnificent!

“Your eyes,” he said, caressing her cheek. “They draw me to you.”

Akira sucked in a startled breath when he kissed her.

‘Holy shit.’

Not even Wolfric had kissed her as soon as he saw her after she was a grown woman. But damn, his lips felt good. She closed her eyes and moaned when he wrapped his arms around her and deepened the kiss. When his tongue slid into her mouth, she groaned and felt tingles travel through her body, making her want to fuck him here and now.

Wow. Never felt this before. Does this mean he is her chosen mate?

“Akira!”

Wolfric’s voice penetrated Akira’s mind, and she pulled away from her new Warrior and wiped her mouth. Shit. What was happening to her?

“Get the fuck away from her,” Wolfric said, moving between Akira and the stranger.

Darius grinned at the Direwolf. “And what will you do about it?”

Wolfric growled, and Akira placed her hand on his arm.

“He’s one of you,” she whispered.

“I know,” Wolfric sneered, “but he doesn’t.”

She blinked and looked at the handsome man in the toga. “How does he not know?”

“Because no one told him that he could be one,” Wolfric said, watching the man who was smirking at him.

“Do you need help, my neanída (damsel)?”

“I’m not a damsel,” Akira whispered.

Darius smiled and took a step toward them.

“Don’t come any closer,” Wolfric warned with a growl. “You won’t be putting any more spells on my Havent.”

Darius stopped and stared at the small girl. Havent? He does not sense any powers in her. He thought she was just a girl who came upon a world she knew nothing about. Those are the ones who taste the best.

A head swooped down and slammed Darius to the ground. He groaned as he tried to push it off him.

“Wolfie! Save him!” Akira screamed.

Wolfric shifted and jumped onto the neck of the head, which was pinning the man to the ground. He may be a prick, but he is one of them. Fuck, the Gods are assholes.

Akira rushed to her Warrior once the head had moved off him. She knelt beside him and looked for any broken bones.

“My back,” he groaned, “I can’t feel my legs.”

Akira cried as she placed her hands against his chest and stomach.

“What are you doing?” Darius asked, watching the girl close her eyes.

A soft amber glow, the same color as her bright eyes, flowed over his body. When she was finished, she collapsed on top of him, and he could feel his legs again.

She is a healer.

“Get her out of here!” the Direwolf ordered him.

Darius scoffed. How dare he give him orders.

“Now!” Wolfric hollered, then pulled out his sword and started lopping off heads.

Darius shook his head. There will be too many heads for the stupid wolf to fight. He pulled the girl into his arms and stood, then ran away from the Direwolf and Hydra. He looked down at the girl in his arms and smiled.

‘She is beautiful and a healer. She will fit in well with the others.’

The thought made him sick to his stomach. When he thought of his other women, every one of them made him gag.

‘What the fuck?’

He had always felt joy when he thought of them. What was going on? Darius heard a snarl and turned to watch three heads pin the Direwolf to the ground. But the man was not going down. Something told him that he needed to help the man.

‘Why?’

Darius looked at the girl again and grunted. Whatever it was, it had to do with her. He laid her on the ground, then placed a spell over her to hide her from view. If anyone looked over here, all they would see is a bush.

Darius ran to the Direwolf and slammed into one of the heads. When it looked into his eyes, the creature screamed as it turned to stone, then slammed to the ground. That is two heads that are stone now. It should make it harder for the beast to move.

“Where’s Akira?” Wolfric asked as he shoved his sword into the eye of the closest head.

“Don’t blind them, you fool,” Darius said with annoyance.

He leaped over the wolf and looked into the good eye of the Hydra’s head, then watched it drop.

Wolfric growled and yanked the man away from the heads and looked him straight in the eye.

“Where the fuck is my Havent?”

Darius smirked. Brave man to look into his eyes.

“Over there,” he said, pointing at the bush.

Wolfric looked over and sighed with relief when he saw Akira lying on the ground beside a tree.

“She’s not safe there,” Wolfric said with a shake of his head.

Darius blinked, then laughed. “What kind of Direwolf are you that you can see her? I placed a spell over her. You should only be able to see a bush.”

Wolfric growled and shoved the man away from him. “Are you trying to hide her from me?”

The man smirked. “No, from any danger. Now, how can you see her?”

“I’m a Shadow Walker. I can see through any enchantment.”

Darius laughed. “Why do I feel a pull to the girl?”

Wolfric snorted, “because you are one of her Warriors.”