There was a terrifying scream — but death did not come.
Kai cracked opened one eye to see the massive hydra recoiling in pain — and fear — from Sann’s elegant staff, which was held lightly and surely in front of them. Sann remained poised like a statue on her lithe, cloth-bound feet as the beast stumbled and trembled backwards, straining at the tether, which ensnared Kai, Shen and Blaiput as one. Onnd stayed to the side, observing.
The hydra stumbled to a halt breathing heavily, as it slowly regained composure; its serpent heads revived one by one and rose defiantly into the air. When all eight had come around, they let out another screech in chorus and the beast took a single obstinate step towards Sann. Before it had even thought to take its next step, however, Sann was upon it — there was no noticeable preparation for the leap, and her movements made no sound; quicker than a heartbeat she was simply soaring through a gracefully potent arc towards the hydra with her staff, and as she spun and twisted effortlessly through the air to land, she flicked the staff towards one serpent head and brushed the tip upon its scaly neck like a feather a fraction of a second before her feet returned soundlessly to the ground. The hydra let out a deafening wail and backed away in fear, but the single affected head recovered quickly and the beast lunged back at Sann with a terrible screech. Sann leapt up — again with perfect ease — and over the imposing height of the hydra, flipping around in her gliding arc, twisting her head to look straight down at the serpent heads flailing up at her in the air; she calmly reached out her staff and flicked it with rapid simplicity at one snake then another and another before her elegant curve descended, and as she landed on one slender foot she was immediately in the air again, flowing into a circular dance around the beast, girding it in a blurry volley of fluid, noiseless caressing strikes, each forcing the hydra deeper into a painful stupor of terror, before she came to a sudden, sure rest back between the beast and Kai.
In the lull, Onnd looked around, as though someone had whispered her name — far across the forum the SYS-carer was now carefully watching the battle and talking into his hand-film. Onnd turned back to Sann, breathed a low word of caution, then began walking slowly around the dormant battle. As she stepped, the hydra shook and raised its heads, then lunged and stabbed at Sann. Again Sann leapt without a noise, away to the left — the hydra’s fangs missing her by a breath — leading the beast from Kai. The tether pulled quickly tight, however, and the three, just as they had begun untangling themselves, were dragged out over the stone. The hydra charged at Sann. She leapt at once into a whirling ring of confusion around it; it stopped and thrust its eight heads all about searching for her flesh within the encircling white blur. Sann flicked out her staff from the cloud for a single delicate stroke and one of the hydra’s serpent heads hissed away in fuming fear. Sann reappeared from the blur and landed, but as she did her foot twisted slightly and she stumbled. The hydra recovered quickly and attacked the weakness instinctively.
Onnd’s eyes peeled wide — and she leapt; with impossible grace and ease, she sailed over and through and past the hydra’s writhing necks, then spun around and landed sure. The hydra pounced. Without knowledge of fear, Onnd simply pushed out her smoky staff and let the hulking hydra come. One of the serpents stabbed at it — and before anyone knew or saw or believed, the entire hydra was on the ground before her, rasping wheezing whines of dread.
Sann looked up and smiled humbly at her master, as her long fingers tightened the white cloth bindings around her ankle; beneath her fingertips tiny spots of greyish blue seeped through the fabric. As the massive hydra remained prostrate before Onnd in a quivering heap, she looked round at her student. Onnd said nothing, but her warm, wide eyes held Sann close, filling her with strength. In a blink of finesse Sann was back on her feet; Onnd’s spare mouth curled softly in pride.
With a sudden, paralysing screech the hydra recovered and leapt at Onnd. Onnd whirled back to face it, whispered a secret word of beauty, and both she and Sann were again in the air; in a single gesture of flawless grace, both staffs thrust down into one of the hydra’s necks, and with staffs whirling to rest by their sides, the warriors landed at exactly same time, at an equal distance on opposite sides of the beast as it staggered and quivered in icy fear — the neck was broken, and hung limply from the massive body. Onnd stood as a statue in front of Kai, Shen and Blaiput as they scrambled into a crouch behind her flowing robes, looking with wide eyes past her to the hydra — the other serpent heads came to from the pain, saw their feeble sibling, and started attacking it, tearing at its broken flesh as it screamed its solitary death throes.
Kai looked up at Onnd as the bloody fratricide continued; light broke from the clouds above the lofty warrior, washing brightness around her ivory robes into Kai’s wide eyes. Onnd, sensing his gaze, looked back and down at him with searingly cool intensity. Kai lowered his eyes and focussed on the fluid, shadowy texture of the staff by her side, then looked back to the hydra — the beast stood still, breathing heavily. The broken neck was gone; as gore dripped from seven serpent jaws around it, two more foetal heads sprouted from the bloodied stump.
“Oh, great!” sighed the preacher, “More mouths to feed!”
As the necks grew and the hydra reared up on its hind legs roaring into the sky, Kai
reached out tentatively towards Onnd’s truth staff. The hydra thundered back to the ground with nine writhing, seething serpent necks and charged straight for Onnd. Shen screamed and tried to crawl away. Blaiput sobbed, and fumbled to untie himself. Onnd and Sann nodded to each other and readied themselves, as Kai’s fingertips brushed up to the staff.
Next chapter — Surge
Sunday 5 December 2010
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