The hydra moved slowly toward its prey, taking care that its target did not notice him. It had escaped him so many times now, this was no longer a game, he had to take it seriously. Having worked out a plan of attack, he lurked in the darkness at the edge of the light and readied himself.
The left head will go for an attack from the left, the right is prepared for the target to flee to the right, and the middle one is responsible for immediate support if either of the other two heads would have caught the prey. It was genius!
The Hydra leapt from its hiding spot, straight toward its target. Unfortunately for him, its foe had seen through his plan from the beginning, it was as if his mind had been read! Without any warning, the target dodged his attack, his ambush, and went right through his legs out of sight and range.
He was completely overplayed. If only the two big giants near him could stop talking with each other and help him, he was sure that together they would be able to hunt anything! In the back of his mind, he also sensed another presence, although it was very far away and completely foreign to him. He could not hide his curiosity as to what this strange eight-legged thing was, it even had a single head! Strangely, he was the only one who had three heads, the others around him had only one.
This world was plagued with so many discoveries to make, there was no way for him alone to accomplish this task. Fortunately, he knew deep in his soul that he wasn’t alone and never would be.
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The hydra seems to be tired of chasing the light. Maybe I moved it too fast? Anyway, now he was looking straight at me curiously. We were still in the cave. After her initial shock, Caryly told me to play with my new familiar. She needed some time to analyze what we had found. Lendwrek watched the new family member silently. His gaze did not seem predatory, but rather playful. I could see a smile on his face, or at least what I think is a smile. I should think about playing with him more often.
“Can we just leave, his mom could come back any moment,” I told her. It hasn’t been long since he hatched, but we never know when the Calamity monster might get back home. It felt like I had been asking her to leave for hours now.
She looked puzzled and after a moment I finally got an answer.
“Fine, fine, we are leaving, but be sure to handle him properly. This is a Calamity monster, and I never heard of anyone ever having one as a familiar.”
“Don’t worry, I will make sure nothing happens to him.”
“This isn’t what I meant.” She said. “Anyway, I just finish, we can go.” After stuffing some decayed meat and eggshell in glass vials, we were ready to go.
Having no more business in the cave, we made a B line for the exit, not that there was anywhere else to go. The cave was a single pathway with no second tunnel. Whatever the monster living here had, we already found it.
On our walk to the exit, I thought I needed a name for the hydra. I already made up my mind that he will be with me from now on. As we walked, he couldn't decide if it was better to walk with me, stay in my arms, or climb on Lendwrek.
What name might fit him? Hydras were known on Earth as extremely dangerous mythical creatures, and I doubt it was any different here. A menacing one could do, but that will not be helpful in dealing with other people. Considering that he was the first tamed calamity monster recorded in history (if I believe Caryly), there is no doubt that people would come after him. Be it for political, scientific or harmful reasons, his safety would be in danger.
I don’t care if bandits, nobles, kings, heroes, or gods, want him. Their destination would be all the same: The deepest pit of hell. To protect him and my family, my training would need to be taken way further than before. Good connections would also be needed, but that could wait for later.
After a lot of thinking, I settle for Hybry. The name was harmless and even seem cute. With all the dangerous things in this world, Hybry would be the one thing that could heal my soul anytime, and I know I will need it.
Taking Hybry in my arms, I told him his name. “You’re Hybry the best Hydra in the world!”
“Rhaaa!” “Rhaaa!” “Rhaaa!” The three heads cheered. He seemed to like his name and stayed in my arms for the rest of the way.
When we reached the entrance, we climbed on Lendwrek's back and took off, leaving the empty lair behind us. Up in the sky, I couldn't see any trace of the Calamity monster. With Hybry, we had no reason to keep searching for information about our target, so going back home was the best thing to do. The plan was to meet up at home with Lavanda before calling it a day.
I wonder how she is going to react to Hybry. From her point of view, it is probably like I adopt every lost kitten I find in the streets. She had few complaints until now, but a Calamity monster was a bit different from Dragons and Spider.
The flight back home was smooth. Under the sunset, the refreshing spiceless air of the sky and the whistling of the wind, we encountered no problem on our way back. The surrounding islands looked more and more like colourful, vibrant places and less and less like graveyards the further we got from the cave.
Hybry's heads were hyperactive, looking at everything around us, I had to hold on tight to him to not let him slip. At each monster we encounter, I could hear his stomach growling.
Come to think of it, I haven’t fed him since he hatched. Taking some dried meat out of Lendwrek's saddle, I gave the middle head the first bite. The other two tried to snatch it for themselves. Neither was willing to let the other win, but with a powerful jerk, the one on the left managed to tear off most of the meat and swallow it in one go. I could see the fist-sized lump of meat running down his throat. Fortunately, he didn’t choke himself.
I still didn’t know how their three heads were working together, but I fed them all equally. Looking at them trying to steal their own meal was as entertaining for me as it was for them.
“I have a question,” I said to Caryly.
“What is it?”
“What is the difference between a Calamity monster and a normal monster? I’m pretty sure that I read a book or two with Hydra’s inside, and they never referred to them as Calamity monster.”
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“Glad you asked,” She replied. “A Calamity monster is a variant species from the original, the main difference is in the potential danger they pose and the quantity of mana into them. Take Hybry’s as an example, right now he looks like a regular baby hydra, but what he is capable of even at his size is what makes him different.”
“What do you mean? He's just a newborn, he can’t possibly be that powerful from the get-go.” The stare she gave me above her shoulder was serious. But how he just hatched today, fine maybe he can do some damage, but probably not that much… I hope. Let see.
“Hybry.” He turned his heads to me.
“You see that bird,” I said, pointing at a bird flying 20 meters away from us. “ Attack!”
The heads looked at each other for a moment and seemed to be arguing. The middle and right heads ganged up on the left, for he seemed to have lost whatever they were doing. After taking a deep breath, the left head fired a dark green liquid and aimed at the bird.
The attack missed. The bird didn’t even have to dodge, it only realized after the fact that it was being attacked and flew away. This was to be expected, after all, no one is born with perfect aim, he just had to practise.
Hybry heads looked down. They didn’t seem to take that failure very well and started searching for comfort in my arms, something I oblige. After some soothing, scratching and cuddling, he fell asleep.
As far as I know, the intelligence of living beings is related to their species, but I wonder how age and other factors affect it. Hybry is not even a day old, and he was able to understand a command from me. He may not have understood literally what I said, but he knew I wanted him to harm that bird. One way or another, he was smart enough to have to guess my intent and act on it.
Either it is a trait of his species or it is because he is my familiar, learning more couldn’t hurt. I haven’t finished reading the book Lavanda gave me, but with Tara and Hybry as my familiars, I might need to.
But right now I had a question for Caryly. She’s been watching Hybry silently since I ordered him to attack. With how peaceful the flight was, there was little need to be alert.
“I was wondering, why didn’t you argue against me keeping Hybry?” I asked.
“What you wanted me to tell you to not keep an extremely dangerous monster that can annihilate whole countries?”
“No, but I was expecting more resistance, at least more than with Tara,”
“Well, I know better than to get between someone and their familiar. As soon as it got connected to your soul, there was nothing else to do but live with it.” She let out a small laugh. “Was Lavanda that much against you having a spider, as your familiar?”
“Yeah kinda, I mean I get it, I almost died twice to that spider queen before I murdered her entire colony, but I’m pretty sure it was more because she hates bugs more than anything else.”
“No wonder, I keep telling her that spiders are not bugs but arachnids, but I guess for her, they are all the same. Pretty surprising that she didn’t burn your spider instantly.”
“I know, I have Lendwrek to thank for that,” I said and patted the dragon on the back. At this point, I truly considered Lendwrek and Mendry my familiars, even though I never performed the bonding ritual with them. Their presence has now become a part of my life, and I don’t care what problems they might cause me in the future.
“Come to think of it, do you have your own familiar? You know so much about the subject that it would make sense if you had one.”
“No, I don’t. I have enough responsibility already, a familiar might just be too much.”
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We soon reach home with Lavanda already waiting for us.
“So, got anything interesting on your side?” She asked once we were all inside. She looked a bit worn out, but overall fine.
“Yeah, kinda,” I said, showing her the little hydra in my arms.
She let out a sigh. “Why am I not surprised anymore, you're collecting familiar as soon as I’m not watching you.”
She approached the little fellow and watched him for a moment. Hybry was not bothered by it and just watch her back with his heads. We told her our findings while she inspected, my hydra. After some thought, she came to a conclusion.
“This is definitely the child of the Hydra, I seen,”
“You found the Calamity monster!” Caryly said.
“Yeah, a flying hydra with nine heads. Plague type, between Randal and Lendwrek in size, but could probably handle both of them together.”
“So fighting it is a no-go?” I asked.
“Exactly. Don’t tell me you wanted to fight it.” I look away. “Get that idea out of your mind! It chops you down in one hit as soon as it realizes that you are immune to his poison.”
“I agree with Lavanda on this. Don’t you dare fight it. Even if we go all out, the chance that a single one of us survive is abysmal.”
“But what about Hybry, if it is its mother, she might spare us if she sees that he is good care with us!”
Unsure, Lavanda looked at Caryly. “If it is the mother, there is a chance it might not kill us instantly. If it is the father, we might as well leave right now while we got the chance.” Caryly answered.
“What, how can they don’t care for their child!”
“As soon as Hybry became your familiar, you are more family to him than his own parents, and they know that. Hybry will stay with you no matter what, and it’s going to make them all the more mad.”
“So what do we do?” I asked them.
Caryly didn’t answer and looked at Lavanda, waiting for her to tell me.
“... For now, let's pack our things in case we need to leave quickly.” Looking outside, she continued. “We can think about what to do tomorrow, it’s getting dark and there is some distance between its nest and this place, it won’t be able to track Hybry down that quickly.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. We might have a chance to live peacefully if I haven’t bonded with Hybry, but because of me, she might lose the home she had for the last hundreds of years. Maybe if I fly far away with Lendwrek and Hybry, it will follow me and leave Lavanda alone.
Lost in my thought, I was brought back by a slap on the cheeks and not the weak kind. Caryly was leaning against the wall, a small smile escaping her lips. Lavanda was the one who slapped me. Small and difficult to see, tears were running down her eyes. She wasn’t happy.
“I’m sorry,” I said again, only to get a hug this time again.
“Don’t you dare apologize” Lavanda said. “When I took you in, I knew what I was getting into, so don’t even think about running away from me, even if it is for me. I know you… so don’t dare,” Things got silent for a moment. Stuck in her arm, I hug her back after some thought.
“I’m sorry,” I said softly.
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When the emergency bags were ready, we all went to sleep, tomorrow was bound to be a busy day after all.
Tara and Hybry were with me. Lendwrek, Mendry and the egg were right next to where I was sleeping. Before bed, I used vines, to adjust some spare saddles to fit Lendwrek and Mendry, and the egg had a safe place on its mother.
Even though it may have been our last night at home, we all slept carefree. As long as we have each other, we can always find a new place to call home together.
When we were all deep asleep, from another island far, far away, a small resounding scream or cry reach our ears, unnoticed.