Cosmic energies glittered as awareness slowly returned. The hydra sensed the familiar feeling of falling and calmly opened a panel within the godly construct. Another silent soul drifted out and propelled the main body back toward the beginning of the timeline.

The hydra raised four powerful necks to behold its surroundings. The first thing it noticed was the massive increase in size. Where before, its necks had barely surpassed the low underbrush; now, the hydra was firmly looking down on the piles of leaves and sod. The towering black trees still cast massive shadows, but that was almost inevitable.

The hydra rose confidently to its four stumpy feet, and Max and Aevum turned to face the newest additions. The first was awake and aware, looking around curiously with a rather bemused expression on its reptilian face. The second was asleep.

The wakeful head glanced back at the pair and, in the smallest increment of time, all their history was shared between them.

Google, as the new head would henceforth be called, felt a shiver roll out of the soul cage. The Brand of Discord flared in response to the touch of darkness staining the reincarnated soul. All three heads winced as two runes carved themselves painfully into the hydra's chest.

Vampiric and Blood.

All three heads looked down, trying to feel if their blood had suddenly turned cannibalistic. They didn't feel anything particularly different, but they had learned already that knowledge was power.

Stolen novel; please report.

Without any further waiting, Max took a gentle nip out of the base of Google's neck. Max recoiled suddenly as a spurt of wriggling blood squirted out. It splattered onto the green-brown forest floor and started jiggling around, hungrily searching for...something.

Vampiric...it must need an animal of some kind.

Aevum glanced up to the canopy and dropped a bird from the sky with a simple effort of will. It landed with a dull thump beside the red stain.

Lethargically, the blood oozed over the incapacitated bird. It dyed the feathers red, but it seemed to slow with every passing second. On a whim, Google leaned over and cut a small laceration on the bird's chest with a claw.

The vampiric blood went frenetic. It lunged into the cut, violently tearing open the wound further as it forced its way inside. Squirming shapes writhed underneath the small bird's down feathers as the small animal seemed to shrink with every passing second. It was as if it were being drained of all fluids. A minute passed, and the bird died.

All three hydra heads examined the desiccated corpse, noting how some bright red hydra blood was lethargically attempting to ooze away from its latest victim. It didn't get far, though, and after a couple of seconds of finding nothing, it stilled and dried up, no different from regular blood.

Before they could wonder further about the uses of such a strange and destructive ability, a small feminine gasp drew their attention. The [[Dryad]] stood hesitantly behind one of the large trees, a dainty hand to her mouth. Both of her large, soulful eyes were locked on the desiccated corpse of the bird at their feet, in complete shock and horror.

What do you do?

[[Dealing with the Dryad]]