Hydra Zero stared in wonder at what he saw as he stepped through the simple wood door. Inside was a room that felt eerily familiar. He couldn’t put his finger on why, but he felt like he had been here a very long time ago. He did not know when exactly. It must have been before the masters found him in the stretch of memory that was fuzzy. It was a small space with wooden floors and walls. In fact the entire structure appeared to be a single flowing piece of uncut wood. Along the opposite wall was a wood frame growing from the floor with a mattress resting on it. Hydra Zero dreamily stumbled through the room and threw himself onto the bed. For the first time in years, Hydra Zero felt the sting of tears on his cheeks. One of the salty droplets even stung one of the small cuts on his cheeks that had not quite fully healed yet.
Hydra Zero brushed the teardrop away and shivered in delight at the touch of the woolen blankets and sheets that covered the soft mattress of the bed. He let out a sigh of contentment and relief as he pulled the blanket over him and laid his head down on the soft feathered pillow. For a moment he thought about getting up and removing the stiff leather armor that he still wore, but found that he could not be convinced to extract himself from the luxurious comfort. With another sigh, Hydra Zero pulled the thick woolen blanket tighter around himself and closed his eyes. He was not sure where this was. Perhaps it was a dream and he would wake on the straw covered floor of his cage, but for now he did not care. He just laid himself down and closed his eyes.
Something warm and fuzzy snuggled up to him and out of habit he reached out to snuggle it. Then he instinctively felt around for the wooden sword that was leaning against the bedpost and fell asleep, one arm wrapped around the warm fur and the other clutching the wooden sword. For the first time in nearly ten years, Hydra Zero slept soundly, forgotten memories played at the edges of his dreams. For the first time in nearly ten years, Hydra Zero slept peacefully, without any hint of fear or pain and a small part of him healed.
When Hydra Zero woke he felt warm. The wounds that had covered his body had disappeared and his skin and scales were once more smooth and unblemished. The sensation of hunger was also gone. For the first time in years, Hydra Zero did not feel the gnawing ache that had been ever present in his belly. As he stood up, Hydra Zero realized the warm, fuzzy object was actually a black furred bag and the wooden sword was a scimitar of some kind in a hard wooden sheath. Hydra Zero eyed the two objects before he tried opening the bag. It was empty. Hydra Zero’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
He had been acting by instinct and impulse when he had stumbled into this room, but now that he had rested his focus returned. Master Eisel had explained several times that an opportunity to enter a unique location such as this might one day occur and that there were always two magic items inside to be recovered.This bag was clearly one of them. Hydra Zero sat there contemplating what he should do to figure out how it worked. After a long moment of thought he shrugged and set it aside for now. The masters probably had some kind of identification magic that would figure it out.
With a solution to that problem he looked at the scimitar. The sheath was a hard wood of some kind, carefully wrapped in quality leather that put his torn leather armor to shame. Hydra Zero hesitated for a moment before he drew the weapon from its sheath with his right hand. The entire blade appeared to be made of a single piece of worked bronze. Every inch of the surface of the magnificent scimitar was etched with intricate engravings and designs that held no meaning to the hydrablood elf. They were not any of the letters taught to him by masters Eisel and Gavidan. As he held the blade in one hand, he reverently ran the fingers of his other over the etchings. While the scimitar was clearly made entirely out of bronze, Hydra Zero felt strength seem to pour out of the weapon as an almost tangible heat. Once again he sat there contemplating this Gift, as the masters had called the items. Once again he had no idea what the sword did exactly.
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With a sigh of resignation, Hydra Zero sheathed the scimitar. He then turned his attention to the rest of the room. He had been so focused on the bed when he first entered that he was sure he had missed some details. To his surprise there was nothing else in the room. No other furniture of objects adorned the seamless wood walls and floor. There were no drawers or cupboards and Hydra Zero felt that there should have been. The only thing was the bed and it was now in a sorry state. The woolen blanket and sheets were a tangled mess and there were smears of blood covering them from his wounds from earlier. There was nothing else of note that Hydra Zero could see and he was not sure if he could find anything even if he took the time to look. The thought of the time brought a sinking feeling. Hydra Zero knew he had to go before the masters came looking for him. He knew they probably could not follow him here to this room but they would be less irritated the sooner he returned with the Gifts. With great reluctance, Hydra Zero stood up, threw the black furred bag over one shoulder and strapped the bronze scimitar to the belt on his hip. Then Hydra Zero walked back to the door. He paused for one moment with one hand in the door and turned back to take one last look at the room. Another wave of nostalgia washed over him and he felt a pang of loss at the empty sight. With a remorseful shake of his head Hydra Zero turned back to the door, opened it and walked through. As he did, he felt a slight tingle of magic and felt like some kind of invisible restraints had been removed.
As Hydra Zero re-emerged into the cave that the masters had converted into their laboratory he realized something was very wrong. The ground was blackened in spots and the smell of burned flesh filled the air. On the ground lay two figures. One was blackened beyond recognition. The other was moaning and struggling weakly on the ground. Hydra Zero approached the form slowly and soon recognized the gaunt, almost skeletal form of one of the masters. It was Master Eisel. His stomach was torn open and a black ichor had pooled beneath his wounded form. It would take a long time to heal if it ever did.
Master Eisel looked up and blinked.
“Hydra Zero, where have you been? You know what, never mind, walk over to the desk there and get me a scroll. Second drawer down on the left. It should heal me a little. It cost me a fortune to get despite its weak effects. If only healing magic wasn’t so rare. Wait what are you-”
As the master had been rambling, Hydra Zero had approached him and drawn the very real scimitar he had acquired in the wooden room. Then Experiment Hydra Zero swung his newly acquired blade, which glowed slightly red as it cut through the old mage’s neck, severing the head from the body. The withered mage stared up at the former experiment in horror. The realization of what was happening still evident in the now deceased wizard’s eye. Eisil’s mouth remained open as if to speak some kind of spell or order and that would force Hydra Zero to action. Hydra Zero suspected it would either be a command to save the dying mage or an act of final retribution. The order would have been useless. Whatever that room on the other side of the door had been, its last gift had been to purge Hydra Zero’s body of foreign magics.
“What have you always said was the most important thing for me to learn Master?”
Hydra Zero’s voice was raspy from disuse and the sound was foreign to even his own ears. The mage laying on the ground went still, the light of comprehension leaving his eyes never to return.
“The perfect soldier should use every opening he can to bring his enemy to their knees. It seems you were right.”
Hydra Zero left the dead where they were. They were not worth the time and effort to dispose of and Hydra Zero had no wish to linger in this dark cave that stank of blood and death. The world beyond the door had reminded Hydra Zero of a better world. One of blue skies and sunlight. It reminded him of birds and the wind, of laughing people and gentle hugs. He vaguely remembered faces he once knew and lamented the names that had long been forgotten. He just remembered their warm embraces and concern. Perhaps he could find that once again, but for that he would need to leave the cave. That would require food and supplies. Hydra Zero turned to see what he could find.