Hydrablood Chapter 10

August 6, 780 FF

Hydrozeno sat quietly on a log, his eyes closed. Around him, the frontline of Bulwark Company shifted nervously. In front of the company the first groups of enemies were beginning to appear. The Inconquerable Legion was moving towards them. The company commanders and squad captains of Bulwark began to call out the order to form up ranks. Hydrozeno stood up from the log, stretched and lazily began heading for a small line of earthworks. They were not the most impressive defenses, just a simple three foot tall mound of dirt with a three foot deep trench in front. It had taken several hours of digging for some of the newer recruits of Bulwark company to construct these. Hydrozeno was glad he had enough seniority as a squad captain to get out of the work himself. Instead, he had gotten to watch the members of his squad do the work while he supervised.

It was a wonderful job. Most of the time he just relayed orders from one of the company commanders and watched to make sure that the orders were followed out. They usually were. Hydrozeno’s squad had a record of being the best fodder squads in the company. The infamous squads were well known for being the ones at the forefront of every battle and had staggering turnover rates as the bulk of them were killed. Their ranks tended to be filled with the unskilled, the unwanted and the troublemakers.

Then there was Hydrozeno’s squad. It was creatively named, Hydra Squad. Hydrozeno was quite proud of the name and ignored the eye rolls from anyone around him, unless they were the enemy. They learned firsthand what the name actually meant. He had spent four years building his reputation as being the best and toughest fighter in the illustrious Bulwark Mercenary Company. Now he and his squad would be the linchpin in today’s battle against the Incoquerable Legion.

Hydrozeno stood atop the earthworks and observed the enemy. His squad’s second in command ambled up to his side while the rest of the squad prepared for combat. Sam was a slothkin. His brown, furry form only rose to about four and half feet while standing, although Sam was typically hunched over which meant he was actually bigger than he looked. He was heavily muscled and had long claws as was typical of his people, but that was far from Sam’s most potent ability. Sam was a fairly powerful mage in his own way. He had only one magical ability, but it was an extraordinarily rare one outside of the Slothkin. Sam could create a field of time magic around him that would slow any enemies that entered it by a modest amount while leaving his allies unaffected. It gave the Hydra Squad a significant advantage.

“We… are… ready… I… think.”

Hydrozeno nodded to his second. The two had been fighting together for three years and knew their business.

“Let’s form up then.”

The Slothkin stepped to the back of the squad and hoisted his long pike with a black banner on it. Hydra Squad was the only fodder squad to have its own banner. The three golden serpentine heads woven onto the black cloth gleamed in the midmorning sun.Hydrozeno took up the point position and the front of the squad. A human man stepped up to his left, and a woman to his right. Marcus and Diane both carried huge tower shields and short spears and their scale mail armor gleamed. Their job was to ensure that Hydrozeno was not overwhelmed and surrounded. Each of them were permanent members of the squad and had proven their worth in a dozen battles with Hydrozeno. Marcus was a plain looking man with brown hair, a beard and green eyes. He was in his thirties and had joined the fodder squads in a hope that the hazard pay the dangerous job provided would be enough for him to stay ahead of his debts. Diane was a striking woman in her late twenties with angular features, blonde hair and brown eyes. She had been assigned to the squad after striking an officer who had made an unwelcome advance on her. The officer had clearly thought that she would either change her mind or die. He had been wrong. Two years later, she was a respected member of Hydra Squad and liked to remind the man of her existence whenever she could. He never tried anything again. He was too intimidated by the group association.

Directly behind the trio came the muscle of the squad. Cobblestone was a massive humanoid form comprised of solid stone. He stood a towering eight and a half feet tall and probably weighed more than the entire rest of the squad combined. Most assumed he was a typical mindless golem or summoned stone elemental. That was a mistake. Nobody knew what Cobblestone was exactly. He had simply formed from the stone in the middle of battle one day about a year ago and proceeded to bash Hydrozeno to a pulp because he saw everyone else around him fighting as well. The stone being had been surprised when a few minutes later Hydrozeno had healed enough to cut off one of the stone creature’s arms. After that they had nearly killed each other before they gave up. Cobblestone had followed Hydrozeno around after that. He did not say much, talking was hard for him, but had eventually shared that that battle had been his first day of existence. He did not know how he came to be or why. All the stone construct knew was that he was not a golem, nor was he a stone elemental. He was just Cobblestone and he was the final permanent member of the squad. Naturally, his job was to hit things really, really hard with his arms and fists.

Steris, Justin, and Horen were three of the other members, all human. Steris and Justin had two battles under their belts with the squad. Their goal was to survive this battle and request a transfer to a safer, non fodder squad. Horen only had one battle to his name and needed two more for his chance to request a transfer. Hydrozeno did not know the names of the remaining three humans in the squad. They were new and had just been assigned to it today. He would learn their names if they survived. One or two of them probably would. These remaining six spread out in a protective line in front of Sam, but behind the four veterans at the front. Then the entire group settled in to wait for the enemy to charge.

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Hydrozeno and the two humans beside him adjusted their shield straps and their grips on their weapons. Hydrozeno could hear the nervous shifting of the less experienced fighters behind him. Sam was humming in his deep baritone voice. The tune was a slow, relaxed one and familiar to the members of the squad who had fought with him. It had no words, but it's resonating, familiar melody cut through the sounds of scraping metal, heavy breathing and shouted orders. On his left, Hydrozeno heard marcus take up the tune with his own humming. The sound relaxed Hydra Squad slightly, except one of the new recruits who leaned over and whispered.

“Is this normal for them?”

Steris rolled her eyes.

“Yep, they are the oddest lot in the company. Stick close to them and odds are that you will survive until tomorrow.”

For a minute, nothing happened as the forms of the fodder squads from the Incoquerable Legion grew larger. Then there was the call of a horn and the advancing soldiers charged with a yell. As two of the enemy squads charged Hydra squad’s position Hydrozeno called an order out for Sam and the others.

“Raise the banner and brace for contact. We do not move from this position at any cost.”

Sam swung his pike straight up into the air. The black and gold banner drew the eye of many of the people up and down the line. There was a visible, if only slight shudder among the enemy ranks. Many of the people in fodder squads were brand new recruits to the mercenary life and as a result, did not know the significance of the black banner. The veterans who were sprinkled among their ranks did. They were the ones who hesitated and when the veterans hesitated, the new recruits crashed to a halt.

One of the two squads headed for Hydra Squad stopped entirely and changed direction. They were now headed for the squad next to Hydrozeno’s. The neighboring Bulwark squad would now be facing off against three enemy squads. The second squad bearing down on Hydra Squad’s position did not even slow. Based on the way they moved and the quality of their equipment, every single one of the eleven soldiers charging them was new to the art of war and blood. Hydrozeno gave a sad shake of the head and then roared just as the enemy reached the ditch. The sound was guttural and utterly foreign to all those nearby. The people who did not flinch from the inhuman sound were the veteran’s of Hydra squad.

The charging foes stumbled from surprise and sudden change in footing. Then half of them were bowled over as the tip of the Hydra formation slammed into their ranks. Whatever they had been expecting, it was not the sudden rush of hardened veteran fighters charging down the incline, gravity carrying them down faster than they would have otherwise. The fiery flash of Hydrozeno’s scimitar caused three of the enemy to fall. The trio of fallen soldiers were not dead yet. As Hydrozenomoved past them he blocked a spear thrust from another soldier with his shield and felt another spearhead glance off his leather shoulder pauldron. He paused there for a second to wait. Marcus and Diane both joined him a moment later. They had each accounted for an enemy soldier. Diane remained untouched, but Marcus had a small cut along his cheek. Three screams of terror were cut short behind the trio as the wounded Hydrozeno had left behind were crushed by what they had first assumed was just a pile of rocks. Cobblestone came crashing down, the earth trembling beneath him.

Hydrozeno counted steps, then in a well practiced maneuver he pivoted out of the center of the formation. The eyes of the two spearmen he had been facing went wide. One managed a weak thrust that did little more than leave a pale white scratch on the Cobblestone’s body of red granite. He got a broken arm for the trouble and ran. The other man had frozen in terror. Both legs were shattered and Diane put him out of his misery with her spear.

Just like that the enemy squad broke and ran. A minute later they reached the line of the true mercenary veterans who were using the chaos the fodder squads were causing to form up into strategic strikes. One company of these veterans was moving forward already. Twenty men with high quality armor and the confidence of long years of training and experience were moving toward Hydra Squad. These men knew who and what they would be facing and relished the opportunity to try and crush the famed Hydra Squad.

Hydrozeno smiled grimly as he and his squad returned to the top of the earthworks. He and his squad would be outnumbered by the veterans and it would only get worse once the three Inconquerable fodder squads finished battering the pair of Bulwark squads on the left, but Hydrozeno had his orders. Captain Octavia had given them to him personally. Hydrozeno and his squad were to hold their position at any cost. So they would hold their ground, right here in the absolute center of the battlefield until the order was given. The battle had just barely begun.

Name: Hydrozeno

Age: 23

Race: Hydrablood Elf

Mana:

Blessings:

Scimitar of Flame: Level 1 0/2 Does 1 point of fire damage

Bag of the Companion

Health Level 2 2/4 Health 2/2

Claws Level 2 2/4

Bite Level 2 3/4

Fur Level 1 1/2

Rapier of the Fallen Snow

Skills:

Health: 1/28

Base Defense: 4

Longevity: Level 4 8/16

Darkvision: Level 4 8/16

Bow Range: Level 1 0/2

Bow Damage: Level 3 3/8

Bow Accuracy: Level 3 0/8

Regeneration: Level 10 162/512 10/10 points used

Regeneration: Level 3 0/4 regain 3(4) additional health per day

Instant Regeneration: Level 3 1/4 0/3(4) healing points remaining

Regeneration of the Hydra: Level 1 0/2 Each level increases the amount of regeneration and instant regeneration by 1

Swimming: Level 3 1/8

Scimitar Accuracy: Level 3 0/8

Scimitar Damage: Level 3 0/8

Scimitar Parry: Level 2 0/4

Light Armor: Level 2 0/4

Acidic Blood: Level 1 0/2

Cooking: Level 1 0/2

Intimidation: Level 2 0/4

Poison resistance: Level 1 0/2

Shield: Level 2 0/4