Whitecaps smashed along the riverbed. The once calm waters I had traveled to town on were now vicious rapids. Water leapt and growled as it splashed along the shore.

“How long before the river becomes passable?” I asked the barge master. My fingers clutched my report that was already past due. I was supposed to notify the order when I arrived in the village, but was unable to. The witch had shown herself immediately upon my arrival and bolted for the forest.

I’m sure having been unconscious for so long hadn’t made my situation any better. There was already enough quarreling at the order over my age. Many believed that I needed more experience before becoming ordained.

“No way of knowing,” said Kelwyn Murphy, who managed the river barge company on both ends of the river. “I haven’t seen it flood this high in a long time. With the size of the lighting storm I saw in the mountains the other night, it could be days or even a week.”

My eyes darted to something dark moving under the rapids. Like a large branch or some other kind of debris, the shape moved swiftly. The only problem was the direction. It was moving against the current, straight at us.

“Sir, I need you to get back inside right now.” The parchment abandoned my fingers for the wind as I gripped my sword. Luckily, the man obeyed, and he scurried away.

Black scales rose from the river. The sunlight, which glistened brightly off the water’s surface, refused to shine in the droplets covering the creature. The fire in the creature's eyes was the only light to escape the black abyss of its skin.

The giant serpent coiled up onto the shore, leaving its tail in the river. Most aes sídhe were similar to humans in intelligence, but a few were said to be born of the elements. The beithir that appeared before me was a creature born of lighting and hatred.

Its gaze was almost mesmerizing, without the power of my amulet I would have frozen under the enchanted fear. Pressure squeezed around my waist. Fighting the serpent’s charm had distracted me from seeing the beithir’s tail sneaking out of the water.

My blade slashed through the armored scales with ease and released me from its grip. A sharp hiss echoed around me. I dodged as fangs pierced the air where I had been a split second before. The creature’s strikes were too fast to counter, but not impossible to avoid.

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I thanked my luck that the beast was driving me further on land, away from the riverbank. Fiery eyes rose high above the ground. Doing my best to keep those eyes in the corner of my vision, I looked to see what the rest of the body was doing.

A bitter curse escaped my lips. Malice and rage pulsed through the air. The stub I had cut touched the severed tail, and the two merged back into one. This time, the hiss that echoed was laughing.

Fangs tore through the air toward me. A parry from my sword deflected them, but didn’t cut the bone. The black tail slithered around behind me, even as the head continued its assault. No matter how many times I cut the tail, the beithir would always reattach the lost appendage.

My blade severed the tail yet again, and I pressed my attack for the head. The aes sídhe beast blocked my swipe with its midsection. The dance continued and a flurry of bites drove me back. This time, while the dark serpent had two parts to mend, I turned and ran for the trees. Perhaps the mighty trunks would give me more cover to defend myself.

The ancient forest rose around me, timber thicker than the vile creature pursuing me. Draping vines coated a half fallen tree. The living curtain parted to let me in and hide me. My breath held tight in my lungs as my eyes peered into the darkness.

Blazing eyes crept slowly into the treeline. A forked tongue tasted the air, searching for my scent. My organic shroud did little to mask my location. The gloom of the forest did wonders to hide the obsidian scales.

My back pressed against the boulder that held up the collapsed tree. I closed my eyes in prayer for the briefest of moments. A deep breath filled my starving lungs.

“Bring peace to the lost lambs.”

The quietest of whispers began my chant. Against such a powerful minion of the dark gods, only the aid of the true gods could grant me victory. Only their mercy could guide my blade to strike down an incarnation of spite.

“Silence the roars of the bear.”

The alchemical silver runes lit up the length of my cold iron blade. The holy blade forged to eradicate evil burned with increasing brightness. The light mocked the dim flames of the serpent’s eyes.

“Crush the head of the treacherous viper.”

My words rose, taunting the full ire of the being born from anger. A shrieking hiss rang in my ears. I stood firmly in place, as close to the massive rock as I could. My voice strengthened, challenging the beast to do its worst.

“Rain final judgement upon all evil in this realm.”

Fiery globes burst through the vines. Fangs stretched to reach me. Like a bolt of lighting the beithir struck, smashing its head into the rock where I had been.

“Amen”

My blade carved through the base of stunned serpent’s head and into the soil below. Before it could reform, I pulled a bottle of iron powder from my sheath and released it into the air around the stub. The cold iron mixed with the grim ichor that pulsed in the beithir’s veins. Both head and body thrashed about, trying to melt back together.

The head made a desperate leap toward me. Sword no longer in hand, I was defenseless against the cruel fangs. One venomous fang lodged itself into my shoulder as it dissolved into nothing but ash and bone. No blood escaped the wound. The area around the wound was already stone. The rest of my body would soon follow.

“You’re a troublesome one aren’t you? Not even a week and I have to treat you twice for imminent death.”