To my utter joy, I finally became eighteen years old. My happiness was not unto becoming an adult, but that I could finally join the Sisterhood. I spent the past four years talking, planning, and praying with the sisters of my local church. Never before had I felt such a connection and love. Of course, my family loved me with all their hearts, but the closeness I felt with the sisters was so much more.

We decided it was best to find a quaint community for my postulancy. There was an adorable little village in Europe, right on the border of Lithuania and Poland. Their trade focused on Sheep and a sister recently passed from the flu. They had requested a volunteer to assist in the workload since the other sisters were ever so old.

I couldn't wait to pack up and depart. I was no stranger to hard work and my late father instilled a strong Christian work ethic. My youthful passion was... a bit naïve, as all are. The work suited me fine and the people were so, so sweet. However, I had forgotten one tiny detail, I didn't speak a lick of their language!

The mother superior, bless her, knew enough English to help me learn, but such a hurdle was no match for my iron clad faith, if you'll forgive the pride. The days were as simple as they were tough. Wake up even earlier than I was used to, and believe me I was no lay-about! I assisted in feeding the many chores each day, mostly the heavy lifting or more back breaking of the work.

Me and the sisters got along like bark on a tree. Every day was a blessed blur of hard work and worship. I prayed every night for me father's soul, my mother and brother's health, and forgiveness for my sister's sinful choices. Though she lacked the religious zeal of the rest of our family, she at least allowed me to convince her to baptize her little babe. Cute as a button my nephew.

I thought of him and my little brother every day as I cared for the little ones in the village. I missed them ever so much. It was challenging, but by keeping my faith in the Lord strong, I strode on. Soon, I settled neatly into my strange new home and time flew by until I was finally allowed to make my oaths. While I was skilled at several vocations, I decided to give my all to the Lord and become cloistered.

~Sister Rosewood

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We crept silently, me and Asha. We left Liara and April behind as they were the least stealthy of us. While I would be more silent in my blood mist form, I was worried about the scent of blood alerting whatever called this section of forest home. A downside to the otherwise convenient power.

We snuck from bush to bush, thankfully there was no shortage of underbrush to hide in. It only took a couple of minutes to find the beast. It was huge putting all the other giants we saw to shame. Wrapped around the trunk of one of the smaller trees, it was a snake that was at least a mile long.

The serpent was slumbering, content that it was safe in its territory. It was an uneven mixtures of greens meant to camouflage in the leaves above. The scales were pointed and slightly curled like a bush viper. It had a large rounded crest from the top of its head down where its neck would be on a legged animal. The crest was pressed almost flat as it slept.

Asha sucked her teeth, "Shit, that's not good."

I glanced to her and whispered back, "You know what that thing is?"

She nodded gravely, "Pretty sure, at least. If it is what I think it is, it might be best to find another spot."

"I dunno, this seems like the perfect spot. There was water that had to be safe since that thing is right next to it. There' s plenty of open land to expand and minimal foliage we'll have to clear out. What is it?"

"If I'm not wrong, that thing is a Hydra."

I stared, "That thing Heracles fought?" She nodded and I asked, "So, we just need to avoid cutting off its head?"

"Depends on whether its a monster or not. A monster Hydra regenerates and grows heads that are cut off, natural Hydras grow heads as they age. Since that only has one head, I'm pretty sure its natural, plus monster Hydras tend to be smaller."

I let out a sigh, "Silver linings, I guess."

She smirked humorlessly, "You'd think, huh? No, some creatures are more dangerous than their monstrous cousins. Hydras are one of them. Don't underestimate it."

"Yeah, kind of hard to underestimate a snake that could swallow a T-rex." She chuckled at that and we got to planning. We would go with a similar plan to when we took down the Viper Mantis back in Nashville. She would distract and take cheap shots using her illusions while I tank and deal the heavy damage. It would go easier with Liara, but she needed to protect April.

Right as we were about in enact our plan, the slumbering beast awoke and looked around. I was worried it detected us, but it just yawned, its mouth opened wide, spreading out. As I expected, it had a snake-like jaw where its lower jaw was split, what I hadn't expected was the inner pharyngeal jaw. That was a bit disturbing. While still wrapped around the trunk, it stretched out its huge head over to the large pond and drank.

Unlike the stagnant pond that housed the bus sized croc, this one was fed by a decent sized creek that continued downhill to our left. It drank its fill before partially unwrapping itself from the tree. We felt panic, but breathed a sigh of relief when it looked like it was just getting more comfortable. It looked around one last time and settled back down. Once its eyes were closed and it was breathing steadily, we crept forward.

Despite what Asha warned, we definitely underestimated the big snake. We were a few yards from where we wanted to strike, when without warning, the damned thing lashed out, bashing its truck sized head into me, I flew back and slammed into a tree with enough force to crack the wood and partially embed myself in the bark.

Dazed, I saw it rear up, easily a hundred feet in the air with plenty more of the length wrapped around the tree. It bellowed a challenge to us, the damn serpent had detected us and pretended to be asleep! I shook my head to clear the cobwebs as Asha tried to enact our plan. She cast her Darkness spell over the Hydra's head.

She succeeded, much to the annoyance of the Hydra. A hazy sphere of inky blackness appeared over the Hydra's head, it was barely big enough to cover its eyes, unfortunately. However, this allowed me recover enough to activate my Crimson Revival Dao spell. This allowed a charge of healing to burst forth from a reservoir dedicated for the spell.

I took a ragged gasp as I clarity sprang forth with the healing power and I could feel my ribcage crack into place. Alright, plan B. I summoned my armor and dissolved into mist, flying towards the behemoth. I dodged a wild swing of its tail and reformed into my full Regalia, scythe included.

I swung down on the beast's head, where I guessed its eye would be and nearly broke my hand from the reverberation. Those damn scales are as tough as tungsten. I growled in frustrations and dropped to avoid the retaliatory snap of its jaws. A glance towards Asha saw her strain from the effort of maintaining the spell.

"Is the Darkness spell that draining?" I shouted as I blasted the snake with blood spikes. They merely shattered against the tough scales.

"Not normally, but I'm covering a large area and constantly moving it. It's a lot harder than just placing the spell in a static area!"

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"Well, keep it up for a bit longer, I've got an idea!" I summoned concentrated hard and strained just like Asha. I flooded a Blood Clone construct with blood condensing as much as I could. It finally formed and after giving it a final gift, I grasped its wrist and flung it at the screeching maw of the serpent. It flapped its wings and I called out, "Alright, drop it!" Like dropping a heavy load, Asha collapsed to her knees, gasping. The Darkness blinked out of existence and the first thing the Hydra saw was a bite sized humanoid flying at it. With a tremendous CRACK of displaced air, the jaws snapped shut on the clone and I grinned beneath my helmet.

Just like with the toad, I snapped my fingers and the clone exploded into thousands of barbed needles. Those needles were cursed with my Hemorrhage and Blood Decay spells. One would increase the rate of bleeding, would cause the blood to necrotize. Unfortunately, it would be rather slow, especially with a creature of that size.

The Hydra was convulsing in agony and disgorged a deluge of blackening blood. No longer blinded, it locked on to the only targets for its ire, us. I shot several bolts of blood at it, hoping to distract it from Asha. Given that I was a dead ringer for the morsel that blew up in its throat, it decided I was to blame. Fair enough, I suppose.

A constant stream of blood flowed from its gullet, staining its verdant scales red-black. The sickly scent of rotting blood filled the air as it completely abandoned its relaxed coil around the tree. It was no longer treating us as a minor annoyance, we were now a threat. About time.

It flared its crest adding an impressive ten feet to its height and filled the membrane with blood. The crest flushed red in an intimidation display. It opened its mouth wide and roared, I met it in kind with a yell of my own and summoned as much power as I could. I activated my Chains That Bind spell and flooded it with mana.

Blood red chains formed and pinned the Hydra down. It hissed and thrashed, I winced at the strain on my mind. While focusing on immobilizing it, Asha cast Gentle Sleep on it. She wouldn't be able to put it to sleep, but it would make its movements sluggish. Every bit helped.

I strode towards the snapping jaws of the Hydra and when I nearly entered striking distance, I summoned three large tendrils that wrapped the upper and lower jaws, prying them open. The strain was immense and I felt a warm liquid flow from my nose and ears. I grimaced and wrestled with the powerful serpent.

I changed my scythe to a blade and summoned two Pestilence Clones. It was nearly too much and black spots formed in my vision. I smashed my willpower on my multiple spells and got to work. The two clones entered the towering maw and wreaked havoc down its throat.

This was the final straw for the Hydra. With a mighty heave, it snapped the chains, but didn't manage to tear away from the flexible tendrils of congealed blood. I could roughly sense where my clones were in the body and assuming it was anything similar to a snake, they should be near the heart. I couldn't do my cool snap as I had to dodge the whip-like tail. Wherever those scales made impact, jagged cuts would be gouged.

As I willed the clones to detonate I looked for Asha and saw she decided to go invisible. I grinned, I'd give her a hard time for that. Instead of a controlled explosion meant to inflict as much of a debuff as I could, these clones would explode in large spears of blood laced. Of course, being Pestilence Clones they would still advance the afflictions.

To my shock, though visibly lethargic, the blasted Hydra was still alive. I had to give it to the beast, it deserved to be an Apex. Unfortunately, I was tapped dry. I was huffing heavily as the tendrils keeping its mouth open turned to sludge. I depleted a good chunk of my blood supply and nearly all my mana.

The Hydra could barely lift its head, but it still managed. It glared down at me, hatred and defiance, glowered in its eyes. It refused to move or flee. Which may not be odd, powerful creatures often refuse to give up their territory in nature. No, what was strange was the fact it refused to get too far from the tree. My spidey-senses were tingling.

It looked to be on its last legs and I noticed its scales lost a lot of its color and sheen. I used the last dregs of my mana to summon my scythe and cracked my neck. Time to finish this oversized danger noodle.

Moving at a fraction of its previous speed, it lashed out at me with its tail. Though it was slower, it only went from fast as a lightning strike to as fast as a bullet. This was to say, I could barely block it. I was too exhausted to actually try dodging the blows. Unfortunately, it was using its thin tail so no matter how much I blocked, it would whip around and lash me. My armor kept me from getting cut up, but the brute force went through, slowly pulping me.

It was rough keeping my final reserves back so I could stave off death as a last resort. I needed to end this quickly. Asha reentered the battle at just the right moment, she shed her invisibility and cast a mixture of her Pillar spell Realm of Terror and her Bastian spell Manifestation to batter the Hydra with its worst fears.

I couldn't see what was harming the Hydra, but when a gash opened up in its neck, I saw my opening. I unfurled my wings and took off. I would expend the last of my strength in this blow. I wouldn't even have enough blood left for a burst of healing as I extended my blade's reach. With a mighty heave, my scythe bit deep into the Hydra's neck. The previously impenetrable scales only gave the barest amount of resistance as I tried to decapitate the Hydra.

I was disappointed to see it didn't go all the way through. A chunk of flesh and skin kept the head attached to the body as it flopped to the ground with a resounding thud. I fell flat on my back in exhaustion and grumbled, "Damn it. You're supposed to kill Hydras by beheading them."

I saw Asha's face appear above me, her brow raised, "You seriously complaining that you didn't get to kill a powerful creature of legends a certain way?"

Not able to move I dismissed my armor, revealing my sorry state. "I have way too many broken bones to be snarky. I think there's a rib in my liver. I don't even know how that's possible."

She sighed and walked away saying, "I'll go get you some blood."

I closed my eyes and groaned in pain, "Please and thank you." Likely noticing the rampant battle had gone quiet, around five minutes later, April and Liara emerged from the woods to see me nursing a canteen full of Hydra blood while resting my back on the giant serpent corpse. I offered a tired wave. April gawked at the massive creature and refused to get any closer.

I chuckled, "You know its dead, yeah?"

Not taking her eyes off the head she shot back, "And a rattlesnake's head can still kill you after cutting it off. What is that thing?"

I thought pigs would fly as I saw Liara's impressed gaze. She answered, "That, April, is a Juvenile Crested Forest Hydra."

I spit out some of its blood (cured of my afflictions of course). "You're telling me that thing was a kid? It's like a mile long!"

She nodded, her look one of begrudging respect, "Indeed. Even the young of Hydras are a dangerous foe. You will find the grown ones high upon the Canopy, several times larger than this one. However, even defeating one that recently left the nest is worthy of accolades. I suppose I should congratulate you on surviving. It wouldn't do to ruin the Goddess's plans with your untimely design.

I opened my mouth to retort but just gave her a thumbs up. Finally sure the head wouldn't start snapping at her, April approached. "So is this the place?"

I let out a derisive chuckle, "Ha! It hurts to laugh... I hope so, I don't want to go through another fight like that anytime soon."

She grinned crookedly, "I'd say, y'all's raised a ruckus. I could feel the tremors from way back there. Does seem like a pretty neat spot. What are we gonna do with the... body."

I looked up at the wall of scales above me and back to April. I took a sip of my canteen and shrugged. She cocked a brow, and I added, "Can't fit it in my storage space. It's big, not that big."

"Forget the critters it'll attract, that thing starts rotting and there'll be big problems." We looked to our magic experts.

Liara crossed her arms, "Do not look to me, wretch. My power flows from the Goddess's embrace. My own strength is that of the blade."

All three of us stared at Asha who sighed, "Thankfully, the Forest Hydra isn't poisonous. Deathly venomous, sure, but it's meat is fine. It'll provide plenty of food for a long time. Its scales are extremely durable even without its enhancement power."

I snapped my fingers, "So that's why I couldn't get through it at first."

She nodded, "We definitely need to get you into the Bastian stage. We can't get you getting taken out in a single hit every meaningful fight. If it weren't for that broken healing ability you'd probably be dead."

"And you too."

She scoffed, "As if I'd stick around to take out something that can take you out. In any case, we can cut this into manageable sections and use compression rituals so we can store them. Its offal is useful for alchemy." Ugh, this was going to suck.