Devoid

Hydra pt3

Zeldris turned even paler when he saw the giant armored body, the great webbed wings, and, most of all, the nine heads. "Hydra," he breathed, in terrified awe of the beast before him. It was obviously very old. A Hydra was born with two heads and one more grew every 1000 years the Hydra lived. This Hydra was at least 7000 years old. Seven times the typical lifespan of a Demon. The scales were a deep purple and the eyes of each head were a different color. The heads with the gold, turquoise, and gray eyes were looking at them, while the other six looked around. He was staring at them when his brother stepped in front of him, obscuring his view. He stumbled back, having been completely mesmerized.

Meliodas began speaking to the Hydra in Ancient Demonic. "Ancient One," he hissed. "Thou must knoweth how close thou art to the Realm. Why hast thou strayeth this far from thy nest?" The Hydra responded with a series of hisses, clicks, and snaps that Zeldris couldn't understand. But Meliodas obviously did, because his body stilled completely in a way that said that attack was imminent and the threat had best tread lightly. "Ancient One, turneth back and returneth to thy nest. I wish not to fight thee." A menacing growl came from the mighty creature that Zeldris did not need to look at his brother to get the gist of. The Hydra was staying and Meliodas had no choice but to fight it.

"Zeldris!" Meliodas yelled in Common Tongue as he powered up, his hair flying wildly as his darkness spread and covered his upper body. "Get out of here! Use your darkness and shield yourself! And stay out of my way!" Feathered wings sprung from his back and Zeldris was flung back as a massive wave of power surged from his brother. He watched in shock as Meliodas launched himself into the air, just as the gray-eyed head spit acid at the spot he'd been standing. The acid spread far, coming to at least a foot from where he was. The grass that had been there vaporized right before Zeldris's eyes. Now, there was a steaming hole there and he could hear sizzling as the acid bore farther and farther into the earth.

That woke him up from his stupor. He hurriedly got to his feet and created a shield of darkness around him and rocketed himself into the air. Once he was high enough to avoid getting hit, he stopped and used the darkness to create a platform he could sit on. He watched his brother grab the Hydra's tail and easily lift it to toss it on its back. Zeldris's eyes were the size of plates at that feat. The forest wasn't at all tiny, the trees reached almost 700 feet tall. But the Hydra dwarfed the trees and his brother was throwing that monster around like a rag doll. Meliodas summoned his giant broadsword and went to cut the reptile's stomach open. Zeldris tensed to the point he was shaking, wondering if his brother would end this so quickly.

But that ended up not being the case. One minute, Meliodas was above the Hydra, the next, he disappeared from Zeldris's sightline, as the Hydra spit acid at the spot he'd been occupying. Both the Hydra and Zeldris looked around, trying to find him. Then, out of nowhere, Meliodas appeared and chopped off the head that had tried to spit on him. The beast screamed in pain as Hellfire burned the stump. Zeldris leaned farther over the edge of his platform, amazed by his brother's skills. Before, he'd thought that their father was the only one with more power than the ancient dragon. But, his brother's power had risen to be equal to it. He's so powerful, Zeldris thought. Will I...ever be like that?

The Hydra got to its feet and started swinging its heads around wildly, jagged teeth snapping at thin air as Meliodas expertly weaved through them. Two other heads came off and the stumps were engulfed in black and red flames. Zeldris watched as his brother continued to take the Hydra apart piece by piece, always a few inches away from the snarling mouths. Zeldris laughed. "Go get them, brother!" Meliodas shot above the heads and looked up, scowling at the younger prince. "SHUT UP!!" Zeldris winced and backed away from the edge of his platform. "Oh, crap," he muttered. "Now he's angry at me again."

Both brothers were so distracted with each other, they didn't notice the Hydra staring at the dark platform above it. Green and red eyes narrowed and both heads spit acid towards Meliodas. He easily noticed and spun out of the way. The acid flew past him, farther from him than it should have been. Meliodas scowled, wondering what was going on. Either it's way off target from having three of its heads chopped off and burned or... His eyes widened as he realized the Hydra's true target. "ZELDRIS!!!" He screamed.

Zeldris started at the sound of his name and began to move to look over the side. "Brother, what–" The acid hit, creating a hole in his darkness. Zeldris, in shock from the unexpected attack, lost control over his darkness and the platform dissipated, causing him to fall through the air. The feeling of free-falling through the sky made his stomach drop and his hearts pound out of control. He couldn't find the presence of mind to create wings. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, he thought frantically as he flailed around wildly.

Meliodas watched his little brother fall from the sky, cursing. Zeldris obviously didn't have the experience he needed to activate his powers even when he was in a moment of complete mental distress. He flexed his wings, going to go catch him, but before he could, the Hydra once again took advantage of his distraction and slapped him out of the air with one of its own wings. Shit...let my guard down, he thought as he dragged himself out of the crater he had created hitting the forest floor. A childish mistake. He immediately had to dodge multiple acid attacks. If that hits me...it's not going to be good.

Zeldris landed hard on the ground. "Shiiiiit," he hissed, pushing himself up and putting his back against the cliffside beside him. Nothing was broken, but he knew he'd definitely feel that later. This wasn't the first time he'd fallen from the sky. He pushed himself up slowly. Before him, the tides had turned in the fight between Meliodas and the Hydra. The Hydra had gotten him on the ground and without the freedom of movement the sky gave him, Meliodas was struggling to dodge on the littered floor of the destroyed forest. He had to compensate for the fact that there were many downed trees and the rubble made it hard to move.

Damn it. Zeldris gritted his teeth. This is my fault. If I hadn't distracted him, the Hydra wouldn't have been able to pin him. I have to do something! He continued to watch the fight and try to find a way in to where he could help his older brother. If I try to get in between them, I'll die. Either by acid, teeth, or sword, that's guaranteed not to end well for me. So an attack from behind would be best. He tried to figure out the best target to do damage to and not die. Wings? No, I just saw those cut through the tree line. The legs are small compared to its massive body and it doesn't seem to move them much. But those scales are so thick, I doubt anything I can muster at my age and skill level would be good enough to pierce them. And getting any closer to those heads isn't smart. I'm too slow to dodge an attack, especially with this terrain. So what can I do?

He growled, frustrated with his powerlessness. Then, a light turned on in his head. The tail!! He thought excitedly. It doesn't seem to use it to attack and this entire time, it's just been dragging it limply behind it as it's chased Meliodas! And the scales are more fragile there as well! Perfect! He crouched down and channeled Hellfire into his right hand. Then, he launched himself towards the Hydra and stabbed his Hellfire-coated hand straight through its tail, the scales offering little resistance. Yes! He grinned triumphantly as the Hydra screamed in pain. He saw Meliodas suddenly appear above it's heads.

Zeldris almost called out to him, but Meliodas beat him to it. "You idiot! Get away–" Suddenly, the tail he was sitting on lifted from the ground and he only had the chance to think Ohhhh...I fucked up before the tail whipped to the side. It threw him off and sent him flying towards the cliff. He hit it neck first on a stone jutting out of the cliff face. There was a horrible crack as his neck snapped and he fell to the ground, motionless. His gaze went dark and the last thing he heard before he lost consciousness was a wordless scream of rage.