"'We're going to have to hit the body,' Agrathor said. 'We can't just keep lopping off heads. It's going to have to be the heart.' But how would they get in that close?
"'Bum rush,' Axebourne said. 'We form up in a wedge and cut through. We'll just have to commit to it, since we'll probably be doubling its number of heads as we defend ourselves.'
"'Alright,' Agrathor said. 'You be the wings, I'll take point. I can stop its heart with lightning.' The others asked if he was sure. 'It's the best plan we have,' he said. So they formed up and charged.
"Human heads on snake bodies lashed at them from every direction, and the sound of slicing and thumps of severed parts filled the air. Finally they were close enough, but Agrathor had to open his eyes to be certain of his aim. One of the Hydragon's heads was waiting. It captured his gaze and he felt himself beginning to turn to stone from the feet up.
He'd been a handsome man, built like a slender tree with a shock of bright yellow hair all the ladies swooned over.
"'Take cover!' he cried to the others 'It got me, but I think I can get close en--'
"Agrathor told me he saw the final moment before darkness closed in. A thousand gorgon heads were focused on him, bringing their senseless hate to bear on him. The feeling of petrification was like having his body parts sawn off by a lumberjack, in one inch slices, each portion of flesh being ripped from the last. Trying to move was just as terrifyingly impossible as in a nightmare of paralyzation. He knew he should be able to, and he wanted to move, but he simply couldn't. His skin turned to stone first, then his muscles, and he felt his blood slow as his heart turned. His eyes went next, and he could still feel a sensation like intoxicating poison, as if all the fluid in his body had been replaced by a strong mead. He had one last thought for his friends and everything went black."
Pierce and Sev were both quiet.
"The others were in a panic. One gorgon, they could kill, but this Hydragon had just taken the best of them. If Agrathor's wild power wasn't enough, what could be? As they wracked their brains, keeping their eyes tightly shut, they began to hear a cracking sound.
"Agrathor told me the black felt endless, until it ended. He saw one green flame, dancing in the darkness, and reached with invisible hands to take hold of it. His anger at being petrified grew, and the green flame grew with it. He felt the lightning gathering in his bones, felt the vibration of the Hydragon's movement, the distant thumps of his comrades' hearts. A voice spoke to him from out of the darkness.
"'It is not yet time, child. Break free. Do not give up.' So Agrathor let his power surge, and felt the stone that had been his body began to crack. With a burst of lightning greater than any he'd ever released, he destroyed the stone shell imprisoning him, reborn. Stone flew in all directions, and the light of his power illuminated the cavern. A shockwave knocked his friends off their feet, sent gorgon heads flying backward, brought stalactites raining down from overhead. He was mere feet from the Hydragon's body, some arcane cross between a human's and a snake's. He skewered it through the chest with his spear and began to feed lightning into its heart.
"The monster screamed and flailed, but Agrathor's body was protected by an aura of electricity - it couldn't make contact. Even if it could, there was nothing left to bite or turn to stone.
"Agrathor channeled all his rage into one mighty pulse of lightning, and the Hydragon's black heart burst right through its chest, it's many foul appendages falling to the floor, twitching with receding life.
"Agrathor felt at himself, looked at his hands, arms, legs. He had not one scrap of flesh left. Only bones. He fell to his knees and wept drily. The others couldn't believe it was him, but they knew they had to."
Pierce and Sev were silent again for a while.
"He'd known taking point against the monster would be dangerous, but it wasn't the sacrifice he'd expected to make. They fully dismembered the Hydragon just to be prudent, and when they had moved its body out of the way, they found the eggs. Hundreds of them. Agrathor was still weeping, so the others set the eggs aflame, and then they left. After that, the gorgon infestation began to dwindle. Finally, it ended."
"It was the mother of all the rest," Sev said. "We heard the tales, even in the forgemaster's halls. I always wondered where they had come from. I feel... sorry for the man."
"Me too," said Pierce.
"I know what it is to feel unreal, non-organic. I myself am not entirely natural."
"Really?" said Pierce. He'd always wondered about forgemasters, but he hadn't wanted to press Sev.
"Do you wonder at my stature?" Sev asked. Pierce nodded. "We are both gen and Monstrosity. Does that surprise you?"
"Absolutely," said Pierce, eyes wide. At one time, he might have felt threatened, but this was Sev.
"For this reason, many think us simple," said Sev.
"You're not dumb, Sev," Pierce said.
"Thank you, friend," Sev smiled flatly. "You are not either."
The pair went back to watching the moon slide across the sky. Not a sound pierced the dark of night over the ruined city.
"And thank you for the tale," Sev said.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Blue
Morning came, and the red sun rose. Pierce could see its tendrils flicking about on either side of a ruined building across the street as if it were trying to climb the wreckage.
Nothing had changed at the fortress. It was still shut tight. No one had come to hunt for Sev, nor had any force been released to deal with the battle's
