Strena The Youngest Slayer Arc Part Five

 The Hydra

Strena was at the board again. She looked at the upon and wanted to pick a job that would get her straight to the job and not another lesson from Zaryb. So she took a job that Zaryb had already taught her about. This gave her confidence when she took it. She soon was making her way to the table. She had noticed that people were looking at her from the corner of the eye. Their looks were strange and yet hard to read. Yet there was one thing that they, regardless of how well they tried, could not hide and that was fear. She one that it was not of Zaryb but of her. Yet she did not mind as much as she knew that she should have.

"I-is that her?"

"Yes."

"Is-is it true, that she's a fully fledged bounty hunter and assassin"

"So I hear."

"But she's too young! How old is she?"

"I turned ten a couple of days ago!" She called over to them.

They all looked at her completely horrified. Then they forced themselves to mask their emotions. They then turned back to their conversation. They spoke quieter and tried their best to not look at her. She shook her head as she sat at the table.

"Here!"

Zaryb looked at the slip of paper and smirked.

"Do you remember what I said about this creature?"

"I do. You did make me write it down."

"Good."

She then started to reread it.

Save Us From The Hydra

A Hydra had appeared three weeks ago in my

kingdom Grebiblesshart.

I sent my best men and knights to kill the 

beast but the creature killed them all, despite 

bringing back four heads. They proved no match.

Even I have tried to kill the beast, which I almost 

lost my life in doing so. However my survival came at

the cost of my left leg and right hand. It was only

by the grave of the Great Being that I survived.

Please we are desperate and do send your best!

The Serving King

King Choriz

"King Choriz hur? This ought to be interesting!" Zaryb can't with that evil smile of his.

"You know him?"

"I've heard of him. He's a follower of a new god known simply as The Great Being."

She nodded.

"Right." 

She soon dug into her breakfast. She soon finished and then ran upstairs. She packed as quickly as she could. She then made sure not to miss a thing. She was soon at the door, to her surprise, Zaryb did not beat her. She soon saw Zaryb coming down the stairs. He had a troubled look on his face.

"I beat you!" She said childishly.

He rolled his eyes.

"Seems that you have!" He said as he trapped her on the head.

"What was that for?"

"Being childish."

"But I am a child!"

"Oh, yeah!" He said tapping her again.

"What now?"

"Grow up faster."

"I don't know if that is possible Matter Zaryb." She said as they left.

He shrugged and they took the public carriage. Strena kept herself to herself as she read the notes that she had taken. Once she had done that she then turned her attention to her sword. She stroked it as she thought about what people had said about it.

I wonder what sword this is. Why do people make such a fuss about me being able to wield it? I am pretty sure that all that would become clear if I learn its name yet I do not think that I have the time to think about that.

Looked up at Zaryb. She put it back into its scabbard. Out of boredom she started playing with her bracelet. She had noticed that the bracelet had grown with her wrist. Yes she looked at get coat and how that had started to get harder to get into.

"Master Zaryb, I need a new coat."

He looked at her and nodded.

"Yeah."

They then got off at the kingdom. They soon made their way to the castle and soon in front of the king. He had replaced his leg with a wooden stick. Which made him look like a strange cross between a pirate and a caring benevolent king. Yet the moment that Strena looked at him, she felt a strange peace and warmth like none other than she had ever known before. It was like there was something about him that immediately put her at ease. She could feel like there was a light in her dark world.

"I see that you are the slayers that have taken my job."

She nodded.

Yet she took a glance at Zaryb who was looking pale and was shaking slightly. However there was a strange look on his face. It was almost like a wild animal that was trying to make himself look bigger than it actually was. Yet he looked scarred in a way that she did not understand.

"You will free this man." He said to Zaryb.

He then looked at Strena.

"Light will twin to your dark world and life. You, who will lead the one that will expose the truth of the gods, will do so at a price."

She frowned.

"Alright, where's the Hydra!" She asked, wanting to get things back on track.

"In the east of the kingdom."

She nodded.

"Thank you."

She walked out of the cattle. She then walked to the alcohol shop.

"Why are we coming here? Especially after that first time!"

She laughed.

"To make the thing easier to kill." She said as she turned to the shopkeeper. "How many heads does the Hydra have?"

"Eight."

She then bought sixteen wine bottles, beer bottles and rum bottles. She then put them in her backpack. She then bought eight barrels. She had to ask for help to carry them.

"Honestly girl, what is all of this for?"

She smirked.

"You'll see!"

He frowned.

"I seriously hope that you're not planning on fighting that thing drunk."

"No, well yes but I'm not going to be the drunk one."

"Then we will need moonshine too."

"And how much is that?"

He chuckled.

"Good point."

She smiled as he guided her to another alcohol shop that was tucked away. There they bought more beer and rum. They were then back on their way. They soon came to the cave and she was glad to put the barrels down. She soon started to fill the barrels. As she filled the fifth barrel the Hydra came out. She then filled the sixth barrel, forcing herself to ignore the Hydra being closer and closer. She filled the seventh and was starting to fill the eighth when it arrived. It looked at her as she filled the final barrel.

She then turned to it and bestowed that it was for the Hydra. They looked at the barrels and sniffed. One looked at her suspiciously, but one was already drinking away. Once the head had finished, she then refilled the barrel. Then the suspicious head drank up. That was when the others drank their barrel. She then quickly refilled barrel after barrel. They soon gulped it all down. She then refilled the barrels again. She soon ran out of wine and she moved onto the beer. They all gulped it down again and again until age ran out of beer before she moved onto the rum. She watched them carefully as the creature started to sway. She then spotted that the heads were starting to sway and the legs were wobbling. She smirked as she refilled the barrels with the rum. Once the rum was gone she had the creature completely drunk.

This gave her her chance. She ran under the creature and drew out her sword and cut into the stomach and ran forward. She drove the sword along the upper abdomen right down to between the legs, slicing off the reproductive organs and cleaned the blade. It then roared out in pain as she ran to the center and cut to the left and the right. Yet it then collapsed on her. Fortunately she was in the center of the open wound. Unfortunately she was in the stomach. It stunk and was hot. She let out a scream as the stomach acid touched her skin. 

She bit her lip as she ran to the curve of the stomach. She then stabbed the wall again and again,  she could feel the acid burn her feet. She bit her lip as she forced herself to hack at the stomach. She started to sweat as the blood fell by her. Yet she had to continue chopping at the side. She started to find it hard to breathe as she chopped on. She found it harder and harder to breathe as she kept hacking. Soon she found that her strength was starting to fail her. The air was so thin and this caused her mind to become faint. Her sword fell and she collapsed. She tried to get up but she could not. Her mind was being dim and her vision became blurry. She heard scrapping and a hand pulled her out.

"Strena! Strena!" She heard Zaryb call.

Her vision came into focus and it must have been her imagination but he looked worried.

"Arielsa!"

"D-did you call me by my real name?"

He chuckled as he hugged her but very briefly. He then pulled away and punched her.

"Never do that again."

"Try not to."

She had to get Zaryb's help as she collected her bounty.