This Never Happened (Olympus Drive Chronicles)

Part 11 - Heaven's Fire

Gale drops me into a couple of feet of water. I feel rain on my back.

"Was that really necessary?" I ask, straightening up, preparing to be properly annoyed with the devil. We're standing on a sandbar, off the coast of god knows where. I can see lights on shore. Juno and Dara are there, with Ian, holding lanterns. Juno looks ready to pull away, but Dara whispers in her ear, staying her. It's dark, night I suppose---? Or just stormy. The clouds are thick and dense above us, blocking any light from moon or sun.

Gale lowers his head, something like sadness on his satanic features. He points behind me, off into the ocean, where a dark shape is rising up. For a moment I think that it's a dragon. But no, I wouldn't be so lucky. Instead, it is  serpent like monster, with dozens of heads, glittering rows of double teeth, and glowing yellow eyes. All of the eyes focus on us.

"We—w—we-w—w-w—w-e go," Gale holds out his left hand. In his right he holds a glowing bronze sword. "D-d-d—d-on------n—ne-n-enenene—e-nenevver come----never come back."

"But I'm supposed to fight this thing?" I confirm.

He nods, tears almost in his eyes, he keeps the hand out, "N—nn-e—never come back. We---we—we-w-we go. We—go. Go---with----go with—go me. g—g—go away."

I look back at shore. Juno stands there, waiting for me.

"No, give me the sword," I say, shaking my head.

"You-c—c—c-can't---can't kill it--------------Isa—Isa---sent," he hands me the sword, "But—b-ut---but---you can't."

"Then I'll die trying," I say, taking the sword from him. He glares at me then vanishes.

I turn out into the waves to face the monster.

Dara's voice, somehow, echoes through my brain: to kill it you must cut off the heads but when you cut off one, two more will grow. You have to cauterize the wound

"Great. I have no way of doing that," looks like I'm going to die trying.

The creature lunges almost before I'm ready. I roll and duck, but don't get a slice in. When I come back up for air I chop wildly, nearly severing a head, two more heads sprout in its place, which I slice off as well. So combat training with tiny girls with big knives did pay off. I'm much more fluid with the sword than I otherwise would have been.

That's not going to save me, but it does make me feel moderately more competent while I die.

Dara was right, I do increase the number of heads by beheading. Okay. So that's not the way to kill it then? Possibly I can just stab or cut it and it will eventually die?

That turns out to be a no as well.

More than once teeth lash my skin only for me to drive the sword into an eye to ward the monster away. Only for another head to come snaking at me. I've lost count of them. Forget it. At least when I was beheading I had some small peace while the heads were little and it regrew. This way they're all big and attempting to eat me at once.

I slash the heads off, right and left. Not strictly making my situation better, but little heads are easier to behead. There is one main evil head that I've never gotten a good hit on, and it seems to be the  main brain, and it wants to eat me the most as well.

I slash off a head, only for another to grab me by the foot and start dragging me backward. I flip over, swinging my sword wildly in a desperate attempt to hit flesh that isn't my own. Blessedly, I catch the creature's snout, giving myself enough leeway to wriggle free. I hop up, preparing to fend off the heads that I just severed, only for my eyes to be struck with a blinding light.