Hunters

5. Hydra

This would be quite different from their normal routine but since when could anything they did be considered as 'normal'.

They had been employed to eradicate a Hydra, so far so good. Hydras were not as unusual as one might think. At least not in their line of work.
Doing this in the underground dungeons beneath the city of Neapel was much less common.

It was normal for the smaller creatures to infest such networks, but a full grown Hydra was something else. The beast had apparently broken free from its quarters and made its way down.
A local official had kept it in his stables and one day, as it was being fed, it swallowed its keepers and escaped outside.

Some very influential people had approached the guild just a few days later and requested someone to get rid of the problem, discreetly of course...

Considering the huge amount of money that had been offered it had come to no surprise to either of them that it had only been a matter of two days before they had been tracked down by the guild master's 'personal assistant'.
An inside joke really.

Their small break was cut even shorter, not that it was the first time something like this had happened.

Anyway, that was the short backstory of how the twins had ended up in the famous sewers of Neapel.
To Kora it seemed more like a health hazard than anything as the murky water sloshed over the edge of her boots.

Eren glanced at her once more as she sighed. She had been quite happy about the trip until they had entered one of the partially flooded tunnels. The first part of their downward journey had been coloured in a vast spectrum of curses, some of which even Eren hadn't heard yet.
She had calmed down eventually, but not without maintaining an air of lingering irritation around her.

Her problem wasn't the stench permeating the area.
No, the origin of her dismay were her boots and the aquatic creatures now residing inside of them. If she hated one thing, then it was wet feet and unidentifiable things nibbling at them.
Not to forget that she had bought the shoes only yesterday.

"There is some more.", Eren suddenly said and pointed up ahead.
There was a dark wet stain on the right wall, barely visible in the dim light.

"You must have gotten her good. Barely any blood in the water, but enough on the walls to still keep track."

Kora kicked the water and frowned even harder as her action resulted in even more water seeping into her shoes.
"Not that that would help with my boots or anything.", she grumbled
"Sure. Whatever you say.", Eren replied defeatedly.

His sister gave him a mocking look.
"Seriously, it is a mystery to me how you were ever chosen by a god.
You do not have an ounce of compassion in you.."

She felt an abrupt pain on the back of her head.
"Hey!", she complained and tried to hit him back, but he avoided her with ease.

"Be careful.", he said evenly, "You are becoming predictable."
Kora glared at him and growled.
"Let us get out of here before I drown you."

"However much I would look forward to it I think we should postpone such measures until we hunted down our poisonous friend. It would be quite tragic if you could not live to celebrate your triumph."

Kora just pushed him aside and stepped into the next tunnel only to be doused in a gush of murky water.
She stared back at her brother from under her dripping hair, daring him to show any sign of amusement, but he just pointed into the opposite tunnel.
"That way.", he said.

Instead of snapping at him she took one deep breath and walked past him into the other direction.
Eren readjusted his scarf over his mouth and nose, suppressing a faint smile and followed a few feet behind her.

It took a few more hours until they caught up to the Hydra.
The twins had found her in a cavern deep underground, which held a big and apparently deep lake.

The Hydra's thirteen heads snapped to attention as the beast took note of their arrival, it's dark grey scales barely visible under a crust of dirt.

"Which one do you want?
I take the heart, you take the heads?", Eren inquired.
"Just don't forget to take care of Goldie." But Kora had already taken off into a sprint.

She skillfully avoided the poison and the snapping heads as she locked her senses on to the slightly taller head in the middle and its faintly golden glowing eyes.

As he himself slowly drew closer, from a slightly different angle, to get the monster away from the water the Hydra redirected a few of its heads into his direction and hissed at him.

They had barely time to release their first round of poison when Kora already cut their long necks in two, skilfully avoiding the fountain of blood spraying from the stomps before the new heads started to take form. She was steadily making her way towards the Hydra's main body.

The end came rather fast.
With an infuriated roar the main head launched towards Kora and while it was distracted Eren reached its side and thrust a long spear deep into its torso.

With a loud scream the creature swayed and collapsed. Kora in turn used the distraction to chop the gigantic head right off.
Eren had already retrieved the lamp and oil from where they had left it at the cavern's entrance and poured the liquid not only over the main head but over parts of its neck and body as well.
It took only seconds before everything went up in flames.

The twins retreated to one of the tunnels until the flames started to die down.
Afterwards Eren retrieved the still smoking main head of the beast and they slowly made their way back to the surface.

A member of the guild was already waiting for them at the exit.
He took the bag with the Hydra's head from Eren and went off towards the guild house.

Kora's first action after breaking free from the tunnels was to empty out her boots and getting rid of the still remaining creatures at her feet and lower legs.

Eren's shoes, which went higher than his sisters stuck tightly to his legs and nothing but the dampness of the water had seeped through the fabric. But there was no denying it, this adventure would once again end with a long and thorough bath.

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Hydra:
- Serpentine water monster
- Greek/Roman mythology
- Names: Hydra of Lerna/Lernaean Hydra
- Killed by Heracles
- Possess multiple heads (of which one is said to be immortal)
- Known for its regeneration abilities (one head off, two regrow) -> Ability appears in later versions of the myth
- Deadly poisonous breath and blood
- Offspring of Typhon & Echidna (Hesiod)