Lilia's Tale: Freyja's Endeavor

Chapter 14: Skadi

It didn't take even a single hesitation to know what that horrible feeling in my stomach was just from hearing these words. Jor was going on a rampage, and it both hurt and worried me. I lost my self-control in that instant.

"I'm going," I exclaimed as I stood up, ready to jump off the carriage.

"Sit down!" the general screamed.

It was enough to surprise me and make me get my senses back together. I looked at him and his expression was quite frightening, yet befitting of a man of his rank. I obliged and sat down.

"I will not tolerate insubordination, even from you. Understood?"

"I'm sorry, sir. I lost control."

"I don't care. You're here as a soldier, act as one."

I wanted to reply that he was asking a lot from a ten years-old girl, but I didn't want to be rude. Instead, I replied with a simple "Yes, sir," and waited.

"What's the status," he asked to the man outside.

"He hasn't moved from a singular spot. The forest fire is spreading, however. Despite having every water mage we know trying to stop the fire, it's not sufficient."

"How urgent is the situation?"

"The forest will probably burn out in about two days at most. Terra is at one edge of it and at risk of catching fire, but more urgently, Revy is very close by. The fire would have engulfed it if our mages didn't withstand the fire."

"Are they in range of the hydra's magic?"

"Yes. It is a miracle he hasn't burnt the town down. We have already evacuated the citizens."

"Make a magiphone request to every Great One, and send a high-speed courier to the Great Elementalist. We need everyone. We will handle Terra's Leviathan problem while they arrive. Notify the other carriages' water mages to join in the firefighting effort."

"Yes sir!"

He darted off on his horse, overtaking us towards the city. I was feeling extremely tense, feeling the strong urge to leave to try and call out to Jormungandr in hopes of helping him calm down. It was difficult to keep control, but I didn't want a repeat.

"Lilia," the general suddenly said.

"Ah, yes?" I nearly screamed in surprise.

"Do you know anything about the nine-headed hydra?"

"Ah, uh, yes!"

I scoured through my memory of the time I rode atop one of his head to see if I had any information.

"...Actually, I'm sorry, I don't seem to have much of any information. I talked to him twice before, but he never really said anything about himself. The best I can say is that he has a sister."

"A sister? Do beasts like that even have familial bonds?"

"I believe so, general," the guy next to him said. "I'm no expert in monstrology, but non-magical creatures have to be born somehow, and as such typically have animalistic reproduction."

"In layman terms?"

"It likely has a mother, father and apparently even siblings."

"Could that be exploited?"

"I believe not. This is likely some sort of rage he found himself in. I know not why or how, but we might have to kill him."

"Wait!" I suddenly said. "About that rage! He mentioned that it only happens once in a hydra's life and that his hadn't happened yet. This might be it. It also means that if we can neutralise him without killing him, he might come back to his senses and not threaten anyone anymore."