Ragnarok

Chapter 6 - Deluge

    Selif had disappeared beneath the waves almost a full three minutes before, and there was still no sign of either Gar or his hunters.  The Reapers, skeletal figures cloaked in gray robes, hovered over the water, their glowing eye sockets tracking the black water for any signs of movement.  The massive blob of Lady Hydra was still stirring the waters, keeping the battleground opaque while she chuckled darkly at the puny mortals' feeble attempts.

"Aren't you getting just a bit bored, oh Elemental Princess?" Avril asked her, still hovering just out of the demon's reach. "You'd think your prophet would be putting on a more entertaining show for your grand entrance.  Certainly this would be more interesting if your little prophet was showing some backbone and not just hiding from us like a cowardly eel."

The blob's pearly eyespots rolled up at her, and it gave a blubbering snort. "You ... must ... think ... me ... foolish ... to ... try ... such ... obvious ... tactics." She considered for a moment, then boomed out a command. "You've ... had ... enough ... time, Gar. Now ... show ... these ... wretches ... the ... futility ... of their ... struggles."

At that point, there was a tremendous burst of water and a flurry of splashing, as a tiger shark breached the surface, holding a flailing Water Prophet in its jaws.  Selif must have gotten tired of fumbling around in the dark, and taken a form that let her use echolocation to home straight in on Gar's location.  She crunched down as hard as she could, shivering as the desperate Prophet rained blows down on her with his barnacle-encrusted fist and stabbed at her with the foul trident Deluge.  The Reapers hesitated, wary of striking their ally in addition to their foe.

"NOW!" Avril shouted, bulleting straight for the Prophet's heart. Behind her, she could hear Hiro's thrusters kick in, as they raced downwards to attack before Gar could slip back beneath the waves.   There was more slobbery laughter, and two gigantic tendrils of water surged out of the demonic blob behind them.  They both found their mark this time, engulfing both Avril and Hiro in her watery body. As they were drawn towards the center, they saw a second Lady Hydra floating at its core, gazing down at them with the contemptuous eyes of a dark goddess.

She would have stood twice as tall as a man, with a powerful and vivacious woman's torso, and long black hair whirled around her in the current like seaweed.  Where the hips should have been, however, was a nest of black, octopus-like tentacles, lined with suckers and rending spines.  She hovered just over the glowing portal that had summoned her, arms crossed in front of her ivory chest.

"Not so cocky now, are you little mortal girl?" Lady Hydra asked, raising one of her human-like arms.  Avril began to slowly slide towards the demoness, her tentacles quivering in anticipation.

Avril gritted her teeth and closed her eyes, muttering a single word in the magical language of dragons.  In an instant, her body was transformed into pure lightning, which raced through the blob's watery form and then shot out straight towards Gar's pinioned body.  Her flesh reformed five feet away from the trapped prophet, still crackling with sparks, and she plunged Straumgard down directly through the Prophet's heart.

"Here at the edge ..." came a voice like a desert wind rustling dry parchment.

"We claim your soul," finished a second, identical voice, both coming from the Reapers.

There was a tremendous thunderclap as Straumgard's hilt cracked against Gar's ribs, and a violent shockwave from the blade ripped the Prophet's body apart from the inside.  As Selif spat out the mouthful of dead Prophet and dove down to retrieve Deluge, Avril sweeped her sword through the air to shake off Gar's foul blood.  She looked back over her shoulder at the mountainous hulk of Lady Hydra and smirked. "Your prophet is dead, witch, and your armies are losing.  What else do you have for us, or are you just going to crawl back home like a good little monster?"