Chp.26: The born of a calamity

"Lord Gorsh, here is the hydra"

The lion-nosed beastmen grinned triumphantly, baring his sharp teeth, as he watched the creature bound tightly before him. Gorsh knew that this was the means to completely turn the tide of the war.

The hydra was enormous: at least thirty meters long from head (well... one of the heads) to tail, it had a large central body similar to that of a large hippopotamus, with an immense snake-like tail and four legs each ending in five sharp claws. It had six heads that moved wildly as it tried to free itself from the chains it had been forced into. The heads were shaped like those of a snake, and their long necks also looked like that of a boa or python. Each head was very similar to that of a viper, but with much longer and more pronounced canines protruding from the mouths closed with strong chains. Its eyes were red and devoid of pupils or lids, and a cloud of greenish smoke emerged from its nostrils with each breath.

"A real marvel" Gorsh murmured, moving closer to the animal. "This beast will completely turn the tide of this war"

"Be careful, Lord Gorsh. No need to remind you how dangerous that monster's breath is" one of the beastmen behind him said.

The lionman laughed heartily. "I've already taken all the precautions available, don't worry" he said arriving a few meters away from the hydra. The beast tried to get up to bite him, but the powerful chains that kept it anchored to the ground prevented it.

Gorsh already tasted victory in his mouth. He had feared he might not be able to find the hydra first after a spy discovered his plans, but luckily his scouts had been good and got the job done. The beast was now in front of him, ready to receive the gift of the gods.

Gorsh would never have gone that far if circumstances hadn't forced him. Doing such a thing was extremely risky. But now he had no choice: his opponents were too numerous than him and it was clear that they would have the upper hand in a direct confrontation. Gorsh had no other legendary level allies to turn to for help, and he didn't have enough soldiers. What he needed if he wanted to turn the tide of war… was a calamity.

By 'calamity' the newcomers meant entities that were completely beyond the control of any mortal. Creatures and entities so powerful that even legendary level warriors and mages couldn't defeat them alone.

There were three different types of calamities. The first was the gods. However, it was very unlikely that a god would intervene directly to aid mortals; the only times this had happened in History had been when the believers of such god were on the verge of total extermination. In all other cases the gods merely intervened passively, choosing champions who fought for them (precisely the legendary levels) or providing some blessings. Gorsh therefore couldn't count on their help: even if the humans had won the war, in fact, they would not have exterminated the beastmen but only conquered them and their territory. Not enough then to cause a god to come down from heaven and intervene directly.

The second type of calamities, the one that the mortals feared most, even more than the gods, were dragons. If a dragon chose to side with either side, the war would be over within fifteen minutes. It took at least four or five legendary levels to slay an adult dragon, and this varied depending on how many domains the dragon possessed and how old it was. However, even the intervention of a dragon was almost impossible: Gorsh had no idea where to find one, since they were extremely rare, and even if he did, what could he offer him? If a dragon had known about the war and had been interested, he certainly wouldn't have sided with the losing side, but with the one that could offer him the most benefits, namely the humans, who in that moment were superior to the beastmen in terms of power and resources. Therefore, even a dragon had to be discarded.

The last type of calamities, the simplest to manage, were the so-called 'artificial calamities'. These were beasts that already at a natural level possessed an extraordinary power, such as wyverns or indeed hydras, and which were then invested with the power of a god. Just as the legendary levels were mortals endowed with the power of the gods that put them head and shoulders above all creatures in the world except dragons, artificial calamities were creatures that already normally possessed the power to counter a level adamantium warrior or mage and which were enhanced by the power of the gods, making them almost invincible. Even legendary level mortals had to guard against such beasts; they weren't as powerful as dragons, but it would take at least two or three legendary levels to bring them down.

There were two ways to create an artificial calamity. The first one, and most common, was for an evil god arbitrarily to decide to bestow his power not on a mortal but on a feral creature directly. The second one, less common given the risks it entailed, was for a mortal already invested with the power of a god to decide to give a part of it to another living creature. The latter was the route Gorsh intended to take. It was a risky road, since an animal with such power would hardly have continued to obey the one who created it (such monsters, after all, only respected strength, so it was unthinkable that they would remain loyal to those with less strength than them), but Gorsh had carefully calculated the risks and was confident in his actions.

The plan was simple: turn the hydra into a calamity and then, when all the human army was gathered in one place, unleash it against it. The hydra would have done it all by itself; Gorsh and the beastmen were only supposed to stand and watch from afar. The human army numbered two levels of legend and thousands of soldiers of various levels, so in all likelihood they would eventually overwhelm the hydra; however, by the time they did, they would be so tired that they could not hold a second attack. It would have been at that moment that Gorsh and his army would have attacked them. Gorsh was sure that this way he would be able to kill at least one of the two legendary tiers, if not both. In one blow, it would have completely destroyed most of the enemy forces. After that he would only have to reconquer the lost cities and drive out the remaining humans in beastmen territory, to then raise new troops and form a new large army to protect the border. With such a situation, the humans would certainly be inclined to come to terms. This would be just a temporary truce, of course, but it would give Gorsh time to rebuild the Baltimora City Alliance and regain his strength.

In the highly unlikely event that the hydra managed to completely destroy the human army, however, things would have been even simpler for Gorsh: after such a battle, the hydra would have been so weak that it would have been easy for him to eliminate it with a surprise attack from above. With all the human army exterminated, Gorsh could not only recapture the entire beastmen territory, but also launch a counterattack and conquer new lands. This was clearly Gorsh's favorite scenario, but the lionman was under no illusions: the chances of the hydra coming out victorious against the entire human army were less than zero.

Furthermore, an enhanced hydra would have offered him even more benefits. It was why Gorsh had chosen to spend days looking for a hydra rather than transforming a wyvern. Wyverns were stronger than hydras, but for what Gorsh wanted to do, it was best to use the latter. First, the hydra couldn't fly, so it would have been easier to control it and keep it from heading in random directions. Second, the hydra's breath could transform its victims into monstrous servants. The effect was incredibly destructive: it was the equivalent of a predator that was already lethal in itself, but whose pack increased in size with every passing minute. However, once the hydra died, these servants found themselves without a master, wandering aimlessly like walking corpses… until they found a new master.

And Gorsh would obviously be that new master. Even the hydra's breath would be tainted by its god's power, consequently all its servants would also be tainted. Once the hydra died, it would be easy for Gorsh to control them using this 'connection' that they would have. In practice, in addition to causing great losses to humans, he would have obtained a large number of implacable soldiers who didn't need to eat, drink and sleep and who didn't know tiredness or pain; with them it would have been much easier to regain beastmen territory.

It was a perfect plan, basically. Gorsh had foreseen everything… except that damned spy.

In his original plan, his soldiers would have quietly captured the hydra and kept it hidden away in a safe place until the human army assembled, and only then would Gorsh turn it into a calamity. But unfortunately, a spy had somehow managed to infiltrate his camp and discover his plans. Therefore, humans would now have hunted the hydra relentlessly. Whether he kept it in the middle of the beastmen camp or hidden in the woods, the humans would find it and try to kill it.

Therefore, Gorsh now had just one choice: to transform the hydra immediately. Which was risky: the hydra could attack the beastmen camp, since there would be nothing to stop it. However, it was the only way humans wouldn't try to kill it. With some luck, the hydra would establish itself in its new territory: Gorsh had made sure that the place where they had taken it reflected the ideal habitat of that animal. If it tried to move, they would lure it away using the wyverns, which flying high would easily avoid its attacks. Once the human army was assembled, the beastmen would use the same method to unleash its fury upon them.

As a result, Gorsh could still handle the situation beautifully. But he would have to be very careful that the humans didn't try to use the same method to send the hydra against the beastmen encampment.

Gorsh looked the hydra straight in the eye. Even though it had many heads, all of them were facing him. Its was a challenging look, as if inviting him to try to tame it. The lionman grinned, wondering what the hydra would think after receiving its newfound power. "Beast, don't resist and rejoice! Accept the power of the great God of Battles Brurotan!" he said placing a hand on the forehead of one of its heads.

A strange energy began to flow between them; the power of his god erupted from Gorsh's body and forced itself into the one of the hydra. The beast wriggled, and its eyes widened even more than normal. It felt like lightning had just struck it. Gorsh felt his strength rapidly ebbing and was soon exhausted from the exertion, but nevertheless continued. When he finally stopped he was so tired that he could barely stand up, but despite this he didn't waste even a moment: "Quick, let's get out of here!" he bellowed as he leapt over his wyvern, followed by the few beastmen who had come into that desolate area with him. Their mounts flew swiftly skyward, carrying them a safe distance from the beast.

The chains that held the hydra in place broke one by one. The beast's muscles swelled and its paws dug hard into the ground, making it shiver. A powerful aura emerged from its body, so strong that even Gorsh felt a little crushed by the pressure. Lastly, the hydra snapped the chains that locked its mouths, and let out a crocodile-like snort combined with the hiss of a snake. From its jaws emerged immense green vapors that now also glowed with a slight black hue, which rapidly expanded around the beast; as soon as they touched them, the trees withered and the grass died, as if the life had been taken from them.

Gorsh and his subordinates watched the scene from above for a few minutes, then seeing that the hydra didn't seem willing to leave or flee, they understood that their job was over. "We can withdraw for now" Gorsh said, and with a jerk on the reins he sent his wyvern flying towards the beastmen camp, the air behind him filling with poisonous vapors and everything dying.

A new calamity had just been born.