Dew Mountain

The closer the group got to the Mystic Spires, the stronger the smell became. It was stomach-churning.

With Mairwen now awake, the group had to begin walking again. The smell mixed with the motion sickness of the horse had made the princess wretch almost immediately. Walking was the only way to continue.

"You…you don't think that smell is..." Mairwen wasn't sure that she had the strength to finish the sentence. "I mean. I had hoped to see Hanna and the others by now. I am beginning to worry..." 

"I doubt humans, even a hundred of them or more, could put off so strong of a smell," Uri said, even though he had no knowledge on the matter. Maybe humans stank, but there was no sense in encouraging the princess's worry until they knew for sure.

"Then what is causing the...." Mairwen's question died on her lips as they came upon a small clearing. 

Or, more accurately, a created clearing. A tree had been forced down in a collision with a massive object. That object...

"Is that?!" Mairwen squeaked. She wondered for a moment if she was having a nightmare. 

"A Hydra head," Uri confirmed. His heart thumped wildly in his chest. "If it lost a head, it has grown two more." 

"There's a bigger problem, I think." Lilith studied the head with a shiver. "What in the world could cut off a hydra's head like this?" 

"Perhaps the humans are already in a battle with the monster," Renat suggested, his frown deepening. They were not far from reaching the base of Dew Mountain. The battle for control had likely already begun. 

"If that is the case, we need to stop them immediately!" Alaron thought about how many heads would grow if they kept hacking recklessly. Why hadn't Hanna stopped them?!

"We need to hurry," Mairwen looked away from the monster's head. The length was close to twice her body's size. A human would easily be swallowed in a single bite.

"Agreed. But which way?" Renat looked for any signs of how to proceed. 

The Guardian and three elves studied the ground. The battle probably hadn't happened right here. 

"See the way this tree is broken? I think we should go that way," Lilith pointed forward and to the left and waited for the others to weigh in. 

Before anyone could respond, a huge roar and then a crash shook the ground. The sound came from their right. 

"Or that way," Lilith corrected herself. 

Running toward the noise with their horses, the group came upon an embankment that had been dug out like a trench. In it were people--many of them. 

Sitting among them was a blue-skinned lady peering over the edge of the trench toward the spires. 

"Hannah!" Mairwen whispered the word, but somehow the Fate heard it.

The woman's swirling eyes snapped away from Dew Mountain and toward the newcomers. A relieved smile split her face and she ran toward the princess and her company. 

"You aren't dead," the Fate hugged the princess tightly. "I would never forgive myself if you were." 

"I came close. We all probably should have died." Mairwen enjoyed the Fate's embrace. Even without magic, it was comforting like a mother's touch. 

Hanna slapped Alaron's arm. She was surprisingly strong for looking so frail. 

"Ow!" he held his bicep with a shocked expression. "Where is my hug? I survived too, you know."

"You should have been on time so I wouldn't have to worry. A Guardian's job is to help the Fates not make them distracted." Hanna swatted him again, but much softer this time. "I am glad you are all alright. 

Her eyes trained on an unfamiliar face. 

"It seems your mission was successful." 

Uri bowed deeply. "I am honored, Fate Hanna, to be in your presence. It is only because of these brave heroes that I am here. Place all the blame for their tardiness on me." 

"You have quite a way with words," Hanna mused. "You should be in the elven court, not scouting out here." 

The Fate turned back to the open area under the Spires. It could barely be seen through the thick trees. 

Another roar and crash rattled the ground. 

"We thought you were fighting the monster," Alaron counted the men in the trench. If any of them were missing, it was only a few.

"Oh no, a new challenger has come. We know better than to get into the middle of a battle like that. We will have to wait until the fight is complete before we know how to proceed." Hanna closed her eyes and sighed. 

While she spoke, a few of the soldiers from the trench came and relieved the royals of the horses. The elves released their unicorns, letting them do as they saw fit.

"A new challenger? Does that mean there was an old one?" Renat pulled at his chin. 

The Fate nodded. "Three since we have been here. This one is the fiercest yet, though I doubt it will be able to be any more successful than the one before it."

"The hydra is just that much more powerful than everything else?" Alaron asked, a cold feeling forming in his stomach. 

"Hydra? Who said anything about a hydra?" Hanna looked confused, which was a strange expression on a Fate. 

"You said someone came to challenge the Hydra, didn't you?" Mairwen clarified. 

"I said there was a challenger, but not for a Hydra. The hydra was dead long before we got here," Hanna frowned.

"But we saw one of its heads. We assumed you battled it..." Renat pointed from the way they had come. 

"The cold must be keeping it fresh, for I assure you that the many-headed fiend has not taken a breath since we took up residence in this trench. Don't believe me? Come, I will show you." 

The ground rumbled again followed by a resounding roar. The group exchanged glances. Was it safe to look? Hanna seemed to think so. 

"Hurry before the battle is through. They are both distracted right now and will ignore us," the Fate waved them forward impatiently.

Renat offered his wife his arm and she reluctantly took it. The princess was already very fatigued and whatever they were about to see was likely to make things worse. 

Alaron steeled himself for a ghastly sight, but nothing could have prepared him for what he witnessed when he got a full view of the space under Dew Mountain. 

With the protective mist from the falls missing, the green pasture and hills below were in plain view. That is to say, the pasture was once green. Now it was painted with red. 

The smell of death became even stronger than it was before. Not even the clothes covering their faces could lessen the putrid stench coming from the field. 

The rolling hills were covered with scars of battle. Deep gashes in the ground spoke of titanic moments of raw power. The war for control under the Mystic Spires must have been fierce. Because of the fighting, the whole landscape had changed. 

The biggest change, though, was a new hill. It was many shades, but the most prominent color in the growing mountain was red. The hill contained all the bodies of the slain. Most of the creatures in the heap were large and terrible, but smaller beasts were among the victims. 

Halfway up the side of the heap, an onyx creature with dozens of heads lay at an odd angle. More than a few of its heads were missing and would never grow back. Whatever had killed it had crushed it so thoroughly that its body was almost as thin as paper. 

The hydra was dead. 

"What kind of creature can kill a beast like that so easily?" Uri wondered aloud.

"No one said it was easy," Nath argued. "But it would require great power." 

The ground rumbled. Over the farthest hill, not one, but two great powers came barreling towards them. 

"Get down!"