I left Roanna to her white magic lessons in order to check on Vaythose. I sighted the aspiring elf spy examining a great stone wall that appeared to have been sheered in half.

"Have you made any new discoveries?" I asked. Vaythose did not look up from his inspection.

"Nothin' really useful. Just, it looks like there was quite a fight here at some point." Vaythose pointed to a segment of the wall he studied. "If you look carefully you can see that this wall was finely cut with something, but you can also see some old charcoal on it like something burned it, too. I don't know what would do that."

My mind's eye came alive with visions of divine justice and bright light. "A fiery sword must have been used. In my travels in the Unicorn Empire I have seen angels carry great swords of fire that can shear through stone and steel, not so much by cutting, but by burning."

A smirk formed on the dark Elf's face.

"I knew the Faceless and the Angels couldn't be at peace for that long. Anyways I think it's safe to assume there isn't anything here that would help us control a one-headed Hydra. So I'm thinking we should head into the forest."

I nodded in agreement. "Let's first head up a mountain and get a good view of where they may have left a path."

"I know to do that already," Vaythose snapped.

"Really? I did not think you did, because it is related to spying." I teased.

Vaythose hissed. "Oh yeah, well let me give you another surprising tip. Stop getting yourself captured dumb ass." I laughed.

It did not take long for us to hike high enough to see scars in the forest left by Hydra herds eating trees. We then made our way to the paths. The Hydra had stomped down much of the vegetation that was in our way, but our path was made difficult by Vaythose's inexperience with the forest. He jumped frequently, startled by the calls of the colorful, tropical birds, and I had to remind him constantly to cover his hair to keep out small serpents and spiders which could be dangerous.

Later, Vaythose noted that the Hydra tended to walk by rivers and therefore suggested making a raft out of logs, floating on the river. I noted the so called "logs" he found were in fact crocodiles and I suggested that he leave them alone lest they eat him.

Vaythose was truly unfamiliar with surface creatures for the only ones he knew were the spiders, which themselves traveled in caves, and some creatures called water elementals. Water elementals are spirits that collect water to make artificial bodies for themselves, though I knew some wizards who could summon them to use in battle as they themselves can cast powerful ice spells. As it turns out Dark elf warlocks can also summon water elementals, as Vaythose explained to me when we saw some hovering above the river we walked beside.

After an hour or so of hiking Vaythose and I became silent as the exhaustion of hiking made talking a tall order. Still we pressed on, climbing over fallen trees and avoiding venomous snakes that made their way amongst the dead leaves. Tired as we were, we only stopped once to drink water and rest before we finally arrived at the herd of Hydra which we had sought.

Vaythose pushed me off the path made by the Hydra and whispered, "Quick, hide in the bushes."

"That was not necessary," I said back in a hushed, but angry tone as we stumbled to the ground. Vaythose lay on the ground silently observing the beasts we had worked so hard to track down. Heat as well as anxiety drew sweat from my forehead.

They were not more than 70 meters away from me. Great behemoths whose necks allowed them to reach the tallest trees even higher than giraffes, and their bodies were even more massive than elephants. I thought the world would shake when they walked, and when one of the beasts let out a roar the vibrations in my chest made it feel like it did.

"They are even bigger than the Hydra back at your caves," I noted with hushed astonishment.

"Except for those ones over there," Vaythose pointed to several heads poking out of the forest brush. Sure enough several little Hydra approached the lager Hydra that roared only a few moments ago. The larger Hydra gave one more loud roar and with that the smallest Hydra which, just tall enough to touch my chest, came plodding out of the brush like the others. As though to respond to its mother the baby called back by saying, "Mew". The smaller Hydras all had large eyes for their bodies and had short stumpy legs that would have been near useless for running; there was no doubt then that offspring Hydra needed to be protected by their parents. The size difference between parent and offspring was stark. The smallest Hydra was a little smaller than a baby elephant, though the mother was much larger than an adult elephant. Surly I thought, there was a high risk of one of the parents stepping on their own offspring? I pondered the paradox, and so did Vaythose.

"You see how much bigger the mother is than the babies? They have to be like that, because if they weren't the egg shells would get too thick for the babies to even hatch."

"Really?" I whispered.

"Yeah. Back at the caves we always gotta separate the baby hydra from the mothers or else they'll get stepped on." I raised an eyebrow.

"And yet the mother Hydra seems to have no difficulty working around her offspring without crushing them. The other adult Hydra are also seem to have no such difficulty."

"Must have been an instinct that was lost in the breeding," My Elf friend reasoned. "I don't think they would hesitate to crush us if we got close though."

We watched the behemoths for a while longer hoping in vain to get some insight that would help us control the mighty beast, but then we noticed two more beasts that would enter the scene. Vaythose saw one of them out of the corner of his eye. "The water elementals don't seem to have any trouble being near these Hydra." Sure enough there were several water elementals hovering around in the river where the Hydra drank.

My attention turned back to the wall of brush in which the mother hydra would not let her offspring go into. I barely saw something. When I saw it I was possessed with shock for never had such an elusive animal revealed itself to me before.

"Look Vaythose, a tiger," I said with hushed enthusiasm. Noticing the tiger's green, hungry, eyes in the brush was almost as awe inspiring as seeing the Hydra for I knew what rare beasts they were, but this was lost on Vaythose.

"A ti-what?"

"It's a kind of predator, a larger version of the little cats I brought on my ship. It is too small to challenge an adult so it must be stalking the offspring." My poor cave friend did not even know what to look for, but eventually even he saw golden/emerald eyes of the majestic animal. This majestic animal might have gotten its chance to snatch the smallest baby Hydra, as it had meandered towards the brush in which the tiger had its intended ambush prepared. However something would soon surprise us all.

"Skeet!" was the sound we all heard suddenly. "Did you hear that?" Vaythose asked with his attention perked. "One of the water elementals made that sound."

"What? Water elementals do not make any sound, it was probably a bird of some sort or a…" Then we heard the sound again. Indeed, it came from a water elemental.

"Skeet, Skeet, skeet" it said as it pointed its head towards where the tiger was hiding.

In response to this sound the mother Hydra instantly called its child back, and with a roar all the adults lumbered into a circle that surrounded all of the offspring. As the beast walked in the circle the hydra anxiously stomped around in the brush as though feeling around for whatever might threaten their offspring. One of the Hydra did find the tiger as it narrowly leaped out of the way of its foot. The Hydra pursued it for a distance before it turned back satisfied that the threat was far enough away.

Even so, the Hydra growled and roared anxiously, some of them even came closer to where I was hiding as they stomped through the brush. We left the area and came back when the animals had allowed themselves to casually scatter again. It simply would have been imprudent to stay with these animals, but the plans of mice and men do go astray and mine would too right then.

"I'm goin' in." Vaythose announced just as I was about to tell him we should leave.

"What?!"

"Gotta test something."

"Wait, don't…" Before I could say anything Vaythose wrapped himself in his cloak and became invisible. I waited with my heart pounding, wondering what he was up to. The Hydra had allowed their offspring to wander again, but I had no such luxury. Instead I was left to wonder if my invisible friend was getting stepped on or not. Even if I did not hear bones being crushed it did not mean Vaythose was safe. Then I heard a dreaded sound.

"Skeet." Vaythose was still invisible and yet the water elementals noticed him.

"Come on Vaythose get out." I thought to myself. I knew it would be only a matter of time before the Hydra began stamping randomly, possibly even stamping on Vaythose. All the hydras closed ranks except for one. The smallest Hydra calf found something on the ground that caught its attention and it started sniffing the ground. The water elementals continued to sound their alarm and the mother roared more anxiously and yet the hydra offspring kept sniffing, intent to know what it was that he had smelt. Then he stepped forward.

"Ow!" Vaythose called out. With that, Vaythose's invisibility was shattered and as the hydra looked down into Vaythose's eyes it said, "Mew." The mother Hydra was much less accommodating.

"Ruuuuuuunnnn!" I shouted as the mother Hydra came barreling forth after Vaythose and I. I tried desperately not to trip over logs, putting every ounce of effort in a mad dash for dear life. Vaythose, the faster runner, caught up to me and was also gasping and dashing desperately. We were scratched probably a hundred times as we ran through the branches, but all we noticed was the loud crashing of trees and logs getting splintered, crashing that was getting closer and closer to us no matter how hard we ran! Tears fell down my eyes as I could feel the lethal and vengeful intent of the mother hydra. Had the trees not slowed her down and had she not finally decided to retreat back to her offspring we would have surely been crushed.

After our running Vaythose and I fell to our knees in exhaustion and that is when Vaythose said gasping, "Did you notice the mother never stepped on the baby when she was chasing us?"

My response was, "Shut up Vaythose. Shut up." I turned my back on him only to hear yet another terrifying sound.

"Mew!"

"I can't believe it followed us!" Vaythose said with a bitter hiss as his narrowed eyes and crossed brows looked upon a plump baby one headed hydra.

"I think he's adorable," Roanna countered. Vaythose hissed at Roanna's rebuttal.

"When that little sucker tracked us down its mother came tromping after us again and if you didn't summon that living puddle in time we would've been flattened." Sure enough, there was a water elemental standing between Roanna and a mother Hydra who contented herself by eating the leaves of a very tall tree.

"Mew," called the baby hydra as Roanna patted it between its nostrils. Every time Vaythose heard the 'mew' sound the baby creature made he shuddered. While Roanna and Vaythose argued about the Hydra outside the pyramid, I was inside fiddling with the great obelisk. Since it was such an old device I wasted much time dusting off the runes, and detaching and reaching parts before I finally got the obelisk to show an image of the Ashan continent. By that time Roanna had decided to hike up the stairs to join me.

"What are you doing, Abraham? Are you going to talk with the first of the circle again?" I shook my head.

"No. I am going to talk with an old friend about working with water elementals. He was my first business partner and he knows not just how to command elementals but to hear them. He will help us for he is my best friend."

"Who is this friend then?" Roanna asked. "Another wizard?"

"His name is Tumjin and he is an orc." I noticed from the corner of my eye that Roanna became even paler than usual.

"Ummm... you mean the half-human, half-demons...those orcs?" Roanna shivered. I enlarged the map on the back wall and zoomed in on some mountains to the east.

"Are you crazy?!" Vaythose yelled out from down below.

"I've fought orcs before. All they know how to do is smash. They'll smash you if you keep this up." Vaythose growled as he recalled his run-ins with orcs.

"Tumjin is not like that," I said shaking my head. "Tumjin is wise beyond his years and is a kind friend."

"Aren't the orc allied with the necromancers anyways?" Vaythose argued.

"It won't matter to him." I searched the mountains on the great map wall.

I knew where on the map to find the village Tumjin grew up in, it was nestled on a plateau surrounded by pine forest, and yet I hesitated.

"Is this really where your friend lives?" Roanna asked. "It looks so...forbidding." Tumjin's home was a tall, ice capped mountain, with rocky cliffs that moved steeply into thick pine forest that I do not even think the one headed hydra could move through.

"Yes. I am sure he still lives here..." I responded distantly and with uncertainty.

"You haven't seen your best friend in such a long time, you don't even know he's there anymore?" The elf's voice was pitying.

"It has been years," I confessed. "He is most likely in his village, but to call and ask for his help now when I have failed to contact him after all this time..." I trailed off, but I did not need to say more to communicate my shame.

"How did you meet Tumjin?" Roanna asked.

"During the war between the wizards and the orcs we occupied a small orc settlement, and even though we were enemy troops he invited me for tea. I was the only one who accepted his invitation for it could have been a trap. By the same token it was risky for him to offer me the tea for he could have been seen as collaborating with an enemy by his tribe. We became friends nonetheless and a few days after we started a glass business together, but I still don't know if I can do this," I lamented.

"Hey!" Vaythose yelled. The elf decided to join us at the top of the pyramid.

"Our people are about to be crushed by a bunch of living dead people and you're not going to get help because you feel guilty? Get going already!" I nodded and continued to get in contact with my friend, Tumjin. Long ago my friend and I had assembled an "eye of the magi" and put a tent around it. When I was finally looking through the eye we had built, however, I saw, not the inside of a tent, but of a wooden building with shelves lined with tea pots and cups.

"Is this your orc friend's home?" Roanna asked. Since it was different than I remembered it I hesitated to respond.

"Tumjin?" I yelled out. "Are you there?" There was no answer. I called again and waited a moment but nothing happened.

"I suppose..." I began, "I suppose he is not here..." before I could finished Roanna gave a yelp! I looked around for what may have caused her to jump in fright, but then I heard his voice.

"Abraham!" The voice sounded like some combination of a person speaking and a lion growling. "Is that you?" I looked into the eye of the magi and there was a fearsome visage of a man with large tusks coming from the bottom of his mouth and fearsome red eyes that made Roanna tremble, but I knew this orc as my friend.

"Tumjin it is me, old friend."

"Ha!" My friend laughed "how long has it been?"

"Too long." I confessed. "How has life been?

With a wave of his arm he directed my attention to his shelf full of cups and tea pots. "Have a look. I got out of the glass business and finally started that tea shop I have always been ranting about."

"I will have to hear more about it, but it will have to be under less dire circumstances, for I need your help."

"In trouble again, I see. Well, I am always happy to help, but first you must introduce me to your new friends." Tumjin's voice gradually lowered from a beast roar to a more soft spoken one as he nodded to Roanna and Vaythose,

"Of course," I replied as I motioned my hand to Roanna. "This is the dark elf Priestess Roanna," Roanna bowed her head nervously.

"How do you do?" Tumjin asked.

"And this is the spy Vaythose," I introduced. Vaythose waved, but both he and Roanna had a vacant look of surprise upon their faces.

"A pleasure to meet you both. Now please tell me your troubles, brother." With that offer I told Tumjin all about how I came to the island of the dark elves, how I had proved myself to Sinatara, how I had encountered the great black dragon, and finally how I had learned of a necromancer's plot to take over Sinatara's lands. Through it all my old friend barely reacted, but there were a few times in my story where his wide eyes betrayed his shock at my story. Finally I told Tumjin about the one-headed Hydra and the water elementals and that is when we got to business.

"That is quite an adventure, brother, even for you. But I can speak with the water elemental for you. Bring it in."

I looked to Roanna and so did everyone else, which was her cue to use her magic to summon the water elemental to us. Violet energy swirled around Roanna as the elemental manifested before us out of a cloud of energy.

Tumjin leaned forward. "Now let's see what the water spirit has to teach us." He went silent as he looked into the face of the water elemental and as the water elemental looked to him. I knew that even though that neither the elemental nor my friend spoke, they were communicating. I had seen goblins and orcs talk with water elementals before. My elf friends seemed confused by the heavy silence that fell upon us, and gave each other confused looks in hope that one or the other would have information. Just when Vaythose was starting to whisper to me, Tumjin spoke.

"The water spirit does not like to be called a living puddle," he said.

"The Fuck!" Vaythose snapped in reply.

"The spirit would also like an apology from the incompetent one that insulted it." The water elemental turned to Vaythose. The eyebrows of the incompetent elf crossed. He clenched his fist at the water elemental, but then let it drop. "I'm sorry for calling you a puddle." Apparently satisfied the water elemental turned back to Tumjin.

"The water spirit also says that he will help you train the hydra." I nodded.

"Um..." Roanna began hesitantly.

"What is it Roanna?" I asked

"If I am going to train the hydra I need something to reward them with...does the water elemental know if the one-headed hydra...likes anything?"

Tumjin looked to the elemental again and then translated, "He says that he knows you have been learning the art of white magic and says that even if the hydra do not have wounds they will find healing spells soothing. He also says that his yelps can serve as an incentive since the one-headed hydra react to them."

Roanna smiled, and Vaythose exclaimed, "That's perfect. Now Roanna can practice white magic and train hydra at the same time." I did not think it was as easy at Vaythose stated, even so Roanna seemed to be filled with confidence.

"Thank you, Mr. Tumjin this is very helpful," Roanna bowed. "Now please excuse me for I must begin training the hydra at once."

"It is always a pleasure to help friends of Abraham," Tumjin remarked.

"And it is always a pleasure to have your help old friend," I stated in gratitude.

Tumjin rose off his seat. "Well, the rush in my tea shop will begin soon and it seems you are very busy yourselves." Though Tumjin was politely excusing himself I could not help but experience a tinge of guilt.

"I will contact you again soon," I promised as I rose up. "And we will be able to catch up." My old friend gave a nod, but before he could leave Vaythose called to him.

"Hey wait a second," Vaythose called. "I gotta ask you something." The orc turned and listened.

"You and Abraham's people had been at war for a long time and plus you orcs are allied with the necromancers so why would you help us out, and why are you calling Abraham brother?"

Sensing that his answer would take a few minutes Tumjin sat back down. "Brother! I have fought many a battle for my nation, and I have wounded and been wounded. And what I have learned is that you should never let any nation get in the way of a good friendship, not even your own! I know that more than ever after meeting Abraham." At this I smiled and blushed.

"Though you and I are not of the same race, Vaythose, you and I were both created by mother earth and father sky and so even if we are not blood brothers we are spirit brothers." Tumjin then rose up and said, "Well I should be getting to work, Brother..." Tumjin turned to me, "Until we speak again."

"Until then," I repeated. Vaythose did not bid Tumjin farewell as he walked off, for as a soldier he must have found the wisdom he received alien, but so profound as to make him speechless.

"No, no, not that way," Roanna said to the great mother hydra as it started walking away. "Skeet, skeet, skeet!" was the sound that came from the water elemental as it chided the hydra with Roanna.

Roanna had been making good progress training the hydra for she was even able to get one to let her ride on its back. Her progress on white magic however was something that I needed to check, which is why I was once again using the great obelisk. It would soon be time for Roanna to begin her next lesson so I contacted the office of the archmage in hopes of reaching Roanna's white magic teacher. It was to my surprise then who I reached was none other than the archmage himself.

"Hello Abraham," Saldin greeted. It was in great modesty that I was greeted considering the archmage's high stature. "I did not expect to see you today." "Nor I you, great mage," I said in response. "I only desired to learn of Roanna's progress from her white magic teacher before she begins her lesson."

"Well, you are speaking to the right person. I have taken it upon myself to teach her white magic and she is a talented student. She has already learned how to make scars fade." I did not ask the archmage who was running my country while he was teaching Roanna white magic. I simply listened while the archmage lavished his student with compliments.

"Before you know it, she will be learning the word of life spell, she is simply brilliant. Plus she is such a sweet, modest girl. If only my other students were as differential and respectful as she is." The word of life spell is the only white magic spell that can do harm, if only to undead and demons, but it is also the hardest white magic spell to learn.

"This is excellent news, my lord," I said excitedly. "We have at most a few weeks before the necromancer army is amassed. Do you think she can know high-level white magic by then?" I asked. At that point the archmage was taken aback.

"Well, I do not know about that..." he began, "I mean I have never seen any student master high-level white magic in any time under two years. It would have to be quite a crash course."

"I see," I said as I tried to bury my disappointment. The archmage was right. I looked at Roanna outside the pyramid. She was too busy training to notice that I looked at her with eyes that pitied her. A mountain of work was ahead of her. The pressure of having to do all this work to protect her people's lives must have only added to her burdens. I thought she had many more than anyone should be allowed to bear.

"Do not worry. Whatever happens, we will find a way to protect Roanna's people," The archmage assured. "In the mean time I will continue to teach her."

"I thank you for this great archmage, but I cannot help but wonder why have you taken up this task?"

The archmage sighed. "With the necromancers as powerful as they are and the situation as dire as it is, this is the most important task for the existence of this nation and besides..." The archmage took a second to reflect on what he was about to say. "I miss teaching. It is much more fulfilling than the paper work and meetings I have to engage in now that I am archmage." My lord Saladin flopped back into his chair. "I should retire soon and start teaching again."

I gave a nod in the archmage's direction to let him know I respected his feelings on the matter. From behind I heard footsteps and that is when I realized that Roanna was not downstairs training the hydra. "I think it's time for my lesson now."

"One moment," I said to both Roanna and the archmage, "There is something I must say." I rose up and walked to Roanna and looked into her beautiful violet eyes and informed, "I think it's time for Vaythose and I to leave."

"Really?"

"Yes, we have done all we can here, and we need to go back to assist Sinatara,"

"Well...do you know the way back?" I nodded.

"I checked the map provided by the obelisk, there is a way back on the River that takes us to a cave and portal the one-headed hydra can fit through." Roanna smiled weakly for she knew we had to leave, but she did not want us to. I had to assure her. "Roanna when you have finished training all the hydra and learned white magic you can join us and help us save your people" After what I told her, I felt her body stiffen in resolve.

"Take the biggest hydra with you. With the water elemental, you should be able to ride her back and I can summon another water elemental."

"I will."

"But before you do that..." Roanna blushed, "You have to let go of my hands." To my surprise I was gently holding Roanna's delicate small hands in the palms of mine. Sometime during the conversation I had grabbed her hands without ever realizing it.

"We will see each other soon."

"Good bye, Abraham," The archmage called out.

"I will see you both soon," I said back while waving. Roanna said nothing. She only sat down cross-legged to begin her lesson.

I found Vaythose sitting on a block of stone using a stone wall to support his weight as he leaned back.

"Did you hear Vaythose?"

"I heard we are getting out of this bug-filled, overheated, swamp forest and heading home or did I hear what I wanted to?" I smiled and that answered his question. The heat was getting to Vaythose as he was not energetic. Vaythose was constantly wiping sweat off his forehead.

"We are going, friend." Vaythose found the strength to get up and somehow the water elemental managed to get one of the hydra to lower its tail so we could walk up it and onto the mighty beast's back. Through the water elemental we were able to command the Hydra to take a swim down the river, for that was the way to a portal that would take us back to the cave that would lead home.

As we traveled I spent most of my mind's energy worrying about Roanna and of the future. I could not imagine how even Roanna could accomplish all the tasks given to her, and therefore it was all the harder to see how we could survive the necromancers. Under any other circumstances, desperately hanging on to the back of a hydra's neck would have been an unpleasant ride, but I wanted this trip to last as long as possible, for the moment we stopped traveling was the moment I would have to face the dreaded possibility of dying by the hands of the undead.

"This trip has been too short," I lamented as we came to the portal at the end of the River.

"What the hell?" Vaythose snapped. "The quicker we get there the better. Besides, the trip has taken most of the day. What the hell do you want?" I went silent and gave Vaythose a fretting look. "Oh I get it," The dark elf realized. "You're afraid of facing those undead things aren't ya?" There was a glow of white energy as we passed through the portal so intense we had to cover our eyes, but when it was over we were in a dark cave.

"Why are you not afraid?" I asked pointedly. "We are outnumbered and out powered and if we lose we will die at best." Vaythose took a few seconds to ponder my question as he pulled out a glow crystal.

"Well, I guess it's because Sinatara spent most of her life being the underdog and getting in and out of tight spots."

"As bad as this though?" I asked.

"No, but I think this is going to be her masterpiece," the elf said with a wiry smile. I only sighed.

"Have faith in Roanna too," Vaythose said suddenly. My eyes widened at Vaythose's out-of-the-blue demonstration of perception. "I know you're worried about her, but no one learns magic as fast she does. I promise ya that." I smiled and then gave a quick nod. "So now where do we go from here now that we've come to a dead end?" As Vaythose noted we had come to a cave wall.

"According to the map we have to force our way through one of the walls to get onto a road," Vaythose lifted up his glow crystal and looked around. "We just keep going straight through that wall in front of us. I can tell by the lines that there was a cave in. That must be where the road is."

"I see." I tapped the hydra on the back to get it to pull back.

"Prepare yourself," I warned as I pulled my fist back. My hand began to glow and there was blue energy around me as I cast a powerful fireball spell that blasted a hole into the wall. The hydra became agitated at the sight of the explosion and threatened to buck us off, but the water elemental calmed it with squeaks.

"It's too bad we didn't know this way when we first came down, it's a lot easier," Vaythose noted. Sudenly we heard a shrieky voice that caused our hair to rise and our spines to stiffen.

"Oh, I would not say that," it said. Vaythose and I looked at each other. We were frightened but proceeded through the hole I made anyways. When we came out we found an army of multi-headed hydra and dark elf warriors riding two-legged lizards. All of them threatened us with their spears. I heard a sinister cackle on a cliff above us and there to my horror was Maydanna laughing at our misfortune.

"How generous of you to have saved me the trouble of searching for you," the dark elf Witch gloated. As her dark elf troops closed in on me I raised my fist and had energy emitting from it as a warning of my spell power.

"Stay back!" I yelled. My threat did not deter Maydanna's troops, but the growl from the hydra I rode was enough to bring them to a halt, though they still threatened us with their weapons.

"Not so hasty my foolish friend." Maydanna rose her fist like I did and lightning emanated from it. "We know which one of us is the stronger caster of magic."

I whispered back to Vaythose "Can you think of a way out of this?" Vaythose simply shook his head. "I will buy us time somehow." Actually the one-headed hydra was keeping Maydanna's troops at bay by narrowing its eyes and by emitting a low growl that revealed its teeth, but I knew from Sinatara's earlier demonstration that dark elf lords could cast powerful spells. Surely Maydanna could injure the one-headed hydra severely if provoked. Still the standoff gave me an opportunity to buy more time.

"Why do you do this, Lady Maydanna? What threat could a petty lord like Sinatara pose to you the greatest lord of all the dark elves?" Maydanna raised her chin at me.

"I'm sure it must all be so confusing to a foreigner like you, for you cannot possibly understand our sophisticated way of life, but Sinatara's ideology is a threat to the freedom my ancestors created for our people. Sinatara must be crushed before her mad ideas spread." Maydanna had taken the bait after all, but she was becoming agitated. If she did that she could cast a spell any moment. I had to calm her down.

"Who are these great ancestors?" I asked with a degree of awe as to add empty flattery.

"I am granddaughter of none other than the great Tuidanna the founder of our people." Maydanna declared proudly with her hand upon her chest and her chin high. How good it was for me that the lady Maydanna loved to talk about her ancestors. "Long ago we dark elves were wood elves and the wood elves were separated into loosely connected states in the land we call Irollan. But then a despot rose amongst the wood elves and brought the wood elves under his centralized control much in the way Sinatara is trying to do today. All the other wood elves caved into the demands of this tyrant except my ancestor Tuidanna, who struck a pact with the Faceless and resisted and ultimately died trying to save my people. With Tuidanna deceased it fell to her daughter Eurina to lead our people to a new home, and she did so successfully despite the betrayal of Sinatara's father Sinatar." Maydanna paused for a moment as she reminisced on the proud accomplishments of those she was descended from. I thought I would have to come up with another way to distract her, but she still had other things to say about herself.

"Once I crush Sinatara's forces, our people can finally have their freedom secured." I doubted Vaythose had thought of a way out so I had to use more empty flattery to gain more time, but it was time to get serious as well.

"Even a foreign fool like myself can see that your cause is just my lady, but I know the necromancers well, you cannot trust them." As I spoke Maydanna reached for the veil that covered all her face below her eyes, the veil that I thought she wore out of modesty. "The Necromancers will betray you for they only believe in dea..." Before I could say anything else Maydanna paralyzed me with shock by revealing her face. I then announced, stuttering.

"I do not believe it...you have..."

"Yes. I have converted to necromancy," Maydanna explained as she revealed what flesh had already rotted off her face. I knew from smelling her earlier that she must have consumed formaldehyde no doubt to prevent herself from rotting, but she was already too late, for her nose was but a hole and her lips had given way to a permanent skeletal grin and there was no flesh on her enormous chin. Maydanna then proceeded to explain why she bastardized the natural order.

"Long ago my ancestors started to get a disease where they would not stop bleeding. Even the slightest wound could be deadly to us. In the end all of us died but me and the only way to preserve the blood line was to seek immortality through necromancy and that is why I converted." I took another look at Maydanna's chin which was long enough to be a beard and took into account Maydanna's bleeding disease and came to another terrifying conclusion.

"Necromancy...necromancy is not your only perversion is it? The Chin...The bleeding... You are an inbreed. You have been inbred for generations!" Maydanna only laughed.

"Yes, my family has worked hard to keep our bloodline pure. The different Dark Elf races must also be pure for any mixing would be a true bastardization of the natural order." Previously I had been afraid of Maydanna, but after what she told me, even with her soldiers pointing their spears at us, I only felt disgust. The repulsive witch continued to ramble. "Even if I failed to crush Sinatara, her plan of dominating the other races is doomed to failure for they are too different from each other to ever get along." Maydanna's last statement caused me to forget I was at a disadvantage.

"What do you mean too different to get along? I have gotten along with people from all over the world, I have befriended orcs, and elves, and Naga and Dwarves" I stated. I then shouted, "There are no people too different to be friends least of all the dark elf clans. Separated, you are like those multi-headed Hydra, with one stomach and many mouths that bite each other for the same food. Unity, not separation is the natural order and Sinatara is right to pursue it!" For a moment there was silence and stillness as though people were actually taking in what I said. The first to speak was Vaythose.

"Great speech, but couldn't you have waited till I thought of a way out of here first?" I went cross eyed as I realized my mistake.

"Enough babel! Take these fools in!" Maydanna commanded. I was certain that the end of me had come at that point, but then the one-headed hydra gave a low grumble, the water elemental made a squeak and we all started moving backwards.

"Are you having the hydra move backwards?" Vaythose asked nervously.

"I am not," I said with equal fright. I faintly heard one of our enemies ask,

"Is that one-headed hydra smiling?" With no orders from me or Vaythose the hydra turned it's body so its right side faced the enemy and swung its tail out, tempting the multi-headed hydra eager to bite something. By exposing so much of its body to the enemy our hydra was vulnerable.

"Why have you stopped?" Maydanna inquired of her troops. "Get them already!" The multi-headed hydra stopped even if the dark elf troops beside them tried to nudge them forward. All the heads of the enemy beasts snapped the air, menacing. But not one of them moved forward. Finally one of the enemy hydra lunged at our hydra's neck and would have landed a blow if only another head of the same hydra did not strike our hydra's tail, causing the beast to spin out of control. Another one of the hydra looked ready to lunge, but then it suddenly turned to its right.

"They are confused," I noted. "Because our hydra has left so many vulnerabilities the other hydra heads cannot agree as to where to attack." It was this disagreement of the hydra heads that caused so many of the enemy troops to be kicked aside and to panic as they struggled to get control of their own beasts.

"And you didn't think of this?" Vaythose asked.

"I did not," I announced, for I was more proud of our hydra's cunning than I ever could have been of myself had I come up with the idea.

"You idiots! The lot of you!" Maydanna screamed. "I will finish this myself." The witch raised her hand to cast a spell, but happily our hydra had thought of that too. It reared back a little further and then before Maydanna could fire off her spell the hydra charged. Vaythose and I held on for our very dear lives because then the hydra leaped onto the cliff where she stood. There was a crack as one foot of our beast landed on the evil witch. I thought the witch might have been shattered, a fate I almost suffered when I almost lost my grip. Instead, she screamed in frustration. "Get this thing off me!"

"Please do not do that again." I pleaded.

"Oh fuck! She is gonna do it again!" Vaythose lamented. Sure enough the hydra jumped off the cliff over our enemy, and this time Vaythose and I could not hold back our screams. The enemy hydra tried to turn around to face us but again they were once again confused and spun themselves into a circle. We landed with a hard impact that almost shook us off, and it felt like our hearts were going to leap out of our chests. Our hydra, on the other hand, just took a moment to recover from the hard landing and then calmly walked away from our confused enemy. We were free. For the moment.