Hello, Everyone!
We're coming closer to a BIG moment in the story. I hope you're ready for it. Also, soon we are going to do a Q&A, so don't hesitate to ask your questions in the comments!
Also also, at the end of this post you can see a bigger version of the illustration :)
Well, anyway, off to the new episode! Last time, Mary and her friends were surprise-attacked by an invisible creature. It flunged Aurum in the air and almost dragged him into the sewers. Then, after the group went to search for it, it was revealed to resemble the legendary Hydra, with seven heads that tried to talk to our heroes. Mary and Bruno didn't hear them, because they were inside of Saraneth's Silence range but Aurum was struck by some kind of magic.
Something was wrong with Aurum! As the head of the Hydra snatched him up, he didn’t resist, didn’t struggle, didn’t do anything. Mary could see his bloody chest rise and fall--so he wasn’t dead--but he just dangled from the monster’s jaws, glassy-eyed and pale.
Pain tore through Mary’s shoulder. Two sharp scythes had emerged from the Hydra's body and had sliced her there. She screamed but her voice remained silent in Saraneth’s presence. She saw Bruno run ahead and outside the silence, and make his holy symbol glow with bright sunlight. The monster recoiled and all its unoccupied heads bared their teeth at him. The one with Aurum in its jaws started flowing back but Mary couldn’t let it. She dropped Saraneth on the ground, leaving an area where there was still silence, and ran up to the head. She could now hear the splash of sewage water, the many monstrous breaths, the screech from the head currently being struck by Bruno’s weapon…
Mary cast Blight. All the moisture and vitality drained from the head holding Aurum, and cracks appeared on its surface, like barren soil deprived of water. The head dropped its prey and fell in the drainage, dead.
Mary didn’t have time to go to her friend. The Hydra extended its remaining heads once again, and they started speaking. This time Mary was outside of the Silence and was able to hear it. A female voice, one that she didn’t know. The words however… they spoke volumes.
“I’m also ’of’ Myth Adofhaer,” said the head that was right in front of Mary. “It’s ok to be angry.”
“How come you’re a dwarf but you’re still so cool?” said the one near Bruno.
“You know, I’ve never stopped loving you,” the head closest to Aurum said.
It was Lanurey. The Hydra was talking in Lanurey’s voice. Mary swallowed a lump in her throat but she steadied herself. Now wasn’t the time to be distracted. Aurum had just gasped and collapsed down on the ground, as if struck by some kind of a spell. The head in front of him grinned and grabbed him in its teeth.
Mary, again, leaped to his aid. Next to her, the Hydra’s scythes tried to slice Bruno but his Holy symbol repelled them. Mary shot an Eldritch blast, then another, and the mouth holding her friend finally dropped him. For a brief, terrifying moment, it looked like he was going to fall into the drainage, but then the neck of the dying head flailed in the air and pushed him to the side. He fell there, on the bank. Still dazed, unmoving, staring blankly ahead.
The Hydra's heads stretched out again, one for each of the trio. Their faces looked elated, like torturing the adventurers' psyche gave them great pleasure.
"Mary, I feel sick!" Lanurey's whine came from the one in front of Mary. "What did we DRINK last night?!"
She’d been there, Mary realized. That night, when she drank with Paulina, Lanurey had been there. Mary felt her heart hurt but didn't have time to give in to her emotions.
"My name is Rorius Ferenc," the head next to Bruno said in Rory's voice. "I've never expected to meet an Airhammer here."
So Rory hadn’t been a magical counter after all. He’d been a person the whole time. A dwarf, as it seemed. All those things about magical cutlery and dishes was only in their imaginations – the thing they’d used to fill in the hole made by not remembering the person.
Bruno frowned but didn’t get stumped. Seems like he wasn’t as affected by the Hydra’s speech as Aurum was.
"There's no time!" Lanurey's voice spoke to him. "I'm going downstairs."
The bard staggered. A tear ran down his face. Were those the last words she'd said to them? Was that when the Hydra had got to her? Eaten her, made her forgotten, made her not-have-existed?
A head picked up the dazed Aurum, threw him in the air like a plaything and swallowed him whole.
Time stretched out, like honey spreading on a piece of bread. Mary watched as Aurum’s body disappeared into the Hydra’s throat and its esophagus contracted to move it toward its stomach.
Up until now, Mary had been eager to participate in all the jokes about Aurum falling in fights like it was a Tuesday. It was scary but she always knew that Bruno was there to heal him.
But this was different. If Aurum fell now, they wouldn’t know that there was someone to save, someone to heal, someone to care about. He’d be gone from their memories, just like Lanurey.
Mary couldn't bear that. She screamed and recklessly plunged forward.
There was still time to stop this! He was still in the throat! If she could just reach him in time, she’d take him out of there, she’s save him, she wouldn’t forget about him, too!
The Hydra’s body got in her way. Mary cast Blight at it. It wrinkled where her magic touched it, but the head didn't let go of Aurum. Bruno's Guiding Bolt pierced the air and cut it in half. It fell on the bank, lifeless.
Mary’s sigh of relief was a short-lived one. One of the remaining three heads started stretching towards her with a cruel grin. It was going to talk to her again.
She didn’t want to hear it. She didn’t want to hear Lanurey! She ran back to where she’d left Saraneth and the moment she stepped into the Silence, all sound stopped existing.
She was safe now.
Or was she? Some small, hidden part of her, the part that ached for a friend, the part that was heartbroken when she learned that she'd had and lost one without even realizing… that part cried out, yearning to hear that friend once more, consequences be damned.
So… she got her wish.
The head opened its mouth, but it did not speak. Instead, it grabbed Mary with a speed she didn’t expect--she gasped in pain as the teeth sank into her chest--and dragged her out of the Silence. Just when she started hearing the sound of the sewer again, another head came near and started speaking.
“Bruno!” screamed Lanurey. “Mary is unconscious again! Help!”
Lanurey… had saved her? It wasn’t Tesaya that’d done it? Mary felt a sharp pain, as if her heart had just been shattered into a million pieces. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and her hands, which were trying to fight the Hydra’s bite, dropped to her sides. Her whole body slacked.
She’d fallen under the Hydra’s spell, just like Aurum had.
This is a pretty intense fight. I wonder if our heroes are going to come out of it unscaved. What do you think?
Don't forget to ask questions for the upcoming Q&A! Anything you'd like to know about the characters, the mystery, the NPCs and the monsters of this Arc! Our DM and I will make sure to answer them to the best of our abilities!
See you next time when we're going to see what's going to happen to Mary after being struck by the Hydra's spell.
Take care and be well!
P.S. Here's a bigger version of this part's illustration. I thought it deserved to be shown :)
(Also, here's a link to the Chapter Guide, the Glossary and the Map for the series. You're welcome!)
An important disclaimer: These are my notes from a D&D game turned into a narrative. All the worldbuilding and NPC encounters belong to our DM, and all the actions of the other main characters (Aurum and Bruno) belong to my co-players. My contribution to the story is only everything Mary-related (actions, reactions, inner thoughts), as well as the writing itself.