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It sounded like a bullwhip and before the boy’s dulled reactions could process what happened, the horned tip of the serpent’s head had gored him. \n\n It was true what they said about moments like this. Everything slowed and your life flashed before your eyes, the boy thought. What was weird was that every time it happened, different memories were dredged to the surface by dying breaths. This time he thought of his parents, and in that moment he allowed himself to call them that, even if biologically he had no family. Even if he had been told that the bond they shared wasn’t equal to one made of blood. Even if The Great Flame had convinced his parents to disown him, and leave him entirely in their care. At this moment, he didn’t think about that…\n\n He thought of their proud looks on his first day of school. He thought of how comforting his mother’s arms felt as he sobbed into her chest. He thought about how his father told him he could be anything he wanted to be. He wondered if they regretted sending him away, when he started hearing the voice in his dreams...\n\n As the Hydra pulled its head back the barbs of the horn caught on his insides. Intense pain seared through him. It would have been a mercy to black out, unfortunately it was one he would never have. He could feel the dreadful sensation of something being taken from his body, an organ, probably a kidney being ripped out of him.\n\n He thought for a moment, a comfortable thought. That right now he was a normal boy made of blood, and it was spilling on the ground. He tried to think of what normal boys his age usually thought about. Parties, girls… He thought about the first time he drank alcohol. All the other kids around him were tipsy, and he was downing shot after shot until he was made to stop. He had heard alcohol made you say things you’d later regret. Maybe he just wanted the excuse. But it didn’t seem like his body tolerated impurity.\n\n As for girls, he remembered when his friend Cress kissed him, it was surprising… and extremely unwanted. She apologized a lot after that. She never wanted to make him uncomfortable. He wondered if she still thinks about that, still feels sorry. They were such good friends, the three of them. For a moment the boy thought of his love, and all the guilt and pain rushed back into him. And he was brought back to reality.\n\n The blood pouring out of him sparked and lit on fire, a burning simulacra of his missing kidney formed inside of him, its fire knitting flesh from divine intent. In a moment, it would be like he was never touched at all. He was not a normal boy made of blood; he was made of fire. He was a Paladin.\n\n “Wake up, Luca!” a familiar voice yelled as she flew through the air, a divine axe of thunder materializing in her hands as she brought it down on the serpent head of the Hydra that just attacked Luca. This was Mimid, a dark furred wolf-like Lysca girl, and a Paladin just like him. The axe severed the head from the Hydra’s body in one clean motion. Though the flailing of the newly decapitated neck knocked both Luca and Mimid far backwards onto their butts, showering them with its blood.\n\n A third figure blocked the path between the two downed Paladins and the Hydra. It was Lark, the third and final member of what the Flame called “The Crook”, their team of young Paladin heroes. She was a Rat-like Verling like Luca, and was the oldest member of the group at the age of 15. Her pristine white fur glistened as she manifested her Divine Arm, a regal looking burning Spetum. The two remaining Hydra heads looked furious.\n\n It would be hard for Luca to imagine how one would decapitate a Hydra with a spear if he wasn’t seeing it first hand. It was meticulous, messy, and time consuming. She jabed her polearm into its neck, before sliding under, slamming the neck down and vaulting with her weapon back over. The head tore clean off. Jets of fire streamed from the weapon as she made the final cut.\n\n The last head struck in retaliation, but Lark saw it coming and beat it back with a burst of fire from a hand. What she did not see coming is the head Mimid had just decapitated lifting with newly regenerated jaws. This was a Hydra, after all. The jaws clamped down on her, thrashing violently before throwing her against a rocky cliff face. \n\n She would be fine, they all would be. Though it might seem like an irresponsible choice to send 3 children to fight a Hydra, this was far from the case. Hydras, as unkillable as they seemed, had certain rules. If a Hydra had even one remaining head it could regenerate itself, but not indefinitely. They were animals, extremely magical animals for sure, but there was a limit to the regeneration. Sever enough heads and it would run out of magic. And even if they couldn’t sever any heads, it was still an animal. They could have just thrown rocks at it for several moons until it died of thirst or sleep deprivation. Much like the Hydra, Paladins had certain rules too, and it was impossible for something like a Hydra to kill a fully manifested Paladin. Their victory was practically assured.\n\n “Are you going to do anything this time, Luca?” Mimid asked angrily as she got up raring to return to the fight.\n\n It was true Luca didn’t really care to participate in the fights anymore, he was still on the ground covered in the Hydra’s blood, which he didn’t even bother wiping from his face.\n\n “You’ll do fine without me” he said, not moving a muscle.\n\n Mimid scoffed before charging into the melee once more. Luca looked down at his hands, all covered in blood like the rest of him. He wondered to himself what the Hydra did to deserve this. They were never given very much information whenever they went on a quest. Did it steal farm animals, did it attack a wagon, or was it simply spotted and the town folk didn’t want something so dangerous near them. The last thought stung a little. He wouldn’t argue how dangerous this Hydra was, but... All Hydras are dangerous. Could its fate be sealed simply because of what it was? Paladin were dangerous too, that’s why The Great Flame corralled them, trained them, made them into heroes. And used them as weapons…\n\n The shrill serpentine sheik of the Hydra jolted Luca back to attention. Another head fell to the floor. Luca wondered why the Hydra screamed this time and not the other times it was decapitated before this. Perhaps it was realising that it’s fate was sealed now, that this would continue till it died. Or maybe… A knot formed in Luca’s stomach.\n\n Maybe it was like him, and it’s life flashed before itself every time in different ways. Maybe it saw something in those flashing memories it so deeply regretted. Mimid flew past where Luca was sitting, being maimed and whipped across the clearing by the Hydra. Luca looked at the Hydra. It was so big yet looked fearful like a mouse. He thought of his love another time, and stood up.\n \n Luca tried to rationalize what he did next as mercy. The animal didn’t need to suffer more than it needed to. He produced balls of fire from his hand that floated into the air, moving around and above the Hydra. The Hydra now with all three heads fully regenerated, tracked each ball with a different head. Luca saw the heads begin to line up and took a deep breath before manifesting his Divine Arm. His Divine Arm was a sword of fire, no cold steel blade or regal gold hilt, just fire all the way down, burning hot even where he held it. Once another Paladin asked him if it hurt to hold it, he answered “Of course it does.” His hand would be branded simply from holding the thing, of course, much like any wound he got it would quickly disappear, healed and erased.\n\n Luca sprang forward, his small body being propelled by flaming steps bounding him across the ground until he leapt and swung his sword. Three hydra heads fell to the floor, a torrential rain of blood came from the three necks as they flailed briefly before becoming limp and dead. Luca dismissed his Divine Arm and looked at the brand on his hand as he stood in the crimson rain. He hoped the Hydra didn’t spend its last moments thinking of regrets. Luca watched the brand on his hand as it cleared. He was hoping this act would also clear his mind. It didn’t. Luca tried to rationalize what he did as mercy, but he knew better. He did it because of guilt.\n", "description_bbcode_parsed": "CW: Heavy description of blood, gore, and injury.

  One of the Hydra’s serpent heads lunged forward, its iridescent scales glinted with reflected starlight as it snapped like lightning at the boy. It sounded like a bullwhip and before the boy’s dulled reactions could process what happened, the horned tip of the serpent’s head had gored him.

  It was true what they said about moments like this. Everything slowed and your life flashed before your eyes, the boy thought. What was weird was that every time it happened, different memories were dredged to the surface by dying breaths. This time he thought of his parents, and in that moment he allowed himself to call them that, even if biologically he had no family. Even if he had been told that the bond they shared wasn’t equal to one made of blood. Even if The Great Flame had convinced his parents to disown him, and leave him entirely in their care. At this moment, he didn’t think about that…

  He thought of their proud looks on his first day of school. He thought of how comforting his mother’s arms felt as he sobbed into her chest. He thought about how his father told him he could be anything he wanted to be. He wondered if they regretted sending him away, when he started hearing the voice in his dreams...

  As the Hydra pulled its head back the barbs of the horn caught on his insides. Intense pain seared through him. It would have been a mercy to black out, unfortunately it was one he would never have. He could feel the dreadful sensation of something being taken from his body, an organ, probably a kidney being ripped out of him.

  He thought for a moment, a comfortable thought. That right now he was a normal boy made of blood, and it was spilling on the ground. He tried to think of what normal boys his age usually thought about. Parties, girls… He thought about the first time he drank alcohol. All the other kids around him were tipsy, and he was downing shot after shot until he was made to stop. He had heard alcohol made you say things you’d later regret. Maybe he just wanted the excuse. But it didn’t seem like his body tolerated impurity.

  As for girls, he remembered when his friend Cress kissed him, it was surprising… and extremely unwanted. She apologized a lot after that. She never wanted to make him uncomfortable. He wondered if she still thinks about that, still feels sorry. They were such good friends, the three of them. For a moment the boy thought of his love, and all the guilt and pain rushed back into him. And he was brought back to reality.

  The blood pouring out of him sparked and lit on fire, a burning simulacra of his missing kidney formed inside of him, its fire knitting flesh from divine intent. In a moment, it would be like he was never touched at all. He was not a normal boy made of blood; he was made of fire. He was a Paladin.

  “Wake up, Luca!” a familiar voice yelled as she flew through the air, a divine axe of thunder materializing in her hands as she brought it down on the serpent head of the Hydra that just attacked Luca. This was Mimid, a dark furred wolf-like Lysca girl, and a Paladin just like him. The axe severed the head from the Hydra’s body in one clean motion. Though the flailing of the newly decapitated neck knocked both Luca and Mimid far backwards onto their butts, showering them with its blood.

  A third figure blocked the path between the two downed Paladins and the Hydra. It was Lark, the third and final member of what the Flame called “The Crook”, their team of young Paladin heroes. She was a Rat-like Verling like Luca, and was the oldest member of the group at the age of 15. Her pristine white fur glistened as she manifested her Divine Arm, a regal looking burning Spetum. The two remaining Hydra heads looked furious.

  It would be hard for Luca to imagine how one would decapitate a Hydra with a spear if he wasn’t seeing it first hand. It was meticulous, messy, and time consuming. She jabed her polearm into its neck, before sliding under, slamming the neck down and vaulting with her weapon back over. The head tore clean off. Jets of fire streamed from the weapon as she made the final cut.

  The last head struck in retaliation, but Lark saw it coming and beat it back with a burst of fire from a hand. What she did not see coming is the head Mimid had just decapitated lifting with newly regenerated jaws. This was a Hydra, after all. The jaws clamped down on her, thrashing violently before throwing her against a rocky cliff face.

  She would be fine, they all would be. Though it might seem like an irresponsible choice to send 3 children to fight a Hydra, this was far from the case. Hydras, as unkillable as they seemed, had certain rules. If a Hydra had even one remaining head it could regenerate itself, but not indefinitely. They were animals, extremely magical animals for sure, but there was a limit to the regeneration. Sever enough heads and it would run out of magic. And even if they couldn’t sever any heads, it was still an animal. They could have just thrown rocks at it for several moons until it died of thirst or sleep deprivation. Much like the Hydra, Paladins had certain rules too, and it was impossible for something like a Hydra to kill a fully manifested Paladin. Their victory was practically assured.

  “Are you going to do anything this time, Luca?” Mimid asked angrily as she got up raring to return to the fight.

  It was true Luca didn’t really care to participate in the fights anymore, he was still on the ground covered in the Hydra’s blood, which he didn’t even bother wiping from his face.

  “You’ll do fine without me” he said, not moving a muscle.

  Mimid scoffed before charging into the melee once more. Luca looked down at his hands, all covered in blood like the rest of him. He wondered to himself what the Hydra did to deserve this. They were never given very much information whenever they went on a quest. Did it steal farm animals, did it attack a wagon, or was it simply spotted and the town folk didn’t want something so dangerous near them. The last thought stung a little. He wouldn’t argue how dangerous this Hydra was, but... All Hydras are dangerous. Could its fate be sealed simply because of what it was? Paladin were dangerous too, that’s why The Great Flame corralled them, trained them, made them into heroes. And used them as weapons…

  The shrill serpentine sheik of the Hydra jolted Luca back to attention. Another head fell to the floor. Luca wondered why the Hydra screamed this time and not the other times it was decapitated before this. Perhaps it was realising that it’s fate was sealed now, that this would continue till it died. Or maybe… A knot formed in Luca’s stomach.

  Maybe it was like him, and it’s life flashed before itself every time in different ways. Maybe it saw something in those flashing memories it so deeply regretted. Mimid flew past where Luca was sitting, being maimed and whipped across the clearing by the Hydra. Luca looked at the Hydra. It was so big yet looked fearful like a mouse. He thought of his love another time, and stood up.
 
  Luca tried to rationalize what he did next as mercy. The animal didn’t need to suffer more than it needed to. He produced balls of fire from his hand that floated into the air, moving around and above the Hydra. The Hydra now with all three heads fully regenerated, tracked each ball with a different head. Luca saw the heads begin to line up and took a deep breath before manifesting his Divine Arm. His Divine Arm was a sword of fire, no cold steel blade or regal gold hilt, just fire all the way down, burning hot even where he held it. Once another Paladin asked him if it hurt to hold it, he answered “Of course it does.” His hand would be branded simply from holding the thing, of course, much like any wound he got it would quickly disappear, healed and erased.

  Luca sprang forward, his small body being propelled by flaming steps bounding him across the ground until he leapt and swung his sword. Three hydra heads fell to the floor, a torrential rain of blood came from the three necks as they flailed briefly before becoming limp and dead. Luca dismissed his Divine Arm and looked at the brand on his hand as he stood in the crimson rain. He hoped the Hydra didn’t spend its last moments thinking of regrets. Luca watched the brand on his hand as it cleared. He was hoping this act would also clear his mind. It didn’t. Luca tried to rationalize what he did as mercy, but he knew better. He did it because of guilt.
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