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Tango stared at Etho, annoyed, mildly horrified, and entirely confused, waiting for him to laugh and say he was joking. He didn’t, so Tango leaned forward, putting his mead down with a clunk.
“You can’t be serious.”
Etho sighed. “I wouldn’t have asked if I had other options.”
Tango shook his head incredulously, stared into his drink, then lifted it back up to chug it. He made eye contact with the innkeeper who smiled, readying another. Tango looked at Etho again who, honestly and unfortunately, looked convincingly awful. Tango believed him when he said he wouldn’t have asked if there was another way.
“So, just to get this straight,” Tango spread his palm on the table between them, “this hydra lives in enchanted water that will paralyze anyone who touches it?”
“Well, it’s not exactly paralysis, you just lose all feeling so it’s hard to—.”
“And you want me to help you fight this hydra because it’s terrorizing the Lizardfolk that live there.”
“And the waters are seeping closer to other villages and well-traveled paths.”
“But to do that, we have to go into the swamp.”
“Yes…”
“Etho, I don’t even—how could you expect me to say yes to that?”
The innkeeper set a new drink before Tango, he passed the man a coin, and dived in for another big sip.
“Tango please. It’s really endangering people and I know you don’t care that much but I don’t…”
Tango looked up, raised an eyebrow, and received no good feeling from drawing that face from Etho.
“What were you gonna say?” Tango prompted.
“I don’t think I’ll survive it on my own.”
Tango put his drink down again with a greater sense of urgency. “Etho, don’t tell me you’re going one way or another.”
“I have to.”
“It’s not your responsibility!”
Etho looked down, debating his next words, or maybe the idea that this wasn’t his problem. He was covered in guilt that Tango had seen many times. In fact, Etho never sat satisfied with himself for more than a few minutes at a time. He always had to be doing something good.
“It is my responsibility,” he said solemnly. “But I understand if you won’t come. I haven’t talked to them yet, but I’m going to ask Impulse and Skizz to come too—they’re just so busy and I need some firepower.”
Tango huffed, exasperated, and highly worried. Fire was his specialty, and it was a hydra’s weakness.
“It would be fun to have the party back together,” Tango sighed. “But I don’t have much for protection.”
“I’ll get you some things.”
Tango nodded, slowly, silently. “Let me know what the others say.”
Etho grinned.
**********
Tango had his arms full of Skizz before the door had fully opened. He was waiting for the rest of the party in his room in the tavern, Etho said he’d bring them. Skizz nearly knocked him off his feet. Impulse stole him from Skizz a couple of seconds after.
“Hey,” Tango greeted with a laugh, “how are you guys?”
“Great!” Skizz said, “we have so much to tell you—you wouldn’t believe how many dragons there are in the Rakers.”
“You’ve been fighting dragons?” Tango sputtered. “What happened to taking on the giant camps?”
“Well we did that too but there were so many dragons that we had to learn how to fight them too,” Impulse said, clapping Tango on the back. “They’re usually only young adults, but we’ve had a few run-ins with adults and even an ancient one.”
“You’re joking.”
Impulse unsheathed a dagger from his belt and held it out to Tango. Tango took it with careful hands, inspecting it with awe. The handle was wrapped in dragon leather, embedded with gems Tango didn’t recognize. The blade itself was a fang, carved and sharpened to perfection. Tango squinted, further observing the grain of the leather, then the shade and strength of the tooth.
“An ancient red dragon,” Tango said. “You two sure have upped your game.”
“You haven’t?” Skizz asked, glancing sideways to the pile of scrolls and books, as well as a pile of wands.
The only reason the wands were out was because he was in the middle of recharging them before moving onto the next town. He had an enchanted oil that would recharge his wands to their fullest if he rubbed it over them. He was almost out of the oil and probably wouldn’t find more any time soon.
“I’m not a monster hunter anymore,” Tango reminded, “I’m a scholar.”
“And so… what have you scholared? New spells? A mentor?” Skizz asked, making himself comfortable on Tango’s bed.
Etho walked to Tango’s desk to look over his things. Impulse stood with his arms crossed, waiting expectantly to hear all of Tango’s endeavours, Unfortunately, his times hadn’t been as epic as everyone else’s since they split the party.
“I can cast some pretty gnarly fire spells,” Tango said. “Last time we fought, I just had my wand and I could cast Flame Arrow.”
“And now?” Etho asked, a proud look on his face.
Tango shrugged. “I think I’ll make you wait and see.”
Etho rolled his eyes and set his backpack on the ground at his feet. “Like I said, I got you some gear and I have something for all of us.” He first brought out a pair of metal bracers and handed them to Tango. “Those will act like armour on your arms and chest.” He rummaged for something else and came back up with a dark blue, nearly black, cloak. “This will protect you more from the water splashing.”
“This… is yours. Won’t you need it?” Tango asked, unraveling the cloak from its roll.
This is what Etho used to wear when they were still a party. Tango had distinct memories of freezing or being injured and having Etho throw it over his shoulders or wrap him up in it. It was still in decent condition.
“I haven’t needed it, I wear an amulet that keeps me warm. I only wear it when I have to hide my appearance,” Etho waved his hand, “and when the weather’s rough.”
“So what are you going to wear to avoid being splashed?”
Etho paused in his rummaging, then went back to it with a shrug. “I’ll be careful.”
Tango threw the cloak back at his face. “I’ll buy my own cloak. Don’t be stupid.”
Etho stood back up, tossed the cloak back, and held a small leather pouch in his hand. “I’ll buy a new cloak. You wear that one.”
“Etho.” Tango caught the cloak.
“Listen,” Etho sighed, pouring the pouch out, “I’m the one asking you to risk your life. The least I could do is try to make sure you don’t lose it.”
In Etho’s hand were four silver rings with a dark blue middle band. He tossed one to Skizz, then Impulse, then dropped one into Tango’s hand.
“Don’t feel too bad, I haven’t had a good fight in a while,” Tango said, twisting the ring in his fingers, “this is a good time to see how my spellcasting is coming along.”
“I’m sure you’ll be great,” Etho said, going back to his bag. “Those rings will allow us to walk on water, but if you get knocked off your feet you’ll still fall in.”
Tango nodded, pleasantly surprised, and slipped the ring on. It warped to fit his finger comfortably. Tango wore one other ring on his other hand, a ring of protection.
“So what do we know about this hydra?” Impulse asked. “Is it an old hydra? Must be if it found a way to enchant waters.”
Etho pulled two scimitars out of his bag, which is when Tango realized he was pulling a lot more out of this backpack than what should fit. He set the swords on the desk. Etho used to fight with a longsword.
“They’re not like dragons,” Etho explained, “they aren’t very smart, and they don’t use magic. I believe something else made the waters that way and the hydra moved in, its scales make it immune. And I’m sorry, I don’t have healing potions but I was hoping…” Etho turned to Skizz and Impulse.
“We’ve got it covered,” Skizz said, waving a hand. “Paladins and whatnot.”
Tango snorted. “Last time you tried to heal Etho it took both of you to do any good.”
“Hey, we’ve grown a lot since then! Just like you.”
“Uh huh.” Tango turned to Etho, who was closing up his bag of holding. “What about you? How was seeing your family?”
Etho smiled softly. “It was nice. I stayed in Celene for a bit of extra training. I joined the circle of the moon and… I can actually do a bit of healing myself now too.”
Tango blinked. “Wow. That’s—I thought you wanted to be one of Celene’s hunters.”
Etho nodded. “I did for a while but I think this is better for me.”
“Well, then I’m happy for you.”
“And we’re excited to see what you can do,” Impulse said.
It was almost painful how calm everything was. How fond they were of each other. The energy in the room was warm, relieved, and once again Tango wondered if splitting up was really the right decision. But they all had different paths to follow. Tango turned toward wizardry, Skizz and Impulse towards an Oath of Devotion, and Etho… to druidry, apparently. But what if their paths were rejoining?
“We’ll head out in the morning. It’s only a day’s travel,” Etho said, tucking hair behind his pointed ear. “I’ll buy an extra cloak in the morning.”
“Good,” Tango said. “Are you guys staying here?”
“We’re a few rooms down. Don’t bail on us in the middle of the night,” Skizz teased, shoving Tango’s shoulder as he headed toward the door.
“Psh. I’m not afraid of some four-headed crocodile.”
“It has seven heads,” Etho said.
“Psh.”
“It’s as big as a red dragon.”
“Psh.”
“If you trip once, you won’t be able to move.”
“Goodnight, Etho, sleep tight.”
Etho left with an eye roll. As soon as the door was closed, Tango covered his mouth with one hand, eyes wide. What had he agreed to? He hadn’t fought anything stronger than an ankheg and that was with Impulse, Skizz, and Etho years ago. They did most of the work. And since then, they’d all gotten so much better. Skizz and Impulse had fought dragons, for the stars’ sake. What had Tango done since? He read books.
What if Etho overestimated him?
What if they all died tomorrow?
**********
Walking on top of the water would have been an amazing experience if it weren’t for the crocodiles, alligators, and snakes swimming around below them. In this swamp, they had already shot a few giant frogs, and ran swiftly away from a green hag because that was not the kind of warm up they needed before taking on a hydra. They were making good ground despite having to dodge all of the snapping teeth from below.
“So are we just going to come across it? Does it have a lair?” Tango asked, walking next to Etho.
“It’ll find us, probably,” Etho said. “But we shouldn’t go too deep into the swamp. There are froghemoths in there and they aren’t bothering anyone yet.”
“It… will find us?”
“Unfortunately. These waters are a lot deeper than you probably realize. It swims. And it can cover a lot of ground in an hour.”
Tango looked down, which he should have been doing more often anyway, and wished he had wings. It almost would have been better to make this journey in a boat, it would have acted like a shield between him and the creatures below. Anything could reach up and snap a hand around his ankle. If something tripped him, he’d plunge into the murky waters.
“Hey,” Etho put his hand on Tango’s shoulder, “you’re staying back, remember? You’re going to fire at it and we’re going to take it out. If it starts coming for you, run.”
Tango shook Etho’s hand off. “I’m not worried. We got this.”
“Okay… but I mean it. You’re a lot more vulnerable than we are. If that thing comes for you, we need you to get out of there.”
“We can’t kill it without you,” Impulse said, looking back at Tango, “so seriously, stay safe.”
“Yeah yeah, don’t worry. I memorized all my best spells last night.” Tango flinched as a snake swam past his feet. “This sucks though.”
“Mhm. Let’s just hope we see it in the distance rather than it—”
“It’s there,” Skizz hissed.
At first, Tango didn’t see it, but Etho grabbed his arm to stop him from moving and Impulse too had frozen up. With a squint, Tango observed a cluster of swampy trunks with odd bark—scales. Not bark. This cluster’s tree tops were oddly small in comparison to the others around. The hydra had a disguise.
“Oh,” Tango whispered.
“It doesn’t know we see it,” Etho whispered, “we’re going to keep moving like we were to get close. Tango, you need to get further back and hit with everything. Don’t burn us.”
Goosebumps crawled up Tango’s arms. “Got it.”
Tango started walking backwards, watching Skizz, Impulse, and Etho go forward as if they hadn’t noticed anything. When Tango looked at the base of the “trees”, where they met the water and joined each other, he noticed an unsettling rise and fall. The beast breathed, but it wouldn’t soon.
The very second Skizz raised his loaded crossbow, the hydra’s heads snapped to life, shaking off clumps of moss that disguised them as treetops. The moss splashed in the water. Skizz let his bolt fly. Etho and Impulse charged forwards. Tango took a deep breath and began waving his hands.
With the snap of his fingers, Tango’s hands lit aflame. He began weaving a sphere, heat coursing up his arms. The flames swirled into a ball and spun and spun. Ahead, Tango heard a roar, and large snapping teeth. Past the fire growing in front of his face, Tango saw Etho dodge a lunging head. He watched Impulse smack another away with his greatsword.
Tango reared back, then thrusted his hands forward. His fireball sprung forward like a rocket and struck one one of the heads higher up. Tango tried to aim it away from his party. They all ducked and covered their faces as the fire roared over them. The hydra hissed and most of its heads flailed. One head that kept its focus gnashed at Skizz. Tango gasped as Skizz was lifted off his feet, crushed in the hydra’s jaws.
With little thought, Tango swiftly mimicked the motions of firing a bow. When he let the imaginary arrow fly, a real arrow of flame flew forward. It slammed into the hydra’s eye. Skizz fell and Tango cringed, trusting Impulse to help him if he fell in the water, and started working on the next spell. Impulse raced to catch Skizz, barely helping him land on his feet.
As Tango began weaving his second fireball, he flinched, making eye contact with one of the heads. Its eyes were wide, clearly visible despite being so far. A few heads snapped at Tango’s teammates. Impulse defended Skizz by beheading one of them. Tango grinned, proud, and his fire flared with energy.
Then the hydra’s middle head roared. At Tango. And it began charging. Tango gasped and released his fireball quickly. The hydra’s middle head flew back, and the nearby necks leaned away from the heat. The hydra continued its charge. Past the rest of the party. Etho dived onto a patch of land to avoid being trampled and shouted in Tango’s direction.
With a racing heart and a loud beat in his head, Tango frantically lit his hands aflame. He pushed his hands forward, clawing at the air, aiming at the ground. He flicked his wrists to the sky, then raised his hands with trembling force. Flames licked over the water and patches of moss. Tango raised his hands further, arms shaking, then flung them up. A thick wall of fire rose between Tango and the hydra. It splashed as it came forward, weakening the wall.
Tango took off, trying to gain some distance before the hydra passed the wall. Arrows flew into the beast’s back and heads. Arrows splashed around Tango as they missed the hydra. When he looked back, the hydra sank into the water. It was too shallow to fully cover the hydra, but the wall spanned the open area. The hydra had to go through it.
As the hydra screamed and struggled through the wall, Tango whirled on his heel. With all of the power he held in his hands, heart, and soul, Tango began casting his most powerful spell. Heat raged through his body, burning out into a little glowing ball hovering between his two palms. The hydra stopped its advance to fight off the other three party members.
Tango was almost distracted from his spell when he noticed Etho on top of one of the hydra heads. He stabbed one of his scimitars right through its skull. The head fell and Etho tumbled with it. He caught himself by stabbing the hydra’s body and hanging on. The hydra knocked Impulse away. Impulse barely managed to land on his feet, avoiding falling into the water.
The little globe of light shrank in Tango’s hands. He strained his fingers, hands on the edge of cramping, and threw the tiny bead of fire a good few feet ahead. Tango began slowly backing up, concentrating on the bead. The hydra stalked forward, three heads watching behind itself to fend Etho, Impulse, and Skizz off. Two heads stretched forward, toward Tango.
The hydra snapped at Etho to pull him off its body and received a sword to the neck. It roared in pain and frustration. Two heads attacked Etho this time. Teeth latched around Etho’s arm and yanked. Tango jumped at the scream Etho let out. The heads staring at Tango took full charge, hissing, it dragged the other heads forward. It knew Tango was the biggest threat.
The hydra ran, sending splashes closer and closer to Tango, who continued slowly walking backwards. In the background, Impulse was holding glowing hands over Etho’s arm. Skizz ran forward behind the hydra.
“Skizz!” Tango yelled, struggling to hold the magic, “Stay back!”
Skizz, thank the gods, stopped and raised his crossbow instead. Tango found new strength in Skizz’s trust. He held the little flame bead even longer. The hydra was so close to touching it. A stream of water sprouted toward Tango. The water washed over him as the hydra ran into the tiny floating bead.
The swamp lit up. Smoke billowed out around them. Fire danced over the cloudy waters and laced up the scales of the hydra. Skizz ducked, raising his shield, and Impulse put himself in front of Etho. Tango’s vision was quickly blocked as the jet of water rained down on him. Every inch of exposed skin lit up with tingles.
The hydra stumbled in its steps forward. It hissed. Tango nearly lost his footing, falling out of the way of the lunging jaws. A shadow fell over him, then a weight slammed Tango sideways. His head slapped the water, and Tango sank. Instinctively, he tried to plant his hands and stand, it wasn’t that deep here. His movements were sluggish. He couldn’t feel his limbs. His robes and cloak soaked up the water and took him further under the surface.
The water sloshed around him. He couldn’t see the hydra. All sounds were amplified under the water. Footsteps of two kinds approached. One was heavy, clawed, ready to rip him apart any second. The others were quick, light, determined. Something loud landed in the water to Tango’s right. Then again a bit closer.
His chest ached from the lack of air. But he couldn’t turn himself over. He was drowning in two feet of water. He didn’t instinctively twitch or struggle. Tango was stuck in his body, fully alert, feeling water attempting to seep into his lungs. Feeling blood leaking from his side. They were taking too long. There had been no time to take a breath before he went under. The claw knocked everything out of him. There was no breath to hold and hurt—gods—would his body even take a breath or was he too numb to do it? There was slimy moss and gunk floating in the water. Seagrass danced across Tango’s face.
His body took a deep breath.
Some kind of stick was jammed under Tango’s stomach and pushed up. He was lifted to the surface of the water, and someone grabbed the back of his soaked clothes. He was limply lifted out of the water, pulled up by multiple sets of arms. He couldn’t feel it, but he gasped and coughed. Tango was maneuvered into Skizz’s arms, head lolled into his chest.
“Hey buddy, we got you,” Skizz said, hurrying toward the nearest patch of solid land.
Impulse came into Tango’s view as they jogged. Skizz knelt with Tango in his hands and set him gently on the moss. Impulse knelt on his other side and Etho quickly dropped by Tango’s head. Numbly, Tango choked and coughed. They rolled him onto his side and water spilled out of his lungs. Impulse rubbed his back and Skizz’s hands began glowing. He hovered them over Tango.
“We did it, Tango,” Etho said. “It’s dead, and we couldn’t have done it without you.”
“I’m just closing your wounds up right now,” Skizz said.
Impulse continued to brace Tango as he freed his lungs of swamp water. When Skizz’s hands stopped glowing Tango felt no different. Everything was numb and there was no room for pain.
“You with us, Top? Does it hurt? Can you talk?” Skizz asked.
“No—” Tango rasped, lips barely moving, “I can’t feel anything.”
“I’m gonna fix it,” Etho said, “hang on.”
Impulse carefully pulled Tango back onto his back. Tango looked up at Etho, whose eyes were glowing, and he placed two fingers on each of Tango’s temples. A warmth spread through Tango’s head, then down his neck, and all of the feeling in his body started slowly creeping back in.
“We have to get him out of these clothes quick,” Impulse said, already pulling at Tango’s heavy robes.
“I have one more lesser restoration spell. Be fast,” Etho said, helping Tango up.
He still struggled to move, but wordlessly aided the others and got the wet clothes off. He was left shivering in just his undershirt and shorts. The parts of his body that were touching the wet clothes went numb again, but his legs, arms, and face were fine.
“There you go,” Skizz breathed, “you’re fine.”
“Feel great,” Tango muttered, huddling.
Etho pulled his mostly-dry cloak off and draped that around Tango’s shoulders. Tango failed to keep himself upright and fell dizzily. Impulse and Etho caught him, then Etho committed to holding him up while they caught their breaths. Tango breathed and looked at the remains of the hydra. There were a few severed heads around. Others had sunk under the water.
“That was some pretty great casting,” Impulse said, feeling Tango’s wrists for a pulse.
“If I had known you were that powerful I would have just sent you in alone,” Etho joked.
Tango huffed. “You owe me so bad.”
“I do. I really do—that was incredible Tango. Wall of Fire?”
“Been studying hard.” Tango closed his eyes and leaned into Etho.
Wall of Fire hadn’t even been the impressive spell! Tango was proud of his delayed fireball. That was his best spell—and this was only the third or so time he’d ever casted it. It was a good thing he managed it, too, because if he’d stopped shooting fire at that thing it would have begun regrowing heads.
“Hey, do you need more healing?” Impulse asked, ducking to meet Tango’s eyes.
Tango shook his head. “Just exhausted. I’m all good.”
“Yeah, we gotta get you home,” Skizz said. “We can all reflect on how awesome you are when you’re warm in bed.”
“Sounds nice.”
“Okay, up,” Impulse said, reaching for Tango. “We shouldn’t spend any more time in this swamp.”
“Aren’t you guys all numb too?” Tango mumbled, leaning into Impulse when he got to his feet.
“A little. Mostly our hands,” Impulse said. “You definitely got the worst of it.”
“Great.”
“Relax,” Impulse said, helping Skizz pick Tango back up.
Tango grumbled, “I can walk.”
“You won’t make it far,” Etho said with a chuckle. “And it would really suck if you fell back in.”
Tango shivered at the thought.
“Let’s go,” Impulse said. “We have lots to talk about and swamp monsters to avoid.”