One of the serpent heads struck down at Alex as he approached, its reach much greater than he’d expected. Alex spun away, dodging the first head and watching the second. The second head was only a few seconds behind the first, but Alex was ready for it when it came. Sidestepping the attack, Alex brought his sword down directly on the creature’s neck. The head went bouncing across the snow and burst into flame at the side of the path.
Stepping back so the remaining head could not reach him, Alex was shocked to see two new heads growing from the flailing stump. He was facing three heads instead of two, and it seemed he would face more if he continued to attack.
“Hydra,” said Alex under his breath. He remembered the story of Hercules, an ancient Greek warrior who had defeated a hydra by cutting off its heads and burning the necks before new heads could grow. Unfortunately, Alex didn’t see how he’d have time to burn one neck before one of the other heads attacked him. It seemed impossible, and he wondered how Hercules had managed it.
Alex moved away from the hydra, wondering what he should do. It was only a matter of time before Nethrom or one of his other creatures became aware of him. Now that he was so close to the cave, he had to move quickly, but the hydra was something he had not expected. Alex leaned against his staff and looked around the snowy path, hoping to see some clue of how to defeat the hydra. Icicles hung from the rocks on one side of the path, and Alex jumped when he saw his own reflection in them. He looked around to make sure it was only his own reflection and not some other creature moving behind him. Then the idea hit him, and he smiled at the simplicity of it.
Moving forward once more, he stopped just beyond the hydra’s reach. He gripped his sword firmly in his right hand and turned the end of his staff into a blue-white flame. Closing his eyes as he worked the magic, he concentrated on what he needed to do. When he opened his eyes again, he laughed as six copies of himself looked back at him.
The hydra could see the seven different versions of Alex, and its heads began to move back and forth, trying to watch all the images at the same time. The hydra didn’t know which of the figures to attack, and the closer the figures got to it the faster it moved its heads.
The hydra stuck at one of the images to Alex’s left, but the serpent’s head bit nothing but snow and ice. Alex shifted his images, moving them around the hydra slowly and sometimes toward it. The hydra struck a second time on the far side of the path, and Alex knew he would have to wait to launch his own attack.
Five times the hydra attacked Alex’s false images and five times it found nothing. On its sixth attack, Alex struck his own blow, slicing off one of the heads with his sword and holding his burning staff against the bleeding neck before two new heads could replace it. The hydra recoiled from his staff, but the work was already done. Now there were only two heads for Alex to watch, and only two heads to watch the seven images of himself.
Alex continued moving his illusions around the hydra. One head almost managed to bite Alex as he was preparing to attack the other head, but he managed to slip away. The hydra seemed to realize that it had found something real to bite this time, and the second head swung around quickly to attack. Alex distracted the first head by having three of his images rush forward at the same time. He cut the second head from its neck and once more pressed his burning staff to the wound.
The final head spun around wildly, trying to defend its body from the seven attackers surrounding it. Alex almost felt sorry for the hydra, but he knew he had to finish the task. He sent five of his images rushing one side of the hydra, forcing its last head to turn and face them. As it turned, Alex rolled forward, swinging his sword with all his strength, and cut the hydra’s body off as close to the ground as he could. The long neck and head of the hydra burst into flames as it fell, and Alex applied his burning staff to the stump that was left in the ground.
The mouth of the cave was open, but the darkness inside it was forbidding.
Taking a moment to catch his breath, Alex waved his hand and his six duplicates faded into mist. He wished he was not alone, but he knew that the danger was too great for any of his friends to face. Taking another deep breath of the cold morning air, Alex stepped into the dark cave and paused, allowing his eyes to grow accustomed to the twilight world he had entered.
The cave was not completely dark, and once Alex was away from the bright entrance, he was a little surprised by how light the cave actually was. Only one path led into the mountain and Alex stepped carefully; if Nethrom was already aware of Alex’s approach, and if he had managed to gather too many undead creatures to defend himself, it might be impossible to reach the necromancer at all.
Alex moved slowly, listening for anything else that might be in the cave with him. All he could hear was the sound of dripping water somewhere ahead of him. He continued on, growing more nervous as he went. The cave seemed empty and quiet, and Alex felt even more worried.
After several minutes, the path began sloping downward, deeper into the mountain, before the cave suddenly opened into a large chamber. Alex paused at the entrance, letting his eyes search the darkness for the enemy he knew had to be there. There was nothing to see, though, only stone and more darkness.
Stepping into the cavern, Alex heard a piercingly high squeak, and he raised his sword in time to block a huge bat flying down from the ceiling to attack him. The bat hit the edge of the sword with such force that it cut itself in two, the halves falling to the floor. Alex looked up at the ceiling and saw to his horror that there were hundreds of the bats hanging upside down and looking at him.
He stepped away from the cavern entrance, hoping the bats would not follow him, and he noticed something even more terrible. The bat that had cut itself in half on his sword was growing slowly into two complete bats, their wings flopping along the ground. Without thinking, Alex sent a jet of flame toward the two half-grown bats, but they only seemed to grow faster in the heat.
The light of his flame seemed to stir the rest of the bats, and he could hear the creatures beginning to fly about the chamber in front of him, blocking his path. He considered for a moment sending more false images of himself into the cavern, but given the number of bats he would have to fight, Alex realized it would be pointless.
Another bat shot into the tunnel toward him. He struck it with his staff, whispering a freezing spell as he did so. To his surprise, the bat shattered into a dozen shining gems. Alex bent down and picked up several gems, and he saw that they were real rubies, diamonds, and emeralds. He did not have time to think about why the bat had shattered into gems because a second bat flew into the cave toward him. Once more Alex shattered it with his staff, and once more the shattered pieces of the bat turned into gems.
Thinking quickly, Alex changed back into his wind form, moving forward into the chamber. The bats seemed to be aware of him, but their sonar couldn’t detect him hidden in the breeze. They flew around the cavern in a frenzy, clustering in circles in front of the passage that would lead Alex deeper into the mountain and barring his path.
Moving to the center of the chamber, Alex thought of the bright cold morning on the mountainside. He whispered the freezing spell softly, afraid to be heard, and as the bat’s movements stilled around him, he spoke another command like thunder. His voice rolled through the cavern, shattering bats and showering him with gems.
Alex knew the thunderclap command would surely alert Nethrom to his presence, but it was the only way he could think of to shatter all the bats at one time. Alex didn’t take time to examine the cavern, now covered in jewels, but hurried forward, hoping that he was ready to face the necromancer and whatever other creatures he still had waiting.