Chapter 768 Hydra's Call
The drakaina's tilted head slowly glared up, spotting Arad's torso as he glared down at them menacingly. She couldn't sense his magic, as if he was a mere ghost. She could remember his words; he did say she could call him for help if she wanted. He had clearly stated that won't stay on her land as a freeloader and would help defend it. But dragons are proud; she would rather die than get another dragon to help her. But even so, the result of such interactions between dragons is obvious. He's either after her or her hoard, and getting him involved would only cost her pride.
"Be gone ghost. I rather die than bear the burn and shame of calling upon your help." She mumbled.
As Arad's eyes shifted away from the male toward her, she started to feel a slither of his magic. Her mind came to realize, that she never saw him in a half-dragon form, so her draconic brain showing her his image as a last suggestion to survive didn't make sense.
CRACK! Arad fell from the ceiling and his body expanded into his draconic form, landing right over the drakaina with her frail body sitting right between his legs.
"You're here?!"
Arad's magic started rising, and she could feel it. His eyes flashed purple as he roared at the male hydra. It was a deep and loud growl, crackling as if it had been infused with an electric crackle. Like a lion standing over a cheetah, Arad's arms were far thicker than her torso even though she was supposed to be an adult black drakaina. One part was because Arad himself had a larger build than normal due to Alcott's blood, the other was that void dragons are naturally a large type of dragons, and the last part was that males were typically larger than females, with Claug being a rare exception.
Due to her weak body and extreme injuries, the drakaina passed out before Arad's fight even started. To her, that was the end, she'd die there, and Arad would take over her lair and claim her hoard.
The female hydra stood, her back almost fully healed. She roared in a distinct sound, and the male at the other side of the cavern roared back, his eyes shifting away from Arad and toward the walls.
"So you normally call one male, but if the prey seemed too large to deal with, like a dragon, you send a stronger call, and we end up with this." The walls cracked, and several more males started showing up. "I did sense you closing by, so it wasn't that much of a surprise." He turned toward the female and saw her backing away. She'll let the males handle the fight with Arad and the drakaina first, and then they can kill each other for the right to mate with her.
Counting the males, there are seven of them, each hydra with four to nine heads. Those with a large amount of heads looked to be slower but stronger. While the ones with a lesser amount were more agile but weaker.
"You might be weaker, but that only means you lack elements due to the lack of heads." Arad stared at them. To him, this was more about seeing a new monster than defeating them.
The males roared, charging toward Arad and the drakaina in rage. He was standing between them and mating.
As the female watched, the first male reached Arad and extended his five heads to bite Arad's lower back and tail, trying to drag him away from the injured drakaina. But Arad didn't budge. His weight and the raw strength of his claws holding to the ground make it as solid as a mountain. Even though the male's fangs pierced Arad's scales, it was merely scales deep.
Arad bent his knees and sat over the drakaina, covering her body with his wings and a large barrier spell.
The barrier blocked most of the breaths except the sodium ones that ended up covering it with a thick layer of pure sodium, and when that got exposed to the water breath, it exploded in a massive burst that even knocked the hydras back.
Arad's barrier shattered, and a shockwave hit his back and wings; It felt like a heavy firecracker exploding on a man's back. Extremely painful.
His eyes quickly shifted toward the hydras. Which one was it of that that breathed that silvery white thing? What was it? I don't know, but it hurts badly. Arad's mind started racing, noting all of the strange colors on the hydra's necks.
Hydras are lesser dragons. Their colors mean something. I must find it out. I know what red means, what blue, green, yellow, and white, but which ones of them I don't know...that's head over there.
Arad's eyes stopped at the cyan head. That one is strange! It's a light blue, akin to the sky's color. What's dripping from its lips? That isn't spit, it's water. "Water doesn't explode. Who of you did it?" Arad growled, scanning through the other hydras' heads as they stood after taking the shockwave.
A pink one, akin to flames, was that it's, not he's foaming like he's choking, I doubt it the one responsible. No, it smells nice. It's like soap, but more gross.
Arad's eyes spotted a brown neck that wasn't doing much except emitting faint earth magic. That's the head they use to travel underground. All of them have at least one.
He then spotted an orange head that looked dryer than everything else, glaring at him with a strange glare as if shocked.
That's him. I bet it's that bastard! He's the one spitting that strange thing. Arad finally lifted his right front claw, opening it toward the hydra with the orange head.
Arad's claws flashed purple as he growled. "Come here."
A powerful gravitational field started pulling the hydra toward Arad's claw. Even though he tried to hold to the ground with his claws, everything failed.
CLANK! Arad caught the hydra by the neck, staring down his eyes. "That breath, what was it?"