Page 136 of Thief of Hearts

“We cannot sit here and argue about whether or not you’re funny,” I said. “We have to come up with a plan on how to kill that thing.”

His smile faded, and he had that look on his face that indicated he was thinking deeply.

“Why would a thief put a hydra in here?” I wondered.

“I told you, thieves have the best guards. And they need knowledge and information so that they would know how to fight the hydra. See that neck stem on the bottom left that has two heads growing out of it? And others where there is only one? That is because if you try to cut off the head of a hydra, it grows two in its place. Thieves need to know a little bit about everything.”

“Which you do. So, King of Thieves, how do we defeat this hydra?”

“When you cut off a head, we need to cauterize the neck stem so that nothing can grow back.”

The hydra had a lot of heads. That would take a while.

I needed to know how many heads I had to cut off. I looked around the corner to count. Zain moved into position behind me, also watching. The hydra was lumbering throughout the cavern, avoiding the lines of rocks.

Then it appeared frustrated at not finding any prey because all the heads screamed at the same time. One head, right in the middle, seemed to scream the loudest. It was a much darker green than the others. That head reared back and the others moved out of the way. The darker green head then spit on one of the rocks.

I watched in horror as the spit seemed to bubble and burn, eating its way through the rock.

“When you’re fighting, make sure that you don’t get hit by the acid,” Zain whispered.

“Thank you so much for that extremely helpful tip,” I responded.

And although I couldn’t see his face, I knew he was smiling at my sarcasm.

We moved back into the hallway. I said, “So the plan is I cut off heads and you cauterize the neck stump.”

“Or maybe one of us with a goddess-given gift could fight the hydra and the other, extremely charming person could run into the next room.” At my withering look he asked, “No? Are you sure?”

I knew he was teasing but I needed him to be serious right now.

“I’m going to attack the hydra and I want you to hide behind one of those rocks with the torch. I’ll tell you when I’m about to cut a head off and you run out with the fire and seal it.”

“Without getting torn apart by the other heads and while avoiding the acid from the middle one and not getting stepped on. Got it.”

It looked smaller from a distance, but I guessed that its body was at least nine feet high. I was going to have to jump on it so that I could saw off heads. “It seems awfully big for a creature that’s been trapped down here with no food source.”

“I’m assuming that’s where the magic takes over,” Zain said. “We should wait until it sinks back in the water. Maybe we can get through this room without having to kill it.”

That seemed far too easy.

But I agreed, and after a few minutes, the hydra got bored and went back into the pool. When the last head had gone under, Zain grabbed the torch, and then he and I started for the stairs. We went down them quietly. I felt like a large, lumbering goat, not able to be as silent as I wanted.

Zain, on the other hand, glided down the stairs like he was a shade.

When we reached the bottom, we moved quickly to the rock barrier closest to us. “Stay here,” he whispered. “I’m going to check the door.”

I leaned around the edge to keep an eye on both him and the pond. I had my sword out and ready.

He quietly made his way to the door without making a sound. I had to keep checking to make certain he was still there.

When he got to the door, he put his hands on it and pushed.

Nothing happened.

Then he reached for the handle, to test it as well.

The second his hand made contact, the hydra burst out of the water and screamed.