We don't often train after dark, but I won't complain. It's nice to get out on a warm night like this. The first down to seventh generations are all here—what kind of exercise is this? There sure are a lot of guards out for this time of night. Why are we going up the wall? Guess I won't be dipping in the moat then. Disappointing, but not surprising.

  I've seen the city from above once before, from way up our tower's highest floor. This nighttime view, this is something different again. The true extent of Perlin city fills me with a mix of awe and dread. So many lights, so many homes—how can the world sustain so many parasites?

  Wait, let's put that aside for now and talk about all the people off in the distance, the ones beyond the wall. Something unusual is up...

  Time passes in silence as we watch them approach. It's only when arrows start flying that I realize what's going on. Yes, I've had my suspicions for a while now, and this might sound crazy, but hear me out: We occasionally have team events in the arena, right? Well, at some point it occurred to me—really, there's no obvious reason why the teams couldn't be much bigger. The bigger team has an advantage after all.

  So it seems the humans have come up with the same idea, and... it's nothing like what I had imagined, at all! All those formation exercises are beginning to make far too much sense. My mind is connecting all sorts of dots right now, and honestly? this is absolutely the worst time for an epiphany.

  The match begins with both teams shooting arrows and some much larger projectiles at each other. The enemy force takes many casualties but persists anyway. Personally, I would flee. Things are not going well for team outside-the-wall. Why would you not flee? A team that big should be able to overpower their handlers easily.

  As they get closer, volleys of fire and lightning begin to appear. First sporadically, and then all at once. Night turns to false day as powerful actives blast off in both directions. An unnatural scents fill the air—like when something that really shouldn't be burnt gets burnt.

  A strange wind pushes over an approaching siege tower. Below, a barrier pops into existence, blocking enemy soldiers approaching the gate below. Our side is doing heaps of damage, but there's no end to the invaders. They're climbing the walls now! Many fall, but those who break through just overwhelm our defenses by sheer numbers.

  In our practiced formations, hydra generations seven up to one are sent forward. Towers interrupt the wall at intervals and the doors on both sides of our section have been sealed off. It seems we've been given ground to defend and no possibility for retreat.

  I've killed four humans to date, and should be feeling pretty confident about this fight, right? Well... I have a theory: I don't think those were gladiators. Gladiators are assets—we exist to entertain. An unwinnable fight sacrifices that asset with little spectacle. We gladiators might get seeded tough fights sometimes, but usually, they're fights we have a real chance of winning.

  Those humans I fought in the past knew nothing of battle and never stood a chance. The organizers surely knew this, hence my theory: those people weren't gladiators, they were simply meant to die.

  I used to think someone probably eats them afterwards—or at least, that was my assumption back then. These days, though? I no longer expect common sense from humans in general. Anyway, our opponents today are not inexperienced sacrifices. Our opponents today are so far above us that failure is certain. Today we aren't gladiators. Today, it's hydra brigade that's meant to die.

  Our enemies form a type of human wall by lining themselves up side by side. Together, they fight like one creature—a monster with many heads and no flanks. Long spears plunge into the seventh generation with a disturbing rhythm. Our enemies make no mistakes. When one of us goes down, they are stabbed over and over to be sure. It seems there will be no playing dead today. They know about our healing.

  All of my hearts are trying to escape through all of my throats at the same time. I've come to a decision: I am not fighting that! Nope. Call me a coward. It's time to flee, and any direction but forward will do.

  The tower door behind me might be locked, but there is another way out. In the chaos, I climb the crenelations and jump off the wall. Most creatures would not walk away from a fall this high, but me? As long as I use my less vital body parts to absorb the impact I should be fine.

  Splat! It takes some time to heal up, but no rush needed. Enemies pass me by without pause, just as they pass the corpses of their fallen comrades. That's right, foreign parasites, I'm just another corpse—nothing to see here.

  I slither into the nearby moat and start swimming. No one seems to be coming after me. Everyone has something more important to do right now. Well, at least the humans do—all of hydra battalion is beginning to copy my escape plan.

  How long has it been since I swam? The water feels great, but I have no time to savor this. Instinct takes over and I pull my heads and necks together to reduce drag. Lateral movements of my tail push against the water and propel me steadily forward.

  The long fin atop my tail has gotten much smaller over the years and I'm not moving fast. Fortunately, I can hold my breath for a long time, and can mostly avoid the surface.

  The noise of battle is distorted and feels distant underwater. My sense of calm is quickly interrupted. Something is pulling me backwards. Memories of being forcefully pulled out of the water back at the swamp flash through my mind. No! You won't catch me again! Never again!

  I nearly panic, but manage to control the fear. I'm no longer a simple animal. I quietly anchor myself to a nearby stone and examine my murky surroundings. There is a drain feeding into the wall behind me and the water flowing into it was forcing me back. There's no intent behind it. It's just a thing. All I need to do is push past.

  With a quick gulp of air followed by a burst of energy, I break from its influence and continue swimming. Our obedience training grounds are nearby, so I know these surroundings well enough. Somewhere along here the moat is fed into by a canal. Further away from the wall and at the edge of the farmlands, that canal connects to a stream. I make my way to the stream and travel up it.

  Fields lie empty and ravaged here. In the distance Perlin city burns as it fades from view. I'm not exactly sad about its destruction, but the scale of the devastation is too terrifying for me to celebrate it.

  It's not quite a swamp—more of a little marsh, really—but it's my little marsh. How long have I dreamed of this? to escape and live as nature intended. Submerged in water, my skin—so long numb to the unnatural dryness of captive existence—feels alive again!

  Aaaand... I'm hungry. Fish! wondrous fish all around, and none will hold still for me to grab. How is a hydra my size supposed to hunt? I know from my pre-captive days that we catch fish at this size, but I just can't remember the details of how it's done. If there were other hydra in this little marsh, I could observe and learn, but no such luck.

  On the second night, I notice an intruder: is that Widowmaker? Lets go hiss at him. He needs to understand that this place is claimed.

  The next morning Widowmaker is still around and it's becoming embarrassingly clear that he's much better at fishing than me.

  What is that ability he's using? It looks like some sort of ranged shock-wave active. I've fought an opponent using something similar in the past. It wasn't very strong, but apparently it stuns fish for just long enough to then grab them.

  I'm traveling further down the river today. There must be a better fishing spot somewhere. Here the river runs through a village, and I can see humans. Being spotted would be bad. Going around would be slow and difficult. What to do? Guess I'll head back for now.

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  I vaguely remember having seen fishing traps from my swamp days, but only now, having found one again, do I understand how they actually work. This one has no fish in it, but I can see how the current would funnel and trap them. I remove the trap and carry it back upstream to the marsh where humans don't seem to go. Once set up, it doesn't take long for the first fish to wander in.

  Take that, Widowmaker! Brains triumph over... over whatever that ability of yours is! Oh how deprived my existence had been. To think, I used to consider human meat a treat. No more. This—fresh fish—*this* is what I was meant to eat!

  Sleeping out in the open feels wrong somehow. I clear out some reeds on the riverbank to make a home, but leave just enough standing around a small perimeter to vaguely imitate the bars of a cage. I know. This is wrong. It's so wrong. But listen, I literally cannot sleep without bars—it just feels too exposed.

  Being free to do as I please, I've taken up weaving grass. It's good for making or fixing traps.

  Perhaps I've been too successful. I can't prove that it was Widowmaker who tore up my trap, but there are no other suspects, so...

  I can certainly understand why he did it. The number of meal-sized fish around here has steadily dwindled. Another week like this and one of us will have to leave.

  The nearby village has no full-time fishers, just one person putting out traps in the evenings and collecting them in the mornings. I could take those down or steal from them, but that might lead to someone investigating, and if they do find us, who knows what perverse thinks they'll do.

  The next time Widowmaker comes to sabotage one of my traps, I'm prepared. The moment he approaches, I burst out of hiding and confront the would-be saboteur with my most intimidating hiss.

  "Kssssha!"

  I was hoping he would back down at this point, but judging by his stance, its clear that things won't be that easy. Widowmaker proceeds to tear my trap apart.

  Widowmaker (named monster), level 15

  base class: hydra (physique->constitution#1, biology->restoration#1, affliction->poison#1), level 7

  primary class: wind-hammer (force->repulsion#3, environment->air#2), level 8

  Widowmaker reached level 10 shortly before me and took the wind-runner class as primary. That must have been about five years ago now. Not too long ago he was at level 19, but then he switched to wind-hammer and dropped down to 14. His base class level was at 9 before but now sits at 7. He must have transferred points to the new primary since switching.

  I'm at level 17 now, so I should have a good chance at victory. Widowmaker might be faster than me, but I've got more weight and strength. Best to close in fast.

  I do exactly that, but just as I manage to coil three of five necks around him, the wind-hammer hydra twirls around his axis and a gust of wind flings me off.

  Assuming that move has a long cool-down, my best option is to simply repeat the same attack. I try, but my opponent dodges my attacks more consistently now and manages to land two bites on me. Like me, his venom is weak, but it will add up over time.

  After several more attempts, I manage to grapple him again, but as before, the twirling wind active dislodges me. Equally frustrating is the way he keeps throwing focused pulses of air at me—each accompanied by a loud cracking sound. That active might be able to stun small fish, but are too weak to harm or even repel me. They're just distracting enough to interrupt my attacks, and the other hydra is expertly timing them to that purpose.

  I need a plan. What can I do to catch him off guard? Widowmaker has seen me fight plenty, so none of my usual deceptions will work. Let's consider my woundweaver abilities,

  Guide Injury +3: Your perception of time slows down and you gain significant bodily control and awareness. Can only be activated while being injured. Self or ally inflicted wounds do not count. (duration, 2 seconds), (cool-down, 1 minute)

  This active is good for disarming human opponents or grappling creatures with natural weapons. Basically, it lets me better grip whatever's injuring me while minimizing damage. I doubt that's what it was meant for, but that's mostly how I use it. Using it for entanglement won't work on Widdowmaker though: his attacks are all quick little bites—too shallow to get stuck.

  At level +3 guide injury got a lot stronger. Now I can close off and reroute arteries just before they're severed. Great for preventing blood-loss from cutting weapons, and it lets me isolate and expel poison. Sadly, the cool-down is too low compared to Widdowmaker's speed, so I'm still taking some poison damage.

  Masochist's Clarity +2: Clarity and speed of thought is increased after sustaining significant injuries. Self or ally inflicted wounds cannot trigger it. Only active during combat.

  This passive energizes well with guide injury, which requires me to visualize how I want my body to respond to an injury. It's also helped me grab Widdowmaker twice now—but sadly, his wind-hammer actives are proving perfect for breaking free.

  Assumed Limp +1: Unlike the more common 'fake-limp', this variant physically modifies your body to make the desired injury real until dismissed. (cool-down, 3 minutes)

  This one is good for feigning weakness, but Widdowmaker has seen me fight enough to not be fooled by such tricks. Really, I have no counters to him, and no plan I can think of feels right. I'm steadily taking damage and haven't returned much at all. His bites are weak, so this fight could go on for a very long time. There are no weapons for me to use. I did consider making something in preparation, but really, the only weapon I can make is a crude wooden spear, and that would be of little use against a hydra, especially with my clumsy grip.

  There is no point in continuing. We could keep this up for hours, but the result is already decided. The loser will be whoever collapses from exhaustion first, and since I'm the one taking damage, it's going to be me.

  I turn to flee. I didn't know what response to expect from Widowmaker here, but he chooses to simply stand his ground. It seems he's in no mood to chase me. The outcome is clear anyway—the little mash is his now.

  If the match had turned out differently, with me winning, could I have killed him? I don't know. We never got along, but we also endured much together. I'm relieved that he didn't kill me, but also annoyed that he got to be the bigger hydra.

  Yeah, let's pretend I didn't spend hours fantasizing about how I would gloat after defeating him. If I had indulged in such fantasies —which I did not— this would all be much too humiliating to endure.

  Time to move on. I'm not going to waste any energy trying to think of ways to retake the little marsh. Surely there must be easier territory for me to win out there somewhere—and now that I think about it, this place is lame anyway. I was planning to leave eventually all along.

  I could go back downstream and take the fork I passed on the night of the battle. But that would take me past the more populated area. No, too risky. I'll keep going upstream. I just need to pass that one village and hope there aren't any more.

  Beyond the village, the river is fed into by a series of smaller streams and I've been forced to travel by land. The terrain has changed to hills and taller trees. The extra cover is good, but I'm no forest predator. Everything can just run from me and I'm too slow to chase. If something I can't fight ever comes for me, it will all be over.

  I found a porcupine. It dove into a burrow before I could catch up. That hole can't be too deep. Time to apply my tool usage skills. Using a stick, I dig up the burrow entrance. It takes more time and energy than anticipated, but eventually my prey is exposed. It tries to run after I poke it with the stick, but I have four heads covering all escape directions, and catch it easily. The quills it shoots don't do much harm, but it takes a while to remove them all.

  As someone who's spent most of their life locked in a cage, I've had a lot of time to think. Sometimes I think about big concepts. Things like ‘the meaning of life’. I've had so much free time that you could say I'm kind-of an expert on the topic—a self-tough-philosopher, if you will.

  So what is the meaning of life, you ask? I'd say it's mostly just eating things. Taste is, of course, important, but quantity has a quality all of its own, which I believe to be necessary for a fulfilling life. With all of that considered, by my own metric, I'm not doing well at all. The hunger is driving me insane!

  Remember the porcupine from before? Yes? Well, that was a whole week ago! Since then I've had nothing but worms and insects. The time has come to consider more desperate options. There's a path near here which I've been avoiding because many humans use it. Commoners are always below level 10. I can spot them even without system's annotations—its in how they dress and move. Fighting is just not part of their life and it is visible in everything they do. I should be able to pick one off, if it's alone.

  Zeudi (sentient), level 6

  base class: human, (physique->endurance#1, equipment->weapons#1), level 6

  A middle-aged woman makes her way down the narrow forest path. She's alone. Can't say I'm all that fond of human, but there's a lot of meat right there, and beggars can't be choosers. I rush out from behind the underbrush and throw myself at the human... and I miss. She looks slow, but she keeps moving to keep the cart between us.

  Clever, but you can't rely on that forever.

  Zeudi grabs something from inside the cart: a pitchfork. Remember how I once said stabbing weapons are a poor choice against hydras? Well, I'm going to add one little exception here. Gladiators sometimes use tridents in the arena. The weapon is good for restricting your opponent's movements, and is often used alongside a net. I've seen a hydra die to one of those once. The prongs are ideal for getting between your necks and keeping you at a distance.

  Zeudi, despite looking very much like a commoner, and having a level to match, handles the pitchfork like an extension of her body. I'm getting tired of saying this, but... it's time to retreat!

  I didn't go into this fight without an escape plan. Today, understanding +2 earns its keep! I chose this place as my hunting ground specifically because it leans right up against a steep cliff. I jump off, knowing no human would follow—no prizes for guessing where I got the idea.

  Zeudi leans over the edge and yells. I don't know that many words, but she's definitely telling me to return and finish what I started. Sorry lady, that's not my style. I'll go find easier prey