Even with Jim's help, the battle was still evenly matched. Until the Gryphons joined the battle. Although they were smaller, they were much more nimble and could fly easily around Sandra's feral heads. Jim could even see the fairies trying to help. They could not fly very fast, but they seemed to teleport around the feral heads and confuse them.
Sandra growled in frustration. "All of you. All of you out to get me," huffed Sandra. She appeared to be winded, but still did not give up the fight. "I will crush you all!"
Jim's scientific head watched the assault with detachment. From a tactical standpoint, he saw that the battle would remain a stalemate even with their new allies. The regenerative abilities of her Hydra form made Sandra virtually immortal, regardless of the damage. If only she was still just a dragon. Or anything else, really. Suddenly Jim's scientific head had an idea. Jim backed away from the battle, and called the fairies to him.
"Listen, as long as Sandra is a Hydra, this battle will never end. But if we were to use the vials to change her...." said the scientific head.
"I gotcha, " said Amethyst. "You want to slip her another vial."
"Good luck, " said Mara, as she started to fly away.
"Wait! Only you two are small enough to use the vials. One of you will have to do it," said Jim.
"Are you kidding? Fly up to one of the mouths of those things? They'll eat us for sure! Get the Gryphons to do it, " said Mara.
Jim sighed. "It will be hard for them to grip it with their talons, and we can't afford for them to drop the vial. We will probably only get one shot at this."
Mara was about to protest when Amethyst flew forward. "I'll do it. I am probably the most responsible for all this. If I had just found a way to explain what happened to her child, Amy, none of this probably would have happened. "
"Thank you, " said Jim admiring her bravery.
"Which vial did you have in mind?" asked Amethyst.
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Jim resumed his battle position, allowing Abby some rest. Sandra looked weakened, but still showed no sign of defeat. Suddenly a tiny fairy materialized in front of her mouth, and poured the contents of the vial down its large throat. Sandra roared and shot a cloud of black smoke directly around the fairy. Paralyzed, the fairy stopped flying and began to fall to the ground, dropping the vial. Junn swooped down and scooped her up, just before she hit the ground. The vial was not so lucky, and shattered on the rocks below.
Sandra's heads looked ill, and began to wobble. Slowly they fell to the ground and withered back into her body. She rapidly began to shrink, and her scales faded revealing pale pink skin. Soon, she was human once more.
Sandra spotted the box, and began to crawl towards it. A Gryphon landed on the ground in front of her, blocking her path.
"Human, I think you have caused enough damage using these. I should kill you, but I am not the monster you fear me to be. The monster you actually are. Begone, before I come to my sense and change my mind, " said Bechana.
Sandra turned around and ran into the forest, nude and afraid.
Mara was hovering over Amethyst, using her magic to heal her.
"Will she live?" asked Jim's intelligent head.
"Yes, but just barely. You almost killed her, " said Mara with visible anger.
"It was a noble sacrifice. She will be remembered by the many future generations of our children, " said Junn. He looked up at Abby and Jim. "What will you do now? The human vial is destroyed."
"The same as you, I suppose, " said Jim. "Just try to survive with the one I love."
"And the box? " asked Junn.
"It's yours now, " said Abby. "Do with it as you please."
"You know, you could use the vials to become something else. You may not be able to be human again, but you could be anything else you desire," said Bechana. "You are more than welcome to join our herd."
"Or us!" said Amethyst, as she flew up to his head. "It's a lot of fun being a fairy, trust me. And we are always looking for more people to join us. The more, the merrier."
"What do you think, dear?" asked Jim.
Abby smiled. "I don't know. I am kind of getting used to being like this. It's kind of fun, too. I think I would like to stay like this ..... for a while, at least."
"Yeah, " said her lustful head. "All we have done is fight, fight, fight. I want to try the really fun stuff now!"
The others chuckled. "Well, I love Abby, and I will follow her, whatever form she chooses. Thank you, but we are happy for now. And you don't have to worry about us. We aren't planning on hurting anyone - human or Gryphon, " said Jim.
"I don't doubt it. You two are good and noble humans. I am glad that you were the ones who found Sandra. And I wish you a long and happy life. Please call on us if you ever need anything. Now come, Junn. I feel a little nervous about leaving our nest for so long," said Bechana.
The Gryphons and fairies said their goodbyes, leaving Jim and Abby alone.
"Well, what do we do now?" asked Jim.
"I don't know, " said Abby. "But I think we're going to have fun finding out."