by Noah Layton
‘Your people didn’t abandon you, Aurelius,’ Evelina said slowly, earnestly. ‘They searched for you for weeks, even after your remains were found.’
‘You LIE!’
Aurelius roared the words out and leaped forwards with his sword in hand. I barely had time to unleash the gladius from my own hand, stepping before Evelina and smashing my blade against my enemy’s. Blue sparks burst from the point of connection, scattering to the ground, as our eyes met from behind our blades.
We glared each other down like animals, maintaining equal force for a moment as Evelina, Ariadne and Aurelius’s guards all moved quickly into battle stances.
Aurelius suddenly smiled, pushing his blade against mine and taking a few steps back as I did the same.
‘So it is you,’ he panted. ‘You were the one responsible for that attack last night. The pilgrim in command of the Harpy Core.’
‘That’s right,’ I said, my heart pounding hard. ‘You wanna know where I found it?’
‘Please.’
‘Tough shit, because I’m not telling you a fucking thing.’
Aurelius growled in anger before sniggering lightly.
‘It is no matter. You may have weapons that are beyond my understanding, but so do I, particularly ones to confront a land-dweller. Make no mistake, pilgrim – the Cores are mine. You may have proved your mettle thus far, but that ends now.’
Aurelius backed away slowly, another self-satisfied grin passing across his face before he turned, taking off with his guards into the sky.
‘We could always spear him in the back right now,’ I suggested quietly, backing up to stand by the girls as the three of us watched them depart.
‘Even if this world would be much better off without him…’ Ariadne said, ‘That is not the way of war.’
‘And it’s the way of war to try and attack somebody during negotiations like he just did?’
‘He wasn’t trying to attack me,’ Evelina said. ‘He wanted to see how you would react. He wanted to know that it was you who possesses the Saviour’s Blessing. And now he knows. But thank you for throwing yourself in front of me.’
‘No problem, your highness.’
‘There’s no need to call me that anymore. You know that.’
‘Not yet,’ I corrected.
‘I can’t believe that he’s alive,’ Ariadne exclaimed breathlessly. ‘All this time… Do we tell her?’
‘Tell who?’
‘Queen Athina, of course.’
We all fell silent for a moment.
‘No,’ Evelina eventually said, in a short sharp sound. ‘In the next few hours we will either rise or fall. I fear it is the latter, but Queen Athina is the strongest of us all, and will be able to withstand such an event. But I fear a revelation as severe as this would be too much, even for her.’
‘There’s no sense in it,’ I said. ‘Let her die with a good memory of her son. Not… This.’
The tide had rolled out further around the sand island, creating a much larger space than before.
‘Do you feel that?’
‘Yeah…’ Evelina said, ‘Is that an earthquake?’
The tiny rumblings coming from beneath our feet were undeniable. The harpies behind us thus far had been stoic and silent in their positions awaiting battle, but now, as I looked back to check, they were all checking their footing and turning to each other in confusion
If it was an earthquake then having wings would be one hell of a way to escape it.
But on the shores of Caros, the drakes stood steady, still facing us aggressively, unyielding. Then, those directly opposite began to part, separating to make way for the arrival of something.
Even across the hundreds of yards of ocean that rested between us, I could see a line of trees within the island not only rustling but coming down completely in a tipping trail towards the beach. The rumbling grew louder and stronger, and even over the huge heights of the palms I swore that I could see the entity, whatever it was, approaching.
Smashing through the trees where the forest gave onto the beach, a gigantic creature erupted onto the shores and screeched to a halt, kicking sand up in waves to challenge those that the ocean could offer. Even before I registered its appearance, the sheer size of the monster sent a pang of terror through me. It was unlike anything I had ever seen before. The horns perched upon its head were the shapes that I had seen peaking out from atop the greenery of the woods, rolling back across its large, goat-like head in huge, black ripples. It raised its head towards the sky, letting out a terrible screech, before turning to the side to reveal another head.
This was that of a lion, fur and mane turned a dirty bronze as opposed to the golden brown in every picture I had ever seen. Jagged teeth gnashed angrily as the two heads acted autonomously, yearning into the air away from each other along separate necks, although the point at which these necks met transformed this autonomy into a knowing, collaborative body that seemed to belong physically more to the lion.
If all of that wasn’t bad enough, its tail took the form of a gigantic, grey python that thrashed against the air, baring a pair of razor-sharp teeth. It hissed madly from the back, fighting for a piece of the enemy that the chimera’s form was forced to share.
It stood at least six yards tall and ten in length, a rabid, ravenous thing that could have only come from this world.
‘What the fuck is that?’ I said, unable to hide the shake in my voice as I lowered my telescope.
‘That’s… That’s a chimera,’ Ariadne said. ‘The creature from Zakthos... It’s real…’
‘That story you told me? The one that was supposed to scare me? It’s fucking real?’
‘It would appear…’ Evelina said slowly. ‘Creature’s such as this do not casually wander in the wilds… They must have captured it.’
‘Well at least it doesn’t fly.’
The girls pulled their trademark expectant expression in my direction as I looked left and right between them.
‘What? Oh… Oh, no, you’ve gotta be fucking kidding me…’
‘We’ll lead the fight against the drakes,’ Evelina said. ‘This chimera’s wings seem to have been clipped, so it’s staying on the ground. Our weapons are useless against it’s tough hide – only you can take it down.’
They both rose into the air either side of me, hovering as the three of us looked towards Caros.
Save for the beating of their wings against the air, all went silent. Then, suddenly, the chimera’s heads both raised towards the sky and let out a terrible, howling roar.
The chimera set off at a run, smashing through the shallow water between the islands.
The drakes charged in our direction behind the chimera. The battle had begun.
Chapter Fifteen
Chimera
The sand island had continued to grow larger, now measuring sixty yards in diameter in all directions as the sea lapped at the edges.
Straight ahead was an image of hell breaking loose and spilling into this beautiful world; the drakes were hurtling towards me, framing the chimera as it stampeded through the shallow waters in my direction. For a second I felt like a one-man army, the single warrior left to defend the kingdom, until the war cries of the harpies from behind me grew louder and louder.
I chanced a look over my shoulder to see them in their hundreds, all racing forwards through the air with a collective war cry exploding from them as Ariadne and Evelina ascended sharply to join them. I wanted to smile at the almighty power that was on my heels and at my back, but gritted teeth and a look of determination masking a hellish mix of adrenaline and terror were the only things that I could muster.
Those, and the gladius. The handle appeared in my palm, the only place it could ever be, and from it the blade materialised. I made a move for my shield but another look at the chimera told me that it would be pointless.
I pulled it from my back and threw it into the sand.
The roaring of the harpies and the drakes grew
louder. Arrows and spears started to fly in both directions overhead – I was an ant avoiding raindrops while a predator raced to eat me.
Just as the first harpies and drakes clashed in a mess of wings, sparring and scrambling through the air in a haze of shouts and screams from both sides, the chimera stampeded onto the sand.
With no water to slow it down, the speed of the beast accelerated rapidly. I had seconds.
Only now that the thing was upon me did I realise just how gigantic it was.
‘Shit.’
The jaws of both heads had been gnashing wildly in different directions, but now both focused all their attention on me. They lowered, their jagged maws stretching open as they readied to fight over my soon-to-be corpse.
I readied for a decent swing, hoping I would be able to do some damage and avoid getting thrown around like a ragdoll, but there was no way.
At the last second I dodged to the side, diving to the right and crashing into the sand. I felt the hot breath of the head of the lion rushing over one side of my face as I landed in the sand.
The chimera slowed and turned, kicking up sand in waves with its huge claws. It moved to the edge of the island and moved in a wide arc, galloping around towards me again.
There was no way that I was going to get this thing with a calculated shot. Fury was the one thing I had on my side – the Warrior’s Rage and the Saviour’s Blessing had to be used to together.
And if I was going to get anything done, I had to get rid of that god-damned snake.
Our journey hadn’t been for nothing. Using the powers of both Cores was the only way that I was going to have a shot at taking the creature down.
‘Get angry,’ I said to myself frantically. ‘Come on!’
A moment later I was back on my feet, and the creature was closing in on me again.
But no rage filled my body or my mind.
Any time when I didn’t want it to happen it came exploding out of me, and whenever I actually wanted it to work it decided to bail on me.
The Warrior’s Rage wasn’t working, but I could still time it.
I dodged right and threw myself onto the ground between the chimera’s legs. The sheer strength of one of its legs swiping past my shoulder sent a brutal pain twanging through my arm – but my sword-hand was still working.
As the chimera hurtled over me, I saw it – the snake. It may have been a formidable enemy, but every part of the chimera’s form was uncalculated and feral. See and attack.
Fortunately the snake hadn’t seen me, but I could see it.
This was my only chance.
Just as the chimera’s back legs passed over me I swung the gladius, a war cry escaping my lungs and the shockwave bursting up my arm. The blade sliced clean through the snake’s huge body, cleaving it completely from the beast.
The chimera gave an almighty howl to match my own shout of effort as it staggered to the other side of the sand island, flailing about wildly almost as much as the severed snake. Blood poured from both as I pushed up to my feet and readied myself once again, feeling twinges of pain continue to burst up my shoulder.
Just a few yards away, a flurry of six or seven arrows came slamming into the sand. I moved away rapidly, and a moment later there was a screech of pain before the bodies of two drakes and a harpy smacked onto the water’s edge.
I looked up sharply to see the battle raging chaotically, hundreds of harpies and drakes engaged in a brutal skirmish for dominance over the skies.
We were outnumbered… And the chimera was still on its feet.
I hoped that I had broken the creature’s spirit, but as it regained itself from the loss of the snake, its heads both turned to me with livid, feral expressions. It was angry, and it only had one thing on its mind – or so I thought.
Another body dropped into the water ten yards from the island, while the body of a harpy with a spear through her chest crunched down on the space between us.
Despair washed over me at the sight of the corpse – I wondered if Ariadne and Evelina were safe, wherever they were in the battle – but that was quickly sidelined by the chimera’s shifting attention. Its four eyes looked down at the body before tilting up to look at the sky.
And just like that I was no longer the focus of its murderous affections – the harpies were.
I reconciled quickly with the fact that it had no way to get up there, but steadily, from its back, a pair of tattered but hugely impressive wings unfolded and stretched out. They had been held so tightly against its body that I and the girls had completely failed to notice them.
The fact they were caked in dirt and missing patches of feathers explained why it had preferred to stay on land rather than take to the skies. The prospect of tearing the harpies out of the sky had now overridden that notion. Maybe it hadn’t used its wings in a long time, but it was still going to try.
Which meant there was no way I would be able to keep up.
‘Fuck.’
The chimera sprinted towards me, it’s wings beginning to strike hard against the air. Already it was bobbing its head in anticipation of rising into the air.
The moment it was in the sky it would start taking down the harpies like flies. My brutal strength was the only thing capable of harming it. Their spears would be useless. If I stayed on the ground we were all done for.
If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.
I swore at myself and ran at the beast just as it lifted off from the ground, recalling the gladius into my body and jumping upwards hard.
The strength I had taken on ever since acquiring the first Harpy Core wasn’t just for swinging weapons; my legs could be pushed past any limits I once had.
I leaped into the air higher than I ever had done, but even that was hardly enough. Yearning out desperately with my hands, I clasped at one of the chimera’s feet and clung on hard
The chimera hardly noticed my weight as we ascended higher into the air – ten feet, twenty feet, thirty-five, and before I knew it we were closing in on the battle.
I laughed nervously, my heart pounding faster than ever as I realised just how truly fucked I was, but there was no way in hell that I was giving up yet.
With no snake to attack me I was free to attack. From my position, a long, dragging swipe into its side would send its guts spilling out and bring it down for good.
My gladius appeared again, I readied the shot – and paused.
And that was when I realised how fucking stupid I was.
Even if the harpies were fierce fighters till the end, we were on track for a brutal defeat. There were too many drakes, and with me on the ground I would likely be the last one standing, watching the empire fall.
And that was assuming that I didn’t die from hitting the water at this height, or from the body of the beast landing on top of me.
I’ve got to use this creature against them.
Withdrawing the weapon again, I clambered up the chimera’s leg and up the side of its body. Blasts of air struck me hard as its wings beat hard against the encroaching sky. Every push forward and up its back felt like I was prompting death to kick me off and into the water, but somehow I made it to sit atop the point behind its head.
‘Okay…’ I said. ‘How do I do this?’
I sank my hands into the rough feathers of the creatures back. We were seconds from exploding into a group of harpies and drakes, but there was no way I was going to risk taking down any of my own.
I yanked hard on the feathers in my right hand, and the chimera’s goat-head screeched out madly. It tried to bite at me, but there was no way that it was going to contort itself enough to reach me. Instead it veered sharply in the same direction, veering ninety degrees through the air. We had levelled out in terms of height, and now we were both a part of the battle.
For the first time I was truly flying, truly in control of the path I was headed in.
Sharply I got the hang of the beast, holding on tight and ducking my head down. We raced closer to A
ries, veering around the edge of the battle until I reached a trio of harpies surrounded by a dozen drakes.
I grabbed the chimera’s rough feathers tightly and pulled on them hard. The beast screeched out and flew ahead at an unbelievable speed. My hair whipped back behind my face, giving a perfect view of my enemies.
They didn’t stand a chance.
The chimera smashed into five of the drakes. The force was so hard that their yelps were only momentary; they were dead before they hit the water, the surge of the strike sending a spray of blood from one as his body split open in mid-air.
Blood sprayed my face as I commanded the chimera on, turning it in a huge arc before returning to the battlefield. I must have looked like an escapee from an asylum; splotched with blood and dirt, my hair wild, and a huge smile of adrenaline-fuelled disbelief stamped across my face.
I spotted another group of harpies and drakes, both charging towards each other. I took the chimera upwards then descended from above. They failed to notice the shadow of the terrifying creature until the last second.
Two jolted away, but the chimera’s duo of heads each took a drake in their mouths, while a third was smashed out of the sky by its right wing.
‘BRING IT DOWN!’
From somewhere close by I heard Aurelius’s unmistakable growl of a voice. They were onto me – not that that was a surprise. After all, I was flying on the back of a gigantic monster, taking out his men in droves.
Arrows began to fly in my direction, tearing through the air at random intervals, and just like that I was being chased down by half of the battalion.
I held on tight to the chimera as it raced on. With the number that the harpies were dealing with dropping, they began to take the battle back – but I was still dealing with the countless number that were at my heels.
I dared to look back, seeing nigh on a hundred of the dark-winged assailants pursuing me – and at their front was none other than Aurelius.
The fury in his eyes was undeniable. I had taken the beast that was supposed to help him win this war once and for all and made it my own in the most half-assed way possible.