6
“Summon Edrick and the others,” the mayor commanded, his eyebrows furrowing, and his feet spaced apart. “Those rabid chimeras are no longer our kin, and as much as it pains me to admit, they will be better off dead than alive. Tell them to raid the Baron’s mansion and retrieve any weapon they can find; I live this task to you, Salyanna.”
“Right, sir,” the pretty lady said, bouncing off the seat, smiling, and darting off for the door. “You can count on me.”
“Very well, lad, if you assist us with these beasts, we shall give you one of our ships, free of charge,” the mayor said, extending his hand out, to seal our contract: “I trust, we have an agreement.”
Standing up, I took his hand and shook it, keeping solid eye contact with him the whole time. When it was done, the agreement sealed, we let each other go, and I walked away towards the window. The real fight was about to begin. I could barely keep the excitement inside me concealed; I wanted blood, fresh blood underneath my hands. My whole body felt hot, the darkness inside my heart stirred, and the image of blood flashing through my eyes. Holding my right hand over my left eye, I walked over to my previous seat, picked up my rifle, and tramped over to the door. My killing instincts were spiraling out of control, so I decided to take my leave, before I accidentally took a life. I opened the door, forcing it shut behind me, marching with haste into the frozen woods. I coughed deeply, my head dizzy and heavy, and knelt down, a good distance from the house. The dark power inside of me was awakening, and that was not good. For close to half an hour, I exhaled deeply, suppressing all of my murderous instincts.
Suddenly, I heard screams, coming from the furthest side of town, followed by gun fire. I stood up, checking my gun one last time, and darted towards the source of the chaos. A group of people emerged from the burning houses, all bloodied up, running away from hooded creatures. On the roofs, the creatures stalked them, jumping below and mowing down on the nearest victims they could clutch onto. I sprinted past the people, shooting the first chimera that was coming out of the house, with blood on its snout and claws, between the eyes. Looking left, I pumped up the next cartridge, shooting another creature in the leg. It limped down, whimpering, and I jumped behind its back, planting the whole magazine into its head. I picked up the dead creature by its leg, hurling it at the oncoming creature, felling it to the ground. And as the surprised creature stood up, shaking its head, I kicked it to the ground again, grabbing its jaw and yanking it off. More and more of the creatures, about six dozen at least, were coming out of the woods, attacking anyone at random. They were not planning on capturing anyone alive—they were planning on massacring everyone, and intended to lay waste to this town after.
“Everyone, get out of the town,” Salyanna screamed, a horde of armed men and women behind her. “Do it now!”
A chimera charged at me, felling me to the ground, both of its hands clamped on my chest. Jaw open, drool falling onto my face, it took a deep, mortal bite into my chest, gushing my black blood into the snowy road. I screamed out, the pain unbearable, and as I opened my eyes, I held the chimera’s head, trying to fend it off. On its chest, there was something with gears moving, attached to what looked like its sternum. I shifted slightly to the left, reaching for the metal gear, and pulling it out. The creature struggled, its teeth sinking into my right hand, and its claws pressed against my shoulder. The eyes of the creature glowed, the scars on its body hideously grotesque, and its physical strength was impressive. I curled my left hand, taking several swipes at its right hand, slicing off its arm from its body. And before the arm fell into the white snow, I grabbed it and shoved the severed limb into the creature’s mouth. The chimera growled, its arm halfway down its throat, and it let go off me.
“What’s the matter?” I asked, sitting halfway up, and picking up my rifle: “Something got your tongue?”
The chimera stood on its hind legs, pulling out its arm from its mouth, blood spewing from its jaw. Throwing away the arm, it turned its eyes towards me, claws extended outwards, and growled in a fierce manner. It burst into a short sprint, jumping into the air, jaw wide open and claws pointed towards me. I raised both of my legs up, stopping the creature by placing them against its chest, as I shot the creature in the head six times. It shrieked, for what felt like long second, before seizing its movement, dead. I twisted my feet, pushing the creature off me, scanning the area for any other chimera that could be prowling the area. Salyanna and her friends, I noticed, were pushing the mutant chimera forces away; however, the tide of this battle was still uncertain for anyone to be making any successful predictions. I stood up, looked left and right, spotting the legion of hooded chimeras engaging in mortal battle with the remaining able-bodied townsfolk. Half of the town, the side with the pub, precinct, shopping center, lay in ruins, engulfed by a blaze of fire. But thanks to the powerful blizzard, the fire wasn’t as bad, or powerful enough to spread to the other side of the town. I blitzed forward, shooting three chimeras that were cornering Salyanna and three other men, my lungs filled with cold air. I pulled out a dagger, and threw it a white furred chimera that had taken for the air, with its eyes on Salyanna. It fell in front of her feet, its tongue sticking out of its open mouth, twitching uncontrollably. Upon joining her small platoon, we began to fight off the remaining chimera battalion, stopping them from advancing towards the remaining side of the town, which was behind us. A good number of people had been slaughtered by the chimeras, and the only remaining people, who had been maimed by the creatures, were left with horrid, bloody scars all over their bodies. Most of the mutant chimeras had retreated into the forest to stalk us from the shadows, waiting for the perfect opportunity to ambush us again.
“Goodness, are you okay, Rave?” Salyanna asked, reloading a new magazine into her gun, her eyes fixated on my bloody chest. “Do you need to see a doctor? That wound looks rather serious; you better let someone see you before it’s infected.”
“I am grateful for your concern, milady, but it is not that bad,” I lied, a fake smile on my face. “Most of this blood belongs to the chimeras I killed.”
“Are they coming back?” an older man, with woolen hat, black overcoat, and a large caliber rifle, asked, his eyes upon her. “I don’t know how long we can hold them back for.”
“Darren, no, why,” a man screamed, kneeling by a dead chimera, both of his hands wrapped around its head. “This was my best friend—why was he killed? Why did you do it?”
He laid the cloaked chimera down, looked up at me with ferocious eyes, and began to plod towards me with his fist clenched. Before he could slug me, his comrades intervened, stopping him from making a terrible mistake. Had they not stopped him, I really think I would have taken his life.
“Why are you protecting this monster,” he exploded, wrestling two of his comrades, while looking at me with murderous eyes. “We all know that this is his fault, that if he hadn’t shown up, then none of this would have happened. I say, we capture him and take him to the madman—he might be willing to forgive us if he hand him over.”
“If any of you attempt to restrain me, I will claim your life,” I warned them, the nozzle of my gun facing the ground, my index finger on the trigger. “I am a very good shot with this rifle, and if you feel the need to test my skills, I will be more than willing to oblige you.”
“Shut up, Jutcer,” Salyanna roared, stopping the irrational man from spouting more nonsense. “What’s done is done; there is nothing anyone can do to reverse this misfortune that has befallen us. All any of us can do now is make sure that none of our brothers and sisters spewed their blood in vain. We must stop the madman from doing any more harm to anyone else.”
“Great speech, Salyanna, but how do you suppose we do that? I mean, look at us—we have barely less than a dozen men left, not including the children and the wounded, and this is not even enough to take the outer post.”
“If you say one more thing, I will have your head, Jutcer,” I yelled, walking over to him, my arm twisted to
imitate the shape of a talon. “Want to see how I take off my opponents’ jaws?”
“That’s enough, Rave, scaring him will do you no good,” she sighed, turning her head to the right, her gun holstered above her chest. “To all of you who are having doubts about this action, I will assure you that the mayor, using his own voice, proclaimed that we should all take arms against these chimeras. We might have known them in the past, but this is war—we must win it for the sake of the next generations.”
“Yeah,” they all chanted, raising their weapons up, their spirits lifted.
How did I get myself stuck in this? I thought.
“I have been meaning to ask, but why haven’t any of you morphed into your other chimera forms?” I asked, my eyes tracking a dark creature, which was moving through the trees, camouflaged by the darkness. “It would certainly be to your advantage if you were to confront him as true chimeras.”
“Yes, it would be; however, we can no longer take those forms once more,” Salyanna said, shooting into the forest, a look of frustration on her fair face. “The madman did something to us, and because of that, we can no longer assume those forms. We are stuck with these limited physical bodies, until we can somehow reverse what was done to us.”
“This is annoying,” I roared, when I missed my perfect shot. “We have to go after them, otherwise, this will go on forever.”
“You jest, right?” an older man, with a long beard, asked. “As long as they don’t attack us, we can take this time to recuperate, and, perhaps, move the elderly to a secure location.”
“No, it won’t work,” I snarled, my patience growing weary, as the cold weather was starting to get to my brain. “In these conditions, I am afraid—we won’t make it till dawn. And even if we did, assuming that we could, their numbers will keep growing.”
“He is right,” Salyanna added, supporting me, her gun extended in front of her face, her mind in a state of focus. “We have to take the offensive position before it’s too late.”
Nodding, I took the first steps, cutting across two burning buildings, headed for the forest. The mutant chimeras howled, communicating in a language unknown to me, as they began to scurry through the trees, using the branches to mask their approach. Salyanna and her six men followed after me, bullets firing in every direction. Unexpectedly, a big chimera, without a dark cloak, jumped down, landing on one of her men. It sunk its feet into his skull, pressing all of its weight on him, as it killed him. The remaining men, terrified, turned around and unloaded all of their ammunition into the creature. It had a face of an eagle, the body of a polar bear, and long, talon-like hands. Reaching down, it grabbed the dead man’s mushy head and flung it at an elderly man, felling him to the ground in an instant. Perplexed, the elder man sat up, screaming at the sight of his friend’s head, which was lying on his lap. He stood up, dropping his gun, and darted off away from us. He didn’t make more than a few yards, when three mutant chimeras, which had been hiding behind the trees, lunged at him and tore him to pieces.
“Stay together, all of you,” Salyanna screamed, delivering the final blow to the eagle faced chimera. “They will pick us apart if we split up.”
“Right,” Jutcer added, wiping off sweat, his gun shaking in his hands. “Maybe we should go back.”
“No, we press on,” Salyanna boomed, looking at me, with her gun above her head. “We must push them back before it’s too late.”
Digging into my pocket, I retrieved a grenade, tossing it at a pack of feeding chimera. The grenade landed behind one of them, and as they turned around, blood dripping from their mouths, the grenade exploded, and killed all three of them. The snow on the ground became red, stained with the blood of the fallen, the strong winds blowing away the scent of death from the air. Unable to hold back my bloodlust, I darted forwards, leaving the others behind, hoping to draw the beasts towards me. And as expected, they took the bait, coming at me from all direction. I rolled away, picking up a wooden log, leaning against a bark, and whamming an elephant faced chimera in the face. I grabbed its left leg with all of my might and tossed in the air, before riddling it with a dozen bullets in the stomach. I pulled out my dagger, tracking an agile chimera, and flung the blade when the mutant beast came out of hiding. The blade hit its throat, its eyes bulging, and felled the creature into the snow. I took out three more creatures before rushing back to regroup with the others. They had lost one more man to a pair of speedy chimeras, leaving four people in their group.
“We need bigger weapons,” I yelled, holding a mutant chimera’s head in my right hand. “What do they have at the outpost?”
“I don’t know,” Sulyanna shook her head, looking at the head in my hand. “I mean, it’s possible that you might find something big enough, but there is no way to get in there; the place is overrun by the monsters.”
“Just point me towards its location, and will do the rest,” I said, dropping the head down, my heart stirred with excitement. “You are more than welcome to follow me.”
“It’s that way, about two miles from here,” one of the remaining man said, pointing towards the east. “It’s over that hill, and if we can take it—we will gain a vantage point against the mutant chimeras.”
I marched, upright and square, leading the group through the forest, our sights on the outpost. The mutant chimera growled, watching us from the trees, and lucky for us—they were not armed with guns and blades, like the ones from before.
The wind whirled, the snowflakes making visibility low, and the full moon shining brightly above us. The sky was clear and dark. Looking around, all I could see where markings of something solid; it was a somewhere above the hill we were hiking. Salyanna, with her gun strapped on the back, coughed out loudly, rubbing her gloved hands together to create warmth in her hands. The remaining men, pacing behind her, looked petrified with fear, as they raised their guns in the air, glancing in every direction for the cunning beasts.
“Everyone, desist,” I ordered, my hand lifted above my head, and my eyes fixated upon a dark object that was standing at the peak of the hill. “Wait here—I will go alone, and if I am not back in the next ten minutes, you are safe to come after me.”
“What will you do?” Salyanna asked, taking a few steps towards me, retrieving her gun from her back. “You cannot win against them.”
Don’t worry about me, I know what has to be done.” I replied.
Upon saying that, I turned around, holding my gun tightly, and hiked up the rest of the hill by myself. A few of the mutant chimeras snarled at me, their eyes glowing from the reflection of the moon, hiding their bodies behind the barks of trees. Every time I looked their way, they would retreat back a few yards, communicating with hand signals. I staggered forward when something sharp struck my back, a burning sensation following after. Pulling out my gun, I swung around on my right foot, pointing the muzzle onto a chimera that had set its eyes on me. I fired the gun, but at that moment, the chimera swerved to the left, taking refuge behind the bark of a tall tree. My bullet missed, hitting the bark of the tree, and causing the snow that was piled up against the tree to fall to the ground. The effect of the bullet and the falling snow caused the branches of the trees to fall to the ground, which in turn made the chimeras scurry around. I tracked three of the chimeras, to my left, and shot them in cold blood, my heart pounding heavily.
Up above, the gigantic shadow that had been standing at the peak of the hill turned its head towards my direction, its eyes glowing red. It held a giant axe, with a three meter long grip, and a wide double-edged axe-blade. It saw me and begun to move towards my direction, spinning its axe in the air, some of the snow falling downhill with each step it took. It bent forward, displaying its massive shoulder muscles, roaring in a violent manner. It’s that stupid bear again, I thought.
I recognized the white furred skin, the scarred snout, the metal armor on its chest, and the sharp claws that had maimed me once before. I squinted, the annoying wind irritating my eyes, and forced
my way to the top of the hill. There was a small building on furthest side of hill, with three windows on the left side, a wooden door, and three cannons mounted on the top of the building. A powerful light flashed me out, drawing their attentions towards me, as one of the cannons on top began to rotate towards me. The bear chimera threw the large axe at me, missing my head by a few inches, a powerful war cry echoing throughout the outpost. A horde of mutant chimeras jumped out of the outpost, flintlocks in their claws, landing on the ground with force in their feet. They crunched their feet through the snow, separating into two groups—one group coming from the right, and the other from the left. My heart calm, I took my gun, inhaling deeply, and shot three chimeras in the head. Rolling left, I dodged the claws of two chimeras, keeping out of range from the bear’s axe. My dagger found its way into a chimera’s heart, and the hilt of my gun connected with the snout of another chimera. The mutant chimeras moved back, drawing out their flintlocks from their holsters, firing at me at the same time, in a desperate attempt to slow me down. More than three dozen bullets were lodged into my body, the force of the projectile bullets felling me down the unsteady slope. I rolled down the hill, snow covering my whole body, and a stain of my dark blood trailing in my wake. I hit the back of a tree with my back, and screamed out loud, my backbones snapping viciously. Snow fell above me, completely covering my whole body, the gun in my hands wrested from me. I moistened my cold lips, shivering from the pain; the sheer agony of being shot multiple times was brutal as usual. Here they come, I thought, they just won’t give up, will they?
I shook off the snow, standing up slowly, my whole body sore and numb, and the dark blood still oozing from my wounds. The legion of chimeras were upon me again, guns drawn and extended outwards, menacing grins plastered upon their faces—their leader, the white bear chimera, standing behind them, his axe anchored in the snow. Fighting them was certainly proving to be quite difficult, and as much as I enjoyed a good challenge, I could no longer afford to let this bout go on forever. Eventually, I would tire out, and they would use that chance to rip my body apart, and I reckon it would be painful.
“We meet again, bear,” I yelled, patting the snow on my coat, whilst looking at the white bear in the eye. “How about we finish this charade once and for all?”
“Kill him,” the bear roared, pointing its axe at me, snarling, and its teeth out in the open. “Tear all of his limbs.”
The mutant chimeras placed their guns back, bending their backs, planting their front legs into the snow. They all roared, attempting to intimidate me; however, I stood my ground, picking up my rifle from the ground. My chest hurt—I could feel three bullets moving around, whenever I took breath. I leaned back against the tree, my hand on chest, blood coming out of my mouth, biding my time. Despite my immortality, despite my ability to heal rapidly, I was still vulnerable to the sensation of pain. Looking up, I saw the whole horde of beasts sprint into action, jaws wide open, jumping at me. I raised my gun, ignoring the pain, and began my final assault, perhaps, my last assault. I shot three chimeras down, before one of them lunged on my foot, gushing out blood. It sunk its teeth into my knee, shaking its head from side to side, in a vicious attempt to tear off the leg. I pulled my mind away from the pain, glancing at the beast, angry, and plunging my blade behind its neck. I stabbed the creature ten more times, forcing away its jaws from my leg, my blood spewing out. Two more mutant beasts jumped me, taking hold of both my arms and pulling me in opposite direction. If this continued, I knew, I would surely lose my head and limbs.
“I don’t have a choice, I guess,” I groaned, realizing my own folly. “You have all forced me to take arms against your kind, so don’t complain when I send you to the abyss.”
Pulling my arms back, the tendons in my body strained, I managed to free myself, and planted a vicious kick into one of the chimeras’ stomach. It spewed blood, its head facing the ground, trembling. I picked up the beast by the head and flung it against the tree, bashing its brain out. Twisting back, blood in my hands, I lunged for the other chimera, tearing off its ears with all my might. The creature howled when I grabbed its tail, struggling with all its might to get free, and fell to the ground the moment my dagger sunk into its back.
“I want more blood,” I screamed, throwing the blade down, looking at the full moon. “Come at me, all of you, and I will show you pain.”