Planet Chimera (15 page)

“Take him out, Overon,” Mrs Craft commanded,
pointing to the white guerilla chimera. “Don’t let him sound that
alarm, okay?”

“Yes, ma’am,” a man, buried deeply in the
snow, replied, placing a high power scope on his rifle. “Consider
it done.”

He moved in closer,
resting his rifle on its portable stands, as he adjusted his aim a
bit. He cocked the rifle back, a green light blinking on its
barrel, before firing one loud shot. Turning around, holding my
breath, I saw the massive beast stagger around, groaning out
loudly, and falling backwards, dead. Nothing else stirred in the
dark night, save for the relentless wind and snowflakes. To be
absolutely sure, we waited another five minutes, scouting the
surrounding area, making sure that the area was not booby trapped,
before Mrs. Craft sent one of her soldiers to scout the entrance.
The man, cloaked in his armor, stomped through the plain field,
invincible to the naked eye. I saw a green light, a signal for us
to follow, meaning there were no traps hidden beneath the
snow.
They want us to come inside, it’s
all a trap
, I thought.

“Come on, Rave,” Salyanna whispered, nudging
my arm with her elbow, her lips turning blue, and her skin very
pale.

We joined the Vandrel Guards, moving behind
them, with our guns raised in every direction above the walls of
rock. And as we neared the entrance, I saw something flashing above
us, moving towards the sky. It was the same projectile that had
shot me out of space, crashing me onto this planet.

“Come on—let us make haste,” Mrs. Craft
whispered, waving everyone in, standing inches from the entrance.
“I wish to end this madness as soon as possible, so I can get off
this planet and return home.”

“One problem with that,” I cut her off,
walking down the stone stairs, without looking at her. “You will
need a ship, and no offense, but I will not share the ship that was
promised to me. I have urgent business, far more important, that I
need to attend to. I will duel all of you, if I have to, for that
ship.”

“Interesting, Rave,” she added, a hint of
curiosity in her tone. “What sort of business is it? Is a girl
waiting for you? Or is it something more underhanded and
illegal?”

“I am not obliged to tell you anything,” I
spat, the feeling in my fingers returning.

“The more you deny me your secret, the more
interested I become,” she whispered, pacing even closer to me.
“Now, what sort of secret business can you be hiding, that you
would fight us, the Vandrel Guards, to get to?”

“Listen, ma’am,” I halted, turning around to
face her, feeling aggravated. “The only reason I am allying with
any of you is because our goals are aligned, and because we share
the same enemy. I don’t care who you are, or what you stand for—I
just want to leave this planet and return back to my current
assignment.”

“Just who are you, Rave?” She asked, edging
even closer to me, without a sign of fear or weakness in her
voice.”When I saw you torturing the prisoner, when I watched you
give those two options of death to him, I felt something dark and
dreadful inside of you. And as I walk besides you, I can’t help but
feel this uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. You are hiding
something, aren’t you?”

“And if I am, what will you do about it?” I
asked, placing left hand on the butt of my rifle, and clenching my
right hand. “I have done nothing wrong, so you have no need to
question me for anything.”

“Alright, alright,” Salyanna jumped in,
walking up towards us, and pushing me down. “We are all frustrated,
I know, but this is not the time to fight amongst ourselves.
Please, everyone, just calm down, okay?”

“I will if she stops pestering me with her
annoying questions,” I hissed, gazing at the torch light that was
mounted on the wall.

For the last minute or so, we had descended
down these smooth, stone stairs that seemed to stretch down for
miles, guided by the light of mounted torch sticks. It was an old
fashion set up, a medieval century cave layout, which was something
that annoyed me. The air inside was foul, the temperature a bit
pleasant, and the walls on both sides stained with small traces of
blood.

“Have you ever been here?” I asked Salyanna,
shifting the weight on my shoulders, glancing below. “This cave
seemed to have been made a few centuries back, and it is not
something that can be easily concealed.”

“No, no one has ever dared to venture here,
since the arrival of the madman,” she responded, tucking her cold
hands inside her cuffs, exhaling deeply. “No one is stupid enough
to wander around this part of the forest.”

“How do you all even survive? Where do you
get your food from, and where does your source of power come from?”
I continued, my curiosity peaked greatly by these new turn of
events.

“Well, it is complicated,” she replied,
shivering, a faint smile on her face. “I believe we all have our
own secrets, and I don’t think I am also obliged to tell you
anything than you need to know.”

“Finally, something we both agree on,” I
replied, gazing away, an uneasy feeling settling in my stomach.

The stairs finally came to an end, the floor
on the bottom separating into three different tunnels, all leading
towards different sections of the building. We had to separate, I
knew, to cover more ground in a short time; otherwise, we would
wander around in this cave labyrinth for days.

“You three, go that way,” Mrs. Craft
ordered, pointing at Salyanna, Jutcer, and myself, to the corridor
on the far left. “I, and one other, will take the corridor in the
middle, and the remainder of my Vandrel Guards will take the far
right corridor. Are we all in agreement?”

“That sounds fair,” Salyanna said.

“I don’t object,” I also replied.

“Yes, ma’am,” Jutcer said, a bit of fear in
his voice, shivering slightly.

Her men did not respond; instead, they
saluted her in a quick manner, and three of them took off swiftly
into the far right corridor. Mrs. Craft, retrieving an arrow,
raised her bow up, turning her gaze towards the central tunnel, and
ambled in, the last soldier following behind her. A wind howled
through the last remaining tunnel, a bad sign for the weak hearted.
Jutcer looked mortified; his knees were shaking hard, and he was
exhaling air in an abnormal way, like he was having a panic attack.
I walked over and gave him a good pat on the back, bringing him
back to his senses, trying my best to fake being friendly.

“There is a good reason why no one ventures
into this madman’s hideout,” he whispered, aghast, the gun in his
hands shaking uncontrollably. “I don’t think it was a good idea for
us to separate.”

“Man up,” I yelled at him, shaking him in a
vicious manner. “Do you want to be scared for the rest of your
life? Think of all the bad things the madman has done to your
family, your friends, and your neighbors. How many more will fall
before you decide to take a stand, and take arms for what is
rightfully yours. If you don’t have the stomach to continue
onwards, I suggest you pick up your weapon and return back to your
resident, okay?”

“Fine, alright,” he roared, the strength and
courage returning into his eyes. “I understand what needs to be
done.”

“Let us make haste, then,” Salyanna
muttered, standing by the mouth of the corridor, the muzzle of her
gun pointing inside. “Time is the one thing that is not on our
side.”

Turning around, I scurried forward, Jutcer
pacing behind me, as we made our way through the dimly lit
corridor, heading towards an unknown direction. The eerie echo of
the wind sipping through the cracks in the structure made the
feeling in my stomach nerve wrecking.

“How big is this place?” I asked, growing
weary of the running and the anticipation. “We have been running
for more than a minute, and we don’t seem to be getting
anywhere.”

“It must connect with the mountains and
caves nearby, I suspect,” Salyanna replied, her hair flying in the
air, picking up more speed. “Don’t lose focus—our enemies might be
hiding in the corners, waiting to ambush us at moment’s
notice.”

Up ahead, I noticed a small faint light, as
the tunnel was coming to an end. We all slowed down, gun holstered,
and proceeded with caution, planning to attack any enemy that
popped up. Small drops of water dropped to the ground floor, and
light currents of air rippling above us. The new compartment was
very spacious, about three houses wide, with one torch stick on the
far opposite wall, and a small stream of flowing liquid substance
coursing through a white pipe, located below the left wall. Jutcer
suddenly gasped, dropping his gun, and falling to his knees. He
looked at us, his right hand pointing to the center, towards a
suspicious looking object.

“Oh, no, Cleiver,” Salyanna screamed,
placing her hands above her mouth, tears flowing through her eyes.
“This is horrible. How could they do such a thing?”

Mounted on a long spear, soaked in blood, I
saw Cleiver’s severed head. I tried to look away, but I kept
glancing at it, unable to make sense of anything anymore. This
planet held something truly dark, something far more sinister and
deadly than me. This was obviously a message to all of us, to be
wary and frightened. Moving closer, I observed his head with a
little more scrutiny, trying to uncover anything out of the
ordinary. My comment earlier, about hoping someone whacked him in
the head, was purely out of context. I mean, yes, his egoistical
ways annoyed me, but I truly held no quarrel with him.

“We have to leave this place,” Jutcer
exclaimed, shaking uncontrollably, glancing in every direction. “If
we stay here, they will do the same to all of us.”

“You are right,” I added, walking towards
the pipe on the left wall, and drawing out my dagger. “If you stay
here, you will all die.”

I swung the blade down at
the pipe, creating a small hole through it, as I moved back
cautiously. A red liquid substance gushed out of the pipe, the
pressure inside it make the hole a whole lot bigger. I covered my
nose, glancing down at the liquid spreading through the ground, as
I my heart almost skipped a beat.
Who is
this madman? This is beyond madness, far beyond any of my wildest
imagination.

“What is that?” Salyanna asked, wiping tears
from her eyes, standing up slowly.

“That is fresh blood,” I replied back,
turning my head around, inhaling slowly. “I don’t think it is a
wise idea for any of you to continue any further. I will go alone
from this point on.”

12

“What do you mean, Rave?” Salyanna cried,
pacing towards me, her gun in both of her hands. “We cannot go
back—not when we have come this far.”

“You will die, if you continue,” I warned
her, sighing, feeling a bit agitated. “This enemy, the one you call
the madman, is way too dangerous for any of you to engage.”

“And what will you do by yourself, Rave? How
do you plan on defeating such a man and his whole army? You need
us…..we are your.”

“Enough, Salyanna, go home,” I cut her off,
moving slightly away from the puddle of blood, not looking at her.
“I can’t do my job while I am watching your back. If losing Cleiver
made you this emotional, then you will be nothing more than a
nuisance to me later.”

“No, I have come this far,” she roared,
cocking her gun, a serious look on her face. “I cannot afford to go
home now—not without a victory on my hands. Whether you come with
me or not, I will not be dissuaded from this quest.”

Why does no one ever
listen to me? How can these fools be so naïve and stupid?
It was clear to me—she would follow me whether I
liked it or not. She had obviously sealed her fate, although I
wasn’t sure about Jutcer; he would most likely turn back and head
home.

“Jutcer, are you coming?” Salyanna asked,
the power in her voice rekindled once more.

“I can’t.” he replied, looking at Cleiver’s
head, whilst biting his fingernails in an aberrant way. “I just
want to go home to be with my family, far from this nightmare he
brought upon us.”

“There is no going home, you idiot,” she
yelled, stomping towards him, picking him up to his feet by his
collar, and slapping him on his right cheek with her backhand. “We
must stop the madman now, or more of our people will be
slaughtered. Besides, even if we let you return, you won’t make it
halfway home by yourself; the woods are filled mutant chimeras, all
waiting to pounce on you.”

Jutcer, wide eyed, gasped, realizing how
deep behind enemy territory he was. He pushed Salyanna back,
turning his head towards his gun, and making a swift dash for it.
He skidded down, picking it up quickly, as he wiped sweat from his
brow, a look of desperation on his face.

“I am going ahead,” I muttered, looking at
Cleiver’s head one last time, before trudging away towards another
exit. “Since you won’t heed my warnings, you are more than welcome
to come with me, if you want. And I will say it once more—following
me will be at your own peril.”

I anchored my gun up, taking the first step
into the next square exit, the wind brushing against my face. The
corridor was dark and humid, the strong smell of rotten flesh
nauseous, and the floor wet with blood. I splashed my boots in the
fluid; the noise of my own feet squishing through thick liquid was
very repugnant. And fortunately for us, this was a short corridor;
we had already arrived at the next compartment in a matter of
minutes.