Planet Chimera (16 page)

“Stay out of sight,” I ordered, leaning
against the wall, peeking slightly out.

It was amazing; this new chamber was grand,
about five stories high, with walls made of concrete, marble brick,
and barred cells on the left and right. There were people, aliens,
and creatures I could not identify, all locked inside the cages. A
horde of mutant chimeras, stationed at rails above the cages,
guarded the place from intruders, stopping anyone from escaping.
The beasts were armed with old flintlocks, thick, metallic chest
armors, and some sort of flying contraption, on their backs,
powered by gears and steam. To take them on would require a lot of
stealth, speed, and agility—my area of expertise.

“Stay here,” I whispered, gesturing with my
right hand to Salyanna and Jutcer. “I will go survey the area.”

“You better not leave without us,” Salyanna
replied, bending to one knee, as she rested her rifle on her right
thigh.

“Just do as I say,” I hissed, turning back
around, scouting the area.

After surveying my surrounding, locating the
safest passage, I placed my rifle on my back, and begun to prowl
behind the empty, wooden crates. The chains, anchored on the roof,
marred with small traces of old blood, rattled back and forth,
being swayed by soft gust of winds. I heard someone approaching and
stopped moving, listening carefully to the sound, my silver dagger
unsheathed. Screams from terrified captives echoed through the
compartment, the sound of their horror and terror drowning my
steps. A green chimera, with long goat horns, a dog’s face, and
long, thick fur, trudged past me, a silver flintlock in its right
hand. I looked in every direction, standing up slowly, raising the
blade, and plunged it into its throat from behind. The monster
tried to scream, but I placed my right hand on its snout, silencing
it before it could alarm the others. When I felt its body grow
cold, I removed my hand from its mouth, and began to push its body
into an empty crate. I dropped the body down, pulling my knife out,
my heart racing, and exhaled silently. To kill this many enemies
with stealth required time and patience, both luxuries that I
couldn’t have. Time was of the essence.

“I will go in guns blazing, I guess” I
sighed, shaking my head, a feeling of pure dark excitement flowing
through me.

I pulled my rifle, placing it into my right
hand, a gold flintlock into my left hand, and spun out of the
crate, ready for war. Coming from the left side, a mutant chimera
sniffed me out, turned in my direction, and began to roar out loud,
its flintlock slowly turning towards me. I fired first, blasting
the creature with four rifle bullets in the chest, felling it to
the ground in a bloody mess. Dodging bullets, I rolled behind
another crate, using it as a shield, before I stormed out for my
next assault. Trying to kill these beasts, while avoiding firing at
the innocent prisoners, was proving to be quite the challenge. On
previous assassin missions, I had a few civilian casualties who
lost their lives because of my recklessness, and it never bothered
me that much, but I had been instructed to complete my mission
without leaving a trail of dead bodies behind me. Yep, it was a bit
too late for that, if I may add.

“You idiots, get back,” l roared, lashing at
Salyanna and Jutcer, who had decided to join in without notice.
“You are going to get yourself killed.”

Ignoring me, like I was
some kind of pest, they dashed into the bullet storm, returning
fire in a careless manner. The civilians, trapped in the cages,
cried in terror, dropping their heads to the ground to avoid being
hit by stray bullets. The sound of gun shots was overwhelming, and
the amount of destruction increasing greatly. I felt an urge to
look up, the hair on my neck standing, and, suddenly, I saw these
massive blue eyes gazing back at me. Up above the crate, a shadowy
chimera, dressed in a black cloak with white poker-dots, stared at
me with an unsettling silence. The creature had long, clawed hands,
a tail with spiky bones protruding out, powerful, sharp fangs, and
it was about eight feet in height. It knelt above crate on one
knee, a smile on its hideous face, both of its arms wedged by the
corners of the crates, and its tail danced around in every
direction. The tail stopped swerving around when I angled my rifle
slightly up, the creature’s hands moving slightly back, and the
smile on its face disappearing. Even though I had the advantage of
immortality, even though I had two guns, I could not help but shake
this uneasy feeling inside of me.
This is
no ordinary mutant chimera
, I
thought,
I should tread carefully with
this one.
Making the first move, I raised
my rifle up quickly, my flintlock turning in motion, but the
creature leaned back, avoiding the bullets. The crate where I was
hiding was destroyed a few seconds later, the chunks of woods
flying back in my face, blinding me from my surrounding. I heard
light footsteps, coming from behind me, followed by a pain in my
back. I fell to the ground on my stomach, yelping, unaware of what
had struck me. And before I could even stand up, I felt three
bullets pierce through my chest, causing me to tumble to the ground
again.

“You are tough,” a voice hissed, my whole
body being whisked up by something that coiled tightly around my
chest. “I stabbed you in the gut, and you took three bullets in the
back, and yet you still breathe. What are you?”

“The one who will claim your life,” I
answered, kicking the creature in the stomach, and maiming it in
the gut with a small dagger that had been concealed beneath my
boot.

Shrieking loudly, wide eyed, it released me
from its grasp, and staggered back with its right hand pressed on
its stomach. I flexed my fingers, walking towards it, a large grin
on my face. It was going to give me great pleasure to send this
abomination into the dark abyss.

“Any last words?” I asked it, shooting it in
the foot with my flintlock. “Come on, creature, say something witty
and insightful.”

“Well, your skills in battle are amazing,”
it commented, throwing its cloak at me, and using the distraction
to gain some distance.

Like an idiot, I tried to parry away the
dark cloak with my bare hands, and instead of brushing it to the
side, the cloak entangled around me. The dark cloak engulfed me
like it was enchanted, the cotton substance wrapping around my
hands and legs. It was almost clear to me now; the madman knew how
to control and manipulate magic. I could hear the gun fire ceasing,
meaning that something was wrong. Sensing danger, I pulled my
dagger out of from the holster and cut the cloak into tiny
pieces.

“Help us, Rave,” Jutcer cried, his voice
coming from the opposite side of the compartment.

“Those fools,” I sneered, reloading a new
magazine into my rifle, and pumping some air into it. “Perhaps, I
should let these mutants make do with them.”

The two fools had been trapped into a corner
by the mutant chimeras, their only barricade being a wide, wooden,
table with one of its leg broken. Salyanna and Jutcer had turned it
over, and were using the thick drafting board to deflect the
bullets away. All in all, I would say that this day sucked
terribly.

“I am coming,” I boomed, shooting a mutant
in the leg, felling it the ground, and finishing it off with a
blast to the face: “Just hold your horses.”

The strange mutant, who had thrown its cloak
at me, leaped into the air, unveiling its powerful wings as it came
down towards them in a vertical dive. It held a large blade, the
first time seeing it, in its right hand, and a whip in its other
hand. And upon seeing the creature, I rushed in, planning to
intercept the creature before it could wreak further mayhem.
Spinning to the left, I dodged a series of bullets, rolling behind
another crate, before standing up and making a fierce dash. I fired
at the diving mutant, forcing it to stop halfway in its descent,
its head turning towards my direction. The wide, metallic wings on
its back flapped vigorously up and down, both of its feet spread
apart for balance, and its body turned slightly back. Opening its
mouth wide, it puked out fire in my direction, forcing me to flea
for cover. It was just as I had suspected: the monsters had their
organs altered too. Whoever this madman was, in my opinion, had a
vast amount of knowledge in organic structures, mechanical
properties, and magic. He or she was someone worthy of being a true
challenge. To create such a creature, to be responsible for
orchestrating all of this madness, was indeed impressive.

“Help us, Rave,” Jutcer screamed, throwing
his rifle to the ground, out of bullets.

“Be a man, you idiot,” I muttered, ignoring
his pleas for help, all of my focus on the fire breathing
mutant.

Every empty crate became fuel for the
rampaging fire, the smoke rising into the air, but trapped within
the ceiling of the confined compartment. I heard the prisoners
banging against their barred cages, coughing from the smoke, and
screaming for help. The other mutant chimeras were still firing
their guns at Jutcer and Salyanna, laughing like hyenas, enjoying
the carnage and destruction. To think of them as former
townspeople, former, simple space travelers, made my mind
boggle.

“Now, die,” a monster screamed, approaching
from my blind spot, and shoving a blade through my chest.

I screamed out loud, felled by the weight of
the creature, as I puked my own blood. The pain was unbearable, the
feeling of the blade being twisted inside my chest maddening, and
the sheer look of pleasure on the creature’s face appalling.
Blinking slightly, I felt my strength leaving my body; the blade
seemed to possess some sort of paralyzing toxin. The creature, a
combination of lion’s head, the upper body of a bear, and eagle
talons for hands, sat on top of my chest, restraining my movements.
It opened its mouths, shooting a straight line of fire at my face,
causing me to scream out loud in agony.

“Let him go,” a voice screamed, the creature
stopping the fire, as it turned around and got its head chopped off
by a long sword. “Are you okay, Rave?”

“Yes, and you have my deep gratitude for
that,” I replied, shoving the creature’s heavy body to the side,
smelling my own burning flesh. “Is that you, Salyanna?”

“Yes, Rave, it is I,” she whispered, helping
me up, an expression of confusion on her face. “How are you even
alive after all of that? How can you even stand up?”

“I am lucky, I guess,” I lied, not planning
on revealing my secret ace—my immortality—to anyone.

“No, most people get lucky and end up in a
hospital for two or three days, depending on the severity of the
wounds, but you are already standing up. You have taken an extreme
amount of mortal wounds, not to mention, you face was horribly
burned by that chimera’s fire. What are you, Rave? Are you even
human at all?”

“Yes, I am human,” I chuckled, standing back
to my feet slowly, my strength shelved in half. “I am just a lucky
person, I guess.”

“Run,” Jutcer bellowed, coming from the
corner, his right shoulder oozing with smoke: “The monster is
coming.”

The flying mutant descended towards us, its
blade angled straight in front, and its body curled up like a
bullet. Salyanna, morphing her eyes and fingers, pushed me back,
planting her feet in the ground, her blade positioned into a
defensive form. In an instant, they parried blades, the tip of
their swords sparking tiny flames, as they both moved back with
their blades raised. Salyanna looked hurt; she was panting heavily,
her right hand, the one holding her sword, swollen and bleeding
slightly. One more encounter with that monster and she would be
killed, a thing I couldn’t allow to happen. I owed her for saving
me, and if there was one thing I hated above anything else—it was
not repaying my debt.

“Run, Salyanna,” I screamed, lifting myself
up, and darting towards her.

I pushed her away, pulling out my small
dagger in front of me, in an attempt to deflect the creature from
finishing her. As our weapons collided, I felt the raw power of the
creature’s strength and weight pressing down against me, and in one
small blink, my small blade was broken, and my head sent flying
back.

“Crap, I messed up, didn’t I?” I smirked,
watching my headless body still standing on the ground, and
watching a mortified look on Salyanna’s face.

Everything went dark in an instant; I
stopped breathing, stopped thinking, as the darkness took me.

13

It was quiet; a soft, cold
wind blew against me, and the ground my right cheek was touching
unpleasantly cold. I inhaled out, opening my eyes, and freaking out
when I couldn’t feel anything below my neck.
Where is my body? Where am I?

“Are we throwing his body into the furnace
too,” I heard a voice say, a sound of something being shoveled from
the dirt ringing in my ears. “Did the master really say that?”

“Yes, it is shame that he would not be
turned into a freak like us, or that we can’t even eat him,”
another voice replied, as I heard something like footsteps
approaching in my location.

Blinking, I looked slightly up and almost
lost my nerves, when I saw my headless body lying on the ground
next to me. And next to it, there were more dead bodies, all piled
up around each other, and they reeked from decomposition. Upon
seeing this, I was horrified, the unsteady composure inside of me
almost brewing up into a wild panic. Kicking off the bodies, I saw
this mutant chimera, in a bright, red cloak, trudge up to these two
bodies, a few meters from me, and pick them up roughly. It sniffed
one of them, a smile on its face, and took a large bite off the
body’s toes.