Planet Chimera (7 page)

“Constable, what news do you bring, at such
an hour?” the mayor asked, his face blue, and the cup in his hands
shaking from his trembling. “Has something happened?”

“Yes, Mayor, I bring grave news,” the
Constable, in a deep voice, replied, trudging towards an empty
seat. “The east outpost has been overrun, I am afraid, by a legion
of mutant chimeras. The reason for this retaliation, on their part,
eludes dearly, which is why I am here.”

“Oh, dear,” the mayor exclaimed, placing the
cup down, sweat pouring on his face, as his eyes avoided mine.
“This is bad news indeed.”

“
What has happened,
Mayor?” the Constable continued, his hands pressed together, “has
that madman finally decided to break the treaty he signed with
us.”

“It is more complicated than that,” the
mayor responded, standing up to his feet, and walking towards the
window. “We might not want to admit this to ourselves, but we had
always known that this day would arrive; there was no avoiding it
on our part.”

“You want us to take arms against our kind?”
the Constable roared, whisking up to his feet, both of his hands on
his waist. “I mean, yes, they have been tortured and brainwashed
beyond any reasonable belief, but some of them are still our
brethren, our children, siblings, and relatives. We have to make
amends with that madman or the blood he spills next will be on your
hands.”

“I am well aware of that, Constable, but
what will you have me do?” he spun back, his gaze fixated on the
constable, all of his previous trembling gone. “Do you suggest that
we keep shooting innocent travelers from space, capture them as
before, and keep adding them to that man’s torture collection? What
if it was your wife, your children, we were sending towards
him?”

Upon those specific set of questions, words
escaped the poor constable; he bit his lip, dropping his clenched
hands below his waist, the strength in his resolved weakened.

“They are coming here, Mayor, whether you
like it or not,” the Constable pointed out, turning around and
walking towards the door. “You have less than an hour to make up
your mind, or he will make it for you. As for me, I will be taking
my leave now—I want to spend my next moments of life next to my
wife and dear children.”

He picked up his musket, placed it behind
his back, and opened the door, twisting his head around to look at
everyone in the room, before shutting it from the outside. A
powerful silence lingered through the small house; everyone was
haunted by the constable’s last words, except for me, and they all
took their refuge in the depths of their frightened minds.

“He is right,” the lady, in the light green
dress, added in. “His chimera army will soon be on our door step
and we are not prepared for a confrontation with them.”

“Physically, you can take them on,” I said,
placing the gun against the wall, my eyes upon her. “The real
reason for your doubt is because they are your kinsmen, your fellow
neighbors, and citizens of this sick and twisted place you call a
town. Wake up, you idiots, or you will all die. And, children,
please forgive my tone; I would prefer that you leave this
discussion for the grownups and vacate the quarters for bedtime,
but I am afraid that is not an offer on the table.”

“So what would you have us do?” she asked, a
look of fascination and intense curiosity on her face. “We have no
weapons, no army, to defend ourselves with.”

“But you are chimeras for crying out loud,”
I yelled, hoping my words would lift up their spirits. “You have
the power to take arms against these abominations of
nature—besides, I saw a barn full of weapons at Baron Smith’s
manor, and there is enough artillery for everyone here.”

“Oh, that pompous hypocrite,” the mayor
spat, veins popping on his neck, and smashed his frail fist against
the wall. “All this time, all these years—he was encouraging us to
aid that madman, telling us that there was no way to win against
such a foe, and yet he was harboring contraband on his residence?
He and I will have words when this situation dissolves itself.”

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.”