Planet Chimera (4 page)

“Do as you like—it’s a free planet,
mister.”

“I would like to know what you meant by
those words you were chanting in that peculiar song. Just what did
you mean, when you said no one can leave this town? And who will
come for you?”

“It is exactly as I said, mister, I am
impressed that you caught that, and that you managed to sneak out
of your room, without rousing any suspicions from the outside
guards.”

“Your words are kind, child, but if you
don’t mind, please reveal to me the message behind those lyrics. I
fear, I am being hunted by something dark and powerful.”

“Please don’t make me divulge secrets that
could put the both of us in any further danger; for they are always
watching, always waiting to prey on the guests.”

“I shall not tell another soul, you have my
word, so please tell me something. I promise to protect you with my
life, if harm were to befall you.”

“Take heed, stranger, not everything in this
town is what it seems. The creatures of the night will come for
you, just like they came for me and other guests, and when they
do—do not struggle.”

“No, I shall take arms and fend for myself;
they have no idea who they are truly dealing with,” I responded,
laughing after, a feeling of sheer excitement consuming me.

It would certainly be nice to have something
to take my frustrations on, especially with this unwanted delay
costing me my mission. And like that, something broke through the
window, sending glass, wind, and snow surging through it. I turned
my head around, squinting, covering my chest and face with both of
my arms. The powerful wind howled, the cold air making it hard to
breathe. Something was standing on the porch, with big, glowing
eyes, about seven feet tall, and wearing dark, tattered robes. On
the robe’s cuffs, I saw what looked like a twin set of hook blades,
of black and grey coloring, the hilt of the blades concealed
beneath the ragged clothing.

“The monsters have come for me,” the boy
cried, reaching for the door, leading to the corridor outside, but
it was also locked. “Please, mister, help me.”

“I may not be a nice man, young one, but my
word is my bond,” I spoke, standing between the child and the
horrendous monster, both of my fists clenched.

“Who be ye?” it asked, stretching its arms
out, its talon-like feet sticking out from underneath the robes.
“Stand aside, I only need one of you.”

“Who be I?” I responding, laughing, “well, I
be the one to take your jaw off.”

“You talk too much for such a small fry,” it
roared, bolting towards me, all of its blade pointed for my
head.

The creature swung for my head, its left
foot anchored into the wooden floor, but I ducked down, watching
for any opening to take advantage of. I was a man of my word, but
playing dirty was definitely one thing I was good at. And for the
most part, based on what I could perceive, it wasn’t going to be
easy to get in close, and kill the creature with a quick jab to the
heart. The creature had a beak, like that of a eagle, a metallic
chest armor beneath the robes, a set of gears, shifting components
behind its back, which moved like mechanical wings. I had only seen
something like this once, but……No, I was perhaps mistaken; after
all, he was dead.

“Run, mister,” the child cried, watching the
blade piece through my left shoulder, his face filled with
terror.

Swerving left, I parried away the two other
blades, on its right hand, moving back to recuperate. The creature
holstered the red, stained blades into the air, next to its face,
and licked the blood off with its long tongue. Its eyes widened,
its whole body shaking, as it removed the tattered clothing to
reveal what it was hiding underneath. My word, I was repulsed. Who
would do such a thing? I mean, I was a villain too, but not this
bad. So many scars, so many incisions; it was as if someone had
ripped the poor creature apart and just staffed it back up with
different parts, to make it more menacing.

“You blood is wonderful, it is pure bliss,”
it demanded, tilting its back down, the tips of the blades inches
from the floor. “I must have more—I need moooooreee!”

With that said, the
abomination of a creature darted for me, striking at me with its
clawed swords, hoping to gush more of my blood. I dodged left and
right, bending down whenever it swung in a horizontal motion—even
though I was being pressured, the challenge being presented in
front of me was exciting me. It would certainly bring me sheer joy
to kill this beast.
Break its
beak
, I thought,
or break its neck
. I had so many
ways I wanted to kill it, but I decided to take my time and enjoy
the carnage and mayhem, while I still could.

“You are fast, I will grant you that,” I
commented, blinking, clapping in appraisal, a few seconds after.
“Not a lot of people can push me back like this, but then again, I
haven’t even been trying to fight back.”

“You talk too much,” it bellowed, using its
beak, this time, to make a frontal attack.

I paced back, my back hitting the door, and
rolled out of the way, grabbing a metal scroll that had fallen
beneath the table. I bashed the creature in the head three times,
felling it to the ground, before picking up the wooden table, and
smashing it against its back. Whirling in pain, it spread its
metallic wings, the gears in the back spinning in all direction,
and took for the air. Winds raged through the room, the snow
starting to pile up an inch over the floor, as the creature turned
around, smiling. Opening its mouth, fire roared, spreading to every
inch of the room. I ran towards the child, shielding him from harm,
my hands raised apart. I felt the burning sensation, my flesh being
synched off, but I didn’t flinch.

“Impossible! What are you?” the creature
asked, landing on the wet floor, the wings on its back flapping
against the powerful wind. “You should have been burned to
death.”

“Perhaps, foul creature, but I am under no
obligation to tell you,” I roared, sprinting forward, my left arm
curled back. “This is where you shall perish.”

Pulling back, the creature roared another
blaze of intense fire, but I plodded through it, shoving my left
hand into its mouth. I grabbed the bottom part of the beak, and
thrashed the beast into the ground, as my flesh was starting to
return to my scarred up body. Perks of being immortal!

“Now, what shall you punishment be?” I asked
it, stepping on its left leg, and breaking its thigh bones. “How do
you want to perish? By my hands, or in this blizzard?”

“Mercy,” it pleaded, trying to stand up. “I
was only following orders.”

“Mercy is for the weak,” I replied, crashing
its other foot with my leg. “And you, my friend, are not weak. How
many others were there before me? How many others did you take
before you came for us?”

“Only ninety,” it replied, using its arms to
try to escape. “Please, have mercy.”

“Like I told you before, mercy is for the
weak,” I roared, jumping into the air, my left knee angled, and
dealing a lethal blow to the spine.

The creature shrieked, its tongue sticking
out, before it went numb and silent. Grabbing the unconscious
creature, I raised it above my head, and threw it as hard as I
could against the door. Blood splattered everywhere, as its body
crashed through the wooden door, landing in the corridor.

“I suggest we move,” I patted the boy, who
looked more scared of me than of the creature.

“Are you human?” he asked, shivering, his
arms wrapped around his chest.

“I don’t know anymore,” I added, an
unsettling thought in my mind, as I turned around, walking towards
the corridor. “Perhaps, one day, I will tell you of how I came to
be.”

The boy marched through broken door,
following behind me, as a familiar voice was shouting, coming from
the first floor. I heard footsteps, and what sounded like two
people arguing before Baron Smith and his butler appeared before
us. He bore an angry look on his face—he had changed into his
silver, silk pajamas, a yellow sleeping cap on his head, and his
golden cane in his right hand. Stopping in front of us, breathing
hard, he looked at the boy before turning his gaze towards me.

“Do you have any idea what you have done?”
he screamed at me, his face inches from my face, as his eyes turned
bloody red. “He will come for all of us now. You have killed his
minion and he never forgives.”

Grabbing his shoulder, I pulled him towards
me, giving him two mean slaps to both cheeks: “Who is this person
you are talking about? If you don’t answer me, I will do worse
things to you.”

“Unhand him, you piece of scum,” the butler
hissed, pulling off his white gloves, to reveal his hairy, clawed
hands. “Do it this instance, or I shall have your head.”

“Goodness, butler, do you cook with those
hands? How many germs and bacteria do those things you call hands
carry?” I asked, in a joking manner, whilst keeping a good grip on
Baron Smith’s collar. “It’s a good thing I ate before I came to
this manor.”

“You hit my master, insulted my integrity as
a fine, Scotchmen butler, and for that, I will have your head,” he
hissed, removing his black jacket and placing it gently onto the
table stand, next to the stairs leading to the third floor. “I
shall show you no mercy, stranger—prepare for battle.”

He walked up to a
14
^th
century knight’s armor, which I had not noticed until now,
and drew the sword that was sheathed from its scabbard. He swung it
in the air, revealing his fine swordsmanship, as he turned around
to face me.

“This should be fun,” I mumbled, throwing
the blue skinned Baron onto the ground, and took a few steps
forward.

Skeptical of my true strength, the butler
kept his distance, his sword extended in front of him, as he
watched me with unblinking eyes. There was something about him that
was not natural, something I had sensed the moment I met him. Even
when he was standing at a fighting posture, he barely moved a
muscle, like he was some sort of android. The Baron and the child
moved back, letting us face off against each other without any
further disturbances.

“Here I come,” I yelled with confidence, a
foolish trait that I developed after I became immortal.

Raising my leg up, I threw a powerful right
kick, aiming for his chest, but at the last second, he deflected it
with the hilt of the blade. He swerved down, his eyes cold and
deadly, and dealt me a fine blow to the thigh with his sword. I
would have lost my fine leg, had I not relaxed the leg upon feeling
the sharp steel pressed against my flesh. I moved back, blood
oozing out of my leg, the confidence inside me gone. This was no
ordinary house butler—he had excellent fighting instincts; and he
was doing all of that without shifting into his chimera form. Silly
shenanigans were not going to work against such a foe, meaning I
had to become a little serious against him. I reckon, twenty
percent of my true physical power would suffice.

Once the blood had stopped falling to floor,
I bent my knees, inhaling a large dose of cold air. The butler
shifted his stance, raising the sword above his chest, the pointy
end of weapon facing the ceiling. As long as he had the weapon, I
knew, it would be hard to fight him with my bare hands. And as he
kept his gaze at me, I noticed that the position in his feet had
changed, a maddening feeling was pouring out of him. He threw a
hidden kitchen knife at me first, before dashing as quickly as
possible behind it, his sword facing the ground. He intended to
strike and finish me off as I dodged the knife, a smart move on his
part. But I intentionally let the knife hit me in the chest, my
eyes adjusting to his speed, and I pulled out the kitchen knife,
using it to parry off his perfect attack. His eyes widened, a
surprise look forming on his once stiff face, the strength and
speed in his attack nullified.

“You should have stayed in the kitchen,” I
grinned, spraying some of my blood onto his face. “Because you are
mine now!”

With elegance, he maneuvered back,
deflecting all of my rampage attacks without even looking at me, my
blood still stuck on his face. He pulled out the finest, white
handkerchief from his left pocket, unveiled it with ease, and wiped
his face. Our blades clashed, our strengths evenly matched —he was
doing that without even looking at me.

“I commend you for your strength, butler, I
can see why you were chosen.”

“Appraisal from one who is not my master, or
of noble birth, is hardly worth noticing.”

“You are such an uptight stuck-up, aren’t
you?”

“Your childish mockery does not work on me,
stranger.”

Pressing more weight, the length of his
sword playing to his advantage, he pushed me back against the wall.
I landed against the silver armor, causing it to fall to the floor,
creating a ruckus of clanking pieces of metal, armor pieces
everywhere. I coughed out a bit, my hands growing rather numb, the
winds and snow blowing through the opening in the corridor. The
skilled butler took advantage of the opportunity, plunging his
sword into my chest, as he withdrew his left arm into his a hidden
pocket beneath his suit, pulling out a secret device. He turned his
gaze towards me, an evil smile on his face, as the device in his
hands began spinning. It looked like a golden cube; it had several
tiny holes on the sides, from which air was blowing out of.

“Master, please, I suggest we leave this
area at once before the device blows up,” he said, his voice calm
and steady, gazing at Baron Smith. “I believe this will be the last
time we see our guest alive.”

“Good heavens,” Baron Smith exclaimed,
picking up his cane, as his sleeping cap slipped off his head,
landing on top of a few flakes of snow. “This house is priceless,
Ronald, so please try to be careful.”