Planet Chimera (8 page)

“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.”

7

The bloodlust, the
darkness, the insatiable appetite for destruction—it was all too
much. This place, this stinking planet, was stirring me further
into the darkness. The power of my immortality, I knew, was this
raging madness, but I chose to overlook it, only choosing to
embrace the idea of a long, youthful life.
I have to control my impulses
, I
thought,
I need to get myself under
control.

“Hold your ground,” the bear hissed,
plodding forwards, the axe held firmly in both of its hand. “He is
mine, so I will finish him off.”

I straightened up, my right hand over my
face, my head throbbing, and exhaled deeply. The cold weather, the
strong winds blowing in every direction, only made my inexplicable
condition much worse. Holding firmly my rifle, I rocked my body
forward, the pain in my leg killing me. The bear and I stood in the
middle, facing each other off, both of our weapons in front of us,
ready to strike. The wind whirled, the snowflakes brushing coldly
against my face, and the ground snow wrapped around my boots.

“Die,” the chimera roared, swinging down its
axe in a vertical motion, aiming to cut me in half.

Unable to react quickly, I raised my dagger
and rifle up, placing them in front of me, parrying away most of
the axe’s power. The barrel of the gun broke in two, the blade
bending inwards, as the axe broke through my defense, barely
grazing my right shoulder. Pulling back the axe, it raised its
right leg, planting a hard kick into my chest, and felling me to
the ground. I gasped, spitting out blood, and stood halfway up, my
whole body wearing out.