Chương 5: Chapter 6: Mistakes

It is with complete certainty that I can say I prefer the Eastern Enclave over the Western one. The slit window carved into the cliff face where my room overlooks the startling beauty of a waterfall is downright breathtaking. I'm not usually a scenery person, but this stirs feelings inside me I haven't felt since hunting with my father a decade ago. Nature in all its forms is simply beautiful.

Sadly, I don't have a chance to inspect the new dwelling because Dougrant insists on grabbing us all in the wee hours of the morning. That's what I get for helping Lennick move the lab. I barely manage to wolf down some sausage for breakfast when Dougrant drags us off toward our testing area. Several miles away from our Enclave toward the edge of the mountainous region, yet still within the thickness of the forest.

Through the whole trek, our group-dynamics testing instructor hasn't stopped smiling smugly even once. We're nestled in behind one of the many rocky outcrops in this area and I'm checking my vials. He said to bring whatever we thought we could possibly need. Which is never a good sign for anything. I'm willing to bet Xan hasn't got half the stuff they should have brought with them. They might be good at the killing component, but their organizational skills suck.

Rifling through their own pouch, Xan confirms my suspicions with a grimace. Wordlessly, I hand them a vial of their preferred poison.

"Thanks." They flash me a smile before groaning softly.

"I hate teamwork testing time."

"Don't we all." I grimace, wishing I'd had two days to settle in at the new Enclave before this. Still, packing up the lab and preserving herbs and roots was worth it. Our teamwork tests are usually rather boring. Dougrant clears his throat and claps his hands, the sharp noise echoing through the trees around us.

"Attention." Keliar grunts but turns his attention to Dougrant. The boy's bright blond hair is usually hidden underneath a dark cap, so he isn't immediately discovered. His best friend Mavin leans back against the rock they're next to, his own brown hair tightly braided in no-nonsense fashion behind him. Even Minx and Farin shut up for once, while Xan flashes me a bored grin.

"We have an extraordinarily rare test for you all today." There's an eagerness in his voice I didn't think my teacher was capable of.

"Today you will hunt, capture, and kill a chimera." I can't have heard that right though. Surely, he didn't say…

"Chimera?" Keliar blurts out, excitement coating the word.

"Aren't they extinct?"

"If they were extinct, we wouldn't be about to hunt one."

"Chimera?" I cross my arms and glare at the idiots with outright hostility. Dougrant glares right back at me, but I'm not fazed. There's no logical reason that anyone anywhere should be sent to deal with a chimera.

"Give me a sound reason that a group of assassins need to subdue a chimera," I say, trying my best not to sound as if I want to rip his throat out. Dougrant holds my gaze and crosses his own arms, mimicking my stance.

"This is a teamwork exercise. You must be able to combine your strengths and weaknesses, your affinities, and weapons skills in order to overcome potential threat."

"Of a chimera?" But I knew what they'd done without him having to tell me. Chimeras are decently intelligent and generally live in places that aren't within any type of vicinity to people. They keep to themselves and are made up in horror stories used as warnings. Chimeras don't bother people unless it's self-defense. Dougrant uncrosses his arms and shifts his weight, undoubtedly irritated by the way I'm speaking if the defensive nature of his words is anything to go by.

"We haven't managed to wrangle a chimera in over a century. We are not passing up this opportunity." I draw in a long breath and barely keep my temper.

"Did you ever wonder why you don't get the chance to do this every year?"

"This isn't the first time, just the first in a long time." Confusion clouds Dougrant's usual cockiness.

"Do we have orders to kill or subdue?" I ignore the looks my classmates are shooting me. They think I'm insane, and perhaps they're partially correct. But they didn't hunt with my father. My father was a member of the order of Oak, a tanner by trade, and a damned good one. His hunting skills were revered around our hometown. His skins some of the most luxurious around. It is in those memories I take my reassurance that I'm correct, that all of this is wrong.

I almost miss Dougrant's answer as I try to weed out my father's wording.

"Kill it after taking it down, of course."

"We can't do that." I'm certain in my knowledge.

"You kill this one and more will come, and more. Then even more until you're responsible for wiping out Arralesh's capital." Dougrant's response is to scoff at me in disbelief, which is also reflected in his tone when he speaks.

"They will not. There are no eggs here for them to protect. There was no nest near where it's traveled from."

"It's not a griffin. Seriously. It's a chimera." My temper is fraying.

"It's not going to fly away and protect its eggs from above. This creature will hunt us down while we try to kill it. On the off chance we do kill her, the death scent will bathe us for the rest of our lives. Once she's gone, that smell will linger and every chimera will track it. They will find us all and destroy us." My yearmates are watching me, and I know from their expressions that they believe me. All the useless little things they've found me to know over the years are paying off now.

This is yet another one of those random facts no one should ever need. Because no one should ever willingly go after a chimera. Dougrant's face pales, almost to a sickly grey and Xan gasps.

"Oh no." They push their hair behind their ears.

"It's already here, isn't it?" The words are spoken so softly, I have to strain to hear it, but Dougrant's silence would have been enough, even without him answering.

"We baited her here; she should already have arrived."

"Then we should leave," Xan says, just as softly as before.

"We can't leave," Farin says, her own face pale, washing her out against the black leathers we all wear. Even if she doesn't care much about others, she is extremely adept at self-preservation. Her response catches me off guard.

"Why can't we leave?" I grit out through clenched teeth.

"It's already here, right?" Now there's fear inside of Farin's words, something so foreign to her personality it has me worried.

"Either we capture it, or it rampages through this whole area?" Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. She's right. Turns out she was listening for once. The cold shiver that runs down my spine doesn't stem from her words. It comes from the fact that I can feel the chimera's presence now. The ground is vibrating, and the weight makes it heavy like lead.

"We can't kill it. We're going to have to capture it and transport it right back where you lured it from." Which sounds so much easier than it will be because they already lured her out of her home once.

"Take it up with me when we get back to headquarters if you must, Dougrant."

"How are you so sure your information is right?" I guess it's about time he asks that question.

"My father taught me never to hunt a chimera. That the purported wealth from their skins and the leather it created wasn't worth the death curse it brought down on anyone who tried." It's easier to distance myself from the pain I feel at my loss when I'm using it to lecture others. No matter the how much time passes, it doesn't lessen.

"Probably a good idea not to wreck the Enclave we just moved into as soon as we arrive, right?" For a moment I can feel everyone's determination. Then a high-pitched, squealing roar threatens to rip our eardrums apart erupts through the morning air just as the sky opens and pours buckets of rain down on us.

Despite my bravado at talking about the creature, I've never actually experienced fighting one before. For obvious reasons. All I have to go on is what my father taught me on our long hunting trips. The story and the reality are vastly different. If I were a coward, I would hightail it out of here. Chimeras are not the majestic things so much lore depicts them as. This one appears to be an amalgamation of a few different creatures, more in the vein of traditional mythology.

Except the body is reptile based, allowing it to slither at an alarming pace. Each of its three heads also contributes to its body. Part lion, part mountain goat, and part snake. And it's about the size of two carts. It moves with a deadly grace, fascinating, in fact. Even as I watch it, I'm actively analyzing and dismissing possible avenues of attack. I frown as it raises its nose, tongue flicking out as it tastes the air, and allow Xan to quietly lead me to a better vantage point. A more defensible position.

With the initial downpour softened to a drizzle, I realize that the rain did us a favor. It's washed away our scent, and possibly most of the lures Dougrant used to bring it here. If only we can actually put the creature to sleep and softly cart it away… it might just work. I rummage quietly through the hip pack I never leave my room without. My vials are all carefully cushioned in suede, and I think there's only one option open to us. I just don't know if I have enough of it with me. Damn it.

Nothing will be potent enough except the valerian extractions I've been toying with. Sleep… but given the size of the creature…

"Got a plan?" Xan asks.

"Yes, but it involves sinking three of my darts into its head, preferably directly into its glands, which are more difficult to hit." I mumble the words, but they hear them anyway. I don't have the heart to tell them I only have one spare dart.

"Fantastic plan," they quip in an attempt to hide their fear. We can hear the creature slithering around beyond us, just on the other side of these boulders. It can smell us, it can taste our scent, and it's biding its time like all predators do.

"We need to keep it busy," I say, emptying my pipe of my usual vials and carefully storing them. Won't do to get this on anyone.

"It'll be difficult because it moves fast."

"Maybe if we use that combo like when we fought the werebears back in Four-Blade Novice?" Minx pipes up with the suggestion, and I'm grateful. The others nod enthusiastically.

"Sounds like a plan." Xalin squares their shoulders and steels their jaw.

"Guess we'll distract it." I pause for a moment in stuffing my pipe. It doesn't hold more than four darts with the way I engineered it, because it still needs to remain light and manageable. Xan's words strike a deep chord. Reaching out my hand, I grab Xan's, making sure they stop and listen, that they all hear me.

"I don't know what I'm doing. This is all only theoretical." Xan smiles at me, their brown eyes full of trust I don't know that I deserve.

"Don't tell me to be careful; I might think you're not yourself." With those cryptic words, Xan springs into action, leaving a faint scent of fear to waft behind them. Minx, Farin, and Keliar follow, and I have no idea where Mavin is as I scramble up the top of the outcropped rock to gain a better vantage point. The rains have made the already cluttered ground muddy, slippery, and quite treacherous to navigate.

I balance my pipe very deliberately, making sure not to slip on any of the moss that's gathered on the rock surface. Xan is fleet and agile and maneuvers well around the terrain. Minx and Farin work on opposite sides—all of them timing their distracting shots with precision. Minx, then Farin, then Keliar, followed by Xalin. It repeats, allowing me to go with the momentum and take my aim, adjusting for its movements, and letting the first dart fly.

Dead on, it hits directly in the soft part of the cranium where a snake's olfactory sensors live. Those tiny holes right above the mouth are massive on this chimera. It squeals and raises itself up, its front paws, tail-like body, and heads thrashing around. All of our distractions stop while it does this. I can't take another shot while it's writhing in pain and risk my aim not being true. I guess it would hurt having something sharp embed itself in your nose and explode fine glass shards inside it.

This time it's learned the pattern, so we change it up slightly. Minx and Farin run, making it chase them. They tag team it in super short bursts with distractions of arrows, throwing stars, and the occasional knife. That pulls the creature's attention back to them in a dangerous way. Xalin, Mavin, and Keliar dive into the fray as well, pulling its attention back to them so I can get in my second shot. Another clean hit, and I allow myself a few deep breaths as it rampages again, keening, howling, hissing.

It thrashes so wildly it sends a small tree crashing down, which pins Mavin beneath it, but the chimera doesn't notice. Suddenly Dougrant is there, pulling Mavin out of harm's way, back to safety, or as safe as it gets out here right now. Just one more. All I need is to land one more dart. It's obvious to my trained eye that the creature is woozy now. In pain, and not in complete control of all its limbs anymore.

But it can still smell us, even with some of its olfactory sensors no doubt overwhelmed with poison instead. My teammates manage to distract it again, using trees and bushes as hiding points, timing their swaps of the chimera's target well. Except they don't adjust for the toxins I've implanted in its systems and its inability to adjust based on that. As Minx stops her run, breaking momentum by stepping to the side, she slips on the uneven ground.

Her speed crashes her into the new path of the oncoming monstrosity and Xalin's track. I push the fall to the back of my mind, target again, and let loose, but because Minx is still in sight, the creature moves its head so abruptly that I miss. The dart bounces harmlessly off the scales. Shit. I take aim once more. The chimera changes directions again as it begins to gain on Xan. I take a breath, but this time I aim at the damn thing's eye.

It's a much larger target, and even though a ripple of rage passes through it, I activate the dart. It smashes into the eye and several things happen at once. The creature careens out of control toward Xan, who is already fatigued and diving to push Minx, whose foot seems stuck in the mud, out of the way. Minx's head hits the trunk of a tree as she bowls into it, and she flops to the ground, out cold.

All would have been great but for the fact that pushing Minx out of the way puts Xan directly into the path of the massive creature that's slowly losing control of all of its limbs and heads. It staggers, convulsing, tail lashing about like a rattler. I know with absolute certainty that I'm not going to be fast enough even as I grab Xan, trying to tug them out of harm's way. The chimera's tail, covered in spikes, slices into Xan's side.

Ignoring the chimera as it crumples to the ground in slumber, I pull my pouch open, grab one of my healing potions, and shove it down Xan's throat. They're panting now. I can see blood bubbling on their lips as my brain tries to process my frantic inner screaming and find the logic to help me get through this. Potion down, I pull a poultice from my pack and wrap it around their side. The damned armor did naught. Even though a part of me knows it was integral in keeping them alive. The earth sings beneath me, to me.

I want more than anything for this to work, for my poultices and potions to be enough to heal this. Just like I ask the plants and earth for my alchemical endeavors, I ask nature to help me—to turn the healing herbs, tinctures, and wraps I have into their most potent forms. My head feels light, fuzzy almost, heady, and I pull harder, begging the herbs and roots I've nurtured to do everything they can. It's like the ground heaves beneath me, making me lurch unsteadily.

I don't know if any of this will do anything, but I can't lose my only sort of age-appropriate friend like this.

"Ria?" I blink, refocusing, and glance at their face. For once, I don't correct Xan. Probably for the first time in our lives. Blood. There's so much of the liquid I don't even understand how they're still speaking.

"I think"—blood bubbles furiously across their lips, interrupting them for a moment—"I need a tincture." They breathe the words out, their voice lighter than usual, like they're somehow floating. I'm scrambling through my bag pulling out another tincture that shouldn't cause too many ill side effects. There's another poultice to help counteract the venom in the claws. Just need to make sure the sap inside it pulls it out to its fullest. Don't fail me now. There's a rumble in the ground I'm kneeling on.

If I didn't know better, I'd think it was purring. This is the first time I've ever asked a completed mixture to give me more. I'm desperate. Fatigue washes over me. Maybe it's the adrenaline leaving my body, but I'm oddly exhausted. Still, I'm not finished. Xan isn't out of danger yet. I pull out more supplies and begin applying them.

"Don't you dare die on me. On us." I mutter, my fingers flying with a memory and purpose of their own. Xalin's lips part, like they want to laugh, but in the end it's just a sigh.

"If you live through this, I'll let you call me Ria."

"Promise," they croak pathetically.

"Promise," I say and mean it.