Chapter 19 #2
Then with a quick steadying breath, I raced forward, lifting my dagger and sword, but fear took hold of me as I got too close and I dodged to the side, just barely missing the graze of nahashim teeth against my arm.
The shadow of two sets of horns loomed over the small pool of light in the pit’s center.
My audience of Afeya booed in annoyance. And someone, one of the Afeya leaning over the pool’s edge, had thrown an apple at me.
“Are you going to fight?” the Queen asked. “Or just play?”
I glared, skewered the apple on my sword. It sliced down the center, and hurled one half back at the Afeya. But the other, I threw into the dark, and heard the distinct sound of it hitting a wall. So there was an end to this playground.
But before I could find it, the beast hissed calling out to me. “Asherah.”
My body went cold. The chimera charged. My heart thundered as I held my ground, my body trembling with fear. I couldn’t jump on it from behind, and not from the front.
Which left one option.
So I waited, and waited, sweat beading at my brows as I prayed my plan would work.
The chimera was nearly in my face, before I dodged again, letting it pass me, my feet scrambling into a sprint.
I ran toward the wall, blindly reaching until I found it.
Taking a few steps back, I ran, jumping up and kicking my feet against it to gain momentum.
I flew backwards, and twisted, my body colliding with the beast’s middle.
I gripped its roughened fur and climbed onto its back as it roared, its hind legs kicking and bucking.
The nahashim tail hissed, striking at me with a sudden and horrifying speed.
I barely managed to kick it in the face and avoid its bite.
But the chimera bucked again, jumping from its front legs to its back.
I bounced, nearly flying up before I landed against its spine, my thighs clamping down.
With an ear-piercing roar, it threw me to the ground and I just barely managed to curl into a ball and roll to safety.
I was so dizzy, the room was spinning as I fought my way back to my feet. Fuck! How the hell did you fight this thing?
Every trick I knew, and every other beast I’d fought felt inadequate. All the fights I’d been in, all the monsters I’d faced and I’d been woefully unprepared for this.
Suddenly, the chimera called to me again, and my blood ran cold as it hissed a name at me.
Not Asherah. It didn’t call me by that name this time. Or Lyriana. It was something else—another name, in another language I didn’t recognize. A name I could barely hear over the laughter of the Afeya.
I blinked, my vision shifting. I wasn’t in Queen Ma’Nia’s playground anymore.
I was in a forest, surrounded by tall trees full of green leaves. The trunks and branches were a pure brown. Lighter than pine trees in color—but these weren’t the same. I didn’t recognize the species at all. Not from any scrolls I’d read, nor any paintings I’d seen, or memories.
A man screamed, pulling my attention toward him. My heart raced with more fear than I’d ever known before. I ran, tearing through the trees, faster and faster. I needed to reach him. To save him.
A chimera had pushed him up against the trunk, trapping his body with theirs while two heads growled in his face, and two sets of teeth snapped.
He paled, shaking with terror. He wasn’t a warrior.
He was … a prince. The word popped into my memory.
And some protective instinct woke up inside of me.
I’d never seen this man before. I didn’t know his name, or even where we were.
What continent, what year. But he was familiar to me.
Soft brown curls sat atop his head. And on first glance, I couldn’t help but notice that he was extremely handsome.
He had full, soft-looking lips, a strong squared jaw, thick dark eyebrows, and kind, gentle green eyes.
No aura, and yet … my soul called out to his.
It longed for him with a yearning that already had me aching.
My heart thundered. Instantly his soul responded to mine, his voice in my head.
Ani janam ra.
Rhyan!
But this wasn’t Rhyan. And yet—it wasn’t Auriel either.
This was a whole other life, I realized—another incarnation they had—we had—experienced. It was after the Drowning, I was sure of that. But I didn’t know anything more. Not his name. Nor mine. Nothing. But I knew his soul. Auriel was in that body.
Rhyan was in that body.
And I felt my love for him, for all of them rise and grow, for Rhyan in three different forms, deep in my chest. I needed him, needed to be with him, to protect him and save him. Rhyan. Auriel.
The prince.
I raced forward, my limbs speeding up with pure determination. While in this incarnation, Rhyan was no warrior, neither was I. Yet it didn’t stop me. Even when I realized I didn’t have a weapon.
For some reason, it didn’t seem to matter to me—or my incarnation.
Because my fingernails suddenly lengthened and sharpened, leaving me with two large hands, my nails as large and sharp as daggers.
I was the weapon. Without hesitation, I sliced through the chimera’s tail, cutting off the nahashim.
Its black eyes closed and its body fell to the grass, curling limply and rolling before stilling with death.
The beast roared and the chimera turned its ire on me—giving the prince just enough time to slip out of its hold. He started toward me, his eyes wide. He wanted to fight. To protect me, too. But he couldn’t—not in this life. Not yet.
I shook my head. “Run! ” I screamed, my voice strange and accented. It almost reminded me of the way Ramia spoke. “Now! ”
The beast lowered its skull and charged at me. I extended my claws, and with a battle cry, I stabbed out the eyes of the head nearest to me. Because that was how to weaken and defeat a chimera.
I knew that much. Remove the tail. Remove the eyes.
The vision faded. I gasped as if I’d just come up for air.
By the fucking Gods. For a second, my heart felt like it was splitting in two.
In those brief seconds, I’d seen another one of Rhyan’s lives, and I’d fallen in love with him all over again.
With the prince. Seconds I’d been there, and already my heart was tearing itself apart.
Some part of me was empty, missing him already, missing his face.
I’d never see Rhyan as the prince again, not in this life. But his soul? Yes. Yes I fucking would.
A plan began to form in my mind. I glanced behind me, sensing a wall a few feet away. If the vision was accurate, and my memories of that life were true, I’d need to cut off its tail first. Then go for the chimera’s eyes. That meant I needed to make sure the beast ran ahead of me.
“Come on!” I yelled. “I’m right here!”
The beast howled again, its two mouths coming together in a kind of demonic harmony. The sound made me want to scratch my ears off.
I widened my stance, and braced for its charge. It took off, its two mouths opened wide, the nahashim tail stretching and curling forward.
Steadying my hand, I held my ground, my entire body beginning to tremble as the chimera drew closer and closer.
Two sets of teeth snapped, and I could smell its breath. The stench doubled.
With a cry I jumped to the side, just as its body would’ve trampled mine. My sword lifted high and came crashing down, splitting the nahashim in two.
The snake’s eyes closed, its severed body crashing to the floor, twitching before it stilled—just like it had in my vision. A furious and pained roar erupted from the chimera. Followed by another—an ear-piercing scream made out of bones.
One body part down.
Heart pounding, I took off. The chimera in the vision had two live heads.
No skeleton. I didn’t know what that meant.
Was it a different species? Or were both heads simply alive?
Either way, the yellow eyes were closest to me.
Within seconds, it was in range. I thrust my dagger through my belt, and unleashed a second sword—holding both together above my head.
Then I ran, my arms already burning as I repositioned the hilts, thrusting the blades forward and stabbing the wolf head through both of its yellow eyes.
I released my hands, but the chimera rushed at me, and my foot slipped on a loosened rock. I hit the ground, landing between its front paws and curled up into a ball, the beast rushing over me. Its back foot stomped on my elbow, crushing the bone while its nails cut through my skin.
I screamed, my throat raw with the force of it. Fuck! I bit down on my lip, but I was unable to stop screaming in pain.
Already the chimera had turned around, and was heading back toward me in a rage.
Both of my swords were still sticking out of the live wolf’s eyes.
I didn’t have time to get back up. Fuck.
I didn’t even have time to slide out of the way.
I reached for my dagger and rolled out just before it ran over me, and managed to slice its front paw.
Nausea roiled through my stomach, the pain only getting worse, and I swore I could hear Auriel admonishing me. “Really, Lyriana? We just fixed that arm.”
I cursed at Auriel, still not quite sure whether his words were real or a fevered imagination, and slid my back against a nearby rock, tears in my eyes, as I tore at my cloak to rip off a piece of cloth, just enough to make a sling.
I gripped the dirtied and sweaty material between my teeth, pulling the ends and crying out as I tied them together, tightening my arm to my chest. Fuck. FUCK, that hurt.
And meanwhile, the Godsdamned chimera bucked, leaping onto its back legs. Gritting my teeth, and knowing I couldn’t stay in place, I jumped back up, my right arm screaming in fresh pain from the movement. Cold sweat was dripping down my neck, and biting pain continued exploding down my arm.
Auriel screamed my name.
The chimera turned to face me again, the white eyes of the wolf skull tracking my movements. And it was then that its other head, the wolf head, slumped forward. One of my swords fell out and clanged to the ground.
The skull head watched it happen, its white eyes glued to the movement. I watched too. Watched my sword spin on the ground, covered in thick goops of blood.
I was already moving, ready to attack again, but so was the chimera. Its paw landed on the fallen blade, and kicked it out of reach, leaving me face-to-face with its white eyes.
I reared back, as its breath hit me, and long fangs dripped with saliva—just inches from my mouth.
It unhinged its jaw, bones cracking and rubbing together as it howled.
My skin went ice-cold. Its white eyes were beginning to glow until a shadow crossed over them.
Slowly the whites of its eyes were replaced with black.
The shadows began to lift, and fade, the light returning in reverse, forming the shape of a waning crescent, before its eyes returned to pure white.
It was the phases of the moon. Its eyes had just cycled through them.
Before I could understand what that meant, it slammed its skull into mine.
Stars burst across my vision, and I cried out. Auriel was yelling for me. The Afeya were cheering for the chimera. And Queen Ma’Nia was urging them on.
Dizzy, and nauseated, my ass hit the floor. My head was pounding. The beast lowered its head, as its breath was growing hotter and hotter. Oh, fuck. Could these things breathe fire, too?
Smoke curled down its nose, exiting where nostrils might have been if it were alive.
I threw my hand back, trying to regain my balance, and I hit the wall.
Shit! It had trapped me. I could barely see straight, and the pain in my right arm had moved through my hand.
My fingers were either screaming, or going numb.
Red embers formed in the skull-wolf’s mouth.
Shit, shit, shit! It was going to burn me alive. I couldn’t move. Couldn’t escape. My heart sped up like it was trying to experience every last beat.
The skull lowered its eyes to my level, my breathing becoming erratic. My pulse racing.
But just then, I realized how close the other head was. I could reach for my second sword. It was still embedded in the wolf’s eye.
I shifted across the ground, reached for the hilt, and rolled under the chimera’s massive body just as its flames licked the wall.
I landed on my back, and I raised my sword, piercing its belly, and stabbing up and up until I had to sit, pushing harder, and praying that its anatomy was like other animals; that its heart was above me now.
I thrust the blade, sizing all the muscle I had in my left arm.
The chimera stilled, then screamed. A sound I knew I would never forget.
Its legs wobbled. Blood spurted from its belly, dripping across my face, then drowning me in it—along with other inner body parts and fluids I didn’t want to consider.
I pulled the sword down, and started scooting back and back, moving as quickly as I could, scrambling to get out from beneath its body.
The chimera released one more ear-piercing, bone-shuddering screech before it collapsed across my legs.
I gasped, winded from its weight. I still couldn’t move my arm, and could barely see with my face covered in blood and guts. Fuck, it was so heavy. But at least it was just my legs. I would have suffocated if it had landed on my chest.
I watched its body shudder, while I leaned back, desperate to free my legs.
There was one final exhale, a rattling hollow sound. And the chimera stilled.
Moaning, I used my good arm to lean on, and then freed one leg, before kicking the beast and releasing the other.
I scooted back, my legs too wobbly for me to stand.
The chimera was dead, and Queen Ma’Nia was standing over the edge of the pool, her violet eyes murderous as she stared down into her playground.
“Release her!” Auriel yelled. “It’s dead. You made your point! Now get her out of there.”
The Queen shook her head, her mouth tight, before she stepped back, and I turned on my side, vomiting onto the ground. My power spent, I collapsed beside the beast.