Perspective: Conrad Garnier
The winds grew colder as we went inside, the trees were so tall and huge that they were blocking all the sunlight, as I felt a chill running up and down my spine, Regina covered me with a shroud.
I thanked her, and since she too was shivering in the cold I took her in with me.
We snuggled up.
The carriage forward was hazy due to the snow storm, that had started when we entered the forest.
For a moment there, I felt as If we were the only souls present on the whole world.
I knew I shouldn't feel like that since, I regard Regina as my sister but feelings are something you can never have control over.
You can suppress them, disregard them but at the end of the day they remain deep inside you buried, yearning to be let out.
"But Regina is still my sister".
The forest was dark, every light from the sun had been obstructed by those huge trees which were stretching to the skies above.
It was dark and yet comforting, but our comfort didn't lasted for long, It had only been an hour since we fought an army of Dare wolves and yet.
I heard a voice from up front, It was Kyle Bonfrost,
"Halt".
Another adventurer shouted,
"Beyond the storm something is coming".
"Is that a lion?, no a big goat".
Then out of the blue Kyle Bonfrost shouted,
"Adventurers assume your formations".
As soon as he said that, we heard howls of wolves coming from all around us.
Regina said,
"What's going on?".
Patrick replied,
"We are surrounded from all sides".
Elkdrack commented,
"Is it their way of telling us that we are screwed".
"If so .... that's so generous of them".
Then out of nowhere a wolf jumped on an adventurer near us, it climbed over his chest and bit his neck off.
With blood on it's jaws it stared right at us, growling at us, it's glowing eyes pierced through the snow storm. It had caught us off guard, but instead of thinking about "what's just happened" I launched fire bolt at it.
Then we quickly ran over to that unlucky adventurer's side, but we were too late, he had been passed out from extreme bloodloss, Patrick kept using his healing spell on him but to no avail, he seized breathing.
Elkdrack said to Patrick,
"Haul him in the cart".
Patrick lashed out,
"He can still be saved .... maybe if I .... if I".
Elkdrack shouted,
"Come to your senses .... the guy is already dead.... the least we can do is ... take him back with us .... so, haul him in that damn cart".
Patrick agreed, "You are right".
He picked up the body and hauled it in the carriage, meanwhile we were constantly on edge, as at any moment a wolf could jump at us from anywhere, while, due to the storm every thing was hazy.
Then out of the blue we heard a deafening roar coming from upfront.
We rushed to the front carriages.
The monstrosity we saw there could only be described in fairy tales, before that we didn't even knew that it existed, but there it was, with an army of Dare wolves.
Barely visible, before us stood a majestic creature, with a towering height of 30 to 35 feet, it's golden mane was like a fiery crown that framed It's fierce face,
those piercing yellow eyes were gleaming with primal desire for flesh, it was a mesmerizing tapestry of diversity with shimmering scales like that of an airborne lizard in its body, massive leonine paws struck the ground as it slowly approached us, with large imprints left behind in the snow.
It had a serpent like tail adorned with razor sharp spikes and it's body was an enagmatic blend of a lion and a goat.
As it drew near our hands and legs were petrified by the symphony of noises coming from it, the deep rumble of its growl, the hiss of it's serpent and the low bleat of the goat all resonated in the air. I won't be surprised if any of us, at that moment, regretted going to that expedition, because I sure was.
The Chimera was a creature depicted in many stories that I and Regina read, several times.
Everyone was frozen in fear, my legs were shaking as were my hands, that day I learnt how hard it was to maintain the grip on my sword.
To snap us out of our frozen state,
Kyle Bonfrost shouted,
"This is the moment we were waiting for .... and there you are cowering like a little puppy .... If adventurer blood truly ran in your veins .... you would be excited".
"Ashame on you".
As much as I hated his over dramatic speeches, but this time it did what it entailed, motivated the heck out of us.
Everyone was back to being themselves, challenge craving lunatics.
Patrick Shouted,
"Holy barrier ..... holy judgement".
Erecting a duel barrier to halt the on coming assault of the seemingly countless dare wolves.
While Regina and other adventurers with long range projectile spells began shooting those wolves.
The chimera encircled us, like a predator, waiting for the right moment to jump at us.
Then out of a carriage, the girl from earlier, the one with green hair that came to take Yuna, jumped in front of us.
She removed the bandages from her hands, you could see the scars of cuts on her hands, they were immeasurable, all intertwined with each other, her whole hands from her elbows to her palms were covered with those scars.
She Unsheathed her sword, its blade bathed in a resplendent hue of emerald red. Skillfully, she caressed its sharp edges, allowing her own blood to nourish the blade. In response, the blade began to emanate a red aura of blood.
With her sword resonating crimson essence, she gracefully wielded her blade, sweeping it twice in diagonal arcs, forming a cross infused with the essence of her blood itself. The ethereal manifestation struck the monster with undeniable force.
Then in return the chimera unleashed its fury, its paw gracefully swept through the air. Responding with agility, she evaded the strike by rolling backward. In sync with her own life force, she wielded her blade, resonating with her blood. With a fluid motion, she conjured a horizontal swing, the blade connecting with the chimera's sturdy legs.
In my mind, I thought
" who was she?".
She stood toe to toe with a beast from legends.
Then an adventurer among us shouted,
"If she can do it .... so can we".
Keira planted his both hands on the ground, summoned his earth Gollum, as it started squashing the wolves indiscriminately.
I began reminiscing.
In the stories I read, a Chimera was surely deemed as a formidable force standing on the hero's path to glory, but however formidable it was, at the end it always tasted defeat, now the question was,
the way they were defeated could that be applicable in reality?. I didn't knew.
Out of pure speculation based on a children's book I shouted,
"That thing should surely be weak to fire, look at it's dry fur .... are you telling me it won't burn".
"Let's light it up and see".
In a magnificent display of coordination, everyone unleashed their fire-based attacks simultaneously upon the fearsome chimera, specifically targeting its majestic mane. As the green haired woman retreated, a chorus of screams erupted from the chimera, engulfed in a torrent of scorching flames. The creature's fur ignited, inflicting immense pain upon it. However, in a surprising turn of events, the chimera retaliated by releasing venom from its snake like tail, extinguishing the fire and relieving itself.
The plan half heartedly worked, but that wasn't enough, as it's fur had been burnt, but now his body had been surrounded by poisonous mist afflicting anyone who goes near it.
Its face filled with anger and pain that we tormented upon it, it paced towards us.
We were no heroes from legend, all we were-were a few wannabe legends who didn't knew their limits, who had steered themselves on a wild goose chase with no re-precautions.
Then one of the adventurers fools heartily stepped forward, facing the chimera with unwavering determination, ignoring the poisonous mist, he sprung to action but little did he knew that the chimera with the single force of its limbs would effortlessly tore him into shreds.
For a moment everything was silent, complete silence then after a brief moment everyone including me sprung will laughter.
That fool if we could defeat that Chimera alone with sheer determination, it would have been already dead.
Even the green haired lady was suppressing her desire for laughing on his death.
For an intense battle, that sure was a hilarious display of sheer courage.
It took one idiot to snap us out of our fears,
Kyle Bonfrost shouted while suppressing his laughter,
"Let's not ... have his death go in vain .... ".
My stomach was hurting from all the laughing I did, even the beast looked confused.
Then Kyle Bonfrost ordered,
"Everyone prepare your range piercing attacks, we will make a dozen holes through his scales....
Emilia".
He was addressing the green haired women.
"Emilia try severing it's tail and the goat's head".
"Only you can do it".
With that order everyone started chanting their spells.
I too began aiming my fire javelin at that beast, fire javelin was a pumped up version of fire bolt with the catch that I would only be able to cast five of them in a single day.
Emilia leaped towards the Chimera, baiting herself for it's attack, As the Chimera's paw swept through the air, Emilia swiftly moved around its back, with her blade resonating with blood, she traced two diagonal slashes forming a cross infused with her blood, severing the Chimera's tail. As the beast writhed in pain Emilia mounted its back swiftly
cleaving the head of that goat like creature on its back with a single precise slice, while evading the poisonous mist surrounding it, In a synchronised display of power every spell caster on the party Unleashed their spells, piercing through the Chimera's hard scales, and therefore killing it.
Once again the dare wolves retreated, on to the seemingly endless forest beyond the snow storm.
It had not even been a day and we were already two members short.
As I wondered what kind of death awaited me further, her vivid image materialized before my very eyes, that scent of ash as it filled the air, that black robe she adorned, the vision of her silver hair dancing in the wind, her piercing crimson gaze that penetrated my soul, and yet I couldn't seem to recall her face.
As I wondered why?, I hopped on to my cart with no one sitting beside me.