The First Chimera.

Chapter 18

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Ria's POV

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I stumble through the forest, blood dripping down my calves from the nettles, brambles, and thorns I've pushed through. The scent of water dragging us onwards, even as my knees give out, and I fall in a heap on the forest floor, brambles and thorns scratching my arms, chest, and stomach, digging deep into the skin.

Pain pulls at every fibre of my being, and pulling on every scrap of willpower I have, I push myself up and crawl on my hands and knees. My breathing loud to my own ears, heavy and ragged. The land and lake unclaimed, even the mountain range that cradles the lake is unclaimed. Rouge terrorty is eerily quiet, and fear slivers under my skin like a living thing, curling around my chest, squeezing the air from my lungs, and wraps around my throat

I can't be found alone, without a pack to back me. I'm vulnerable enough that any rouge who comes across me could easily drag me to their self-proclaimed Alpha, or worse, the rouge too far gone into madness, the desire to mate with a female, especially an Alpha female, would override all rational thought. I don't want to be forced into killing the innocent and lost, but if I must, I'll just have to get comfortable with it. My current state leaves me vulnerable to attack, but I can still be a deadly weapon if I need to be, the warmth of my magic, a welcome reminder that I'm not as weak as I currently feel.

Crawling out of the forest, I use a nearby tree to drag myself up to my feet, a bone deep chill settling in under my skin, each breath as though I'm sucking air in through a narrowing straw. Whatever poisons those rouges injected into uncle is harder to fight against than I originally thought, a miscalculation I won't make again. Even my beasts are quiet, each of us struggling just to keep dragging air into our lungs.

On shaky legs, using the trees as support to keep myself up right, I painfully slowly make my way around the lake's edge, taking in the area and spotting an abandoned fishermen hut that the forest has reclaimed.

"It'll shelter us for now." Kasumi whispers, and I make a beeline for it, uncaring of the sharp stones that stab into my feet. When I reach the run down hut I stumble through the door, swinging on only one good hinge, and close it with as much care as I can before collapsing to the dusty floor, tremors racking my body as the last of the poison burns through my system, my beasts whimper and angel's worry, pain and sadness washes through us all.

I lay there and watch the sun's light dim as it continues its journey from East to West, too tired to move, too heartbroken to care.

It's as though someone has scooped my heart out of my chest, leaving only a void of emptiness where a beating heart should be. The pain of leaving my family slicing through me as tears trail down my cheeks. I can't even gather the energy to sob. My chest tightens with the emotion that clogs my throat.

"We're doing the right thing in leaving, aren't we?" I whisper to my beasts, the connection to our family a shining gold chain in my minds eye, strained by the physical distance between us and those we love.

Only silence greets the question, none of us certain if we've made the right decision.

It's only after the sun has set and the moon's light filters through the broken window that I regain the strength to stand. An awe filled hush settles across the land as I step out from behind the creaking door, to be met by my creators warm embrace. Hakate's the first to pull me into a tight hug, and I melt into her warmth, my beast's and I seeking comfort in her arms, surrounded by the scents of herbs, incense, and magic.

When she pulls back, her hand gently cups my cheek, wiping the tears from my skin, her amber eyes glowing with her magic and love.

Artemis gently pulls me from her sister's embrace and into her arms, her fingers gently running through my hair. Her scent of the forest after a thunderstorm, wildflowers, and sunshine, a balm to my beasts nerves. Her musical chuckle of amusement fills my ear as my beast's purring fills the space around us. Even Hekate giggles at me as I rub my cheek against Artemis's shoulder. When I pull away, her forest green gaze shimmers with unshed tears. Joy and sorrow mixing like paints in water.

"We have been worried for you, sweet child." Selena says, and I turn and embrace her, my beasts nuzzling at her neck and purring, pressing closer to the surface, seeking comfort from the ònes that created us. The soft scent of waterlilies, lavender, fresh water, moonlight, and magic soothe the knot of tense muscles in my chest.

"Why have you resisted this for so long?" Selena asks, her melodic voice a soft lulabye. I pull away from her embrace. Her cool fingers gently grip my chin and tilt my head up until I meet her gaze. Her eyes a mirror the night sky, just as mine are.

"I'm scared. Whenever we've been close to it, it feels as though nothing of us will remain." I mutter, a cold shiver snaking down my spine.

"It's as though all my beasts are trying to escape my body at once, as though I'll be torn to shreds in the process." The weight of a secret being told after so long being kept buried fade, and I feel as though I can finally breathe again.

"That would scare anyone child." Hekate states softly, while Artemis sighs in understanding.

"We're here now, child. We'll guide you through this as we should have the night you turned sixteen." Selena says and takes hold of my hand, her fingers interlinked with mine.

***Selena's POV***

I smile at our daughter. We'd been right to leave her in the care of Chase and Esmay Rivers. The Royal Beta pair had loved her as their own and had never prohibited us from visiting her, nor had they stopped us from forming a connection to them or their three other children.

"Let all of your beasts come to the surface, Kimaria. Angel, your phoenix, vampire, and witch sides as well." I say softly, gently stroking her cheek and watch Kimaria's eyes turn from a reflection of the night sky to black pools with veins of silver and gold, and twelve glowing irises, the edges rimmed blood red, and flickering with hidden flames. The runes, constellations, sun, and moon phases that litter our daughters' skin glowing bright silver, a beacon of moonlit magic in the night. Our daughter's magic washes over the land like waves breaking on shore, rippling out, an ocean in reverse, once a wave of magic pulses from her body, it stretches further out in veins like rivers and streams. Artemis and Hekate steady each other, struggling not to buckle under the unlimited power just waiting to be unleased, while I stagger a full step back until Kimaria's fingers tighten around my own, steadying me.

"Wh-what's hap-happening to me?" Kimaria's voice echoes, her head tilting to the side like a wolf's. The limitation she'd unknowingly set for herself suddenly gone.

I remain quiet, unable to put into words what she'd be experiencing, the complete merging of their minds into one. Even as Kimaria stands watching us, I can hear the faint whispers of her beasts, her lips unmoving.

My two sisters step closer, reaching out to place gentle hands on Kimaria's shoulders, Hekate's eyes glowing like molten gold as her magic surrounds us, a cocoon of safety for the child.

Hekate frowns a little, the scent of our daughter's fear filling the air between us.

"Hush child, you are safe. Surrender to your bloodline. No one will be hurt, we promise." Artemis soothes, running her fingers through Kimaria's thick red-gold curls that wrap around her fingers like rings.

It takes only seconds before the first veins of silver and gold erupt across her skin like cr'acked glass at the first sharp break of her bones. Her scream a sirens call, slicing through the air like razor blades, the grass flattening out in a perfect circle, the water of the lake creating waves from the power held in that scream.

My sisters and I press closer to her, her knees buckling until she's hunched on her hands and knees, magic arcs between her fingers in sparks of lightening.

'She's fighting it again,' Hekate whispers through our mind-link, her brow furrowed in concern. I sink to my knees and cup Kimaria's face in my hands, forcing her to look at me, her screams of agony as her fights against the magic that'll set her truly free sending shivers down my spine. Her back cracks and archs in an unnatural way, torn between the many forms trying to force a shift, her screams echoing with the voices of her beasts, blue and white flames sputter to life at her fingertips, harmless unless she feels threatened.

"I know you think letting this happen means giving up your family. But it doesn't. All that will happen is that you will release Zane from the role we placed on him. Fighting it will only hurt him." I watch our daughter, our last gift to our children, struggle to breathe, her bones morphing and breaking, unable to settle, tears carving wet lines down her cheeks.

Kimaria's eyes widen in understanding, and she clutches at my wrists, surrendering to the Chimera she's always been. Her magic shifts, no longer erratic and fearful. She pushes my hands away from her as claws push through her fingertips, her body shimmering in viens of golden magic and silver moonlight.

The loud crack of every bone in her body breaking at once sets my teeth on edge, her body shifting so quickly that it's just a shimmer of light to the naked eye, even as my sisters and I watch the rapid morphing of her body, watching as she shifts through every beast we gifted her.

Her screams turn to soft whimpers until silence fills the air.

Her body lays curled up in a tight ball. Even in her human form, there are signs that she's the Chimera we created her to be. Golden dragon horns protrude from her forehead, curving back against her head, her skin shimmers with patches of Siren and Dragon scales. Veins of gold and silver spiderweb between the contrasting scales and across every patch of un marked skin. The constellations, runes, sun, and moon phases pulse gentl like a gentle heartbeat.

Hekate gasps when Kimaria lifts her head to look up at us, her body shifting so that her wolf and big cat forms merge, Dragon wings settling against her back.

Her eyes watch us with sudden understanding. She and her beasts were never meant to be limited to their singular forms. They were always meant to be one mind, one body. A shiver works its way down Kimaria's back, her body shifting again to her Kitsune, with her snow leopard's rossuets sprinkled down her back, her twelve glowing iris's moving independently to each other, each side of the Chimera taking in the world as one whole being.

'Let's stretch our legs.' Kimaria mind-links to us, her voice a perfect melodic blend of all sides of her.

Before we can reply, her body shimmers, and her siren jumps into the lake, gold.and silver dragon wings erupting from her shoulder blades with every jump out of the water. Her laughter fills the air like the sweetest of songs.

Even in this joyful moment of watching Kimaria and her beasts fully accept themselves, there is a sadness that lingers in my chest. Because now the work will truly begin for our daughter.