The Dark Fairytale

Chapter 3 | A Chimerical Impediment

The woods of Adoredda had always been painted in a mystical light, containing the horrors unknown to all. Yet something about this cold, dark place seems vaguely familiar. The sounds of silence screaming through the canopies, just like the white mist woven intricately with the ambience.

I could feel the chill running through my body as Rhea, the giant star aiding the Rigel City, started to set, its blue light turning into dire black with each passing moment. Being this far from the parent star does block out the radiations, but it came at the cost of the temperature drop that followed every night. 

I need to find shelter soon, I decided. 

Without further delay, I made my way towards a direction I could comprehend as North. I could hear the sound of twigs breaking under the hard sole of combat boots. The soil here is moist, unlike the dry, cracked piece of barren land that covered Rigel. But the clayey soil almost making it difficult to walk. 

I continued to walk. Every step, steadier than earlier one. Every move is more precise than before. With every inch you move closer, the woods get denser. It's just too easy to get lost like it's just too easy to die in here. 

Not like life in Rigel is much welcoming for an idea. But death, in itself, is a privilege not everyone has right to.

I looked at the last rays of Rhea before it would disappear until morning. The best chance I had was to stick to the direction I was walking in, hoping I was moving in a straight line. Not the best plan but the only one I could rely on for now. 

I took another step in the decided direction before I heard a sound of ruffling. I could feel my senses spike up as I jolt with attention. My hands were drawn in front, legs bent to lunge in any direction, eyes darting in every possible direction and voice as quiet as an empty room. 

I searched for the source of the sound, and then I heard it. Sound of footsteps. Whoever this is, is either unaware of my presence or doesn't give a damn. I could feel it coming closer, footsteps getting louder.

I was fully aware of my disadvantaged position, lack of any kind of weapon against this unknown threat. 

3.

I counted in my mind.

2.

I drew in a long breath.

1.

Long before I started to hunt for bounty, I used to stay in the streets. Places where less fortunate would do anything to survive. They would beg, steal and even kill. To survive in a place like that, you need to be cautious. You need to be brutal. And you need to work with whatever you have.

With a grace that took me more injuries than years to master, I ran towards the tree in front of me. With the right amount of balance and strength, I was able to do a backflip, placing myself just behind the offender. Before it could react, I dodged it to the ground, choking it into submission.

I could hear the muffling screams and somehow, they sounded feminine.

"Agatha!" another voice shouted, and I registered the figure below me, dressed in dark maroon combat suit. "Get off me!" she shouted with visible frustration as another member of their group followed. I let her go while the others studied me, before offering us to get up.

"You're just other contestants," I noted, dusting my clothes. All that trouble for nothing. "Yeah, Silas," the red-haired guy acknowledged. "I'm Kiera. She's Agatha," the girl who called earlier introduced while Agatha gave me what meant to be an intimidating scare. 

"Clate," I told them my name.

"If you've beaten Agatha, you must be pretty good," Kiera commented. "She didn't beat me. She just surprised me with her monkey moves," Agatha fired back. "Yeah, Sure," I scoffed. "Anyways, where are you people heading to?" I asked, registering they have already found their team members.

"We were..." Silas provided before he was interrupted with a loud growl. "Uh-huh. The lion has found us," Kiera said in horror. "It was a mad goat with large horns," Agatha said in a disgusted tone. "It was a serpent. I saw it myself," Silas added as the said figure ascended in front of us.

I remember reading about it, in those ancient books of Mythology. It wasn't a lion or a goat or serpent. It was all three of them, amalgamated to form something that shouldn't even exist in the first place.

"It's a Chimera," I said taking a step back, as all of them did. It had a head of a lion, and that of goat protruding out of its abdomen and for a tail, there was a serpent hissing to show its forked tongue. It stood there, in its full glory, eyeing us like the course of its meal. All three pairs of eyes devoured us before a cacophony of roar, bleat and hiss surrounded us.

"Guys..." I said, after a moment of rummaging through my mind, conceiving a plan before I could tell one. "Run..," was all I could come up with. Like my voice was a command to their brains, they all ran like their life depended on it. Looking back at the situation, it certainly did. 

I could hear the strange noises accompanied by heavy footsteps following us. "Does anyone have a plan?" Agatha asked, ducking to bypass the tree branch. "We can outrun it," Kiera offered and the lion roared before it landed in front of us.

"Okay. Maybe we can't," she added.

I looked at the creature in front of me, so proud of its victory. Like each of these heads deciding which one of us they would like to eat. But there's no way I'm going down this easily. I only I could find a way...

"I have an idea," I told the others. "But I need your help."

"Anything," they said in unison before I explained it to them. With a nod, they all dived in their respective directions.

I looked at the lion head, challenging it to come at me. I could feel its acknowledgement as it roared, knowing I had nowhere to run. I could feel my heart beating fast, not sure if my plan would work or I'm just standing here waiting for my own death. It looked at me, its claws brushed the surface before it soared to attack me. 

Call it the rush, but I could feel everything happening in slow-motion. The wide mouth big enough to swallow me in a gulp, the sharp canines that can tear through me in shreds and enormous claws that lunged to rip me, before it was stopped. A painful roar of agony and distress erupted as other similar ones followed.

I looked at the three heads, all pulling at different directions. The sounds were shrill, those of dominance and anger. I could see the goat hitting serpent with its horn, lion clawing at goat and serpent biting the lion. The sight looked like chaos as sounds of pain erupted before it all settled down with a loud thud.

We all looked at each other, our face showing relief before we all settled down to catch a breath. "I can't believe it actually worked," I admitted after a moment. "I thought I was going to be eaten by a goat. I mean, isn't it a herbivore?" Silas agreed. "It's a crazy place," Kiera offered. "But you did a good job, Clate," Kiera added. "Yeah, we knew you were strong. Now we know you're smart," Silas agreed with Kiera, to which I could only smile.

"Yeah. You're strong. And you're smart," Agatha said after a moment. I found it a little hard to believe that she was actually complimenting me. I nodded, acknowledging her words, my own way of showing gratitude if I ever show any. "And you'd be a tough competitor in upcoming rounds," she said moving closer, something about the way she said it seemed odd. Though, I couldn't pin it down.

I intended to move away from when I felt a sharp pain at the back of my head. "And I intend to remove any competition." "Clate! Agatha! What did you do?" I could hear the shocked words but the vision was more of a blur. "C' mon. We all are meant to be rivals and tell me you don't think I did all of us a favour," Agatha said in an ice-cold voice. 

"But?" I heard Kiera's voice in some part of subconsciousness. "She's right, Kiera. Clate would pose a threat. It's better this way," I heard Silas before I was knocked into oblivion.