Planet Chimera (23 page)

“What happened to all that spunk, Rave?” Zad
asked, laughing alongside his minions, whilst moving towards me.
“You said that you could kill me, then go ahead and do it.”

Annoyed, I looked up,
exhaling slowly, and saw all of the flintlocks pointed at me, the
red lines from their scopes all over my body. Two mutants moved in
closer, smiling menacingly, and unloading their modified weapons
into my body. I lost count of how many bullets that were drilled
into me, the pain truly maddening. I coughed up my blood, laughing
in a low voice, as I gazed up at them. The sword fell from my left
hand, clanking onto the ground, a small glimmer of light being
reflected from the metallic hilt. My heart wavered for some reason,
a truly strange feeling that was unknown to me.
Why was I hesitating? Why was I not opening the eye of the
abyss and letting it destroy all of my enemies. Was it because
Salyanna was here? What would it matter if she died along with them
to me?

Sensing danger, I reached for my sword,
picking it up and slashing at something that was nearing me. I
stood up, a maddening sensation of pain coming from every inch of
my body, and took one step forward, my sword angled in front of me.
I heard their movements, their laughter and taunts from every
direction around me, and I waited patiently. My vision was a little
hazy; however, I could make out their movements using my ears only.
I shifted my body to the left, when I felt something draw near, and
plunged the blade into its flesh with sheer joy. The monster
yelped, going limb in my hands, and I holstered the monster up into
the air before throwing it in front of me. Dashing forward, feeling
my strength returning, I grabbed another mutant chimera’s jaw and
ripped the lower part off, before bashing it with its torn jaw in
the head. The dark power was taking over—I could feel it eating
away at my conscience, and I loved it every second of it.

“Stop him, you idiots,” Zad snapped,
withdrawing his own personal flintlock, a weapon of with golden red
barrel, and pointed it at me. “Don’t let him frighten you.”

“Yes, yes, come to me,” I roared, raising my
hands, gazing at each of them. “I want you to give me your best
shot before I slaughter you all.”

Behind me, a mutant chimera with long, black
fur, ribbed horns angled in the opposite direction, darted towards
me in a stealthy manner. I waited, relaxing my whole body, and
swung back when it had leaped in for the final kill. My blade
clashed with its claws, the force and sharpness of the steel
overpowering it back. I cut a few inches through its wrist and
pulled out, bending my back to avoid a surprise attack from behind.
More and more of these mutant savages were pouring into the small
room—their numbers playing to their advantage. But on the bright
side, it looked like Salyanna was holding her own against the
horrendous horde. I don’t know why, but for some reason, I wanted
her to survive this accursed nightmare, and return to her people.
The feeling behind that logic was truly lost to me, but it was the
reason why I had not opened the eye of the abyss.

“Dodge this, Rave,” Zad shrieked, firing an
unimaginable barrage of bullets towards him.

He mowed down his minions, who were standing
between us, without hesitation as he attempted to kill me. Unable
to dodge the nearly, unlimited bullet storm, I planted my feet
firmly into the ground, placing my hands in front of me, hoping
that my body would endure the attack. It was like someone was
placing multiple needles into my body at the same time, a pain I
could not find words to describe taking over my mind. I dropped to
one knee, my blood pouring like rain, panting heavily. After a long
minute, which almost felt like an hour, the bullets stopped, and
Zad reached into his pocket, pulling out another cartridge. Despite
seeing it for myself, despite knowing him to be crafty, I could not
believe that he had maimed me this badly with that small gun. The
cartridge, to the untrained eyes, looked like an ordinary bullet
magazine, but it was more than that. I think, he had hexed it with
some sort of magic, which was the reason why I could not let him
reload.

“Salyanna, get out of here,” I screamed out
to her, turning my head to face her. “Something bad is about to
happen, and if you stay here, you will die.”

“What about you?” she replied, plunging her
blade into one of the beasts’ neck. “Will you come with me?”

“No,” I boomed, struggling to stand up, as I
felt a loss of power in my legs. “I have to stay here and finish
this.”

I fought hard against the darkness inside of
me, which was starting to gnash out of my mind in a painful way. I
could feel the power coursing through my veins, feeding on my
madness and hate. It healed my wounds, strengthening my bloodlust,
and drawing more power from the evil aura lingering in the air.

“I can’t leave you here, not like this,” she
replied, reluctantly defying my wish, and moving closer to my
location, her eyes glowing dimly. “I could never live with myself
if I leave you here; much less, leave Jutcer’s body in this
place.”

“Idiot, this is not the time to act like a
saint,” I hissed at her rudely, placing both of my hands on the
ground to stop myself from falling. “They will kill you, Salyanna,
because this is a fight to the death.”

“He is right, you know,” a mysterious voice
joined in, the source of the voice coming from an opening door.
“They are a truly revolting bunch.”

“Mrs. Craft, you are alive?” I asked,
feeling at little bit disappointed but glad, at the same time.

“How is this possible?” Zad exclaimed, his
lips spacing apart, and a surprise look on his face. “I saw you
die, saw your bodies turned to ash by the fire-breather, my
greatest creation.”

“You saw what we wanted you to see,” she
replied, strolling further into the room, her two men behind her.
“You underestimated the Vandrel Guards, a mistake that will cost
you dearly, Roger Dozer.”

Dumbfounded, Zad searched for the right
words to say, looking angry, but he suddenly brushed his black hair
back, calming his mind with a slow exhale. Ignoring the new guest,
he focused his attention on reloading his gun, his eyes averted
from everything except his trusty gun. The legion of mutant
chimera, which stood behind him, their weapons and claws drawn out,
shifted nervously around, as they awaited his orders. His control
over them was absolute; they could not defy their master, even if
their lives depended on it. I could not phantom what sort of
horrors he had inflicted upon them to deserve this unwavering
loyalty, but……. Just thinking about it made me absolutely
angry.

“Professor Roger Dozer, you have been found
guilty for a series of heinous crimes, and I, Captain Craft, of the
Vandrel Guards, find you guilty and shall sentence you to
death.”

“Kill them, too,” he mumbled, still looking
at his flintlock, and snorting in a revolting way. “I have grown
tired of seeing their faces.”

And upon his command, the mutant monsters
charged into action, a few staying behind to fire their flintlocks,
while the rest of the horde came at us with their claws and fangs.
Fully recovered, I angled my body steadily to the right and threw a
left hook, felling a lion-faced chimera, who had decided to lunge
at me with its bare fangs. Grabbing his hind paws with both hands,
I spun three times around, before releasing him into the direction
of the oncoming horde. And in that instant, Zad bolted in my
direction—his gun fully loaded, and jumped into the air with
elegance—his black cape flailing above him. He descended upon me
with a well coordinated aerial attack, forcing me to take a step
back. My sword clashed with the muzzle of his gun, small flickers
of flames flying in every direction, and a clanking sound erupting
from the metal tips of our weapons. Pushing him away, I slashed
down at another mutant, severing his left arm from the rest of his
body, before slashing him through the chest. Zad, throwing a
powerful kick, caught me by surprise and felled me to the ground,
the sharp spikes beneath his boots cutting deeply through my right
bicep. I yelped in pain silently, curling my injured arm up, my
eyes fixated on him, and stood up. He fired another storm of
bullets; however, I was in motion so only a few of them were able
to graze me. I flipped around, parrying some of the bullets away
with my sword before dashing to the right, towards the giant gun.
He followed right behind me as expected, firing through his own
minions, trying to stop me from reaching his prized weapon.

“You lose, Zad,” I yelled, plunging my sword
into the gun’s mechanical gears, sparks of electricity flying
everywhere, and rattling noise coming from the jammed up gears.

Strange green energy shot out of metal
pipes, unrestrained electric currents discharging violently around
the huge, metallic barrel of the weapon. Everyone stopped fighting,
turning their heads towards the weapon, as they could also sense
the impending danger. I moved back, my feet sloshing on the bloody
floor, and my hands covering my eyes from bright light.

“You idiot,” Zad screamed, shoving me to the
side, rushing towards his gun and pushing against the levers. “Do
you have any idea of the damage you have done. If I don’t stop this
machine now, this whole area will be engulfed in radioactive
fire.”

“That sounds more like your problem, and not
mine,” I sniffed, massaging my arm, as I looked at him: “Like I
said before, this is the end for you, old friend.”

16

Loud sirens whirled through the whole
complex, massive amounts of steam shooting through the whole room,
and the floor shaking violently every ten seconds. I almost
stumbled upon a dead body, belonging to a mutant chimera, but I
caught myself and balanced out. Zad, still working on shutting down
the gun, did not see me approach him from behind: I was not about
to let this opportunity slip out of my hands. Grabbing his head, I
bashed it against the metal hull anchoring the weapon to the
ground, pulling him towards me and felling him to the ground. A
loose bolt, knocked off by the building steam, flew out and missed
my head by a few inches. Zad kicked me in the shin with his right
leg, the spikes on his boots sinking through my right leg, and
felled me to the ground. He stood up quickly, panting heavily,
blood trickling from his forehead, and pointed his flintlock at
me.

“I should kill you,” he muttered, spitting
out blood from his mouth, his right fang missing from his mouth.
“But right now, stopping this gun from exploding, and taking us all
out, is my main priority.”

“Not if I can help it,” I hissed, standing
back up, blood gushing out of my leg. “I will not let you do as you
like, Zad. I promised the townspeople your head, in exchange for a
ship, and that’s what I will give them.”

“We have to get out of here,” Mrs. Craft
screamed, forcing me to shift my gaze left, as she raised her right
hand up. “If we stay here, we will all die.”

Rolling up, I engaged Zad once more in a
duel to the death, a hot gust of wind passing by us, and the floor
shaking tremendously beneath our feet. Torn ligaments of our fallen
comrades and foes were picked by the wind and thrown in every
direction—small traces of blood staining the walls, ground and
ceiling. Sparks of electricity flickered around the weapon, a thick
wave of noxious steam starting to make it difficult to see
everything clearly.

I felt a strong punch connect with my back,
and a knee to my stomach; I gasped in pain, releasing my grip on
Zad. His hands pressed upon the back of my head, and as I gained
control of my senses, I felt my body being lifted off the ground,
and thrown to the side. Smashing against the side of gun, a surge
of electricity jolting me strongly, I fell to the ground in
agonizing pain, and did not move for a few seconds.

“I grow tiresome of you futile efforts,” Zad
grumbled, pulling the trigger and shooting me twice in the head.
“Perhaps, this ought to slow you down a little.”

The pain was so intense that I blanked out
for a second, but opened my eyes again, the bullets unable to kill
me. The dark power swirled around my body, healing all of my wounds
in a matter of seconds, as I flicked my fingers inwards. My heart
beat slowly, my blood oozing from every part of my body, and my
head aching painfully. Raising my arms up, I saw my skin turn even
darker than before, my nails longer, and my palms rough and rigid.
The darkness had truly awakened. I rolled over, standing up to my
feet, looking in every direction as I searched for the others. Mrs.
Craft, Salyanna, and two other members of the Vandrel Guards were
fighting their way towards the eastern door, a group of mutant
chimeras surrounding them. And to my left, Zad tinkered with the
controls, muttering curses beneath his breath, and pulling out some
cords from the back. The temperature inside the whole room had
risen—it almost felt like we were standing on the side of an active
volcano, a truly frightening feeling. On the ground, I spotted a
broad dagger, with a curved spine, a wooden handle with finger
grooves, and the blade ten inches long. I picked it up, swinging it
in horizontal attack patterns, testing its handle, whilst my eyes
were focused on Zad. I charged forward, screaming out my lungs, and
slammed Zad into the controls. He looked back, surprised, and
screamed, when I plunged the dagger into his chest, and felled him
to the ground.

“Let’s go, Rave,” Salyanna screamed,
standing by the door, waving towards me. “This whole place is about
to go critical—hurry up and come with us.”

“No, I have to stay and buy you time,” I
replied, grabbing Zad’s kick with both of my hands, the spikes on
his boot unable to penetrate my hardened skin. “Just go and don’t
turn back at any cost. I will catch up with you when I am
done.”