Ani cried from down by my feet, but I could not look away from the trainwreck in front of me, hypnotized as I noticed the arrow clutched in the chimera’s clawed hands. The chimera screeched back at Millie, returning her challenge.

Determined, Millie used her outstretched talons to swipe at the chimera, the guards readying their weapons but not breaking formation. The chimera dodged, attempting to retaliate with a slash of the arrow, which Millie blocked with her claws. They exchanged a flurry of blows, Millie managing to push the chimera back into the forest. The blisters on his skin opened, burning beneath her flames, but he wasn’t deterred.

Millie backed him up against a tree, her final mistake. With its flexible spine, the chimera twisted, slithering like a snake around the tree. Millie tried to follow, but the chimera was faster.

Ani let out a ferocious growl, darting toward the action. I stood frozen and useless as the chimera struck her from behind, digging the arrow into her back.

She let out one last warbling cry, collapsing on the ground. Ani cried with her. He reached the tree, leaping up at the chimera with a yowl. He phased through the chimera, unable to interact. It only made Ani angrier. He lept back up, jumping ferociously again, and again, and again at the chimera.

Utterly unaware of Ani, the Chimera eyed the guards and the hooded figure they surrounded. His eyes glanced over the battlefield, taking stock of the situation. Archers situated near the cloaked figure readied their arrows, not needing to worry about striking Millie. He grinned wildly, slithering back around the tree that now blocked the arrows. He reached a long clawed limb out, yanking on her leg. Her leg snapped off, collapsing to ashes.

“Don’t let it take the ashes!” Someone yelled, shields parting to allow a few guards to run forward.

The chimera reached around the tree once more, jerking the special arrow out of Millie before retreating. The area where the arrow exited turned to ash, a few scattering away into the wind.

The soldiers rushed forward, gunning for the retreating chimera. All the while, Ani tried over and over and over to make some difference.

“Ani.” He ignored me.

“Ani!” I tried again. His ears flicked in my direction, but he ignored me, swiping at the chimera’s leg. It was a bloodbath, the chimera using the cover of the trees to take out the gaggle of guards systemically.

“ANI!” Ani froze, finally looking at me. I crouched, motioning for him to come over. He meowed pitifully, his ears flat on his head.

“This is a dream,” I told him. “It already happened.” The last part was an educated guess, one I was pretty confident in based on the Flame’s words.

He released a pitiful cry and gave one last swipe at the retreating chimera. When he approached, I reached out to give a gentle brush against the fur on his face. “I’m sorry. I think I dragged you here.”

He pressed his face into my hand, his bristled fur falling against his skin. I scooped him up in my arms, crushing him against my chest. He lay there, limp.

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The chimera had retreated deeper into the woods, flitting from tree to tree around the trail clearing, looking for an opening. The guards stood with their shields, swords, and bows at the ready, surrounding the cloaked figure in the center.

“Someone collect the ashes.” The guard closest to the cloaked figure ordered. They eyed each other hesitantly before one brave soul shook his head, motioning for the two next to him to cover him. He retreated in, conversing in hushed tones with those at the center of the formation. Someone passed a large bag to him, and he wove through the crowd forward, shields parting to allow his exit. A couple of the archers aimed near him, ready to send cover fire if necessary.

Carefully eying the forest, the brave soul approached Millie, casting her a mournful glance.

He inched forward, having lost sight of the chimera. The chimera lept out from the trees, swiping at him. The brave soul stumbled backward, bringing his shield up in the nick of time. The chimera bounced off his shield, the brave soul shoving forward and knocking the chimera off balance. Arrows rained down on the chimera now that he was far enough away.

Quickly, the brave soul opened the bag as wide as he could and scooped up Millie as she crumbled to ashes at the touch. Casting glances at the distracted chimera as a group of the soldiers moved forward to deal with him, the brave soul brushed as many of the ashes as he could into his bag.

“I hope that’s enough…” he mumbled, running back into the line of shields which parted for him.

“We have the ashes!” Someone called, alerting the group with the chimera. The group pushed forward, forcing the chimera to retreat deeper into the woods.

Having lost sight of him once again, the group was quickly absorbed into the mass of soldiers.

“Damn thing.” Someone cursed.

“I wish we were assigned one of the mages…” someone else muttered.

“QUIET! Hold steady! Don’t let it get the princess!”

At their commander’s words, the guards fell silent, glancing over their shields for any sign of the chimera.

The scene faded once again.

The chimera waited patiently atop a ledge next to us on the mountain cliffside, watching the path below for any signs of the travelers. From the looks of it, the group would be forced to walk in rows of two down the path, with the sheer cliff the chimera was on above them and a drop-off below entrapping them.

The group filed in below him, paired up in rows of two. The soldiers looked uneasily up at the cliffs as the chimera peered cautiously down, hidden by a bush.

The cloaked figure passed underneath, and history repeated itself. The chimera lept down, raking his claws across the girl’s throat, tearing her hood with it. With another shriek of rage, he skidded down the dropoff, flicking the hood with disgust down the mountain.

Guilt twisted in my stomach at the sight of her prone body. That was two, now.

When would this dream end?

Reality blurred once again; Ani and I blinked at the sudden darkness of the denser forest we found ourselves in.

The chimera crept through the woods, with his eyes on the city walls peeking above the canopy.

A branch snapped off on the left, and the chimera whirled around, his pupils dialing as he focused. He snarled at a shadow, crouching into a defensive stance.

“Found you.” A young man called, stepping into the sunlight. His blue eyes nearly shone in the light, determination pooling behind them.

More importantly, however, I noticed he wore modern clothes–a T-shirt and jeans.

My eyes widened.

The chimera lept at him, and the young man vanished, only to reappear behind the chimera, sending a devastating kick into its side with far more power than an average human should possess.

The chimera went flying, the man somehow appearing behind it once again.

He was teleporting, I realized, like Ani.

He wrestled the injured chimera to the ground, reaching a hand toward the chimera’s head. The chimera clawed at him, raking across the young man’s legs. When the man flinched, the chimera slithered out from underneath him.

The man teleported directly into the chimer’s path. The chimera swung at the man’s face. The man blocked with his arms, the claws miraculously rebounding off of his flesh.

He grabbed the chimera by the forehead, hard enough to bruise.

The chimera flipped like a fish, catching the man in the chest and flinging him, sending him slamming into a tree.

Seeing his opportunity, the chimera vanished into the trees, and the dream ended.

Stuck in my mind was the impression of the man with blue eyes and modern clothes who could teleport like Ani. Hope burned in my chest.