I took a deep breath in, mindful of the shimmering golden dust continuing to gather on my palm.

If I could force the flakes out of a chimera and force them together, I could also put these golden pieces back together. I closed my eyes, searching once again for the feeling. I brushed across a flame in my chest and yanked on it, focusing on gathering the fragments back together. Opening my eyes, I watched in wonder as the flakes lifted off my palm, sinking back into the creature. When I stopped, however, they fell back down. A gust of wind caught my hand, nearly scattering them all away. Hastily, I tugged on them again, yanking them back from the wind’s clutches.

“Mrrow?”

Horrified, I watched as Ani batted a paw at the dust, the creature deforming to allow Ani’s paw to pass through mostly harmlessly. I yanked my hands in, cradling them close to my chest.

Ani sat before me, his eyes reflecting the dust like a starry night sky. My fingers unfurled slowly. There was another tug, from Ani this time. The dust swirled off my palm, the creature slithering off my hand and at Ani. It dove into Ani’s chest and vanished, Ani’s eyes flaring like the sun. A new constellation reflected in his eyes before he blinked, his eyes returning to normal. Everything would be alright.

My hands brushed the soft fur of his cheek, hitting something damp and warm. Blood. Recalling his fall earlier, my fingers gently skimmed his body, looking for additional wounds. Ani let me, tilting his head in confusion but not pain. When I found only superficial scratches, I picked him up and huddled him to my chest, relieved.

When I stood, the world bent beneath my feet, and I toppled. Faust, who had gotten off the unconscious ex-chimera while I wasn’t paying attention, gripped my arm, catching me and Ani before I fell. Our curious and confused friends closed in around us.

“What was that?” Octavia asked, baffled. Knife sheathed; she moved in to stare at Ani. Ani shifted to lean back against me, staring back.

I straightened myself up, Faust dropping his supporting hands. The ground continued to heave beneath my feet, but I was steady enough for the moment. “I have absolutely no idea.”

Through drooping eyelids, I noticed Aeolus harshly kick the ex-chimera’s chest. Sky pressed a glass container against my lips. “Drink.” He instructed. I did so, grimacing at the slightly familiar taste of a mana potion. It started taking effect nearly immediately, the sky stopping its spin, and I was finally able to refocus my eyes to see Octavia staring at me now with unbridled curiosity.

“Can you do that with any chimera?” She asked.

I shrugged, turning it into a roll of my aching shoulders. “No idea.”

“SIR!” A harried-looking guard jogged up to Faust. He bent to lean on his legs, taking a few breaths to recover before continuing. “There’s reports of a skirmish outside the city! The princess is heading there now!”

Faust recoiled. “What?! Of all the–”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Aeolus stepped forward. “Where is she?” He demanded.

“She was heading for the stables when she instructed me to report to you.” The guard replied.

Without further prompting, Aeolus sprinted across the courtyard, presumably heading to the stables. Azure and Sky, expecting this, ran on his heels.

Faust turned back to the guard. “Do you know anything else about the skirmish?”

The guard shook his head. “No, sir. The soldier who filed the initial report went with the princess.”

Faust frowned. “There was only one?”

Helpless, the guard shrugged. “To my knowledge, sir.”

“Did you see who it was?”

“No, they were cloaked. The captain seemed to recognize them, though.”

“Did they say where they were going?”

“To the woods east of the city. The captain went with her. They took a small force with them to evaluate the situation.” He said as if to soften the blow.

Faust nodded. “Round up 30 men and our fastest horses. Make sure the guard is prepared to move if necessary. And make sure to take this one,” he stepped on the ex-chimera’s hand, “down to the dungeons.”

“Sir!” The guard saluted, then hunched down, tossing the ex-chimera over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Ex-chimera secured, he power-walked off to complete his duty, shouting at other guards and handing off his burden.

“Did you see anything about this?”

It took me a few seconds to register Faust was talking to me. I shook my head. “No, the battle against the chimera in the courtyard was the last thing before I woke up.”

The frown lines dug deeper into his face. “I thought so.”

“Is there something wrong?” Octavia asked.

“I hope not. Something just doesn’t feel right about all this.” Silently, I agreed with him. Something was off.

“But he said the captain recognized the guy.” She pointed out.

“He did…” Faust agreed reluctantly.

“Well, shouldn’t we go, then?” I asked. “No point in just waiting here.”

“I’ll be heading out, but you two should stay here. You got lucky to survive as it is..”

Offended, Octavia protested. “Stay here?! You couldn’t have captured the chimera without us! And we were helpful during our escape as well!”

Faust remained unmoved. “You did well, but neither of you are trained for this. This is what we’re trained for.”

Octavia moved to continue to protest, and I bumped her shoulder, cutting her off. “We understand,” I said.

She whirled on me. “We do not!”

I bumped her again, “Knock it off.” I whispered.

Faust placed a hand on my shoulder. “Thank you.” He said before stalking off in Aeolus’s footsteps.

“What was that?! You know that I can help!”

“Yup.” I agreed.

She blinked. “You…agree? Then why did you–”

Ani squirmed against me, ready to be let down. I loosened my grip, letting him drop to the wet grout with a squelch. “The real question is: do you know how to ride a horse?”

Slowly, a wide grin stretched across her face. “As it so happens, I do.”

Making sure to stay out of Faust’s sight, we snuck into the barn, blending into the backdrop of rushed servants focused on fetching horse after horse after horse after horse. Ani slipped off to bother Notus, who Aeolus had left behind. I sent the poor dragon my sympathies as Octavia helped me saddle and bridle one of the horses. We followed the line of servants out, slipping unnoticed into a shadowed corner in the wall, mounting the horse. Half a minute after the last group of horsemen had left the courtyard, we kicked the horse into gear.

Suspicious guards stopped us at the gates. Thinking quickly, I dropped my name and relation to the princess, explaining that we had business in the city ordered by the royal princess. They didn’t appear to believe me but let us out under threat of punishment from the princess.

We followed the soldiers out of the city at a distance, their muddy prints trackable even to a city person like me. The dark woods loomed before us, moonlight our only illumination, showing us the horse tacks ahead. As silently as possible, we followed the path through the trees, careful to keep the torches ahead just in sight but out of hearing range.

I yawned, setting Octavia off as well. Glancing at the moons, I whispered, “How much longer can one night last anyway?”

Against my back, Octavia laughed silently. “Dinner was only a few hours ago. We still have a while before dawn.”

“Ugh.”