The edge of the crimson puddle touched her feet as the centaur’s corpse spasmed for the last time. Sera stood over the ruined creature as concerned voices called for her attention but she could not hear them. All she could hear was the pounding of her heart which hammered loudly in her ears. A hand clamped onto her shoulder.

“Sera,” It was Cabrin. “You with us?”

Through the shock that she had been left with, Sera nodded, slowly taking in the scene around her. The mangled corpses of the hound-like abominations she had destroyed littered the street. Akane stood behind Cabrin, casting Sera a worried look from over his shoulder while Chilse had made her way over to a group of civilians whom the Chimera had been in pursuit of.

“That was incredible!” Akane praised.

Sera wanted to smile, but she couldn’t. She had saved people, she had made good use of her limited training and prevailed over a pack of horrifying Chimera, but she did so in rage. She did so with a hatred that left her shaken and unsure. She had no idea that she was capable of such an emotion.

“Thank you!” The voice was that of a woman, a crying baby cradled in her arms. “You saved us. Thank you so much!”

It offered a small amount of relief, and Sera allowed herself to smile as a group of mercs approached them. John was amongst them, he ran to assist Chilse in ushering the people whom Sera had rescued down an alleyway where they would be guided to the safety of the camp set up outside of the city.

“That really was incredible.” Cabrin said to Sera, reiterating Akane’s praise. He laughed as he placed his hand on her shoulder as he added, “But Sera, don’t do that again.”

The hate fueled rage that Sera had felt in her fury against the Chimera had burned her out completely. She had been left feeling hollow and shaken, but seeing the good she had done and hearing the uplifting words of her mentor put a spark back in her. Sera could feel her soul begin to brighten again as she laughed, nervously, but she couldn’t shake the fear of what she may be becoming after what she had just done.

She had come here because she felt guilty for not joining in a fight that was expected of one who carried the mantle that had been put on her. She possessed a power that no one else had and that made her feel a responsibility to live up to it. Seeing the Satyr just moments earlier as it feasted on an innocent child had put her in such a blind rage, but it was something so alien to her.

As Sera pondered, the ground trembled beneath her. Cabrin, Akane, and three others who had joined them all looked down the street with alerted concern.

“Anyone else feel that?” Chilse called as she ran to them from the alley, the last of the civilians having left for the camp.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” A merc said, nodding his head with a grim look on his face.

From around a corner of buildings, a hand as wide as a man is tall, grasped the corner and a towering figure came into view. It was five stories tall, striding with impossible grace on its four spider-like legs upon which sat a massive, muscular torso. Its broad shoulders supported two long arms and an elongated head which sat nestled directly atop its chest.

“What on Soror is that thing?” A shaking merc exclaimed.

Sera felt fear begin to gip her once again. The white-hot fury that had driven her before was gone now. There was no beating this thing, it was impossible, but as she saw Cabrin and Akane ready their blades, as she saw Chilse assume her own stance, axe in hand, she knew she couldn’t back down. It was impossible, but she couldn’t let her friends face this thing alone.

Taking a deep breath, she drew her sword and took her place with them as they stood before the Titan.

The Titan stood motionless as seven tiny figures stood before it. It regarded them silently from somewhere behind the four slits in its shallow face which served as its “eyes”.

“Here’s the plan.” Cabrin said as calmly as he could. “Go for the backs of its knees. If we can bring it down to our level…”

“It will not die easily.” Akane cautioned as his voice trailed off.

“Hack open its chest.” Chilse suggested. “Find its heart and it won’t live for much longer.”

“Who’s to say it has one heart?” Cabrin offered.

They were in uncharted waters. This Chimera was unlike anything any of them had even heard of, let alone faced. Sera struggled to maintain her composure. These were veterans that she stood with, and even they were scared. Most unnerving of all was the lack of action. This monster was watching them, considering them. It was thinking.

The towering Chimera’s breath was the only sound. In the silence, one man broke, screaming with his blade held high as he charged the monster.

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“No! Wait!.” Chilse shouted, but it was too late.

In a surprisingly graceful motion, the Titan reached out with one arm and scooped the man from the ground. Its long, narrow head opened up like the lid of a tankard, revealing rows of flat teeth where it dropped the man into its mouth.

The man screamed as the head closed down over top of him and he was silenced. As it opened again, the screaming resumed before being silenced once more. When the Titan’s head lifted a third time, only then was the man quiet. Sera stared in horror as his crushed remains slid down into the Chimera’s gullet.

Having finished its meal, it looked down at them, pondering which of the morsels at its “feet” would be next to scream as it ground their bodies within its maw. The titan shifted its weight and took a step towards them.

“Run!” Cabrin commanded.

They did just that. As fast as they could, the six of them ran, the Titan’s thundering steps echoed behind them. Sera, who had dared to glance over her shoulder at the monster which pursued them, could see that the gap between them was widening, but not by much. Its movement was slow, but its stride made up for its lack of speed. Still, if they could maintain their stamina, they were sure to outrun the towering Chimera. That hope was crushed however as they came around a corner to find two Satyr standing in their path.

The fight that had ensued was quick as Cabrin and Akane dispatched the first which had been caught off guard by their sudden appearance. The second was taken down by Chilse and the two other mercs who were still with them, but in a much less graceful fashion than that of the two rangers. They took no time to rest before immediately continuing to flee from the Titan which had gained some ground in its chase.

Cabrin led them down an alley and they fled down the street on the other side. Sera’s lungs burned as they continued in a random path down roads littered with broken carts and rubble, and through alleyways stained with fresh blood. As she gasped for breath, she wondered how many people had died here. She wondered how long they could keep this up and how long would it take before they themselves numbered along with the dead.

After two more encounters with Satyr and a pack of the hound-like Chimera, they had finally managed to lose the Titan. Sera stood with her hands on her knees, panting heavily as Cabrin, Akane, and Chilse stood with her, struggling to regain their breath. It was only the four of them, now. One merc was lost when a Satyr’s bullwhip attack had thrown the man against the brick of a nearby building; he didn’t move after dropping to the ground. Another had been mauled by the hellish hounds as they had emerged from an alleyway.

“Whew.” Chilse breathed heavily as she slumped down against a wall. “I think we lost the Big Guy.”

“Don’t let your guard down yet.” Cabrin cautioned. “The city is still crawling with Chimera, we could be attacked at any moment.”

“We have lost people.” Akane noted.

Cabrin nodded. “We need to regroup, somehow.”

“We need to rest, first.” Sera winced as she heard the words come out of her mouth. It made her seem weak, but she was relieved when Cabrin nodded in agreement.

“Get off of the street.” he said, motioning toward the alley they had come through. “We’ll rest there.”

They began to make their way for the cover of the alleyway where they would catch their breath, thankful for the moment of respite afforded to them. As Cabrin stood outside where they approached, his hand went to his katana. They spun around just in time to see the alleyway opposite of them explode in a shower of shattered wood and plaster as the Titan stepped over the rubble.

Sera’s heart sank. They were breathless, her own legs felt distant and lifeless. They had used every ounce of energy they had to evade the Titan till now and still, it found them.

Chilse growled with a fierce defiance. “Dammit! Just leave us alone, already!”

“We have no choice.” Akane said calmly as she followed Cabrin who strode out ahead, nodding.

“We’re going to have to fight.” He said.

“Fine by me.” Chilse said, angrily as she gripped her axe in both hands. “I’m about ready to just die and be done with it.”

Sera took a deep breath as she readied herself, drawing her own blade and assuming her stance as she had been taught. She didn’t have much left to give, but Akane and Chilse’s words combined into an inescapable truth. There was no running from the Titan, their only choices were to fight or die. Or perhaps they only had one choice, that being a combination of the two.

The Titan took a step forward. Leather creaked as Chilse shifted her weight. Cabrin and Akane tightened their grips on their katanas. Sera blew out a slow, quivering breath as she prayed for a miracle.

As if to answer her thoughts, a sound echoed to their right. Even the Titan turned its massive body, joining their attention which had been drawn down the street where the miracle Sera had wished for could be seen charging towards them. Chilse shouted a cry of relief as the line of horses charged their way atop of which sat armor-clad men in revelry bearing the colors of Volknest. They bore spears tipped in steel aimed at the towering monster that they had been faced with.

A battlecry rang out as the Titan turned to face them but it was too late as a dozen knights drove it backwards before backing away, leaving their spears protruding from its body. Those that did not make contact with the behemoth circled back around on their horses and impaled it from behind. The monstrous beast took a step toward the encircling knights before it stumbled and fell.

As it struggled to attempt to get back to its feet, Sera felt a surge of determination within her and she charged. As the distance grew shorter between her and the Titan’s massive body, her mind worked through everything she had experienced up to this point, grasping to find something she could use to end this terrifying encounter. As she clambered up the mound of flesh and bony plates of the colossal Chimera’s body, an idea sparked in her mind.

Dozens of faces stared up at her as she took her place between the Titan’s shoulders. Some bore looks of shock while others stared on in awe as Sera concentrated on her repulsion ability. Rather than the pulse that she usually used to repel would-be attackers, Sera focused her will on a single point in the Chimera’s back, and the release of her power plowed through it, opening a hole that was roughly the size of her fist.

The creature howled in pain as blood sprayed out from under it, her power having driven straight through its chest, but it was not dead yet. The Titan tried to push itself from the ground and as it did so, Sera concentrated on her ability again, but focused its epicenter within the wound that she had left. Titan’s body shuddered as she released, the shockwave liquifying its organs as it collapsed to the ground.

Silence hung in the air as the Titan lay motionless, at long last. Blood and chunks of its ruined organs oozed out from under it as well as from its open lidded head.

As Sera dropped to her knees atop the massive corpse as enthusiastic cries of victory filled the air. Tears ran down smiling cheeks as Sera raised her fist in the air to the cheering men around her. The Titan was slain. She had done the impossible.