Sera awoke to the feeling of her body being violently shaken. The first thing she was aware of was the smell of smoke from the campfire that had been allowed to die out as the three of them slept. She tried to recall the dream she had been having but allowed it to fade into the oblivion of lost dreams as she saw the alert concern in Akane’s eyes as she shook Sera awake.
“Sera, wake up!” Cabrin called in a harsh whisper for the second time.
It was dark, the moon having long dipped beyond the edge of the surrounding treetops. The world around her was painted in various dark shades of gray as Sera sat up, taking note of her surroundings.
Cabrin was on his feet, katana in both hands. Akane, having successfully awakened Sera, was up and at the ready as well. They stood with their back to Sera as she hurriedly got to her feet, staring into the wall of trees ahead of them where Sera heard the sound of growling. At first, she thought it to be a pack of wolves but the hair on the back of her neck stood up as she realized the hint of human voice to the sound. Chimera, Hellhounds, to be more specific.
“I can make out twelve of them.” Akane whispered. “But there may be more.”
“There’s something else out there too,” Cabrin added. “Could be as many as three-, make that four Satyr.”
“They’re taking their time.” Sera commented. “Centaur?”
“No idea.” Cabrin said before adding, grimly. “I don’t like these odds.”
Just then, the snapping of a twig alerted their attention to the left. The crashing of leaves signaled the Hellhound’s charge. As it burst through the treeline and leapt at them, the dog-like Chimera was cut down with the flash of Cabrin’s blade. Another charged from the right, a blast of repulsion from Sera sent the monster sidelong into a tree. It didn’t get back up.
The night air was filled with the sounds of blades cutting through flesh, Hellhounds yelping in pain, and blood spilling over the ground.
The three of them stood, panting. Seven Hellhounds littered the campsite around them, but as more crept cautiously from the shadows, they saw that they were vastly outnumbered. Even as they were surrounded, a sound caught Sera’s attention as a Chimera stepped out from the trees.
It was unlike anything any of them had ever seen. Its body was a tangle of tendrils with the general shape of a large cat. Two large tentacles, like those of a Satyr, served as forelegs while another pair trailed behind from its large, writhing shoulders. It regarded them with murderous intent as it prowled in a circle with a feline sort of grace in its gait, the face that watched them was a horror all of itself.
The Chimera’s face was little less than a large, ever-open mouth, rimmed in dozens of tiny, needle-like teeth. The gaping maw was wreathed in hundreds of writhing tendrils, resembling a living mane which spread down its “neck” before merging with the rest of its seemingly formless body.
It uttered a quiet breathy sound and Sera whirled around just in time to see the Satyr that bound at her from behind, but too late. She flew backward as the Satyr struck her with its ram-like head, and three Hellhounds were instantly upon her. With a blast of repulsion, sending them flying backward, she was on her feet and with a slash of her sword, they collapsed in a spray of blood, the magic extending her strike momentarily illuminating the scene around her.
She reflexively blocked an incoming attack from the Satyr that had rammed her as its bullwhip tentacle struck at her. Her training over those past days paid off as she successfully defended herself against the flurry of attacks that fell upon her.
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Out of the corner of her eye, Sera saw Cabrin and Akane as their coordinated efforts against two more Satyr carried on while Hellhounds circled around them, barring their escape. They were holding their own for the time being, but for how long that time would last, she could not guess.
She had just stopped herself from emitting a concentrated spear of repulsion into the Satyr that engaged her as she saw that more Hellhounds were closing in around her as well, just out of range enough to not be struck by the Satyr which bore down on her. The ambush was intelligent, calculated. Every measure had been taken to be sure that the Chimera would prevail. The Satyr was the focus, the Hellhounds were the contingency. If any of them killed the Satyr that fought them, the Hellhounds would push in. Looking around whenever she could afford it, Sera could see that they numbered greatly enough to be sure that she and her companions would lose.
Sera deflected another bullwhip attack and glanced back at the Formless One with a mix of fear and anger. It watched, silently, its open maw emanating a constant, quiet rush of air as it shifted its direction from Chimera to Chimera.
“Cabrin!” She shouted as she evaded the enraged Satyr’s next attack. “It’s that thing! It’s the one commanding them.”
“You think?” Cabrin responded with a mix of sarcasm and worry. “We need to get out of here. This isn’t a fight we can win!”
“How can we do that?” Akane asked loudly. “We are completely surrounded.”
Sera’s mind was ablaze as she frantically sought for a solution to their predicament. There was one possibility that she could think of. “Cabrin! Akane! Move closer towards me!”
With difficulty, they followed her call, moving in such a way that the two fights merged and together the three of them now faced off against three Satyr.
“Good thinking.” Akane said, breathlessly. “Now we can all die together.”
Sera would have laughed were it not for the danger they were in. “What if we can make it towards the woods?”
Blocking the combined strikes of two Satyrs, Cabrin considered it for a moment. “They would still pursue us, but if we could make it to Bastion, then-.”
“It would take us a day to get there even through the forest.” Akane posited when Cabrin’s words were cut off as he fended off another attack. “That is a long time to run from Chimera.”
“It’s our only chance.” Cabrin said, grimly.
Sera nodded. It was settled, then. With a release of her power, a hole opened up in a Satyr’s chest, briefly offering a view of the forest on the other side before it collapsed in a heap of twitching tentacles. “Leave one to keep the hounds at bay. As soon as I make an opening, we break for the woods.”
Akane gritted her teeth as she looked worriedly back at the mass of encroaching Hellhounds. “Can you break through that many?”
“I’m going to have to.” Sera answered wearing a determined look.
The three of them fought against the two Satyr. Were they not surrounded by Hellhounds on top of it all, it would have been an easy fight, but Sera’s plan offered the hope of escape. As Cabrin and Akane finished off the second Satyr, Sera concentrated her magic around her and ran with them towards the edge of the forest in the direction of Bastion. The Formless One’s quiet breath broke into something like a guttural rush of wind as the three of them moved under Sera’s invisible barrier. Lights flashed as the barrier met with the countless Hellhounds that closed in around them, sending the beasts flying back as the trio charged through them. Pink hues of light heralding the rising of the sun crept over the trees as they were engulfed by the forest, the horde of Chimera hot on their trail.
They had been running for at least a mile when Sera began to feel the fatigue overtake her body. Her legs ached, her lungs were on fire, but she dared not slow down. As they ran, Hellhounds yapped furiously behind them and the crashing of brush signaled the Formless One’s presence amongst them.
As they came down a hill, the ground opened up before them as a great ravine blocked their escape. The three of them spun around as the sound of the Hellhounds signaled their proximity.
“What now?” Akane asked.
Sera opened her mouth to mouth to answer, but she had no words to offer. As her mind flew through a myriad of possibilities, her thoughts were halted with the sound of a loud crack, muffled beneath a layer of soil and leaves. Sera felt the ground shift beneath her feet and watched in horror as Akane disappeared before her eyes.
“Akane!” Sera and Cabrin shouted in unison, panic gripping the both of them as they rushed to the place where the woman had stood just seconds before. They were relieved when she called out to them from within the pit she had fallen in.
“I’m fine!” She called. “I think I found a way to escape.”