Page 8 of The General’s Captive (The Rift #1)
Weird ass goat, snake, lion combo thing. Chimera
Appearance - A fire-breathing monster with a lion’s head, a goat’s body, and a serpent’s tail.
Mythology - Greek
Kill Rate - Class three
Strengths - Ferocious bite, sharp claws, fire-breathing
How to Kill - Ajax. Ingesting Chemicals. Focus on the goat to slow it down. If one dies, they all die!
Notes - Lion and Snake are intelligent and work together. The goat is stupid! Watch for the goat.
D amn that fucking goat!
I swear it had it out for me because now it was straightening its neck, giving the lion leave to come barreling through the doorway. I screamed and ran, slipping slightly on the cola-soaked floor before managing to right myself.
“Fuck!” I cursed, remembering the hunting knife I had placed onto the shelf before filling my backpack.
It was my only weapon… well, apart from the Ajax.
But once that was gone then I would be a goner with it.
I had to go back for it, especially if I wanted even a little hope of being able to fight this thing off.
After all, the Ajax might have just been a fluke and the useless goat had a cold.
I switched direction smoothly, without sliding this time, running down an aisle leading me to the front of the store.
My quick turnaround through the aisles surprised the creature, and it ended up smashing its big body into some shelving at the end.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t enough to stop it because it quickly righted itself and continued the hunt.
I ran toward the cash register in the far corner and back down the first aisle, where the handle of my knife was visible.
The bleat of a goat rang through the store, giving me an indication that they were still a few aisles down from me.
It gave me energy and confidence as I grabbed my knife and ran toward the fire exit once more.
But then the fire came.
The heat of this fire was like nothing I could describe. It was like something straight from the pits of Hell!
Otherworldly, unholy, unnatural.
I threw myself to the ground the second I felt it coming and, thankfully, the shelving above received most of the damage.
All the items on it were either melting, smoldering, or had outright turned to ash.
I lifted my head and turned to the creature in shock at what had just happened, watching in pure disbelief as the goat coughed out smoke.
Here I was thinking that the goat was the most useless part of this trio, and yet it had been extremely close to turning me into a tiny pile of charred bones. The smell of singed hair filled my nostrils, and I comforted myself into believing it was most likely time for a haircut anyway.
I pushed myself up and crawled backward as the lion stalked me, moving its hefty paws slowly, one in front of the other.
Which somehow ended up matching my panicked pace, until my back hit a wall as it prowled closer.
I winced as my elbow jarred against a fire extinguisher hooked to the wall, causing the hunters knife to fly out of my hand.
The lion jumped and I screamed, grabbing the only thing I could.
The red fire extinguisher ended up inside the lion’s jaws instead of me, and it exploded the second the lion bit down, its fangs piercing the canister.
Chemical foam filled its mouth, making it splutter out a roar as it started to choke on the stuff.
As for me, I reached for my knife as it started to back away… only it didn’t get far.
It started to convulse, gasping for breath, and it obviously swallowed some the toxic foam as it did.
The other two heads, unable to help in any way, looked panicked.
The snake was thrashing from side to side as the goat just bleated.
Especially when the lion’s eyes widened a fraction of a second before it…
Keeled over and died.
As the lion took its last breath, the other two died right alongside it and I released a thankful sigh as relief washed over me. But then the reality started to kick in and I yelled out,
“Hell yeah! Fuck you, you weird ass snaky goatee lion thing!”
A commotion coming from outside made me stop in my tracks and I gasped, covering my mouth with my hands as fear slammed into me once more. At first, I thought it could be more of the monsters, but when I heard voices, I knew it was most likely other looters.
And, well, if there was one thing I had learned about the world going to shit, it was that people soon followed.
Meaning avoiding the monsters was priority number one, avoiding other people was priority number two.
Knowing I didn’t have much time, I scanned the back of the store and slipped inside a cleaning closet, one only just wide enough for a small person to fit.
Seeing as I was only five foot four, with an average amount of curves, I managed to slip in next to the broom and mop, having to stick one foot in the bucket so I could close the door.
I was thankful the door was labelled because I knew it wasn’t a likely place anyone would look.
For starters, there wasn’t exactly much need for a broom or cleaning spray during an apocalypse.
I could imagine even the clean freaks would have said ‘fuck it’ at this point.
But now the trick was staying perfectly still, and I gripped the top strap of my backpack, holding it in front of me, after resting it on the rim of the bucket.
Then I waited, hoping they would just enter, get what they wanted, and leave.
Or better yet, believe the creature was only sleeping and not chance it at all.
Although it was true that this wasn’t exactly my day for wishes being granted, because neither of these things happened.
I knew that the second I caught one of the deepest, richest voices I had ever heard.
My uncle Rick had a deep voice but there had been a gruffness to it.
However, this, now this had a low, smooth depth to it that I swear would have curled my toes if one of them wasn’t currently squished against a bucket.
The voice just screamed authority, demanding respect and compliance.
It was a voice of command.
“We tracked it to here, spread out and find it.”
I couldn’t help but gulp as the voice weaved its magic over me, making me grip my bag tighter.
What was wrong with me? Why did that voice affect me so much?
And why did the scars on my body start to feel strange?
No longer the burn or itchiness I was becoming used to, but something else entirely.
Like a pulsing sensation, as if someone was running a gentle fingertip along the lines, soothing the permanently irritated skin I was used to.
A whisper of comfort, like a tender lover’s kiss.
Now, where the hell had that thought just come from?
“Over here! I found it,” another voice shouted.
I couldn’t help myself as I leaned closer, peering through the small gap in the door. I couldn’t see much, but the second a large figure stepped into view, I had to bite my lip to prevent the gasp.
It was him.
The man from my dreams. Or more importantly, the man from the cabin.
That single, painful memory seemed to play out on a loop, ending with the lone figure standing watching me as I drove away.
The one who had seemingly let me go. Because that was the question that had always lingered, even long after waking…
Why hadn’t he ordered his creatures to chase after me?
I had no answers, and I wasn’t insane enough to pop out and ask him now. Hell, the guy fucking terrified me! Because the monsters were bad enough but the one who controlled them…
Fuck, no!
“We were too late,” that new voice said, giving the dark, tall figure cause to rumble a displeased sound, one that sounded like the devil letting his displeasure known.
“Yes, I can see that!” he snapped, that smooth voice slipping in his annoyance.
“Was it some kind of poison?” the other person I couldn’t see asked.
I heard something that must have been the empty canister roll, as if the one in charge had just kicked it over.
“Looks like someone got creative,” he replied.
Was that a hint of respect I now heard in his voice?
“I would say a lot of someone’s as there is no way a single mortal being could take down a Chimera,” the other voice reasoned.
A what now?
“Perhaps,” the leader said, but with that single word, it didn’t sound like he was convinced.
“What do you want us to do with it, General?” another voice asked, this time someone who’d only just joined the other two. One that had a gravely tone to his voice. But it was the way he had called him General that had my heart in my throat because I was right… he was the man in charge.
The one that had invaded us.
“It’s a lost cause. Take it out and burn it. We will move on to retrieve the next,” he replied, making me wonder if these creatures had been used as scouts or something.
I would have scoffed a snorted laugh when he said this, because a lost cause was an understatement, but the next question he was asked had my heart in my throat.
“And the evidence of it. Do you wish us to burn this place down also?”
Then something strange happened, because the general looked down and turned his head slightly, as if he could sense something. And once again I would have gasped, but not at the impending threat this time, no, it was because I finally got my first glimpse of him.
And he was… utterly breathtaking.
Handsome in a majestic but deadly way. Everything about him was dark and dangerous.
Starting with his raven black hair that was tied back from his striking face.
The shadow of stubble against his regal cheekbones, the perfect cut of his jawline…
and those dark eyes made me question if he even had a soul.
The high, stiff collar to the cloak he wore, hid the rest of his side profile and what I could well imagine was a corded neck.
Perhaps the hint of muscle, because the guy seemed huge.
A larger-than-life predator.
He was the epitome of sin and death.
One who seemed to unknowingly hold my life in his hands.
I waited with bated breath to see what he would do next, because it was like he was trying to seek me out.
As if he knew, somehow, I was in here hiding.
Waiting to see if I would cave first and burst from the cupboard.
Spring out of here and beg him for mercy in the face of being left here to be burnt alive.
But then he turned his head to face the others I couldn’t see.
“No, leave it…” He paused, looking directly at where I was hiding and said, “Leave it for…”
“…The Forsaken.”