The Bane of Bellerophon

“What kind of creature makes tracks like these?”
Kyler prodded the wide furrow with the end of his bow. It was so deep that muddy water had pooled in the bottom, making it difficult to tell how recently the animal had passed. “Never seen anything like it before.” Numerous prints straddled the gouged path in the ground. Footprints, talons, hoof prints, possibly even handprints—or a combination of different limbs. He desperately wished it were daylight. In the pitch-black night, there would be little warning if the monstrosity attacked them. It was definitely big. “Still, bound to be worth a lot...”

That was sure to be true. The town of Morven seemed to be a bizarre mix of trading post and freak show. Any strange creature found roaming in the mountains, or even further afield, could reach an incredible price. Some would be sold on as beasts of burden or shock troops, others simply kept as curiosities. Many people were willing to pay a small fortune for something truly unique.

There was a sharp cracking sound from nearby, and some shuffling. Whatever it was sounded big—very big. Kyler notched an arrow to his bowstring and stepped forward, motioning to the others to follow. A few paces ahead, through the grizzling rain, the animal, if it could be called that, came into view. Kyler recognised it, but only because it looked like nothing else. The creature was a chimera.

It was feeding on something that might have once been a horse, though the mob of tearing maws had rendered it almost entirely unidentifiable. Kyler had never known a chimera could grow to such a tremendous size. Most lived only for a few days, or weeks at most. A few were born naturally, usually around the badlands where trickles of dark magic flowed across the burnt earth, though most were made—the creations of some deranged warlock. However it came into existence, a chimera was a hideous menagerie of animals, all bound together in the same body. Heads, tails, and a vast range of limbs jutted out from all angles, only rarely constructed as something capable of survival. The rare few that could move and feed were incredibly vicious, ploughing after anything unfortunate enough to attract their attention.

Kyler saw someone move silently forwards. He desperately waved for them to stop, as vigorously as he dared without being spotted by the chimera. The hunter didn’t see, or paid no heed, instead, they leapt at the creature with a loud yell, swinging a cruelly barbed mace.

The chimera moved faster than anyone had thought possible, lashing out with a single, enormous scythed claw. The hunter was sent flying through the air and landed, unmoving on the ground.

Half wanting to investigate its attacker, half wanting to continue feeding, the chimera’s heads twisted in different directions, the creature straining against itself. The dominant head, something vaguely reptilian, was pointed towards the injured hunter, and slowly the body turned. Unwilling to be responsible for a fatality so early, Kyler drew the bowstring back and shot. The effect was not what he had hoped. Completely unhindered by the arrow lodged in its torso, the chimera thundered towards Kyler with astonishing speed, leaving no time to react.

Bellowing, a lone orc charged forwards, ducking beneath the huge talons that had caught the first assailant and stabbing repeatedly with a jagged, obsidian-studded weapon. Kyler aimed more arrows into what he hoped were vital areas while heading towards the fallen hunter. Torches sparked into life and illuminated the area—the darkness no longer gave any protection.

Encircled, the chimera fought wildly. It didn’t dart to and fro, like an ordinary trapped animal. It slithered towards the nearest edge of the ring, only being drawn away with difficulty. The creature was impossible to predict. Able to see from almost all sides, it would be intent on attacking one individual, before swinging away towards another, catching them completely unawares. Worse, it didn’t even need to turn. It simply faced everywhere at once. There was no longer any intention of capturing it, simply of fleeing. Too many lives had already been claimed by the chimera’s slashing limbs and crushing bite.

Kyler reached the hunter, but immediately realised he was beyond help. The chimera had nearly cleft him in two. The body was held together only by a scrap of armour and tiny strip of flesh. Kyler realised with dread that he could no longer hear any sign of his hunting gang. There was only one torch nearby and it had been dropped. Either they had managed to draw the chimera away, or...
...Heavy, ragged breathing became audible nearby, and the torch was snuffed out...
...he was the only one left.