Feyland: The Bright Court

Chapter Twenty-One

A flicker of heat lit the inside of the cave. Jennet saw something outlined in the orange afterglow - something big, with wings and talons and horns. She felt air stir as the creature drew in a breath. Heat tingled through her, a premonition…

“Roy,” she cried, “look out!”

A huge gout of flame exploded from the darkness. Roy leapt out of the way, spinning nimbly to the edge of the entrance while a stream of red fire poured past. The instant the fire ended, the creature appeared.

It was fifteen feet tall, and covered in brownish-yellow fur. Bat-like wings rose from its back, but the worst thing about it was its two heads. Jennet shivered. The left head was a lion with curved horns, smoke still curling around its wicked teeth. Beside it was an evil-looking goat head, green spittle dripping from its mouth. Great - fire and poison, and aerial abilities on top of that.

Jennet nocked an arrow. Things were about to get way ugly.

“Over here,” Roy shouted.

He swung at the creature’s foreleg, slicing a red gash through the fur. It screeched and, with a mighty flap, rose into the air. The goat-head veered around, spraying vile green mist through the air. Roy ducked back into the cave, and Jennet bit her lip. Hopefully Marny would stay clear of the poison.

Breathing slowly to keep her hands steady, Jennet sighted on the creature. It was hovering, obviously searching for Roy, its wings sending drafts of dust back and forth. She aimed at the leathery juncture of one wing.

The arrow flew true, burying itself in the creature’s body. The monster cried out and landed, then turned on Jennet, quick as a striking snake. She stumbled back and saw it draw another deep breath.

Fear sizzled down her bones. There was no way she could run fast enough to escape the flames building between the lion-head’s jaws. This was it. She’d finally find out what happened when her character died in-game - and she had a feeling it wasn’t going to be a good experience. In fact, it might be truly lethal.

Her skin burned, her bones shrieked, and her eyes blurred - but the creature was still drawing in its breath. She wasn’t on fire.

What? Her view was oddly flattened, the colors washed out while the details of the ground before her grew razor-sharp. Moving on instinct, she dashed forward, her paws placed unerringly to give her the burst of speed she so desperately needed. Heat scorched her tail and she yelped, but kept running until she was directly beneath the hovering monster. Safe, for the moment.

She panted, her tongue lolling out from between her teeth, but she continued circling, staying under the creature’s belly. Out of reach - for now.

Behind the creature, Marny materialized. She swung her morning-star, bashing the creature’s leg and distracting it from Jennet. The beast howled out of both its mouths and spun, wickedly fast - but Marny had already somersaulted out of the way. An eye-blink later, she’d disappeared again.

“Over here!” Roy yelled, waving his sword as he darted out of the cave.

The goat-head spit at him, but he moved faster. This time he took a clue from her, and ran right at the creature, sword raised. The tip of it cut a bleeding line in the monster’s chest. With another screech of pain, it flapped into the air again.

“Come on,” Roy said. “Into the cave. We need to get the chimera back on the ground.”

She gave a yip of agreement, and the two of them dashed for the cave mouth. Fire scored a dark line at their heels, but they made it. In the deeper shadows, Roy took a long breath.