Harm and Harmony

-Chapter 8-

Day: 1

Days Left: 5479

Lives Saved: 0

The monster stood several meters away. The one from the beach. The one that had tried to kill her. Now that Corinna's eyes had adjusted to the darkness, Corinna could see it more clearly. 

It was a chimaera.

A monster constructed of other monsters.

Its face was that of a jackal, thin and narrow with toxic green eyes. Fangs protruded out of the sides of its mouth even when closed, the tips dug into the monster's jaw which Corinna imagined would be painful. Its body was tall yet thin, the lines of its rib-cage could be seen through its skin. The fur was thicker on its back, black and mangled, whilst its stomach was white with thin bristles. Hidden amongst its thick hair was a pair of feathered wings, black with tinges of blue, too small and frail to lift the creature off the ground, a useless addition. Whilst it stood like a human, its shins bent backwards like a jackal's, and its hands were three-fingered with talons. Around its waist was a belt with various items attached to it by string, including a satchel.

Then, Corinna saw something move. Underneath the monster's green cloak was a tail- a snake that slithered and writhed. Snapping its mouth, its forked tongue pierced outwards. Without any eyes, it blindly hissed at anything that made a noise.  

The imps lowered their heads in the presence of the chimaera, then scuttled away from Corinna, standing to the side to watch the spectacle, looking from the monster then back to her. 

As the chimaera stepped forwards, getting closer and closer to Corinna, the pack of imps began chanting, raising their spears high, stomping their feet, their chorus quickening and growing in volume. They hopped up and down, clapped their hands, and continuously bowed to the chimaera.

Corinna wondered if the chimaera was their leader, perhaps their boss?

The chimaera stopped and turned its head to the imps, silencing them as they cowered under its gaze. They struggled to contain their excitement, still whispering and giggling under their breath. When the chimaera eventually motioned for them to leave, the imps reluctantly shuffled away and out of sight, sighing in disappointment that they couldn't witness Corinna's demise.

Returning its attention back to Corinna, the chimaera continued to trudge towards her, its shoulders hunched, head leaning forwards like a vulture. Its snake-tail recoiled out of sight underneath the cloak.

Corinna stepped back, coughing out more blood. She couldn't run in her condition, nor could she easily fight, but perhaps that was the only thing she could do. She noticed the chimaera's movements- it was limping, already suffering from a previous injury. The fur on one of its arms and legs were stained red. There was a trickle of blood on its nose from where Corinna had kicked it.  

"I'm sorry!" she called out to the monster, hoping it could hear her voice, hoping it could understand her. "I'm sorry! It's my fault you didn't escape!" She lowered her spear. "Please stop!"

The monster was either indifferent to her plea or could not understand her. Stopping at a few metres distance from her, she could hear it breathe in a low, raspy growl like an engine revving to go.

Knowing that it was futile to ask for peace or mercy, Corinna rushed forwards, lunging with one spear. The monster grabbed it, pulling the spear towards itself, bringing Corinna along with it. She let go of that spear and followed up with the second, aiming for the chimaera's already wounded leg. The blade pierced into it, but the chimaera had let it. With the spear barely lodged into the monster's thigh, Corinna could not attack. Dropping the first spear, the chimaera clawed at her face, narrowly missing as she stumbled to the ground, receiving a mark that grazed the bridge of her nose. She reclaimed her first spear and plunged the blade into the monster's foot, causing it to howl and let go of the other spear.