FAITH: A Tale of Courage

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The Soulrender

Zleet and Rofiel climbed down the ladder and ran into the town square. The whole city was now a ghost town. The people were all locked inside their homes, the guards were nowhere to be seen; even the ducks in the fountain had fled.

"Where did everybody go?" Rofiel muttered, "Who, or what was that dark haired guy? Did you see the way his hand sort of turned into claws? That was crazy and so- Whoah. What is that?"

That was when the two noticed it. Just beyond the fountain, a black and purple swirl of energy sparked with electricity. It appeared to be almost in the shape of a closed eyeball. Rofiel took a step towards it, and the eye snapped open and glared at Rofiel. The iris was a deep purple, and the pupil a bright red. He let out a loud gasp and fell backwards, still looking at the anomaly. The electricity sparked quicker, and in larger, more extensive bursts; a bright flash temporarily blinded the two.

When they opened their eyes, they saw a horrible beast of a creature standing before them. It stood upon two feet, and its body was that of a muscular man. Its feet were talons of an eagle, the hands monstrous claws. But the most frightening features of it were its black lion head, and red serpents that slithered around its arms.

The beast glared down at Zleet and Rofiel, who were still down on the ground, staring at it. It snarled like that of a bloodthirsty wolf, and the snakes hissed. Zleet got up, and unsheathed his blade- glaring at it.

"A Chimaera," he muttered, gripping his sword tightly.

Rofiel looked at his friend with surprise. He whispered, "Zleet, what're you doing? That thing will skin us alive! We have to get out of here!"

The Chimaera looked at Zleet and then at Rofiel. "You need to get out of here, Rofiel. Don't worry about me. This is what I've trained for."

"There's no way I'm letting you take on this thing alone! We trained for this together, not just you! If you won't run with me, then... I'll stand with you!" Rofiel replied.

The monster snarled at them again, and began walking towards them. Zleet stuttered, "Be-Begone! You have no place here, de-demon! Stay back!"

Suddenly, the chimaera lunged at them, causing Zleet to jump backwards, and Rofiel to roll to the side with a yelp. The chimaera smacked the ground where Zleet had been, cracking it, and glared at him.

Rofiel stood and glanced at the creature, and then at his friend, who was still holding his blade at the ready, but trembling out of terror. No, he looked frozen in terror. Rofiel unsheathed his dual swords, and jumped in front of Zleet just in time for it to strike. Its claws raked against his blades as it growled at him.

It then jumped back, its eyes beginning to glow a bright red as the snakes shot into the air, coiling around one another. A flash of red smoke covered the view of the creature and as it cleared, the two saw that the beast was now on all fours, with the snakes now as two extra heads; a long spiked tail newly grown.

It roared ferociously and lunged at the two once more, only to meet the end of one of Rofiel's blades. He kicked it back as it snarled in agony. Zleet, coming to his senses, ran for it and swung his sword. The chimaera grabbed it mid-swing, stood back upon two legs and punched Zleet in the chest- sending him flying backwards, the wind knocked out of him.

Rofiel swung both blades at it in defense of his friend, slicing the two snake heads off. Black blood oozed from its shoulders where the serpents were and the lion head howled in pain. Rofiel smirked and yelled as he stabbed both sabers through the chimaera's chest. The monster went silent, and crashed to the ground as Rofiel pulled the blades out.