The Chimera and the Mud (2)
Nathan was lost in torment, but the snake-headed Lizardian was grinning with pure relief. All that mattered was the chance to catch his breath. ‘O Coatl who devours misfortune, thank you for sending that monstrous bastard my way.’
It was one hell of a spectacle. For a brief moment, the snake-head could almost understand those hateful spectators. If his own life hadn’t been on the line, it might have even been entertaining. The human fought like he was possessed by the spirit of the mythical Coatl itself—ferocious and unrelenting. He ripped the ghouls tangled around him away with raw strength and hurled them aside, then kicked off any that tried to cling to him. The ones that retreated were swept off their feet by the long wooden beam he swung in wide arcs. His strikes continued seamlessly behind him. Even the ghouls trying to exploit his blind spots had their gaping maws shattered.
The snake-head, seated with his back against the cargo container door, shook his fist in silent encouragement. Little by little, he scooted his hips backward, slipping behind Nathan. Staying behind this guy until it’s over doesn’t seem like a bad idea at all. He was fighting so well—did he really need any help? Maybe he could rest just a little longer. The kids had locked the door from inside, so they should be safe for a while—
“Excuse me, warriors.”
The voice that shattered both men’s thoughts belonged to the silver-haired elf girl from earlier. Her tone was soft enough not to draw attention, yet it trembled slightly.
“The door… the door won’t lock. The bolt is gone.”
Their hearts plummeted. At that exact moment, something crunched under Nathan’s heel. Buried in the mud was the bolt from cargo container number three. And crawling across the top of that very container were several ghouls. Were they trying to ambush the humans? Or would they stumble upon the children by sheer accident?
The Lizardian’s head shook in desperate refusal. No. I don’t want this. I don’t have the strength to fight any harder. There’s a thick-tailed, smooth-scaled girlfriend waiting for me back home….
“Goddamn it,” he muttered, forcing himself to his feet. “Just how many of these pig bastards did that fat fuck release?”
Nathan was starting to feel like crying. He had already killed at least twenty, yet more ghouls kept crawling out, poking their heads into view. And now this new problem with container three. The trial life had thrown at him this time was particularly cruel.
At that moment, the Lizardian stepped in beside him, machete raised. Nathan shifted slightly to give him room.
“Yeah, I was planning to get up and fight again anyway. How could a guy who survived by riding on someone else’s back face his ancestral gods with pride?”
With two of them, blind spots were reduced. The ghouls that had been fiercely targeting Nathan’s openings let out furious shrieks at the unfairness and fell back.
Nathan glanced sideways at the snake-headed man. The clean stripes etched across his scales were proof he had only recently shed his youth. Considering his age, he fought well, but his injuries were no joke. Both eye ridges had been scraped raw by sickle claws, scales torn away. Blood streamed down, covering his face.
“Your eyes okay?”
“I can still smell. Clearer than I can see, actually.” The Lizardian flicked out his forked tongue and laughed. “Hey, warm-blood. What’s your name?”
Was this youthful bravado, or the composure of someone who sensed the end? Nathan didn’t know how exceptional his race’s senses were. He only knew that losing even one sense on the battlefield was a massive liability. He wanted to tell him not to push himself. But right now they had to clutch at any straw they could find.
Nathan slowly lowered his hand and picked up the fallen bolt. The ghouls flinched as if about to rush him.
“Nathan Maia. I’m going to move slowly toward the front of container three. Can you keep pace?”
“Akweba Kakchlo. From now on, I will follow you as my sworn older brother.”
Nathan frowned. That was no light statement. Among Lizardians, family bonds meant blood oaths more important than life itself. If an unforeseen crisis arose, the younger brother was expected to die in the older brother’s place. Even sworn brothers were no exception. Nathan found it uncomfortable to have their traditions thrust upon him so suddenly, but there was no time to argue.
With a deep sigh, Nathan gestured. Akweba nodded and fell in beside him. The way he read silent hand signals without even opening his eyes made Nathan think he had been right not to refuse the help.
----------
Akweba and Nathan moved with excruciating slowness. They kept the cargo containers at their backs, covering each other’s blind spots. Nathan took the right side, the direction leading to container three. Akweba guarded the empty left flank.
The corpse-eating ghouls no longer charged recklessly. But they hadn’t given up either. They tilted their heads, matching every step Nathan took with one of their own. It seemed they were trying to figure out why he was moving rightward. The sight of those white, eyeless heads moving in perfect sync with every footfall was utterly grotesque.
They eventually tested his intentions. When several refused to yield on the right path, Nathan lifted the wooden beam. The ghouls hastily retreated beyond the reach of its centrifugal force.
One step. Another. A mere two meters that felt like an eternity. A thread of tension stretched so tight it seemed ready to snap. Struggling neither to pull it nor let it slip, Nathan and Akweba finally reached the front of container three.
Only then did the two exhale the breaths they had been holding in tension.
Now came the harder part. They had to pass the bolt into container three without the ghouls noticing its weakness.
Behind them, the children were desperately holding back their sobs. Nathan prayed the hinges hadn’t been damaged.
Squelch.
“Shit.”
Akweba, who had staggered, looked down at his feet. His misplaced leg had sunk into the swamp. The balance of their standoff collapsed. The monsters, smelling weakness, began inching closer—behind Nathan, in front of Akweba.
“Brother, don’t worry about me.”
Nathan ignored Akweba’s words with a scowl and stepped backward. Akweba, still struggling to free his leg, shouted sharply.
“Nathan, this is my mistake! If I become a burden, abandon me. Protect the children!”
There was no time to argue. The first ghoul charged with its maw spread wide. Five red, hideous petals. Akweba gritted his teeth and swung his machete. The ghoul shrieked as its lip was sliced and retreated. But it had only been bait. It hadn’t committed deeply on purpose. With weight on only one leg, Akweba’s posture was bound to crumble.
Two more ghouls flew toward the staggering Lizardian—along with the wooden beam Nathan had thrown. The ones that had leaped with confidence were crushed beneath it, bones shattering.
Nathan liked the sense of responsibility. But he had no intention of respecting the Lizardian’s grim resolve.
The ghouls tumbled pathetically across the muddy water and never rose again.
“What the hell? You decide we’re brothers, then decide to get abandoned? If that’s how it is, why don’t you be the older brother from the start?”
Akweba’s mouth fell open, baring his teeth. Shhhk. A clear expression of refusal.
“Damn it, you crazy warm-blood… what the hell are you doing….”
It wasn’t anger—it was self-mockery. He must have thought Nathan was now empty-handed because of his mistake.
Unarmed. The ghouls’ eyes gleamed. They immediately charged straight at Nathan.
They were wrong. Both Akweba and the ghouls.
Nathan was not unarmed. Of course, he couldn’t hide a dagger inside his throat like a snake-man. But the knight’s gauntlet forged from Damascus steel was itself a lethal weapon.
Nathan thrust his leading hand forward and struck. The shattered sickle-claw of the front leg scattered along with the ghoul’s scream. The first one, whose leap hadn’t been deep enough to die, had indeed been bait. The one trying to leap over it from behind flinched.
Nathan had already prepared a follow-up strike at its flank.
Crunch.
The loaded rear fist split the ghoul’s skull and crushed its brain. While the third ghoul froze at the horrific sight, Nathan made the first move. Spatial awareness deleted in an instant. The third ghoul failed to register in time that Nathan had shifted his weight forward. The heel thrust forward shattered its crown and passed through. The ghoul died without prolonged suffering.
Nathan exhaled roughly. Destroying the muscles and bones of carnivorous beasts required considerable strength and precision. Every motion had to be delivered with full power and perfect accuracy. The muscle pain and exhaustion that followed were brutal. His body felt like it would fall apart from yesterday’s aftereffects. Still, Nathan tried not to show it.
He slammed his two fists together and glared at the creatures. Sparks flew from the colliding gauntlets. The monsters growled in rage at the provocation. The ghouls that had been facing him with maws split open suddenly froze. Then they shrieked, shook their heads in agony, and…
“…Why?”
They turned and fled into the forest.
“Huh.”
Akweba let out a sigh. It was the perfect expression for what Nathan was feeling.
Was this another cunning trick? Nathan and Akweba waited quietly. Ten seconds. Twenty. One minute. The creatures did not return.
“Looks like they got scared of big brother.”
They had won. Relief made Nathan’s shoulders slump. He took a deep breath, then let it out. And immediately began to vomit.
“Fucking—urgh—”
“Whoa, you scared me. What the… ugh. Want me to pat your back?”
Akweba, who had been wiping blood from his eyes with his collar, approached. Nathan could only nod, unable to speak.
“Hrrrk—”
“No wonder you were running so hard. Yeah, good work.”
The nausea had hit him from the very first sprint, but the adrenaline had let him ignore it. The unknown woman’s injection had sealed his wounds and restored his vigor, but it hadn’t fully restored his condition. The paralytic the secretary had injected was only hastily neutralized; traces of the drug still lingered in his system. The worst possible conditions. And since he hadn’t eaten anything, only bitter bile came up.
Akweba, detecting the smell, felt sympathy for Nathan. While the human was occupied with his bodily functions, Akweba decided to finish the job.
He pulled the bolt from Nathan’s pocket.
“Hey kids. Come out and take this iron rod. What do you call this thing? A latch?”
Creak. The door opened and a sharp piece of metal poked out first. Then came the head. The trembling elf answered.
“That’s not something you hang—it’s something you slide in, so it’s called a bolt.”
“I see. Thanks for the hard work. Were you the boss of container three?”
“This is the first time I’ve seen you in person, uncle from the next container.”
They seemed to know each other. But there was no time to ask. Nathan was still cursing his convulsing insides.
‘My organs are probably cursing me right now. User error, after all.’
“Uuuuurgh—”
The white-haired elf muttered.
“…I thought he was coughing up blood.”
“Yeah. It does sound a bit like air leaking from the lungs. He doesn’t look like much right now, but this human did all the fighting. Make sure you thank him properly.”
“Hrrk—wait. Akweba.”
“What?”
Akweba paused while handing the metal rod to the elf girl, obeying without question. Though they had only just met, his trust in Nathan was as solid as faith.
“Something… something’s wrong. They told me today’s opponent was a chimera.”
Nathan remembered. The woman in black who had given him the match schedule had said the opponent was a chimera. If she truly wanted him to win, there was no reason to lie.
Oh no.
Realizing his mistake, Nathan felt a wave of dismay. If Akweba asked where he had heard it, he had no answer. He didn’t even know the woman’s name, and he had a strong feeling he shouldn’t mention her existence.
Fortunately, Akweba didn’t ask who the source was.
“…What did that chimera look like?”
“Huge alligator head. Tiger torso….”
“Arthropod legs?”
“Yeah. Legs like a scorpion…?”
Suppressing a chill, Nathan stared at Akweba. The Lizardian’s eyes were closed, his head turned toward some distant point. With a hardened face, Akweba carefully flicked his tongue.
“Ah. Fuck me, great Coatl.”
And immediately kicked the elf girl.
The child, who had been standing with her hand outstretched in confusion, tumbled backward into the open container. Nathan was stunned.
“What the hell are you—”
“Run, Nathan—!”
Akweba gave him no time to respond. He shoved Nathan with all his strength. In that instant, what Nathan saw was Akweba’s body turning into a bloody pulp as his scales were ripped away.
----------
The sky flipped upside down. His body was flying through the air. Had that scrawny snake-head always been this strong? That couldn’t be right. Nathan clutched his head and clenched his teeth. He rolled across the ground like a ball. Only when he lifted his head did he finally understand what had happened.
Far away, the cargo container’s door had been torn off and vanished. The mud was gouged, the metal sliced clean. Fortunately, the children appeared unharmed. The elf child at the front collapsed, legs shaking. The girl trembled as she looked up at the horrific marks left on the container. Judging by those traces…
“It bit clean through,” Nathan muttered.
A massive maw had passed by, severing everything within reach of its teeth. He couldn’t even guess how powerful its bite force was.
Nathan rose slowly, preparing for the next attack. But he had no sharp countermeasures. He didn’t know what trick it had used, but the creature appeared without warning and vanished without a trace. How could he fight something he couldn’t see?
While biting his lip and scanning all directions, Nathan heard a groan nearby.
“Ugh…”
“Akweba!”
Nathan quickly circled behind a tree. Akweba was leaning his head against the trunk, both legs mangled and sprawled uselessly beneath him.
Nathan hurried to help him up.
“Let go. I can’t walk anyway. No sensation below the knees. Can’t see either, so it’s confusing. Are they still attached?”
The pain must have been unbearable; Akweba couldn’t even bring himself to feel for his legs. It was understandable. Both legs had been severed below the knee.
Nathan couldn’t bring himself to speak. Akweba read the answer from his silence.
“Goddamn it. I noticed, but I couldn’t dodge. O Coatl, look upon this young offering.”
“You noticed? What?”
“The chimera. Those legs aren’t from a scorpion. They’re black panther spider legs that run silently across swamps. It only makes noise when threatening or marking its territory. The worse part is…”
Nathan suddenly ducked. Far away, the underbrush shook violently. An invisible mass far too large to be the wind.
“It can reflect its body to become transparent. I can only hope a chimera doesn’t have that ability. If you could see it, at least you might be able to run. It’s frustrating that my eyes can’t confirm anything anymore.”
Nathan clenched his fists so hard they felt like they might shatter.
“Unfortunately, my eyes can’t see it either.”
“What do you… ah, damn it all.”
The creature had been here the whole time. Watching. Waiting. For the exact moment their tension would loosen.
Nathan bit his lip.
How the hell do you fight an enemy you can’t see?