Free Planet Chimera by Brian Nyaude

when
the mutant beast came out of hiding. The blade hit its throat, its
eyes bulging, and felled the creature into the snow. I took out
three more creatures before rushing back to regroup with the
others. They had lost one more man to a pair of speedy chimeras,
leaving four people in their group.
    “We need bigger weapons,” I yelled, holding
a mutant chimera’s head in my right hand. “What do they have at the
outpost?”
    “I don’t know,” Sulyanna shook her head,
looking at the head in my hand. “I mean, it’s possible that you
might find something big enough, but there is no way to get in
there; the place is overrun by the monsters.”
    “Just point me towards its location, and
will do the rest,” I said, dropping the head down, my heart stirred
with excitement. “You are more than welcome to follow me.”
    “It’s that way, about two miles from here,”
one of the remaining man said, pointing towards the east. “It’s
over that hill, and if we can take it—we will gain a vantage point
against the mutant chimeras.”
    I marched, upright and square, leading the
group through the forest, our sights on the outpost. The mutant
chimera growled, watching us from the trees, and lucky for us—they
were not armed with guns and blades, like the ones from before.
    The wind whirled, the snowflakes making
visibility low, and the full moon shining brightly above us. The
sky was clear and dark. Looking around, all I could see where
markings of something solid; it was a somewhere above the hill we
were hiking. Salyanna, with her gun strapped on the back, coughed
out loudly, rubbing her gloved hands together to create warmth in
her hands. The remaining men, pacing behind her, looked petrified
with fear, as they raised their guns in the air, glancing in every
direction for the cunning beasts.
    “Everyone, desist,” I ordered, my hand
lifted above my head, and my eyes fixated upon a dark object that
was standing at the peak of the hill. “Wait here—I will go alone,
and if I am not back in the next ten minutes, you are safe to come
after me.”
    “What will you do?” Salyanna asked, taking a
few steps towards me, retrieving her gun from her back. “You cannot
win against them.”
    Don’t worry about me, I know what has to be
done.” I replied.
    Upon saying that, I turned around, holding
my gun tightly, and hiked up the rest of the hill by myself. A few
of the mutant chimeras snarled at me, their eyes glowing from the
reflection of the moon, hiding their bodies behind the barks of
trees. Every time I looked their way, they would retreat back a few
yards, communicating with hand signals. I staggered forward when
something sharp struck my back, a burning sensation following
after. Pulling out my gun, I swung around on my right foot,
pointing the muzzle onto a chimera that had set its eyes on me. I
fired the gun, but at that moment, the chimera swerved to the left,
taking refuge behind the bark of a tall tree. My bullet missed,
hitting the bark of the tree, and causing the snow that was piled
up against the tree to fall to the ground. The effect of the bullet
and the falling snow caused the branches of the trees to fall to
the ground, which in turn made the chimeras scurry around. I
tracked three of the chimeras, to my left, and shot them in cold
blood, my heart pounding heavily.
    Up above, the gigantic
shadow that had been standing at the peak of the hill turned its
head towards my direction, its eyes glowing red. It held a giant
axe, with a three meter long grip, and a wide double-edged
axe-blade. It saw me and begun to move towards my direction,
spinning its axe in the air, some of the snow falling downhill with
each step it took. It bent forward, displaying its massive shoulder
muscles, roaring in a violent manner. It’s
that stupid bear again , I
thought.
    I recognized the white
furred skin, the scarred snout, the metal armor on its chest, and
the sharp claws that had maimed me once before. I squinted,