chimera was from Rosa’s extensive library. A foul, tortured beast, by all descriptions; created by the cruel mind of a practitioner of dark demon magic. The concept was to combine the strengths of three different monsters or animals into one organism in the hope that it would produce an even more powerful hybrid. From Rosa’s books, I knew that historically there were only a few successful templates that produced viable monsters, and the evil types tended to gravitate toward those due to their comparatively high level of success. The most likely result in dabbling in this cursed exercise was a creature with three heads. This could get interesting.
Elsa impatiently shook off my description. “It doesn’t really matter what it is; we need to kill it.” She looked back at her lieutenant. “Are there any other tactical considerations we need to know?”
“Yes, we found the upper passages of the vault and most of the security devices are still in place. If we can get up there, we should be able to rain heavy crossbow bolts down on it from the murder holes above.”
“Good work! Then we have a plan. Gather the men and our heaviest crossbows–we leave in five!”
The man nodded and ran off, barking orders at the rest of the mercenaries. Elsa turned to us. “I want you three to stay here and hold the gate. Don’t worry, if we kill the beast without you, I’ll still hold up my end of the deal. Stupid thing doesn’t belong here anyway.”
Well, at least she is a fair leader. We nodded and smiled as she and her strike forces ran through a hidden side door and were quickly out of sight.
“You can see them, can’t you?” asked Darroth, beside me with concern in his voice.
I nodded. “They are a quarter way to the top already. Pretty fast for dwarves.”
“Do you think crossbows and rocks are going to kill this thing?”
“Not in a million years. I’m just waiting for them to leave,” I said as I reached up and grabbed hold of the damaged door, swinging it open.
“You might want to wait for your lady fair here, Darroth,” I said as Nia and I walked calmly into the vault. I closed the door behind us and twisted the metal wheel that slid the heavy steel rods into the door frame, then picked up a chunk of stone from the debris on the floor and jammed the mechanism closed.
..................................................
Maya
It’s day three of the illustrious reign of Queen Maya, and I haven’t been outside or seen the sun since the day my parents were slain. My world has fallen into a routine of sorts; every six hours or so I am ‘invited’ to the council arena, usually to hear some snotty minor noble with an attitude stand up and recount to the attendees what a bitch and a whore I am, and how my parents slept with barnyard animals prior to my conception. This invariably leads to a challenge and the snotty noble’s bloody and painful demise.
On the positive side, I have made serious inroads into the viable breeding stock of the three clans that most oppose my rule, to the point where they are just not showing up much anymore. Instead, they send foolish proxies from the waffling clans in the hope that someone will get lucky. I am also starting to see a lot of poisoned blades flash by my head, and even the occasional magical weapon in use, none of which are up to the challenge of Winya. She and I have patched up our differences despite her admission that she is in love with my mate. As time goes by, we are more like sisters than ever before.
The twins, however, have been strangely distant; no joking around, no flirting with my guards. They altered their appearance to resemble dark elf girls but, for some reason, they neglected to change their eyes which are one hundred percent icy cold saurian and spooky as hell. The effect does keep the casual visitor to my chambers away rather effectively. One evening, I asked Dusk about this change from their usual behavior, and she said that Alex’s mother had
Elsa impatiently shook off my description. “It doesn’t really matter what it is; we need to kill it.” She looked back at her lieutenant. “Are there any other tactical considerations we need to know?”
“Yes, we found the upper passages of the vault and most of the security devices are still in place. If we can get up there, we should be able to rain heavy crossbow bolts down on it from the murder holes above.”
“Good work! Then we have a plan. Gather the men and our heaviest crossbows–we leave in five!”
The man nodded and ran off, barking orders at the rest of the mercenaries. Elsa turned to us. “I want you three to stay here and hold the gate. Don’t worry, if we kill the beast without you, I’ll still hold up my end of the deal. Stupid thing doesn’t belong here anyway.”
Well, at least she is a fair leader. We nodded and smiled as she and her strike forces ran through a hidden side door and were quickly out of sight.
“You can see them, can’t you?” asked Darroth, beside me with concern in his voice.
I nodded. “They are a quarter way to the top already. Pretty fast for dwarves.”
“Do you think crossbows and rocks are going to kill this thing?”
“Not in a million years. I’m just waiting for them to leave,” I said as I reached up and grabbed hold of the damaged door, swinging it open.
“You might want to wait for your lady fair here, Darroth,” I said as Nia and I walked calmly into the vault. I closed the door behind us and twisted the metal wheel that slid the heavy steel rods into the door frame, then picked up a chunk of stone from the debris on the floor and jammed the mechanism closed.
..................................................
Maya
It’s day three of the illustrious reign of Queen Maya, and I haven’t been outside or seen the sun since the day my parents were slain. My world has fallen into a routine of sorts; every six hours or so I am ‘invited’ to the council arena, usually to hear some snotty minor noble with an attitude stand up and recount to the attendees what a bitch and a whore I am, and how my parents slept with barnyard animals prior to my conception. This invariably leads to a challenge and the snotty noble’s bloody and painful demise.
On the positive side, I have made serious inroads into the viable breeding stock of the three clans that most oppose my rule, to the point where they are just not showing up much anymore. Instead, they send foolish proxies from the waffling clans in the hope that someone will get lucky. I am also starting to see a lot of poisoned blades flash by my head, and even the occasional magical weapon in use, none of which are up to the challenge of Winya. She and I have patched up our differences despite her admission that she is in love with my mate. As time goes by, we are more like sisters than ever before.
The twins, however, have been strangely distant; no joking around, no flirting with my guards. They altered their appearance to resemble dark elf girls but, for some reason, they neglected to change their eyes which are one hundred percent icy cold saurian and spooky as hell. The effect does keep the casual visitor to my chambers away rather effectively. One evening, I asked Dusk about this change from their usual behavior, and she said that Alex’s mother had
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