Fresh laughter filled the throne room, the sound echoing in my playground. But through the noise, Auriel was shouting, desperately calling my name, trying to tell me something, trying to warn me.
“What is this?” the Queen mocked. “You mean to tell me you still don’t know? The smell hasn’t brought you back? Your memories are weaker than I thought.” She laughed. “You haven’t read Auriel’s Valya, have you?”
“Haven’t exactly had the time,” I snapped, my fingers tightening around my weapons.
“Lyriana!” Auriel called out. He said something, a word in High Lumerian that I didn’t recognize. Someone screamed over him as he tried again. But the beast’s snarl had me snapping myhead, searching for it in the dark. I could tell that the snarl had come from the same place as before, the beast hadn’t moved—but this time, it sounded completely different. More of a growl, but not from any animal I’d ever heard—not even the one I’d just heard. Maybe animal wasn’t the right way to describe it. It was more like scraping bones together.
I shivered as I stepped in the direction of the noise, sweat beading my forehead, and lifted my sword.
A gate creaked, my hand trembled. This was it. The thing had been inside a cage. That was why I hadn’t seen it yet. That’s why it hadn’t charged. So Ma’Nia could fucking taunt me.
Metal cranked against metal as it lifted, and rolled back, causing the chinking chains to echo in the dark.
Steady. Steady.I repeated the words like a mantra.
Whatever was behind the gate, it was going to charge— before I could even see it. I had to be ready to fight. And whatever came into view, I had to face it. For Rhyan.
And just like that, I felt him. Whether it was his soul somehow reaching out from the void, or my imagination, it didn’t matter. A cool calm aura washed over me. The sensation of being snuggled up beneath blankets, held tight against a warm body. Rhyan’s hand on my belly. His lips against my ear.
Partner.
The sensation vanished, and the shadow came towards me.
The snarls came again. There were two of them, sounding off simultaneously. In the darkness, two sets of eyes appeared. Two yellow eyes. Two white.
Two sets of eyes … two snarls … Had another joined? Had it been waiting in the cage behind the other?
My stomach turned. And then the beast came into view under the light of the moon. Just one beast.
I moved back on instinct, my eyes widening as I bit back a horrified scream. It was seven or eight feet tall, the same heightas an akadim. Its body was equally wide, and covered in gray fur. At first glance, it looked like a giant fucking wolf. But instead of a fluffy tail, there was a nahashim, stretching and shrinking with each breath the beast took. Its scaly body curled and then extended into a violent thrust, its head shifting forward, fangs glistening before it hissed right at me.
But that wasn’t what had created the second sound. The one that sounded like bones. Whatever this thing was, it had two heads. Two fucking heads! They were squished together, like they were both trying to occupy its neck at the same time. One was a kind of wolf, with cruel yellow eyes, long sharp fangs protruding from its opened mouth. Two white horns, reminiscent of a bull, but sharpened at the tips, poked out of its temples. The second head was the one that sounded like bones. And now I knew why. It was the skull of a wolf. It had matching horns, like it was the other’s twin, just lacking muscles, skin, and fur. And though this skeleton head looked and smelled like it had been dead for ages, its glowing white eyes told me that it was very much alive.
“Does this bring back memories for you yet?” the Queen asked. “Memories of another life? Do you recall the last time you faced a chimera?”
A chimera? That’s what this abomination was?
That’s what Auriel was trying to say.
I’d never heard the term before. Never learned it in any of my studies. But as I tested the word in my mouth, something began to tickle the back of my mind.
A flash of memory. A knowing. I had seen this monster before. Auriel had been right to worry. With two heads, and a nahashim for a tail, it was going to be impossible to kill.
Both heads opened their mouths to howl. Their yellow and white eyes set on me as its front paws, full of elongated, sharpened claws pawed the ground. The chimera was preparingto attack, acting more bull than wolf. It made a huffing sound that ended in a vicious growl. And then, it charged.
I dodged rolling onto the ground out of the way before jumping back to my feet. I didn’t know where to strike or how to defeat this thing. Was the skull head always there? Or had its original head been slain, and replaced by that abomination?
I looked behind me, trying desperately to better understand the lay of the land. If I could figure out how far back her playground went, I could use it to my advantage. I could build up momentum when needed, and use the wall in my favor—just like I used the bindings in habibellums.
The hiss of the nahashim had me tracking its movement more clearly, but uneasily. I still remembered how venomous its bite had been. How paralyzing. The power of its squeeze. Forget the two heads. I could be paralyzed and unconscious within minutes from one snake bite.
Dead.
I ran back, hearing its snarls turn into a haunting, echoing howl that left me chilled to the bone.
Then with a quick steadying breath, I raced forward, lifting my dagger and sword, but fear took hold of me as I got too close and I dodged to the side, just barely missing the graze of nahashim teeth against my arm. The shadow of two sets of horns loomed over the small pool of light in the pit’s center.
My audience of Afeya booed in annoyance. And someone, one of the Afeya leaning over the pool’s edge, had thrown an apple at me.
