Planet Chimera (17 page)

“The rotten they are, the better they
taste,” it commented, walking away without noticing me.

Okay, it was definitely time for a full
blown panic. I mean, I was immortal and I knew that one day my head
was bound to get chopped off my body, and I always imagined that I
would just die with that. But, nope, I would not die from it. To
calm my mind, I exhaled silently, ignoring all of my surroundings,
using a technique I learned two hundred years ago. This situation
was bad, I knew, and if I didn’t do something soon, they were
either going to eat me, or throw me in the burning furnace. I would
imagine both situations would be extremely agonizing.

“It’s a pity we can’t eat him,” a voice
said, plodding towards my location, and picking up my headless
body. “His black blood tastes so amazing—I just want to drink more
of it.”

“No, you stupid fool,” the other voice
boomed, causing the mutant to drop my body down, with a look of
terror on its face. “Do you know what happens to those who defy our
master? Do you want to end up like these fools, too?”

“No, Helberd, but what about a nibble of his
head, just a small ear,” he whined, reaching for my head. “I just
want to taste that exquisite flavor one more time, and I promise I
won’t ask you for anything else.”

“Listen, Qean, if you take a bite, even one
little nibble, I will tell the master,” his partner growled at him,
a few metallic things clanking on the ground. “Don’t touch that
head, or I will take yours next.”

“Fine, fine,” the mutant chimera frowned,
not looking at me, withdrawing its hand slowly. “I don’t get why
the master want him burned inside the furnace. It doesn’t make any
sense at all, since he told us to capture and detain the other two
rebels.”

“It is not our job to ask questions,” the
other voice responded, coughing faintly, as it cleared its throat.
“Our job is to burn these bodies, and to keep the furnace
running.”

“I know, I know, but I just think it’s
strange, that’s all,” it finished, inhaling slowly as it walked
away.

From the corner of my eyes, I noticed that I
was in some kind of a room, far much smaller than the previous one,
with smooth walls that connected to the ceiling, in a
semi-spherical way. A small window was placed far above the walls,
roughly fifteen feet in the air, and the light of the moon shined
brightly through it. The smell of rotting flesh was too repulsive,
and thankfully for me, there were no flies and maggots around to
digest the corpses. I felt so helpless, a feeling of dread bearing
down on me, and something I had never felt before—pure fear.

Think, think, you idiot; otherwise, you are
done for. You can’t let like this, not without taking the madman’s
head off.

The noise suddenly
stopped, the sound of the mutants’ movement dying down, as a small
faint of light appeared. A door, metallic from the sound, was
opened up wide before being shut back in a loud bang. It became
quiet again. I exhaled slowly, the anticipation building up
dangerously inside of me, as I tried to roll over using my tongue.
Tasting the tainted blood on the concrete, smooth floor, I
retracted my tongue back in, and almost gagged from the aftertaste.
I was in serious danger, I knew.
Stop
panicking, Rave, think things through for once
.

I glanced at my cold body, looking the neck
portion where the blade had cut cleanly through, a sensation of
pain enveloping me. My body was still dressed as before, but they
had stripped all of my weapons from it, leaving it here in this
place to be destroyed. And considering that I was still alive, in a
messed up way, it would also stand to reason that my body was too.
Okay: that made no sense at all.

Silence engulfed the whole room, nothing
stirring inside, save for my head and the burning furnace. The
mutant chimeras had left, meaning I was alone for the moment. I
managed to rotate my head around, facing the other direction and I
almost yelped, when I saw another dismembered head facing me. The
head, belonging to an alien of unknown origin, was facing me; its
eyes were open and lifeless, its thick lips slightly spaced apart,
and its orange skin chapped and wrinkly. It had no nose, just a
smooth ridge between the mouth and the eyes, long pointy ears, and
a few strands of dark hair sticking out on top of its head. I
blinked, staring at it for a few seconds, fighting a discomforting
feeling that was manifesting in my mind.

So, this whole time that
bodiless head had been staring down the back of my head? That is
just messed up and seriously disturbing
, I
thought.

“On second thought, I should face the other
way,” I thought out loud, unable to concentrate on anything with
the alien’s eyes staring back at me. “But if I do that, this head
might come back to life, and eat me or something. Oh, crap!”

“I am sorry, boss, but I might have to break
my promise,” I muttered, closing my eyes, and awakening the dark
power that had been slumbering inside of me. “I will try to keep
the casualties below one hundred, if I can.”

I wasn’t too sure if my plan would work, but
considering the fact that I was still alive and breathing, the
possibility of it working was greater than fifty percent. The air
inside became thin, the light from the moon vanishing, as black
vapors began to ooze from my headless body. The torso shifted
slightly to the left, the abdomen collapsing in and out, and the
fingers on my right hand making small movements. Wide eyed,
surprised, I watched my own body stand back to its feet, the dark
energy swirling all over it. This is what I was hoping for, but to
see it actually happen, right in front of my eyes, was mind
boggling. And despite not being attached to the body, I could, in a
strange way, feel my body moving—an experience I could not
understand. I thought of flexing my right hand, and, without
hesitation, the body did it, almost like I was controlling it with
a remote controller.

“Come this way,” I ordered the body,
thinking of the direction I wanted it to go. “Come towards me,
right now.”

It plodded forward, falling over some
corpses, before standing back up again. Arms spread, it moved
slowly towards me, but accidentally stepped on my head, not
intentionally, and took a few more steps past me. It turned around,
controlled by my thoughts, and placed its left knee down, searching
for my head with both of its dirty fingers. The thought of those
dirty hands of mine touching my face was awful; however, I didn’t
have a choice.

“You are getting closer,” I whispered,
watching my body throw the dead alien’s head to the side, and reach
for my head. “Not the face, not the face!”

It grabbed my head, and stood up slowly,
raising my head like it was some kind of trophy. Attaching back my
severed head to my body was the only dilemma that was standing in
my way. And to think that I would face this problem, at a critical
time as this, was clearly laughable.

The furnace, to my left, was grand, black
like charcoal in color, rectangular in shape, attached to a
straight pipe that ascended all the way to the top, to let out the
smoke. A fleshless, human skull was placed on top of it, a silver
key lodged between the teeth, and a small trace of blood on the
frontal bone. This room, this whole complex—I would destroy it all,
if it’s the last thing I would do.

Unexpectedly, I heard the door open, the
voices belonging to the two mutant chimeras, and a distant scream
from another captive. I willed my body to move to the side, aghast,
as I smelt the scent of something disgusting on my own fingers. My
body plowed through piles and piles of dead corpses, making haste
for cover, as it carried me beneath its left armpit. I smelled the
thick fur on the coat, and the wetness of the blood on it. I hid
myself behind the table, lowering my body to the floor, while my
head was placed next to it.

“That was a good meal, eh, Helberd?” the
mutant chimera, with a face of a rat, horns of a bull, in a red
cloak, commented, opening the furnace door, and throwing something
in it. “I am so full that I don’t want to work anymore.”

“You are right about that, Qean, but we have
to get rid of these bodies, before the next batch of captives
arrives,” the other replied picking up a body, and tossing it into
the furnace.

Ignoring their chitchat, my body grabbed my
head and tried to wedge it back in place only to fail in the
attempt. It was going to require some sort of bonding agent, or…… a
specific magic spell! That was it; I knew what I had to do. It was
so simple, that if I could, I would slap myself silly on the
cheek.

“Revro nei,” I muttered, focusing my entire
remaining ounce of magic into the task at hand.

My body took my head again, retried to
connect it, and finally succeeded in attaching it back. Once it was
done, I felt my head and body converge into one again, the power of
the darkness surging greatly through me. The spell, a level two
incantation, allowed me to attach anything together almost like
glue, but it required time before the effects were permanent. I
restrained from moving my neck too much, until I was fully sure
that the wound had healed, and until the nerves and ligaments had
reattached and repaired. I slowly sat up, a stiff feeling in my
arms and legs, and a sensation of thirst and hunger overwhelming
me. To my surprise, the mutant chimeras had not noticed me; they
were busy dumping bodies into the furnace that they never saw or
heard me move. Aside from the dead bodies, the burning furnace, and
the small table, I spotted a long, industrial chain, anchored by a
small chair. Next to it, there was a small shovel, a socket wrench,
and some sort of mechanical contraption with a few parts missing
from it. I crawled towards it, stopping whenever the noise died
down, and continuing when the mutants began to bicker whist
working. I retrieved the chain, wrapping it around my waist, and
took the socket wrench, planning on using it to maim the
chimeras.

“Here goes nothing,” I sighed, standing back
up, and making a swift dash on the unsuspecting beasts.

“You should be dead,” the mutant, known as
Qean, boomed, moving back.”Your head was decapitated, I saw it for
myself.”

“Well, allow me to change your mind,” I
rattled, throwing the chain around his neck, and pulling it
back.

I spun my body sideways, chucking the socket
wrench at the other chimera, before pulling the chain towards me. I
planted my right knee into the chimera’s face, breaking its nose,
before felling him to the ground. His partner, angry and surprised,
flung his cloak to the ground, picked up a shovel, and rushed
towards me with intent to kill. His massive, jaw opened out wide,
displaying his sharp, razor teeth, and his eyes turning red; he
flared his nostrils, and swiped at me with his free hand. Dodging
left, I shifted out of the way, bending my body down as the shovel
passed over me. The monster roared, its mind taken over by
frustration and rage, and it began to lash at me with its feet and
tail. I ignored it for a second, a dark smile on my face, as I
raised my foot and stomped the mutant chimera, on the ground, in
the face. It shrieked in pain, struggling to remove the chain from
its neck, both of its hands clamped onto it.

“Enough, you stupid beast,” I hissed,
raising the creature up into the air, and throwing it against the
right side of the furnace.

“You will pay for that,” the monster, known
as Helberd, growled with anger, pulling out a flintlock and firing
three times.

The bullets struck me in the chest, the
force of the rounds jerking me back, but it didn’t stop me from
advancing towards him. I had grown tired of these mutant beasts,
grown tired of this planet, and I just wanted to slaughter them
all, and depart the planet.

“So, tell me, mutant, of this man you call
master,” I asked, extending my hand out, my left leg pressed
lightly in the ground. “If you tell me what I need to know, then,
perhaps, I may see it fit you grant you pardon, and allow you to
leave.”

“You talk big for a puny earthling,” it
sniffed, circling around me, a sinister look on its face. “And even
if I were divulge my secrets about our master, it wouldn’t do you
any good; the man is heavily guarded and also powerful. He
possesses knowledge beyond your tiny human understanding, a true
gift the whole galaxy will soon learn to fear.”

“So he plans on galactic conquest, I see,” I
nodded, my curiosity of him peaked. “That’s interesting to
know.”

“I wasn’t supposed to tell you that,” he
gasped, shocked, clenching its claws into fists. “I will have to
kill you again for that.”

Spreading its mechanical wings, it took
flight, shrieking as loudly as it could, and ascended further into
the air, before plunging down at an amazing speed towards me. I
raised both my arms, bending my knees slightly, my whole mind in a
state of mental focus, and blocked the creature’s talons with my
arms. The winds from its flapping wings brushed against my cheeks,
and a bit of blood oozed from the wound the creature had inflicted
upon me. I fended the creature off, bending down and picking up the
chain from the ground, planning on ending it with one final move.
Roaring fiercely, while flying above me, it drew out another
flintlock and pointed the muzzle of the gun towards me; however, I
threw the chain around it, before it could fire. I pulled back,
using all of my strength, and managed to bring the flying fiend to
the ground.

“Tell me something, Helberd,” I began,
walking toward it and kicking the guns from its hands. “Have you
ever been burned alive? Me, personally, I am more of a jaw breaking
guy, but on rare occasions such as this, I have been known to
experiment.”

“You lie,” it laughed, showing no signs of
fear. “You might be strong, but you are no killer.”