Thea closed her eyes and breathed slowly. For a moment, she lay on her bed and tried to calm down, but it was no use. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get over this feeling that she just needed to have a Chimaera. Not just because she wanted one, which of course she did, but because it was meant to be.

Thea ran her hands over the soft cotton quilt underneath her; the quilt her mother made for her when she was three. On the worst days of her life, lying here on this purple quilt had made everything better. It reminded her of the many mornings she had awoken on this bed with dreams swimming in her head. She actually had a recurring dream about flying on a winged horse. She always just thought it was a fun dream. Now she knew it just had to be more than that. Thea sat up and got off the bed very suddenly.

Twitchet put out her claws, which easily went through Thea's overalls and gently pricked her skin. Thea held the Chimaera close and crossed her small room to the window. Once she stepped off the rug, she made sure to walk softly so her shoes wouldn't pound on the wooden floor. "Want to come outside and play?" Thea asked Twitchet, and the Chimaera's stubby tail twitched.

Thea set Twitchet on her shoulder, carefully slid the window open, and climbed out. Compared to trees, climbing down from her window was easy. It was her birthday, and she wanted to be with her friend. She wanted to have some fun on the ranch, especially if she would need to leave to go to Blackthorn and Burtree soon.

Thea inched her way along the edge of the slanted roof to the front side of the house, right above the porch. She held onto the gutter and swung herself down so she was hanging above the deck railing. After taking a big calming breath, Thea let go and landed on the railing, balancing perfectly as she bent her knees and held her arms out.

Thea jumped to the ground and sprinted to the wooden fence. She put her thumb and pointer finger in her mouth and whistled a single high-pitched note. Over the grassy hill, Thea's horse Cecelia responded with a shrill neigh. She came over the ridge and galloped right up to the fence where Thea waited, her white mane blowing in the breeze.

"Hi Ceil!" Thea said. "Look, I have a new friend to introduce. Twitchet, this is my best friend Cecelia. Cecelia, this is my aunt's Chimaera, Twitchet."

Thea leaned over the fence so that Twitchet could look at Cecelia from her vantage point on Thea's shoulder. The tiny Chimaera's stubby tail twitched as she cocked her head and studied the giant horse. Meanwhile, Cecelia blew air through her nose and backed up a little.

Thea closed her eyes and reached out with her mind. She easily slipped into the mental connection she had established with Cecelia over the many years she had known her. The horse nickered and came closer, no longer apprehensive about the new creature on Thea's shoulder.

As soon as she was close enough, Thea leaped from the fence to her horse's back.

Cecelia took off quickly across the golden field in the direction of the river. Thea concentrated on staying on her horse, and Twitchet dug her claws into Thea's shoulder. She unfurled her wings and glided along on the wind, her claws still caught on Thea's shirt where she perched on her shoulder. Thea's curly brown hair flowed over the Chimaera, and the Chimaera's dappled brown wing buffeted Thea's ear.

By the time the trio reached the river, Thea had forgotten everything else except for the wonderful exhilaration of holding on for dear life on the back of a horse. She relished in the feel of the horse beneath her and the wind in her hair.

She unsheathed an invisible sword and shouted a ululating war cry, leading an invisible army into battle, just like Brigid the Brave. In her mind, they charged across a charred battlefield, slaying a horde of goblins and trolls. She broke through the masses and slayed the goblin king with a magnificent flurry of her sword.

She had a mental flash of that winged horse from her recurring dream. The flying horse had always been gray in her dream, but maybe she could be brown and white instead. Maybe her horse Cecelia could become her Chimaera, the way that her dad's dog had become his canitris. Then she could bring her best friend with her to Blackthorn and Burtree!

Cecelia slowed to a canter, turned up-river toward the forest, and began to wind her way along the bank. The current moved slowly past them, trickling softly in the still morning. Thea took a big heavy breath of the sweet-scented air. Clouds of mosquitoes swarmed the bank, but Thea focused hard and managed to repel them.

Thea leaned forward against Cecelia's neck. Both her mother and her aunt had said that Thea was special. She needed the protection. The Keeper would make an exception for Thea. Maybe it didn't matter what her father said. She had always been good at apologizing after the fact anyways. It happened all the time, if she was being honest with herself. This wasn't any different, not really.

Thea had always been able to do something magical-Alchemical once she saw her parents do it. She could make seeds take root and grow, because she watched her mother grow plants in their garden. She could manipulate animals after watching her father do the same. She could make anything float while meditating without breaking a sweat. She had even managed to light a match after only a few seconds of thinking about it, and she hadn't even known she could do that until today. Couldn't she also make a Chimaera, now that she knew it was possible?

She wanted to try for herself and see. It just felt like it was more than mere wanting. It was something that needed to happen. Her dreams had meaning all the time. She could predict all sorts of things, like what her father would teach her for her lessons that day, and what her mother would plant in the garden, and even what would happen if she just let Cecelia take her wherever she wanted on the ranch. A dream about a flying horse had to mean something, didn't it? And not just one dream. Several dreams over the years, as far back as she could remember.

Thea used her mind to pull Cecelia to a stop. Then she slid down to the ground and rubbed her horse's side. "Ceil, you trust me, don't you?" she asked in a whisper.

Cecelia swished her tail and lowered her head to eat some grass.

"I'm going to give you wings, Ceil, so you can fly. Then you'll be a Chimaera, like Twitchet, and I can bring you to Blackthorn and Burtree with me," she whispered.

Thea took a few steps away and sat in the tall grass. Twitchet glided down to the ground and sat in front of her, like an audience member watching a show. Thea crossed her legs in the Sukhasana meditation pose and looked up into the sky. She had called animals to her side before, but never had she tried to summon a creature that she hadn't already encountered. She tried to imagine what type of bird she should combine with a horse. An eagle came to mind, and Thea closed her eyes and pictured the bird of prey in her mind. She imagined the beautiful creature down to the color of its feathers and the motion of its wings and the shape of its talons and beak. Then she held onto the image and focused on her breathing.

After meditating for a few minutes, Thea opened her eyes to see an empty sky. Twitchet stared up at the sky and then looked into her eyes. The tufts of feathers on the tips of her ears shuddered, almost as if she was laughing at her.

"Don't look at me like that," she said. "I'll get it; just you watch."

There weren't any eagles in the sky, but she wasn't about to give up. She doubled her efforts, closing her eyes and going into the deepest meditation of her life.

Finally, after an indiscernible amount of time had passed, Thea felt a tug on her consciousness. She opened her eyes and looked up to see not just a bird, but a whole flock of birds, heading her way from all directions.

Thea's mouth fell open in awe. She jumped to her feet and turned a circle, simply astonished to see all the birds heading her way. She couldn't help but laugh. Then she realized a ruckus like this was bound to catch her parents' attention. She would have to work fast!

A few of the birds reached her and began landing in the field. There were a few crows, a blue jay, and a whole swarm of tiny birds. The noise of all the birds calling made Thea furrow her brow.

Cecelia snorted through her nose and shied away. Thea turned to her horse. "What's wrong, Ceil?"

Cecelia looked toward the river and went tense. Thea followed her gaze and spotted what looked like a large white and gray wolf just on the tree line across the river. It had glowing yellow eyes and strange humps on its back. Thea had only seen wolves in books, but she immediately noticed something strange about this wolf. Then she realized that the wolf had brown and black striped wings on its shoulders and feathers mixed in with its fur. It was a Chimaera!

No! This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. What did I do? she thought as the hair on her arms stood up. Her legs suddenly felt shaky and weak. Unable to help it, a little scream erupted from her mouth. Twitchet cowered into the tall grass, disappearing from sight.

The winged wolf leapt over the river toward them, using both its powerful legs and its wings to close in on them. Cecelia reared up, but Thea reached out to her with her mind and tried to calm her down. Cecelia couldn't outrun a flying wolf; her horse needed to stay by her side so Thea could protect her.

Cecelia screamed and kicked her front legs, but as the winged wolf came closer, she came back down to all fours and remained where she stood, blocking the creature's path to Thea.

The winged wolf flew high into the air and went into a steep dive. Thea held up her arms, but it was useless. She couldn't stop the flying wolf. It came so close, Thea could feel the beat of its wings on her face, but then Cecelia was suddenly between her and the creature. The winged wolf clawed and bit her horse, who screamed and snorted and reared and kicked. Cecelia's front hoof connected with the creature's neck. With a yelp, the winged wolf flapped its wings and flew several paces away.

Thea screamed too. Then she gulped down a breath, her eyes brimming with tears. She tried to think what to do, but her brain was caught in a fight or flight response. She was frozen in place like a little rabbit, unable to decide which way to run. Then she realized that if she ran, she'd be leaving her horse behind, so she stood beside Cecelia and tried to remember to breathe. Everything was happening so quickly, there was no time to think.

The winged wolf focused on the horse. Thea tried to put herself between the beast and her faithful friend, but the Chimaera only changed direction in midair and approached from behind to claw and bite her horse a second time. Thea felt her anger surge, and she pointed at the winged wolf and tried to visualize a blast of wind blowing it away, or something. Anything to save her friend.

"Leave Ceil alone!" she shouted, and she summoned a powerful gust of wind that caught the Chimaera's wings and blew it away just enough for Thea to get between the creature and her horse. She clenched her jaw and tried to focus on the wind, and the Chimaera flew past her and landed further down by the river. Her power faded fast, and the wind died away. Thea stumbled to her knees, her ears roaring with the beating of her heart.

Thea heard the sound of her father's truck, and she turned her head to see it speeding through the field toward them. With a feeling of lightheadedness that nearly made Thea pass out, she struggled to her feet and stumbled up to Cecelia. Despite her injuries, the strong horse appeared ready to challenge the beast should it approach again. Blood gushed down her front legs from ugly gashes. The horse trembled in pain. Tears stung at Thea's eyes.

"It's okay, Ceil. I won't leave you." She put a hand on her horse's heaving side and felt the damp lather and sticky blood.

The wolf-Chimaera paced along the bank, watching the approaching truck and seemingly trying to decide if it should run. Then the red truck reached them, and her mother and father jumped out. They ran to Thea immediately and stood in front of her like human shields.

Her mother took her hand and said, "Thank Heaven you're alright, Thea! Thank Heaven!" Then she took out a pouch and held up her hand to Thea and said, "Praesidium." The Conversion Circle on her hand glowed purple, and Thea felt a shiver go over her body.

"Where did that lupitris come from?" her father asked, as if talking to himself.

Aunt Fanella jumped out of the truck and ran toward the wolf-Chimaera, which had decided to attack Cecelia again. Twitchet suddenly appeared from the grass and flew to Aunt Fanella's side.

"Get your filthy paws off them!" Aunt Fanella yelled in a booming voice that made Thea jump. Then she reached out as Twitchet flew above her, and with a single Word, Twitchet suddenly grew to the same size as the wolf-Chimaera. Amazing, Thea thought. Chimaeras can grow! Twitchet flew toward the winged wolf.

The winged wolf took off at Cecelia with a rush of wings, and Twitchet gracefully flew straight toward it and tackled the Chimaera just in time. It dodged and countered with its claws. Twitchet pulled the winged wolf out of the sky and they skidded to a stop in the dirty river bank. Cecelia bolted away as the wolf closed its jaws around Twitchet's front leg. They tumbled and writhed around, interlocked by both claws and fangs, their wings flailing around. The sound of the two beasts fighting was unlike anything Thea had ever heard before. The flying wolf was growling and yapping, and Twitchet was hissing and meowing angrily.

Somehow, the two beasts disentangled themselves. The wolf growled, and Twitchet roared and backed off. Twitchet flew right toward Thea and her parents. She landed on the ground right beside Cecelia, several paces in front of them. With a whimper, she collapsed in the grass.

Meanwhile, Aunt Fanella had quickly followed the winged wolf Chimaera down toward the river. She pulled something from one of her pockets. It was another matchstick, which she struck on the top of her knee-high boot and shielded from the wind in front of her. The winged wolf rushed at Twitchet, and Aunt Fanella jumped right in the way; she snapped her fingers and electricity sparked in her hand. "Augendi!" she called out.

The fire on her tiny match changed into a large ball of burning flame. The Chimaera's hair sizzled as it flew through the fire and over Aunt Fanella's head. It came to a clumsy landing behind her. Aunt Fanella waved her hands in the air, and the fire swirled around and launched another attack at the wolf, which collapsed in a heap. The fire dispersed into the air in a puff of smoke.

The winged wolf whimpered pitifully. Aunt Fanella walked right up to the beast, put her hand on its back, and mumbled a Word. Right before Thea's eyes, the beast began to shrink. Then with another Word, the wolf, now a small puppy, lost its wings. A hawk emerged from the small wolf's back and flew away with a sharp cry.

"Fanella!" Thea's mother called out. "Are we safe?"

Fanella grasped a stone hanging from a chain around her neck, closed her eyes for a moment, and mumbled something; when she opened her eyes, her irises were like glowing amethysts. She swung her head around, gazing in all directions, and then she closed her eyes.

"There are no traces of anyone close by. That must have been a rogue Chimaera. We're safe."

Thank you for continuing to enjoy this story with me. Don't forget to vote and leave a comment if you would like. I do so enjoy to hear from my readers. What do you think about my Chimaeras? Do you love them as much as I do? I hope to see you again soon for the next chapter.

~A.C.