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The monster stood several meters away. The one from the beach. The one that had tried to kill her. Now that Corinna's eyes had adjusted to the darkness, Corinna could see it more clearly. 

It was a chimaera.

A monster constructed of other monsters.

Its face was that of a jackal, thin and narrow with toxic green eyes. Fangs protruded out of the sides of its mouth even when closed, the tips dug into the monster's jaw which Corinna imagined would be painful. Its body was tall yet thin, the lines of its rib-cage could be seen through its skin. The fur was thicker on its back, black and mangled, whilst its stomach was white with thin bristles. Hidden amongst its thick hair was a pair of feathered wings, black with tinges of blue, too small and frail to lift the creature off the ground, a useless addition. Whilst it stood like a human, its shins bent backwards like a jackal's, and its hands were three-fingered with talons. Around its waist was a belt with various items attached to it by string, including a satchel.

Then, Corinna saw something move. Underneath the monster's green cloak was a tail- a snake that slithered and writhed. Snapping its mouth, its forked tongue pierced outwards. Without any eyes, it blindly hissed at anything that made a noise.  

The imps lowered their heads in the presence of the chimaera, then scuttled away from Corinna, standing to the side to watch the spectacle, looking from the monster then back to her. 

As the chimaera stepped forwards, getting closer and closer to Corinna, the pack of imps began chanting, raising their spears high, stomping their feet, their chorus quickening and growing in volume. They hopped up and down, clapped their hands, and continuously bowed to the chimaera.

Corinna wondered if the chimaera was their leader, perhaps their boss?

The chimaera stopped and turned its head to the imps, silencing them as they cowered under its gaze. They struggled to contain their excitement, still whispering and giggling under their breath. When the chimaera eventually motioned for them to leave, the imps reluctantly shuffled away and out of sight, sighing in disappointment that they couldn't witness Corinna's demise.

Returning its attention back to Corinna, the chimaera continued to trudge towards her, its shoulders hunched, head leaning forwards like a vulture. Its snake-tail recoiled out of sight underneath the cloak.

Corinna stepped back, coughing out more blood. She couldn't run in her condition, nor could she easily fight, but perhaps that was the only thing she could do. She noticed the chimaera's movements- it was limping, already suffering from a previous injury. The fur on one of its arms and legs were stained red. There was a trickle of blood on its nose from where Corinna had kicked it.  

"I'm sorry!" she called out to the monster, hoping it could hear her voice, hoping it could understand her. "I'm sorry! It's my fault you didn't escape!" She lowered her spear. "Please stop!"

The monster was either indifferent to her plea or could not understand her. Stopping at a few metres distance from her, she could hear it breathe in a low, raspy growl like an engine revving to go.

Knowing that it was futile to ask for peace or mercy, Corinna rushed forwards, lunging with one spear. The monster grabbed it, pulling the spear towards itself, bringing Corinna along with it. She let go of that spear and followed up with the second, aiming for the chimaera's already wounded leg. The blade pierced into it, but the chimaera had let it. With the spear barely lodged into the monster's thigh, Corinna could not attack. Dropping the first spear, the chimaera clawed at her face, narrowly missing as she stumbled to the ground, receiving a mark that grazed the bridge of her nose. She reclaimed her first spear and plunged the blade into the monster's foot, causing it to howl and let go of the other spear.

Recovering her breath, Corinna used the opportunity to stand at a fair distance away from the chimaera. The monster was unhinged, its rage caused its stamina to drain fast, yet due to her inexperience, Corinna still struggled to fight back, unable to predict its next attack. They were both still soaked from being in the sea, Corinna's clothes clung to her, slowing her as they heavily weighed down on her body. However, as the monster was covered in fur, its movements were even more affected, becoming sluggish and easily avoidable due to its coat being drenched with water. Once she had finally recognised the pattern in the chimaera's movements, Corinna played the offensive. Timing her strikes, she avoided the monster's attacks and forced the chimaera to defend with its injured arm, opening up the wound further.

Realising she now had the upper hand, Corinna revelled in her near victory, easily caught in the monster's trap. Purposefully leaving its snake-tail out of sight, Corinna had utterly forgotten about its existence, and she screamed as the snake shot out and disarmed her. The chimaera yanked Corinna's hair and pulled her to the ground. As she fell, the spear in her back sent waves of pain that surged through her entire body. She attempted to reach for it, but it was lodged near her shoulder blade, causing her even more pain to move.

The monster towered over Corinna, pinning her arms down with its paws. It held the spear in the mouth of its snake-tail, its green eyes brightening with animosity and delight.

"Please! Stop! I'm sorry!" Corinna cried. "It's my fault, isn't it! You were trying to escape!"

The monster paused, the spear still raised in the air. It was panting, its body shaking and quivering, its stamina depleted.

For a brief moment, Corinna saw something in those green eyes, something almost human.

At first, she thought she had been mistaken, that the monster had hesitated in killing her. It stood over, its body shaking and cowering into itself. Somehow the monster seemed smaller and fragile. Corinna noticed how thin its limbs were, seeing its rib-cage through its skin. The monster was starved and hungry, yet looking down at an easy meal, at the young woman, it hesitated.

The chimaera slowly lowered its spear and stumbled back, freeing Corinna. It collapsed onto its knees, using the spear to support itself. Having lost so much blood, its eyes drooped open and closed, faint and dizzy.

Corinna sat up, seeing the monster panting and heaving, almost losing consciousness. After standing up, she picked up her makeshift spear. The chimaera did not respond, still solely focused on breathing and staying conscious.

Corinna's eyes' flicked from her spear to the monster.

I could kill it.

I could kill it now.

Right now.

The monster gripped tightly onto its waist, preventing more blood from spilling profusely out of its wound. After licking its paw, it wiped the saliva on its injury.

Now that she had time to pause, Corinna noticed that the chimaera had suffered far more injuries than she had inflicted on it herself. Before they had even fought, the chimaera was already weak and wounded, yet it still had managed to defeat her. 

Biting her bottom lip, Corinna lowered her spear.

She felt the urge to drop it, to aid the poor thing but-

The image of her family lay ever-present in her mind.

Corinna turned around and walked away.

No.

I can't.

It's a monster.

It tried to kill me.

I need to survive...

for my family.

She then heard a ferocious growl and a roar. Swivelling around, expecting it to be the monster, she instead saw another creature towering over the chimaera.

It had been hiding, waiting for Corinna and the chimaera to exhaust themselves in fighting so that it could eat them itself.

The chimaera's snake-tail shot out, attempting to tear into the creature's thick neck but fell short. Swinging its large hulking arms, the creature retaliated. Unable to evade, the chimaera was knocked unconscious and collapsed onto the sand.

Then, the creature turned its attention to Corinna, who was paralysed with fear, knowing that she should have run when she had the chance.

Her eyes darted to the unconscious monster on the sand. 

Run away.

Run away now.

You can't help it.

Corinna scampered up the slope, away from the creature. Her bare feet slipped on the sand, and she stumbled to the ground. A large hand seized her torso and pulled her back.