Terrestrial Magic (Jordan Sanders, #1) Read online

  The segment closest to the chimera consisted of three and a half walls—the fourth one was partially collapsed. I rounded the inside of whatever it used to be, mollified to find an easily reachable arch. Something like a rim circled the space, giving me enough room to step up and see through the opening—though not quite enough room for a good, steady stance.

  I loaded a few rounds before propping myself along the base of the arch, from which I could see the pick-up speeding away from the chimera, the distant, shadowy figures of my teammates seated in the front. Tony and Luca hadn’t had a single chance to climb over the wall. And she was too close to them for comfort, pursuing the vehicle at a steady pace. This couldn’t keep up. Tony would make a mistake sooner or later—swerving into a rough patch of ground, or turning too late. And she would get them.

  Carter passed my equipment up, then climbed next to me, making sure to give me space. I propped my arms and weapon up on the dilapidated bricks that made up the arch, scraping against the worn edges. Calm, even breaths. This was it. I had to get her focus off of Tony and Luca, or they wouldn’t stand a chance.

  My mind raced to calculate the chimera’s trajectory, how far the bullet had to travel. The world around me narrowed to the pull of the trigger, the accompanying bang as the propellant ignited to form a rapidly-expanding gas in the barrel. I visualized the bullet being pushed out, speeding towards my target, as the recoil hit me.

  The next second, a low wail emitted from the legimal, as she stopped mid-motion. I had no idea where I’d hit, but at least I knew I did hit. Tony promptly used the distraction to get some distance from the legimal, which had me sighing in relief. Turning her body in my general direction, the chimera began to stalk forward. I didn’t think she could actually see us, but she’d determined something about where the shot had come from, apparently.

  A deep, rolling growl came from the animal, one that elicited a primal surge of fear in me. I told myself to calm down, that she was on the other side of the wall, that she couldn’t reach me here. The next second, a wave of flame erupted from her mouth—and it shot forward further, with more power, than any of her previous attacks. A streak of bright orange, instead of a singular ball of flame. Before I knew it, before I could even fathom what was happening, that streak was spurting through the air, aimed directly at me.

  Time slowed as my mind raced to catch up with what was happening. She couldn’t have that kind of aim. She shouldn’t be able to pin down exactly where I was. I had only a moment to decide whether or not to drop down to the ground—which was a no-brainer—and I started pushing myself off the back of the arch.

  Carter moved faster. He threw himself off the rim towards the stone beneath us, making sure to knock me down on the way. I landed hard on the ground, the wind knocked right out of me. There I lay on my back, gasping and looking up at the bright sky of the day. Then my view was obstructed by the furious ray of fire that passed over me, the heat of it searing against my skin.

  I shut my eyes, trying not to breathe in too deeply. Who knew? Turned out if I had a clear shot at her with my rifle, she had a clear shot of me and Carter with her flames. So much for relative safety, I thought, trying to suppress a sudden burst of dismay.

  The heat dissipated, and I took in a ragged breath. My body ached from the fall, and my cheeks stung from the proximity of the fire. I didn’t think I’d broken anything—I knew what that felt like, and this wasn’t it.

  Carter. Was he alright? And the gun—for all I knew, it could have discharged on impact and shot him. I sat up, stiff and sore.

  Carter was next to me, propped up on one elbow. Cradling his wrist. “How bad?” I asked. “Any other injuries? The gun?”

  He gave an uncertain grin. “Manageable, and I’m okay. I don’t think the gun went off—at least, neither of us is shot, as far as I can tell.” He frowned at me. “Is your leg okay?”

  My what? I looked down, to find a gash across my calf that I couldn’t even feel. That would probably come later. My instincts kicked in, immediately telling me to grab the first aid kit—which was in the pick-up, where I couldn’t reach it. That left me blinking at the wound, feeling completely lost.

  I’d been doing okay. I’d been acting and planning and following through on that plan. Somehow, knowing exactly what I needed to do and having that option taken away from me was different. It threw me. My throat closed up, and I tried not to lose it with the sudden realization that I didn’t know what to do.

  “Hey,” Carter said, his voice gentle and his eyes knowing. We’d been working together long enough for him to recognize where the problem was. “For now, we’ll just have to put pressure on it.” He ripped a piece of cloth off of his shirt and handed it to me.

  Following the directive gave me enough time to get it together. As I tied the cloth, I walked myself through what I needed to do next. The priority was to get back up to somewhere I could shoot from. Hurling fire at us wouldn’t distract the chimera for long, and two of my teammates were still out there.

  I stood up and glanced out from behind the ruins. The chimera was still facing our general direction. Maybe waiting for another attack? My heart raced at the idea.

  Tony and Luca were on the far side of the wall by then, using the chimera’s moment of preoccupation with us to stop and climb to the other side. I could only make out silhouettes at best. If they made it out now, while the chimera’s attention was on me and Carter, that might be the end of it. All of us would be on the right side of the wall. But in case the legimal turned her attention towards Tony and Luca, I readied myself to take another shot.

  Off in the distance, I watched as one of the guys made it over—another of us finally out of danger—but then the chimera swung her head back in their direction, and shifted towards them. The pick-up took off again. If I could just distract her for long enough, my last team member—Tony—would make it to safety.

  My next shot miscalculated the chimera’s movement, and I missed completely. Ugh. I cycled the bolt, trying to let go of the frustration and urgency. This time I managed to hit the chimera’s leg, slowing her down.

  “Uh, Jordan?” Carter said.

  A flash of disgruntlement passed through me at the distraction, and I tried to squash it. “Yeah?” I asked, knowing that Carter wouldn’t interrupt if it wasn’t serious, not when Tony’s life was on the line.

  “I think we have a problem.” He pointed towards the road we’d arrived from. I shifted my gaze over, wondering what he could have seen and hoping it was the arrival of help. Instead, it was something I never could have predicted.

  Amongst the dirt dusted with grass, a wide expanse of light brown and green, a flicker of something deep red and blue appeared in the distance. It was a few seconds before I realized it was moving, approaching gradually but steadily. It was a few more seconds before the colors coalesced into a recognizable shape. I struggled to hold onto a futile sense of denial, but it wasn’t long before I gave up, and admitted I knew exactly what I was looking at.

  A basilisk heading down the road.

  The same basilisk from before? Two couldn’t possibly have appeared in the area out of nowhere, on the same day. Had it followed us?

  The chimera slowed, losing interest in the pick-up, and turned her avid attention onto the new arrival. Was she recognizing danger? Had chimeras and basilisks once occupied the same habitats?

  The basilisk strolled forward, languid. Seemingly unconcerned at how it had become the center of attention. For a long, tension-ridden stretch of time, we—Carter and I, the chimera, even Tony driving the pick-up at a slower-than-usual pace—watched and waited to see what the largest predator (metaphorically speaking) would do. The basilisk continued its painfully slow crawl, unconcerned for all the lives it was disrupting. It strolled right into the invisible wall and stopped short.

  I held my breath, wondering what that meant. It was too far away for me to read the creature’s mood, to figure out if it was agitated by the unexpected obstacle the
way the chimera had been.

  The basilisk opened its mouth, and stood there, holding its gaping maw open for the world to see. A moment passed, where nothing happened. But then the bits of grass in front of the creature turned brown and yellow, as the corrosive aspect of the basilisk’s fumes took effect. Predictably, the effect stopped short of the crushed grass, delineating the invisible wall.

  And yet, it meant the basilisk was creating a hunting waste right before my eyes. A part of me filled with awe, marveling at the sight. Another part was silently screaming in terror, because of the abject destruction happening much too close to my person.

  I kept my eyes on that invisible line between the grass which was discolored by the basilisk’s venom and the grass shielded from it by the wall. It was such a dichotomy, seeing the difference side by side. Until the discoloration started spreading past that invisible line, over to the grass on the other side. My brain scrambled to keep up with what was happening. Had the miasma passed over the wall, finally reaching the other side? But what about the crushed grass, under the wall itself, which had begun to wither first? Had the poison somehow traveled underneath?

  The basilisk moved again, forward, straight into the wall—and passed as if there was nothing there. I blinked to try to focus my eyes. Had the basilisk...broken the wall? Its breath was actually capable of destroying a solid wall? That shouldn’t have been possible, should it? I mean, sure, the legimal’s breath was poisonous, or toxic, or something—I hadn’t researched it, so I only had a vague idea. And maybe it could corrode non-living objects too, for all I knew. But I’d hopped over the thickness of that wall. How could the legimal’s breath just...dissolve it, like that? If that was even what happened, because the truth was, I didn’t know.

  I had thought the chimera was terrifying, but she’d been as helpless against the barrier as we were. The basilisk had obliterated it. By breathing.

  The chimera remained in place, posture alert, as the living death ray approached. The basilisk started circling around her, keeping its distance. Incidentally also avoiding the pick-up (which Tony was driving away from both animals now). The grass along its path shriveled up, leaving a deadly trail in its wake. Since the legimal didn’t have to keep emitting poison—it chose to—I read the situation as incredibly dangerous, with the basilisk acting aggressively.

  In time, it reached the other end of the wall, blew that down too, and continued moving away. Passing right between Luca’s position and ours, the dead grass behind it marking the space that he couldn’t safely pass. Cutting him off from us. I really hoped he was smart enough to realize he shouldn’t get near the dead plant matter.

  The minutes ticked by as I watched the basilisk’s progress, my every muscle tense. It moved slowly, and every moment felt like forever. But it wandered further and further away, its shape appearing as a blob of color in the distance. Until the blob finally stopped shy of a small stream further ahead, and stayed there.

  I waited for any sign of movement, but it stayed put, remaining a good distance away. Normally, I’d call that a safe distance. But my instincts told me that there wasn’t anything normal about this.

  A motion out of the corner of my eye drew my attention back to the chimera. She headed towards the distant basilisk, which was weird. She’d stopped everything just like the rest of us as soon as the other legimal had appeared—but no, wait. It was in the direction of the basilisk, yes, but she must have been heading for the hole in the wall that the basilisk had created with its passage. She wasn’t rushing, but soon enough, she’d be beyond the invisible wall.

  Which would bring her dangerously close to the dark blob that was Luca, out in the open, by himself. On foot, and no longer on the right side of that wall. Because there wasn’t a right side of the wall anymore.

  I raised the gun, hyperaware that it was my only chance to change the outcome of what happened. It didn’t feel like enough. My chances of hitting her at this distance were abysmal. I tried to shake off the feeling of frustrated helplessness, and focused on getting a good shot. Maybe I wouldn’t get lucky enough to hit her, or even if I did, maybe she’d shrug it off the way she’d shrugged off everything else. But it was the only thing I could do, and I had to try to save Luca.

  The pick-up stopped abruptly. Tony got out, his silhouette climbing into the back. I watched in confusion as he pulled out something, realizing it was a biohazard wrap. He put it over the vehicle, while I wondered what he was doing. Why would he need that?

  An obvious answer drifted into my mind, that he meant to drive through the area the basilisk’s fumes had contaminated—and I practically recoiled in horror at the idea. Because we had two biohazard wraps in the pick-up, and only one of them would protect against a basilisk. I remembered Carter explaining which one was which, but that had been to Luca, while Tony was driving. Tony didn’t know which wrap to use, and I couldn’t tell them apart at this distance. There was a fifty-fifty chance that he’d picked the right one. But if he hadn’t, and he tried to get near the contaminated area—

  His figure returned to the driver’s seat, the pick-up turning around and heading towards the chimera—I was so taken aback, I shifted my foot off the side of the rim and nearly lost my balance. Tony would never do that. Which meant he couldn’t be the one driving.

  “The chimera’s outside the wall,” Carter said, horror in his voice.

  Yes. And much too close to Tony, not Luca. Tony, whose only line of defense was to drive away as fast as he could. And now he didn’t even have that.

  Luca closed the distance fast. He drove the pick-up straight for the chimera, no hesitation. Again, I’d misjudged him. I never would have guessed that he’d do something as gung-ho as this. Or as suicidal.

  The chimera actually started backing off a bit, like she was nervous at the pick-up’s approach. Okay. I could see that. A predator, used to having creatures run away from her instead of towards her. As long as she wasn’t taking advantage of the proximity to attack my teammate, I was good. The pick-up shot right past her, darting behind her form, and she scrambled away from it.

  “What’s he doing?” Carter asked. “Is that a good idea?”

  No, definitely not. “Let’s just say that I don’t necessarily want you trying anything like that yourself.” Since this was Carter, I felt this was necessary to point out, for future reference. Assuming we had a future.

  Luca kept going, now past the chimera, over the dead grass marking the hole in the wall. He made a beeline for Tony’s lonely figure, distressingly defenseless compared to the other pieces on the board—the chimera, Luca’s pick-up shaped battering ram, the basilisk’s long train of poison. It was a relief when the vehicle stopped long enough for Tony to get in, driving away with both of my team members inside. At least they had that much protection. And they were both outside of the wall.

  My eyes shot to the chimera, willing her to let them get away. But once the pick-up was moving away from her again, whatever confusion she’d seemed to have felt faded. She darted forward after the retreating pick-up, a predator chasing down her prey.

  Could the boys outrace her? I eyed their respective speeds, wanting desperately to believe that the vehicle was faster, that they might stay ahead of her. But if I was being honest with myself, I really wasn’t sure they could.

  The pick-up swerved in my direction, as if the driver had come to the same conclusion. I waited for her to get close enough for a good shot, trying not to think about all the ways that this could go terribly wrong. Like that I wouldn’t be able to distract her or hurt her enough for Tony and Luca to get away. Or that she’d stop running and flame them down before they got out of her range. Or that the pick-up would fly by the ruins, unable to stop for us, and the chimera’s attention would turn to me and Carter.

  I told myself to breathe, to get myself together. The guys were depending on me. And with that thought, I concentrated on the chimera, getting closer and closer with every second. On steadying my hands, lining up the sho
t—

  Until the chimera put on a sudden burst of speed that propelled her forward, far enough to get her teeth in the biohazard wrap covering the car. My heart pounded in my chest for those few seconds where she held on, the car wobbling just the tiniest bit off course, unable to remain steady. For a moment, I wasn’t sure if she’d derail them entirely. Then the wrap came loose from the pick-up, still lodged in her mouth, and she stumbled. The pick-up managed to put a small yet precious amount of distance between them.

  That was my moment. I squeezed the trigger, hardly daring to hope I’d have any effect at all. The chimera’s form flinched, faltering for a moment, before she resumed her charge. And yet. Maybe my eyes were deceiving me, or my need to believe we could survive this was throwing off my judgment. But I really thought I could detect just the slightest decrease in speed from her.

  Then I was sure of it, as the pick-up started gaining more and more distance. Before long, the chimera had visibly slowed. Then outright collapsed into a heap. I didn’t know if it was the bullet or the basilisk toxin she ingested from the wrap that did it. And I didn’t care, as long as it was over. The pick-up headed in our direction, while Carter and I kept a wary eye on the chimera’s form. Watching for any movements, for a recovery.

  “Tell me what the basilisk’s doing,” I said. I had to keep my eyes on the primary threat, but I could delegate to Carter.

  “Just sitting there,” he replied. Great. Where was a weasel when you needed one? They were supposed to be able to handle basilisks, in the stories.

  “Keep an eye on it.” I waited a few moments, to be sure. The chimera was far away—it was possible I might miss signs of movement from her. But she didn’t spring back up and start breathing fire all over the place. She was either dead or grievously injured.