“The Minotaur?” Kira asks a tremor in her voice.
“I don’t think so. The Minotaur doesn’t have claws. He has hands like a normal man. That sounded like claws scraping against stone.” I creep around the next corner.
A wave of heat crashes over me a second before flames shoot out of the darkness. I drop to the ground, rolling away behind a stone wall. Clawsclick clackagainst the stone floor and the golden fur of a lion flickers in my view. A lion’s roar shakes the walls. There’s only one creature in Ancient Greek history that is part lion and breathes fire.
The Chimera is in the maze, and we have to defeat it again.
“Chimera,” I shout to the others. “I really fucking hate this thing.”
“Beth, are you okay?” Jayden calls.
“I’m fine. Stay back. This thing’s fire is no joke. It’s magical.” Another blast of heat hits me before the lion’s head snaps at me with a growl.
“B, it took the both of us last time to kill that thing. You can’t take it on alone,” Raven says.
“There’s no room out here for anyone else to fight. We will just get in each other’s way.” I scan the small enclosed space. “Plus, I’m supercharged now.”
Lightning crackles along my fingertips as I roll to my feet and face the beast. The sconces haven’t been lit yet, so I have to squint to make out the beast in the darkness with only the light from the magic crackling at my fingertips to see by.
“Kira, can you give me some light?” I call out.
Kira peeks her head around the corner and raises a hand, lighting the sconces in an instant. “This place is a lot bigger than you thought. Maybe we can help.”
She’s right. Now with the light I can see the cavernous space behind the approaching Chimera more clearly. Stalagmites drop down from the tall ceilings, giving the perfect weapons should I need to use them to impale the creature.
“I think I’ve got this,” I say with a grin.
Flames shoot out of the lion’s mouth, and I dodge, holding a hand up. Lightning strikes out at the beast, zapping it in the chest. It rears back, snarling and pawing at the ground.
“I think you just pissed it off,” Kira yelps.
I hit it with another blast of lightning, and it backs farther away. I have it on the defensive now. Shadows swirl around me as Jayden appears next to me in the cavern.
“You’re not doing this alone. I don’t care what you have to say about it. That thing burned you last time. I’m not letting that happen again.”
“You want to do your shadow chains thingy?” I ask with a grin.
“You’re going to pay for that,” Jayden growls.
“Later. We have to kill this thing and get the hell out of here.” I flip my hair over my shoulder.
Jayden’s shadows burst out of him, his chains clanking together as they wrap around the Chimera’s body. It thrashes and roars, fire spewing from its mouth in every direction. I drop to the ground, pulling Jayden down with me. The heat of the fire is so close it nearly singes my skin.
The serpent’s tail strikes out with its poisonous barb and I roll us to the side, just barely dodging the blow.
“Tighten the chains and I’ll hit it with everything I’ve got.” I jump to my feet.
Jayden clenches his hand into a fist and the chains tighten. The goat hooves scramble to hold the Chimera up but it falls to the side hog-tied by the shadow chains. Raising my hands, I hold them out and blast lightning through the beast. The Chimera roars as it convulses on the stone floor of the cavern before it explodes into ash.
“Are you guys okay?” Raven calls.
“Yeah,” I call back. “It’s safe to come out. The Chimera is dead. Hopefully for good this time.”
I slump into Jayden’s arms as the others step around the corner. Greyson hands me a sandwich from his bag and I grin at him.
“Thanks, snack mom.”
“Shut it and eat the damn sandwich,” Greyson grumbles.
