The Chimera (Legends of the Dark Creatures Book 2)
Chapter One: New Dawn

Fate, destiny, purpose... words often used to give some meaning to life. While some might argue that the happenings of this world are governed by sheer coincidence, there are those who believe that the decisions we make in the present greatly determine the outcome of the future; regardless of how far or near that future may be. Some even believe that destinies can transcend over lifetimes.

Many walk through life believing that they are the masters of their fate— possessing the power to change it. Until recently, Ashley was one of those people— and she wasn’t the only one. When it was prophesied that she would bring forth a terrifying evil into the world, Ashley, together with her friends and allies, did everything they could to avert this prophecy.

They battled and defeated Sebastian; the Earth Element Master who sort to awaken this evil.

But despite all their efforts, the prophecy was fulfilled.

Never had Ashley felt so empty and uncertain. That day, even the sunrise felt different. The yellow sun’s rays entering her room no longer warmed her heart. The tint of red in the sky only reminded her of the blood that had been spilled last night. The world was waking up to another bright dawn but for Ashley; invisible and frightening darkness was walking among them.

She pulled her large, warm, and furry blanket over her face and shut her eyes. Her body couldn’t stop shaking as painful images played on repeat behind her eyelids.

Her mother’s body with a broken neck, and her sister’s small hand sticking out behind a sofa. They were dead— she’d seen and felt what it would be like if she ever lost the two people she loved the most in this world.

It was an illusion she reminded herself, opening her teary eyes. It was all an illusion created by Ethan.

At the very thought of that name, Ashley’s nails lengthened into claws, piercing through her soft white blanket. Hisses came out of her mouth instead of breaths and she felt her teeth extending; almost biting through her lips. Her chest began to rise and fall rapidly, making her heart feel as if it was being squeezed.

She pressed her hands against her chest, tightly grasping the black shirt she wore.

It is all my fault she thought.

Ethan had awakened. The evil that Ashley and her friends fought so hard to keep at bay now walked the earth.

Ethan Thane... Ashley assumed that that should have been his full name.

Her eyes opened.

Before disappearing into the night, Ethan had said something.

“...pass my regards to my little brother.”

Ashley calmed down, sighed, and got out of her blanket. Her claws retracted and the burning ache inside her chest began to fade.

Even though she didn’t sleep during the night, Ashley’s eyes were still wide awake.

She sat on her bed, sucked in a deep breath, and relaxed her body— controlling the fear and anger swirling up inside her.

Ethan and Richard were brothers. Ashley felt her face twisting into stern lines. Richard had been lying to her all this time. Well, not really, she thought. Thinking about it, Richard just neglected to mention that part to her. He didn’t lie to her but at the same time, he didn’t trust her enough to tell her the truth.

A part of Ashley kept asking why she easily accepted Ethan’s words as true. But another side ─ a huge side of her─ knew that Ethan wasn’t lying.

A soft creaking noise came from the door. Ashley turned her head to see who it was and stinging hot tears involuntarily filled and flowed out of her eyes.

Still wearing a white silky nightgown, Leah walked in. The little ten-year-old was barefooted and adorably scratching her sleepy bloodshot eyes as she entered the room.

“Ashy, what’s wrong?” Leah asked, letting out a yawn.

Ashley sprang out of the bed and hugged her little sister.

“You are here, aren’t you?” Ashley said, tightening her hug.

“A-Ashy c-can’t breathe... you... supernaturally strong.”

“Oh, sorry,” Ashley said, sobbing carelessly with a running noise as she loosened her arms. She was such an ugly crier.

Ashley rubbed her right hand against her eyes, wiped away some of the tears, and sat on the bed with Leah.

“What happened?” Leah asked, her tiny voice sounding sleepy yet concerned.

Ashley’s lips parted. She was about to tell Leah everything when Ethan’s words suddenly resounded in her mind.

“You will be of great use to me...”

Ethan was planning something and Ashley was a part of it. For the first time in a long time, Ashley had to keep a secret from the one person she’d sworn never to lie to. Ethan was different from Sebastian and Ashley didn’t know how far he would go to get what he wanted from her. She had to make sure her family was safe by not involving them.

She held Leah’s warm hand and said, “Leah, I can’t involve you in what’s going on this time. Please understand.”

Leah slowly pulled her hand away.

“But, you always tell me,” Leah said, narrowing her eyes and pressing her lips together.

“Leah please, it’s not just you I’m worried about,” Ashley pleaded. “Mom...”

“Mom might be in danger too?” Leah asked. The tension in her voice faded.

“Everyone might be,” Ashley added. “I promise to tell you—”

Leah wrapped her hands around Ashley’s waist and rested her head on her chest.

“I will trust you, Ashy,” Leah said, gently tightening her hug. “I will always trust you. You don’t have to promise, big sis.”

Ashley caressed her little sister’s hair. More tears began to spill out of her eyes when she felt Leah’s body shaking. Ashley sent a probing power from her body and sensed Leah’s aura. The fear the little girl felt. Ashley bit hard on her lower lip, suppressing a cry that could have woken an entire block. Her body was trembling in fear of what she would do if anything were to happen to Leah, to her mother, or her friends.

“That’s your worried face,” Leah said, raising her head at Ashley. Leah had managed to force a smile across her face.

Ashley sobbed and with a smile, she said, “I have a worried face?”

Leah nodded her head.

Natural light slowly began to fill the entire room and Ashley stared outside the window. The red color in the sky had now become a bright orange. Beautiful as the sky was, Ashley knew that the world was no longer the same. Ethan... The Chimera was now a part of it.

Ashley picked up her phone from the nightstand and turned it on. Over twenty missed call notifications appeared; each displaying Richard’s name. Seconds later, the phone rang. It was Samantha calling.

After taking in a deep breath, Ashley answered the call.

“Hey girl,” Samantha said, in her usual cheery voice.

“Hey,” Ashley replied, trying to imitate her friend’s tone. She failed horribly.

“Ashley, what’s wrong?”

“It’s um— it’s nothing...” Ashley answered.

Leah held Ashley’s shaking hand and her blue eyes gazed right into hers. A weak smile appeared on Ashley’s face. She understood what Leah was trying to say.

She had to let someone in.

“Ashley?” Samantha’s voice said over the phone.

“Can I come over?” Ashley whispered.

“Okay, now I know something is wrong,” Samantha said, her voice more serious. “You know this is your home too right?”

A corner of Ashley’s mouth lifted and she said, “Silly of me to forget. I will be there in a few.”

“With your super speed, I can’t doubt that,” Samantha laughed.

Ashley chucked and cut the call. She opened the window, drew in a fresh breath, and felt her spirits slowly being lifted.

There was a brief silence between her and Leah until their mother came in.

“You guys are up early... hmm... what did Ashley do this time?” she said, crossing her arms.

“Mom,” Ashley frowned.

“Leah?” her mother said, turning her face towards little Leah.

“She will replace out eventually,” Leah spoke, smiling at Ashley.

“Find out what?” Ashley asked uncertainly.

“Mom, remember that antique cup from China that you thought you lost? Ashley was the one who broke it.”

Ashley’s jaw fell. It was an incident that happened about three years ago and she’d completely forgotten about it.

“Ashley?” Her mom’s voice had deepened and her sharp brown eyes sent a scary, yet happy, chill along Ashley’s spine.

“Mom, I can explain,” Ashley said, withdrawing to the edge of the bed as her mom slowly advanced toward her.

“Leah, hold her,” her mom said.

“Sorry, Ashy,” Leah said, raising her hands. “Oh and Mom, she dumped the pieces in the ocean.”

“You do know what happens next, right?”

“Mom, please don’t,” Ashley pleaded while laughing at the same time.

Ashley began to laugh hysterically when both her mother and sister began to tickle her.

“Please stop!” Ashley laughed, trying to struggle but also making sure she didn’t struggle too much. She was, after all, a hundred times stronger than them.

“And you,” her mom said, throwing her gaze in Leah’s direction. She grabbed Leah and began tickling her as well. “You have kept her secret for three years. That’s a conspiracy to um— to... breaking stuff.”

“I think you mean Obstruction of Justice, Mom,” Leah said while laughing.

“You should take some lessons from Aunt Leah,” Ashley said, referring to her mother’s sister who worked as a detective in New York.

The three of them burst into giggles and slept on the bed, breathing hard. It was beautiful, Ashley thought. Seeing her family this happy despite everything going on.

I guess ignorance is bliss she thought.

Ashley’s life may not have been perfect before but at least she never feared for her family’s safety back then. She stared at her mom. The dark circles around her worn-out eyes were starting to fade. Ashley suddenly remembered the file Jacob had given her. It so happened that her mother was secretly investigating the disappearance of Ashley’s father. Ashley wondered if she knew the truth about him. No. If she did she would have told Ashley years ago.

“What’s wrong, dear?” her mother asked, lying on the bed.

Ashley lifted her head to face her. “Mom, I don’t know if I have ever asked this before but— what was dad like?”

There was a brief spark of sorrow in her mother’s eyes, followed by a happiness Ashley always loved to see in her.

Her mother sat up and made Leah sit on her lap.

“You probably don’t remember but I once told you this story when you were very young,” her mother said, stroking Leah’s hair. “Owen Morgan; that was your father’s name. How we met might sound like a fairy tale but trust me, it’s true.”

“Storytime!” Leah exclaimed, raising her hands in the air. Ashley always found it immensely cute whenever Leah acted more her age.

“Okay so I was on one of my archeological expeditions in search of an ancient relic rumored to be hidden deep somewhere in the Pacific,” their mother said. “But our beautiful voyage suddenly turned into a fight for survival when our ship got caught in a vicious storm. The harsh waves threw me overboard and the last thing I remember hearing was one of the crew members shout ‘Land!’”

“When I woke up I found myself on a rocky beach. My body was covered in bruises but luckily I didn’t have any fatal injuries. Hoping that the rest of my team survived, I began searching for them. I went for two days without replaceing any food or water until my body eventually gave out and—”

“And let me guess,” Ashley said with a smile. “Dad found you.”

“What? God no. My crew found me and I met your father in a Spanish restaurant when I returned to New York.”

“So, what was the point of the whole exploration story?”

“No point, I just love it,” her mother replied.

Ashley laughed and shook her head. “Fairy tale story huh?” she commented.

“I try,” her mother replied, still playing with Leah’s hair. “Anyway, when I met your father he was standing next to a vending machine, staring intensely at it. Maria, the owner of the restaurant, told me that he had been standing there for over an hour. I usually ordered a coffee from the restaurant but that day my curiosity reached its peak. So, I found myself walking towards him. When I was near the machine I slotted in a coin and got myself a canned drink.”

“‘The ingenuity of humans never ceases to amaze me’ he said as he turned towards me. Those eyes; I will never forget them. In those blue eyes, I saw a man of adventure, joy, happiness... life. Yes, your father was full of life. Everything around him intrigued him; like he was seeing them for the first time.”

He probably was, Ashley thought and curved her lips into a smile.

“After that, he told me his name and said that he was a tourist. When I introduced myself as an archeologist he was so fascinated that he asked me to give him a tour. ′Surely, there is no one else who knows the rich history and splendor that this city bears′ he said when I tried to decline. He was very persuasive so eventually, I agreed. And a year later...”

Ashley’s mother outstretched her left hand.

“This ring found its way on my finger,” she said, displaying the pure transparent crystal in the ring. “And after a few months, we discovered that our family would be growing soon.”

Her mother’s face fell into a sorrowful expression. Ashley knew why. The next part of the story was about how her father disappeared before she was even born.

LOCAL SAILOR LOST AT SEA

Ashley once found an old newspaper with that headline in some of her mother’s things.

But there was one thing she never understood and never dared to ask her mother or anyone. Why weren’t there any pictures of her father anywhere in the house?

Ashley quickly shook her head and brushed off the thought.

Her phone rang again.

Ashley quickly picked up her phone she was just about to answer when she saw the caller ID.

It was Richard.

Ashley pressed the ignore icon on her phone only to be met by a curious stare from her mother.

“Guy trouble?” her mother asked.

Before Ashley answered, she sensed a wave of power pass by her. Richard must have projected it. He was right outside.

“Mom, can you trust someone if you replace out that they’ve been lying to you?” Ashley asked, hiding her frustration. She knew that Richard could hear her.

“Hmm, well that depends,” her mother replied, staring thoughtfully at the ceiling. “Some people lie to protect themselves while others do it to protect the ones around them. However, that doesn’t change the fact that a lie is a lie. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to give them a chance to at least explain themselves.”

“Perhaps...”

Ashley

This time it was Richard who spoke. He was somewhere outside and only Ashley could hear him; for she had heightened her hearing.

“Ashley, I am not going to make any excuses for lying to you; to all of you. Yes, Ashley, it’s true; Ethan is my half-brother but there is more to our story... more that I need to tell you.”

His voice was soft and sounded so sincere.

“Mom,” Ashley said. “I will be heading over to the Mitchells before going to school.”

“And you’re telling me that why?”

“No reason,” Ashley replied, jumping out of bed.

There was a reason. The message wasn’t for her mother; it was for Richard.

“I understand,” Richard whispered. ”And I am sorry.”

After that Richard’s presence faded.

Soon, Ashley’s mother and sister left the room.

Ashley went into her bathroom. She quickly took off her clothes and stepped into the shower. Hot water began to land on her body. Ashley stood there for a while, staring at the water as it went down the drain. She stretched out her hand and tried to control the water. Nothing happened.

When Ashley was young, ten years ago, she was able to control the water in a glass. Richard had taught her that Element Masters that controlled water couldn’t control it if it had been, as Richard had put it, tainted. Merfolk like her were only supposed to be able to control pure ocean water but that day...

Ashley shook her head, got a bar of rose-scented soap, and began rubbing it around her body. She stopped when she reached the back of her left shoulder and felt the tattoo on it. It was a Chimera. It had three heads— a lion, a dragon, and a fox with two horns. Its two front legs were those of a lion and the ones behind were that of a fox and dragon. Two large bat-like wings protruded from its scaly back and it had a long tail with small sharp spikes. Ashley still had no memory of how she got this tattoo or where she had gotten it from. She barely knew any tattoo artists in the town of Ravenhill; much less in the entire city of Salem. And the ones she had asked said that they had never seen her come into their places.

Several minutes passed and Ashley was already out of the shower, dressed in blue denim jeans and a slightly tight white T-shirt. She opened her wardrobe and took out her favorite blue denim jacket.

Once she was ready, Ashley walked to the window and after making sure no one was out who could see her, she jumped. Diving through and out of the window when either entering or leaving the house had become a bit of a norm for her. Ashley looked around again and dashed to Samantha’s place.

Ashley arrived there within seconds. Samantha was waiting by the door, still in her purple nightgown.

“I thought you’d be ready by now,” Ashley said.

“There will be no school today,” Samantha replied, sounding a bit excited. “Oh, you haven’t yet heard.”

“Heard what?”

“Well turns out that somebody set half the forest on fire and the smoke has now covered the entire school,” Samantha replied, staring behind Ashley.

“Sorry about that,” Richard’s voice said.

Ashley turned and faced Richard. Earlier, she was ready to show him how angry she was; to show him how hurt she was. But when she saw him, her heart melted. His eyes were bloodshot— red— and weary with black circles. His skin was wet with sweat causing his clothes to almost stick to it. Richard’s entire body was shivering slightly and looked like it could crumble anymore moment but he still managed to maintain his composure. Ashley could hear his heart racing against his chest.

He tried to move forward but could have fallen if she hadn’t caught him. That’s when his breaths became short.

“Richard, what happened? Where have you been?” Ashley asked.

“S-Searching the realms,” Richard replied, almost choking. “At least the ones I can enter.”

“For Ethan?”

“What do you mean for, Ethan?” Samantha asked, helping Ashley to hold Richard.

Ashley looked at Samantha. Her best friend’s dark brown eyes were full of fear and her tanned skin almost looked pale.

“Sam,” Ashley said. “Sam, we failed. Ethan has returned.”

Turning to Richard, Ashley finally said it.

“Ethan Thane has awakened.”

***

Hi Guys!!! Thank you so much for taking an interest, yet again, in another one of my books.

This is book 2 of Legends of the Dark Creatures and I hope you enjoy the epic adventure that’s about to unfold.