by Eva Brandt
She didn’t, at least not immediately. We just hovered there in the air, with me safely in the cockpit of a gigantic mecha. That was more or less guess work on my part, since I had no idea what was going on around me. All the systems of the chimera were dead with the exception of her wings and thrusters. The displays that should’ve shown me what was going on were blank. Since the shell of the chimera was so thick, I couldn’t hear anything either.
What was I supposed to do? How was a chimera even piloted?
The Sphinx seemed to understand my predicament, because her hold on my body tightened. Her voice drifted into my mind, fierce, yet calm. “A chimera cannot be piloted. It can only be tamed.
“I may have been born out of steel, tungsten, and diamond, but I carry the soul of the original Sphinx, the Great Riddler, the Devourer of the Unwise. I am the only one who can choose my tamer, and I have picked you, young Selene.
“However, this is not an offer you are obligated to accept. I will keep you safe regardless of what choice you make. But without an actual tamer, I can do very little to stop what is happening.
“That being said, if you accept, your soul will forever be bound to mine. It is not a decision you should take lightly.”
Her offer sounded an awful lot like the proverbial deal with the devil, as my ancestors had once called it. But the devil didn’t exist, and while it was terrifying to consider taking on such a burden, this was a chance I couldn’t discard.
Louise was still somewhere out there and all these people, no matter how crazy, needed help. I also suspected that no one, not even the terrorists, had wanted this to happen. The magic they’d used had been too powerful and it was now out of control.
“Does that mean that, if I take you up on this, you’ll help me save them?” I asked the Sphinx. “I have no idea how to do anything, how to use your skills.”
“It’ll be difficult and it’ll put some strain on your mind and your body, but it can be accomplished, just this once.”
I had a bad feeling about her definition of ‘strain’, but I tried to not let the fear get to me. “All right, then. Let’s do it.”
If the Sphinx thought I was being rash, she didn’t say it. “So be it, young Selene. Brace yourself.”
A sharp pain exploded over my spine and my brain was assaulted by a myriad of images I couldn’t hope to process. The figures of ancient titans and creatures surrounded me in a dizzying, nauseating kaleidoscope. Ghostly hands made a grab for me, clawing at my mind, my body, and my soul.
My blood was boiling in my veins. My skin was crawling and cracking. I screamed, but I couldn’t hear myself utter a single sound.
A wise, familiar voice drifted into my head, the last remnant of a world I was quickly losing track of. “It’s all right. You can do this, young Selene. Don’t fight it. Embrace your power and it will obey you.”
I tried to listen to the Sphinx, but it was easier said than done. I felt like I was shattering, being ripped apart, torn into pieces by a force I couldn’t hope to understand.
And then, just as suddenly as it started, the overwhelming process ended. The power of the chimera settled in my bones. I blinked and my vision cleared, the pain turning into a certainty more genuine than anything I’d experienced in my life.
The controls felt natural in my hand, like I’d been born to grip them. Maybe I had been. After all, the Sphinx had specifically picked me as her tamer, even if there had been a crowd here of over a thousand men, all of whom might have been better qualified, simply because of their gender.
Fuck that. It didn’t matter that I was a woman. The chimera had successfully connected to my soul, and now, we were one.
“Congratulations, young Selene,” the Sphinx said, her voice tinged with smugness and satisfaction. “You’ve successfully passed the first trial of chimera taming. Now, we can begin to consume those fools standing in our way.”
Gaia help me. Why did I have a feeling that the hard part had only just begun?
The First Battle
Selene
An ancient saying had once claimed that women were from Venus and men were from Mars. My mother had always disagreed, pointing out that we were all children of Gaia. I’d emphasized that if we ever did meet the populations of Venus and Mars, they’d probably be more hostile than other members of mankind. But there were days when I did wonder if, at least metaphorically speaking, that saying had been correct.
The chaos in the plaza could’ve certainly been described as a miniature war. I’d seen recreations of the battles between mankind and the Sun-Dwellers, and those images were uncomfortably similar to what was now showing up on my display screens.
“War is one thing that will never change,” the Sphinx told me. “No matter who the combatants are, it is just as vicious, cruel, and petty.”
“But we’re not at war now, at least not on Earth,” I argued.
“Are you sure, young Selene? Because it certainly seems like you are, to me.”
Was the Sphinx right? Most likely. In my head, war had always been defined as the gigantic, all-consuming calamity that had almost destroyed our planet, to the point of forcing ancient deities to awaken from their slumber to help us. The war with the Sun-Dwellers was practically over now, with very few skirmishes going on in deep space, so I hadn’t really considered it an issue.
But even if it didn’t have the same scale of destruction, the anger of the rogue magic users was almost as dangerous. And like in the case of the Sun-Dwellers, they needed to be stopped.
I started out by finding the source of the fire. It appeared that the out of control magic had made a canister of fossil fuels explode. I directed the Sphinx forward, at which point I found myself in quite a predicament.
How was I supposed to put it out? I didn’t see any water, and the ground was already unstable. Using it to stem the advancing inferno might mean killing the people desperately trying to escape.
This was part of the reason why we’d abandoned fossil fuels. They were so volatile and impractical. Why in the world was the canister even here?
“I suspect it must’ve been food for one of the older chimeras,” the Sphinx said. “We have to eat too.”
Food. Okay, then. One of these days, I’d figure out how something that didn’t have a stomach actually ate, but that wasn’t going to happen now. “Okay, great. Do you have any thoughts on how to stop the fire?”
I was still not completely familiar with the systems of the Sphinx, and despite the connection I had with her, I couldn’t figure out how to access everything I needed. Right now, I was just making things worse, since the beating of the Sphinx’s powerful wings seemed to be spreading the fire.
The Sphinx did have an idea, but it wasn’t one I’d expected. “Like a good friend of mine used to say, when in doubt, hit it.”
Hit it? What kind of friend had given the Sphinx such advice? How in Gaia’s name was I supposed to hit a fire?
Unfortunately, I didn’t have any better ideas, and the Sphinx didn’t seem inclined to provide me with further input. I had no choice but to put my faith in her and hope she wouldn’t lead me astray. “Gaia, help us,” I whispered. Taking a deep breath, I dropped from the sky, straight onto the blazing container.
I expected a lot of things. An explosion was the most likely result, but I was relying on my massive mecha to be able to take it and shield the crowd from possible damage.
As it turned out, I’d been worrying about nothing. The moment the metal made contact with the powerful blaze, the fire began to decrease in size. It stopped advancing and rushed straight at the Sphinx, then vanished harmlessly as soon as it struck my chimera’s body.
The Sphinx crowed victoriously. “Ha! I knew that would work! Take that! Tartarus prevails again!”
I was so confused. What had just happened?
“The Tartarus diamond core absorbs heat,” the Sphinx explained. “Well, to be more specific, it emanates a pulse that manipulates the thermal conduction of the environm
ent around it.”
Now I felt like a fucking idiot. Of course it did. I knew that. It was how chimeras had managed to last in battle with the Sun-Dwellers for so long. When active, the gigantic machines weren’t just resilient to heat. They fed off it, in a way that was, ironically, similar to the habits of the Sun-Dwellers.
Of course, it took a lot for a chimera to feel an effect from ‘feeding’ off a heat source, so the fire vanished without me noticing any change in my handling of the mecha. It took only a couple of seconds, really, but those seconds were enough for my foes to realize something wasn’t right.
“There!” I heard a female voice shout. “Someone has the chimera. Now’s our chance.”
Blue-green strands of magic zeroed in on us like malevolent tentacles and the systems of the Sphinx began screaming in protest. The screens started to flicker and a deafening alarm echoed in the cockpit. At the same time, a jolt of electricity ran through my body and I cried out in shock and distress. It didn’t hurt, but it was overwhelming and it shattered my focus. Clutching the controls, I tried to get a grip and maintain my connection with the Sphinx.
The bands around me tightened as the chimera attempted to do the same. I began to have trouble breathing and my head hurt so much it felt like my skull was being split open.
“They’re trying to capture me,” the Sphinx yelled. “Do not let them, Selene.”
A strange desperation echoed inside me, and in it, I found strength. I had to remember one of the first lessons my mother had taught me. Tartarus and Gaia weren’t actually opposites. They were two entities and primordial deities who had worked together to save Earth. At one point, that had been forgotten, but right now, it was important.
Chimera nobles and royals, who didn’t have a deep connection to Mother Earth, were vulnerable to magic. I, on the other hand, had been born from one of Gaia’s priestesses. I might not have been able to use magic myself, but my mother had done it around me all the time. The magic the terrorists were using to hijack the Sphinx couldn’t hurt me.
I focused on that thought and on the simple determination that had made me accept the offer of the Sphinx in the first place. These people didn’t understand the severity of their own actions. A lot of innocents were dying because the extremists had lost control of Gaia’s power, and I had to stop it.
The Sphinx’s systems returned to normal, the displays no longer affected by the power of the terrorists. “What are you doing?” the same voice from before shouted, outside. “Tame it!”
“I’m trying!” another woman replied. “It doesn’t work!”
The exchange allowed me to track them down. The group of terrorists was in a small bubble of green magic that kept them afloat while they attempted to claim the chimera for themselves. The ground beneath them had collapsed, but their power was preventing them from falling into the dark depths of the earth. “We should just crack that damn bubble and let them die, suffocated by the force they have corrupted and defied,” the Sphinx said, her voice tinged with bloodlust and the desire for revenge.
A part of me couldn’t blame her for her reaction, since they had tried to enslave her. But on the other hand, it wasn’t my place to deliver justice onto someone who’d committed a crime. That wasn’t why I’d gotten into this machine. I had no idea what reasons these people might have had for their actions, but The Grand Judiciary and the High Priestesses of Gaia would deal with them. My job was to stop their rampage.
“We’re not killing anyone,” I told the Sphinx. “They’re children of Gaia, just like us.” Well, like me. “We’re ending that spell, immobilizing them. Someone else will decide their fates, not us.”
“You’re far too soft, young Selene. That might get you killed one day. If you have foes, you must consume them.”
Despite the reprimand, the Sphinx obeyed me. We didn’t have time to fight anyway, since the civilian population was still in a lot of trouble.
The situation was so bad that I ended up having to ignore the group of terrorists altogether. While they kept assaulting me with magic, the building to my right crumbled to pieces and the stone came raining down upon the screaming crowd.
I didn’t think. The Sphinx’s wings fanned out and expanded, and before I knew it, I was above the terrified people, shielding them from the danger.
It should’ve been impossible for me to protect them all from the damage, but a chimera wasn’t a simple mechanical creation. The Sphinx contained the power of the gods and that of two entwined souls. I didn’t even feel the side-effects of the crumbling building as it came down on top of me.
I stalled long enough for the people to flee. Once I ascertained the immediate problem had been solved, the Sphinx landed on the sole spot of steady ground we could see and buried her claws deep within the earth. “This will hurt, young Selene,” she warned me.
“Yes, I know. You already told me that. Let’s do it. We have no other choice.”
A chimera was powerful, but it was, in essence, a war machine, and it had never been built for rescue operations. The original Sphinx, whose soul the mecha held, had been a hunter, and the metallic version was no different. I’d gotten lucky earlier, but I couldn’t hope to save too many people with just one robot, not when the whole place was crashing down around us.
But Tartarus was a deity aligned with earth too, the primordial god of the underworld. My hope was that we could use the energy within the Sphinx to stop the aftershocks of magic that were making the ground crack.
It worked far better than I expected. I sensed the moment the energy coming from the Sphinx’s core connected with me, but it didn’t hurt, not like the earlier process had. “There’s been enough death today,” I said. “No more. Stop this.”
The Sphinx’s claws came alive with crimson magic, and the violent flare of energy burned with the desire to hunt, to hurt. I willed it to settle down, to anchor Gaia’s power instead. Tartarus’s fire protested at first, not appreciating my desire to go against its nature. But in the end, it complied, tempering the wild, out of control power the strange terrorists had used.
The ground stopped shaking. The waves of green slowly dissipated, tempered by the energy of the chimera’s core.
I knew better than to think I would’ve won this with my meager skills, but the magic itself seemed to understand there were no enemies here to fight. It was only a massive mistake, and like my mother so often said, we were all children of Gaia.
Unfortunately, this realization had come a little too late, and not just for the people that had been swallowed by the ground. I’d just hijacked a very powerful chimera, one I didn’t actually know how to control. The real ramifications of my decision didn’t strike me until another chimera appeared. It looked like a massive, three-headed dog, and fire danced around its paws and snouts.
The screens of the Sphinx lit up with an incoming transmission. I flailed, trying to figure out how to accept the message. The other pilot must’ve lost his patience, because the attempt for a discreet approach stopped.
An authoritative male voice echoed over the chaotic remnants of the gathering, sending shivers down my spine. “Pilot of the Sphinx, release the chimera and exit it at once.”
At the back of my mind, the Sphinx hissed in displeasure. “Arrogant human. Who is he to order me around? I have chosen you as my tamer. He cannot change my mind.”
“Right, but he doesn’t know that, does he?” I reasoned with her. “Maybe if we just explain…”
The Sphinx snorted. “I highly doubt that’s going to work. But by all means, young Selene, do make the attempt. I will be watching and if anyone attempts anything suspicious, I will consume them.”
It looked like my new friend had a thing about consuming her enemies. If the stories about her past self were even remotely correct, that made sense. But I didn’t find it scary. It was reassuring to have someone willing to support me in a situation I was so unfamiliar with.
I pushed back my nerves and focused on acquiring more informatio
n. “What chimera is that?” I asked the Sphinx. The distinctive look of the new mecha was a clear hint to its identity, but I couldn’t be sure I was right. “The Cerberus?”
“Yes. I’m afraid I’m unfamiliar with his tamer, but his arrival is not good news. That creature would only allow himself to be tamed by someone as volatile as he is.”
I tried to remember if I’d read anything about the Cerberus and his pilot, but I couldn’t for the life of me come up with a single bit of information. I knew the legend of the great beast, but nothing else. Then again, the Chimera royals kept their secrets close to their chest, so this particular chimera and his pilot might have never been displayed in public before.
It didn’t matter. He was only a person, one of Gaia’s children. A man, yes, but that didn’t give him a real edge over me.
That thought anchored me and I managed to take proper control of the Sphinx’s coms. “Pilot of the Cerberus, please disengage your weaponry. I am collaborating with the Sphinx to capture the terrorists and make sure the people are safe. I ask for your assistance in this matter.”
For a few seconds, the Cerberus’s tamer didn’t reply. He must’ve decided he believed me, though, because he replied, “Request approved. Status report needed.”
Then again, maybe he was just pumping me for information and waiting to see what I’d do. I didn’t care. I needed to help the injured, neutralize the terrorists, and find Louise.
“As I’m sure you already know, this presentation was attacked by a group of extremists. At this time, I’ve secured them and suppressed their magic, but there are still a lot of casualties.”
“Reinforcements from The Grand Judiciary and The High Temple of Gaia are headed here as we speak,” the pilot replied. “We will do what we can while we wait.”
The other tamer and I started digging through the rubble, finding trapped people and helping them out. The Sphinx was far better at it than the Cerberus and she gloated whenever she tracked down a person faster than the other chimera. “Ha! Take that, you arrogant wolf.”
