The Chimera

winfry knew he shouldn’t still be upset. But he was. And not even Plato’s rationalizing would make more than a dent in his mood. Maybe a walk would help. So that’s why winfry was finally outside wandering Lokton after hiding in his room all morning.

isa would probably try to follow him so he had to slip out the B&B. She had already knocked on his door twice this morning but winfry pretended he wasn’t in, even though he knew she knew he was ignoring her. Why was he being so painfully emotional all of sudden? He never was one for overreactions and temper tantrums, even as a two-year-old. It didn’t really make sense. It probably had something to with using the librem or something – it usually did.

In any case, winfry was wandering Lokton when he saw her. The mist woman. She was walking down a narrow alley but she hadn’t noticed him. winfry slipped behind a garbage bin. Why was he actually following her? But he seemed to be good at stalking because even after 10 minutes of zigzagging through the city she hadn’t noticed him. Maybe because he was so skinny. And maybe because the mist woman was preoccupied. She was looking for something. Maybe winfry could trap her. The mist woman was peering through a window when winfry wrote, “She couldn’t move at all,” and she froze. He had caught her! and there was no way isa wouldn’t want to go with him.

Ok it wasn’t the best fantasy he'd ever imagined but he didn’t have time for a full-blown adventure. Isa had come looking for him and he had stop daydreaming about the mist lady and hide before she saw him. He was going to go back to the B&B.

When winfry entered the living room everyone was there, including that bitch Latvia looking smug. Not that he gave her more than a fourth of glance but he certainly noticed her. If she ever even so much as brushed the librem again he’d punch her, or something. He should have done that when she first knocked away the librem. That would have taught her to trifle with him.

“Decided to go for a walk?” It was Timoteo. winfry nodded; he didn’t feel like talking. “isa with you?” Why was Timoteo looking for isa? That was strange. While Timoteo was growing on him, winfry still wouldn’t rely on the man. It was more than just that he wasn’t telling them something – or a lot of things. No, winfry could have understood that. It was almost as if Timoteo was playing with them, almost mind you.

In any case, winfry wasn’t in the mood for another group powwow so he hurried off to the kitchen. That’s when he saw it.

There, perched on the faucet. It was a bird, a finch. But winfry soon realized it wasn’t. It was the petite size and faded yellow color of a female goldfinch. It had the scrawny yet spry legs of a goldfinch. It had the sharp little beak of a goldfinch. It twitched its head around to look at winfry just like a goldfinch and it hopped down to the counter just like a goldfinch. But it wagged a tail like a golden retriever’s and it lifted little felt bunny ears. And although winfry couldn’t see, it had the tongue of a human.

This was weird. Even for theses woods. In fact, especially for these woods. All the other creatures were much more menacing and that made winfry uneasy. But it was a purely rational uneasy. winfry was actually feeling quite calm and had forgotten all about his squabble with isa. That was the usual effect of the bird, if mythological accounts are to be believed. But winfry’s rational concerns were enough to keep him at a distance. The bird twitched its head a few times and then fluttered to the counter closest to winfry, who jerked back.

“Now what do you want little bird. I don’t have any food for you. I’m a terrible host I know but in all fairness you didn’t tell me you were coming over for tea.” The bird’s charisma must have slipped past winfry’s reasoning. He had loosened up. “You know. I’ve never seen anything like you before. I’m winfry. What’s your name?”

The bird just twitched its head and took a hop closer to winfry.

“Ok, Hope, that’s what I’ll call you, if you don’t mind. Dickinson you know. Well, I don’t know why but I like you. Kind of spunky for your size. I like that. So I’ll see if I can get you something from the cupboard.” winfry dug out a box of sugar biscuits from a top cabinet and crumbled one up for the bird who started pecking. winfry then rummaged through the drawers. “Aha found you!” He pulled out some twine. “I don’t know about here but back where I’m from it should be spring so maybe you are making a nest. Here take it.” The bird twitched its head and continued eating.

“Don’t get me wrong. I like you and I just gave you a biscuit but that doesn’t mean I trust you. Ok?”

The bird twitched its head up at winfry and stared right up at winfry for much longer than is normal for a finch. winfry stared back and then eased into a smug grin. The bird then went back to finishing the cookie.

But before the bird finished, she jerked her head backwards and perked up her rabbit ears as high as they could perk. Then quick as cat, the finch scooped up the twine in her beak and flew to the window. At the window she dropped the twine and turned to winfry. “Come with me! Hurry!” It was a strangely hollow and shrill voice.

“What? You’ve got to be kidding me.” Like anyone, winfry was incredulous.

“Come with me! Hurry!”

winfry just stood there, flabbergasted.

“Now! Hurry!”

But the door opened and the bird scooped up the twine again and flew out the window.

It was isa.

“isa, thank the heavens it’s you. You’re going to think I’m crazy I know, but I just saw this strange bird with bunny ears and a dog’s tail and it told me to follow it… Yeah that sounds even crazier when you say it out loud.”

“winfry, slow down. Tell me again what’s going on.” Sure winfry seemed tipping out of his rocker but isa was relieved. winfry was talking to her again. That man had a wickedly frigid cold shoulder, and isa was about to give up trying to make amends if he didn’t stop pouting.

“Ok. Whew. I saw, or at least I thought I saw and if I didn’t see than someone must have slipped something into my breakfast. In any case I saw this bird on the faucet when I came in. But it had these little tiny bunny ears and a dog tail. Then all of a sudden it flew towards me so I decided to give it a biscuit and some thread, for its nest you know since it was female, I think. Then all of a sudden it turned and perked up its ears, bunny ears, like it was listening to something but I didn’t hear anything. Then it picked up the twine and flew to the window and told me to come with it and quick. Isn’t that crazy? Come on, let’s see if we can see it from the window.”

winfry pulled isa by her hand to the window. “See, it’s there on the branch looking at us!”

isa could see the bird in the tree outside the window but it was too far away for her to make out the ears or the tail. It was chirping though. A lot.

“Can’t you hear it? It’s telling us to come with it.”

isa gave winfry a sideways glance. “Ah. No. I just hear it chirping its lungs out.”

But before winfry could become indignant the bird darted towards the window. isa shrieked. But before it reached the window it swooped backwards and down an alley that lead out of the city to the woods.

Then, before isa could decide whether she really saw bunny ears on the bird’s head as it charged her, they heard Felix shouting.

“EVERYBODY DOWN!”

BAM. They smacked into the floor. As they pulled themselves up they heard gunfire from the living room. People were screaming. They scrambled into the living room with their shoulders crouched almost to the floor (crawling my…, that would be way to slow).

“What’s going on!?”

“It’s that woman!” Felix looked pretty beaten up but his spirit didn’t have a scratch. “The one with the tape! She’s back!”

“winfry!” Timoteo barked. “Use your librem. Quickly!”

(Sexist prune, didn’t even ask isa to use her quilaire.)

The librem wasn’t working, which wasn’t unusual. It often wouldn’t accept what winfry wrote. But this was unusual. Even though it wasn’t working winfry still felt like all 600 of his skeletal muscles were working out just as they did when his divining succeeded.

“It’s not working!” he said. “Why isn’t it working?”

“STOP!” Timoteo yelled in sudden realization. “Don’t use magic! She’s absorbing it! Everyone, go out back. Hurry!” Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Winfry and Isa scrambled into the kitchen and down the corridor towards the bed and breakfast’s back exit, while Felix and his men had picked themselves up again and continued shooting. “Felix, stop!” Timoteo yelled. “It’s no use!”

Felix wasn’t listening.

“Felix!” Timoteo roared from the ground, yanking Felix down by the wrist with unusual strength. Just as he did so, a slicing sound cut through the air, and blood splattered in every direction. It was completely gruesome. The carnage collapsed with a thunk that seemed to resonate through to the core of Felix. The devastation bulged through his veins and if Timoteo hadn’t been there to jerk his choker collar, the beast that jumped out of Felix would have suicide blitzed out the B&B.

“She is too powerful. This is not the time to play hero. Escape out back. NOW. Lithuania will need your help.”

Felix, for the first time in his life, felt himself losing control. “MY MEN—” he stammered.

“Felix, GO NOW.” Timoteo shoved Felix towards the kitchen door. Felix’s eyes were spinning out of their sockets, but he seemed just sane enough to pull himself together and flee.

winfry pulled open the door and dragged Felix out of the B&B. They other’s had started running down the main road.

“Not down the main road! Take the ally!”

The others stopped but they were reluctant.

“I said take the ally! Do it now!” winfry had never sounded so commanding in his life.

Unlike the rest of the crew, winfry now knew exactly what they needed to do.