2 Immortalis

I drop, releasing the bonds around my ankles and roll on the solid water in front of me to get out of the way of the beast. It takes me by surprise when my focus no longer holds the water in stasis and my roll turns into a dive under the water.

The icy stream steals my breath and I shoot up out of it, wicking the water away from my face as I rise out of the creek. Lito would have been proud of how quickly I recover, if not for the fact that I need to recover at all. Twin whirlpools push me to the surface as I draw shafts of solid water out of the stream, bracing to throw at the beast that dares attack me. That's when I see the rider on top of the beast break into a wide smile and begin laughing.

"Ooh man you should have seen your face! I bet you just dove under water to hide the piss running down your leg!"

Immortalis swings from the beast's neck, laughing as he lands on the rocky shore with the grace of a dancer. He holds a rope that's draped loosely around its neck and he hangs it on a hook attached to the side of the beast's harness as he dismounts.

"You'd have jumped underwater too if a crazy person with a rabid animal tried to take your head off. Not cool Immy." My friend only laughs again and gestures to the shore. I let the swirling water bring me to the smooth rocks near where he stands.

The beast looks at me with the piercing gaze of an eagle. At least that's what its sand dollar eyes remind me of. The head looks mostly like a leopard, though twice as large with a mouth full of serrated teeth, more like a shark than a mammal. Its strong shoulders erupt with magnificent wings that stretch ten meters from tip to tip. They are covered in dark feathers that look so silky they seem to be torn from a dream. The body is long and lean, strong enough to support four riders comfortably.

A Chimera. The last of its kind, though I'd seen a few of the thing's relatives around the island. Lesser things like simple winged leopards, boars with talons instead of hooves, odd monkeys with razor-sharp claws. The original creations breeding with whichever native animals they are compatible with. Though I've never seen a direct descendant from the massive specimen in front of me—the pinnacle of the Beastmaster's creations.

The creature before me is a combination of animals, such was the Beastmaster's gift. The wings are from an eagle and the body from a leopard but I never did find out why it is so immense. My favorite theory is that he kept adding hogs to the creation until it reached the size he wanted. That comment has earned me a few near-misses from the thing's vicious claws.

My mother said that the Beastmaster had been an artist, creating beautiful things out of nature and the pictures in his head. These things have their own kind of magic: unnaturally long life, strength surpassing that of normal beasts, and a near-human intelligence. Growing up, my playmates and I used to wish he were still around so he could make us beasts to ride and fight with one another. Things like gorilladiles and winged stags that would obey our every command. Now there's only the one left and his rider hadn't been a child for probably over a century. Despite his youthful appearance, the man before me has looked the same since long before I was born.

"C'mon, I've been sent to bring you to the coast before you, 'drown the greatest civilization mankind has ever known'. His mock accent was spot-on for Mother. "I honestly don't know what the fuss is all about. Seems perfectly sane to hinge the survival of an entire people group on the punctuality of a teenager." As if to emphasize his opinion, the earth gives another shudder and everything seems to slowly tip towards the coastline.

I groan. "That's what I was trying to do before your idiot bird tried to take my head off." The Chimera growls a low rumble and takes a step towards me. There is something more than primal anger in its eyes. Worse yet that it understands my words. I grip my spears of water even tighter.

"Back it up Primus." Immortalis barely looks to make sure the beast heard him. To my relief it slowly obeys but doesn't drop its eyes from mine.

"However impressive that might have been, now isn't the time to experiment with your little water tricks. Let's get you to the ocean."