Chapter 26

A cold chill filled the air as the sound of flesh tearing erupted. Jordan glanced down to see the chimera on Cameron having its jaws yanked apart. Distracted by his comrades well being a chimera lunged towards Jordan's back.

Having jaguar DNA as its basis the chimera was intending to crush the base of Jordan's skull in one bite. Just before its mandibles reached Jordan's neck it halted. Cameron yanked the tail downward with all his might slamming the beast into the mountain.

The quake produced nearly knocked Cameron's comrades off the boulder. After witnessing a crater of blood the chimeras halted in their tracks. Enki was in their mind directing them forward, but they refused to budge.

The orbs tried to zoom in but they only caught a blur. Cameron's body was rapidly emitting a pulse that was rendering the sensors useless, and it was spreading down the mountain. Enki took a meditative pose as veins protruded on his forehead.

'The orbs are outdated, but my creations are new, and they will obey.'

Each of the chimeras began charging forward as they swayed between each other forming a strategic assault. Two of them sprang off nearby boulders as the barbs launched off their tails. One hit the center of Cameron's knee, and the other struck his left shoulder. A strong neurotoxin was flooding his body making Cameron stagger.

'My test will be far more thorough.'

Enki gave them orders for retrieval, but to ensure this happened he probed Cameron's mind. His initial attempt failed, but Enki knew the toxins would have an effect soon. He engineered them to possess a dose that could drop an elephant to counter Cameron's regeneration.

Cameron's body was losing its feeling, but he wasn't giving up. While the chimeras lunged Cameron crossed his arms as icicles erupted from his forearms. The first set launched automatically catching half of them, and the moment it pierced their flesh they froze.

The others tried to change directions, but Cameron flung down his arm as two more were skewered. One managed to evade and lunge for Cameron's throat to carry him off. Gunfire ensued as several shots hit the exposed flesh causing it to slide across the ground.

"Nice shot," Jordan told Megan.

"Thanks." Megan glanced at Cameron.

They were all disposed of but three of them had their implants intact. Using them as a medium Enki gave a final effort to probe Cameron's mind. Enki put all his focus onto the one task as Cameron felt a searing pain in his forehead.

For a brief moment, Enki felt the touch of Nissa. Before he could investigate how the two were connected Cameron forced him out. The force produced caused Enki's chair to be knocked back. The others rapidly took to his side as Enki was panting.

'What was that?' Enki clutched his head.

"Are you alright?" Aria felt the distress from the command center.

"I'll be fine just lock onto these coordinates." Enki relayed.

'Need to act fast.'

"Should we move in?" Enkara inquired.

"No fall back immediately and avoid contact at all cost," Enki announced.

"If he's wounded we should move in," Aria stated.

"The toxins won't last long, and now he's aware of our presence. Anymore agitation at this point, and he could drop us from the sky." Enki replied.

"There's another matter we need to discuss privately after the merger." Enki relayed to Aria.

Back on the ground, they witnessed two of the bodies disappear. Cameron looked in the direction of the beams, but the craft repositioned. Before it faded away clouds were generated obscuring its direction.

"What the fuck is that?" Jordan examined the dead chimera.

"Are you okay?" Megan asked.

"A little dizzy but that's all," Cameron stated.

Jordan jumped down to get a closer look, and with a little convincing Cameron helped Megan down. He noticed both his comrades were a little shaky. Cameron's first thought was he altered the temperature once more.

'The ground isn't frozen, and there's no snow...Why are they trembling?'

Cameron attempted to revert his form again, but when focusing he felt they weren't alone. He realized the sensation from earlier wasn't tied to the chimeras. Cameron's body knew there was danger, and thus his form remained unchanged.

"What should we do now?" Megan asked.

"Get away from here," Jordan said immediately.

"We're still surrounded by something," Cameron replied.

The others looked around with guns raised.

"I saw a cavern on the way here. We could rest there, and figure it out later." Cameron stated.

"Surrounded, and you wanna rest?" Megan investigated.

"They can't do anything," Cameron ripped the barbs from his body.

"E-easy." Megan quickly took to his side.

"Why? I'm starting to get used to it, and I heal anyway." Cameron stated.

'There's no denying he's an alien and a dumbass one at that.' Megan crossed her arms.

"We should get going," Jordan examined the sky closely.

"I'll carry the bags." Cameron offered.

"At least you didn't freeze the state this time." Jordan checked their ammo.

"For a moment I thought I did. Why were you two shaking?" Cameron investigated.

"It was cold," Jordan rubbed the back of his head.

"Liar. How can you react so calmly?" Megan asked.

"Because everyone is alive," Cameron replied.

Hearing this Megan smiled and pushed on behind them. It took about ten minutes of walking to find the cave. Jordan and Megan missed it completely due to running for their lives. Cameron however saw everything clearly, and just like he hoped it was wide enough to set up a camp.

"Should we really settle somewhere unknown?" Megan glanced at the back of the cave.

"She has a point," Jordan told Cameron.

Cameron just finished setting the tent and took a deep breath as his hand rested along the wall. Slowly the area he touched began to freeze, but only along the wall as planned. Freezing the area around him was easier than he imagined. The real struggle was to contain it into the intended areas.

Jordan watched the cavern wall freeze until a thick barrier of ice separated them from the back of the cave. Once Cameron retrieved his hand Jordan approached to examine it. There was a chilly aura a foot from the wall, but the rest of the cavern was toasty from the fire.

"I wouldn't touch that." Cameron cautioned.

"Would it hurt?" Jordan retracted his hand.

"Not sure. That's why it's better to avoid it." Cameron stated.