Both Miri and Anne’s faces paled as soon as they heard that beastly, rumbling growl. From how it sounded, it seemed to be approaching closer and closer to their location, which made their hearts skip a beat.

  “Miri—” Anne squeaked.

  “Shh, hide!” Miri whispered, placing a finger on her own lips to signify a hushing gesture.

  Miri quickly grabbed Anne by the elbow and pulled her to one of the darker sections of the surrounding area, moving away from the origin of the sound as much as possible. In their haste, they even left behind the book of records, feeling that it’s too heavy and cumbersome for them to carry around. They even dispelled their Magelight in order to obscure their own presence even further.

  As they remained hidden in the darkness while peeking at the office from behind a wall, they were finally able to see it with their own eyes—the chimeragon, in the flesh.

  It was a beast whose size was almost too imposing to comprehend—almost twice the size of a bear, its lumbering footsteps heavy against the granite floor. As for its appearance, it looked pretty much the same as what was shown from the various pictures in both the book from Madame Laveau and the records of Archmage Victorstein. A beast with three heads—dragon in the middle, lion at the right, and goat at the left—with a tail that ended with the head of a snake. Its front legs were that of a lion and its hind legs were that of a goat. At its back were a pair of large, draconic wings. Its midsection was covered with a set of crimson-red dragon scales.

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  One only needed to take a single glance at this creature to know that it was a chaotic amalgam of a creation. Or, if Miri were to put it in her own terms, a godforsaken clusterfuck.

  The chimeragon scanned the room as if trying to study any detail that may have been out of place, each head looking in a different direction. Miri wasn’t exactly sure which animal head contained the creature’s dominant consciousness or if it was shared equally amongst the three heads—four, if you count the snake head at its tail. She’d imagine it would be pretty hectic just to perform even the simplest actions with this kind of body, similar to how multiple people would try to hold the steering wheel of a car. Then again, the chimeragon seemed to be able to move relatively unhindered, so it must have been able to make it work somehow.

  With the gargantuan creature lurking around the office, Miri and Anne were too scared to even whisper, instead performing hand gestures to each other to suggest that they get the hell out of there. They only came here for the runes. Fighting the chimeragon was not a necessity, not unless they were backed into a corner. Best that they sneak away while it remained idle.

  However, right as they were about to leave, the chimeragon approached the opened record book and took a sniff—its beastly sense of smell allowing it to pick up a foreign scent, which gave away the presence of an intruder. Following that scent, it whipped its multiple heads around towards the dark corner where Miri and Anne had just been moments ago before charging with a thunderous roar.

  The jig was up. The predator had noticed its prey. Hiding was no longer an option.

  “Run!!!” Miri yelled as she and Anne abandoned all pretense of stealth and bolted away from the beast with every bit of speed they had.