“A chimeragon?” both Miri and Anne said in unison.

  “That’s right,” Madame Laveau said as she took out a large tome with a purple leather cover and flipped to a particular page—one that revealed a picture of a monster accompanied by some text, almost like a bestiary. Miri noticed that the pages of this particular tome were embossed, which explained how even a blind person like Laveau was able to read it.

  “Long ago, about a hundred years or so,” Madame Laveau continued, “there was said to be a group of royal mages tasked by the Witch Queen of Ananke to create the ultimate magical beast, hoping that an army of such beasts could bolster her army during the Cataclysm Wars—a series of wars where multiple witch queen factions fought over each other in an attempt to strive for power.

  “To that end, they decided to perform secretive experimental rituals at Moirai Keep. Their initial idea was to magically fuse a dragon and a chimera together in order to create an entirely new beast—a chimeragon—hoping to combine the qualities of the two beasts together to create something much more powerful. Through great effort, they were able to accomplish this nearly impossible task. It was a success…perhaps too much of a success.

  “While they were able to create the chimeragon, the creature ended up going berserk and went on a rampage, slaughtering most of the mages who’d created it. They initially tried to kill it, but the creature was simply too strong. In the end, the ones who’d survived simply abandoned the keep, leaving it mostly deserted up until now. Since then, the story of Moirai Keep has turned into a legend of sorts—a cautionary tale of pushing the boundaries of magic to its absolute limit.

  “Nowadays, few adventurers dare to go near it and those who did never came back to tell the tale. Whatever runes that were used in creating that beast were likely still in there and would thus be incredibly valuable as historical artifacts, ones that I can sell for quite a large amount of money. One only needs to brave the inner depths of the keep itself in order to find the treasure hidden within—possibly facing against a very deadly beast in the process.”

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “Hmm, sounds interesting,” Miri commented as she rubbed her chin, seeming almost half-considering in partaking this quest.

  “Interesting? More like risky and dangerous,” Anne said anxiously. “Didn’t you hear how powerful this beast is? Even a group of royal mages are no match against it. Are you sure this is the job you want to take?”

  “Why not? It sounds exactly like the kind of job we need. The right amount of money to sweeten the deal, the right amount of danger to spice it up. Honestly, it sounds like the perfect job for us, don’t you think? Besides, this chimeragon was created like a hundred years ago, wasn’t it? I’m pretty sure it would have died of old age by now, if not too old and decrepit to be a real danger to us.”

  “I wouldn’t let my guard down just yet if I were you,” Madame Laveau advised. “It is a creature created with magic, after all. There’s no telling what kind of magical augments were given to it during its creation. It could very well be given an extended lifespan. That’s not to mention the fact that it’s part-dragon and most dragons typically have the lifespan of several centuries, with the higher end being almost a thousand years.”

  “Yeah, but it’s also part-chimera as well, right?” Miri pointed out. “How long do those guys usually live?”

  “The lifespans of chimeras vary greatly from individual to individual, though most average to about 20-30 years,” Madame Laveau said.

  “Well, there you have it. If we average out all the lifespans the creature is made up of, it’ll probably max out to around 120-130 years or so. Heck, it might already be dead by now and the runes are just sitting there, waiting for someone to snatch them up. Most adventurers were probably scared off by the legend to go scavenge the place. Besides, like I said before, even if it’s still alive, its old age would have probably deteriorated its fighting ability for quite a bit. There’s probably no better time to loot the place than right this instant.”

  “You are assuming a whole lot here,” Anne said. “What if this creature has a lifespan that far exceeds your estimates? What if it’s still incredibly strong despite its old age? What if someone had already looted the keep, making this whole trip pointless? What if—?”

  “Oh please, Anne. You worry too much,” Miri said with a dismissive wave. “There’s no way to know for sure unless we actually go there and check. Besides, it’s not like we’d have any other options left, now do we?”

  “Well, I suppose so…”

  “That settles it then. We're taking this job!”