Page 18 of Souls of Steel
Until now, I’d only been able to talk to her through the strange connection we shared, but I felt off whenever we used it. She had advised me to not turn to it often. I didn’t have practice with it, so it could hurt me. Until I trained a little more, I was stuck without my friend in what would undoubtedly be a hostile environment.
Well aware of my anxiety, Sphinx waited for me when I descended from the vessel. She was accompanied by another chimera, one that towered above her and emanated an aura that immediately made me wary. Serpentine from the waist down, but with a humanoid torso, the chimera had several heads, with the largest one being draconic and the others snake-like. I recognized the chimera as the legendary Typhon, Prince Brendan’s mecha.
Sphinx waved me forward with a paw. “Come, Selene. I must introduce you to Typhon.”
I padded to her side, grateful that she’d told me what to do. Otherwise, I would’ve been completely lost. “Typhon, this is my tamer, Selene. Selene, this is my old friend, Typhon.”
Typhon leaned over me and several of the snake-like heads opened, revealing metallic tongues. “A pleasure,” he hissed.
The dragon’s eyes burned with Tartarus fire, but I didn’t let him intimidate me. I’d already decided this was my path. The people at the academy wouldn’t welcome me. Maybe I’d have better luck with their chimera counterparts. “The pleasure is all mine,” I replied. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for our world.”
“I’m only following the wishes of the gods,” one of the serpent heads said.
“That’s true, but it doesn’t diminish your accomplishments,” I argued. I hadn’t really thought about it before, but since I’d met Sphinx, it had become obvious to me that the service of the chimeras wasn’t acknowledged as much as that of their tamers.
“You have a serpent’s tongue, Ms. Renard,” Typhon replied after a small pause. “I like you. I hope you will be able to join our brood.”
I wanted to ask him what he meant by that mysterious comment, but Prince Brendan and Flight Lieutenant Alexander showed up before I could do so. At one point, they’d changed into unfamiliar uniforms and they were accompanied by two other people I didn’t recognize. “Ms. Renard,” Prince Brendan said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, “I’d like you to meet the other two members of our unit, August Cavallero and Pollux Donadieu. They are the pilots of the Charybdis and the Scylla.”
August and Pollux bowed at the same time, as if they were one being. “Welcome to Chimera Academy and to our unit,” they said.
I was immediately thrown by their strange dynamic. Physically, they were very different people. August’s dark hair and olive skin suggested a Spaniard ancestry, whereas Pollux was fair-skinned, with brown hair and deep blue eyes. Even so, the way their voices blended was almost deafening. They hadn’t shouted at me, but it felt like they had. My small backpack suddenly seemed far heavier.
Before I could stop myself, I took a step back. “T-Thank you,” I stammered.
They all ignored my less than flattering reaction. “We’ll be in charge of getting you settled in while Brendan and Knox report with the interim commander,” August said.
“The base can get a little drafty and chilly, but we’ll do our best to accommodate you,” Pollux continued.
I was grateful that they’d spoken individually this time, but even so, the sway of their words made me suspicious. Something was wrong. I just couldn’t put my finger on it.
“Be careful, Selene,”Sphinx said.“I have a bad feeling about this. Typhon has been acting weirdly. His tamer is planning something, I can tell.”
Her words did nothing to reassure me. I wanted to stay with her, but instead, I was forced to follow the weird duo out of the hangars and toward the main body of the academy.
Instead of being linked to an actual building, the hangars opened into a long corridor made out of something that looked like glass. When I stepped on the floor, I felt it vibrate underneath my foot and sparks of red danced through the transparent surface. Was it a form of Tartarus diamond? I’d have to remember to ask.
The corridor provided me with a view of Tartarus Base, the way it looked at ground level. Uniformed soldiers marched beneath us, ignoring the uncomfortable weather conditions. The protection shield around the base provided the people here with an artificial atmosphere, but the temperatures were far more extreme. Three-quarters of the time, Earth orbit left the base exposed to the rays of the sun, and today was no different, making the asteroid scorching hot. It wasn’t unbearable or dangerous, but it wasn’t pleasant either.
Beyond the groups of soldiers, there were other training fields, ones meant for vehicles. From the distance, I couldn’t see much, but I could catch glimpses of flying vessels buzzing around and sharp blasts of crimson power lighting up the sky.
“The remaining HRP units have a preliminary training session today,” August explained when he saw what I was looking at. “We haven’t had a battle with the apsids in quite some time, but they like to stay prepared, especially since they’re more vulnerable than us Grand Chimeras.”
The huge amount of unfamiliar information in his words left me almost as floored as our first meeting. “I’m sorry… HRP units? Apsids?”
“Ever chimera has an official tracker code name used for reports and communications,” Pollux replied. “The Sphinx’s, for example, is GCSPH, which stands for Grand Chimera Sphinx, of course. HRP is short for Harpy units. You’ve probably seen them a few times. They’re smaller than us and less difficult to pilot. And apsids… Well, that’s one of the more accurate terms for what you’d call Sun-Dwellers.”
I frowned in confusion. “More accurate terms?”
“The sun is a gigantic ball of hot gas,” August said with a tiny, mocking smile. “It’s not an environment conducive to the development of any life form. Heliovore apsids do have a resilience to heat and feed on it, to a certain extent, but they don’t actually live on the sun.”
That was the first time I’d heard anything like that. “But… Where do they come from?”
“We’re not exactly sure, but at this time, we’ve pinpointed their tentative location as somewhere near Quasar 4D642. But you’ll learn more about that at the academy. For the moment, it’s probably best to get you settled in before the Harpy tamers finish.”
I shelved my questions and curiosity for later. August and Pollux led me through the corridor, into another section of the academy. There were more people in this area, members of the staff, all male. Their gazes weighed heavily on me, making my skin crawl.
I was very relieved when we reached the sleeping quarters, but that feeling didn’t last for too long. August and Pollux ushered me into a room that was obviously already occupied. There were five beds, but four were taken. Although expertly made, each individual bed had a different covering, one that depicted a specific creature.
