C is for Chimera

Thank you for all the comments on yesterday’s entry, B is for Banshee. I continue the A-Z today with;

C is for Chimera

A chimera is one of the changelings; a parahuman or human-animal hybrid. Often they can transform at will between their human form and their best form, and their beast form is a hybrid of many creatures; commonly including animal, reptile and avian.

Art by Andy Park

The chimeras are fierce predators, with insatiable appetites that are closely connected to the creature’s sexual hunger – thus it often mates with the same creature it feeds on.

They are lone creatures, unlike the Canidae Canini and Vulpini who live and hunt in packs or tribes, and only come together to reproduce with other chimeras once every seven years. 

Unlike most changelings they have an unusually high resistance to silver, and cannot be killed by the silver-obsidian alloy Reverard. At present there is no known way to kill a chimera, and they can only be bound and contained. 

The following is a first-hand account of the tracking and capture of a wild chimera, the only one found in the UK, by Ancile Suppressor Sarah McKay. 

Narrated by: Sarah McKay, West Midlands Unit Suppressor, February 21st, 2011.

Transcribed by: Wynnifred Mayweather, West Midlands Unit Scholar, February 21st, 2011.

Something doesn’t smell right.

I’ve been hunting my target for three weeks. Bernard tells me it’s a rogue werewolf, but my Kitsune senses tell me he’s wrong.

Wolves actually smell very similar to Kitsunes – both being of the Canidae family. In recent years the two tribes have been working more closely. 

This is not a wolf, nor a Kitsune.

But I digress. 

Whatever this creature is, its scent is baffling. I can smell the fake cover of humans – that’s a smell I’m used to. But beneath lingers many different scents; animal, reptile, avian.

Perhaps it’s time to rely on my more human senses, and looked around for anyone who seems suspicious or out of place. I’ve been doing this job for long enough now that I can usually spot when someone is somewhere they don’t belong.

Scanning the crowd of people gathered on the train station platform, I check them off in my mind. The man in the expensive suit, who keeps checking the arrivals and departures list is genuine; he’s just twitch because he’s later for work. The woman in the mini dress supping coffee and flicking through a magazine isn’t fake either – she’s recovering from a hangover though. Ah, there’s the one. The guy is trying so hard to blend into the crowd, to look like one of the herd, that he’s making himself stand out. His foot is twitching impatiently, and his eyes keep flittering from person to person.

I follow my nose now. Yeah, that’s our guy alright.

Time to work some magic. I slip into an illusion, make myself appear as an attractive, busty blonde. I’ll soon have him spilling his secrets.

“Hey there handsome,” I say smoothly.

His eyes dart to me and then widen. He likes what he sees.

We make small talk, we flirt. The train arrives and neither of us get on.

I know it’s a bit forwards, but I take a risk. “Do you fancy coming back to my place?”

The guy nods, and for a moment my nostrils are overwhelmed by the scent of him. He’s more animal than I am.

As we leave the station I send a quick text to the others to let them know I’ve acquired the target.

Back at my place I don’t waste any time making my intentions clear, and neither does he. Soon we’re both hot and heavy as we begin stripping away each other’s clothing.

And then – holy shit, what is this?

One minute I’m looking at a fairly attractive guy, the next I’m seeing this weird hybrid, with lion features, bird wings and the tail of a snake.

Instinctively I revert to my true form, a small red fox, and weave in and out of furniture as this beast chases me.

In a panic I’m about to bolt through the door when Sol crashes through it, claymore in hand, followed by Mike and Bernard; both of whom are also armed.

In a blur of weapons, war cries, feathers and fur, the creature is immobilised, and we transport its body back to HQ.

Sometime later it’s locked in a holding cell, while Graham and Bethany run tests. Beth tells me the creature is a Chimera – one of the changelings. I look at the poor best, which is a horrible mix of multiple animals, and for once I think myself lucky I’m simply at Kitsune.

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Check back tomorrow for D is for Demon, and if you're interested please check out my personal blog's second entry C is for(The) Chronicles of Narnia.

The full A-Z of Prenatural Entities can be found here.