Chapter 16

Boss Battle: Chimera

The party carefully climbed down the stairs. There was a doorway carved into the wall and peering just beyond it they found a large, blue glowing orb sunk into the earth. Atop it was a chimera. It shared the head of a lion and a goat's head on his shoulders, with the long neck and head of a dragon for its tail. It had wings like a bat. And it was very awake and looking in their direction.

"Come inside," it invited. Three voices blended together to form its speech: the deep, guttural voice, of the dragon, the bleating, high voice of the goat, and a soft, but rich voice from the lion. "You have made it this far into my prison. Congratulations. You are the first. I would like to see my liberators before I take my next meal."

"I think he means us," Pinkie said in a too-loud whisper.

"Shhh!" The others said.

"I can hear you. I heard your entire descent actually. And I can smell you. Please, don't show rude manners when I am in such a good mood."

"Well, at least this boss is polite," Discord muttered.

"And good of hearing, too,' Spike whispered.

"What do we do?" Big Mac asked.

Spike quickly asked about the strange light that had been intriguing him since he saw from higher up the oubliette. "What is that magical orb you are sitting on? Were you imprisoned down here to guard it?"

"You're going to ask me question while not showing your faces? How rude," the chimera simpered. "But why not, I'll answer you these two questions if two of you were to show yourselves. Is that agreeable?"

Rainbow Dash pointed to herself and Pinkie, nodding vigorously. Spike returned the nod and shouted, "Deal! Two answers and two faces!"

"Excellent!" the voices shouted, sounding delighted. "I was imprisoned down here before the Treasure of Gulg the Magnificent sunk down here. I sit atop a receptacle that holds amazing treasures from the ancients. However, an apprentice of Gulg's took his creation used it for the nefarious purpose of taking in the life of the kingdom above. Once he had it and destroyed Aagloo, he tossed it down here, where it grew with the powers it had taken. I sit atop the life and vitality of an entire kingdom!"

"Is that how every pony up there became zombies?" Spike asked.

"That is another question! First, I must see your fine faces!"

Rainbow Dash rushed in and flew out of the boss' immediate range. Pinkie jumped just beyond the threshold and put on her entire band getup and began playing. The chimera regarded them both with suspicion. The dragon's head followed the rogue while the lion and goat leered at the bard. The goat's head began bleating loudly, cancelling out Pinkie's music. The chimera slunk forward, its eyes full of hunger.

Spike readied a spell and Discord summoned two massive harpoons rimmed with electricity. Big Mac readied his blade. The time for the fight was now, but the chimera was still talking. It was obvious that it was as desperate for someone else to talk to as it was to devour them.

"To answer your question," the lion's head purred. "The apprentice's deeds were very likely the reason for turning all those poor ponies and converting them into the undead. And all potential life was locked away as a result. Can you imagine? What a thing to steal! Now, will you show me another face?"

"Yes. Mine!" Spike cried out, jumping up to join Pinkie.

The chimera smirked down at the both. Its tail followed Rainbow Dash and Pinkie looked rattled from the incessant bleating. Spike felt like his eardrums would break. But he knew that he needed to act. With the boss bearing down on them, he used a flash spell to blind the boss.

All three heads roared and the dragon's maw opened to spit a fireball right at Rainbow Dash. The rogue cried out and barely dodged the attack, rubbing her eyes. Spike and Pinkie were both temporarily blinded, but the last two members were not so inhibited.

Discord rounded the corner and shot his harpoons. They sailed away from each other, spreading out a lightning net that fell across the boss. It shrieked in pain and was pinned down. Big Mac bellowed and charged forward, plunging his sword down to finish off the creature. His blade sunk into its flesh, but there was a blast of pure energy that shot Big Mac and his sword back. The chimera instantly healed and the net broke.

"I have sat atop pure life and energy for a long time, young travelers. I have taken that into myself. Can you defeat the life of thousands of years!?"

Ball bearing fell down around the chimera and exploded, obscuring its vision once again. Pinkie beat on her drums and once again summoned a ball of energy that exploded into a beam of destructive force. It glanced off the boss' shining body.

The monster's three heads chuckled before it attacked again, this time letting loose a roar that threw all of the adventurers back into the walls. Even Rainbow Dash got pancaked against the ceiling. The dragon took another shot, which she only just dodged, singing her wings. Growling in her throat, she was forced to make a landing.

Discord was thrown back into the stairway, while the other three slammed into the wall, unable to move. The chimera leaped for them; two mouths opened wide to devour them. Spike just got up a shield in time to stall the boss and let them peel their bodies off the wall. The chimera casually swiped at the barrier, shattering it. It chuckled about feeble incantations.

"The magic of the ancients is what sealed me away, and only that power can stop me now!"

Big Mac used his magic to propel Spike away from dangerous claws. Pinkie bounced up on the chimera and used a bag to blind the dragon head. It whipped around frantically, trying to get her. The beast shrugged its wings, dislodging her.

An arrow hit the monster and exploded. Discord came rushing in, firing arrow after arrow. The tail reared and shot a fireball at him. The archer expertly tucked and rolled to the side. But he kept up the barrage, unleashing exploding arrows at the boss' forefeet. The great chimera was steadily driven back, shielding its eyes.

Though it regenerated quickly after taking damage, the monster clearly did not like the pain or nuisance of getting injured. It quickly crawled behind the massive glowing orb to get out of the way.

"Everybody get back into the stairwell, quick!" Discord shouted.

"That won't save you!" the voices screamed from behind their cover. "You are locked down here until you can defeat me! That is your only way out! The wardens wanted to make sure that I couldn't get out on those conditions but should anyone open the door and try to let me out, there were traps to keep me in here. You will face your doom by my fire, teeth or your own starvation!"

"He's a regular chatterbox," Discord laughed, as he drew his string back.

A powerful arrow of elemental energies formed on his bow. It was a raging storm of destruction and strain of summoning such a powerful arrow tore at Discord. His hands were flayed open and flames scorched his body. He was rattled to his very bones, but his target was large enough.

"Suck on this you son of a-"

He loosed the arrow and it hit the receptacle, shattering it. There was a blast of life and energy in the form of a blue pillar. It tore at the entire dungeon, tearing it apart. The walls crumbled and all the upper levels collapsed. The orb disintegrated and a blast of wind carried both Discord and the chimera up in the air. Soon it tore the others along after them. They screamed in panic. All but Discord.

He watched with grim satisfaction as the chimera was taken howling up the grate. The prison bars were blasted into dust and the ruins were bowled over by pure energy. All six occupants in the oubliette were blasted into the sky, their wounds entirely healed.

Life washed over the once amazing city of Aagloo, and spontaneously vegetation began growing. It was like nature was hurrying to make up for lost time and the ruins were reclaimed by moss, grass, and trees. The monsters and zombies cried out with fear as they were quickly overtaken by the sudden growth and soon became fixtures in the new forest that grew around the deep pit.

Still shouting for their lives, the party crashed through the canopy of trees and fell onto the soft, long grass below. The chimera landed in a heal not too far from them. It got shakily to its feet, cursing them.

"How could you do this? My powers! You've-"

But as the chimera stalked towards them, it aged rapidly and soon decayed into dust. Even its bones crumbled away until all that was left in the grass was a tiny, black figurine.

"What just happened?" Pinkie asked, her eyes still spinning.

Discord laughed as he got up. "That blabbermouth was so fixated on having a conversation that he let some crucial information slip, and it wasn't too big a leap in logic to make to realize that he had sustained himself on borrowed time and life. By destroying that orb I could release all the powers the boos relied on and make time speed up! The Ruins of Aagloo will never again bother another party!"

"What about the loot?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"It's probably back down in the oubliette, or maybe its scattered across this new forest. In any case, it would take some time to find it all, but we have our prize!" Discord said happily as he bent to pick up their trophy.

Just then, a shadowy hand reached out and snatched it. Discord's eyes snapped up and he saw a figure cloaked in darkness with shining red eyes. It glowered at him and spoke in a soft voice, "Thank you for retrieving this for me!"

Without another word it raced into the depths of the woods.