Author's Note: Hi! First of all, I'm so sorry for leaving you all on such a big cliffhanger for so long-this semester was far busier than I expected. Luckily I'm on break for about a month now so here's an early Christmas present! Happy Holidays and I hope you enjoy!

Without a moment's hesitation, Coeur de Noir was striding toward the stairs with Henry, Robin, Loveday, and Maria close behind. Henry took the lead guiding them to a wall overlooking the upper bailey. The group stared in shock at the scene playing out before them. In the space below was a beast comprised of the body of the lion, with a second head of a goat across its back and the tail of a snake. Men surrounded it on all sides attempting to defeat it. As they watched, it spewed fire from its' lion head and several of the men leapt out of the way.

"A chimera," Robin said in disbelief. Maria gave him a surprised look. "You're not the only one who liked to read about mythology."

"Mythology? It seems perfectly real to me," Coeur de Noir interjected with a noticeable edge to his voice. Maria opened her mouth to speak but Loveday was already ahead of her thoughts,

"Magic has returned to the valley…and it appears creatures of magical origin with it."

"That is what Safiyya said," Maria added.

"Safiyya?" Loveday repeated with a confused expression. Maria continued sheepishly,

"Robin and I met a sprite named Safiyya yesterday. We were going to tell you all but we didn't want you to have anything else to worry about."

"Worry about!?" Coeur de Noir spat, "This is far more serious than we realized-worrying is the last thought on my mind. We need to be planning not sitting with our heads inside a chamber pot!"

"Father!" Robin declared angrily. Maria felt simultaneously indignant and embarrassed. Levelheaded Loveday intervened saying,

"Now is not the time to discuss this. If we would still like to have a habitable castle, I say we start figuring out how to defeat the chimera." A brief pause occurred before Robin spoke,

"Shoot it from the battlements. That's how it was defeated in the myths," Robin announced.

"Or with lead," Maria appended.

"Well the first is more at our disposal, I will alert the men," Coeur de Noir said before walking briskly away. Maria looked down once again at the beast. There was something mesmerizing about the way it moved despite its grotesque figure. Moments later a slew of arrows rained down from the battlements aimed at the creature. Yet, astonishingly, it seemed as though it had anticipated the attack and bounded out of range. It roared in an almost mocking manner at its would be assailants. Maria saw Robin bite his lip. He slowly leaned towards her and whispered,

"It's just going to keep moving every time we fire, and the bailey is big enough that even if we fired from all sides, it would still have space to avoid them. I have to go down there."

"What do you mean?" asked Maria, surprised.

"There's a small door hidden in one corner of the bailey that leads to a storeroom. If my father can get the chimera backed into that corner, I can catch it off guard."

"That seems like a risky plan Robin. And that's me saying that," replied Maria.

"We don't have time for a better one." Straightening up, he turned to Loveday and said, "Get Father to push the chimera in the direction of the northwest corner,"

"Robin, what on earth are you-" Loveday started to say but Robin had already taken off running. Maria gave her an apologetic look before taking off after him. She managed to keep track of the curly mop of hair as they wove through the castle. Soon Robin opened a door and entered into a room with Maria right at his heels. While he didn't necessarily look happy that she was there, Robin didn't tell her to leave. He was learning. Robin unsheathed a hunting knife from his belt and the metal gleamed in the faint light filtering in through crevices in the walls and a lone-lit candle. The room they were in was lined with sacks of potatoes against one wall and wooden barrels along another. Robin gestured towards another small door on the opposite side of the room and a timely roar alerted them that the chimera was getting close. Robin raised the knife in one hand then reached towards the handle with the other when another vision came to Maria,

"Robin, wait!" she said sharply.

"What is it!?" Robin looked back, irked.

"Don't open that door."

"Why not?"

"Because…please just trust me, Robin…I know you can." Robin blinked at her several times before slowly releasing his outstretched hand to his side. Suddenly the splintering sound of wood erupted into the room and Robin was sucked out of the damaged door.

"Robin!" Maria screamed, and without hesitation, flung open the destroyed door and raced out into the bailey. The serpentine tail of the chimera had wrapped itself around Robin's waist. He swung his knife wildly trying to break free, but the chimera, amused, merely swung him out of reach. The storm of arrows had halted, likely owing to the fact that Coeur de Noir had seen who the chimera had in its grasp. Maria couldn't help but marvel at the intelligence of the creature. Her wonder didn't last for long when its large eyes focused on her. The beast prepared to pounce and instinctually Maria held up her hands, prepared for the painful impact. It didn't come. Maria slowly moved her hands and was astonished to see what had happened. The chimera was suspended in mid-air with its mouth and glistening fangs mere inches from Maria's face. Silence had fallen over the entire bailey. Maria looked to Robin who was still clenched in the beasts tail. His face carried an expression of pure terror. Maria glanced around the bailey and noticed that Coeur de Noir, Loveday, Henry, and even Richard and made their way into the space accompanied by more men. Everyone looked on when the same expression of bewilderment. Maria felt the blood pulsating through her head and and looked down at the ground and noticed a discarded spear. She gingerly reached for it and picked it up. She made eye contact with the chimera. Even though it was stunned, its eyes still seemed to be able to follow her movements. A strange feeling settled over Maria and she pointedly tossed the spear far from her. A noticeable gasp was emitted from those standing nearby. Maria moved a step closer and was mere inches from touching the chimera's lion face.

"I know you're excited to be back with the magic. But this is not just your valley-it is our valley, and it will be a home for many. We must learn to coexist. This is the de Noir castle, but the forest will be perfect for you. Now I don't know how I think you can understand what I'm saying, but somehow I feel like you know. I'm going to release you now, but you must leave and not hurt anyone else. If you do, well, then you know what I can do." Maria moved several paces away and slowly raised her hands. The chimera fell to the ground with a loud thud and the tail, with a hiss, released Robin who quickly rolled out of reach. The creature slowly shook its heads and made its way to standing on its paws. Maria held her breath. The chimera observed her curiously, then bowed each of its heads respectfully before leaping over an outer wall and out of sight. Maria released her breath and turned to the crowd expecting to hear shouts of triumph and celebration. Instead the silence continued.