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“We’ll have to be careful,” Masama was telling her friends, “A basilisk is rumored to live in the woods that we’re about to enter.”

“What’s a basilisk?” Jillia wondered.

Mallumo answered. “A basilisk is a monstrous bird-snake beast that can turn a creature to stone with one look.”

“Like, forever?” Sirak questioned in surprise.

“I don’t know of any cure.” answered Mallumo, “So yeah, forever.”

Sirak looked nervous. “Definitely something we want to avoid, then.”

“I feel pity the basilisk.” Shika murmured, “It must wish it didn’t have that power.”

“I wouldn’t feel bad for it.” said Masama, “It’s destroyed so many lives.” She thought for a moment. “Though I believe I read something about basilisks starting out as a harmless creature, and then being cursed.”

They had been walking for about a day, and everyone was exhausted. Finally, there was a change of scenery. They’d gone from the rocky, barren stretch of land to a forest. The trees looked like they were just growing back.

“Did something happen to this forest?” Jillia asked, looking around.

Masama nodded. “Yes, unfortunately. A gryphon clan used to live in these woods. The dragons wished to acquire more territory, so they invaded this forest. The gryphons, naturally, fought back, which resulted in a bloody conflict that nearly escalated into war.”

She continued. “Thankfully, it didn’t go that far. Sadly, the forest that the gryphons called home ended up being destroyed. The gryphons were forced to trek for months in search of a new place to live. And since the land was now totally barren, the dragons had no use for it either, leaving the entire area abandoned for many years.”

Masama sighed. “Maybe if the dragons had thought before they attacked, we’d have a shorter distance to walk to reach the gryphons.” she said jokingly.

“It wasn’t the fault of the dragons,” Mallumo said, irritated, “The gryphons should’ve known what was coming. The dragons tried to settle the matter peacefully, but the gryphons were as stubborn and thick-headed as ever.”

Sirak tilted his head. “Should I be offended, or...?”

“Yes, yes you should.” Masama answered, glaring at Mallumo.

Jillia stepped closer to Mallumo. “Are you seriously defending the dragons?”

“Well, in case you haven’t noticed, I am one, so yeah.” he replied.

“I cannot believe that you would still think fondly of the species that brutally slaughtered hundreds of my fellow walkese and pushed us out of our homes to starve!” Jillia growled.

“Maybe if the walkese had just cooperated with the dragons, that wouldn’t have happened!” said Mallumo.

“Do you honestly think that we didn’t try?” shouted Jillia. Her eyes became cold. “You are just like them.” she said darkly.

Mallumo shouted something incomprehensible and turned his head away. He looked to all of his friends, then stalked off irritably.

“Mallumo, wait,” Shika called, “This is not the answer to this problem...” But Mallumo was already gone.

“You might as well save your breath,” Masama sighed, rolling her eyes, “He’s just being arrogant. Give him some time to cool down.”

Jillia glanced in the direction of Mallumo’s departure, then shook her head. “Come on, let’s get moving,” she said.

Mallumo walked loudly through the forest, not caring if any basilisks heard him. He was angry for a few minutes, but started to wonder if maybe Jillia was right. Maybe dragons have done terrible things. Maybe...

Mallumo’s thoughts were interrupted by a high-pitched scream. Against his better judgement, he ran toward the source of the shriek.

Mallumo reached a small clearing where he saw a small creature cowering in fear of a large beast. The terrified creature was white and had two feathers on its head. Its hind feet were large, while its fore legs were slim and small. The creature also had long paddle-like tail and round stomach.

However what concerned him more was the creature that was attacking the others. It had the head, wings, and feet of a bird and the tail and torso of some sort of lizard. Mallumo recognized it as a basilisk. He had, of course, heard of them in legend, but none of the tales he had heard captured the feeling of terror it emitted.

He also remembered what it was most known for: its ability to turn creatures into stone.

“Don’t look into its eyes!” Mallumo warned. The small animal nodded and closed its eyes tightly.

The basilisk turned its attention to Mallumo, who was careful to turn his head away. The basilisk rushed forward, wings flapping, beak snapping.

Mallumo looked to the right and saw a low hanging tree branch. He leaped onto it and climbed higher up the tree. He would have never been able to do this before his departure, but he had gotten quite used to evasion such as this.

The bailisk immediately tried to follow, but the branches were too close together and the basilisk came crashing back down to the ground. In the seconds it took for the basilisk to recover, Mallumo leaped over to the tree that the other creature was against. Mallumo grabbed them and pulled them up into the trees.
“Come on!” urged Mallumo. The creature proved themselves to be quite agile, the feathers on their head aiding them as they gliding from branch to branch.

Mallumo could hear the basilisk roaring in agitation. It was somewhat distant, so Mallumo figured it must have been momentarily stalled.

“I think it’s either given up or lost us by now.” Mallumo remarked a few minutes after finally hearing the basilisk for the last time. He jumped onto a lower branch, then onto the ground. The creature he had rescued joined him.

“Thank you for rescuing me.” said the creature in a smooth voice. “How can I ever repay you?”

Mallumo proudly puffed out his chest. “Oh, well, it was nothing, really.”

“Will you at least tell me your name?” she asked.

“I’m Mallumo. Prince Mallumo.” he answered.

“Oh!” said creature, “I did not know that you were of royal descent.”

“I get that a lot.” admitted Mallumo, “What’s your name?”

“My name is Hani.” she stated.

Mallumo examined Hani again. She looked somewhat similar to a creature he had read about called a cloudhopper. However, cloudhoppers were much more fluffy, and had a few other differences as well.

“I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a creature like you before. What are you, if you don’t mind me asking?” questioned Mallumo.

Hani glanced to the side and waited a few seconds before answering. “I’m a chimera, actually.” she said.

Mallumo blinked in surprise. A chimera was a being that was a mix of several different creatures. They were known for being hideous and aggressive, often considering abominations of nature. Not sweet and kind like Hani.

“You don’t look much like a chimera.” remarked Mallumo.

Hani laughed. “Yes, I get that a lot.” she said, mimicking Mallumo.
“What are you doing such a dangerous forest anyway?” Mallumo asked curiously.

Hani suddenly looked defensive. “I could ask you the same question.” she said.

“Well, my companions and I have business with the gryphon clan.” This made Mallumo think of his friends. Were they looking for him? Perhaps he should rejoin them soon.

Hani thought for a moment. “Yes, I have business with them as well.”

“Really?” asked Mallumo. “Well, it’s a weird coincidence that we ran into eachother.”

Hani was silent. She stared blankly into the trees, as if she were waiting for something.

Mallumo started to speak. “You know, I bet you could-”

“Mallumo! There you are!”

Mallumo looked up and saw Masama circling the sky above them. She landed gracefully in front of him.

“It’s been almost an hour. We’ve been looking all over for you. You shouldn’t wander off like that.” she sounded irritated, but mostly relieved that he was unharmed.

“Hey! I found him!” called Masama.

She turned to Mallumo. “Come on, we should get going. Let’s-”

Masama stopped and looked to Hani. In her haste she almost had not noticed the young chimera.

“Who is this?” Masama asked.

They heard the snapping of twigs, as well as footsteps. Jillia, Shika, and Sirak emerged from the trees.

“Thank goodness.” said Shika happily. “We were so worried.”

Jillia was silent and didn’t meet Mallumo’s eyes.

“Who’s your friend?” asked Sirak, motioning his tail towards Hani.

“This is Hani.” said Mallumo.

“Hello.” she said shyly.

“Hani, these are the ones I’m traveling with.” Mallumo introduced them each in turn. “This is Masama, Shika, Sirak, and Jillia.”

“It is a great pleasure for me to meet you all. You are very lucky to be traveling with a dragon of such noble blood.” Hani said.

“Yes, we’re truly honored to have him in our midst.” Jillia remarked sarcastically. Mallumo glared at her.

“So Hani, where are you from?” Masama asked in an attempt to clear the tension.

“Oh, I’m quite nomadic. I never stay in one place for long. I was making my way through the forest when I was attacked by a basilisk. I would’ve been turned to stone for sure if Mallumo hadn’t saved me. I cannot express my gratitude enough.”

“And,” Mallumo added, obviously glowing under her praise, “Hani’s going to to visit the gryphons too, so I thought she could come with us!”

“What?” asked Jillia angrily, “I think we should talk. Away from her.” She motioned to Hani who was watching them with a concerned look in her eyes.

“Fine.” said Mallumo with an exasperated roll of his eyes, “Excuse us, Hani. We have important matters to discuss.”

“Mallumo, what are you doing?” demanded Jillia as soon as they were out of earshot.

“What’s your problem with Hani? She hasn’t done anything to you.” Mallumo answered, annoyed.

Masama stepped forward. “Jillia’s right. We hardly know her. I mean, don’t you think it’s suspicious for a lone creature to be wandering around the woods?”

“She’s a traveler, like us!” Mallumo retorted. “Hani is a kind chimera who could-”

“A chimera?” Jillia gasped.

“Mallumo, everyone knows that chimeras have a reputation for being untrustworthy.” Masama stated.

Sirak nodded. “I seem to remember three chimeras attempting to kill us only a few days ago.”

Mallumo looked furious. “Can’t you see how awful you’re all being? This is discrimination! I thought we were fighting against?”

Jillia shook her head. “We are.” She motioned to Sirak, Shika, and Masama, “But I don’t know about you.”

“Besides”, said Sirak, “It isn’t only that. We know nothing about her other than that you found her in a forest where dangerous monsters are known to lurk.”

Mallumo didn’t look her was about to back down. “Okay, how about we take a v-”

He was interrupted by a horrible, strange noise coming from within the forest. None of them had ever heard anything like it before. The only one who did not appear to be frightened was Hani, who only glanced curiously in the direction of the noise.

“We should get out of here.” Masama said fearfully, though she didn’t need to.

They were about to run when the tall trees in front of them rustled. Jillia couldn’t see what the creature was due to the dense branches.

The group was alarmed as they noticed the branches drooping and wilting, becoming yellow and sickly. Almost all of the nearby leaves were dead now, and Jillia could clearly see the creature. She was too horrified to scream.

In front of them was a tall, finned, four-legged beast, with an upright torso and long arms that swayed as if they were dead. Its face had one eye that appeared to be on fire and a gaping, rotting mouth. It did not have any skin and Jillia could see every pulsing vein in its body.

The creature let out a large breath. It smelled so awful that it made her nose hurt and appeared to kill the nearby plants. Jillia wondered if it could kill them as well, with only a breath.

It made the horrible noise once more and reared up onto its hind legs. Jillia didn’t see what it did next because she, along with everyone else, turned and ran as fast as they could.

Hani still only appeared to be slightly concerned rather than terrified and disturbed like the rest of them.

“This way!” she called, taking the lead. Hani leaped to the left, through some trees. Jillia still didn’t think they could trust her, but she figured that she didn’t have much of a choice. So, she followed, hoping that their journey would not end here.

They ran as fast a their legs could carry them, however the tall creature was much faster and Jillia knew it was only a matter of time before it caught up to them. Jillia could smell the awful stench it emitted. She could definetly see why the creature’s breath seemed to kill anything that it touched.

Jillia could hear the quiet babbling of a brook not far off in the distance. They burst into a small clearing and Jillia saw a small stream, only a few feet wide. Hani leaped over and stopped, turning to face Jillia and her friends.

“Jump!” instructed Hani.

Masama flew across and Mallumo and Sirak leaped witohut hesitation. Shika paused for a second, but then joined the others on the far bank. Jillia was unsure. It was such a small distance, surely the beast would be able to easily follow them across?

“Come on, Jillia!” Sirak called.

Jillia turned back and saw that the creature was right behind her, about to let out a breath. Jillia screamed and jumped across the stream, skidding forward several inches before stopping. She was about to keep running, but Hani blocked her path.

“We don’t need to run any more.” she said.

“What do you mean?” demanded Jillia. She looked back and watched the creature, sure it would follow them.

But instead it halted, staring fearfully at the stream. It turned around and ran away as quickly as it had come.

“But how...?” Masama asked in awe.

Hani turned to face her. “That creature was a nuckelavee. Their breath kills anything it touches, however they are dreadfully afraid of running water.”

Sirak laughed in spite of the horror they had just faced. “Water? Really? Wow, never expect such a scary creature to have a lame weakness like that.” He paused. “Not that I was scared.”

“Wow, Hani, how did you know about the nuckelavee?” Masama asked. “I studied in one of the best academies in the world and I never heard about them.”

“The nuckelavee is very rare.” Hani replied. “I’ve been traveling the world, studying all the various creatures that exist here. That’s why I came to these woods. This forest is home to several creatures that are almost exclusively found here.”

“Ah, I see.” said Masama.
“Anyway, I wanted to go check on something before I left. I’ll see you all soon.” Hani said, gracefully leaping away.

“I told you Hani was trustworthy.” Mallumo said with a glare once she was gone.

“Well, I’ll admit I was wary at first, but she clearly had good reason to be here. And, of course, we would’ve been killed by that nuckelavee if it hadn’t been for her.”

“We would’ve been fine.” Jillia muttered, rolling her eyes.

“I think we should definitely travel with her to the gryphon clan.” Sirak decided.

Masama nodded. “Her knowledge of mythical creatures will definitely come in handy.”

“I don’t know.” said Jillia, “Aren’t chimeras supposed to be bad news?”

“Surely not all of them are evil?” Sirak remarked.

“I’m still not completely convinced.” Jillia replied stubbornly.

Mallumo became frustrated. “I don’t see how you can say that when she just saved our lives! Your life!” He turned to Shika, who had been quiet ever since they met Hani. “What do you think?” he asked.

Shika glanced around. All eyes were on her. She thought for several seconds before answering. “I understand Jillia’s suspicions and would be lying if I told you all that I did not share them.” She sighed and paused before continuing. “But it is unwise to judge someone based on first impressions, and she has proved herself to be quite loyal. We have no reason to mistrust her.”

“See? Shika agrees with me.” Mallumo announced proudly.

“Come on Jillia, it’s four against one.” Masama said.

Jillia sighed heavily. “Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”