I wondered, not for the first time, if today would be the day I died.

The chimaera's roar shook the forest. A deep, guttural sound that made the ground beneath me tremble. My heart pounded in my chest as I took in the sight of the beast in the clearing, and I tightened the grip on my knives' hilts, slick with sweat. It was an ancient thing, stitched together from half-remembered stories and old legends no one wanted to believe anymore. We'd intercepted it just in time, before it reached the village. The town folk would never know we had saved them from a massacre. But these creatures didn't belong here: the highlands had been their world once; until we broke it.

Was this my scar to carry? A blunt reminder that the world does not care for heroes?

Another roar interrupted my thoughts.

Focus, I told myself.

Beside me, Atlas held his ground. I shot him a glance, and...was that a smirk on his feline lips? Of course it was. He lived for this, the rush of battle, the heat of danger, yadda, yadda, yadda. That overconfident knucklehead was moving before I could even blink, throwing himself into the fight with a reckless grin. He reached the chimaera as I started running, his powerful strides closing the distance in seconds. With a few quick, precise hits, he severed the poisonous snake-tail before it could become a threat. Typical Atlas.

"Show-off," I muttered. He winked, just as my lips moved. Of course he caught it.

With the snake-tail twitching lifeless in the dirt, the creature reared back, two heads left. Less cunning now, but more desperate. I focused on the remaining heads. I looped my snare around the goat-head and my knife shone blue with magic as I repeatedly slashed into its eyes, blinding it. The lion head retaliated with a whirlwind of claws and teeth. I dodged its strikes, feeling a rush of wind as the powerful bites barely missed me.

Atlas met each attack head-on. He was like a wall, standing between me and those deadly jaws, holding the line and giving me the space to fight.

"Try not to get yourself killed," I called out to him.

"Who, me?" he replied, "I'm barely getting started!" Beneath the chaos, I almost thought I could hear him laughing.

Every time I landed a hit, the creature howled in pain. I felt the knife cut clean through the monster's flesh and the goat-head tumbled to the ground, lifeless. But, of course, it wasn't enough to make it retreat. With a sudden lurch, the lion-head, the only one still attached to the monstrous body, unleashed a desperate attack on Atlas.

Instinct took over as I leapt in front of him. Steel met fang, and colorfoul sparks exploded as pain bloomed along my arm, a constellation of cuts and burns where the beast's fang had grazed me.

"I had it under control!" Atlas shouted.

"You're welcome," I said.

"Are you alright?"

"Peachy!" was all I could manage, wincing from the pain.

A burning sensation radiated towards the rest of my body. Sweat stung my eyes and blurred my vision as I dodged the wave of relentless charges. Each time the chimaera attacked, it came closer; each dodge left me more breathless than the last. I could hear Atlas' sword swings getting slower and heavier. It felt endless, this fight, as if time itself had stretched to the breaking point.

Finally, the lion-head staggered. Its claws scraped the dirt, searching for purchase that wasn't there. Blood gushed from its shoulder in time with its slowing steps.

I ran toward Atlas and he clasped his massive hands without hesitation. He launched me onto the chimaera's back in one practiced motion, and I landed and found the soft, exposed flesh of its neck. I stabbed, again and again. With one last, desperate roar, the beast collapsed to the ground and died.

I hit the ground breathless, rolling over myself, the adrenaline still running wild through my body.

This is going to hurt later.

Atlas stood by my side, panting and covered in blood.

He raised a furry paw, and I gave it a high five, my hand dwarfed by his.