Chapitre 52: The Lure

Through the rustle of the bushes, Altair moved. He had snow on his hair, melting from the heat of his body, that trailed down his chin. His heart was hammering with each passing second as he approached the Hunt. 

Reina covered her nose. "What is that smell?" she grimaced, coming to a halt just within sight of the Hearth tree a few hundred meters away. "It smells worse than rotten meat." 

The Prince agreed wordlessly. He bent a knee, gesturing for Reina to shadow him. He pointed towards the shadow ahead, towards the beast gorging its fangs into its palm, pulling meat from the bone as though it were nothing. Its tail that, once held the head of the serpent, was now a blistering mass of puss, ready to pop at the slightest provocation. 

The Chimera gave a whimpered roar, his once serine eyes festering a deep plague of Madness. Its entire body appeared beaten, littered with scorched marks reaching the bone. The blood was black as ink and thick as glue.