A fierce growl came from behind a large rock. Two slitted eyes glinted back at him, then a second pair, then a third. The monster leaped up onto the rock in a single fluid motion, landing with two silent paws, then two cloven hooves.

Galenos raised the branch and saw the nightmare above him: the head of a lion, the head of a goat, and the head of a snake all staring back at him from the same twisted body. The lion’s lips curled back to reveal its sharp teeth, and smoke curled out from its nostrils. He remembered the stories that chimaeras could breathe fire.