Chimera Book 1 / Chapter 18 – The Other Carousel Horse

Dan Snelgrove and I rather left things dangling on a bit of a cliffhanger at the end of Chapter 17, what with Kyp, Jamie, Bertram Fusby and Sir Regulus Ferric hurtling towards certain doom… so it’s with great pleasure I can announce the arrival of the next thrilling instalment of Chimera Book 1 – brought to you, as ever, courtesy of Dan’s vocal pyrotechnics. Enjoy!

Last time in Chimera Book 1:

The dismantler holding Kyp now targeted Bertram. With a hiss of pistons, it swung about, before descending speedily towards the skateboarding pig. It discarded Kyp, who dropped from its open claw and fell heavily onto the conveyor belt. Jamie pulled him to his feet and shouted at him to keep moving. They ducked, rolled and dived their way past drill-bits, scythes and wrecking balls as more dismantlers sprang up to converge on Bertram.

Bertram was enjoying himself. He out-smarted the machines, performing daring jumps and complicated stunts. In their confusion, the dismantlers attacked each other, the hammer of one smashing the drill of another. More dismantlers clashed, their claws, hooks and hydraulics entangled. A chainsaw sliced through the arm of the dismantler wielding the circular saw. Now severed, the whirling disc decapitated machines on both sides of the conveyor. The fallen dismantlers collapsed into the pits below. Pillars of flame erupted. Rivets fell like hailstones. Kyp, Jamie and Sir Regulus drew together protectively as more of the dismantlers tore into each other and fell to ruin. Bertram wheeled towards them out of the smoke.

‘Wow!’ he said, as more explosions boomed. He hopped off the skateboard. ‘That was amazing!’

‘What were you thinking?’ yelled Sir Regulus. ‘You could have been killed!’

‘Bertram saved us, Sir Regulus,’ said Jamie.

An explosion shook the conveyor, an entire section falling into the burning pits below.

‘We’re not out of danger yet,’ said Sir Regulus.

They ran to the very end of the conveyor belt, looking down to see a large metal basket positioned below it. At their backs, fires burned more fiercely. Sparks fizzed. Smoke thickened. Another explosion set the conveyor quaking.

‘What now?’ panicked Jamie.

‘Into the basket,’ ordered Sir Regulus. ‘Quickly.’ The four of them leapt from the conveyor into the basket. For a moment nothing happened, then, with a violent jolt and revving of machinery, the basket rocketed towards the chamber roof.

Chapter 18 – The Other Carousel Horse