The Gates of Hades stood open, a gaping maw of obsidian rock.
The Chimera stalked the entrance, a nightmare of biology. It had the body of a lion, a goat's head rising from its back, and a serpent for a tail. It breathed smoke, its three minds fighting for control of the body. It wasn't dead, but it shouldn't have been alive.
Cerberus, the Guardian, stepped from his kennel. He was three times the size of a mortal lion, his fur matted with ash, his three wolf heads moving in perfect synchronization.
"You smell confused," Cerberus’s middle head growled.
Fire Meets Ash
The Chimera didn't parley. Its goat head bleated, and its lion mouth opened. Tri-Headed Conflagration.
A torrent of fire erupted, engulfing the Guardian. The heat turned the sand to glass.
Cerberus walked through the flames. To a hound that slept by the River Phlegethon, fire was just a warm blanket. His fur singed, but his skin remained unburned.
Stygian Howl.
All three of Cerberus's heads roared at once. The sound vibrating in the Chimera’s chest, causing the goat-head to panic.
The Takedown
Cerberus lunged.
The Chimera’s snake-tail struck, venom dripping from its fangs. It bit Cerberus on the left flank.
Cerberus ignored it. His left head snapped down and bit the snake-tail in half.
His right head latched onto the Chimera’s lion mane, shaking the beast like a ragdoll. The middle head went for the throat—the goat's throat.
Gatekeeper's Grasp.
The Chimera tried to claw, but it was outmatched in weight and ferocity. Cerberus pinned it to the burning ground. The three heads of the Hellhound worked as a flawless team, tearing apart the chaotic fusion of the Chimera.
The goat fell silent. The lion gasped. The snake was already gone.
Cerberus stood over the carcass, licking his paws. "Stay dead," he advised, and returned to his post.