The Atlantian System: Creation

Reaching into the cup holder, Koa clicked the walkie-talkie. “Al! The Hound is no more. We’re still headed to the rendezvous.”

“Well done, lad! Pick up the pace that Loupgarou is closing in.”

Koa made a sour face like a guilty child who was being rewarded for a spelling test they cheated on.

“It wasn’t me, sir. It was our new friend. She… Well, I’m unsure how to explain what happened. I’ll fill you in during the debrief.”

A moment of silence passed before Al responded, “Aye, lad. We’ll have much to discuss.”

Koa looked to be contemplating something serious as the car started a gentle incline towards the main road above them, one elbow propped on the open window and rubbing his chin in thought at what he had seen.

Leta took the opportunity to look over at Vigo, who was pale-faced. His eyes stayed transfixed on the black spot that stained the pavement where the Hell Hound had been.

“You okay?”

“No.” He moaned, leaning against the side of the truck, “I don’t think I’m drunk enough for this.”

She chuckled, propping her back against the cab to watch the world go by as her racing heart began to settle down. “Yeah, I’m done with this night, too.”

“Oh…” He burped, making a sour face as he cleaned his mouth with the back of his wrist, “That one was spicy. Gross.”

“We’ll get you some water when we get back.”

“Fraid’ there’s no going back now, love.” Koa exhaled, partially tired, partially exasperated.

“Oh, don’t start with that.” Leta turned to lean over the side of the truck to shout at him from the window. “Whatever this bullshit is with fire hyenas and evil mermaids, count me out. That’s your problem to deal with, not mine.”

“You’re in the thick of it now, love. There’s no turning back. You walk, and you’ll be dead within a week. I promise you that.”

“It’s not like I’m going to go around shooting sparks out of my fingers like some sideshow-”

“Do you really not understand what’s happening?” Koa interrupted, obviously agitated by her denial. “You’re Arisen now. And in case you haven’t been paying attention in the last twenty-four hours, other Arisen can smell that you’re Arisen and are bloody ready to eat you.”

Leta frowned, “Are you planning to eat me too? Just deliver me to the butcher.”

“Oh, grow up.” Koa rolled his eyes. “First off, that’s disgusting. Secondly, if I were going to eat you, I’d have done it in the hospital when I had the chance.”

“So what’s your angle, then?” Her eyes narrowed as they turned onto one of the main roads, “Why go to all this trouble?”

“Cause you’re one of us. You seem cool, and you defy all logic and reason for our kind for some bloody reason.”

“Uh… thanks?”

“That wasn’t a compliment. I mean, look what’s in the truck.” He thumbed over his shoulder.

Leta looked around, confused, but could only see the crossbow and Vigo, who looked green around the gills.

“A drunk?”

“A bloody Mundane! In my truck! Saw a damn Hell Hound and Siren in the heat of their power, and yet he’s still breathing. He should be a psychotic vegetable. You should be dead for exposing your powers to him!”

Leta frowned, “Why would I be dead? He’ll probably just think it’s some fever dream he had while drunk.”

Koa turned his head to look at her in the driver’s side window, a look of bewilderment marring his face. “The rules. You know? The rules. The rules are ingrained into us by the gods when we arise. Have you ever felt an aversion to doing something in front of others? If you considered using your talents in front of Mundane, do you feel an instinctive need not to do it?”

Her brows furrowed in confusion, “No, I just don’t do it cause that would be hard to explain to someone why I’m not being electrocuted.”

“During this entire episode, you never felt compelled to keep hidden when we were going through the towns?”

“Kinda hard to keep hidden when a damn shadow hyena is chasing you.”

Koa looked back to the road, eyes wide and mouth relaxed in shock.

“By the gods… you don’t know the rules.”

“What rules!?” Leta growled in annoyance. It felt like I was talking in circles now.

“The rules, woman! The rules all Arisen instinctively follow because if we don’t, we die! We literally burst into flames and die!”

The silence drew a line between them as Leta blinked in confusion at his outburst and what he was saying.

Koa’s grip on the steering wheel tightened as he angrily shouted, “Why do you think the Loupgarou took the long way around the towns instead of following our trail? Or why do the Siren and the Nixie use beguiling magic to bend the Mundane’s memory? If an Arisen willingly exposes themselves to a Mundane, the Arisen’s blood boils, and their body literally tears itself apart! But you…” He threw a hand up in agitated bewilderment, “You’re fine. All your parts are still together, not a scratch on you. You should be dead. That Loupgarou probably got insanely lucky because your friends in a bad way, but you should be dust on the wind.”

“Wait… you guys will die if you accidentally let it slip to normal people about what you are?”

“Why do you think the world isn’t under the thumb of Loupgarou and other, far worse nasties?” Koa took his eyes off the road to look back at her in the driver-side mirror. “If the rules didn’t exist, you might be just an unfortunate blood bank for a vampire or-”

“Holy fu-!” Vigo shouted in alarm as a dark mass erupted from the shadows, ramming into the truck’s passenger side with the force of a Mac truck. It was like they were a paper boat going up against a tsunami as the force of the hit pushed the car over the edge of the road and into the guard rail.

Leta had a moment to register a deep rumbling and caught a glimpse of thick horns and matted dark fur before the guard rail couldn’t contain them any longer, and the vehicle toppled over.

Minutes didn’t tick by so that Leta could see everything that happened. There was no moment of clarity as things moved in slow motion with Ave Maria playing in the background.

It felt like falling in reverse in the blink of an eye as Leta felt the jarring force of the truck bed pressing into her body before she felt herself go airborne.

[Host has received secondary bludgeoning damage due to Corrupted-Minotaur. The Host is stunned.]

What happened after that was falling in the usual order of it.

The world circled above her as Leta was ejected from the truck bed, the ground coming up all too quickly as a rough patch of large stones the size of car tires rose to greet her.

She landed.

She heard the crunch of her body.

And everything, thankfully, blissfully, went dark.