The Atlantian System: Creation

Afra popped up from her crouch and threw out a cone of flames that incinerated the corpses now covering the ground and sent Goblins jumping from the roof to escape the fire.

“We can’t keep this up.” Koa huffed, Afra’s flames giving him a moment to catch his breath, “The longer we’re up here, the faster a news helicopter or some idiot with a drone will get to us.”

“Can we bum rush it?”

“What?”

“Can we bum rush it? Rush at them and force them into a choke point. Afra bottlenecks them into the stairwell with her flame, you guard my back with the Goblins behind the stairwell walls, and I get the lamp.”

“Afra?”

“If I drop this now I’ll have enough energy to do it.”

Leta looked back to Koa, “I’ll throw down cover fire.”

“Okay, go!”

“Oh, bloody hell…” Afra groaned as she cut her stream off and the three sprinted forward, arms pumping as they charged head-first into the horde.

Mindless as the Goblins were in their frenzy, the Loupgarou that managed to squeeze through paused as their prey changed tactics, head swiveling from side to side before it zeroed in on Leta.

It was a poor decision.

She took a breath, pulling static electricity from the air, the dust on the floor, between each hair on the Loupgarou, anywhere she could get it. Like a magnet, Leta felt herself being saturated with charged particles building in her blood as her hair began to float behind her.

She could feel a vein throbbing in her head as Gada warned her that she was close to the limit of current she could sustain in a single time.

Narrowing her eyes, she let her lightning out with a roar, a ball of blue-white lighting shooting off from her outstretched hand that hurdled into the air.

[Host has learned the skill Ball Lightning.]

A sphere of light the size of a basketball hovered over the threshold of the stairwell, snaps of electricity connecting it to whatever it could reach.

Concrete. Goblin. Railing.

It didn’t matter.

It all burned.

The horde of Goblins that had clogged the threshold was set aflame, green-skinned faces scorched until they were mostly skeletons as they screamed in terror, unable to understand why they were dying.

“Shit!” Afra cursed, drawing up short as a random strike connected with the ground in front of her.

Leta could feel the lightning ball losing its energy at a fast pace as if she were trying to power a skyscraper with the batteries from a television remote.

“It’s going to run out of juice soon!” She called out, “Koa, this way!”

The pair dashed to the building’s edge just as the lightning ball gave one last sputtering ‘ffzzzztt’ before winking out of existence.

“Go! Go! Go!” Afra cheered as she ran for the door, her fire snakes coiling around her wrists with feverish excitement as she started launching fireballs into the black chasm of the stairwell.

Koa and Leta sprinted for the lamp, passing the remains of a melted door just as a massive Loupgarou came barreling up from the depths of the hospital.

Afra yelped and stretched her fingers wide, blasting the monster and into the door beyond with such force that the wind began to pick up, the air around them being sucked into the blast as the flames pulled on oxygen to keep it going.

It was so strong that two Goblins of the handful that had bunkered down behind the stairwell wall lost their footing and were sucked towards it.

Leta felt the tiny firestorm pulling at her hospital gown as she stretched out her hand and wrapped it around the pole, sending a spark through her touch that caused the light to flicker on then sputter out.

“Again!” Koa shouted as the other goblins turned to look at the flickering light and realized that prey was close.

One sprinted for them only to be split in two by Koa’s sword, another loosing it’s footing only to be sucked into the firestorm.

Leta breathed deep, trying to visualize the circuit of power between hot and neutral wires running through it. Focusing on that circuit she visualized the circulation of electricity from live wire to neutral wire and added her spark.

[Host has learned the skill Gremlin’s Trick.]

The lamp came to life, nearly burning her retinas with its blinding light.

Leta whooped in elation, “Ha! We just might survive this.”

She swore she could hear her father cheering for her where they were sheltered among the cooling units.

“Get out of there!” Afra warned them, “I can’t hold it much longer!”

“Time to go.” Koa grunted as he dismembered the last of the Goblins, turning with Leta to sprint away.

The lamp had done what it needed to do, the brightness generated sending long shadows across the roof from all manner of objects.

Leta spotted a dark figure rise up from the shadow of the cooling units next to Dr. Kudela, its body rising up as if standing from a pool of water and not from solid concrete.

It was humanoid in shape, and from the way Dr. Kudela seemed relieved to see it, the figure was friendly.

“Run!” Leta screamed just as she reached Afra, whose flames promptly sputtered out as she ran out of energy.

The trio turned to flee just as yips and growls could be heard in the bowels of the hospital coming at them.

Koa turned back to see at least three Loupgarou clawing their way over burning remains, their predatory eyes seeing their fleeing forms and giving chase.

“Leta!” Vigo shouted, and she turned to see him waving his arms in an attempt to get her attention. “Duck!”

The three bent low just as a third Gargoyle came up over the lip of the roof, talons outstretched before closing around Afra. The Heart Maiden screamed, fiery fists flying into the monster’s legs and groin as she attempted to get herself free.

The monster shrieked as the Hearth Maiden in its clutches struggled to break free, her movements and burning form causing it to pause a handful of meters off the roof as it tried to hold its prey still.

“Drop her!”

[Host has used the skill, Persuasion. Persuasion successful.]

As if a reflex nerve had been hit, the creature’s legs jerked, talons stretching wide and releasing Afra whose shrill cry followed her five meters to the ground.

She landed hard on her side with an audible crack, bouncing on the roof as her shriek of terror turned into cries of pain.

“Koa! Grab her!” Leta called to the Warrior as she let loose another stream of lightning at the Loupgarou that had gotten within striking range during their distraction.

Her bolt hit one straight between the eyes before arching to strike the second one alongside it in the ribs, both seizing up. their lungs bursting within their bodies as the lightning super heated the air in their chest like an overfilled balloon.

Koa threw Afra’s arm around his shoulder and dragged her into the shelter of the cooling units just as the Gargoyle shook his head as if to clear away the last of the Persuasion before turning back to her with a scream of rage.

It flapped its wings to gain altitude then tucked them back to dive once more at her. Leta was ready and pulled in static from the cooling unit to send another bolt arching from her to the creature. Its jaw opened unnaturally wide as its body seized, momentum and gravity dragging the monster into the roof where a crater formed with the impact from its mass.

Leta had little time to savor the victory as a heavy mass tackled her body, the fangs of the third Loupgarou digging into the curve of her neck as thick claws came around her like a lion latching onto prey and stabbing into her back.

She hit the ground hard, her vision going in and out for a moment as her skull connected with the concrete just as she let out an uncontrollable scream of pain.

[Host has taken minor fall damage. Host has taken piercing damage. Bleeding is in effect. Vocal cords have been damaged. Persuasion is still temporarily unavailable. Remove the piercing item to begin the healing process.]

She could feel its hot breath on her skin and the roughness of its tongue on her flesh as its jaw bit down, golden eyes staring down at her as if to ensure she knew that it was eating her.

She felt the thump of paws vibrating through the floor as three more Loupgarou ran past where she’d been pinned down, tongues lolling from their mouths as they headed for the cooling units.“Raaaaaah!” Leta roared in its face. Far from frightened, she was angry.

Fueled by her rage, sparks covered her hands as she balled them into fists, punching into the creature’s ribs.

She watched its eyes go wide as it felt the electricity of her strikes bouncing through it internally, organs rupturing as its fur began to smoke.

Gritting her teeth, she reached around and grabbed the monster by its scruff, her hands glowing with the force of her lightning as her palms left burns like a brand.

[Corrupted-Loupgarou. Inert Nanites: 998,928. Absorb inert Nanites? Yes/No?]

Golden eyes glazed over as they sunk into its skull, glossy black fur matting and falling off its form as muscles seemed to shrivel up beneath its skin, the last thing it saw in life was a blonde-haired human with glowing blue eyes that seemed to flicker with an almost opalescent sheen.

[Piercing item removed. Nanites routed for healing.]

“Leta!”

She heard her mother scream just as she pushed the mummified corpse off of her, head turning to see the three other Loupgarou had attacked while she’d been down. Koa and Dr. Kudela were doing all that they could, standing between the beasts and the Mundanes with Afra throwing fireballs with the arm that she could still use when the opportunity presented itself.

The newcomer was dressed from head to toe in black, the only skin visible was his short black hair, the upper half of his face that wasn’t covered by his black face mask, and dark hooded eyes. The stranger was coached on the ground, hands flat against the floor as black tendrils that gave her flashbacks of the Hell Hounds seeped from his fingertips. They merged with the shadows around them, the darkness increasing as if drawn to the man in black.

A circle began to form around his palms, spreading wider and wider, swelling like an oil spill.

Two and a half people against three flesh-hungry monsters still were not very good odds.

Leta staggered to her feet, she coughed up blood as she tried to shout a command, but all that came out was a red-tinged gurgle.

‘How long till my throat’s healed?’

[Healing of the throat will be completed in one minute, 58 seconds.]

‘Shit!’

Her fingers twitched as the tiny snaps of electricity danced around each digit, her hand raising to throw another bolt but cursed when a thick arc of lightning bridged between her and a metal duct connected to the cooling unit.

‘Shit. I let off my electricity, I could end up killing everyone near these things.’

[One minute, 42 seconds.]