The Atlantian System: Creation

Allister let out a bellow of battle fury as he charged, Bonnie quickly passing him as she rushed head first into the smoke-filled haze.

In the thick white cloud, Leta could make out the shape of a man as tall and as wide as Allister, a black hair tattered and long swinging about his shoulders in a dreaded mess as glowing blue eyes tried to find its target.

Massive canines that looked like they belonged on a sabertooth tiger overlapped his bottom lip as the man bared teeth too sharp and pointed to be human.

He roared, massive lungs producing a sound that echoed off the cavern walls with a decibel level closer to a jet engine taking off an arm’s length away.

[Warning! Corrupted-Manticore has used the skill Scream. The Host’s ear drums have been damaged. Nanites routed for repair. The Host cannot hear discernible auditor direction for forty-five seconds.]

One moment, she was clutching her ears in pain; the next, everything had become a muffled echo as if it came from underwater. Leta shook her head as she tried to dislodge the off-putting sensation, but it felt like someone had buried her head in thick blankets. She could see the two men and Bonnie moving forward despite the attack, tiny drops of blood running from their ears as they pressed on, but the sound of their shouts was closer to a phone ringing on the other side of a house.

Through the smoke, she watched Bonnie’s black form suddenly appear at the man’s shoulder, teeth just as long as his sinking deep past his dirty and ill-fitted shirt to cut into his flesh.

The man snarled, the pupils of his eyes lengthening to serpentine slits as one arm reached for the wolf. His fingers began to swell as black nails suddenly hardened into claws, black fur sprouting from his arm as it grew in size.

“He’s changing!” She could make out Allister’s muted shout among the cacophony of other noises as they encircled the man, who was quickly turning into a creature.

With a grunt, the manticore took hold of Bonnie’s scruff in one clawed paw and threw her against the cave wall near the cavern entrance.

“Bonnie!” She heard the wolf yelp pain as it hit the stone wall and stumbled to the floor. Leta wasted no time getting on her knees and crawling the short distance to the wolf.

As she moved, the sounds around her slowly began to increase in volume, getting louder and louder until what had once been a muted trickle of noise became a full-fledged auditory assault on the senses.

[Damage to ear drums has been repaired.]

Bonnie’s tortured whines were loud and wet as if the wolf was experiencing some sort of internal injury from hitting the cave wall.

“I’m so sorry, girl.” Leta breathed as she reached forward, grabbed the wolf’s tactical vest, and pulled her into the cavern entrance as out of sight as she could manage.

It hurt to hear the animal wheeze as she tried to find any visible wounds. There weren’t any, but the sounds of the wolf weren’t pretty.

“Oh, god. What do I do?” Leta exhaled, her heart racing as her fingers tried to find any exterior wounds to staunch.

Another screech drew her attention as the man was halfway through a complete transformation. Through the waning smoke, she could make out an already large form that seemed to have doubled in size. Meaty hands that mostly turned into massive paws swung at Atreus and Allister as they ducked over and under, barely dodging at the last moment.

Sword and axe made contact periodically with the man-turned-creature, but each contact was met with a shower of sparks as its flesh became reptilian-like scales.

Pants split as a long, scale-covered tail extended backward, forcing the creature on all fours for balance. From the base of its neck, ridged plates like a crocodile’s shot up like a mountain range down its spine and tail, becoming five long, thin spikes that shined like ebony.

The matted hair that had fallen around shoulder length as a man had frayed and become the thick black mane of the beasts. A square face that seemed to have turned almost feline as the nose flattened and pushed outward from the skull. The once dirty and full-of-holes shirt had been ripped in two and was hanging from his elbows as the chest had ballooned outward as a thin, bluish membrane ran from the wrists to hip.

The beast roared and whipped its tail about, trying to use the spikes to strike one target while its claws engaged the other.

It snarled, head dealing back as its chest expanded with a breath.

“Allister! Shield!” Atreus shouted as the two rolled towards the cavern entrance before her. The burly giant flicked his wrist and brought his futuristic shield up just as the monster hissed, and a torrent of flame spewed from its mouth in a blistering gush.

It felt like someone had pointed a jet engine at them.

Leta grabbed Bonnie’s loosened harness and ducked as low as she could as the fire and super-heated air attempted to pull her into the cavern depths.

Seconds passed as the hot flame broke over the shield, Allister’s grunts audible over the roar as he pushed with everything in him to keep from faltering.

Bonnie moaned as the rock beneath them began to heat with the onslaught, the temperature in the cavern entrance rising with each moment.

What had felt like hours had probably been three minutes before the manticore’s flame breath fizzled out.

“Hurry!” Atreus called as he rolled forward, “We’ve about ten minutes before its glands fill up again.”

“The shield only has two more charges!” Allister glanced at Bonnie, whose head strained with pleading eyes for her partner.

She could see the worry and sadness on the man’s face, his concern for his familiar evident.

Leta put her hand on Bonnie’s harness, her gaze leveling with his, “I’ve got her.”

Allister gave one sharp nod. “Give her the green injections.” He called behind his back before twirling on his feet with the grace of a trained dancer to strike the monster’s hide.

The creature yelped and swatted at him with its tail, landing a hit to Hunter’s rib cage and sending him stumbling backward.

The creature nimbly flung its tail in the opposite direction as one of its spikes flew through the air with the whistle of an oncoming arrow.

Atreus barely jumped out of the way as the projectile lodged deep into the cave wall and kicked up dust.

Leta jolted as she patted through Bonnie’s vest until she found a small pouch. The zipper hissed as it exposed three small needle vials, two of which had green tape around the needle cover.

She pulled one out and tore the needle protector off, pausing only to ask herself where she was supposed to put it before remembering a movie she once watched with a veterinarian in it.

Grabbing the scruff at the base of Bonnie’s neck, she plunged the needle in and pressed.

Bonnie jerked under her hands, surprising Leta so that she nearly jumped as the wolf stretched its paws out, and its muscles seemed to lock for a moment before going limp.

An explosion a meter had Leta ducking and covering her head as a shower of dust and stone flakes showered over her from where one of the monster’s tail spines had embedded itself in the cavern wall behind her.

“Three left!” Atreus shouted, rolling under a swipe of the monster’s paws only to pop up within its guard and swing his sword in an upward arch, sparks flying as it made contact with the monster’s tough hide but catching on an old scar and sending a small spray of blood into the air.

The beast shrieked and then turned its head, teeth open wide to bite the General’s neck, but Atreus had already ducked back out of range.

Movement out of the corner of its eye had the monster’s head whipping around, snarling as Allister came in with a low uppercut swing of his axe

“Tail! Tail!” Atreus’s call shook the stone walls, “It’s got an old tail wound!”

Sure enough, there was a faint scar less than halfway down the leathery extension covered in puckered flesh instead of scales.

‘Its scales are tough, but it’s vulnerable where they are missing.’ Leta realized just as Bonnie made a chuffing noise, her eyes blinking as if she were surfacing from unconsciousness.

The wolf looked at her as if struggling to catch her bearings before rolling onto tired legs and stretching like a cat.

Stunned, Leta looked the wolf over but could no longer see any signs of distress as the animal breathed deeply and without pain.

Bonnie turned her large head to Leta and gave her a long, wet lick of the face from chin to hairline. Leta sputtered at the animal’s affection, her brain still trying to figure out what could be in those syringes to get the wolf’s internal bleeding down.

Bonnie blew past Leta and joined the battle with a snarling bark of challenge; claws extended as she leaped forward and sunk her teeth into the monster’s hide like a lion trying to take down a gazelle.

The monster roared in pain and surprise before twisting its body to knock the wolf off.

Bonnie let go of her prey just as the creature’s massive paws meant to sink into her, but the attack was effective.

Distracted, the creature couldn’t get out of the way as Atreus managed to cut into the creature’s face, blood so crimson it was nearly black arching in the air as the blade found purchase in the creature’s exposed eyelids.

“Al. Atreus!” She could hear Hayato shout but couldn’t tell where it was coming from, “Your fight’s spooked the bulgasari. They’re headed my way.”

“Blind them and keep them in the cave!” Atreus shouted back as he went for the wound on the monster’s face.

Its screech was loud, not as ear-piercing as its Scream had been, but close.

Reflexively, it lashed out with one oversized paw. Atreus rolled out of the way to dodge but only managed to move into the path of the tail.

It was a double hit.

As the creature’s spiky tail connected with the General’s arm, an ebony spike digging into his arm and sending him skittering backward, the monster spun on nimble paws and swiped at Allister’s exposed guard.

While the attack didn’t break his armor, the force of the blow had the Hunter taking several steps back to keep balance.

The manticore wasted no time seizing the opportunity, powerful hind legs propelling it into the air as its jaw opened wide.

Allister managed to pull his axe up and flat side forward just in time to keep from a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth biting his face off, but the monster’s paws pushed against the flat side of the axe head, claws gripping the edges as the manticore took Allister to the ground.

Leta could hear Atreus’s pain-filled groan as he tried to stand up through the pain but couldn’t get to his feet fast enough, his left land swinging at his side uselessly.

He wasn’t cut, but the force of the projectile had indeed dislocated his elbow at the very least.

The manticore wasn’t paying attention to Atreus, and one blue eye glared down at the Hunter, using every muscle in his body to push back against the total weight of the monster as it tried to snap at his face.

An animal growl was the only Warning it had before Bonnie’s teeth bit into the monster’s neck like a lion, her long claws finding purchase in its mane of hair.

While the creature yelped and tried to use its tail to swing at the wolf, Atreus pulled his green syringe from one of his pouches and stabbed it into his damaged arm.

She watched the man gasp in a breath as his pale face flushed with color, his arm healing quickly before running towards the manticore.

The monster bucked like a wild bronco in a rodeo, but Bonnie held on with the tenacity of an animal twice her size.

The monster’s movements lessened the force it used to push Allister into the ground, which the Hunter took full advantage of as he gave one forceful push, making the beast’s claws slip from his weapon.

When its attention was back on the axe-wielding giant, Atreus had managed to get behind the creature and bring his sword down in a two-handed swing directly onto the scare on the animal’s tail.

Sure enough, skin and muscle parted under the strike, not quite cleaving the appendage in two but nearly cutting it halfway off.

The manticore screamed its auditory attack, the sound echoing off the rock and causing Leta’s hearing to go out again.

[Warning! Corrupted-Manticore has used the skill Scream. The Host’s ear drums have been damaged. Nanites routed for repair. The Host cannot hear discernible auditor direction for forty-five seconds.]

The attack caused Bonnie to lose her grip, paws rubbing at her ears as Allister and Atreus stumbled from the onslaught.

It was a costly mistake.

As the manticore’s head rammed into Allister and sent the man bouncing off the stone floor to the cavern connecting the two cave rooms, one of its paws came around and connected with Atreus’s exposed side.

She couldn’t hear it, but Leta could imagine the sound of ribs cracking as Atreus was flung into the cavern she was hiding in.

This time, she did hear the muffled crack as his back met the fat end of the ebony spike sticking out of the cave wall.

The man’s eyes went wide before gravity pulled him onto the stone floor in a dazed lump, his sword clattering to the ground next to him.

A pause filled the room, everything seeming to hold still at that moment as if God had paused the movie to grab more popcorn.

Leta could feel a low rumbling in the stone beneath her fingers as an ominous foreboding made her blood cold.

Slowly, she turned her head to look into the single blue eye of the manticore boring into her.

That baleful eye seemed to consume her vision till all she saw were too-long teeth pulling back from feline lips as the monster put one paw in front of it and then the other, slowly approaching like a cat who had been led on a frustrating chase until it had finally cornered the mouse.

Despite her damaged ear drums, Leta could perceive the ‘whoosh’ of blood in her ears and the ‘thump thump’ of her heart beating over time.

That tiny fearful part of her that told her always to play it safe and see reason was cowering in fear, its very existence smothered by the monster creeping towards her.

The other part, the angry part that had been elbowing its way to the front of her mind more often in the last few days, was screaming at her to move, to fight back.

‘Move, Leta. Move!’

Her left hand slowly lowered to the ground, her fingers trailing over the rough stone until they tapped against the cold handle of Atreus’s Yatagan.

[Damage to ear drums has been repaired.]

Leta’s hearing returned just as the manticore’s lip curled back in a snarl, claws flexing as it paused in its slow stalk forward.

Deep breath in, deep breath out. Leta tried to focus - tried to push that petrified part of her out of the driver’s seat in her mind so other, more assertive emotions could lead her.

The manticore’s head lowered just a few centimeters as it adjusted its position, hind legs seeming to wind up, reading for a pounce.

In her peripheral vision, she could make out that Allister and Bonnie were starting to get to their feet, but she’d seen how fast things were.

By the time it jumped, it would be too late for her.

‘Do you accept this end?’

Leta paused at the thought.

Was this how she wanted to go out? Mauled by a manticore? Just another tourist who simply vanished?

Leaving her dad to become a cannibalistic monster, never to know if her mother survived the Gargoyle or was eaten alive.

Was this where she wanted this trail of struggle and mystery to end?

Did she accept this?

‘No,’ That anger, that rage that had served her well and helped her stay alive, said as it took the wheel. ‘No, I don’t accept this.’

Let’s fingers closed on the sword’s handle just as the manticore leaped towards her with a snarl.