“Harken to me,” a sweet voice said. It hummed at a pitch that felt like a violin being played, if such a thing were possible.

I jerked to with a start.

A lanky woman, or man, or some weird mix of the two, crouched in front of me. Gender didn’t matter so much as the white and black wings on its back. They were folded tightly. It was like a snow owl on a human body.

I was utterly beyond lost. This wasn’t new, given how the last year had been going, but it was annoying. I struggled to remember where I’d just been but lost focus under the weight of this person’s stare.

The only clear thought was how many goddamned feathers were fluttering around this stupid island. Black ones on Muni. Red on Agent Brand. Now white. At least the person’s eyes were distinct enough. One eye was blue and the other red.

“Who—” My mouth numbed like I’d been dipped in yet another round of drugs. I couldn’t even growl in annoyance.

“Don't worry about me. We each have our stories, and mine isn't important. But yours is, silly mortal. At least to those who can set me on fire should I not listen.”

I felt dizzy and tried to place where I’d heard those words before. A hand reached to push the person back but lost strength halfway.

“Who are you?” The second attempt was easier.

“Not a Hidden, but in hiding. Yes? I’ve been asked by that shrew to come see if you’re well. Apparently she doesn’t believe Roy. Which is a shame, your brother in spirits has no concept of subtly. Still, the motley crew frets like hens.”

The voice and style of talking down to me started to ring a bell. There’d been someone at Bottom Pit during my last visit. My eyes had been burned out and I’d never seen what they looked like, but they also called me a mortal.

"I don't understand. How..." I drifted off from exertion. This was a terrible time of night for me to wake, especially after being stabbed. Too many things were happening in a row. The memories bled over into the now and made it all a muddle.

"As you wish. Let me say this. There are, were, realms tied to this mortal plane, and when the elves performed their rituals, over and over, there was a price. Those other realms were torn and revenged, those left here were cast into the void, and only some of us made it."

Hell, these drugs were too good. Half of what the figure said didn't even register.

"You too?" I finally asked.

"Not all of us survived the walk, and some went mad."

He, she, the white winged person, must have meant the space between worlds. Where the chime of existence had been and all those items transformed from one object into the next. They called it a “walk” as if it were simply striding between realities.

"Mad?" I needed to know if the person I’d been with survived. Maybe they had gone mad.

The androgynous person smiled and lost focus. I, too, drifted as my mind clouded over again. The fact that we both were drifting on confused me.

"Shush. Maintaining a connection is hard enough. Your mind is weakened by whatever that bird brain did to you." There was a light press of fingers to my lips. The skin felt soft but firm. "I have questions.”

"Okay..." This was clearly a twisted dream. I tried to make out the other figure somehow. There wasn’t much beyond white wings and glowing eyes. They were red and green now, or was that blue? My vision rolled back and blackness swam over.

"Before the purge, there were many fantastical creations. Before the world was sundered and restarted by those foolish elves, there were Gods and demons. Before your kind died for their sins, there were other monsters."

Now my mind was stringing together a dream based on vague memories. My kind was comprised of creatures larger than houses and had leathery wings. When we flew, the sun was blotted out.

"Your kind, creatures older than the Gods of man. Born of a lost age in a lost world. Older than I am, which is quite impressive considering you are mortal and I am not." The sweet musical voice made me even sleepier.

"Okay." I watched the eyes. They bobbed in the darkness and gave off an eerie light that kept switching colors. Blue and green? Green and red? It was so hard to focus; this had to be more than drugs.

"I told you, most of mankind's gods were killed after the Purge, and others went mad. Some hid. Your kind became fewer. Other monsters died, but not all."

"So?" I knew all this.

"So, why have you survived? What purpose does your existence offer when the very gods have been killed, imprisoned, or driven mad?”

Daniel’s face popped into my mind. A memory swallowed up the moment. Daniel stood on the hillside and repeated the words to me. "Sometimes it takes a monster to kill a monster."

“What a sad fate,” the person said. “It is a frustrating thing to be enslaved by our natures. Worst still, to be enslaved by those who call themselves friends.”

He, she, shook its head.

“What of time, will you give of yourself to tear the world apart again? To alter it, as your breed has before you?”

This person must have meant dying to alter history. That’s what Daniel said happened. It’s what Candy, the elf, had alluded to. The past could be altered, in a sense, but this world would never exist. I’d seen what remained as time recreated existence.

Nothing, a chime of noise, a tidal wave of creation.

“If I have to,” I answered.

What the hell did this other person expect from me? I managed to formulate my thoughts enough to know they were sent here, or somehow causing me to dream about them, because of Boss Wylde. That much made sense, but the rest of this conversation annoyed me.

“That worries me.”

“Me too,” I responded. There had been a time, when I’d spoken to Father Thomas about altering the world. I’d seriously considered it. “But if I have a choice, I won’t.”

“Your nature changes those around you. You gain power, and lose freedom. One day, you may not have a choice. That’s what happened to the greatest of your kind. And his wife, and sons, and daughters. Enslaved by their ties.”

I shook. He’d said something that made my heart stutter and blood run cold. “What am I?”

“Mortal,” they said. I could make out the light-hearted amusement in their melodious voice. “Foolish. Male.”

“My race,” I clarified.

“The gods are gone, leaving us unchained from destiny. I am no longer their messenger on earth. You are no longer their beast in the darkness. Wolves are no longer the raving wild kin. Vampires found their redemption.”

There were so many words and focusing on them was impossible. I struggled to make sense of them anyway but found no meaning to answer my question.

“What am I called?”

“You are the last. Call yourself whatever you like.”

The ground shook. White wings fluttered and feathers cast around. I expected red and black ones to mix in with the others.

“Morning comes. I’ll reassure the little fire elemental of your survival. I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to know. Though I know not what she’ll make of this Agent Brand. Do flames attract each other? Do your wings call out to mine? Or is it simply we have none of our own kind, and seek company in those who share traits?”

My eyes rolled in exhaustion. I hadn’t told the other person about Agent Brand. They knew Agent Brand had a relationship with fire, and that they had feathers to spare. Maybe because it was a dream.

It felt like the other dreams, with Muni’s black swirls obscuring my sight. Maybe they were all related somehow, birds born of the same tree.

“Go away,” I mumbled. “Before I gobble you up.”

No other words were spoken. No noises or rumbles, simply silence as the eyes closed and white wings closed in on themselves. Then I woke to a crack of morning sunlight widening up.

My head throbbed. Muscles were tight and my legs huddled against my chest. My clothes felt crisp from dried blood and one leg tingled. Popping sounds came from everywhere as my spine and arms clicked back into place.

“Good morning, potentially uncultured individual. You may exit your cell now, or stay and hear more of a prerecorded message,” Warden Bennett said. Or, I guess, not Warden Bennett, but an intercom playing some premade message.

I turned slowly and felt my neck ache with the motion. There was an intercom up in a corner of the room that continued to speak.

“Should you wish to return to civilization someday, it is suggested you report back to this location in seven days. Should you qualify to be reunited with the general population of Atlas Island, your inmate number will be called out.”

That made no sense. I planned on flying myself back to the mainland once I was done with Atlas. Events here were coming to a head and it probably wouldn’t matter anyway.

“On the far end of this island is a beach. On that beach is an outcropping. When you hear a bell, it is expected that you and your fellows volunteer someone to stand in that location. This will demonstrate your ability to function as a community.”

Complete bullshit. I stepped to the doorway and looked outside. Lots of trees stood about thirty feet away. It didn’t feel like there were people in the woods. How did anyone eat? Vampires could survive for a long time without eating, but wolves would starve quickly.

“Failure to find a volunteer will remove rations from the entire island for two days. This is a gentle reminder that following established rules has a positive impact upon your wellbeing,” Warden Bennett’s message continued.

I raised my eyebrows and sniffed. They had an answer. Food was provided as long as people sorted themselves. It explained what Warden Bennett had been talking about to Agent Brand. They’d spoken of inmates volunteering each other as sacrifices. Their reasoning was simple, either someone gets fed to the beast, or everyone starves.

I’d bet volunteers weren’t exactly pleased to be eaten. Not to mention the wolves who turned feral at some point. The vampires would be worse but at least they only prowled at night. I had all day to figure out my next move, provided regular humans, random races like myself, or elves weren’t screwing around out here.

But Leo and Stacy were alive. That counted. Still, all the ideas people shoved at me recently fit high into the useless revelations category. Knowing the other creature was “a messenger” to gods that no longer existed meant absolutely nothing to me.

“This concludes the message. Please remember survival is contingent upon demonstrating an ability to follow rules. Rules are the foundation of civilization. Without civilization we would all be barbarians.”

He wrapped up his speech and I confirmed the goals which mattered. Find Leo and Stacy, ensure they survived. Fight or kill the giant sea serpent if it tried to interfere. Remove anyone else who sought to sacrifice my extended family. Then the last goal, get the hell off this island and find some place safer.

And I had all of society’s worst animals, or barbarians, to contend against. It sounded kind of fun. There would be lots of people to punch in the face.

“Come on out!” Agent Brand shouted. Her words made my mind briefly go static.

I could run for the tree line to get away from them. They would probably be more agile in a longer chase. Endurance was my strong suit, bursts of speed were possible but required pulling on my powers. My perceptions weren’t where they needed to be anymore.

She stood above me, twenty feet up, on top of the wall. I twisted my neck to one side to get a better look. Dawn’s light illuminated the back of her head.

“Well? You can’t stay in there forever. Eventually you’ll get hungry, and the food’s that way.” Agent Brand pointed into the woods.

I raised an eyebrow and wondered how long she’d chase me. Last time we’d parted ways I’d been escorting someone Muni claimed was her nephew, or godson, or something. For all I knew, that boy could have been related to the actual God she once followed. How twisted would that be, a literal God-son who thought he was mortal?

“This is Atlas, no one gives a shit if you’re a one oh one, you’ll get shot like everyone else if you can’t follow the rules. Now get out here so I can beat the fuck out of you!”

“She’s rather impatient, our lady.” Don sounded far away. I felt a little bit of the male’s movements as he lay atop the fortification. He and Dee felt like they stretched out on a sunbaked bit of brick.

“Very much so, I’m afraid,” Dee responded. Their voices didn’t carry like Agent Brand’s. It helped she was leaning over and way too eager to chase me.

She couldn’t be that old. Don and Dee had no crow’s feet about their eyes but that meant nothing. If they were like wolves, age showed in their fur and how long it took them to respond in conversation.

Agent Brand looked twenty, or twenty-five. She might be even younger. I had no experience with people from her sector. Asia kept its borders tight, and had for ages.

“Get going, man. Or I’ll just shoot you instead.” She waved at me with her hands. “Or just tell me where Muni is and I’ll make Warden Bennett take you back to gen pop.”

She didn’t look like a Western Sector native. She didn’t have an accent like the Emerald Isle sector might, or any other country I knew of. Her skin was a mix of whitewash and pale that reminded me of The White Lady, but with less terror inspiring hair.

Or I can eat you.

I shook the idle thought away. Eating cows was one thing, people quite another. It didn’t matter if she could transform into a bird and would possibly taste like chicken. My stomach rumbled at the thought of a well-cooked meal. Deep fried anything, bacon, hamburgers, a hundred images of food floated through my brain from various parts of the past.

Those memories were far more enjoyable than being punched in sparring matches. Food was a worthwhile subject to dwell on.

The rambles of Agent Brand eventually registered. “That’s it. I’m going down there and shooting him. I should have shot him in the jail cell. I should have shot him in that stupid alley. I should have shot Muni at least seven times by now. But no, I need her alive…” her voice drifted off.

Agent Brand seemed to ramble a lot when she was mad.

I could run out as a human or transform and fly away. As much as I hated doing it, I needed to figure out which option would be best.

“Goddamned jerks. I don’t want to shoot people. I don’t… really. I just want answers, but no,” she muttered to herself, but my senses were strong enough to pick up the vibration of her voice as it traveled.

My current goal of reuniting with the others would be easy enough. Running straight to them through the woods would mean dodging Agent Brand. She’d follow me straight to those I wanted to protect. We could fight in the woods but that’d leave me wounded.

The giant version of myself would be intimidating, though, and that was the route I loved.

I felt my body start to burn almost immediately. Muscles tightened and stretched as bones shifted. My limbs grew heavy. I stepped out of the small room and let the remaining transformation sweep me away.

Room of confinement too small. Woods filled with ants. A Great Beast in the waters. Air heavy with their anxious fear.

The change came automatically. It was simply a matter of letting self-control go. Large wings jerked outward, surprising me with their sudden development.

I had a few seconds to study the change. My arms had become huge. I sat on all fours, very confused about the sudden shift to a body that felt much like a dog’s. The wings spanned a huge amount of space. My head was high enough to reach the wall’s top.

Three guards stood next to Agent Brand’s minions. The two cats in suits shrank back and snarled. Their faces twisted as a shift threatened to overpower them.

For once, the female twin spoke first, and all by herself. “That’s a lot bigger than I expected,” Dee said.

Amusing Desert Lioness. All pride and puffy tail.

I smiled. She might have a tail but it was harder to make out. Something about this form caused my vision to feel dimmer. Instead I relied upon other senses.

One of the guards had enough presence of mind to lift his weapon. “Inmate, I’m going to have to respectfully ask that you go into the fucking woods and—”

Demands are not tolerated from lesser creatures.

“Fuck off? Die?” I asked. Only my words weren’t spoken from my mouth. A gaping maw full of more teeth and tongue than any human could handle wasn’t made to speak normal words.

When I spoke, the ground rumbled for me. I snorted hot air at his helmeted head. Don snarled. Agent Brand shook hard enough to be vibrating, her arms and legs knocking together.

I could feel the other two guards lift their weapons. Their fingers hovered over the triggers. My body stayed tense, waiting for them to take that final plunge and pull the trigger. Had they been warned? Were they prepared to die firing?

Another thought stilled my slowly wagging tail. It wrapped around a tree trunk forty feet away and tightened. Wood splinted as the thought finished forming.

Did they not fire because they assumed I’d be friendly? Was it because they were Hunters and knew their guns could seriously hurt me? Or even worse, were they simply used to the large monster on the other side of the island?

Annoying creatures. Too many. Less than the Pink Meat made city. Still, they are annoying.

Having so many people around on the island drove my other mind to distraction. I took an opportunity to push down the impulsive instincts and once again debated what to do next.

“Is that it?” Agent Brand asked. “You’re a big fucking winged lizard? So what!”

They were stupid, and I needed to cover the miles to reunite with Leo. If she didn’t get a clear hint from me transforming, she never would. Then we’d deal with each other in a more serious manner.

I turned and made ready to fly. A dozen repressed memories from the past hit me and before I fully understood, my body was already in the air.

It was both a curse and a blessing to have my mind still jumbled. Lots of events were easier to remember, such as the thrill of flying. I remembered diving off buildings downtown before cell phone cameras became a major device. Five years had passed since the last time I truly took to the sky.

Freedom. To claim the sky. To claim the ground. Fire and water. This is mine. All I see is mine.

I screamed in joy, or roared. My ears muffled and dimmed. My senses filtered out until I realized it was a loud rippling sound vibrating the area and causing trees to sway.

Wings beat behind me. My gamble on getting peace and quiet through intimidation had failed.

The guards talked to each other as I flew off.

“That shit’s going to give me nightmares,” one said. She felt female under all the padded clothes. Hips flared out wider than normal and she had broad shoulders.

“I fucking hate this place.”

The first one responded, “You know the rules. It’s not on this side of the wall, so it’s not our problem.”

“Amen.”

“I still fucking hate this place,” the woman repeated. Their guns were still lifted in the air and pointing at my back. “You think that freak will come back?”

A heavier weight leapt past the guards causing them to swear in unison.

“I bet he’ll get…” The male guard’s words were lost as a sharper cry from behind demanded my attention. My neck muscles bent slightly to get a view of the creature behind me. The wind bunched under my wings. I stopped thinking about the huge masses of air being pushed away from me.

Agent Brand had also transformed. Only instead of a red feathered raven, she looked more like a hawk made of liquid flame. Drops splashed and evaporated into air behind her. The sight was hypnotic and I lost track of which direction I flew in.

She squawked behind me. I didn’t know what else to call the noise. Giant birds bigger than a school bus, one of those half-sized ones for smaller counties, shouldn’t squawk. They probably had a much more dignified name like, a yell, or cry.

I loved the way fire fell from her body. It singed the air and built up a haze like steam. Comparing this to the unsightly version of Agent Brand who yelled angrily felt confusing. They were way different in terms of attraction.

We ended up winging well past the woods while my mind fought its attraction to shiny objects and powerful females. My weakness, in the same manner vampires hated crosses and fell asleep during sunlight.

Agent Brand struggled to catch up. Her dignified squawks led the way.

Danger. Large creature stirs. Moves quickly. Water forced to the sides. Cutting. Huge masses of muscle. Danger!

My primal mind with its constant litany went from calmly admiring the bird’s feathers to utter panic. Something large was shooting out of the ocean toward us, like an orca might fly upward to snatch a seagull.

I tilted my wings abruptly. My body veered to the side as a huge creature breached the ocean’s surface.

Water scattered all over the air, driven upward by its breeching body. Clumps splashed against my batting wings. Each drop sent thoughts into overdrive. It was like the world slowed down. I couldn’t see the creature clearly, not with these eyes. Something about this winged form of mine melded senses together to form a picture, rather than the sharper sight, hearing, and smell of my human form.

Eyes, a long maw, sharp ugly teeth, and more muscles than any sane creature could stand.

Seeing the creature, and feeling it, were very different. My senses while in solitary made me think of a snake. There were long frills on it that hadn’t been apparent before. Ribbons reminded me of fish. I’d seen eels in tanks. This creature resembled one of those, only a million times bigger.

It twisted mid-air. Coils big enough to crush a bus looped and writhed as it sought prey. My other mind utterly blanked. Information still poured in but the shower of water and massive bulk twisting next to me swallowed every iota of awareness.

It did not feel lethargic from the repeated feedings. It felt very active, and angry at its territory being invaded by us.

I flapped my wings and righted myself. My tail curled to keep this huge bulk in one place. Legs grasped out with claws three feet long. I saw my limbs swing in the air and marveled at how different they looked.

They’d been smaller before. Five years of pretending to be human had made me a stranger in my own body.

Agent Brand winged through the air behind me. Her body moved in slow motion. It turned to one side and sailed through a loop forming in the sea monster’s coils. It was like watching a fuzzy arrow in flight. She cried out, a sharp piercing noise that made the sea monster’s eyes widen.

Leviathan. God Child of the Oceans. Kin to Jor the Traitor.

My mind processed a dozen different thoughts at once. I pushed them back and ignored the surfacing memories from generations of fathers.

The monster reached its apex and continued twisting before descending into the ocean. Its bulk slammed down sending a fresh wave outward. My mind couldn’t conceive of the force behind so much bulk. Before, when staring at those Western Sector agents and Don and Dee, I’d felt large and in charge. Next to this creature, I did not feel like a giant monster. At all.

Tons of water splashed outward from the creature. A growing wave headed straight for shore. Even with that much size, the water now going toward land shouldn’t have been so large.

Unless, maybe its nature somehow amplified the waves. I beat my wings against the air. The amount of force put out by my limbs was far less than the amount required to lift my bulk. Vampires moved faster than human muscles and bone should allow. Wolves transformed. Elves made illusions to fool eyesight.

Figuring out why the giant sea creature could cast off forty foot swells by simply falling into the water wasn’t as important as knowing it could. Fighting the monster would be an absolutely terrible idea. Not without a lot more power, strength, and less ocean for it to rule in.

I wondered how big a fishing rod I would need to pull this creature out of the water. Then I realized that it only took a person being sacrificed to reel in a monster this size. With so much bulk, the better question was, why hadn’t it left the area to eat a city instead?

Teeth, sharp, nasty, filled with strands of lesser ocean creatures resurfaced and snapped toward Agent Brand. The red feathered hawk squawked with far less majesty than before. Her attempted path through the creature’s coils met with a bad ending.

The Leviathan closed filthy teeth over her wing. I felt the crunch as she cried out. Her other wing broke as tons of weight yanked her down into the ocean. My first instinct was to rescue her, and I shifted into position for a dive after the two.

Agent Brand’s bird eyes were wide. Liquid flame gushed, landing on the creature’s descending form and sparking. I reached out claws and grabbed around her, thankful the teeth were on the other side of her burning bird body.

I landed both claws and flapped hard, demanding the elements to aid me. Air pooled under my wings in a fight against a creature multiple times my size.

Agent Brand’s body burned like a bonfire. The sea monster’s lips sizzled. My claws felt happily warm, as though wearing a pair of awesome slippers.

My other mind split between groaning in pleasure, marveling at tingles reaching all the way up my legs, and worry over the larger beast. I pooled air again and bunched my body to assist with yanking.

Agent Brand’s body came apart. Her body split in two as the unchewed half pulled away. I struggled to get altitude before the rolling waves below caught us both.

The sea monster’s huge form sank below. Its body moved in labored gasps. Bones crunched in its mouth. Each motion brushed against my senses giving me too much detail.

The ash within my claws grew warm, but not unpleasantly for the first few seconds. I flapped onward toward land, in case the creature felt like thrusting itself into the sky to grab us both. Brand’s bird form became scalding, growing worse. I struggled toward land but felt more energized than ever. It was as if my body absorbed the heat.

I’d never lifted an elephant-sized bird before but it felt like I’d be able to lift two, or three of them. The warmth made my toes cry in pain and snout happily drunk. That’s what it was like, carrying Agent Brand made me delirious.

I carried her straight toward Leo. He sat along a cliffside dozens of miles inward. A small river cut a thin groove into the land. The tactile senses told me he and two others were on high alert.

The earth rumbled. That huge sea serpent bellowed and thrashed slowly under the waves. I now understood where the earthquakes came from. It could move the earth and water, either due to its bulk or gifts like my own.

I winged on. The energy rush faded as Brand’s body lost heat.

Agent Brand’s body was half made of dull feathers and ash. Those pieces of plumage still glowing crumbled at the ends, forming a solid pile that made me itch. I wondered if she’d return to the shorter female form or stay a bird while dead.

My strength gave out. Without an extra source to pull energy from, fire, I couldn’t keep going forever. Pulling air under my wings took power. Staying in this form didn’t use any, but it was like being in neutral.

Finally I couldn’t keep carrying myself and Agent Brand. I dropped her without any kindness. My body cruised a few seconds longer before dwindling to a human form. The extra mass simply faded away as if it’d been made of dreams.

I stood on wobbly legs, then walked back to the giant bird body of Agent Brand. It was cold of me to simply watch. I felt certain a bird with half their body missing and bleeding glowing drops would die. If that’d been me, I’d have been a sorry sight as well.

Her bones turned to ash. It was like a vampire. They too burned away when death came for them. This much was familiar. I’d never expected to watch a giant flame chicken perform the same trick.

Her body collapsed into a pile of gray. The trees around us protected her from being scattered by wind.

A single flame inside must have still burned. I couldn’t tell for sure, since my senses were jumbled from the return to humanity. I sniffed and tightened my nose. Parts of her crumbling form must have gotten up my nose and it itched.

That fire sparked and soon the entire pile of ash was burning once more. A fire that grew brighter than any flame I’d ever seen, as if the sun was twenty feet away and going supernova.

I closed my eyes tightly and stepped back from a heat too strong for me. Blisters formed on my face that stung, ached, then popped. My eyelids burned away. I felt energized, but instead of using that power to channel my abilities, it felt like my body bent itself toward healing.

“What,” I muttered, surprised I could talk straight.

It’d been quick, brutally fast, and by the end my body had returned to a weird normalcy. That wasn’t what confused me the most.

Agent Brand stood in an even smaller pile of ash. Gray soot littered her shoulders and made her skin even paler by comparison.

“Dammit!” she shouted.

My mouth hung open. Agent Brand was younger than she had been. Though maybe I’d simply felt it wrong, or her now vanished clothes made it a lie.

So, she could turn into a giant bird, be killed, and resurrect from the ashes as a younger person. It made absolutely no sense. Who was I to talk? I turned into a giant winged monster that breathed fire and caused the earth to rumble.

I sat, rubbed my hands over my charred hair, and contemplated what the hell was wrong with the world I’d known. Dealing with monsters had been much easier when I’d had my memories suppressed and believed myself to simply be an altered human.