“Take your shoes off.” My guide said.
“Socks too?” I asked. Looking around made it clear no one was wearing socks either. Part of me felt dumb for asking.
My guide motioned to the end of the row. I tried to sit like the others, with my feet bent back under me and toes pressed against the floor. It was quite possibly one of the most awkward positions I had ever attempted outside of childhood games and the odd sex pose or two. My guide vanished into another room.
No one snickered so maybe I wasn’t a complete failure. Of course, no one actually looked at me other than my guide and perhaps a brief flicker of eyes that I hadn’t caught. The two in the middle of the room were the center of attention.
Both wore black belts, which by what little I understood meant they had been at this for a while. One of them was about average height with a light tan against dark hair. The other one was taller, a little bit bulkier and his hair was a carefully pulled back.
The short one took the offensive. He stepped in, shuffling his feet quickly and lifted a knee. The taller man barely flickered his eyes and opened his hands to try catching the entire leg. Shorty instantly stomped his foot down and whipped out a spinning back kick from the other direction.
Another shuffle of feet and the larger man had backed away. There was too great a difference on the reach between them. The smaller guy seemed faster, the taller one could strike sooner. It was the same effect where a shorter swifter basketball player was able to steal the ball frequently from the larger ones.
I blinked my eyes and there was another blur of movement. Somehow the tiny guy had stepped back in to try and throw the larger one. They had to be practicing a sort of mixed martial arts if they were changing tactics. Most disciplines focused on specific movements. Some on fists, some kicks, some throws, other joint locks.
Another twist of bodies later and the taller one had the shorter guy pinned on the floor. A leg jutted backward while the rest of his body kept the shorter man locked on the ground. Not a feat I would try.
Someone was counting in words I didn’t understand, then a shout that sounded like victory being called. The two on the mat broke apart, scrambled up to bow then turned away to different parts of the mat.
I found it fascinating that people who were professionals could find the fight over in a sudden flash. That made me feel better about being out of place. Combat made sense to me. Those were street fights. They didn’t have rules aside from not beating the other guy beyond whatever healing he could manage.
That was a fine line. Hastily regenerating from wounds was one of the perks of fighting any of the races aside from human. The slight limp the shorter man had wasn’t likely to heal up anywhere as fast as a wolf might.
Another match started. My former guide was sitting further down the line. She was in a completely different set of clothes. It was all white and around her waist was a blue belt. I had no idea where that fell on the rankings.
“Did you want to spar against someone?” She asked.
Yes and no. It looked exciting, very exciting. The idea of facing off one on one to test yourself was thrilling, but it was a game I didn’t know the rules to. The next set made it all look a lot smoother, more drawn out this time. They were of an even height and wearing different belts than the first two.
“No that’s alright,” I said.
“Afraid?” Her voice went from that cutesy maid voice to a deeper more annoying and raspy voice while she tried to whisper. I tried to think of an appropriately intimidating comment but settled on the truth.
“I’m used to scrapping against wolves, no offense to anyone here, but I don’t want to do something I’d regret.” Like knee someone in the package over and over in self-defense. Humans didn’t heal nearly as fast.
“Then we’re not good enough?” She questioned.
“I prefer a different battlefield.”
“Maybe we could learn something.” She continued to goad me.
I didn’t add anything to that, my advantage against the others was mainly because of how my mind perceived things. They became my targets when I hunted them. That switch inside me provided an edge as I tracked down what was mine.
“Nothing that’s useful here,” I muttered. There was a noise to shush further down the row.
She stopped talking and went back to watching. A flash of movement and one of the contestants was pushed out of the ring by a series of kicks and yells. Their routine was easy enough to follow. Bow, sit down, next set, bow again, fight.
“We could all learn from someone who has fought against wolves and vampires one on one.”
“No thanks, I enjoy watching.” That didn’t sound creepy.
“I saw what you did to Mister Janns, he’s asleep right now, but that scar won’t go away anytime soon. Not without plastic surgery.” She said.
“Who?” Mister Janns? I had no clue who that was.
“One of The Lady’s partial guards. There are two assigned to her by her patron, and Mister Rays is her Second.”
The person assigned to change Kahina had likely sponsored other transformations. Who had Daniel said her sponsor was? Keeper?
“I’ll pass anyway,” I said. Another shush of noise came down the path again.
This round finished when the higher belt tossed the lower one onto the ground and brought a heel down that wasn’t stopped in time. The winner managed to pull the foot so it did minimal damage. That didn’t stop the shout from whoever was refereeing that signaled it was over.
They stood then bowed.
“You sure you can’t show us?” She wouldn’t let it slide. Maybe this employee of Kahina’s was nervous and looking for tips. That made more sense than her trying to goad me.
“No,” I said. My eyes were eagerly waiting for the next set of people to come up and spar.
“If we’re to protect The Lady, we need all the guidance we can get.”
Someone shouted down the aisle and people almost simultaneously moved back a few feet. Even the nagging guide who kept hassling me the whole time had shuffled back a good three feet. It wasn’t a movement I had time to see or understand. Standing out in a crowd was already a problem because of my size. Being in the wrong clothes worked against me.
There was another shout of words that didn’t make sense, and everyone pressed their heads to the ground. My dumb self didn’t notice as I was still trying to back up. Now I was two mysterious motions behind.
“I wasn’t aware we had someone new starting.” A new voice said.
I looked around, hoping he wasn’t talking about me. No such luck. It took a few seconds to figure out who was talking. He was the taller of the two black belts that had been fighting earlier.
“Huh?” Was my stellar response.
“Who are you?” The black haired man asked.
“Jay.” I gave my real name accidentally. It was hard to keep them straight.
“Why are you in the middle of my class tonight, Jay?”
“Someone told me this was the place to be.” I managed to say it without glaring at the girl who had escorted me to this very room. The basement location no longer felt as welcoming as it might have.
“Did they? Fields, right? I’ve heard a little bit about you.” The man paused for a moment. “You’d be doing us a favor if you could show us what methods you’ve used to be considered so formidable.”
My escort was easier to brush off than this man. Not only issuing an informal challenge, he was all but saying that I wasn’t the tough shit my reputation said. Which was sort of true but to hell with letting him know that.
“I’m not practiced at sparring,” I said.
“Use whatever you know.” He calmly responded.
My eyebrow went up. What I knew was how to put someone down quickly. It wasn’t clean fighting. How did that translate to a place that clearly had boundaries and a countdown? Walls were out, there was no cross or silver. These weren’t twitchy dumb kids I could get a drop on.
I co
uld get thrown around a little bit while trying not to break anything. That would keep it clean. There was only so much that you could learn by watching anyway. Then maybe this whole sideshow would end and I could go back to focusing on Evan and the answer to this Lord business. However to do that peacefully I had to wait until Kahina gave me approval, and pissing her off further didn’t seem like a good idea.
Life was easier when I only had to worry about myself.
“I guess.” I stood up and walked to the main part of the mat. There were small markings on the ground indicating where each person started.
My opposite was colored belt. Not that I knew the difference. She wasn’t wearing black or white. Her hair was shaggy and brown. She bowed and my return attempt felt botched. All I could hear was Stacy yelling at me that just because they would heal, I had no right to hit someone. It was especially true for a human like this girl.
I had almost given up thinking of myself as a human. Either way, the thought was enough to make me feel dirty for taking part in this. Play fighting, against someone I had no reason to bring my fists against. It was pointless.
She proceeded to toss me around for three minutes. Not that I fought it. I made dumb mistakes like stepping into painfully obvious moves. It wasn’t that I was familiar with the martial arts she was using, but I could see by her eyes what she wanted to do. Which way she wanted me to move. At least her blows were pulled. I think she was as afraid of hurting me as I was of hurting her.
I buried my own natural response which would involve barreling in and hitting her as hard as possible to end the fight. I wasn’t trying to knock her unconscious. There were still a few times that we were close enough that a bit more resistance from me might have ended badly for her.
Taking the hits had to be enough to satisfy them. Soon someone shouted signaling the mock fight’s end. My hands reflexively brushed at my front from the supposed ass whooping and botched my bow again. Once my ass was sitting, I took a mental inventory of how bad it would hurt tomorrow. Less than the encounter with the vampire a few weeks ago, far less than the wolf battle.
From the muttering around the room, it was apparent my display wasn’t impressive. I tried not to shake my head. My goal in coming here wasn’t getting in a measuring contest with Kahina’s staff members.
There was another series of shouts and everyone stood up, broke into groups and started some kind of routine. The taller man from earlier caught my eye and motioned me to the side with a small jerk of his head. Hell.
I followed him off the mat into a small office off to one side. The inside was lined with first aid kits as well as extra uniforms and manuals. There was even a series of remote controls to a television I couldn’t see in here.
“Why are you here?” His voice wasn’t as deep as I might have expected. It sounded almost soft, deceptively soft since I saw him lock down another man until a count went by.
“I’ll be gone tomorrow,” I said.
“Let me rephrase, why are you here tonight? You obviously don’t want to participate.”
“What gave it away?”
“Your clothes. Disrespect during other matches. Your lack of effort in the spar and no attempt at gaining permission to join ahead of time.” He listed the items slowly. I failed to notice a sign up sheet. The only instructions had been to take my shoes off.
“No one told me what to expect.” I tried to defend myself a little.
“Do you know why we’re down here?” He switched tactics on me. It wasn’t an employee fitness day. Not with the effort they were putting into it.
“For Kahina.”
“Correct,” He said.
“Even though the chances of her surviving are slim.” Her survival worried me when I dared give it thought. The final days of the transformation had up to an eighty percent fatality rate.
“Has anyone explained why the rate is so high for failures?” He asked. There were several papers on the matter. Conspiracy theories, nut job stories, and speculations. The final stages of transforming from a human to a vampire came with a hibernation in which few woke up.
“I’ve seen the videos.” The same movies that everyone sees as a part of high school health class. Documentaries aimed at explaining the positives and negatives of switching races.
“There’s more to it.” He shook his head and stepped behind me to close the door to our little room. Then he slid the blinds down on the one window that let me see outside to the rows of people punching in unison to more of those foreign words.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Getting sponsored is similar to being dragged forcibly into dirty politics. A majority of those that get put up for the change die of natural causes, yes, but some are targeted.”
“Targeted? Who would target a vampire?” My face scrunched up to the side with confusion.
“Anyone with a grudge against the sponsor. Other vampires, former business partners, childhood rivals, pro-human groups, among additional factors.” His words caused me to blanch a little. Everything that had been shown on the documentaries said it was poor survival odds from the condition taking hold. Not that Kahina would be attacked personally.
Leave it to vampires to give a skewed view.
“Well, it looks like you guys have it covered,” I said while going for the exit.
“I’m not sure why, but she thinks that you’re someone who can help her survive the change.” The instructor quietly sidestepped my attempt for the door.
There it was again. Me, somehow useful to her. “Why me?”
“That’s a good question.” He didn’t think much of me. Likely because I hadn’t put up a good show on the mat out there. To hell with him.
“You’re a big guy, and I’ve asked around, as much as I could anyway. Especially since Kahina has told me you’d be valuable.” I was grumbling at the idea of him being able to ask about me anywhere. “There isn’t a lot of information out there other than word of mouth, and a lot of that is dated.”
“Good.” That was the way I wanted it. My mind counted the number of steps between my spot and the exit up top. If I ran now, I might be able to fight my way through before Kahina woke up.
“Then there’s what happened to Kahina’s two burnout babysitters.” Burnouts were vampires unlikely to survive the change. Which he also didn’t think much of I guess. From his expression, it was clear he didn’t put much stock in anyone.
“And?” I asked.
“And you’re decidedly capable, or you wouldn’t have put down two nearly transformed vampires and still be able to walk. She said they were to break you if needed.” He looked at me again, his eyes trying to take my measure. I didn’t bother changing my posture or puffing up to look tougher. “That alone gives credibility to the other stories I’ve heard.”
“What stories are those?”
“Ones that said years ago you made a lot of enemies. That someone would let you loose to track and attack. That you were a beast that went barreling through anything in his path to his target.” He said.
I chuckled. That was a story I liked to hear about myself. But it was almost about someone else entirely. All that was tied to a mindset that felt beyond recovery at this point. Better than it was, but nowhere near the height before Kahina had scared me senseless.
“Why are you laughing?”
“I wish I was that guy still,” I admitted it out loud.
“How so?” His eyes narrowed and his hair seemed to try and scrunch forward. It gave his widow’s peak a funny sort of look as it wrinkled up briefly.
I shrugged.
He raised his eyebrows and ears in a brief movement of frustration. Then dropped a hand to the desk and rapped against it with his knuckles.
“Are you, or are you not, the man who threw around a squad of trained men a few days ago? The man who hunted down a wolf and then went toe to toe with him in his half form?” He asked.
Just how much did Kahina tell this guy? Everything? Who was he? First tha
t slimy second, a man I wish had been the one to get the cross to the side of his head instead of this Mister Janns. Now I was being questioned by yet another person while a small private army punched each other.
“I did those things,” I said.
“Do you realize how hard it is for anyone to go against those people and survive? Much less be in one piece like you appear to be?” He shook his head. “I couldn’t do it.”
I didn’t really think about it. It was part of my standard bread and butter. My perspective about it was all tied to the tracker thing. Finding objects, defending them, being stronger and faster, sure. None of it was beyond a wolf’s strength or a vampire’s speed. I still wasn’t sure I bought this Lord thing Evan had been babbling about.
“Anyone could do it,” I stated.
“Maybe in larger numbers, maybe with tools.” He slowly gave his response.
“I have tools.”
“But not numbers. Nothing more than yourself.” The man looked bothered. His eyes expected a better answer when there was none in me to give. “I watched you out there, you wanted to fight back, to do something each time. Yet you suppressed the movements. Why?”
“Fighting that wolf was a job, fighting those vampires was my life, same for the squad.” Then the pack of wolves that I somehow waded through in the woods. A long time ago there were other incidents that were fairly similar. Maybe he would understand I didn’t rumble for other people’s entertainment.
“You’re not taking it seriously because there’s no reason?” He raised an eyebrow.
I shrugged again.
“What then?”
“Sounds close enough. Not getting paid, or anything else, why bother?” I jerked my head towards the window. “Besides, I don’t want to break her.”
The teacher shook his head back and forth a few times and scrunched his forehead. He said, “I’m not sure how she wants you to fit into all this.”
“Who says I want to fit in? Kahina and I aren’t on the same page right now.” Until a few hours from now, where she would say her piece or at least answer my question.
The instructor raised an eyebrow again in response. I shook my head back. It wasn’t his business. Not from my lips anyway. He sighed and seemed to give up for now.
Once Lost Lords (Royal Scales, Book 1) Page 20