by Stina
He was so lost in his own thoughts that when Cairo approached him, he snatched the young Lykan up by his neck. “Do not sneak up on me like that,” Mezza stated once he saw who he had in his clutches. He released Cairo but did not apologize. “What is it that you want? Why aren’t you in there training with the others?”
“They never let me fight with them.” Cairo looked away. “They tell me I am weak.”
“Are you?”
“No.” Cairo looked Mezza in the eyes. “I am as strong as any Lykan here. Well, besides you, of course.”
“Why haven’t you told them that?”
“Because I would rather show them. I have come to ask if you would train me personally, sire. I want to be an asset to the war.”
Mezza studied the determined look on Cairo’s face and wondered how many days it took for him to muster up the courage to ask his question. Cairo was the only Lykan there who dared to address Mezza directly or even to invade his personal space. He didn’t know how he felt about it exactly, but at that moment it did not make him uneasy. In fact, he remembered being a young Lykan like Cairo. Had it not been for Tidas, he would have never found his way.
“Walk with me,” Mezza said and continued on the path.
“Yes, sire.” Cairo did as he was told.
They walked in silence for a short while before Cairo realized they should have been at the mansion a long time ago. He looked behind him and saw that they’d passed the mansion and had been walking in a circle.
“It’s crazy, isn’t it? The things that transpire when you are lost in your own thoughts. That’s the third time we have passed the entrance, and you are just now taking notice of it. Tell me, young Lykan, what is on your mind?”
“I was just thinking.”
“About?”
“You, sire. I was wondering what it would be like to be in a slumber for centuries and waking up to this world.”
For the first time since he’d been awake, Mezza found himself chuckling. Mostly because he remembered opening his eyes in a clearing, naked, and not knowing where he was. The first thing he felt was the hunger. The centuries and centuries’ worth of hunger. He ripped apart every animal he saw and was so full by the time he spotted his first human he did not even have the urge to eat her heart. Nor did he want to chase after her when she screamed seeing all the blood that stained his face and clothes. Things had changed drastically since he was turned.
Everything was different. The humans dressed and spoke differently. When he learned of the year, 2017, he almost dropped where he stood. He’d been in slumber for almost one hundred years. As he slept, the world had gone on without him. All the havoc he and his brothers had wreaked was all for nothing. They were forgotten, almost as if they never existed.
“You would think that after all those years of sleep, one would wake up with a new objective. Maybe have an entirely new outlook on life.”
“You don’t?”
“No.” Mezza stared in front of him at nothing in particular. “I woke up with the same thirst I had the day my brother and I were put to rest. Though I am in a new era, it feels as if just yesterday I fought the Ancient vampires. The rage I felt then still is caged inside of me and battling to escape. I will not be at peace until they are all dead and I awaken my brother.”
“Where is he?” Cairo asked and suddenly wondered if he’d overstepped his boundaries.
Mezza’s face grew dark at Cairo’s question, and he paused in his stride. His hands clenched and turned into fists and his eyes flashed like there was fire in them. It only lasted a second, but in that second Cairo pondered running the other way. When Mezza’s face returned to normal, he sighed and shook his head.
“I don’t know,” Mezza confessed.
“Who does? The Ancient vamps?”
“Yes.”
“Then we will kill all of them until they tell us.”
“First we need to locate their fortress. And we need to find it before the full moon.” Mezza sighed.
He did not understand why he was telling the young Lykan his woes, but he was. He looked over at Cairo’s face and wondered if that was how he looked when he was under Tidas’s wing. The other Lykans ganged up on him for his size but, once, Mezza had been small like him too. Tidas told him that a fight was never about the size of the body; it all came down to the size of the heart. All Cairo needed was a little direction and he could be the greatest general known to all Lykans. He definitely had the drive.
“Have you ever heard the story of how we Ancients were created?”
“No.” Cairo shook his head but then corrected himself. “I mean, I’ve heard stories, but I doubt they were the right ones.”
“Enlighten me.”
“Well, one of them says you were all bitten by wolves when you were fresh out of the womb.”
“Interesting.”
“And another says that you were all stranded for a year in the woods as children and you came across . . .” He stopped talking, seeing the amused expression spread across Mezza’s face.
When Mezza noticed that Cairo had stopped he urged him to continue. “Continue. I want to hear this.”
“As much as I would like to entertain you with my stories, I wish to be granted knowledge, sire. It is obvious that I am wrong. How did you become Ancients?”
If Cairo had been anyone else, Mezza might have ripped his tongue out for responding to him in such a way. Cairo, however, got a pass. Mezza placed his arms behind his back and held his head up high. The memories flashed through his mind like a horror flick. He heard the screams and saw all of the blood as if the scenes were happening right before his eyes. The pain that used to squeeze his heart now felt like only a pinch.
“There was once a time when I could not think about it. I didn’t want to. But, as I grew into my powers, I realized that what had taken place was now a part of me.”
“What happened?”
“I could tell you.” Mezza turned so suddenly to face Cairo that he jumped. He placed two fingers on Cairo’s forehead and began to share a vision. “But I’d much rather show you.”
“Tidas! Catch!”
Sixteen-year-old Mezza ran barefoot on the dirt and grass along with his older brother. They were a little ways away from their people in northeastern Africa, and they wore nothing but a pair of woven shorts. They were known as the Krag, a tribe that their father, Soldaat, was the chief of. His two sons, Mezza and nineteen-year-old Tidas, often liked to adventure off, but he encouraged it. One day, Tidas would need to lead his people. It was important for them both to know every inch of what surrounded their home.
Whereas Mezza had lighter brown skin, Tidas was as dark as a blackberry. He was handsome in the face and wore his hair woven in one braid on the top of his head. He had straight white teeth and deep dimples on both cheeks. His brown eyes were lighter than his skin and always looked to be filled with laughter. In both of his ears, just like Mezza, he had two thick golden hoops, signifying that they were the sons of the chief.
“Got it!” Tidas shouted as he jumped high into the air and caught the disc that his brother had thrown his way. “You are getting better, little brother.”
“My arms are getting stronger!” Mezza slapped one arm, and then the other, before flexing them both.
Tidas laughed and threw the disc back. When Mezza caught it, Tidas jogged to where he was and patted him on the back. “How is training coming?”
Mezza’s shoulders slumped slightly, and if Tidas didn’t know his brother the way he did, he would have missed it. Mezza looked on to the setting sun and remained silent. Tidas didn’t like the vibe he was getting, and he placed a comforting hand on his brother’s bare shoulder.
“Mezza, is something wrong?”
“It’s Leeu. He’s hard on me,” Mezza said, speaking about his father’s general.
“He is supposed to be. He is training you for battle,” Tidas said, but Mezza shook his head.
“No, he’s harder on me than on th
e other boys. I think he hates me.”
Tidas sighed. He knew why Leeu treated him in such a way, but he was restricted from ever telling Mezza the truth. To Mezza’s knowledge, he and Tidas had both the same mother and father. If he were to know that their mother, Reën, was not his biological mother, there was no telling what he would do. Soldaat’s infidelity was known to none but Tidas, Reën, and Leeu.
Leeu once had a daughter named Asha. At the time she was the same age that Tidas was now, next to Reën she was the most beautiful girl in the tribe. Every man had his eyes on her, including the chief. Her pregnancy shamed Leeu so, but when it came to light that the father was none other than Chief Soldaat, he had no choice but to hide the pregnancy. Asha was all he had left in the world after his wife passed, and when Asha died in childbirth, he was left alone.
Chief Soldaat banned him from ever telling Mezza that he was his biological grandfather and he went on the raise the boy himself. Reën, although angry with her husband for disobeying their vows, grew to love Mezza as much as she did Tidas. If Tidas had to guess, Leeu’s anger with Mezza was not because he hated him. It was because he loved him and could never express it the way he should have been able to.
Tidas sighed. “He doesn’t hate you.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I’m your big brother, and do you think I would let someone who hated you train you hours of the day?”
Mezza smacked his lips. “You are always so busy with Father that I doubt you would even notice.”
“Brother.” Tidas gripped Mezza’s arms and forced his baby brother to look into his eyes. In them, he saw sadness. “I would give my last breath before I let someone cause you harm. There are some things that you just wouldn’t understand, but just know that everything is not what it seems.”
“Whatever,” Mezza said. “All the other boys get time to learn, but with me, I’m expected to know everything because I am the son of the chief. He beats me with sticks if I do something wrong. I never get the chance to do it right. How am I supposed to learn like that?”
“If it makes you feel any better, I can train you at night.”
“But won’t you be tired?”
It was true that Soldaat had Tidas training like crazy as well, but he did much less combat those days. Soldaat mostly taught Tidas about the ways of their people and how to survive the harshest of conditions. He missed the one-on-one battles with his peers. It had gotten to the point where no one could defeat him, but he still enjoyed the rush that came with the fight.
“Never too tired for you, Mezza.” Tidas shuffled his hand on Mezza’s head. “I would be no use to you if I did not teach you to be my equal. After all, if something happens to me, this tribe will be all yours.”
“Well, I pray nothing happens to you.” Mezza shook his head. “I was not born to lead.”
Tidas grinned, but his next statement was cut short by a bloodcurdling scream in the distance.
“It came from the village!” Tidas said, alarmed. “Come on. We may be under attack.”
Not another second was wasted. The boys ran full speed in the direction of their village and were alarmed at what they saw. The Krag were all in disarray as they ran frantically around, calling the names of their loved ones. The smoke caught Mezza’s attention, and the fire caught Tidas’s. Their homes were being destroyed before their very eyes, and all of their warriors lay slain in the middle of the village. Mezza ran to where they were and looked down into the faces of every boy his age in his class. Dead. They were all dead.
“Their chests.” Mezza’s eyes were as big as the disc in his hands. “Their hearts are gone.”
“Father! Mother! Nooo!”
Mezza ran to where he heard his brother shout. He was in the chief’s hut, and Mezza braced himself for what he was about to see. The entrance was smeared with blood, and his breath quickened as he entered. His first sight was their lifeless feet, and then their bodies. They were sprawled out on the ground at awkward angles, and Tidas kneeled at their sides. Mezza couldn’t remove his eyes from his mother’s once-beautiful face. She was unrecognizable. Something had mauled her to the point where her nose wasn’t even attached anymore.
“What has happened?” Tidas’s voice shook. “Who has dishonored our parents in such a way?”
Mezza couldn’t stand the sight anymore. He backed out of the hut and went back outside, although what he saw there was not any better.
“It’s coming!”
“Run!”
“My baby! It killed my baby!”
“Where is my son?”
“Mommy! Mommy!”
Chaos was all around him. He spun in a circle, trying to find the creator of it all, but he saw nothing but fire and mayhem. In the midst of the frenzy, he heard the faint sound of someone choking. Scanning the bodies, he finally found the source of the sound. It was Leeu. He was gripping his stomach, and Mezza could see there was a big chunk of his trainer’s side missing.
“Leeu!” Mezza ran to the elder man and knelt beside him. “Who did this?”
Leeu’s mouth moved as if he was trying to say something, but nothing came out but a gurgle of blood. He used his free hand to grab Mezza’s arm and pull him down. Mezza understood what Leeu wanted him to do and he put his ear close to the man’s mouth.
“What is it, Leeu? Who did this?”
“W . . . witches!”
“What?”
“The beast!”
Mezza did not understand what Leeu was trying to say, but his guess was that being so close to death was making him mad. On his face, Mezza felt Leeu take his last breath, and his hand released Mezza’s arm. He went to sit back up, but before he was all the way upright, he felt himself be tackled to the ground.
“Watch out, brother!”
He and Tidas rolled on the dirt, and Mezza cut his arm on a sharp rock. He didn’t need to ask why Tidas had tackled him, because when they stood, he saw exactly why. A wolf as big as three was crouched down and baring its teeth at them. Its muzzle looked as if it should have been white, but the thick red blood that covered it made it impossible to tell. Tidas looked around and found two spears from the slain warriors near his feet.
“Mezza,” he said and handed his brother the second spear. “Do not be afraid.”
Tidas crouched down as well and swayed, trying to anticipate the wolf’s next move. Mezza did the same. He took slow steps to the right, putting space between himself and his brother. It would be harder to attack both of them if they were not in the same spot. The wolf kept his eyes on Tidas, snarling at him.
When the beast attacked, both Mezza and Tidas assumed it would go for Tidas. But the creature was smart; it had faked them out. His eyes had been on Tidas, but the whole time he’d been focusing on Mezza. When it leaped, Mezza’s senses kicked in, and he sidestepped out of the way. He used the back end of his spear to forcefully knock the wolf’s head to the side. He tried to jump back, but the wolf recuperated too quickly. Its claw slashed and sliced the skin on Mezza’s chest.
“Ahhh!” Mezza shouted in pain, but he did not back down.
The large wolf pounced on Mezza’s small body, and the only thing that kept its snapping mouth from chewing a hole in Mezza’s face was the wooden spear being held on his neck.
“Brother!”
But he didn’t even need to call for his help; Tidas was right there. Without another second passing, Tidas shoved his spear into the wolf’s right temple, killing it on impact. The heavy beast collapsed on Mezza’s body, knocked the wind completely out of him.
“Hold on, little brother,” Tidas said and used all of his strength to push the dead weight off of Mezza. “There.”
“Tidas,” Mezza panted. “The village.”
“We must go and aid our people.”
“But the village—”
“The village is no more! We have to go. Before more of these unnatural things come.”
Not too far away, the boys heard the sound of hands cl
apping together. Although their energy was depleted, they jumped to their feet and assumed their battle positions at the sight of the woman before them. She was unlike any they had ever seen, and she was dressed in black cloaks. In her hair, she had matted braids, and the wrinkles under her eyes gave her young face an old look. Although it was a hot day, the closer she got to them the colder their insides got.
“He’s right; this village is done for.” Her edgy voice echoed in the air. “And so are your people.”
She waved a hand in the air, and the few members of the tribe still scrambling around suddenly dropped to the ground clutching their necks. They tried to gasp for air, but it was like they were suffocating.
“Who are you? What are you doing to them?” Tidas asked in horror. When she didn’t answer, he shouted again. “What are you doing to them?”
The woman cackled but still did not say a word. She twisted her hand, that time causing the choking people to rise from the ground. Their feet flailed wildly, and their eyes were wide, not understanding what was going on. When their eyes began to bulge out of their sockets, Mezza could not stand it any longer.
“Put them down!”
“As you wish.” The woman smiled sinisterly, revealing black teeth, and she flicked her wrist once more. The people dropped five feet to the ground, dead. “Happy now?”
“Why have you done this to my people? What did we do to deserve this slaughter?”
“Nothing. My pet was just hungry.” She cackled again before her expression grew sinister once more. “You killed him.”
“It tried to kill us first.”
“He!” the woman corrected him. “Tatu was a loyal protector, my only friend. And you will pay for every drop of his blood that has leaked on the ground.”
“No,” Tidas sneered. “An eye for an eye. Tatu killed my parents.”
“Do you think I care about the lives of a few mortals? No! I care about myself and that I will not be forced to walk alone and unprotected. You two? Yesss, you two will be my new protectors. Drink!”
Mezza panicked when he realized he no longer had control of his own body. Both he and Tidas took heavy steps toward where the dead wolf lay. Mezza tried to fight against the force that had overcome him, but the more he fought, the more pain shot through his limbs.