by H. T. Night
“You have a way of making this sound... almost glamorous.”
“Maybe it is glamorous, Josiah. You’ve been given a gift. Don’t turn your back on the possibilities.
“Ah, so it’s not really a curse, it’s a gift. Can I ask you a question?”
“Of course.”
I needed to know more about werewolves, and unfortunately, I needed to know about them fast. “Do Carni become stronger once they are turned from Tandra to Carni?”
Lena thought for a moment. “Not like the Mani,” she said.
“They might grow a tad stronger and quicker, but nothing close to what occurs in a Mani’s body after its transformation.”
“Mani become much stronger?” I asked.
“Put it this way, Josiah, I could barely hurt a mouse when I was mortal. The other night, I was holding down that frat boy, Ronnie, like he was a kindergartner. I feasted away on his blood, close to sheer joy in the knowledge that I could have left him dead if I chose to and walked away with no regrets, with nothing more than a satisfied burp as penance. I let him live because I was full.”
I laughed. “So, I basically turned you into a bad ass.”
Lena shook her head at me. “Yeah, you did, Josiah Reign, and never forget that.” Lena then smiled brightly at me. It was the first time in a long time I had seen her smile like that. She was radiant. She had little dimples and frankly, my heart melted.
“So, what happens when they turn into a full-blown werewolf?” I asked.
Lena’s smile turned serious. “When a Carni turns into a werewolf, it can hold its own against a Mani. Most of the time, they are stronger. But Mani can fight with cognitive thought while werewolves are like wild lions that just want to tear through their prey. There’s not much thought to it. Mani think. Carni function on pure animal instinct. Remember, we Mani have 10,000 years of evolution under our belts, Carni only 500 years.”
“What about the full moon? Is that a myth, or is it real?”
“Oh, it’s real. Too real. It is then, and only then, they turn from Carni to werewolf.”
“So, your everyday Carni walking around is just slightly stronger than a human?”
“Yup.” Lena stared at me with wonder. “Why are you asking so many questions?”
“One more question,” I said. “Why would any Carni ever fight a Mani in a one-on-one fight?”
“Oh, they do when it’s a full moon.”
I looked up in the sky. It was a half moon. Why the hell would the bartender want to fight me if he knew I was a Mani and would be stronger? He must have thought he could easily take me. I was still receiving zero respect. I guess being anointed the Chosen One didn’t mean I was looked at as a badass.
“What’s going on, Josiah? Why are you asking so many questions about the Carni?”
“Tommy disappeared from the hospital, so I’m thinking he is still alive. If he is, I need to find him.”
“He is alive, Josiah.”
I nearly fell to the ground. “What? He is? How do you know?”
“Some have seen him.”
“Where is he?”
“No one knows where he stays, but he is definitely still alive.”
I had a growing excitement spreading through my body. If anyone could tell me how to defeat a Carni, it would be Tommy. The problem was, I had no idea where he was staying. He was obviously hiding out for his own safety.
Lena could see my wheels turning in my head. “What is it, Josiah? What’s going on?”
“I have a scheduled fight tonight, not in the ring, but with a Carni.”
Lena’s mouth literally opened and her eyes stared at me hard. After a second of glaring, she asked, “Where?”
“Some ranch in Anaheim Hills.”
“You’re joking?”
“I wish I was. I hadn’t even been out in public for an hour and one of those assholes picked a fight with me. Why would he fight me? It’s not a full moon.”
“Because Carni are arrogant, Josiah. It is why Tommy fought Atticai and got his ass kicked. Carni think they run the show. To them, we are just Gothic freaks who worship the devil.”
Stricken, I put my hand over my heart. “Oh no. Please tell me we don’t worship the devil—do we?”
“Of course not.”
I exhaled in relief.
Lena continued, “But that is what the Carni has reduced us to in their heads. They can’t explain how we are a more advanced race, so they just say our abilities are given to us from the Underworld.”
“Gothic freaks or not,” I said, “no one picks a fight with someone they know can kick their ass.”
“That’s the thing, Josiah. They don’t think you can kick their ass. It’s like they have a jock mentality. They can’t accept that the outcast freak-show can kick the captain of the football team’s ass.” Lena stood up off the ground and sat next to me on the couch. “You know if you fight him, you cannot use any of your vampire powers as long as he’s not a werewolf?”
“Vampire powers? I don’t have any vampire powers.”
“You don’t know it, but you do. At this point, the only thing you need to worry about is not turning into the eagle. That will freak them out and they will probably think you’re Satan himself. If that happens, it could get real ugly.”
“Nice,” I said sarcastically. “I don’t even know how to fully control it. What if it happens by accident?”
“Don’t let it, Josiah. You have powers and abilities that no Mani before you has ever had or ever will again. No one knows exactly what you’re capable of. You probably have every gift that has ever been bestowed on the Mani and ones we still don’t know about. So, fight the guy straight up. Don’t do anything out of the ordinary.”
“Let me ask you this,” I said. “Can I bite him?”
“Yes, because trust me, that’s what he’ll try to do to you. You can fight him any way you want, you just can’t use what they call ‘magic.’”
“They seem to think I’m going to bring a sea of Mani with me to the ranch for back up.”
“Because they don’t always play fair, you can’t show up there alone. They do have a strict rule of only fighting one on one. So, you won’t have to worry about being jumped by the pack as long as you don’t use any of your special Mani abilities.”
“Do I have to go? I have nothing to prove to those guys.”
“Did one specific Carni challenge you?”
“Yes.”
“Did you accept?”
“Yes,” I stated.
“Then, guess what? You better go, or you will anger the Triat.”
“Triat schmiat. I don’t even know what or who the Triat is,” I said defiantly. “No one has bothered to explain stuff to me. I am supposed to be the savior of the Mani and I don’t even know what the Trait is. Is it God, or Mother Nature, what is it?”
“It’s all those things and more. It’s the balance. It’s the code we all live by.” Lena took my hand. “Josiah, you need to respect the Triat more than anything you have ever paid reverence to. If you listen and open yourself up, the Triat will guide you. You need to ask for guidance.”
“Seriously? Ask for guidance? You’re making it sound like a cult.”
“Don’t be skeptical. You will not be alone tonight. All of us will be there with you. We’ll make sure everything goes down the way it should.”
I looked at Lena. I didn’t want her to have any part in what was happening tonight. “Look, I’m going to go alone. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt. Especially not you.”
“You know you have a family now. We stick together.”
“Not tonight. Let me deal with this tonight.”
“Don’t be so fucking macho. We’re going with you. What time is the fight?”
I looked at Lena and lied. “It’s at 3:30 a.m. Meet me there. I’m going to do a couple of things before I get there.”
“We’ll meet you a mile up at 3:15.”
“Who?” I asked.
“Everyone: Wyatt,
Hector, Yari, and me.”
I didn’t think having just four Mani there was going to be of much help. Two of them were henchmen groupies, now my followers, who I easily defeated, and two of them were female, though I had to admit that Lena’s recollection of her takedown of Ronnie the Frat Boy for her supper had opened my eyes to her powerful bloodlust and the strength behind it. Still, I didn’t want her hurt. Or Yari, for that matter. And if I wasn’t allowed to unleash my vampire powers in the fight against them if they were not werewolf poetry in motion, purposely handicapping myself for a potential ass beating by a Carni, I might as well just go get beat up by myself. Hell, I didn’t want the girls to see me pummeled while I held back my superpowers for a fight with some Carni assholes.
“Okay, 3:15 a.m. Sounds like a plan. See you all there.” There was no way I was going to have Lena go tonight.
She looked at me uncertainly, as if she knew I was lying through my teeth.
“I better go,” I said, wanting her to stop trying to figure out if I was messing with her about 3:15 a.m., which I was. It was nearing midnight, and if I was going to fight someone, I needed to at least prepare myself the way I did a mixed martial arts fight. I needed to go to my gym and pump up!
Chapter Four
After I left Lena, I transitioned into the eagle. I didn’t have a car and walking to my old gym would take entirely too long. I could feel myself growing stronger, and sleeker with this art of flying. The wind alone was exhilarating.
When I arrived at the gym, I noticed the second-floor window was open. I challenged myself and flew into the small opening. I made it unscathed, but landed hard on the concrete of the gym, and rolled into the wall like a ton of bricks. I was dizzy and disoriented, but I found the strength to turn back into my Mani form.
The gym was dark, but there was an eerie glow, which came from a street light outside. I searched high and low; it was empty. It had been a long, strange night so far, and I thought I should stretch and meditate to make sure I was ready. I warmed up like I would before any fight. I worked out my legs, punched the big bag and let my heavy emotions dictate my moves. Tears ran down my face. I swung over and over as if every punch were the pendulum to turn back time—to take it all back. “Leave some for the fight,” a faceless voice said from a dark area of the gym.
“Who is it?” I called out.
“You cannot expect to beat a werewolf if you exhaust yourself before you actually fight.”
“Who are you?” I said again.
There was a man sitting in a chair in the dark. “I’m Mister-fucking-Myagi.”
Holy shit. I knew who it was. Karate Kid was our favorite movie growing up.
“Tommy!” I yelled.
Tommy turned on the lamp beside his chair. “In the flesh.”
“Or should I call you Kyro?”
“Kyro is dead. I will forever be Tommy.” Tommy was still pretty scratched and bruised. It had been a couple of weeks, and his scars still looked fresh.
“Are you alive?”
“You mean am I some kind of Carni ghost that has come back to haunt you?” Tommy laughed. “No. I’m alive. I’m as alive as you used to be. What the hell happened to you?”
Then I told Tommy what had happened to me. Tommy told me he knew everything. Even that I was the prophetic chosen Mani. This was nuts. Then he told me something that shocked the hell out of me. He knew Yari and how she saved him by driving him to the hospital after Atticai left him for dead.
Then Tommy brought up the name of a seven-foot werewolf named Goliath.
“Who the hell is Goliath?” I asked.
“He is another seven-foot beast, but he’s not a twig like Atticai. He weighs almost 500 pounds.”
Tommy then explained how Atticai beat him to a pulp. How he had never been defeated that cruelly by an opponent before. He wasn’t done, though. He told me how Goliath finished him off and left him for dead.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there,” I said from the bottom of my heart.
“You know, Josiah,” Tommy said, “that seven-foot beanpole was actually fighting in your honor.”
“I didn’t ask him to,” I said. “He just wanted an excuse to fight.”
“Maybe, but in the end, he was defending you.”
“All of this is crazy.”
Tommy looked at me in a way I had never seen him look at me before. “Did you kill him?”
“I had to. He was trying to kill two people I care deeply about.”
Tommy nodded his head. I think Yari had let him in on all the details, but he just wanted to hear it from me.
“So, you’re the fucking white eagle that’s in all the stories, the legends, the truth. That’s unbelievable. You have no idea how huge that is. It sure beats a mixed martial arts title.”
“Can I ask you a question?” I looked at Tommy. I didn’t want to rub salt into Tommy’s wounds. But this had really been bugging me ever since I knew Tommy had been a werewolf. “Why would you fight me in a sport that is designed for humans?”
“Because I was a Tandra when I began my mixed martial arts training. I didn’t become a Carni until five years ago. I worked too hard at the sport to give it up. I wasn’t much stronger.”
“But being a Carni made you stronger?”
“A little bit.”
“And you don’t see anything wrong with that?”
“Josiah, if you want me to say I’m sorry that I fought MMA, knowing that I had an edge, I will. But I think the Triat gave me the punishment that I deserved. I was pretty much left for dead.”
“The hospital said you were dead. Did you die?”
“I’m not sure what happened. One moment, I was left at the door of the hospital and the next moment I woke up in the woods with dead rabbits and squirrels all around me.”
“You obviously turned into a werewolf on the following night. The following night was a full moon.”
“I realize that. I’m just not sure how it happened.”
“So, then what did you do when you turned back into a human?”
“I went looking for you. I was at the house and Yari was there to see you and said you weren’t answering the door for anyone. She told me that you needed time.”
“When was this?”
“About two weeks ago. She told me everything. She told me about Atticai trying to kill a girl named Lena. She said how you saved both Lena and her. She mentioned that you had been turned into a vampire. I felt awful for you, but I knew if anyone could help you deal with it, it was me.”
“I would have answered the door for you. You should have knocked.”
“I did knock—a couple times—but you didn’t answer. I figured you were dealing with a lot of major shit and I would speak to you when you were ready—”
“You being alive trumps anything I would have to deal with.”
“I just figured our time would come. I wasn’t going anywhere.”
My eyes began to well up. “Tommy, they pronounced you dead. I thought I had lost everything.”
Tommy put his hand on my shoulder. “I know, Josiah. I should have come to you sooner.” We shared an awkward silent moment that neither of us was used to.
Then Tommy pulled a typical Tommy and asked me to show him my eagle form. So, I obliged him and he was pretty impressed. Beautiful was the word he used.
Then Tommy looked me dead in the eye and said simply, “You shouldn’t waste your time fighting Carni that you meet in a bar.”
I was shocked Tommy already knew that. That just happened tonight. “How do you know about that anyway?”
Tommy gave me a vague answer and then explained fighting a Carni was a Mani’s rite of passage.
“You were bound to be challenged by a Carni out of the gate. Consider it a rite of passage.”
“I don’t need a rite of passage. I think defeating Atticai proved that I can take care of myself.”
“The Carni and Mani feud is epic, Josiah. You might have defeated a Mani stud like Atticai, but n
ow you need to take care of your business with a Carni. Just kick his ass and get the hell out of there before they challenge you a second time. If you don’t leave after the first fight, you’ll be there all night. Trust me; you want no part of Goliath.”
“Was he that giant bald guy back at the bar?”
“Did he have a long, braided goatee?”
“Yup,” I said.
“That’s Goliath. And he is as filthy as they come. He doesn’t play by the rules, and he never quits a fight. No matter how long it takes.”
“Will he be there?”
“Oh, that grizzly bear wouldn’t miss a duel for his life.” Tommy slipped through the ropes and hopped on the concrete floor where I was standing.
“Any advice for me about the bartender?”
“The owner challenged you?” Tommy’s laugh echoed through the gym.
“What’s so funny?”
“You’ll have no problem kicking his ass. He’s all talk. A couple of high kicks should finish him off pretty quick. What time is the battle?”
I looked at Tommy. His bruises and scratches seemed fresh. I didn’t want him to get hurt anymore. This wasn’t his fight. It was mine, and I could take care of myself. “It’s scheduled for 3:30,” I lied. “In the morning, of course.”
Tommy assured me he would be there and I shouldn’t go alone.
I nodded, transitioned into my beautiful white eagle form, and flew out the same window I had come in through.
Chapter Five
I decided to fly to the nearest local park in Anaheim Hills. I looked down and found one relatively soon. It had a large lake that I swooped over it in my mighty eagle form.
When I landed on dry land, I transitioned to my Mani form and spent about an hour lying under a tree getting my head right—putting myself in the right frame of mind to take on another immortal creature. The reality of the situation was serious because I was not sure how to prepare for the fight. Therefore, I prepared the same way I would for any fight. I meditated and walked through my takedowns and submissions. I went over and over them until I knew I was ready.
I thought about Lena, and how amazing she looked tonight. I couldn’t help but feel an immense bond with her. Why? Was it because I was the one who turned her into a Mani? Or was it because of something else, something deeper and less tangible? All I knew was that she would have no part of tonight; I would not allow it. No one would be involved except me.