by H. T. Night
I believed Yari. She had a peace about her that I had not yet explored. I knew I could always trust her. In some ways, I trusted her more than Lena. So, I decided to tell her what everyone was dying to know.
“I had a vision,” I said.
“Just one?” she asked.
“Yes, and it happened today.”
“What was it?” Yari asked.
I paused and grinned at the absurdity that I was about to tell her. “A little blue man in front of a giant castle said I was to ‘tame the wolf’ and then come back to see him.”
“Are you sure it was a vision, or could it have been a bad sugar high?”
I laughed. “It was definitely a vision. It was my first and only dream I have had since becoming a Mani.”
“A little blue man, huh?” Yari took a few moments to think.
I tried to push the Smurf-like image into a gnome in my head. Yes, a blue gnome. That’s what he was.
Then she lifted her eyes and looked into the sky.
I followed her gaze and saw a sea of black ravens circling us in the sky.
“We have company, Josiah!” Yari yelled.
“Who are they?!” I hollered back.
“I don’t know.”
Yari and I were caught in the middle of something that was not going to be good. I could feel it. The ravens surrounded us in a perfect circle. Yari and I had our backs to each other. The ravens were loud and I had no idea what was going to happen. There was a slightly larger raven that had a white stripe along its wingspan, like a military officer of their ranks. I could tell that he was the leader, and my focus was going to stay on him.
Suddenly, in an instant, all the ravens transitioned into Mani men. The raven with the white stripe on his wingspan transitioned into a muscular Asian man that looked like what you imagine modern samurai warriors would look like.
“Josiah?” the large, samurai-looking man asked loudly, with a voice that sounded like a trumpet blaring.
“Yes,” I said.
“Walk up to me,” he proclaimed as if he was royalty.
“Excuse me?” I said.
“Come before me, boy!”
I looked at Yari and, for the first time ever, she appeared to be terrified, and that wasn’t at all assuring.
“Do you question my command!?” the samurai-looking fellow yelled.
I stood my ground. “Look, Genghis, I don’t make it a habit to bend over for every raven turned Mani who asks me to come before him. Or disrespects me by calling me ‘boy.’”
“Do you know who I am?” The man had a look of horror on his face.
He obviously thought my response should have been more like Yari’s. I looked this guy up and down and had no clue. He could have been an extra in a John Woo movie. Other than that, I hadn’t the foggiest idea who he was.
“He’s Krull,” Yari hollered at me.
“Krull?” I asked.
“You know, the fallen Mani.”
“I wouldn’t say I was fallen. More like reborn,” he stated. All of the Mani men surrounding us laughed. I looked around and this was the first time I had taken a good look at these guys. There were at least two hundred of them. Boy, were they a sight for sore eyes. Some looked like bodybuilders, while others looked as if they had been on the high seas for months at a time. They looked shaggier than the Carni men from the other night.
“Okay, you’re Krull. Is that supposed to mean something to me?”
“You’re a cocky little shit, aren’t you?” Krull would not tolerate my disrespect. It appeared that no one had talked to him in that way for years. He seemed flustered and confused, and I was enjoying that.
“This puny little man surely isn’t the Chosen One I am to kill?” Krull yelled out to the other Mani that surrounded us. “You’re just a child—a baby.” All the Mani surrounding us laughed again. “How long have you walked the earth, boy?”
“Walked the earth?” I asked. “What does that mean?”
“How long have you been alive?” Krull screamed.
“I’ve been alive for about twenty-one years.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“Why? Do I look like I’m already twenty-one? There are few liquor stores that don’t card me.”
“Jokes? To me?” Krull looked as if he was going to lose his mind.
“Look, Krawl.”
“It’s Krull.”
“Krull, Crawly, Night Crawler, Creepy Crawler—whatever. It really doesn’t matter to me. If you think you can intimidate me you have another think coming.”
“You have it wrong, young Mani. My intention is not to intimidate you. My intention is to destroy you.”
Krull then lunged at me and tackled me to the ground. I threw him off my back. He was strong, but I was stronger. Krull then came at me again and this time he glided toward me as if he could fly himself. As he did so, he kicked me straight in my chin. Damn that hurt!
“Josiah, we need to get out of here!” Yari yelled. “There’s too many of them. They are here to kill you.”
Now, Yari says this?
“I figured they weren’t here for an autograph,” I yelled back. “Who isn’t trying to kill me these days?”
I looked up and Krull had completely jumped over me like in a video game. Prince of Persia came to mind, that old-school game. He landed behind me, and high-kicked me in the back of my head. I fell forward. I looked around and all the Mani men had come for me. Two incredibly large men had grabbed me and were holding my arms so I couldn’t move. All of them surrounded me. One by one, they were punching me in the face as if each person could say they struck The Chosen before he was killed. This wasn’t good. This was damn awful. Each punch was more intense and more painful. They were throwing me around like a rag doll. I knew I had to fight back, but the odds were against me.
“Yari, get out of here,” I yelled.
Krull laughed. “Don’t worry, Chosen Child—she ran a few minutes back, or should I say—flew away.”
“What do you want from me?” I yelled, while being tossed from one Mani to the next.
“Let him be!” Krull called out. The last Mani punched me in the ribs and I dropped right in front of him. “All I want is to destroy you. Your mere existence is going to mess up my plans—plans that have taken me 800 years to carry out.”
“I don’t know what your plans are, and I don’t care to know.”
“Shut up!” Krull stopped himself and then looked to the sky. “This is who you brought before me? A sniffling, teenage boy?” Krull was horrified at the prospect that I was sent to stop him. Krull quit yelling at the sky and then turned his attention back to me. “They chose you!? You are the prophesied savior of the Mani people!? Look at you! You’re a hundred and seventy pounds dripping wet. This is insulting!” Krull began a frantic pace like a maniac on speed.
I climbed to my feet and stood my ground. Truly, what else did I have to lose? I couldn’t escape. There were too many of them. I might as well go down swinging.
Krull then put his attention back on the sky. He was apparently showing his disdain for Triat. “Is this your way of MOCKING ME?!” Krull was screaming at the sky like a petulant child.
I looked to the sky to see the direction that Krull was yelling. Then I saw two red hawks, and two ravens coming toward us in a fury. Thank God. My two Mani women friends and my faithful henchmen ass-kickers were here.
Krull’s Mani clan saw the birds too, and two of them grabbed my arms. The birds circled above us, squawking and soaring. With utter quickness, the four birds dived down and clawed the Mani men holding me. They let go of me and I quickly transitioned into the great white eagle and flew up as fast as I could. I needed to get the hell out of here. Two ravens and two hawks followed me. Suddenly, one of the hawks began squawking uncontrollably.
I looked back to see if anyone was coming at us and I noticed on the ground the Mani had surrounded another body.
I circled and turned back around to see who it was. It was a
man. Holy crap! It was Tommy! They had Tommy! What the hell was he doing here?
It was Tommy, one lone Carni against Krull’s gang of Mani barbarians that he’d been building for 800 years. I never leave a friend behind, never turn tail, never run when loyalty is on the line. And it was. Would I die to save Tommy? Damn right, I would!
I circled back and made an impulsive decision that took zero thought from my end. I flew down hard toward Tommy. Krull had Tommy by his throat. SCREW THAT SAMURAI PIECE OF SHIT! I aimed my beak at his back like a dagger and torpedoed down to the mob. Krull was right in the middle of the heap. I gave another burst of speed. My elongated beak cracked into Krull’s back, piercing through his skin and muscles. Krull was a specimen. I tore into him real good, but I had ricocheted off of him on contact. He flew forward and I flew backward. It looked like a scene out of Rocky.
He let go of Tommy. I transitioned quickly into my Mani form and charged Krull. Krull turned around to face me. My beak had fucked him up pretty good. He was still in a daze. I gave him the hardest uppercut punch I had ever given in my life. He popped up about four feet in the air, I didn’t slow down—I roundhouse-kicked him right in his fat skull before he hit the ground, knocking him another ten feet in the air. I didn’t see what kind of damage I had done because I needed to get Tommy the hell out of here. I quickly transitioned back to the eagle, grabbed Tommy by the shirt with my claws, and flew him out of there. I flew faster than I ever had before. My claws were deep into Tommy’s shirt, the Mani Chosen One saving a Carni. He wasn’t going anywhere with Krull. I had Tommy safely in my talons. The two red hawks and two ravens followed us.
Lena was right. Everyone had my back, even when the odds were stacked horribly against us. All four were there to help me, including Tommy. I turned around, expecting ravens to be close behind me, but we were alone. They apparently decided they’d had enough. I didn’t take any chances by slowing down. I kicked my speed into another gear with Tommy in hand—or should I say clawed hand. I had hit Krull real good and I would have loved to have been there when he realized that this boy just laid him out. I knew deep down that I couldn’t fight him straight up. I had to sucker punch him. But he had the numbers, and when you come to a fight with 50 times the numbers—all bets are off.
“Fly up to the San Bernardino Mountains and head over to Running Springs,” Tommy said as he dangled from my claws. “We’ll all stay at one of my hideouts.”
With that, the six of us made our way up the mountain.
Chapter Nine
Tommy guided me to a cabin just north of Running Springs.
I dropped him down on the front porch and then proceeded to land on the roof. I nearly fell off, but I had to admit my landings were improving. I settled on top of the roof and watched my four bird-friends land next to Tommy and transition. I nodded my head to let them all know the coast was clear from where I was perched.
I lifted my wings, leaped off the roof, and landed next to my friends. I transitioned into my new vampire form. We all just looked at each other and no one said a word. Somehow, through a will that was not our own, this group of six had found one another. If I was The Chosen, then it was time for me to accept that these five were chosen with me.
“So, this is it,” I said out loud. “This is who we are going to war with?”
“Yes, it is,” Lena agreed.
“We’re all in this together,” I said, looking each of them directly in the face while nodding with approval. Again, no one spoke.
Tommy broke the silence. “Let’s go inside.”
“So, this is where you’ve been?” I asked Tommy as he opened the door. Wyatt, Yari, Hector, and Lena all walked in after him. Apparently, werewolves weren’t given the same courtesy as humans. Everyone walked in without an invitation.
“There’s an upstairs and a bath,” Tommy said. “My bedroom is upstairs and anyone is welcome to have it. One of the rooms is not available, though.”
“Why is that?” I asked.
“Check it out.” Tommy walked over to a room next to the living room. He went to the doorway and turned on the lights. I peeked in and saw a giant steel cage with bars as thick as 4x4’s.
“What the hell is that?” I asked Tommy.
“Sometimes I put myself in there.” Tommy walked into the room and made his way to the cage. This is the type of cage I would have imagined they put Hannibal Lechter in. The cage was big enough to house ten gorillas. “These metal bars are what keep me from being a killer.” Tommy was obviously referring to when he becomes a werewolf.
“Did you build this?” I asked.
Tommy smiled and told me a tale about a Craigslist post from a zoo where he had purchased it. Tommy explained the details of being a werewolf, He was a six foot two, gray werewolf that was extraordinarily large.
I thanked him for his help tonight. I told him it was suicide, but I appreciated it nonetheless.
Tommy decided to go upstairs and take a quick shower. I went into the kitchen where my new friends were conversing.
The kitchen was in the back of the cabin. Wyatt and Hector sat at the kitchen table while Lena and Yari looked through the cabinets.
“What are you guys doing?” I asked.
Lena looked over her shoulder and said, “I’m seeing what supplies we have if all Armageddon breaks out.”
“I don’t think we’re going to fight off a Mani army with pots, pans and a Sunbeam popcorn popper,” I said.
“So, is this what we’ve been reduced to? We’re hiding out like fugitives. I refuse to live this way.”
“Look, Josiah,” Wyatt spoke up. “You are not ready to fight Krull.”
“Huh?” I said to Wyatt. “Where did that come from, Wyatt?”
“None of us are ready to wage war against him and you sure as hell aren’t. Krull is the most powerful Mani ever. He possesses more Mani gifts than any Mani before him or since. You pegged him right. He is the Genghis Khan of the Mani.”
“Well, I’ve been doing some crazy shit, too, over the past two days. I just might have him beat.”
“Like what?” Yari asked, adding to the conversation.
“A lot of things,” I said. “What kind of gifts did Atticai have that you all knew about?”
“He had every gift that Krull does. They were pretty much equal except we all thought Atticai was The Chosen.”
I asked again. “What gifts did Atticai have that Krull still has?”
Hector, who never says anything, said, “They both can fly.”
“All of us can fly!” Yari interjected.
“Not as a bird, but as a vampire,” Wyatt clarified.
“You’re telling me that seven-foot beanpole can fly?” I asked.
Wyatt grinned. “He had all the other Mani gifts as well. The only thing Atticai couldn’t do was see in the future. If he could have, he would have known he wasn’t the Chosen.”
“What if he did know?” I asked. “Maybe that’s why he left me for dead to be bitten by all of those snakes?”
“There is always a chance he did,” Yari said. “But I don’t think so. There was a lot of good in Atticai. He chose not to follow Krull. He and Krull had the ability to take over the world if they would have joined forces. Atticai refused.”
Wyatt added, “Do you think it was in the Triat’s will that Josiah killed him?”
All of the other Mani looked at each other as if to say they didn’t know.
“You all look disappointed that The Chosen wasn’t Atticai,” I remarked.
“We’re not disappointed,” Yari said. “We just had no idea it was going to be you.”
“The word isn’t disappointed,” Wyatt said. “We were just fucking surprised as hell. Then when you refused to talk to us for weeks, we wondered if it was all a mistake.”
“Do you guys think it was a mistake now?” I glanced at all of them. Lena and Yari both shook their heads. Hector and Wyatt, however, looked at me blankly. “Are you and Hector completely on board, Wyatt? I need
to know. Because if you’re not, I completely understand and would hold no resentment toward you—if you wanted out.”
Wyatt paused and looked at Hector. “We don’t want out, Josiah. We just want to make sure when all of this is over and when we prevail over Krull that you don’t plan on killing us.”
“What?” I asked, surprised.
“Why wouldn’t you, Josiah?” Wyatt continued. “We both tried to kill you. We’re two of the three reasons you became a Mani unwillingly.”
“All of that may be true, Wyatt. But that isn’t who I am. I respect that you were loyal to Atticai. You were only doing what you felt the Triat wanted you to do. I can’t be any angrier at you than I am at Tommy for kicking my ass in the ring a month back. He only fought me because the Commission told him he had to.”
“So, we’re cool?” Hector came out and asked.
I smiled at Hector and Wyatt. “We’re cool, guys. As long as I know from here on out that I can trust you, all is forgiven.”
My eyes went to an older needlepoint picture hanging on the cabin wall. The words seemed to fit the current mood in the room and I nodded at it, so that Hector and Wyatt would read it, too: ‘Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.’
Hector and Wyatt let out relieved sighs.
I looked at Yari. “So, what’s the deal with Krull? Is he going to hunt me down until he kills me?”
“Or until you kill him,” Yari answered. “Krull is a prideful son-of-a-bitch. Atticai was the only person who ever matched up with him. Since you laid him out, he now looks at you like a greater challenge. He had no idea what hit him.”
“Only because I sucker-punched him,” I stated.
“In a Mani-on-Mani fight, everything goes. You were well inside the rules. Krull won’t forget. But neither should you.”
“I almost wish we still had Atticai. It would be one more body.”
“Atticai would have never yielded to you,” Lena interrupted. “What happened to him that night was his destiny. The Triat knew he would never accept anyone else to lead us, no matter how much any of us cared for him. You did what you were supposed to do. You did the right thing.”