"You look like you have something cooked up," Hewlett says.
"It needs prep time."
"I was not planning on being the bearer of bad news but Darren is very strong. I guess a bit above the black lycan we fought outside the stadium," Hewlett says.
I knew it. He really isn't just mouthy—
"I can buy you time. He is waiting for us to go to him…to embarrass ourselves," Hewlett says. "Make sure whatever plan you have is a good one. You take too long and I beat him alone."
"What's up with y—
He propels himself high up in a curve. Damnit Hewlett. He moves fast in an arc that lands him directly on Darren.
I'm not letting you get cocky with me too!
I remember. It was the only thing I felt Master Dell truly praise me for…the lycan dance.
I'll use it this time. I'll show all of you the one thing I've mastered!
Retrace the steps, right hand and open palm to the ground. Left hand the same but closer to my chest and my right leg should be firm and further.
One more step, something that I should have done when I was training with Brother Sabantu…adding amaka. Focus, focus harder.
Hewlett's fighting like hell out there and I'm joining him.
…
Hmm? What was that? Hewlett almost caught him because he was looking at me. I saw it for myself but I still think I'm dreaming. For a second…no even shorter than that…I sensed it leak out of you Darren. The scent of fear!
Now I'm sure of it… you're my prey now.
My legs quickly shift and turn and my body follows. This dance involves making S-shaped patterns that give me more speed and power with every shift and turn I make.
The first S gets me to half the distance between me and them.
A greater half of the second S and only half an arm's length subtracts me from Darren. I see my reflection in his eyes, a spark of red from my own. With one final twist, I hammer for his left ear but his guard's already up, my foot and all of its force land on it.
He groans but his guard still holds. He snaps his head to look me straight in the eyes. "You sensed nothing!" Darren shouts. He used his left to guard and his right to support it. Oh shit, he's about to kill me.
He twists his upper body, his guard, to his left, my leg, the one that now rests on it follows trying to reach the ground. In a blur of swiftness, all I can now see is his elbow, inches from my face.
I feel a breeze behind me as my eyes close welcoming Darren's unavoidable elbow.
Something rams into me right above my heel, my head falls back instead and slams into the ground.
My eyes blur facing the ceiling and all I hear is ringing in my head.
Where am I? It feels like a large dark room. I can't move; I can't speak. I can only see. There's only one thing here that I haven't seen other than myself. These aren't my normal senses telling me there's something out there. It's my amaka, pulsing like a heartbeat to it.
And I know it's coming closer because the pulsing's gotten stronger—
A sharp pain stabs me in the chest. Is this all real? Then, my entire body feels it first and as if from nothing but the darkness around me, A great black wolf appears, the same one I saw when I went berserk the first time.
Have I gone berserk again? The wolf looks at me. This is all feels different from last time—
Arrghh! My chest suffers another sharp pain. Even here, I'm slowly losing consciousness…as my eyes open and shut into unconsciousness, I hear it. A single word from the wolf.
'Better'.
My eyes open to the view of a room I don't recognize. I turn my head to look to my right; I can move again…And there's nobody here. The wolf, I remember it; clearer than the last time. And the word, 'better'. Can't tell what it means but he sounded disappointed.
"What wolf?"
"Huh?" I sound out. My mind finally catches up to remind me who I just heard. "Aunt Gloria?" Did I say something out loud? This is all the bead's fault; making me talk to myself.
"How are you feeling?" She asks.
"I'm okay. I know I went unconscious and I was talking in my sleep; what was I saying?" I hope I didn't mention the bead.
"You only said, 'the wolf', that's why I asked," Answers aunt Gloria.
I'm glad. "I didn't—
No, I don't think I went berserk like last time… But why?
"You thinking about what you should lie?" Aunt Gloria asks.
"I was thinking about whether I actually went berserk or not."
"Oh, that…Brother Sabantu already told me about it. I was excited to see it," aunt Gloria says. So-I actually did go berserk. "Too bad it was a no show."
"What?" Then I didn't?
"All the signs were there. You weren't answering when we were talking to you. You spasmed at some point, everything but going berserk," aunt Gloria says. Wait…why were you hoping I go berserk? "You weren't the one that went berserk, Yori…Darren was."
"What happened?" Does he have a bead too? Is that even possible?
"The training I put you through wasn't designed to be completed easily. You reminded him of something horrific from his past. Something terrible enough to still give him nightmares even now. He tried his best to shrug it off as some fluke but your mastery of it didn't help at all," she explains.
She's talking about my technique…the lycan dance? But Master Dell taught it to me. And he's never left the village since he took me in. So, it wouldn't be either of us. Assuming Darren's around my age.
It can't be…am I not the only one he taught? That's the only answer. Unless Master Dell—
"Why so quiet all the sudden?" Aunt Gloria asks cutting my thought.
"I was trying to think of who else knows the technique I know. Maybe it could clear things up."
"You weren't listening to a word I said, were you?" She asks rhetorically.
"You said my technique reminded him of something terrible—
"Yes-it does but it's obvious that someone who doesn't even know how to use amaka properly can't be the one to blame," she points out.
Huh? Someone who can't properly use amaka… "Then why attack me in the first place? Why go berserk if he knows I didn't do it?"
"How many of your questions do I have to answer before I start to feel as stupid as you…I said you reminded him of something, that's why he went berserk," aunt Gloria answers.
"Oh,
I think I understand now. I'm sorry."
"Just stay put and get some rest. I'll tell the others you're awake after an hour," aunt Gloria says before leaving the room.
I feel bad for all the times I called him a jerk now that I'm…—no, my technique's the reason that made him go berserk after all.