Chapter 19–An enemy from the past

TWENTY TWO YEARS AGO

Chapter Soundtrack: Streets (Violin) by Joel Sunny. (NB: Because this is a short flashback of the past, I wrote it in a third person POV for better understanding. I hope you enjoy it. Hehe)

It was the year of the red moon in the Nectar pack. A successful pack, led by the tyrant leader; Alpha Hok Tarium. The most merciless and ruthless alpha that the pack had ever had. In fact, no other pack had ever had an alpha as evil and power thirsty as Alpha Hok. He was the reincarnation of the devil. 

Inside the throne room, the elders of the council were seated before the almighty Alpha Hok and in the center of the gathering was an old man kneeling before them, looking beaten and tortured and guarded by two guards. The head of the elders of the council; Elder Kain was standing a few feet away from the old man. He bowed his head before the Alpha before he proceeded to speak. 

"My Alpha." He gestured to the old man with a hand. "Here kneels the blasphemous seer who goes around the pack, spreading rumors about some fake prophecy the gods allegedly revealed to him…"

"It is no false prophecy!" Elder Kain was suddenly cut off his words by the old man who raised his head and glanced around defensively. A guard kicked him on the back with a knee and the old man fell to the floor, groaning in pain.

"You shall learn to give the Alpha some respect." Elder Kain hissed at the man but Alpha Hok raised his hand at that moment to calm the situation.

"That is enough, Elder Kain!" He dropped his hand to the arm of his majestic throne again, his dark, cold soulless eyes shifted to the pathetic old man. His hair was dark and long and he looked like the older version of his son; Alcot. Everyone in the pack wished his young son would grow up to be different and not take in the footsteps of his father. Or his mother. "Let the blasphemous seer speak for himself.

The old seer grunted weakly in pain as the guards roughly pulled him from the ground to kneel before the Alpha again.

"My Alpha…" His breathing was labored and heavy. He looked like he could pass out anytime soon.

"What is this thing…, this rumor that I hear about some prophecy concerning my reign?" The Alpha questioned him, his brows knitted together in curiosity.

The seer coughed and prepared himself to speak. There were bloodstains on his lips from the cut he had sustained when the guard kicked him, causing him to fall over the floor. 

"They are not rumors, my Alpha. Those were the exact words of the gods." He defended himself again. 

"Then, I shall like to hear those words of the gods for myself. Speak, dear seer."

For a moment, the old seer hesitated to answer to the Alpha but it only angered the Alpha who raised his voice impatiently at the poor, shaky man. 

"I command you to speak!"

The old seer shook visibly at the thunderous command of the Alpha and even the elders seemed to adjust themselves a little on their seats out of fear for the Alpha. 

"There shall come to be a child." The old seer finally opened his mouth to say. His eyes twitched in fear but he summoned the remaining courage in him to obey the Alpha. 

"He shall be born in the year of the red moon, and with the mark of the red moon crescent. He shall be the weapon of the gods, fashioned to put an end to the Tariums' reign and bloodline."

The whole hall went quiet as the seer spoke and even after he finished speaking. Even the Alpha seemed to have gone mute for a while. If one would look closely to the Alpha's face, they would depict a small trace of fear along the lines of his hardened face and the uncertainty that crossed his eyes for a second.

"Forgive me, my lord. But those were the exact words of the gods."

Still, Alpha Hok kept his silence and no one dared say a word before he did. They let him brood in his silence for as long as he intended to. After what seemed like a minute he chuckled ridiculously. A rich, yet fear gripping chuckle. 

"A child born in the year of the red moon is prophesied to end my reign and bloodline? A weapon of the gods you say?" He repeated the old seer's words as though he had not heard it correctly.

"Y–yes, my al–pha." The old man stammered, smelling his own doom. 

Alpha Hok laughed again. An evil and foreboding laugh. No one dared say anything while he laughed. Not even the elders of his council. A few seconds later, his laugh ended again and his face hardened again into a cold and monstrous glare. He rose from his throne and walked down to the seer.

When he reached the seer, he crouched down and stared directly into his eyes. The seer looked away and trembled visibly in fear.

"What a foolish thing to think that anyone has the power to bring me down." He whispered to the man. "You seem to have forgotten who I am."

The seer stuttered, trying to find the right word to answer him with.

"I am Alpha Hok Tarium." The Alpha didn't let him speak. "First son of Alpha Seth Tarium. I have conquered many packs and returned victorious with the heads of their Alphas. I have drank from the skulls of powerful wolves I killed in battle."

"So, answer me, old seer. How is it possible that a child would be able to bring someone like me down?"

The seer breathed heavily. He looked like he could die from fear any moment from now.

Alpha Hok got up on his feet again. He stared coldly at the seer before throwing his orders. 

"Seize him."

The guards obeyed his orders immediately and roughly gripped the seer.

"Execute him in front of the market square. I want every member of the pack to witness his execution and learn from his treachery." Alpha Hok gave his harsh judgment. "The price for blasphemy against me and any of my family is death."

The guards knew better than to delay the Alpha's commands. And so, they immediately started to drag the seer away. The old man screamed in disapproval and tried to fight them off but they were stronger and no match for him.

"Thereafter, kill every infant in the pack, aged one and below. I shall condone no act of treachery from the gods as well."

Elder Kain made an effort to try to stop him.

"My Alpha…"

"Do not try to argue with me, Elder Kain. I shall not condone that too. Would you like to join the old seer?"

Elder Kain's silence was enough for an answer. Instead, he watched in pity as the guards continued to drag the seer away while he tried to fight them off, unsuccessfully.

"You shall be rewarded for your evil acts, Alpha Hok!" The old man yelled and cursed at the Alpha. "The gods shall reward you for your evil! No matter what you do, the child will live! You will be stopped!"

But the Alpha's heart was as hardened as a rock and he watched the old man being manhandled and dragged away with a smile of satisfaction on his face. 

As the man was dragged outside the castle, a little boy of eight who had been eavesdropping on the council meeting ran to the old man, crying and hugging his leg. The guards tried to push him away but he wouldn't budge.

"Father!"

"Enon." The man cried and tried to peel the boy off him too but it was as if he had made himself a second skin. Nothing the guards or the man did was enough to push him away. 

"Father. Don't let them take you away. Please."

"Enon. You have to go. You have to stay alive so that you can help the chosen one when he comes. Remember your promise to me."

"I won't let them take you away from me, father!" The boy cried harder. One of the guards flogged the little boy with a whip and he let out a cry but still held onto his father tighter. The old man cried at the unfair treatment of his child.

"Enon. Go away!"

"I won't, father. I won't let them take you away from me!"

The whip landed on the boy again. And another. And another. The boy and his father cried. Finally, a few guards were able to disentangle the boy from the old man and held the boy back as the father was dragged away. The boy cried and called on to his father. But that was the last time he had seen his father. The old man was executed according to the orders of the wicked Alpha. 

And in his quest for vengeance, the little boy had changed his identity and was lucky to get adopted by an elder of the council who never knew the boy's real identity. With his new family, he learned the skills of war, read books that sharpened his mind and befriended the Alpha's son. And so, when he had reached the age of maturity, he was appointed the beta of the Alpha's son after the Alpha passed away. He had waited long for the chosen one to show up. He had waited long to be able to get his revenge.

And now…, she was finally here. The chosen one. The one with the moon crescent mark. Sterling could finally avenge his old man and give his soul peace. The Tariums were about to smell their end.