The battlefield was raging with fire all over, the castle behind him up in flames and so was the love of his life - his empress.
Keito had not been a good emperor to his people, he would be the first one to admit it himself. He had been cruel and even vicious but he had been the emperor, the mightiest of them all.
He had ruled over the kingdom with an iron fist and no matter how much others condemned him for it, he was doing what he felt was right and for the future betterment. People just did not understand him at all and complained all the time.
Everything was going smoothly, he had the love of his life - princess Jess as his queen and a lot of concubines. He was the Alpha of all the alphas, the one above all.
So, how did it come down to this?
Why had his people rebelled against him? Why had his castle been lit up in flames like that with no way out for his beloved princess Jess. Was she even alright? Or was she burned in the flames?
It had to be a conspiracy - someone close to him must have betrayed him, because who else could get so close to the castle to light it up in flames?
"Keito?" The voice was soft and oh so achingly familiar - one he had not expected to hear in this lifetime again because he himself had banished this person.
"I should have known it was you. Who else could it be but you? Who else could hate me so much but you? Tell me, was it fun to toy with my emotions? Huh, Noah?" The one in front of him was a long shired, thin and short youth.
The face that faced him was still layered with baby fat still and even at an age of 20, the softness was retained by that face.
Noah had been a slave, beta and his childhood friend. They had been close once upon a time but the other had betrayed him when he had tried to take away princess Jess from him. That was when he realised that he loved Jess and had decided to marry her.
And Noah had been punished with banishment for life from his ruling city
Perhaps, had he been in a clearer state of mind, he would have thought of other alternatives. Perhaps he would have made a different decision that would have changed the course of everything that happened afterwards.
But Alphas were not meant to be the rational type after all, and hence to count on one to be so was a foolish miscalculation. Apparently, that had not been enough for the other because he was likely the betrayer. He had destroyed Keito's life and everything he had loved.
Keito could not allow him to go unpunished for that ever.
"No, I'm here to help you. Please, stand up" The thin, small body extended the hand out to him and that just made Keito even more bitter. Had he fallen that low that even the enemy had to extend his hand to him?
The bitterness exploded inside his heart and the more he stared at that innocent face, the more it consumed him thoroughly.
No, the other would not go unpunished. He would not allow him to get away so easily.
Somehow looking at the innocent face his heart gave a hollow pang, just like it did in the past but he ignored it for it had no right to be there after all this time. He would make sure that such a thing would not happen.
"You. I curse you. You will never be happy, ever. You will forever roam as a cursed person to never be free from my influence. I and my family whom you destroyed" the king was bitter and going in shock but the words held voting acid in them.
'No, making a mistake. NOT HIM' the king ignored the voice of his wolf, the one who had favored this person even in death.
The smaller body did not say anything, just stared at the dying body, too stubborn to say anything in return. The sad eyes just looked at the dying bitter man.
And then the bitter eyes closed into an eternal sleep as the other looked on in sadness and grief as his most important person died cursing him all the way.
"Y-your majesty is dead. The witch killed him. Catch and kill the witch" One of the soldiers who arrived on the scene screamed in fright as soon as he saw the fallen body of the king on the floor.
The small and fragile body who stood in front of the kind did not protest. It did not say anything either, just stared blankly into space all the while.
And when those hollow blue eyes turned toward the soldiers with a broken look behind the white fluffy hair, no one could take another step. The darkness in them was overpowering and all-consuming.
Slowly the shadow in white moved toward them, his body swaying in the wind and oh so fragile as if even a strong gust of wind would knock him over.
The soldiers took a step back as the body stepped forward.
"Give me the way. Let me through" then a strong voice parted the crowd of the soldiers and a lady adored in beautiful jewellery made her way through the crowd.
"Lady Jess, it's a pleasure" the strong jawline on the red-haired lady was vicious but as soon as she saw the fragile body in front of her, something could be seen to pass over her face. The lady was indeed the wife of the current king, the alpha queen.
Unknown to everyone, the departed spirit of the king lingered far longer than intended and only faded once his eyes fell on his queen.
But even she knew that the person in front of her could not have committed the crime he had been accused of. It was just not in his nature to do so, but people were convinced that this person had been the one who had committed the crime.
She would not be the one to burst their bubble if it was going to help her. No, she could and would take advantage of this.
"It seems that banishment was not enough for you. Soldiers, capture him and take him to the dungeons. He will become a sacrifice to the gods this year" there was a cheer behind her when she spoke but no one actually made any move to capture the white shadow.
Then slowly, the white person made his way over to the on his own violation. Blue met violet for a second before they clashed away with blue submitting.
The shadow in white, Noah followed behind the noble lady in crimson, the only remaining person of his beloved and walked at a distance.
The next day, the person known all over the kingdom as the white witch was executed and people celebrated.
A year later, at the one month anniversary of the kingdom's heir, a new guardian deity was born - the one who served the royal family and would continue to do so for generations to come.
It's name?
It was called the Fox god.