~~~~~~~~~~~
A month later...
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zariah summoned her flames and watched as they lit up the sword in her grasp, she swung the sword in a wide arc, releasing a torrent of flames at the metal dummy,
Zariah watched with a cold, distasteful look as the dummy melted down to a puddle of metal beneath her feet.
"Alpha..." Allen greeted but Zariah cut him off.
"I asked for fire resistant metal for my training room." Zariah said in a distasteful tone.
"Alpha, we have coated them with fire resistant metal multiple times, yet your crimson flames burn through everything..." Allen defended in an aggrieved tone.
Zariah passed Allen a blank look and he lowered his head in submission immediately.
"Forgive my offence, Alpha. I will have them make another one." Allen quickly adjusted to a formal tone.
"No need... what is your report?" Zariah asked as she headed towards the sword rack in her training room and placed down the sword in her grasp.
"A missive has arrived from the Royal Lycan Pack, attached to it is an invitation to the coronation of the new Alpha King." Allen reported.
Zariah's glanced up, her crimson orbs glowed slightly as her eyes narrowed.
"The element lords and the elders have met to discuss it, they await your presence in your study." Allen continued, Zariah tilted her head to the side slightly.
"They want me to honor the invitation..." Zariah trailed off, her hands balling up into fists at her sides as the temperature in the training room rose steadily, reflecting Zariah's mood.
"Alpha, calm down..." Allen said, gazing warily around the training room,
Zariah inhaled deeply and slowly exhaled, the glow in her crimson orbs receded as she glanced up at Allen.
"Let's go." Zariah said, heading out of the training room, Zariah did not bother changing out of her training gear but instead headed straight to her office.
Zariah pushed open the door and stepped in, taking a seat at the head of the table as all the element lords and gathered elders rose to their feet and bowed.
"Sit and speak." Zariah permitted in her blank monotone, her gaze dark and chilling.
"Alpha, The Royal Lycan Pack and our Crimson Moon Pack are close allies and have been for centuries since the days of the Dark War, when the forsaken prowled the earth..." The Water element lord began.
"And...?" Zariah asked with a raised brow.
"My point exactly, so what about it?!" The flame element lord growled out as he rose to his feet in anger.
"Lord Randall..." Zariah warned in a cold tone, her chilling gaze fixed on the flame element lord.
Lord Randall's lips immediately snapped shut and he lowered himself back down into his seat.
"Proceed." Zariah said, returning her attention to the water element lord who still had a cold glare fixed on the flame element lord.
Like water and fire, the two element lords never saw eye to eye on anything, while one was calm and overly reasonable, the other was a short fuse, fiery and wild.
However Zariah held great respect for all five element lords as they each ruled their domain with prudence and wisdom.
As an Alpha of the massive Crimson Moon Pack, Zariah knew she would never have been able to lead the Crimson wolves into the peace and prosperity they had today without the relentless support and efforts of the element lords.
"What I mean to say is, The Royal Lycan Pack regard us with great respect and it is only right we do the same."
"Beyond this, the circumstances surrounding the death of the deceased Alpha King are suspicious and scouts attest to sightings of what is said to be forsaken in the outworld." The Water element lord continued.
"That is hardly possible, the element seal holds strong, if the darkness had found a means of escape, we would know it first." The Earth element lord said, turning to the spirit guide for confirmation.
"Lord Myron is correct, the element seal holds strong." Lord Nile confirmed.
Zariah's brows furrowed slightly, in the past life, this very same conversation had taken place and it was eventually decided they would not honor the royal invitation.
However this time, Zariah knew better than to doubt the credibility of the words of the scouts.
The Crimson barrier was intact, yet an intruder had somehow broken through it... the element seal was intact, yet somehow, Caedmon Grey had possessed a serum that could turn Zariah forsaken.
Zariah was not ridiculous enough to believe she was the only one that serum had been used on,
The crimson barrier, the element seal, even the mate bond, none was a certainty anymore.
Perhaps everything the crimson moon so strongly believed in was not as impenetrable as they thought it to be.
"Perhaps the darkness within the element seal remains sealed, but the darkness in the world can never truly go away... the darkness was formed from nothing in the first place, what's to say the same cannot happen again?" Zariah murmured quietly, rising to her feet.
"Alpha means to say..." Lord Nile trailed off in alarm.
"Whatever darkness has been sighted in the outworld did not come from the element seal...it originated in the outworld but darkness binds with darkness and so if the darkness has formed again, it will definitely come for the element seal." Zariah thought aloud, running a hand through her hair.
"These are merely assumptions, the credibility of the scout's report is worthy of doubt, yet if there even is a slightest possibility...we cannot overlook it, only the crimson wolves retain the ability to destroy the darkness." Lord Nile said, also rising to his feet.
"Yet we have sworn to never venture out of the crimson barrier till the danger is apparent, we cannot break our oath. The crimson wolves shall remain within the crimson barrier, we should dispatch a party to go out and confirm these assumptions." The air element lord who had been quiet all along suggested.
"Who shall we send?" Lord Randall asked and all eyes turned to Zariah for her decision.
"I will go." Zariah said, her words sending the elders and element lords into shocked silence.
"Alpha will go yourself?" The water element lord asked.
"I am the custodian of the crimson flame, the true nemesis of darkness. I will not sit here and let danger come to us, the safety of the crimson wolves and the element seal is my responsibility... besides, I am the only one who has an invitation..." Zariah pointed out, lifting up the royal invitation and waving it in the air.
However within Zariah's heart was a different thought.
'In the past lifetime, you came to me and you brought death and destruction to my people...this time, I will come to you first and if I fail to deal you a thousand times worse than what you did to me and my people, then may the creator damn my soul....'