Darkness...pitch black darkness engulfed Zariah from all about, drowning her in it's inky shadows.
'Cast into eternal darkness after my death, for failing my ancestors, this is a fitting end...a fitting end indeed!' Zariah thought to herself, a bitter laughter escaping her lips as her eyes fluttered shut, letting the darkness consume her... Zariah was tired of fighting, she wanted to rest.
"Alpha of the Crimson Moon, first blood Lycan, Zariah Torin Moonstone, beloved by the creator..." A voice echoed in Zariah's mind as the darkness all around her swallowed her whole.
"Who are you?" Zariah thought back weakly, she did not have any energy or will left in her.
"I am one who knows you, perhaps even more than you know yourself.... yours was a destiny written in the stars, a phoenix fated to rise from her own ashes, one who was always meant to shoulder the fate of the realms, a difficult lot you have been dealt, but alas, it is the burden you must carry, for you are a savior and a destroyer." The voice whispered, Zariah laughed scornfully.
"It matters not what I was meant to be, it is all over now...my life ends here, my legacy and that of the Crimson Moon ends with me." Zariah replied solemnly.
"Ah...but alas Zari...death is not the end, no...far from it, death is only the beginning." The voice said again, this time in an amused tone as it faded away and Zariah was completely consumed by the darkness, her soul vanquished...or was it?
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The bright rays of the sun cast down on Zariah as her eyelids twitched in response to the piercing brightness.
Zariah awoke with a start, gasping for breath as her eyes darted frantically about her, expecting to be greeted by that cold, pitch shadowy darkness,
However Zariah was astonished when the brightness of the sun pierced straight into her sensitive eyes and she lifted a hand to shade her face from the sun rays.
Zariah's nose twitched as she picked up the familiar scent of lavender and fresh rain, this scent was oddly familiar to Zariah, it was one she had woken up to every morning all her life, the scent of her mother's favorite incense which had eventually become Zariah's favorite as well.
Zariah's gaze snapped over to the incense burner where a single stick of incense was lit up, burning slowly and filling Zariah's room with it's intoxicating aroma.
From the incense burner, Zariah's gaze moved all around, taking in the familiarity of her environment, a baffled expression on her face.
"Just what is going on here? How am I back here? I should be dead." Zariah murmured as she lifted her hand up to her face, slowly caressing her skin before she lifted her hand up to her gaze, turning it over before her eyes.
Zariah could not understand what was happening, she could not believe she was actually back here, in the Alpha's keep of the Crimson Moon Pack, a place which had been razed down to the ground along with the rest of the Crimson Moon Pack.
"Torin?... Torin?" Zariah called out to her wolf through their mind link, expecting to be met with silence, Zariah had after all clearly felt the excruciating pain of their bond being severed on the day of execution when Zariah's wolf had sacrificed herself to hold back the darkness from fully consuming Zariah,
Hoping to give Zariah a chance of survival or at least a chance to die without being completely turned into a monster.
Zariah's call was met by silence and the small flame of hope which had begun to rise in Zariah's heart was completely quenched as she began wondering just what sort of cruel joke was being played on her right now.
"I'm here Zari... quit yelling." Torin's voice reached Zariah through their mind link, although the voice was weak and barely audible, it was clearly the familiar voice that could only belong to Torin, Zariah's Alpha wolf.
"How...how is this possible?" Zariah stuttered out in bafflement.
"I don't know Zari...I don't know, I must rest now." Torin replied tiredly before her presence faded slightly and Zariah knew her wolf had drifted off to sleep.
"Alpha!" A calm voice called out as Zariah's door was shoved open, Zariah's heart trembled as her gaze lifted up to meet the familiar face of her most trusted confidant and second in command, Allen Elrod Hunt.
Allen with a bearing as calm and still as his element of water, Allen of unyielding loyalty, Allen who was more brother than subordinate to Zariah,
Allen the beta wolf and second in command of the Crimson Moon Pack, Allen who had fought fearlessly at Zariah's side on that last battle... Allen, the very first Crimson wolf who had died at the hands of that traitor, Allen who had died protecting his Alpha, Zariah.
"Allen..." Zariah whispered in a trembling tone, tears slipped out her eyes as her heart pulsed with excruciating pain as she recalled watching helplessly as this very same man who stood before her alive and well had bled out on the battlefield, gasping for breath as his life force seeped out of him.
"Alpha...what has happened?" Allen who was shocked by Zariah's strange reaction to his arrival hurried to Zariah's side, falling to a knee at her bedside, his gaze contorted in deep concern.
'Everything is fine now, as long as you are well, as long as you all are unharmed...it all is right again.' Zariah thought as she tilted her head back and blinked back the tears, putting up a calm facade.
"Merely a horrible nightmare... nothing more." Zariah assured as she pushed off her covers and rose to her feet.
You had something to report?" Zariah asked as she headed towards her bathroom,
Although Zariah was in no mood to handle sect affairs as all she wanted was some hours alone to put herself in order so she did not break down into a sobbing mess the moment she laid eyes on anymore living members of her pack,
Till she was able to figure out just what was going on, Zariah would treat what had all happened as a strange and terrible nightmare.
"Yes, Alpha. We have received word from our sources, the previous Alpha King has passed away, the new Alpha King is currently undergoing the Alpha trials, should he complete it successfully, a coronation will held soon, ushering the Royal Lycan Pack into a new era. " Allen informed Zariah.
Zariah could feel her entire body freeze up as chilling terror ran through her form at the mention of that name...The Alpha King.
The Alpha King, the very power behind Caid, that blue eyed monster who had infiltrated her pack.
The Alpha King who had been the cause and beginning of all the series of events that had led to the massacre of the Crimson Moon and the death of Zariah herself, shedding the blood of over a thousand Crimson wolves,
Men, women and even pups, not a single life had been spared...all on his orders.
The Alpha King who had instructed Caid to take drastic measures on Zariah when she had refused to give a false testimony, leading to Zariah being injected with the shadow serum that had turned her into a bloodthirsty monster of darkness, t
The very monsters Zariah had detested the most all her life, a fate even worse than death itself.
The Alpha King who had stood in the crowd of people, watching, most likely with satisfaction as Zariah was finally publicly executed with silver and wolfsbane,
The most humiliating and excruciatingly painful manner of execution and one reserved only for the most horrible criminals or monsters of the supernatural realm.
That same horrible Alpha King who had put Zariah through so much pain and terror, so much so that in her very last moments, Zariah had even sworn to return as a vengeful spirit if that was what it took for a chance to pay back the debt of blood and pain.
As much as Zariah wanted to believe that all that had happened was merely a terrible nightmare, Zariah knew better than anyone that every pain and agony she had felt had been real.
"The Alpha King...he has not been crowned yet?" Zariah stuttered out in a trembling tone.
"Alpha? The previous Alpha King was still in good health the last time we have received a message from him, news of the happenings in the supernatural world reaches our Crimson Moon as soon as it happens, that information is just as I have told you Alpha." Allen reported in confusion, he was baffled to find his Alpha asking for information on a situation she already knew well off.
"Alpha, I do not mean to overstep my bounds but the sudden passing of the previous Alpha King and the emergence of a new power is too suspicious, there are many doubts attached to the situation. I believe for the next few months, the Crimson Moon shall have to be extremely wary and tread cautiously." Allen spoke up in a concerned tone,
Although Allen knew his Alpha had everything under control, he could not help expressing his worries.
Meanwhile Zariah pondered over the words of her second in command, precisely because this was not the first time she had heard those words,
These were words that rang through her mind at every moment through the fifteen days of brutal torture, words she desperately wished she had listened to because just as Allen had predicted, not too long after this... the blue eyed monster stumbled into Crimson Territory.
Zariah finally understood it now, she finally understood just what had happened, in her final moments, Zariah had made a heart felt plea to the creator, with all the desperation and pain within her,
Zariah had pleaded for a chance to repay the debt of blood to all who had plotted the massacre of her pack, those who had put her through such pain and agony simply for the sake of power... Zariah's plea had been heard, her wish was granted.
Zariah had not just come back to life, Zariah had been reborn to a time before it had all gone wrong, a time before her pack was infiltrated,
Zariah had been granted a chance to make it all right again, a chance to make the right decisions, a chance to protect her pack and all those she cared about.
Zariah remembered this event clearly, on this very day, it was the first event she had heard of the new Alpha King, not long after this, the new Alpha King would successfully overcome the Alpha trials with greater excellence than any of the Alpha Kings that had come before him, he was then deemed qualified to take on the crown and his coronation was set.
The Crimson Moon had then received a heartfelt invitation to this coronation, one Zariah had immediately turned down without thinking much of it,
Everyone within the supernatural world were already clear on the fact that the Crimson Moon did not get involved in the affairs of the supernatural world, hence it was only natural they did not honor the invitation.
Zariah would only come to know later, at the point of her death, that this had been the very beginning of the Alpha King's plot against the Crimson Moon Pack, a plot that had eventually ended with the destruction of the entire Crimson Moon Pack.
Not this time...' Zariah swore within her heart, her eyes narrowed in wrath, Zariah's lips stretched into a small smirk at the realization that her greatest enemy was now a step behind her, with the awareness of the future, Zariah knew all what to expect.
The foolish Alpha Zariah of the Crimson Moon Pack was dead and gone, in her place was a bloodthirsty spirit on a quest of vengeance,
As memories of all the carnage caused by that blue eyed omega flashed through Zariah's mind, rage was all she felt. Rage so powerful it consumed her every being, dispelling all other thoughts but one... the need for revenge.
Was it that traitorous false mate? Zariah would rip out his heart and feed it to him, as cruelly as he had done to her crimson wolves
Was it that rogue pack and their cunning Alpha or the supernatural committee? Zariah would rip them all to shreds.
Was it that Alpha King? Zariah swore to become his greatest nemesis.
The tables had been turned, the prey of the previous lifetime was now the predator, Zariah would lurk in the shadows and watch, she would let them believe they had won and when they least expected it, the world who had turned their backs on the Crimson Moon would feel Zariah's wrath.