Hazel was dragged through the dungeon pathway by the guards, but she kept struggling against them. She kept denying the accusations, stating she was innocent, but no one listened to her. The cell gate was opened, and she was unceremoniously thrown inside. Her body slammed into the jagged floor, and Hazel groaned in pain. The guards left the spot in disgust at the sight of Hazel and slammed the door shut. Hazel felt her entire body groaning in pain as she lay on the ground face down.
"What did I do to deserve this?" she muttered as tears began to drop down her eyes. Hazel didn't understand why she had to suffer so much. From the death of her parents to becoming a bullied slave, to being chosen to sleep with the man who ruined her life, to being accused of killing the alpha. All of this for what reason? Hazel didn't understand. She didn't know what she did that was so wrong. She sobbed silently as she lay on the ground, crying herself to sleep, hoping she wouldn't wake up so the pain would finally end.
At night, the guards were performing their routine checks and reached Hazel's cell. She lay on the bed, her body curled together in a delicate manner, which caused both guards to shake their heads.
"Look at her, she looks so innocent, like one who couldn't harm a fly. Yet somehow she managed to kill the alpha," the first guard said.
"Honestly, I find it hard to believe she killed him. It just seems too impossible," the second guard responded.
"Hmph... She probably did it while Alpha Levi was at his peak of pleasure, you know what I mean."
"Shut up," the first guard rolled his eyes, unimpressed by the joke. Though he figured that was the only way Hazel would have had a chance. Everyone knew Alpha Levi loved his women; that's why he kept so many slaves, and it was his lust that killed him.
"If only he had handed some to us guards to have some fun, maybe he wouldn't have died."
"Why would he give us mere guards women? We aren't warriors or enforcers; those guys have rights to the slave. Because they actually risk their lives."
"We watch over dangerous criminals like alpha killers; isn't our life at more risk?"
The first guard looked into the cell at Hazel and shook his head. He felt nothing threatening about her, nothing worthy of being called an alpha killer. The second guard was just being sarcastic.
"You were the one who said she's dangerous. I see now you're starting to doubt as well."
"I still think she is, but I don't think she is as big an issue as Brandon."
"Brandon?" Hazel, who was silently listening to the guards' chatter, opened her eyes on hearing the familiar name.
"Wasn't he an enforcer? What happened with him?" the second guard asked with curiosity.
"You didn't hear? He went rogue and tried to kill everyone not long after Alpha Levi was announced dead."
"What!" the first guard yelled in surprise. "This is news to me."
"Not many had heard of the incident with Brandon as Malcolm made sure every warrior that took part was tight-lipped. But I was there when it took place. After the slave was captured, Beta Malcolm took some guards to go to a pub to capture Brandon. Then before Malcolm could even utter a word, Brandon had used his blessing to cover the entire pub with ice. Beta Malcolm had anticipated the attack and escaped the range of his attack, but his men weren't so lucky."
"So it is true, that his power did rival the flame blessing of the alpha. I never did understand why the alpha didn't just kill him when he was an obvious threat."
"Who knows... Brandon froze the entire pub, everyone inside turned into ice. He then walked out. And immediately Malcolm used his own blessing trapping Brandon in a domain."
"No way!"
"Everywhere was covered with black smoke, with Beta Malcolm and Brandon inside. The guards and everyone present had to all wait and watch with bated breath. It was only after a couple of minutes that the smoke finally dissipated. Beta Malcolm and Brandon both looking bloodied and battered. Brandon managed to escape, and the hunt is still on for him."
"No one knows how the fight went?"
"No one ever knows unless you're trapped inside Malcolm's domain as well. But Beta Malcolm only selects a single target to keep its secrecy. Meaning if anyone knows how Malcolm's blessing works now, it's Brandon."
The second guard shook his head in fear as he muttered, "Blessed ones are truly a scary existence."
"This is why you should be grateful you're mere guards; then you wouldn't have to fight against monsters."
"I know... Lucky us we were assigned to guard a weak Omega slave."
As the guards mocked her, Hazel thought of what she knew about blessed ones.
Blessed ones, a term given to those who had special abilities. These abilities were believed to be bestowed by the moon goddess to those she deemed worthy of it. But Hazel believed she just gave them to monsters. She didn't understand why the moon goddess would make the strong even more powerful. It just made them entitled bastards, drunk on their might.
"Who's there?!" The two guards suddenly yelled, jolting Hazel out of her thoughts.
Hazel sat up and turned towards them, wondering what the exclamation was about. Then she heard it. It was the sound of footsteps accompanied by heavy grunts slowly approaching.
The two guards suddenly took out their weapons, their eyes fixed on the direction the steps were coming from. The steps got close, and the guards gripped their weapons firmly, expecting whatever was making the noise to reveal itself, but nothing happened.
The guards waited a few seconds, but there was no reveal.
"The hell... Is someone messing with us?" the first guard asked, and the second guard sighed in relief. He relaxed his grip on the sword, and that's when it happened.
A cloaked figure suddenly appeared from above and landed on his shoulder, taking the second guard out.
The first guard panicked and was about to yell out in alarm to get the attention of other guards, but with a solid blow, his body got slammed into the wall; he too was knocked out as well.
Hazel watched the scene with widened eyes. The figure turned towards her, and Hazel backed away from him warily, especially because he was wearing a creepy wooden mask on his face. The mysterious figure then removed his hood and the mask covering his face, revealing his identity.