The Alpha King's Nemesis-Chapter 126: A Curse ()

The Sea Dome loomed imposingly before them, exuding a thick aura of darkness and doom as Zariah and the Sea Lords arrived just in time to see Lord Imain diving down into the depths of a deep canyon along with the Sea King.

They had stopped a great distance away from the Sea Dome and hid behind large rocks as they were completely outnumbered by the hundreds of battle mers guarding the entrance.

While the Sea Lords had swam over, Zariah herself was encased in a sea pod cast by Prince Treyton that helped her move through the Sea easily as the sea pod shot out in the direction she willed it to.

They had been unable to take the Killer Whale along with them, the bulk of the sea creature was massive and it’s aura was difficult to hide, they would have been spotted immediately by the Northern battle mers.

"That is the deepest cave in the Northern Sea, where the water hydrant grows." Prince Treyton informed Zariah.

"Then Nile must be close by... Askel too..." Zariah murmured in response as her hands clenched into fists,

She had sent King Askel to Nile all alone and if Zariah was being honest with herself, it was not entirely because she was worried for Nile’s well being.

Zariah knew Nile would be fine, he was spirit guide of Crimson Moon, the Creator’s eyes, his power was earth shaking, he was not the kind that could easily be killed or hurt.

And if his life was ever in danger, Zariah would feel it first, she was his Alpha, they were bonded in mind and soul.

Zariah had sent King Askel away for his own safety, this was a war she had caused to happen earlier than it’s timeline,

And though Zariah had planned it carefully, this war had taken hundreds of life in her past lifetime, over half of the population of the merfolk had been decimated.

Zariah was not sure how much she would be able to salvage this time or if bringing the war forwards would change the fate of the Sea Kingdom for the better or otherwise.

Knowing this, how could she let King Askel anywhere near this battle? Now that Zariah knew there was a possibility King Askel was not involved in this plot at all, she would never be able to forgive herself if she let him be harmed.

And knowing King Askel, he would only risk himself to save her if anything were to go wrong, he was stubborn and foolhardy like that and to keep him safe and away from the war, Zariah could only send him away.

Who could have thought Lord Imain would take the war away from the Sea Palace right over to the Sea Dome where King Askel, Nile and Kristen would be?

Zariah had long known her knowledge of the future did not mean she could predict the result of events even when she tried to change them and this was another prove of that.

Although Zariah had lived through this lifetime once before and had a basic knowledge of it, with each change she made to this timeline, the fate of everyone changed along with,

And what was worse, Zariah could not determine if this change would be for the better or they would end up even worse off.

"Why does your Sea Dome have to look so ominous, the element seal doesn’t look nearly this unpleasant." Zariah whispered over to Prince Treyton in a distasteful tone.

The top of the canyon far up ahead was shrouded in darkness and shadows and Zariah had to squint to even take notice of the fact that there was a large sea cave jutting out from one end of the wide canyon.

"You have seen the element seal in person?" Prince Treyton asked in surprise as he passed a glance to Zariah.

Zariah froze slightly as she realized the location of the element seal of Crimson was known to be forbidden grounds even for the Crimson Wolves,

Other than when the seal was compromised, the Crimson Wolves had no reason to venture there, it was made so to prevent anyone from becoming contaminated with the darkness.

Only the Crimson Wolves of the highest rank had the duty of regularly inspecting the element seal and that included, the Alpha, Beta and element lords.

It seemed Prince Treyton had truly done his research on the Crimson Moon and must have read of the laws surrounding the element seal from the ancient texts.

"I am head warrior and most trusted aide of the Crimson Alpha, it would be strange if I have not seen it." Zariah deflected Prince Treyton’s question with a generalized response.

After all, despite the fact that Darren was head warrior, he also had unrestricted access to the forbidden grounds of the Element seal, but that was still only because he was of the royal bloodline of Crimson Moon.

The rank of head warrior should not have been enough to grant him access to the element seal otherwise as not even the element lords or Allen could go near it as they pleased without seeking Zariah’s permission.

As a fail safe, no one was allowed to venture near the element seal unmonitored, the darkness had always been cunning and found it easy to get into the heads of supernatural creatures,

If ever one person was compromised, the other would be able to secure the situation and prevent the seal from being tampered till the Crimson Alpha arrived.

"The Crimson Alpha entrusted you with the mission to lead the emissaries even above the Crimson Beta who is of higher rank and the spirit guide. It only goes to show his trust for you." Prince Treyton murmured in understanding as he reverted his gaze back to stare out at the Sea Dome.

Zariah bit her lip slightly, the merfolk still lived in the deception that Alpha Zewin Togan Moonstone was the reigning Alpha of Crimson Moon and the only specie who knew better was the Ethereal Domain.

The Ethereal Domain knew Alpha Zewin’s daughter had ascended to the position of Alpha,

However that was all they knew and nothing more and it was only because they had a more wide spread information network and King Askel had been on the supernatural council.

Such information could not be kept hidden from the supernatural council even if the rest of the world was ignorant of it.

"We are so far away and completely outnumbered, all our battle mers are on the other side of the Northern barrier and cannot get through." Prince Treyton stated the obvious, this time in a louder tone so all the Sea Lords heard him.

"Lord Yogan was left behind to free all our escorts including the elite royal guards that guided the Sea King here, but the Northern Sea Palace is a fortress, it will take them sometime to fight their way out." Lord Jole murmured in anger.

"Even the elite royal guards we arrived with only number to two dozens even if they were to arrive here along with the escorts of all the Sea Lords, they still will not be up to a hundred."

"And the Northern Sea has the largest force of battle mers numbering to over two thousand...we will have to battle with no advantages." Prince Treyton agreed in a grim tone.

"The fate of the Sea Kingdom is at stake, we will do what we must." Lord Melven said without hesitation as his hand clutched the sword attached to his waist belt.

"It is too heavily guarded." Lord Jole commented,

The outer parts of the canyon was surrounded by hundreds of battle mers encircling the entrance Lord Imain had just gone through in rows.

"Why is he taking the Sea King down there?" Zariah muttered, grateful for the Sea Pod that allowed her to speak freely despite being in the middle of the sea.

"That is the entrance to the Sea Dome, only the ruling Sea King can remove the guardian marking and transfer it to another mer or break it completely." Lord Melven revealed.

"But why does he have to transfer the marking right now? Why is it so urgent? Shouldn’t he be more concerned with getting the Sea King to relinquish his throne?" Zariah asked, still not understanding the wisdom behind this move.

"You do not understand it. The shadow mark binds the guardians of the Sea Dome to the Northern Seas for eternity."

" On one hand, it is the greatest and most noble sacrifice for the protection of the sea, this is why the guardians are respected and revered..." Lord Melven murmured.

"But on the other hand, it is a prison their duty has created for them, a sacrifice too great that after centuries...it has become his curse, a burden Lord Imain is tired of shouldering."

"This is more than just his desire for the throne... he wants his freedom, even at the cost of hundreds of lives." Zariah realized in a grim tone.