The Alpha King's Nemesis-Chapter 81: A Trap ()

~In the depths of a dark forest somewhere in the Ethereal domain~

"Alpha." A voice greeted, dropping to a knee and bowing low.

The man to whom the voice belonged remained in that position for a long moment, receiving no response whatsoever and one would even begin to think there was no one in the room to respond to him,

However in the the next moment, that figure always concealed in the shadows emerged, the large hood of his cloak still draped over his head and concealing his face from view.

"Is it done?" The figure in the shadows asked his subordinate who was still bowed low.

"Yes, Alpha. As you suspected, the Sea King discretely sent an invite to the Alpha King, requesting his presence in the Sea Kingdom. None of the Ethereal Alphas or representatives are aware of this." The subordinate relayed.

"The Sea King has extended a call for help to the wolf shifters, a man who knows his limits and knows when to seek help and the right person to seek it from, the Sea King is truly formidable." The figure in the shadows murmured quietly.

"I guess we shall have to forego the Northern Seas and take a step back, with King Askel present there... that objective of ours has already become futile." The figure in the shadows decided.

"Everything is prepared as you have directed. Both sides have already began turning against each other and the target is under high suspicion. The Sea Kingdom will not relent easily." The subordinate replied,

"And King Askel?" The figure in the shadows asked,

"Enraged." The subordinate replied,

"As expected, he is always able to maintain cold composure...yet when it involves his mate, even the great Ethereal King is no different from any other wolf," The figure in the shadows murmured,

"What are Alpha’s orders?" The subordinate asked,

"Ensure to completely entrap the target, the flame she wolf of Crimson Moon must not be allowed to leave the Sea Kingdom alive and her demise must come at the hands of the merfolk,"

"This time, we must drive an irreconcilable wedge between the Sea Kingdom and the Ethereal Domain, then there will be nothing left to prevent a war and of course,"

"I swore to cause him great pains and sorrow, letting his mate die before his eyes is only the beginning...too bad I wouldn’t be there to witness it in person." The figure in the shadows murmured in a dark, malicious tone.

"As Alpha commands." The subordinate said, rising to his feet and heading out.

The figure in the shadows tilted his head back slightly as the door to his study was shut before he spoke again.

"Caedmon." The figure in black said, acknowledging the presence of another figure who had been hidden behind a book shelf.

"Alpha." The figure greeted, emerging from his hiding place, his blue orbs glowing in the dim lighting.

"Speak." The figure in the shadows permitted, as though certain Caedmon had something to say.

"I do not understand it, I acquired the information of the flame she wolf and her ability, the fact that she recognized the charmer demon spirit immediately is prove of it."

"We should have eradicated her immediately to avoid future concerns, why let her live and go through such a roundabout method to get rid of her?" Caedmon asked.

"Why? Since when did it become your turn to question me?" The figure in the shadows said in a dark, deadly tone.

"I do not dare question you, My King. I only hope to understand your grand plans so I may be of service." Caedmon replied,

"When it is the right time for you to show yourself, naturally I will let you know." The figure in the shadows stated.

"My King, are you truly unconcerned about the peculiarity of this? The Crimson Moon turned up all of a sudden, what if our plans..." Caedmon began but was cut off mid sentence.

"At first, I was worried to hear of the arrival of Crimson Moon. Why would I not be? I have planned my every step cautiously for years, how is it okay that a new entity shows up all of a sudden?"

"Yet who knew the Creator had sent me such a trump card?"

"Dangling King Askel’s weakness before my eyes, it would be a shame if I did not make use of it. Besides, I do intend to eradicate the she wolf... only at where her death serves the most purpose." The figure in the shadows replied in his characteristic hollow tone.

"But now that we have let King Askel visit the Sea Kingdom, all our efforts at the Northern Sea will be given up," Caedmon pointed out,

"King Himan is alert, there is only so long we can keep the situation at the Northern Seas hidden, In whichever case, this situation will distract the merfolk enough so all traces in the Northern Sea are cleared out."

"If we can use this opportunity to buy the hands of the merfolk to eradicate King Askel’s mate, then that is an even more satisfactory result."

"If we can completely crush King Askel’s heart this time and unleash the beast within, then forsaking the Northern Seas is a worthy sacrifice." The figure in the shadows replied.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zariah’s eyes widened slightly as she lifted her gaze up to Nile, the words he had just thought to her through their mind link replaying over and over again in her mind.

’Alpha, his organs are not failing, they are being scorched. Mers are creatures of water and cold, the contradictory element is detrimental to them...this...this is our flame poison.’ Nile had said and Zariah did not need any further words to understand what that meant.

The flame poison of Crimson Moon...it was not a poison at all but the blood of a flame wolf.

With a temperature that surpassed even the hottest lava, the blood of a flame wolf was a dangerous weapon and in the blood stream of any other creature...a deadly poison.

To the flame wolves who knew this clearly, their blood was carefully protected from falling in the wrong hands and to the Crimson Moon, using one’s blood for harmful purposes was outlawed.

Zariah was certain no Crimson Flame Wolf would willingly extract his blood to be used as the Flame Poison to cause harm to others... that was unless they were not given a choice at all.

Zariah’s heart dropped as she recalled the fact that all the scouts of Crimson Moon were still no where to be found, amongst them, Zariah was certain there would be a Flame Wolf.

Or worse still, they were thousands of Flame wolves within the Crimson Barrier, if any of them had been captured and their blood harvested...

Then not just Kristen but all water oriented creatures that came in contact with it would have a very slow, excruciatingly painful and fiery death.

’How Nile? How is this possible?! How could the flame poison appear here?!’ Zariah thought to Nile as she tried to maintain a neutral expression.

Nile and Zariah were both under the watchful eyes of the Mer royalties and after two full hours of examining the unconscious merman, Nile had finally identified the supposed poison.

The merfolk and even King Askel awaited a report, Zariah had also been awaiting one a moment before and now she had received Nile’s report.

But the problem now lay in just what kind of poison it was.

’Alpha, judging from the fact that all evidence points to us, this is certainly predetermined. And Alpha is the only Flame Wolf present within the Sea Kingdom... clearly, Alpha is the target.’ Nile thought to Zariah in a worried tone.

’I know Nile, but the fact remains the flame poison is the blood of a flame wolf...one of mine is in danger, perhaps even more...we must trace the source of this poison Nile, without fail!’ Zariah thought, her gaze flashing with rage.

’Alpha... the mers, what should I tell them?’ Nile asked apprehensively.

Zariah was quiet for a moment, she could feel the fierce gazes of the Sea King as well as the Mer Princess on her, the atmosphere was still tense and the mer folk were clearly ready for aggression.

In such a situation, Zariah was not sure what to do. If she revealed the flame poison, the merfolk would turn against her immediately and not even King Askel would be able to save her.

However if she didn’t...then how was she to procure the herbs that could heal Kristen without revealing the nature of the poison?

In the end, within 20 hours, the flame poison could no longer be hidden, it would burn from inside out and with this...there would not even be a body left to recover.

If Zariah failed to prevent this, the only way she would be able to leave the Sea Kingdom alive was if the Ethereal Domain and Crimson Moon declared war against the Sea Kingdom.

Zariah’s eyes fluttered closed, her hands clenching into fists as she realized she had walked right into a trap.

Whoever had done this had done it knowing Zariah was a flame wolf... Zariah had come to stop a war but it seemed now, an even bigger war was looming.