The Alpha's Blind Fate
Chapter 386: The Cryptic Message (I)

Chapter 386: The Cryptic Message (I)

DAEMON

"Do you think she would be able to interpret the message we’ve sent to her?"

That was the same question both Yaren and Marcus kept asking Daemon hesitantly because they were afraid that Daemon was chasing a completely insane plan and making a dangerous gamble that might never beat fruits, or even worse, bring them ruin.

They were right to think that, but Daemon had nothing but gambles on his side during that critical moment. With every hour that passed, he wasn’t entirely sure how much Zina would hold onto her life.

Which was why he had to send a message fast.

Three Hours Ago

With time against him, and knowing fully well he could no longer afford a single misstep, he had towed carefully and yet swiftly in the face of the information he was able to gather from Norima Talga and a Northern Mage that she had had summoned.

The first half of the message was in the Letter of Declaration War. Two months ago when Daemon had snuck into the West, he had solely done that to reassess the power of their spy network there and to also assess his enemies.

That was when he heard all about the Red Wolf; Rowan. The man who took great pride in his supreme wolf of twenty years of experience. He was lethal they said; brutal even. His wolf was powerful enough to raze down an army of one thousand Level Three Shifters, and that was not a small number should Daemon dare to say so himself.

Following the logic of that piece of information, no matter that Daemon had two Supreme Wolves, they were barely six months old under his hand so he was disadvantaged in the regard of experience.

Should he face Rowan directly, he might not match him in strength. And even if he did match him in strength, it would be by a land slide.

But intelligence wise, Rowan did not stand a chance against him. So Daemon had pressed on that weapon, doing the thing he knew how to do best... manipulating from behind the scenes.

People as powerful and inscrutable as Rowan believed that all powerful men were the same; caring only for their pride and strength. So it was only logical that Rowan must have judged him like that as well.

As far as Rowan was probably concerned, Daemon’s anger would be more at his wounded pride at having Zina stolen under his care. As for love and affection; the man probably dismissed him as being incapable of such.

Which made sense. He was Daemon NorthSteed afterall. A man who had the whole Arctic North under his feet together the NorthSteed Pack. Such a man would not be worried about trifles such as the mate bond and affections.

It was a logical conclusion—except Rowan was wrong. Daemon’s pride was hurt alright, but not as much as his sulking, hurt Arctic Wolf that mourned the temporal loss of their mate.

Lost in the madness of that pain, Daemin had crafted the letter declaring a war. It would have fit right in with what Rowan expected; a man whose pride was wounded; a man who wanted to avenge his mate to keep his image of domineering and powerful.

It would all fit in with whatever profile the Red Wolf had of him so the letter would sound logical to him; and that last paragraph was where the final trick was sewn in.

Daemon admitted that declaring Zina dead was not the most logical thing to do, it could have dented his act.

But declaring Zina not just dead, but using it as an excuse to start a nationwide war was the most logical thing any power hungry man would do. So the profile continued—everything fitting in seamlessly in Rowan’s world as Daemon wanted it to.

And at the end of the day, Daemon’s target was to make sure the letter got to Zina. Still following the profile, he was sure that the Red Wolf would gloat of his premature victory, pressing Zina with the letter to show that she had been abandoned by all.

He would show off before Zina to show her that even her husband and mate had abandoned her. That was afterall the point of the whole affair; to reduced Zina into Thralgor, through and through.

But Daemon knew that Zina would see beyond the surface; he hoped she would.

Except there was another problem; the problem of interpretation. To nail the message while still towing through a safe territory, Daemon had Malik and Mandem to spread the rumors using their connected spy network.

Rumors that Daemon was getting married to Norima Talga. The rumor in fact became the most critical part, still fitting into the profile, Rowan would rightfully think that he was allying himself with the Night Mages to unite the North better in waging the war.

Again, very logical.

Except the extents of Daemon interest in the albino woman with gold, red eyes was in the staff Zina left her, and the Mage the woman had painstakingly brought to him.

The same Mage that revealed quite startling information about the staff and its importance.

"It’s made from an ancient oak tree," the Mage had said, examining it, "it’s the same tree where it’s rumored that the first deformed monsters made as their resting nest. But it’s not just the tree that made it; I can sense the blood of a mother and daughter in it as well, and this staff is tied to the essence of the daughter."

"What can it do?" Daemon asked because he felt that was the most important question.

The Mage, a surprisingly money hungry man which worked well for Daemon as well, stroked his invisible beards. "It’s hard to say. But you know that what made the Deformed formidable at the time was their power to regenerate. I sense this staff has such powers."

"Like resurrection?" Daemon mused, remembering the incident with Zina when she had died.

"Exactly." The Mage had said, "but you know better than I do your majesty that this power has a blind spot. On the day of the Waxing Crescent, the Deformed can be killed."

Daemon knew that information, but it was still confusing when placed side by side. "But the one whose essence is tied to this staff died on the night of a Waxing Crescent, and she was able to come back back to life."

"Hmmm...." The mage stroked his invisible beards again, "I suppose just like a sacrifice, this woman counter-reacts the powers originally bestowed on the Deformed tied to it."

"And what ever could that possibly mean?"

"It’s a nagging suspicion, your majesty. But from everything you’ve told me about the events surrounding this staff, I think the woman tied to it has the ability to awaken an army of Deformed...."

Daemon had stiffened on that information; they had suspected that much, of course, but the Mage wasn’t done,

"And just as she has the power to awaken an army of them, she also has the power to destroy an army of them. It is tied to her life."