The Alpha's Blind Fate
Chapter 69: Who Will Die Tonight?

Chapter 69: Who Will Die Tonight?

ZINA

"I am someone who is eternally grateful for the vision you told three years ago." The man repeated in the face of Zina’s stunned silence, "You saved my life and that of my family. Please, take my hand that I may guide your path."

Zina hesitated, thinking so deep about it. Despite being blind, she had never been one to give out her hand easily. For her, it meant giving up control of her most private place. So understandably, that was a control she was hesitant to give up on. The power of another guiding her path.

Only Seraph had ever led her in the past six years, and even that did not exactly spurn out of trust. For Zina, their relationship had always been sadly one of mutual benefit... albeit a strong one.

Was it so surprising that she had serious trust issues? No. It would have been more surprising if she didn’t. Not after everything the past years had harshly taught her.

She only trusted herself, but as the war about her ravaged, walking into the unknown seemed like a better option than staying there and waiting to be burnt, or worse. Walking into the unknown could still be worse than worse, but then again, it was not like she had the privilege to think through with her decision.

Without hesitating anymore, she stretched out her hands until her soft ones met the young man’s rough ones.

"I shall not fail your trust." He said with grim determination that almost mirrored that of her warrior, Ablanch.

Zina quickly steered her thoughts from thinking of her transport retinue. She didn’t wish for herself to be consumed with thoughts of their wellbeing, hence why she had not inquired about them in the first place.

With that, the man started to tug her away hand in hand. They were out in open air, and the battle ravaged even more noisily.

The sounds were even more prominent. Flesh ripping, bones snapping loose, wolves howling a sound akin to a battle cry, the strong beat of paw against the ground, her own thumping heart, and the smell of flesh burning.

"Has the burning started?" Zina asked with a start as they whipped past from place to place. The man guiding her was particularly nimble, and Zina only stumbled a few times.

"So it would seem." He said as if coming to terms with the fact that a complete defeat had occurred. "Commander Zoric Sofyr abandoned the army." He added with hate.

What? The man later abandoned the army despite the bravado he showed earlier. And he left Zina at that too?! The thought enraged her.

"Despite that, the defeat was a quick one?" Zina interrogated him despite the fact that they were quickly jogging through the camp.

As if sensing her very obvious distrust, the man spoke. "Forgive my manners. My name is Xoli and I am a scout for the army. I was just coming back from my duties when I saw what was happening, however I was able to glean that the Army Without An Alpha together with the WolfKnight’s Warriors delivered a clean victory and started the burning. I shall now lead you to where your pack is making camp."

It took some time before his words sank in. "No!" Zina screamed, "you must NOT lead me there!"

The man seemed startled by her heated response. "Okay..." he trailed, sounding unsure, "I hear that you’ve come to deliver the goodwill of the Alpha King, shall I lead you to the banished prince?"

That was even worse, or perhaps not. Despite her internal battles, Zina responded strongly. "No." Not wanting to sound incorrigibly unreasonable, she inquired, "do you know if any from my mission made it with the Army? Perhaps Alpha Prince Falcon? Or the Temple Knights?"

"I am sorry, but as a scout, we got no such information."

Zina’s shoulders slumped from defeat. Without any she could trust with her life, she was left with one choice. "Can you take me to the village Ravgid? Do not worry about the expenses, I shall be able to afford my own carriage." Zina said as she fingered the moonstones on her dress.

In the chaos of everything that happened, they remained glued to her dress. And even though she once found the heaviness they added to her clothes a nuisance, she was grateful that they finally had a use.

Perhaps she should have braved it and gone to meet Daemon NorthSteed. But after being played like a pawn in his game, Zina wasn’t particularly eager to make his acquaintance again. At least, not until she regained some semblance of control on her own life. For no matter how much she tried to think about it, it seemed she was still stuck in this game she had no knowledge of.

"Ravgid is a five day journey. Of course, if you’re up for it, I shall still lead you there."

Of all the backup plans Zina had made before the start of their journey, one of them was that in the event they lost contact for any reason, Ravgid will be their meeting point.

In actuality, the place was the WolfKnight’s former dwelling. The small village also represented to Zina a place where she had lived out more than half of her life. Returning back there in an almost awry twist of circumstances did not settle well with her, but she supposed she had no choice in the matter.

Stealthily, they navigated through the camp to a secret passageway that Xoli had alleged was a pathway that scouts used. The noise became considerably distant, and Zina felt profound relief. She didn’t know what the Matricarchy’s purpose was in attacking the Arising Rogues, but it was true that she had no desire to be caught in between it.

Throughout their escape, Zina didn’t stop asking Xoli questions, and the man didn’t stop answering as patiently as ever either. It took some time, but they were out of the camp. The full moon that hung above them strangely unsettled Zina. She had been feeling that way since the beginning of that night, and the unease still hadn’t worn off.

They walked for some time—hours that stretched into early morning—before they got to the nearest coach house to hire a carriage for their journey. Already, Zina had torn off all the moonstones on her clothes save for one that was clinched to her neckline. She tied them in a bag together for they would now serve as her assets.

One pea sized moonstone was equal to five brams of gold. The Temple would definitely have her head if they heard that Zina committed such sacrilege on her official dress, but she could hardly care about that fact at the moment.

They hired a carriage propelled by two horses for fifteen of the pea sized moonstones. Zina thought seventy five brams of gold was too outrageous a price for a mid-sized ordinary carriage—provided the horses were of good quality. But the manager cited concerns over insurance, and the fact that Zina might not even return the carriage in the first place.

Thus, their journey to Ravgid began. Everything had been going so smoothly that it almost scared her. They had decided that Xoli would simply lead the carriage and not shift as his scent would be easier to catch that way.

After every war, especially one of such large-scale defeat as the one they had just encountered, rogue hunters were unleashed to track down rogues that escaped. One of such hunters might already be after Xoli, tracking his scent.

They journeyed for hours that gave way to days. Zina’s heart was in her throat. She debated if she had made the right decision by undertaking such an arduous journey that may or may not bear fruit.

But it was the best and safest bet she could think of. Seraph might already be waiting for her there, or Ablanch, or the Temple Knights. For the sake of secrecy, they were the only people that knew about the Ravgid backup plan. It was that assurance that filled her with a little confidence as Xoli propelled the carriage on.

Her doubts about the young man were somewhat waning as he seemed genuinely determined to make sure that Zina reached Ravgid safely.

"We have reached Balair, soon we will make it to Ravgid." Xoli announced on the fifth day of their journey much to Zina’s relief. That afternoon was giving away to evening, evidence that they had been riding for a long time. The only break they had had was when they wanted to relieve themselves, and after that, they had ridden nonstop.

That night was for the waxing crescent, the quarter moon that all but continued the legacy of the full moon’s power. Zina’s surroundings thrummed from the power of it.

The high pitched, rapid chirping of crickets trailed alongside their galloping carriage. It was at that moment that a roar so loud that Zina felt it run though her body reverberated through the atmosphere they were in.

The carriage screeched to an abrupt halt, the impact sending Zina flying for the wooden front. She hardly felt the pain as her eyes widened.

"What was that?" Xoli gasped, his voice mirroring Zina’s shocked state.

The sound was neither human nor wolf. It was something deeply primal and unsettling. Like a groan that was signifying a raw need to obliterate something.

The sound didn’t come again. But Zina still heard it repeating in her head like a bad dream against her thumping heart.

A different growl—very much that of a werewolf—sounded behind them as the steps of a werewolf running towards them jolted Zina out of her reverie.

"It must be the hunters! We must make haste!" Zina screamed, but they were too late as a huge wall slammed against the carriage, causing it to topple with Zina in it.

Zina was falling when Xoli’s panic for her was cut short. Next, the gory sound of bones snapping filled her with dread as a body thumped against the floor.

Zina laid rooted in place in the toppled carriage, her mind racing at the thought that Xoli was dead by whoever was attacking them.

Then a familiar voice carried on to her.

"It is the crescent moon tonight, Theta." His taunting voice reached out to her, laced with lethal intent. "I do wonder who it is that will die tonight between you and I?"

Zina realized with horror that Xalea Borne had found her, and he was there to take her life.