1
1075 Words
They say men and women are equal on earth, but they've always left women behind. Yet women have always pushed their leader souls to the forefront.
I am Alyona, daughter of the great god Kromos. The name of the prophecy he expected to be a son. I command three wolves and a dragon. And the entire animal kingdom obeys me.
Twenty years ago, a terrible war broke out in the skies. My father was gravely wounded in battle and took refuge among mortals on earth.
He lay wounded at the base of a stone wall when my mother Eleonora found him and tended to his wounds.
But what was not meant to happen happened that night. The first seeds of the prophecy fell into Eleonora's womb.
And that night, my father left my mother there and returned to the heavens, leaving behind only a necklace to protect me.
The gods in the sky were restless. They were waiting for my arrival.
And that night, my birth was my mother's death.
The mystical creatures and beasts of the sky disobeyed the gods that night.
They were waiting for the true goddess to come.
Kromos sent all his guards down to earth.
"Find that baby and kill her." The order was clear and final.
The wise seer Voldemort knew everything. That night, he tore me from my mother's arms.
He entrusted me to the southern guard, disguised as a gambler who wouldn't draw attention among mortal humans in the south. His wife was a simple, ordinary woman.
As he handed me over, he gave my cunning stepfather a vial of potion. "I'll bring you a new one every six months, Altur. Spray this on the girl every day, and never take the necklace off her neck."
From that day on, my life passed in squalor, working half in the streets, half in odd jobs.
All the while, the animals around me protected me in one way or another.
As useless as my gambler father was, he prepared me well for the outside world. He taught me every skill he knew, and more.
Until my twentieth birthday, when our door burst open with a great crash.
When they came to collect Arthur's gambling debts, my stepfather had already fled.
Three men entered the middle of the room. They were imposing, muscular, and very different from ordinary humans.
One of them even had pupils that narrowed to vertical slits for a moment before returning to normal.
They aren't human, I thought.
Crows above the house cawed and flew restlessly, as if disturbed by something.
The most imposing among them said, "Your debt must be paid by tomorrow's new moon. If not, it will be very bad for you."
But I have an offer for you. He wore a mocking smile.
Let the devil laugh and break his own mouth, I thought.
Taking a deep breath, I silently began to listen, telling myself, Stay calm, girl, don't listen to the devil.
"Tomorrow evening, there's a big cage fight in the city center where our patron will be. If someone manages to beat our patron or rather, let me put it this way if someone can last one minute against him, your debt is erased."
Under my breath, I muttered, "Hopefully your patron doesn't get knocked out in one minute."
The man with the vertical pupils stared at me carefully. "Did you say something, freak?" he hissed through his teeth.
"No, no. I was just saying there's no one like that. All our hopes are already dead," I said.
Beta Alex laughed mockingly. "That's what I thought too," he said.
As the men were leaving, I clasped my hands behind my back and said with confidence,
"Suppose we win," I said just as they were about to step out the door. They turned back.
Beta Alex let out a booming laugh. "So?" he said.
"We'll pay our debt, and on top of that, I want 100,000 gold pieces," I said.
Beta Alex and his men started laughing.
"What's this one saying? Is she out of her mind?" he said. "What have you been drinking?"
With a confident smile I said,
"No, I'm perfectly fine. Just tell me yes or no, that's all I need."
Beta Alex said, "This one really has a death wish, huh."
Alyona, standing firm, looked at their faces and said, "Are you unsure of me, or of that half-baked boss of yours?"
Alex stepped forward. "What did you just say?"
Alyona looked straight into Alex's eyes without blinking, and all traces of his earlier anger vanished.
Without realizing it, Alyona had calmed Alex, utterly destroying his nerves.
Even his men were surprised by this.
Alex said, "Fine. If one of you wins, Alpha Mir's wordI'll pay 200,000 gold myself."
And as he left the house, he said, "This house needs to be tidied up. Action is needed." The hulking men he left behind smashed and broke a few items in the house, then kicked a chair and said, "This is a little message for what's to come," and left.
Eleni rushed over and hugged Alyona.
"Don't worry, child. We'll run away tonight, get out of here."
"No, Mother, we can't go. They're not normal. They'll find us."
Her closest friends, Emma and Leo, looked at Alyona with concern.
"You're not going to do what I think you're going to do, are you?"
"There's no other choice, Leo."
"There is, Alyona. That man will tear you apart with one punch. This isn't like street fights," Emma said.
Alyona took a deep breath. "I know it's not. The men who came here were like giants. If they're like that, what must that man be like?"
"Exactly, Alyona. You're everything to us. You're the only one who's loved and protected us since the orphanage. For that alone, we'll never let you go."
"Look, nothing is going to happen."
Emma put her hand on her shoulder. "Look, we're worried about you. Everyone knows that man. They're not like us. No one has ever even landed a punch on him."
"And what exactly makes you think you can demand gold from those men? There are rumors he's a werewolf, not even human like us."
"I have no other choice, Leo. We either become queens or nothing."
The girl before them was utterly resolute.
And her meeting with the love of her life would happen in that cage fight.
Perhaps her worst mistake.
- Writer
