IVORY: The age of Gloarian

Chapter 2

    ‘Are you a female?’ Were the first words that exited Razaar’s mouth. Words that truly shocked Eliana’s entire system to the core, releasing a cloud of embarrassment that was evident in her facial expression. Was she that ugly? Did he not notice her breasts? Were they too small? Questions filled her mind as she blushed furiously, and upon instinct took off the piece of cloth covering her head. 

    ‘Yes, I am. What’s your name?’ she questioned curiously.

    The concept of mates had been introduced in Eliana’s life at the mere age of 12, at an annual community gathering for growing children. A sort of s*x Ed class on mates for the youth of the community. Never mind the fact that she had barely paid attention to the concept, she never even gave the topic a second thought, and therefore was at a loss of words at the current situation that clearly required a lot more practice and knowledge than the amount Eliana brought to the table. 

    As she stood waiting for his response, she noticed him for the first time after the waves of shock wore off from her system. Toned body, light skin, a growing beard, but what intrigued her most was the peace radiating from his brown eyes. A very ironic emanation to have. His expression remained rigid as he finally processed her words. 

    ‘You can’t be my mate, this can’t be happening’ he muttered, mostly to himself before finishing ‘You can’t tell anyone what’s happened here. Go, and never come back’ 

    To say Eliana was stunned was an understatement. She was more than stunned, she was angry, furious. She was raging on the inside. How dare he reject someone whose name he didn’t even know? How dare he go against the natural order of the flame? How dare he abandon her? The fire built up inside her at the mere thoughts, and prepared themselves to unleash into the mixture of her words, but seems fate had another path in mind for her as she was silenced by the sound of a distant voice calling a name that her mate identified by. 

    ‘Razaar, come on, the rings are about to start. Eiva is looking for you’ shouted the voice. Eliana’s eye fell on the man in the distance who addressed her mate, then returned her gaze to her mate: Razaar. Her anger halted for a minute as she played his name like a song through her head, watching him shoot her a final glance before firing off to his buddy.

    Emotions had lost their way as she froze, not fully knowing where to begin processing things. The scene danced around in her head on repeat, as if to haunt her and taunt her, mock her for not having prepared better for the situation. Was this normal? The name Eiva finally struck her eyes as she thought back to the words of the mysterious man in the distance, and her temper began rising once again, thinking how dare he mate with another woman despite her existence. Her assumption was after all just that: an assumption, but no one remained to correct her and tell her otherwise. 

    She began by taking a step back, before turning those few steps into full strides as she stormed out of the forest back to her own house, the thought of the competition long gone from her head. Her prior excitement had taken a turn and had become an infuriating deception that Eliana had never had to deal with before. She had grown up with Syllia, and with Syllia was her only alliance. It certainly hadn’t been enough to make her a proper lady, but it was enough to teach her not to cry in public or take s**t from anyone. Regret swam inside her as the thoughts of what she could have said to him floated through her mind, but she knew better than to go back and release the beast, and cause further embarrassment to herself. 

    The door of her house had been left open, probably by her furious parents who were manically looking around for their rebellious one, making it easier for her to rush inside, slamming the door shut before racing to her room where she locked herself in the comfort of her den. The comfort was short lived as Dennis, the house maid and loyal friend of the family walked in, having heard the leftover sounds of a pissed off and heartbroken teenage adult. 

    ‘Eli, what’s the commotion for? What’s wrong?’ the tender woman asked, seating herself on the edge of Eliana’s bed. 

    Confusion spiralled around her mind as she thought of what to tell Dennis, wondering whether the truth would be a good reveal or an incident best kept a secret. Then again, telling Dennis the truth couldn’t end in any pleasant way possible. But there was one question that irked her mind, a question she sought an answer for. 

    ‘Dennis, is inter-mating possible?’ she posed. Being the daughter of the Hybrid leader meant she knew most if not all of the members of the community, and a man with that much power oozing off of him was most certainly not a man of her kind. She wondered what he could be, a Lycan perhaps? A Werewolf? A Batrid?  

    The question certainly took Dennis by surprise as she knew Eliana to be a woman with the least of interests in the concept of mating. Nevertheless, keeping her gentle stance, she faced the kid she had practically raised since she was a baby, and presented her with a most awaited answer. 

    ‘I haven’t particularly heard of it, but if it happens it happens. We know the flame doesn’t make any mistakes. Why do you ask, child?’ The response came as an ironic joke to Eliana, who threw a mental scoff and was now faced with an even bigger question. 

    ‘What happens to people who go against the flame? For instance, if someone was to reject their mate? What would happen?’ The gasp released by Dennis was enough to indicate the severity of the issue Eliana mentioned. Still, she kept her calm as she waited for her maid to respond, without giving away a single hint of suspicion. 

    ‘Why would you even ask such things Eliana? You know that to go against the flame is the most sinful act in all of Zaleon. Why would one even think of rejecting the most priceless gift the flame has given us? What is this about Eli? I hope you’re not thinking of rejecting your mate, did you find him?’ the old lady expressed, her hand firmly placed on her heart as if to calm herself down. 

    Eliana thought of the ridicule her situation posed in her life. She wasn’t an ordinary girl, anyone in her pack would have thought it was she who did the rejecting, but fate had a messed up sense of humour as the tables turned on that mere thought. 

    ‘No! Of course not Dennis, I’m only asking, don’t worry, nothing has happened. I’m just tired’ she faked, just in time for Syllia to barge into her room, fuming with concerns of his own. 

    It was at that moment the memory of the day came flooding back to her, and she found herself gasping with guilt at abandoning her best friend at the competition. 

    ‘Syllia, I’m so sorry, I promise I didn’t mean to abandon you at the competition’ she defended, causing Dennis to take this as a queue to leave, closing the door behind her to leave the youth to sort  their troubles. 

    ‘You left me all alone to compete and make a complete fool out of myself!’ He began ‘ you better have a good reason for abandoning or-’

    ‘I met my mate’ she interrupted, reintroducing her disturbing habit of interruption into the conversation. It was a simple statement, yet one that took Syllia completely by surprise, his legs automatically finding their way to Eliana’s bed as he seated himself with anticipation to hear the exciting story. Little did he know this fairy tale was not that of a happy ending. ‘He rejected me’ she completed, causing the 360 turn to appear on his expression as he looked away to process the information.

    ‘He rejected you? Like, he physically told you that he doesn’t want you as his mate? Why? For what reason? Why would anyone go against the natural order of the flame-’

    ‘I don’t know Syllia, he looked at me, didn’t even bother asking my name, just rejected me at first glance and then ran off to the competition. I think he’s accepted someone else as his mate’ she retorted, aggravated at the continuous repetition of the scenario in her head. ‘Look, I don’t want to talk about it, what’s done is done. Please don’t tell anyone, I just want to keep this between us’ without hesitation he nodded, embracing his friend into a side hug, placing a small kiss on her forehead as she loosely touched his arm. 

    ‘He’s an i***t’ was all he said. 

    An i***t he most certainly was. An i***t who throughout the competition had only thought of the magnetising eyes of his one true mate. The soft, brown eyes of the woman who was made for him, a woman he had rejected. It angered him to know that he had gone against the order of the flame, for he respected the flame. That didn’t, however, change his mind about wanting a mate in his life. He had watched his mother survive and thrive without one and he intended to do the same. Somewhere deep down he knew he was afraid of what he could be. Afraid of turning out to be a r****t like his father was, and that mere thought kept him at bay, easing the process of carrying out through life, only barely surviving the life he was given. 

    As anticipated he had won the tournament, but throughout remained conscious of his sinful acts. He handed the trophy to his mother, whom he barely peeked at before taking off into the forest, finding his way back to pack grounds in his wolf form with a desperate need to keep to himself. Ashamed he was of his acts, but he masked it with a layer of impertinence and isolation. Suddenly his new mission in life was to train to the maximum, become the emblem of power his mother was, and take over pack duties to busy himself in a routine that would result in him eating the guilt of his actions away by concerning himself in the welfare of his pack. Razaar knew better than to ever step foot into a Galon temple again, for he knew the moment he did, the wrath of the flame would exert upon him, and engulf him into the darkness of non existence. 

    The flame, however, isn’t a force to exist solely within the constraining four walls of any Galon temple, their power lies way beyond those barricades, and to spare Razaar the punishment for his actions was most certainly not the flame’s intention. One way or another, Razaar would face his actions, and one day he would realise the intensity of his mistakes. One way or another. For now the flame had another purpose in this story of Eliana and Razaar, and that story was going to be a radical rollercoaster to teach others like Razaar the biggest life lesson the flame could teach anyone: you can’t escape the path of fate. 

    But that's a part of the story that’s yet to come. 

    A lot happened in the next 7 years of their lives, Edith Solonov not only passed the pack on to her only heir and son, but also passed away herself, leaving behind a broken child in charge of a pack she had raised with care so dearly. Unable to deal with the loss of his mother, Razaar decided to turn against his fate even more, throwing a direct mock at the face of the flame, when he took Eiva as his mate, declaring her as the pack’s Luna after the poor girl grieved the passing of her own mate in a childish quarrel against the Aquona. Broken by the loss of her fate, she buried herself within the only other living Werewolf she knew she could count on. 

    It was a partnership that served as a temporary band aid, healing the wounds that both members had suffered in their pasts. They walked together on the road of oblivion, making a relationship work that, in theory, should never have happened in the first place. They mingled and mated, as if it were their fate to do so, blinded by the disguise that lay behind their curtain of reality, none of them strong enough to take the necessary steps to do the right thing. They had successfully fooled the pack, but most of all, they had managed to fool themselves into this charade of falsehoods they played. 

    As for Eliana; gone were her days of rebellion and adventure. Hope was a concept dissolved into thin air when it came to Eliana’s life. Her parents had passed not long after her rejection in an attack against rogue Lycans, and she found herself holding a massive grudge against the flame for cursing her to a life of hardship and despair. She found herself at the mere age of 18 taking on the responsibilities that both her mother and father collectively executed before their demise. 

    Life became busy for the independent woman who took on what seemed the weight of the world, the days blurred past before her eyes, as she focused solely on the stacks of paperwork left behind for her to complete. However, despite the circumstances, Eliana was never one to deliver disappointing results. She maintained the standard of the community the very way her parents had in an attempt to make them proud, even in their deaths. Syllia had remained a part of her close circle, and worked effortlessly to continually put a smile on his best friend’s face. He too, found his mate, and soon the three became a trio that never went unnoticed in a crowd. 

    The happiness that Eliana once thought she would never spot again was finally reappearing in her life in an unexpected manner, through the love of friendship. There were certainly nights where she was met with the empty air of loneliness, but she thanked the flame for her companions of the night, who would appear at her beck and call to satisfy her regular needs. 

    To the rest of Zaleon, Eliana and Razaar were mere strangers,  two a kind that didn’t even know each other’s name’s. And so that was the case, but not for much longer. 

    There existed in the land of the Lycanthropes a vicious leader, unlike any other within the Ivory. Hungry for power and desperate for a position in the Crest, Balthazar Tin was willing to do whatever it took to get to the top. He was your typical villain with a stereotypically manic laugh, and intentions as evil as the fate he had planned for the Ivory. It was during a fight with the very Balthazar, that the brave Edith Solonov lost her life, and it was because of that very incident that the angry Razaar Solonov had a bone to pick with the lunatic Alpha of the Lycans. 

    For months the packs launched childish attacks, their fights of complete oblivion to the rest of Gloarian, but got to no absolute conclusion. It wasn’t however, until Balthazar laid a hand on Eiva Matouk, that Razaar decided to take his revenge to the next level. His mission took a wicked turn as he stepped up his plan a notch, deciding to find a temporary shelter for his so-called mate and great Luna of all Gloarian. As fate would have it, his search for a refugee camp led him to the leader he was unaware was his own true mate. 

    ‘It’s only for a couple months Eiva. Try to understand, it’s not safe for you to remain on pack grounds, Balthazar could send another attack any minute and the last thing  this pack needs is to lose a Luna again.’ He clarified, his tone making it transparent that this would be the final word. Eiva, stil as shy and naive as she was the day she met him, remained silent, merely letting out a silent sigh that worked in no way in her favour. ‘You’ll be safe with the Hybrids, Balthazar would never suspect where you are, and this way I can take him out with ease’ the Alpha finished, grasping Eiva’s chin with the tip of his fingers to make her face him. 

    ‘How do you know the leader of the Hybrids will be willing to help you? Do you even know anything about them? Have you ever even talked to them?’ she questioned in a pathetic attempt to change his mind. But she knew better than to expect a change in him, so she wasn’t surprised at his harsh response. 

    ‘I’ve had Enzo look into them. Their leader is a female; Eliana Genova I believe is her name. She’s known to be a strong leader, and I believe she has her own vendetta against the Lycans. Her parents were killed by a bunch of rogue ones’ he argued. Of course he would have thought of everything, that much was no secret to Eiva, but still she tried, desperate not to be separated from the only person she truly trusted in the world. ‘Demillo will go with you, he will protect you. If anything happens to you it will be his head on a stick, don’t worry.’ He attempted, his words having no effect on Eiva. 

    ‘Thank you, but it’s not my safety I’m concerned about, it’s yours. I don’t want to be away from you. You know how unnerving it gets for me to be away from you’ her words made Razaar smile in the slightest, a smile he had now gotten used to wearing when comments as such were made by the fragile Eiva.

    He had noticed the effort she had made, in building her reputation within the pack, going from the pack’s weirdo to a respected Luna. He wouldn’t dare making the same mistake he had with his mother and forget to show the only woman in his life the care that she deserved for the hard work she had put into the maintenance and care of the pack. She was certainly a fit Luna, a perfect woman, gorgeous and generous in every way possible, but somewhere deep down Razaar knew it wasn’t enough to fill the void in his heart. 

    He often thought of the mysterious girl he had so easily rejected, the thoughts varying from one day to another. Regret, guilt, shame, satisfaction, security, everyday a new lens shone upon the incident that for 7 years had remained at the frontline of Razaar’s memories and had tormented him. It was an experience he never once shared with anyone, not even his own mother, let alone his proclaimed mate. 

    To him, the memory had turned into a mere thought, a thought that, he believed, he would never have to face again for as long as he lived. It was the thought of a naive man who had forgotten the power of the flame, and so he carried on with his plans, packing his clothes into a little suitcase he would carry to the very grounds he never wanted to end up in. 

    Upon noticing his movements, Eiva found herself wrapping up into the arms of a man she had gotten used to calling her mate despite knowing full well he wasn’t. Guilt had always consumed her for moving on from her one true love, but that didn't stop her from throwing herself into a world where she found refuge, for alone she knew she would end up in a spiral of darkness and  depression, and alone and depressed was something Eiva was certainly not used to being, even if she really was. The woman had mastered the art of faking her wellbeing so well, that she herself was fully convinced of how well she was, when in fact, she was not. 

    Razaar wrapped his arms around the petite woman, placing a gentle kiss on her head, before pulling away to place one on her tender lips, an action that caused no sparks whatsoever, but delivered the comfort it would have in the human world. That night, like many other nights he mated with the woman he had chosen to be with, the woman he knew was a loophole in the system of a perfect world. He had rejected his true mate in the fear of hurting her and causing her to suffer a fate similar to that of his mother, yet he spent the night with a foreign woman, delivering what in truth was what his inner nature could very well have provided for the woman he was fated to be with. Why this truth was a blur to this man consumed by hatred and grudges was a mystery, but that mystery would very soon come crashing down like a storm in the life of the strongest Alpha of Ivory. 

    Until then, he mated with Eiva one last time, before his life would change forever. It was the last night of bliss for Razaar Solonov before the tempest of fate would finally put its play into action.