Fated to the cursed

Chapter2

There was an unrest in the castle of the king at Bloodbane, the capital of the kingdom. The King was angry and the echoes of his roar reverberated through the walls of the castle. The people in the castle walked silently, trying not to incur the wrath of their king.

King Zared paced his study, eyes changing from blue to gold as his beast fought for control. The room bore signs of his anger; the curtains were ripped to shred, papers scattered all over the floor, an ink bottle was tipped over on his desk, the ink slowly spreading till it reached the end of the table where it began to dribble.

There was another man with the king. He had a bored expression on his face as if used to angry displays of the king. His hair was white, made into one braid which reached the middle of his back. He walked over to the table, picked the tipped bottle of ink and placed it upright.

“You need to calm down, Zared,” he said. “You should not let something like this make you angry.”

“I cannot calm down. Those humans have always been a nuisance, but they have never gone this far.”

“Maybe that is because you have become too lenient on them,” the other man said, picking a grape off a bowl of fruits on the table and popping into his mouth.

Zared looked at him then walked over to his chair and sat down. “It is important that there is peace between all creatures in Glacia, Conner. Being too hard on humans seems to beat that purpose.”

“And what has that gotten you?” Conner asked.

Zared sighed. He looked out the window and to the green scenery before him. Grey mountain loomed in the background.

He was known in the whole of Glacia as a terror, a beast who feeds off the blood of his enemies. Yes, he lived up to that reputation many years ago during the war, but it had been necessary to unite all the species under his rule.

His beast craved blood, the thrill of war excites him. His beast was an Alpha, so the need to dominate, to conquer is ever present in him, but after the long war, all the other species; the faes, the vampires, the trolls, the witches and the humans had conceded to live under his rule, there was no need for war again.

Trying to ensure peace with the humans truly has gotten him nowhere as the more he tried, the more they fought. This time around, they have gone too far, burning a whole shape shiftervillage in the night, killing many. He wondered how they were able to do that. Humans were loud and they could be smelt by a shifter from miles away. How were they able to sneak into the village unaware?

“Your Majesty!” A male voice called out. Zared and Conner looked up to see a guard wearing the uniform that bore the crest of the king, a wolf’s head.

“Yes,” Zared said.

“We found no lead to the whereabouts of the humans that did this, but we did find something, wolfs bane.” The guard said.

The king and Conner growled.

“Wolfs bane? How did they find it?” King Zared said, standing up from his chair. His beast was beginning to rise again as his anger resurfaced.

“We have no idea, your Majesty.”

“I thought we destroyed the last wolfs bane many years ago,” said Conner. “How then did those humans obtain it?”

Wolfs bane was the only poison that could harm a shifter. Regardless of the misconception that silver could harm them, it only affects young shifters who have yet to shift, making awful rashes break out on their skin and that could be cured by sleep and some ointment. Whereas, wolfs bane was deadly. It starts with paralysis, which when reaching the heart of a wolf would end them. There was no cure for it except a small dose of vampire’s blood. Years ago, during the war, Zared had destroyed every wolfs bane in the kingdom, making the shifters practically undefeatable.

This was it, the humans had to be stopped.

“Gather some soldiers and go to every human clan in the kingdom and search for the culprit. Any clan that should show any form of resistance, burn it down,” Zared said.

“Yes, your Majesty.” The guard bowed, turned and left the room.

The anger he felt still pulsed in his veins, his eyes had taken the temporary colour of gold, and his fingernails had sprouted into claws.

“I am going out for a run,” Zared said, leaving the study.

Behind the castle lay an old forest, with gnarly trees giving the forest an eerie look. Is was dark within the forest and there were mysterious sounds always emanating from there. That was the hunting grounds of the king, and that was where he ran to lay off some steam. The anger from moments ago needed to be burned out somehow, and so, he ran in his Lycan form, a formidable beast, terrifying to look at. He stood on his hind legs, unlike a normal werewolf, at about seven feet tall, his coat of fur as black as a moonless night, which fluttered to the wave of the night breeze blowing. His large fangs protruded from his mouth, making him look more formidable, and his eyes glowed golden. He stood for a moment, enjoying the feel of the breeze on his fur, before he took off in a run. He ran so fast that to ordinary eyes, he was a blur of movement.

Zared ran until he felt the burn of exertion in his muscles. He stopped before a cliff. Sitting in the sky, the crescent moon brightened the night. He looked down at the forest that stretched on for miles and felt his anger simmer down a little.

Looking at the world below did not give him the peace and satisfaction that he craved. He was angry but above all, he was sad. He was the Lycan king, the only lycan in the world who ruled over all werewolves and other creatures and yet he was mate less. He has lived for many years and he was supposed to have found her by now but it seems that the moon goddess was cruel to him. Having not found his mate was one of the reasons he went to war on a bid to unify all the creatures in Glacia, and yet even fifty years after the war, he was still alone. He snarled, clawing a tree which stood beside him. He looked at the moon and felt angry.

“Why?" He asked the moon goddess, Selene. "Why do you keep me away from that which is mine?!" He roared out. But the moon goddess remained silent, the only sound in the night was that of the wind moving through the trees.