Chapter 78: The Rise of the Forsaken
Melissa’s POV
As I took in Zephyr’s remarks, I stood in the middle of the packhouse meeting room, my heart racing. The Forsaken. Now uttered out loud in warning, the name was murmured like a curse.
I balled my fists up. “Tell us everything.”
Zephyr’s piercing eyes locked with mine. Not all the Forsaken were monsters. They used to be powerful, arrogant shifters. However, they violated the sacred laws of balance long ago when they betrayed the goddess.
I scowled. “What were they doing?”
He paused. They attempted to appropriate the goddess’s power for their gain. They desired to become immortal and end the cycle of life and death. However, the goddess is not amenable to treachery.
A shiver ran down my spine. I had personally witnessed her power-I had sensed it in myself. It was inconceivable to disobey her.
Kane folded his arms. “And she disciplined them?”
Zephyr gave a nod. They were half-shifted, neither human nor beast, after she took away their wolf. She eliminated their voices and their capacity to speak to the packs. Worst of all, she threw them into the space between worlds, which is where no living thing ought to be.
I took a deep breath. “So, how have they returned?”
Zephyr’s face grew serious. “Because of you.”
My breath came out sharply. With a roar, Kane moved forward. “Be mindful of your tongue.”
Zephyr extended his hand. “I don’t mean that she intentionally did it. The force of the heart was never intended to be disrupted. Melissa unintentionally sent shockwaves through the supernatural realm when she stabilized it. That force was felt by the Forsaken, and it guided them back.
There was a thick quiet in the room. This was what I had done. Not voluntarily, but it didn’t alter the fact that my actions had unknowable repercussions.
“What are they seeking?” I muttered.
Zephyr spoke in a sombre tone. “Retaliation.”
Zephyr’s comments weighed heavy on my chest. Not only were the Forsaken creatures scuttling back from the shadows. They were justified in their hatred of us. And now they could do something about it.
“The energy of the heart…” I felt a strange coldness and touched my arms. “Did it summon them back?”
Zephyr gave a nod. “I didn’t just phone them. They were awakened.
Kane’s jaw was clinched in irritation when I glanced at him. “So that implies…”
“They’re on their way,” he concluded.
There was a profound quiet. The pack warriors looked at one other uneasily, clearly afraid. We had no idea what we were facing.
Bryce, a fighter, raised his voice. “We ought to get ready for combat.”
Zephyr gave a headshake. “You’re not getting it. Unlike shifters, the Forsaken do not fight. They don’t engage in territorial or dominance conflicts. They don’t even struggle to stay alive.
“So for what do they fight?” I feared the response as I asked.
Zephyr’s intense eyes blazed. “Devastation.” They seek to destroy everything that we have constructed and everything that the goddess made. They see this world as a prison, and their goal is to escape it.
My stomach began to feel nauseous. We were up against something old and unforgiving, not a renegade pack out for vengeance. Something that refused to be in charge. It desired to destroy.
I made my shoulders square. “After that, we stop them.”
Kane moved to stand next to me. “Our world will not be destroyed by them.”
Zephyr’s mouth formed a thin line. “Luna, you’ll require more than simply fighters. You will require replies.
I looked him in the eye, resolving to stiffen. “Then we locate them.”
However, I knew in my heart that we might not be prepared for what we would discover next.
Zephyr stood in front of Kane and me, his golden eyes flickering uneasily. There was a lot of tension in the room, and there was an unwavering sense of uncertainty in the air.
With a deep, foreboding voice, Zephyr remarked, “You don’t realize what you’re up against.” “Darius is more than just an Alpha out for vengeance. He is something different, something outside of us.
I crossed my arms. “Zephyr, we’ve battled formidable foes before. What distinguishes him?
Zephyr shook his head and laughed without fun. “Because his existence was never intended.”
I felt a chill go through me. “What do you mean?”
His face was grim, he took a step forward. It was never intended for the Forsaken to live. The goddess wiped them out of our kind’s history when she cursed them. However, they have returned in some way, thanks to the vitality of the Heart. And Darius. Zephyr let out a sharp sigh. “Before he was exiled, he was their king.”
Beside me, Kane stiffened. “A monarch?”
Zephyr gave a sombre nod. “Darius was more than simply an Alpha. Before there were packs as we know them, he was born into the ancient bloodlines. He possessed Alpha King’s strength, which changed into something strange when he was cursed.
My heart was racing. “And he’s back now.”
“Yes,” Zephyr replied. And his strength has increased. Because he was profiting from the chaos while you were struggling to keep the Heart in balance.
I took a deep breath. The more I listened, the more I understood that we were facing something far more serious than I had initially thought.
“What is his desire?” Kane inquired.
Zephyr tightened his jaw. “To complete the task that was initiated centuries ago.” And he might be unstoppable this time.
I had trouble falling asleep later that night. My mind was racing, caught up in Zephyr’s caution. I was alone in the main hall of the sanctuary because Kane had gone to see how the patrols were doing. Long shadows were thrown against the stone walls by the burning torches.
I was startled out of my reverie by a loud banging on the door. My pulse accelerated as I turned.
Liam, one of the warriors, hurried in with a pallid face. “You must see this, Luna.”
With a knot in my stomach from fear, I followed him outside. At the entrance to the sanctuary, a small group of people had assembled, their cries of terror hardly hidden.
Then I noticed it.
Four terrifying sentences were scrawled in fresh, gleaming blood on the outer stone wall:
“THE BALANCE HAS TO GO.”
A chilling fear crept into my bones. The message was a declaration of war, not only a threat.
Kane came up next to me, his eyes fixed on the words, his jaw clenched. “They have already arrived.”
The anxiety that was writhing in my chest was forced down by my forceful swallow.
The arrival of the Forsaken was not sudden.
They had started already.