"Mother?" muttered Nox. A look of disbelief passed through his eyes. He thought he heard wrong, his eyes alternating between the Scourge Alpha, Zara, and Drake.
The others who had arrived at the throne chambers were just as confused as Nox, and their eyes seed to demand answers.
Zara's eyes remained locked on the familiar face—a face she had only seen in childhood portraits.
'Mother…' Her heart pounded with hope and disbelief, tears already blurring her vision.
A heavy, oppressive silence descended in the throne room. For a full minute, no one spoke, all eyes fixed on the Alpha, who was staring at Zara and Drake. Her lips parted.
For the first ti… her face cracked, and two lines of blissful tears rushed down her face as she whispered:
"…My children?"
It was at that mont that everyone's eyes widened in disbelief. Several questions raced through their minds.
By now, every one of them could tell the beautiful woman was the dreaded Scourge Alpha they had heard about throughout their lives—
The one who was able to hold back all eight Monarchs, which raised the question:
How… how did she relate to Zara and Drake?
The Frost Monarch had always been secretive with his dealings and was quite the enigma, but it never crossed any of their minds that… the formidable Scourge Alpha was none other than the wife of the Frost Monarch.
Nyxirith's eyes flashed as a lot of things started to make sense.
'The painting… so that was the reason he was holding back,' she inwardly muttered.
Drake was just as equally shocked. In truth, when he heard about the shattered elental crystals found in the old wine, a part of him had thought it all could be a coincidence.
But now he knew.
It was never a coincidence.
His father had had an affair with the Scourge Monarch for a long ti before the betrayal.
"…Zara? Drake?" the Scourge Alpha spoke again, her voice much softer and warm.
Zara's breath caught, and her eyes flickered with surprise. "You… You rember us?"
"I could never forget the faces of the children I bore." Her voice was soft—eerily soft.
Drake looked shaken, as if he didn't want to accept it. "No… You're supposed to be dead. Father said… the Scourge took you. You were gone."
"He lied. I never left. I only went into hiding because of the Eight Monarchs. But I'm here—I promise I won't leave you." The Alpha spoke as she slowly spread her arms, beckoning Zara to step forward.
Step!
She took the first step.
Nox glared at the Alpha, eyes narrowed, a gleam of suspicion shining in his eyes. "This is exactly what she wants—don't go near her!"
"Zara!" Drake shouted as well, but their words seed to fall on deaf ears. Although Drake longed for that motherly care as well, there… there was sothing so wrong about the entire situation.
"Zara!" Nox called out again at the top of his voice, but Zara was deaf to all warnings, consud by a longing that had ached in her heart for years.
He moved from his position to try to stop her, but the Frost Princess dived further into the embrace of her mother.
The Alpha's face was soft—almost maternal—as she cradled Zara's shaking shoulders. "My little frostflower… I've waited so long."
The world seed to go quiet. Zara felt her mother's arms encircle her in return, felt a hand gently stroke her hair. A childlike relief flooded through her soul.
She choked out, burying her face against her mother's shoulder.
Nox and Drake stood motionless, confused at what to do. They couldn't even attack, as they'd be endangering Zara's life. Therefore, they could only watch.
For a mont, everything looked perfect, and Nox along with Drake thought they had rely overthought things.
Then just as Zara was basking in the warmth—
The Alpha's soft expression lted away.
Nox's eyes widened—so did Drake's and the rest of the group.
"F*cking bitch!" Valkor cursed.
The Alpha's eyes darkened, her lips curling slowly, revealing a cruel smile.
Drake's heart sank.
From the Alpha's back, streams of black liquid shadow oozed out, coiling around Zara's waist, slithering along her spine.
Zara sensed a tremor run through the Alpha's body.
Was she crying too?
But when she leaned back to look up, she froze. The Alpha's tender expression had dissolved into a cruel, predatory smile. Those soft blue eyes now glinted pitch-black.
"M-Mother…?" Zara stamred, confusion and fear in her voice. The Alpha's embrace tightened—painfully. Before Zara could pull away, the shadows tightened. Her body jerked violently.
A vein of purple cracked through her cheek.
"ZARA!!" Drake roared and dashed forward, but the air twisted violently between them.
WHOOOOOSH!!
A do of corrupted mist exploded outward, sending out a wave of energy that sent everyone flying back. Nox slamd into a broken pillar.
Inside the mist, Zara scread.
But it wasn't pain.
It was confusion.
Terror.
"W-What is happening?! M-Mother?! I… I can't… move—!"
"Shhh," the Alpha whispered, pressing her forehead to Zara's. "It'll be over soon, my darling. Just surrender… let fix you…"
Zara's eyes turned completely purple.
Black markings blood across her skin.
Her aura collapsed.
Her will shattered.
She stopped screaming.
She stopped speaking.
She simply froze, her eyes wide and lifeless.
Nox scrambled to his feet as he activated Phantom Cloak, hoping to pierce through the corrupted energy. However, even in his invisible stage, the shockwave still repelled him.
He had no choice but to beco corporeal once more, a deep frown on his face.
anwhile, the Scourge Alpha looked up one final ti, holding the now-mindless Zara in her arms.
She smiled as a swirling gate of pure darkness opened beneath her feet.
In a flash, the mother and daughter duo were gone.
The mist evaporated.
And only silence remained.
"She escaped," Nox muttered with a frown on his face.
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