Al Kadar

Alice POV

The castle where I met the Dark Lord was every bit the place of nightmares. Even though on the outside it looked beautiful and well-designed architecturally, the scent of blood and death hit me even before I stepped in. I am sure the dungeons hid the horrors I could not begin to imagine. A cold shiver went down my spine and Rina whimpered in my head. “We should not be here!”, she growled at me. We were not in the best of relationship as of now, in fact ever since my original agreement with the Dark Lord. “I could not refuse his summons, Rina, you know that! Besides, he needs us, we will be safe”, I retorted. “Yes, he needs us. For now. What happens to us when he no longer needs us??? What have you gotten us into?!!!”



Before I could say anything, several Lycan knights – dressed in black head to toe, appeared. In the light, their armor glistened with SCALES???? What was that???. These looked like dragon scales. Is the Dark Lord working with dragons??? And if so, does First Dragon know of this??? The knights, whose faces I could not see, looked extremely intimidating. I could not tell if they were all male warriors, as most looked almost identical. Standing over 6.5 feet, their long muscular bodies were adorned with various swords and daggers, some other interesting weapons I had never seen. Each had long blond hair, styled in an elaborate braided ponytail reaching up to their waist. If I had not looked at them carefully, I would think they were a clone of one individual. Mesmerized by their sheer presence and power, I stood still in one spot, unable to take my eyes off them.



“Impressive, aren’t they???”, I heard the cold voice of the Dark Lord, who looked at them with a sense of pride. “Indeed, my Lord”, I said, finally averting my gaze, bowing down. “You have done quite well little Redwater wolf”, he said approvingly. I blushed and nodded in agreement, unable to meet his gaze, his aura spilling around, forcing me into submission. "Walk with me. We will continue this discussion in my office”, he said, turning back into the castle, and I simply followed, keeping my eyes on the ground. I dared not look around in fear of what I might see. The temperature inside the walls of the castle was unnaturally cool, winter was not upon us, yet inside, it felt as like everything was freezing. While our species ran hotter and could tolerate cold, this was something else. It was the type of cold that seeped into your bones, one that attached itself to you, eerily and without consideration. The Dark Lord did not appear bothered at all. Stopping in front of giant double oak doors, intricately carved, he pushed them as if they were nothing. His power was unnerving. I did not know a single other creature with so much power and it was not only intimidating, but it was also downright petrifying, even though technically I was his ally.



He motioned for me to sit in an ornate chair, while he moved swiftly on the other side, even offering me refreshments in the process. I was not expecting any type of familiarity from him, so his hospitality took me by surprise. “I’ll have servants bring you a special drink from my own collection. After all, you will be a Luna Queen!! It is time we celebrated, little Wolf!!", he said, leaving no room for discussion. From the shadows, veiled servants with trays of dried meats and other delicacies, with an antique decanter housing a dark amber liquid, I presumed was a celebratory drink. “I am curious about it Alice; how did you convince Alpha King to marry you? Your communications to me indicated that he was somewhat and somehow immune to my magic??? You are sure that you did the spell correctly and used the correct potion????”, he asked me sternly. “I am my Lord. I have found my fated mate, in fact, and, just as you have said, he did not recognize me. I know him, but he does not know who I am. So, it seems that your magic works on everybody else, but not on Roman”, I said as tactfully as I could.



His purple eyes flashed something, anger perhaps, but I tried to remain as calm as possible. Sipping the amber liquid, its warmth was enveloping me. “I pleaded with him and seduced him, my Lord. And it appears that he has convinced himself that he needs a mate and an heir now”, I stated the truth. “Have you mated yet?”, he asked. I blushed, but this was not the time to be shy. “Not yet, my Lord. Roman insists that we do things the right way. He is apologetic about his past and wants to get to know me and wants to mate me after the mating ceremony. I think part of him thinks this will appease Rina and she will recognize him and accept him. He has convinced himself of this”, I shrugged. A booming laughter escaped his chest.



“Oh, Roman. Trying to do the right thing for a change. What a silly pup”, he said in between the laughter. “Never mind those things now. I will figure out as to why my magic has not worked on him, although I have some ideas. I have another task for you”, he said, pulling out a larger pale wood box with inscriptions in a language I did not know. “I need you to bring me somebody. And she is very powerful, so no potion I give you will work. But this will”, he said, pushing the box into my hands. “The witch??? Dragana??? My Lord, she is not there.” “No, not the witch. I will deal with her myself. I will explain everything. First, I need you to open the box”. I did as I was told, confused about it all. Opening it, I gazed upon the most ornate, yet beautiful dagger I had ever seen. The hilt was white, animal bone of some kind, decked out with smaller clear gems, and in the center, a dark red stone with incredible power. A single, broad, straight-edged blade was glistening with gold letters in its center, an inscription flowing to its very tip. I tried to touch it, but it felt as if an invisible force field was around it.



“Al Kadar daggers, the most powerful blades ever forged. Only a few are left in existence. This one will be yours. However, there is a price to pay. The blade demands a sacrifice before you can use it or touch it”. I was captivated by it, unable to look at anything else. “What is the sacrifice?”, I heard my words in a voice which did not sound as if it belonged to me.



“That is simple. Al Kadar demands your blood.”.