PROLOGUE - ELARA'S POV
911 Words
"Daddy, no!" I shouted in fear as he dragged me through the temple, "I won't hide while everyone fights!"
I hadn't even gotten to get dressed. I was being pulled along, bare-footed in my silk night dress, as I was going to bed after the Goddess festival.
"Keep your tongue, girl!' He shouted at me as I struggled to free myself, "If they find you and Athena, they'll use your power to destroy everyone!"
I started crying. I didn't want to be alone, and I didn't want to hide. My power had always been coveted by outsiders, and my pack often had to deal with enemies trying to use me for it. This latest fight was due to my father refusing to marry me to another Royal Lycan pack, and he'd even killed the messenger to send a message.
Loud screams and explosions even reached us all the way underground in the catacombs, and I could feel the death thick in the air.
"They need me!" I continued to struggle, "Daddy, I can help!"
"Elara enough!" My father, my pack's King and Alpha shouted, "There's too many. You can't save everyone. Just keep your voice down in case."
A bomb sounded over my head, and the catacomb walls shook.
"RUN!" My father shouted, as his grip on my wrist tightened, and he dragged me along as a cave-in happened in our wake, sending dust smoke from the bomb into the tunnel around us.
I started coughing, and my father placed a handkerchief over my mouth as he continued to pull me with him.
By the time we reached the temple under the mountain, the air was already stale, and I was finding it difficult to breathe. We could hear pack members in the main temple room above. Hearing their crying and screaming broke my heart, but my father ignored them and took me to a private altar room.
"How are you going to get out?" I asked my father as he took me over to the altar. The secret door into this room had been destroyed too, and he couldn't go back through the catacombs.
"Don't worry about me." He answered, his voice emotionless, "Lay on the altar."
I climbed up without a fight, and my father placed a necklace over my head with a beautiful opal pendant.
"This is mothers." I said as I teared up and touched it. My mother had been killed two days prior by a spy working for the other King, and I missed her dearly.
"Listen to me, my Elly." My father lowered his face to mine, "When you wake up, things will be different. You will be different. In order to perform the spell, Athena must be separated from you. Together you're too powerful, and the spell won't seal."
"No," I pleaded. "You can't do this. You can't take Athena!"
"I don't want to be alone!" Athena joined in, but our father growled.
"This isn't a discussion. I'm telling you how it will be." He snapped at me before pulling me into his arms. "I will leave the spell here." He went over and tucked a note behind a painting. "You'll need it in order to connect together again." He came back over and hugged me again. "Be a good Queen. Do not make my mistakes. Power isn't everything. Don't marry for power. Marry your mate, and make sure he is worthy of you."
"I don't want to be Queen. I don't want a mate!" I shouted, "I want you and mommy, and Athena. Please don't leave me. I can't fight. We can fight together and..."
"Elara, stop fighting me. This is happening!" He growled angrily, "I love you."
"'I love you too, daddy." I started crying.
"Lay back."
My tears flowed harder. "Please, daddy. I don't want to."
"Now, Elara," He said firmly, and I saw tears in his eyes. "You are my greatest treasure. I will not let you die because of me. Now, please stop. If you're fighting me, I won't be strong enough to perform the spell."
I sniffed and laid down, holding my mother's pendant in my hand. I watched in fear as my father performed the spell, and then there was nothing but pain.
"Daddy, stop!" I screamed and gripped the alter so hard that the bones in my hand broke, and then everything stop.
The pain was gone. My Lycan Athena was gone. I turned my head as blood dripped from my mouth, and saw her lying outside my body and my father was performing another spell that caused a clear blue crystal to grow around her before my father picked her up and placed her gently in a hidden room of the temple, before pressing a panel and closing her in.
I felt my stomach churn, and I leaned over the alter and threw up onto the stone ground.
"I'm sorry, Elly." My father rushed over to me and wiped my mouth on his sleeve. "It'll only hurt for a little longer, and then you'll go to sleep."
"Please, daddy." I pleaded once more, knowing it would be fruitless, but I had to try. "Don't do this. I don't want to sleep. It's not too late to change your mind."
"I love you." Was all he said as he began the spell.
The love in his eyes was the last thing I saw before the crystal encased me, and I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
- Writer
