The Alpha's Oracle

PROLOGUE

Third Person POV

The silk curtains in the room fluttered in the wind even when all the windows and door were closed. In the ornately carved bed in the middle of the room, a man lay sleeping. 

Suddenly, the wind picked up speed, and lightning flashed inside the room. The man’s lips pulled down imperceptibly and his eyes twitched as if in response to the power building up in the room. After a moment, the wrinkles in his brow smoothened, and it looked as if he was going back to sleep when suddenly another larger lightning lit up the room followed by a boom of thunder. The lightning struck the chest of the man and his body arched from the bed while his eyes twitched with pain. 

The energy in the room built up, and the body of the sleeping man rose in the air. As the power reached its peak, his body twisted in unnatural angles. Suddenly, the man opened his pitch black eyes that looked as if they belonged to the Devil himself. 

He opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out. Suddenly, everything came to a standstill, and the power built up stopped abruptly, leaving the man to fall to the ground. He tried to raise his hands to protect himself from the fall, but his stiff limbs refused to obey him. 

As he lay there on the floor, electric sparks ran around his frame, making him groan. Slowly, he clenched his fists and narrowed his eyes in determination when he realised that he was gaining control of his limbs. Holding his hand on the floor to gain balance, he crouched down before standing up. His entire body was aching, and he felt like death warmed over, but he had no concern for it. Because he had bigger problems than that. Like figuring out who he was and what he was doing there…

He raised his foot and experimentally set it down to make sure that he wouldn’t fall over. Once he was sure that he could, he took a few steps before coming to a stop in front of the mirror. He examined his face and frowned. It felt familiar, yet wasn’t. His black eyes were cold as death and while that looked right, the beard on his face seemed alien to him. And his costume… A black shirt and loose pants. It felt so wrong. He couldn’t put a finger to it yet, as he couldn’t remember what sort of costumes he used to wear. Still, he couldn’t help but frown in distaste at such a bland costume, not to mention the rough material... 

He raised his hand to his face and touched his beard. ‘Who are you?’ he asked himself.

Suddenly, everything fell eerily silent, and he had the feeling that something was wrong. The man raised his hand and clutched his head when a crushing pain struck his head. Memories began trickling in, but he couldn’t make sense of them. He couldn’t pause to analyze them because a sudden urgency gripped him. A sense of foreboding filled him, and only one thought filled his mind. Danger!

He didn’t even know who he was or where he was, but he knew that if he stayed there any longer, he would be in grave danger. He had to escape!

The man forced his stiff limbs to move, and he staggered to the door. He narrowed his eyes in anger when he found that the door was locked. Who dared to lock him in the dingy room?

He raised his hand in outrage and instinctively, a small wave of power burst out of it, splintering the door open. He looked down at his hands in wonder. Was that magic? How fascinating? A glint appeared in his eyes as he tried to call his power again, but other than a little fizz, nothing happened. How disappointing? He needed more of that wonderful power!

The man stumbled out of the room and looked around at the mansion. It looked familiar, yet he knew it wasn’t his home. Home... where was it?

He sighed before leaning against the wall tiredly. He was tired of simply walking a little. It was not sitting right with him because he had the feeling that he was supposed to be powerful. The most powerful…

The foreboding feeling had returned to him a hundredfold, and he knew that something had happened outside the castle. Whatever had woken him up would come searching for him, and he didn’t want to be anywhere near this place when it happened. Move. He had to move…

The man slowly walked out of the enormous mansion and his eyes fell on the wolves and witches in the clearing. Those people shouldn’t see him. Not now. Not when he was this weak.

His eyes narrowed in concentration, and he focused on hiding himself from everyone. He didn’t know if it even worked but he didn’t pause to check before walking away from the building and thankfully, no one spotted or stopped him. After walking for a while, he leaned against a tree and clutched his head. He felt as if his head was going to split any moment. He rubbed his forehead, trying to ease the ache to no avail. His memories were returning, and acknowledging them was the only way to deal with it. 

Now that he wasn’t in immediate danger, he decided to deal with it. And then he let go of the block he was holding onto his memories.

He bit his lips hard to stop screaming from the pain, and blood flowed down his chin. As the memories assaulted him, he stood there trembling with pain first and then rage. 

At first, he remembered who he was. King Nicholas, the most powerful man in the world, feared by all. And he was reduced to the pitiful state where he can’t even stand on his own feet. How had he come to this?

Violet eyes flashed in his mind and he remembered Darian, the wizard. It was him who did this!

The last thing he remembered was the wizards using a null spell on him and Darian stabbing him in the chest with it. He could still feel the remnants of the excruciating pain as he got stabbed and then nothing… He clutched his chest to make sure that there weren’t any gaping holes or blood even when he felt no pain. When was he stabbed and where were those troublesome wizards now? 

He had the feeling that some time had passed, but he didn’t know how much. Hours? Days? Months? Or years? 

However much time passed or however weaker he had become, nothing mattered but doing what he was supposed to do. He was so close to fulfilling his desire when he was stopped by Darian. But now that he was awake once more, he would do what he always wanted to do. 

The man walked away into the night with determination fuelling him. He was the Dragon King, and he was going to conquer the world. And this time, no one could stop him...