REBORN UNDER THE FULL MOON
Chapter 119: A Deal With Darkness

Zeus' POV

I needed to act. The Legion's instructions must be adhered to. I need to replace Lyra, captivate her spirit and leave her harmless. It must be done, or the reverse would occur, as our destinies were intertwined.

But Aria refused to help me replace her. She had reasons to suspect my intentions, so I had to go through Merida.

I summoned her to my Chamber.

"Merida, I need to replace my Kyle, he's the only one I've got in this cruel world. I asked not for much, did I?"

She replied, "Of course not, my Lord. It's only fair that you see your heir before you return to the land of the spirits."

"So what could be done about it?" I asked, hoping it results to us replaceing Lyra instead.

She sat on the floor, brought out diamonds from her bag, and threw it on the floor.

"My Lord," she said, "I'm not a seer, not a Queen mother, and not a spirit. I'm a witch, and it's only necessary that we get assistance from a seer, a Queen mother, or a spirit, or the force I may use to access the portal may be too strong, releasing Spirits from different dimensions, even from the dead."

"I see, Merida. You have my permission as the Alpha to perform the ritual."

"Also worthy to say, is the fact that I can't access Kyle. He's obstructed by spirits," she replied.

Pretending to be struck by a sudden sense of curiosity, I stated, "Kyle obviously went after Lyra, so to replace him, we must replace her first."

Stung by my thoughts, she replied, " True, my Lord, but it'll be to dangerous to get a spirit to point her location. Many are willing to reveal, if all come out, it would be catastrophic to our pack,"

"But we have no choice!!" I commanded, more of uncontrolled desperation, I breathed in to calm my appearance, and added, "look, we have to try all we've got to get to her, anything to get to Lyra.... Kyle...of course." "I'll try all I've got, my Lord, but the safety of the pack comes first,"

"The pack would be just fine, we've conquered spirits in the past, this won't be any different, I assure you Merida." She seemed too naive a Witch.

"In that case, it's best I consult Aria first," she said, moving uneasily.

"Leave Aria out of this, she's not needed, you can do this." She looked deep into my eyes shaking her head sideways slightly.

"You have no idea what you do, my Lord, you certainly have no idea,"

"The pack would do just fine, I assure you. We have worthy warriors and werewolves worthy of the sword. We would do just fine."

"The vast and shadowy stream of time would tell, my Lord. I just hope it tells good tales."

"It would, I assure you. It certainly would."

"Very well then, my Lord, we shall meet at the Grim mountain by dusk," she said, getting up.

Axel's POV

The booing started pouring from all corners. I have lost the first round of the day. Two more to go.

I looked steadily at my opponent. He was raising his hands, throwing Greek kisses at his supporters as they hailed him.

"Aloha.....Aloha.......Aloha......" they screamed.

It was humiliating. I had to win the second and the third round in order to move to the next stage of the tournament, and it is seen as a bad omen for the host pack of the event to lose in the first stage. I needed to win. We were allowed to freshen up for a while, getting ready for the second round.

"Good job, Axel," I heard a familiar voice call out.

"Hey David, you finally made it here," I replied.

"Yeah I did. I couldn't miss the even for the world, although Naomi seemed a hard nut."

"This Greek guy's giving me trouble, I should have fought better,"

"It's just the first round, you'll do just fine," David assured.

"I'm not so sure about that, I practiced less and didn't give much a thought to the strength of my opponents. I didn't know that Greek warriors would even pay attention to this tournament,"

"About diversity of opponents, I assure you that the worst of is yet to come. I passed through their dressing room a while ago, and I couldn't help but wonder if anyone from our continent would even finish third," he stated bluntly." No offense to you, Alpha Axel," he added, realising that he spoke about me too.

"Non taken, David. Third we might not reach, but I'll try hard to win this first stage of the tournament."

"Wish you the best, Alpha Axel," he said.

"Appreciated," I replied, as he turned to leave.

"Hey Lyra, looking good," he greeted.

"Flatter is better than silver and gold, David," she replied. They laughed lightly, exchanging pleasantries at the entrance of the room.

"Long live the Alpha," she greeted, approaching me.

"The Greek guy is certainly against that prayer," I replied light hearted.

"Speaking of the Greek guy, he's not much of a good fighter you know,"

"Wow. Then how did he win? much worse a fighter am I, right?

"Not in the least, Axel. Judging from what I saw earlier, you fought way better than he did."

Then why did he win?"

"Fear. The single but potent weapon of Greek fighters......fear....I watched him closely as he fought. His eyes, his posture, his height and dressing. All those attributes add fear and trembling to his opponent. "Fear, you say. No, I wasn't scared, not certainly in the least," I replied, trying hard to maintain my dignity.

"There's nothing to be worried about, Axel. Even the strongest of warriors do get scared of Greek swordsmen at first encounter. You havent graced a Greek man with a sword prior to this fight, have you?"

I gave no reply, trying to understand what she said. It made sense, for at every clash of our sword, he tried to maintain a steady gaze at me, saying a lot in Greek, cursing.

"So what can be done about it? " I asked.

"Do you speak Greek?"

"Yes I do. I once had a tutor who taught me three languages; Greek, Spanish and Chinese." I replied.

"Good, you can only conquer fear by instilling fear. Do not avoid his gaze in this fight. Look him in the eyes, curse back in Greek, and try to mimic his fighting footsteps. That way you'll stand a chance in winning, for your people," she instructed.

"Wish you the best," she added, getting up and moving to the door.

"Wait, Lyra," I called at her.

"Thank you." I added.