Four—The summoning

Chapter Four—The summoning

They looked normal.

The hidden chamber was really just a smaller room below a flight of stairs at the bottom of the temple. I went blue with fright, not knowing what I was to see as the high priestess walked with me towards the end.

She stopped right before the iron door in front of us, then she turned to me, “The people of the oasis depend on you now. You are the chosen Luna, fulfil your duty and bring peace to all the lands.”

I was beyond dazed by her words. Such a huge responsibility, resting on the the shoulders of a orphan with nothing to her name, it was beyond cruel in my books.

I could barely move when she turned around to leave. The room was silent, I placed an ear on the iron door and couldn’t hear anything. I knew what I had to do but my legs remained transfixed on the spot, balls of sweat trickling down my brows and palm.

I gulped hard for the umpteenth time.

“We know you’re there.” I heard a gruff voice from inside the room.

My heart skipped a beat, I could swear for a moment it stopped working. I was faced with two choices—Run or end your life right here. The latter called out to me more.

I took a deep breath, closing my eyes for a minute before I placed a hand on the door handle. I whispered a prayer to the goddess whom I hated at the moment, then I turned the handle and the door opened.

Here goes nothing, I placated myself.

I slowly walked into the room and my eyes widened as soon as they caught the glimpse of the infamous Alphas—they looked normal!!

Three of them, all standing behind a slab of the sort, almost like a platform. They stared at me intently and I could swear I felt the ground shaking from underneath the soles of my feet.

I didn’t know what I was expecting, but it definitely had perches of them being regal looking. The Alphas were all dressed in regular clothes, although one of them was more flashy looking.

They were all beautiful.

I stood and moped like the clueless lass I was. They didn’t speak, stared at me with every form of intensity that made my insides quake. They had different colored eyes from what I could see—one meek, the other intense. No one had ever seen them in the oasis, probably because they looked like regular beings instead of this invincible image we had formed in our minds.

“I say we kill her.” One of them finally spoke. I immediately knew who it was.

Atlas Phoenix. He walked out of the slab covering the lower half of his body and towards me. He was tall, freakishly tall and scary—his eyes, they carried a fierce shade of red which was terrifying to even stare at. He was beautiful, young, probably only a year or two older than me and he was standing right in front of my frightened self.

“I—

He spun me around, with a force that was sure to knock me off my feet. Then he touched the mark at the nape of my neck, it stung so bad that I almost squealed in pain.

“I feel nothing.” He said, his voice brash.

“Are you sure?” The other one walked over to where I stood, he was more gentle with his touch. He took a few strands of my hair and brought it to his nose.

“I smell nothing.” He also concurred.

What did this mean??

“We can’t test the powers of the moon—-

“Shut up Nik.” Atlas, the red eyed alpha shot at the one who remained behind the slab, “For all we know these miscreants could’ve brought us the wrong girl.”

“Atlas.” The one to touched my hair chided, “Breathe.”

The red eyed Alpha grunted as he went behind the slab, same as the one who cautioned him. They remained silent, still staring at me like I was spoiled goods.

“What is your name?” Nik, he had a gentle voice.

I couldn’t help but stutter, “Ivy. Ivy Amire.”

“Amire?” He raised a brow, “I don’t know of any family with that name.”

My legs remained shaken, “I…I’m an orphan.”

“Great.” Atlas grunted, “The moon goddess picked a sickly orphan as the chosen Luna. I smell foul play.”

“He could be right.” I wasn’t sure what the third Alpha’s name was but I knew it started with an ‘L’, “There’s no way the goddess would pick a nobody like this to be the chosen one. An orphan? Come on.”

“Like I said, “Atlas added, “Foul play.”

They spoke of me like I wasn’t in the room listening. I was a nobody in their eyes, which should hurt in a way but it was the truth—the moon goddess choosing me was nothing short of a mistake. For a brief moment, I felt a sliver of hope, that I was probably to be released from the clutches of responsibility as my stake was brought into question.

“I say we kill her.” Atlas murmured again.

My eyes widened.

“Come on,” Nik muttered, “ That’s new low, even for you.”

“You know better than to insult me.” Atlas warned, his voice carried a dangerous tune that scared me, “I put a hole through your heart once. I won’t hesitate to do it again.”

“Atlas the red eyed monster.” The third alpha whose name I still couldn’t remember chuckled softly, “Always quick to spill blood.”

“I’ll gladly chop your head off, Lucien.”

The rumors were true. They all despised each other.

“So what do we do?” Nik muttered as he stared at me, our eyes met and I couldn’t help but admire how beautiful his was, “We can’t accept someone like her to be the chosen one. I mean, she’s…no offense,” he said to me, “She’s scrawny.”

“She has beautiful hair though.” Lucien smiled.

“She’s like a worthless pig, spruced up to please our eyes.” Atlas ruffed, “If none of you would kill her, I’d gladly take that offer.”

“I agree with Atlas. Let’s kill her and be done with it.”

No. I took a step back. There was no way it ends this way for me.

“Wait.” I heard Nik say, “I have a solution.”