A Tale of Red Riding: Rise of the Alpha Huntress (The Alpha Huntress Series Book 1) (27 page)

Chapter 30

“Wake up, Red.”

Red found herself alone in a pitch-black void. There was nothing around her to see, or touch, or even smell. The emptiness was so absolute that she couldn’t feel the ground beneath her feet. The boundless realm of isolation consumed her heart with a grim feeling of loneliness that she hadn’t known since her arrival in Wayward.

“Where am I?” she asked.

“That’s the big question, isn’t it, Red.” The soothing voice of a man spoke from nowhere and everywhere. “Where do you think you are?”

“I have no idea. This must be another one of Ice Seether’s games.”

“Who is this Ice character you keep speaking of?” the man asked.

Red took a nervous gulp. “Why don’t you tell me who you are? And where you are, because I can’t see you.”

“We’ve been through this many times before. You’re still having a great deal of difficulty accepting it.”

Red walked aimlessly, reaching her hands out into the black void, but she couldn’t find the man, or anything at all. “I don’t understand this. Tell me what’s going on here.”

“You have to focus, Red. If you fall asleep again, I fear you may never wake.”

“What are you talking about? I’m not asleep. Ragnarok, I won’t fall for your tricks.”

“You don’t actually believe this Ragnarok is real, do you?”

“He has to be. I was in the Moon Temple. I’m the Alpha Huntress. I have to stop him from coming through the gate.”

“Think about what you just said. A Moon Temple? You’re an Alpha Huntress? Does any of that make a bit of sense to you?”

Red’s heart fluttered in a panic. “No. It’s real. I was there. I have to go back. Wayward needs me.”

“Red, you must calm down, or you’re going to slip away again.”

“Don’t you tell me to calm down!” Red shouted. His words reminded her how angry she had gotten when Wolfgang had told her to calm down. Nothing about what was happening felt right, and she wasn’t going to just accept it because some strange voice was telling her she should. “I won’t calm down, and you can’t make me.”

“I’m sorry this is so upsetting to you, but we’re running out of time. If you don’t wake up soon, it will be too late.”

“Running out of time for what?” This made Red even more suspicious. She recalled the clock counting down in the Moon Temple.

“Before you slip off into sleep again and we can’t get you back. If that happens, you will surely die.”

“If I’ve been dreaming for so long, then what happened to me?”

“You had a terrible accident. A woodsman found you unconscious in the forest. You ran your motorcycle into the trunk of a tree. You’ve been drifting in and out of sleep for nearly a week.”

“No. That can’t be true.”

Red thought about her passage through the great tree. It was far more realistic to believe she had merely crashed. The notion of a mystical portal transporting her to another world was rather absurd. She had suspected from the beginning that it was all just a wild dream.

“Are you still with me, Red?”

“What if I don’t want to admit it’s a dream? What if I decide to just stay in Wayward forever?”

“I’m afraid that’s not possible. If you stay asleep any longer, your mind will fade away until there is nothing left.”

“Well, if I’m not in Wayward, then where am I?”

“You’re safe at home. I’m the one taking care of you.”

Red considered his answer. It just felt wrong. “I’m sorry. I can’t remember where my home is.”

“Why don’t you wake up and see for yourself?”

“And how exactly do I wake up?”

“You merely need to prove that you truly believe it was all just a dream. You must admit that there is no Wayward, or an Alpha Huntress, or a Moon Temple, or any of that other foolish nonsense.”

“But it all feels so real. I couldn’t have just dreamed it up.”

“Red, think carefully. The last time we spoke, you told me you’d met a wolf. You talked about walking down a path in the woods to your granny’s house. You spoke of a large man with an axe who saved you from terrible danger.”

“It sounds like one of the stories I’ve read,” Red said grimly, with a tear in her eye.

“That’s right. You’ve read many stories. Think about all that’s happened and you will know where these dreams have come from.”

“So now I have to stop dreaming.” The idea of accepting that she was nothing more than a hopeless orphan almost felt worse than dying.

“Sounds like you’re finally ready. I’m holding a hand out to you. All you have to do is reach out and take it. In the blink of an eye you’ll wake up at home, safe in your bed.”

“Take your hand?”

“It’s as easy as that.”

Red closed her eyes and slowly extended a hand. A feeling of warmth filled her heart as she recalled her adventures and the love she experienced during her time in Wayward.
She saw the faces of her granny, her father, and her beloved friends Ash and Dote …

She recalled dancing with Prince at the ball and her battle with Ice Seether …

She remembered kissing the goblin and all the dangerous creatures she had battled …

She thought about Wolfgang, and her mouth curved into a fond smile …

“It was a truly wonderful adventure,” she said.

Above all the things Red recalled in that moment, one memory stuck out more than any other. It was from her vision when she had stood before the gate in the Moon Temple and Ragnarok was reaching a hand out to her.

“Set me free.”
His wicked voice echoed out in her mind.

Red’s face tightened with anger. She was now certain that this was all a cruel deception.

“I’m ready to meet you, Ragnarok.”

Red opened her eyes and was back in the Moon Temple. She was standing before the gate. It was now emanating a swirling barrier of lunar energy. On the other side, she had expected to see a monster towering ten feet tall with burning red eyes and jagged metal armor. Instead stood a boy the same age she was. His face was so pure, it was hard to believe he was the most evil force ever to walk the Earth.

“Alpha Huntress, you must set me free. Together we will rule over all of Wayward,” Ragnarok said.

Red’s every last doubt about her life was gone in an instant. The fate of her new world depended upon the choice that she was about to make. She looked down to see her arm reaching through the mystical barrier. Ragnarok was gripping her hand. His skin was soft and warm and felt oddly familiar. She looked into his eyes and saw a reflection of herself as the tyrant queen.

“I will make you a god,” Ragnarok said. “You will be the Empress of Wayward. All the riches of this world will be yours for the taking. You will never endure another night without a place to sleep or food to eat. Nobody will ever be able to harm you again.”

The temptation that swelled in Red’s heart and mind was nearly more than she could endure. A surge of energy began to flow through her body and soul. The power was so immense it made her twitch and tremble. It felt like her skin was on fire. Her blood boiled in her veins. In that moment, she understood what it felt like to be a god.

“There is little time, Alpha. Pull me through, or all will be lost,” Ragnarok said.

Red recalled how Grenda told her the gate would remain open for seven minutes. She looked at the clock to discover only a single minute had passed.

0 YEARS /0 MONTHS/ 0 DAYS

0 HOURS / 6 MINUTES / 1 SECONDS

“Think of all the suffering that you can save yourself from enduring,” Ragnarok said.

Red noticed an intense crimson light illuminating the chamber. She looked back to the Alpha Stone. It was pulsating with swirling mystical energy. Grenda, Ethan, Ash, and Dote were standing at the bottom of the altar, gazing up at her. She could see the terrible fear in their eyes. Without a word spoken among them, she knew they were urging her to turn away from evil.

Ragnarok squeezed Red’s hand. “You must now know that we are destined to stand together as one. You will not merely be helping me. You will be helping yourself.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that our destinies are intertwined in a way that you cannot yet begin to understand.”

Red looked into Ragnarok’s dark blue eyes. Her reflection was so crystal clear that it was as if she was looking back at herself.

“Alpha, I can give you the power to defy death itself. As Empress, you will decide who lives and who dies. You will never have to fear the demise of those you care for. They can be with you for all time.”

Red’s eyes grew wide with desire. If the promise of infinite power and riches wasn’t enough to push her over the edge, the ability to assure her loved ones would never perish very well could have. Her mind swirled with dark thoughts as she recalled the vision where she had sat upon a throne as the high ruler of Wayward.

The purpose of the terrible dreams Red had been having since her arrival in Wayward became clear to her. She now understood why it was necessary to see the forest burning to the ground—and to see those she loved face their demise. It was all to teach her why she had to turn her back on evil in the darkest moment of temptation.

“It is time to face your destiny,” Ragnarok said.

Red took a calming breath. “It is an awfully tempting offer. I want to say yes more than anything, but I am the Alpha Huntress, high protector of Wayward. Before I came here, my clan made a choice, and now I must honor it. I will let them all die, if that’s what it takes to send you back to your lunar hell.”

Red finally released Ragnarok’s hand and turned her back on him.

“NOOOOOOOO!”
Ragnarok tried to reach through the gate, but the mystical barrier blocked his hand. “Red Riding, you have made a deathly mistake. Your loved ones will now die, and you will be the one to kill them.”

An explosion of lunar energy shot out of the moon gate into the chamber. The amulets around the necks of Red’s clan began to glow. Their eyes turned as black as death.

“Ragnarok, what have you done to them?” Red shouted.

“It’s not what I have done that you should fear. It is what you are about to do to them.”

Ethan raised his axe and charged flat-out at Red. She jumped high, just in time to avoid being hacked in half. As soon as her feet hit the floor, Grenda shot an energy bolt that forced her to dive-roll clear. Dote unleashed a powerful vortex, missing Red by inches. The assault was so fast and intense, Red had to fight the urge to strike back.

“Listen to me,” Red cried out. “You all have to fight this. Don’t let Ragnarok destroy us.”

Ash ran up and tried to punch Red, again and again, but she was able to block his attacks. His assault became so vicious that she finally lost control. She lashed out with a powerful punch to Ash’s gut that knocked him to the floor.

“Ash, I’m so sorry.”

Dote walked up to Red, with her hands glowing bright green, and blasted her point-blank. Red soared across the chamber and slammed into a pillar. The pain consumed her with a surge of aggression that was so primal it made her want to lash out in rage.

Ragnarok wailed out a wicked laugh. “It’s not too late, Alpha. You can still save your friends.”

Red looked up at the clock. Three minutes remained before the gate would close. She then noticed that the breastplate of her armor was cracked down the center. With a furious roar, she ripped it off.

A stinging pain stabbed into her upper back. She spun around to see Prince, slouching like a lifeless zombie and stabbing at her with his rapier. Even with her chainmail preventing injury, his strikes only heightened the rage growing inside her. She dodged his next attack and countered with a vicious punch to his face, knocking him to the ground.

Grenda blasted Red with a burst of black lightning. The pain that surged through Red’s body was so intense it made her roar out in rage. Before she could recover, Dote fired a vortex that knocked Red flat onto her back. Ethan charged up and swung his axe at Red, again and again. Terror consumed her heart as she rolled clear, just avoiding his strikes.

“I can’t take much more of this.” Red’s mind was swelling with primal rage.

Ragnarok laughed again. “It won’t be much longer before you can’t contain the wolf. Oh, the terrible things you will do once the beast takes control.”

The words pierced Red’s heart like a searing hot knife of fear. He was right, and she knew it. With two minutes left before the gate would close, she was seriously considering letting Ragnarok have his way.

Just then, a bolt of Grenda’s black lightning hit her from behind. She wailed out a mindless
roar
. Her ability to restrain her rage was gone.

Ethan swung his axe at Red. She reached up, caught his arm, and threw a powerful kick to his leg. There was an awful sound of crunching bone. He grunted in immense pain and collapsed to the ground.

“Look what you’ve done.” Ragnarok said. “Now we shall see how you deal with the others.”

Red’s mind was void of rational thought as she looked at Grenda and Dote. They were on the far end of the chamber, hands glowing brightly, and ready to strike. The world went into slow motion as Red dashed their way, dodging and leaping clear of their mystical attacks. She would destroy them both in only seconds, and there wasn’t a thing that could stop her.

All was lost until the voice of the first Red Riding spoke in Red’s mind,
“You must let go of your rage. Once you fall down the path of darkness, there will be no turning back. Call on the power of the Alpha and you will see another path.”

True to her word, the Alpha that came before Red showed her an answer that she had not considered. As she soared over the wave of mystical energy, her eyes fixed on the glowing amulet around Grenda’s neck.

“I understand.”

Red hit the ground and dove, rolling back to her feet. Ethan was staggering toward her on his broken leg. He swung his axe with brutal force. She dodged the attack and tackled him to the floor. With both hands, she gripped the thick silver chain binding the amulet to his neck.

She tried with all of her might to snap it in two, but the spellcraft used to create it was too powerful. Her arms then began to glow with mystical power, giving her so much strength that it felt like she could have ripped a hole in the earth itself.