THE ISLAND WOLF - EPISODE 28

“Mother, I asked what prophecy you were speaking about?” Dakar inquired again and walked into the room.
“Nothing, my son. It’s not something serious. It’s about a mateless wolf that will turn rogue”, she stated.
“Is that not a popular prophecy? Everyone knows that. Which is why we’re permitted to get alternative mates. But I am sure that is not what you were referring to. It seems you didn’t want me to hear you. Which is why the colour has drained from your face when I heard”.

The Luna sighed and palmed her face. Dakar gazed at her and felt her worry and fear. He drew closer to her and knelt down, holding her legs. He placed his head on her thighs and she started to cry.
“Don’t make me tell you, please” she cried.
“Mother, tell me”, she insisted without raising his head. In their tradition, when a child does that to his mother, she has to fulfil that which he is asking for. The child is placing his head over the place the head first knew the world.

“Dakar, I am begging you. Don’t make me tell you”, she pleaded but he didn’t move. She kept pleading but he insisted,so she had no choice but to tell him.
“I will tell you. Everyone, excuse us.” she ordered all her servants and they all left.

“Stand up, Dakar. And come with me.” he got on his feet and held his mother’s outstretched arm. She took him to her room and closed the door. Then she walked to her bed and bent down. She reached under it, and pulled out a crystal ball. It was broken and the other parts were missing.

“What is that?”, Dakar asked.
“The Ball of Dojo”, she answered and placed it in a bowl that she had pulled from underneath the bed too.
“What does it have to do with the strange prophecy you were talking about?”
“Bring your hand closer but do not touch it”, she ordered sternly. He wanted to ask a question but with the look on her face, he swallowed it. Reaching his hand towards the crystal ball, it glowed red and emitted heat. He took his hand back immediately. His mother sighed deeply and worry flooded the room again. She turned back and dropped the ball on her bedside table.
“What is the Ball of Dojo, mother?” he asked. He wanted to know why it bothered his mother that the ball glowed red. It bothered him too, because his mother had held it and it was normal. But, it changed when his hand got close to it.

“Sit, my love”, she said and pointed to her sofa. He sat down and clasped his hands in front of him. She sat on her bed and heaved another deep sigh.
“Dojo, is…” she began and glanced at her son. She was having second thoughts about telling him. Dakar was determined to hear it and his face was tensed up.
“He is a demon. And that is one of his property. A prophecy was told years ago about an Alpha Prince, who gets possessed by the demon after he fails to destroy the ball. Dojo places a curse on the Prince and turns him into a monster. A terrible monster who will destroy everything he desires to destroy. It is said, that the prince will become worse than the devil himself”, she explained and Dakar chuckled.
“And you think this Prince is me?” he asked with a grin on his face.

“The Prince is born with a thick black scar on his right thigh and a small red dot behind his right ear”, she continued. Dakar froze after hearing that, and the smile on his face turned into a deep frown. He had a terrible scar on his thigh. It was as black as coal and covered nearly all of his right thigh. And behind his ear, was a small dot, the size of a drop of water and it was pure red. He was born with them both.

“Those are the exact scars you were born with. Exactly as the prophecy described.”
“But mother, that could just be a coincidence,” he argued.
“The Prince becomes a mighty warrior who is never defeated in a battle of any kind. But he is without a wolf to mate, because the Moon goddess has turned her back on him”.
Now, this part of the prophecy was beyond accurate. Dakar had been engaging in petty fights since he was a child, but he had never been defeated once. And when he became a warrior, he had never lost one war. It reached a point that no kingdom was willing to put their disagreement into war anymore. They all wanted to settle with words and not weapon, because of Dakar.

“Dakar, you are the Alpha Prince. All these years, I have feared for you. But I had this tiny hope that you are not the one. And that hope was shattered”, she stated.
“Because I made the crystal ball glow”, he added and she nodded.
“Then, what does me finding a different lady have to do with this all?” he asked.
“You have to choose someone who you love. Someone without a mate or a dead mate. That person will help you fight Dojo. By giving you the strength that accompanies love”

“Why can’t I fight by myself?”
“You won’t win. But if you have the zeal to protect the one you love, you will fight him”.

Dakar sighed and got on his feet. He walked to his mother’s window and flung it open. He looked down at the stone pathway that was empty. The news he just received was too much for him to handle. So, he was a cursed one. He couldn’t believe it.

“How is everything going to unfold, mother?” he asked and turned to face her. She got on her feet and walked to him.
“You have to find the remaining fragments of the ball. We’ll put them together and destroy them. It’ll be very hard, Dakar, very hard. But you can do it. Or else, you’re going to be something else. And you will destroy everything, including me”. He looked at his mother and hugged her. She was the most important thing to him and didn’t want to hurt her in anyway.

“I will try my best”, he mumbled.
“There is someone you will have to visit. She gave the prophecy and is capable of helping you. But I do not trust this witch. She is very cunning and full of dark magic,” his mother stated and pulled away from him.
“Who is she?” he asked and she sighed and said,
“The Eternal Witch Of The North. She lives at the coldest part of the earth. Dakar, she is Ñiraka’s mother”.

His eyes widened with surprise.
“Ñiraka’s mother? How? I thought Ñiraka grew up here?”, he asked, shock still written all over his face.
“Her father met the witch on one of his journeys as a young man. He got bitten by an adder and was about to die. She came to him and told him she could save him, only if he stayed with her for a year. Of course, he agreed. She saved him and took him to a place where she lived with him as his wife. Ñiraka was the product of that short affair. He returned home with Ñiraka and claimed he got married on the way, but lost his wife.”

“Wait, mother. How do you even know all these stories? How do you find out? Because it seems you’re the only one who knows them”, Dakar asked with agitation in his voice.

The Queen sighed and sat down on her bed again. She thought for awhile then exhaled through her mouth.
“I know all these, because Ñiraka’s mother and I… Are sisters. Yes, Ñiraka is your cousin”, she revealed and Dakar’s legs couldn’t hold his body anymore. He fell to the ground and grabbed his hair in his hands. He was beyond shocked.