The First King
Chapter 1

This is the second book in “The King of Kings” Series. The order of the books is as follows:

• The Blind Witch
• The First King
• Unraveling Darkness

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The world had once been quiet. There was order and understanding in how things were, culminating in a tentative coexistence. Yet rivers of mistrust ran deep through the lands. This caused the different creatures of creation to keep to themselves. The humans mingled with humans, fighting over kingdoms and beautiful women. Wolves traveled primarily in nomadic packs, always chasing the next hunt. Witches resided in their sacred places, rarely venturing out, rarely divulging their secrets. The vampires hid in the shadows, waiting for their next meal, hoping never to be seen.

It had been over 1400 years since the Unsettling, when a meteor fell to the Earth, granting humans magic never before seen. According to the witches of the time, the meteor was a new God, one with the power of darkness. This fueled the distrust of the witches. The new magic was dark, allowing the users to use smoke and shadows. The Unsettling caused a rift in the precarious relationship between humans and witches.

These new witches created a new coven called the Coven of Stardust. They began to build their temples and staking claim over a dormant volcano. This volcano had once been active, with lava flowing through its core. But now it sat empty, with many caverns and tunnels twisting throughout its shell. They would name it Thresnora, the primary temple to the Goddess Nyx. And there these witches sat, cultivating their magic with time. Even with the fear and distrust, peace resumed.

Peace? It's such a fragile thing, a precarious state of mind. It's a lie that people tell themselves to help them sleep at night. Peace gives people false hope, makes them blind. Blind to the shadows, to the darkness and all that lies within. Peace? What it did was allow something to slip in, a being to pierce the very fabric of reality.

Unbeknownst to most, another meteor fell to the Earth a decade ago; another fallen star. The Coven of Stardust descended upon it, quickly hiding its existence from the outside world. There were secrets held within this rock. Secrets that created hunger. Not hunger for physical nutrients, but for something spiritual. A desire for power, for strength, for something hidden within the world.

This rock offered magic to the witches. In exchange, they needed to feed the darkness. To grow stronger and gain new powers, they needed to give blood. Suddenly, the peace of the world was shattered. The witches from the Coven of Stardust began to cause havoc across the land. They began to spread from Thresnora to the Eastern Shores.

The witches started with smaller human villages. At first, they would slaughter the inhabitants, spilling their blood while praying to their God. But there was more that was needed. Simple humans were not enough. The witches from the Coven of Stardust were driven for more. More blood, more sacrifices.

After the human villages around Thresnora were cleared, the witches began to chase down the nomadic wolves. On the outside, wolves looked like humans, but they were different. Like witches, wolves were blessed by a Goddess. The Goddess, Bil, granted some humans the ability to shift into a creature—one of grace, strength, and power.

These wolves were strong, and they fought against the witches. But the weaknesses of wolves were not unknown. All knew of their weakness to silver and a plant known as wolfsbane. The witches from Thresnora gathered silver chains, using them to ensnare the wolves. Rather than just spilling their blood onto the land, many wolves were taken back to the temple and sacrificed to their God.

But it never seemed like it was enough. The darkness was ever-growing, the landscape ever-changing in their vision. But it was never enough. They needed more. More people to praise the darkness. It needed to grow stronger, and who were they to deny it?

The witches reached out to vampires: shadow-dwelling creatures cursed by the Gods of the past. The vampires were drawn to the dark magic witches. They were eager to create friendships and, for some, to create bonds. Some of the witches of Thresnora chose to become vampires, to become one with darkness. This was the first instance of a vampiric witch in this realm.

Together, the Coven of Stardust and many vampire keeps began to spread their destruction. The humans and wolves tried their best to push them back, but they always failed. These kingdoms and packs, these men who ruled over their people, were prideful. They would not seek out help; instead, they would fall to the darkness alone.

But some men could see past their pride. After watching the deaths of others, they realized that they needed help. So, four Alphas and five human kings gathered together. Each of them had a lot to lose, but none had the numbers to protect it.

This gathering, this meeting of the leaders, was one set up out of good faith. Each of these men wanted to prevent the destruction of their lands and the deaths of their people. It was clear that many of them sought to push the dark magic witches back to Thresnora. To keep them confined within their sacred places, as witches had done for hundreds of years. But, these men soon began to argue. Each wanted to be the one who pushed the witches back, to be the one who would ultimately have all the fame and notoriety.

For the human kings, being the one who won in the end, who was the savior to all, meant they could take over the lands of the fallen kings. Similarly, the Alphas would be able to control prime hunting grounds, and be able to lay claim over the packs of dead Alphas. And this was known to all nine men. Should they fall in battle, their people and lands would be taken, their histories erased. Or, should they fall in battle, their people would be killed and sacrificed to the darkness that loomed over their lands. This made every man at the gathering wary and fearful.

These men went back and forth on what they should do for several days. They agreed that their armies and warriors should join as one. If many fighters could stand against the witches and vampires, they would be able to hold their ground. And should they hold their ground, there was a chance they could defeat the impending darkness. But time and time again, the discussion would end in arguments over who would lead this conjoined army.

It wasn't until the sixth day of the meeting that one of the old men finally caved. He was tired of the bickering, tired of the back-and-forth, and tired of how the gathering went nowhere, accomplishing nothing while the witches did not stop their chaos.

"Why am I even here?" The man, named Porter, king of Guilford, questioned.

"Because we need to fight against the witches and vampires," someone answered curtly.

"What is this we you speak of?" Porter countered. "I have heard nothing but men having a contentious argument over who will lead. No one has conceded, and so we have done nothing these last six days!"

"I'm not letting some wolf tell my soldiers what to do!" Another human king, Yousef, yelled.

"No, you'd rather our wolves fight and die for you instead," Julius, an Alpha, retorted.

"It is not as if you wolves have land you are defending. You lot just travel, chasing the deer through the woods. We humans have more people to protect, so we have more to lose than you!"

"I'm tired of this!" Porter yelled as he drew his dagger, stabbing it into the table. "If we keep sitting here, trying to choose a leader amongst ourselves, we will obviously not get anywhere."

"Then what would you have us do?" Julius questioned. "Do you have something better?"

"I propose we vote on a human warrior and an alpha not currently sitting at this table and have them work together to lead our armies."

"Do you honestly think a human and wolf can work together if we are not?" Another interjected.

"What if we pair the two together? A man and a woman, married and mated?" Another alpha suggested. "I cannot stand sitting here, amongst you men, but I like being with my mate. And I know you humans love your beautiful women. That way, it is just one man and one woman who is over the armies, as an Alpha and Luna, or King and Queen."

"A union between humans and wolves, is that even possible for your kind?" A human king questioned the wolf.

"Yes, we can have chosen mates," Julius explained. "It is quite common because it is hard to find your fated mates when us wolves are scattered across the lands."

"Okay, say we agree to this union, who do we choose? Do we choose a male human or a male wolf?"

"I suggest we choose an alpha," Porter replied. "An established, young alpha who has already proven himself."

"This means someone will have to give their daughter up to a wolf," a human king hissed.

"And I shall be the first to offer my daughter's hand," Porter stated as he rested his arms on the table.

"I think we should get a say on who the human female shall be," a wolf growled. "It can't just be any princess. She needs to be able to fight and lead."

"By all means," Porter nodded. "You wolves choose who the human female shall be. The five of us kings shall choose the Alpha. Does everyone agree on this?"

One by one, the men's heads nodded. Each man knew their time was limited. Each man knew that the witches to the East would make their way to them. So, this suggestion of a union, combining the two races, it seemed like the best compromise they could come up with.

The following day, the human kings met alone. The four wolves had given them a list of young, unmated Alphas. It did not take long for the humans to whittle the list down to two. Alder, the leader of the Frostpaws Pack. He was known to be cold-hearted and selfish, but his warriors were strong. The only problem was he did not work well with others. There were concerns that if he were chosen, he would not go along with the plans that they had put together. The other Alpha was Konrad. He was the leader of the Wild Haer pack. His name was already known by a couple of the kings. He and his warriors would readily fight for the humans as mercenaries for a fee.

While the humans talked together, the four alphas gathered with their own lists. But, the humans did not give them as many names to choose from. It seemed as though they were still wary of the wolves and giving their daughters away to them. On this list, only one stood out instantly to the Alphas. It was Porter's daughter. The king claimed that his daughter was a skilled warrior and that she had fought in a few skirmishes. What made her more appealing was what Porter offered with her. He only had the one child, and as a girl, she could not inherit his throne. But her husband could. Below his daughter's accolades was Porter offering his castle and lands to the chosen Alpha. It would mean that whichever Alpha was selected to lead would have a throne to return to. A title of king that would remain even when the fighting had stopped. The thought of the potential all but sealed their decision.

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