A Tale of Red Riding: Rise of the Alpha Huntress (The Alpha Huntress Series Book 1) by Neo Edmund Page B

expression made it clear he wasn’t taking one more step into the chamber unless he had to. “Hey, Irishman. It’s freaking me out that you told me to come in here, but you won’t come inside, too.”
    “Trust me, Red. Nothing bad is going to happen to you.”
    The honest look in Ethan’s eyes told Red that he was telling the truth; not that it made her feel any better about the situation. It took a few calming breaths before she was able to coach herself into venturing further inside.
    She soon found herself standing in the center of five marble pedestals, each with a stone sitting upon it. Some were jagged and sharp, while others were rounded and smooth. The colors varied from bright and shiny to scorched and burned. Despite their many differences, the one thing they all had in common was an intense aura of power radiating around them.
    Red then noticed that each pedestal had a unique marking carved into the base:
    I Alpha
    II Skoll & Hati
    III Diona
    IV Madonna Oriente
    V Ragnarok
    A strange humming tone rung out nearby. Red whirled, startled, toward a stone altar at the far end of the chamber. Upon it rested a large archway made of some kind of transparent metal. The sight of it consumed her heart with dreadful fear. Still, she felt compelled to walk across the chamber and up the four steps of the altar.
    Red stood gazing at her own reflection in the archway. With a trembling hand, she reached out and touched its oddly hot surface. In a flash, an image of the moon blazing in the midnight sky filled her head. Standing before it was a silhouetted figure of a man in a black hooded cloak, extending a bony hand toward Red. She could feel his icy cold breath as he whispered something into her ear. His words were unclear, but their intensions were of pure evil.
    “Get away from me.” Red leaped backward into the air, startled. She soared ten feet and hit the floor in a battle-ready crouch.
    “Red, do not fear,” Ethan said. “There is nothing in here that can hurt you.”
    “What’s going on here, Irishman?” Red asked.
    “It’s difficult to explain. You won’t believe me if I do.”
    “That doesn’t mean I don’t want you to try. You can start with that metal arch thing there.”
    Ethan clenched his fist tight enough to cause his knuckles to crack. “Some call it a celestial portal. It connects this world to one hidden deep beneath the lunar surface."
    “Are you telling me that thing goes to the moon?”
    “It’s more like it comes from the moon. I suppose you could use it to go there if you needed to.”
    “What would be there if I decided to go?”
    “I will not utter such terrible things to young ears. All I will say is that it’s a place I hope you never have to go.”
    Red paced around in a whirlwind of frustration. “Is that the best answer you can give me?”
    “It is the only answer I will give you about that place.”
    Red stomped toward Ethan. “Listen up, buddy. I’m not some dumb little kid that can’t deal with the truth. I want to know what that thing is doing here. And who made it? And what’s with all these rocks? And what about that clock counting down? And what about the moon carvings on the ceiling? And so help me, if you say you can’t tell me, I am going to kick your butt.” Her threat came right as she approached Ethan with an arm extended and a finger pointing at his face.
    “Spoken like a true Riding.” Ethan nudged Red’s hand aside and took a few nervous steps further into the chamber. “This temple was built by the followers of a vile sorcerer called Ragnarok. He was born a man, but through dark spellcraft, he became as powerful as the lunar deities.”
    “Well that doesn’t sound weird.”
    Ethan took a long breath to clear his thoughts. “It all started two hundred years ago when Ragnarok got the idea that if he could bring part of the moon to Wayward, his followers, mostly made up of werewolves at the time, could have the power to transform at any time, day