Chapter One
Chapter One
EVERY LOVE STORY HAS TO START AT THE BEGINNING, EVEN THE ONES THAT STRETCH THROUGH SPACE AND TIME.
Hating myself was an emotion I had known too well in human form.
Being trapped, having my entire being forced deep inside for so long, made me insufferable.
It made me disconnect from everything. It was no surprise that I had pushed people away.
That I had chosen to be cut off from emotion.
That I had lashed out at anyone that showed an ounce of affection.
All of that had been to safeguard my soul.
I wasn’t human. All the emotions inside me, a mere human could never have begun to understand them: everything I had suffered and endured and the price I’d paid to keep myself safe.
If it hadn’t been for Darce... No, I couldn’t think about that right now.
I needed to focus so I could pull all these memories back inside my head.
I could see my past memories laid out in front of me.
All I had to do was reach out and touch them.
Everything had been heightened while bound in human form. From the way I thought, to the way I lost control. Wave after wave of feelings washed over me, and memories rushed into my mind like a tidal wave.
My true form welcomed them, able to adapt and bend them back into my mind. I replayed them like a movie trailer in my head. It was all fitting together. My past knitting together piece by piece, weaving into every corner of my mind.
My past played out before me, unravelling, showing me the truth.
I could see Dallethas.
I could see my home.
I could see the events that led me to the first time I met Darce.
MY HANDS AND ARMS WERE so bright, I felt I might catch on fire.
The warmth was comforting, though. My whole body hummed and rumbled as power seared through me, but I couldn’t control it.
This was the first time my power had surfaced.
My veins burned and my body ached as I tried to control the madness within me. It all felt too much.
“You need to channel the power, Alora,” Noor, my best friend, chimed. “Don’t lose it. Feel it. You can do it.”
“It’s going to burn out. I’m losing it,” I stressed as tears came to my eyes. Why was I never strong enough?
“Your power hasn’t manifested yet. It could take centuries for you to master it. You know this. You must give it time.”
“I’m sick of feeling so useless.”
“Alora, you are far from that. Try again. Can you feel anything?”
Using all I had left inside me, I tried to force my power back but it was too late.
It was gone.
“You should go and rest for a while.” Noor gave me a sympathetic smile. “It will happen. You just need to give it time.” Giving her a defeated nod, I made my way back to my bedchamber. Why was I never enough?
I had no idea what destiny lay ahead for me, but I prayed it would be a worthy one. I had a purpose—the light guardian bloodline that coursed through my veins told me that—but I was lacking direction. I was yet to find what I had been longing for.
****
AS I WANDERED OUT ONTO my balcony after some much needed rest—even without my power manifesting, it was tiring work—I noticed how beautiful Dallethas looked.
Our two suns always showed the city off with the best light in the late afternoon.
Living in a city that was permanently bathed in light meant my kind and I were always energised.
The sun’s glow was trickling over the land, kissing the white marble of the buildings that stretched below me.
I had resided in the opulent palace my whole life, but I never lost touch with the lesser Dylins that lived below.
I was born in an immortal bloodline and was heir to the light power.
Most of the male souls below had stood with my parents against the Noxlin, the wielders of the dark, in numerous wars.
They had all watched in horror during our last battle when pure darkness took their Queen, my mother, from us.
It had been over a thousand years since that night, but the pain still sliced me in half. I had been too young to help in that battle. Being only five hundred years old at the time, I was still a fledgling.
Duska, my mother, was the best of all of us. My father, Zohar, had not been the same since her death. We may have destroyed the ancient Noxlin city, Cataha, but we lost a greater part of us that day.
From my mother’s death, I gained my purpose. I would defend my city and race with my last breath, as Duska had done.
When I was strong enough, I would take my revenge against the Noxlin that had killed her. There was one slight problem, though. I had yet to come into my powers a thousand years after her death.
“Alora!” Noor called from behind me, distracting me from my thoughts.
“I take it you’re well rested? Do you fancy a walk with me?
” Noor was my best friend, and felt like a sister to me.
She’d been orphaned during one of the great battles.
We grew up in the palace together when my mother took her in.
We were a similar age, but Noor had come into her powers around two hundred years ago.
Controlling the wind was a pretty impressive power, too. We would sit for hours in the fields on the outskirts of Dallethas, watching her make cloud shapes in the sky and small tornadoes. She could wisp the wind around us with ease. I was in awe of her.
“What did you have planned for the rest of today?” I asked, running my hands through my long, silver, glimmering hair.
“I thought we could have a look around the market in town. I’m in need of a new necklace.” Noor had an obsession with shiny things.
“Let me get my cloak.” I made my way back into my bedchamber to pick up my golden cloak that was hanging on my dresser chair. I fastened it on as I reached my friend, who was waiting for me by the door.
“You could at least try and blend in,” she teased, taking me in.
“You know how everyone falls over you when they see you. How you manage to always look so beautiful, I’ll never know.
” Noor was stunning in her own wild way.
Her skin was a beautiful tan colour, and her hair was a mass of blonde curls.
Her eyes were a clear ocean blue. She got a lot of attention from Dylin males, but none of them had caught her eye enough to allow them to bed her.
None had tempted her to bond with them, either, but that was a deeper connection meant for souls that were fated or promised.
Xavier, the head of my father’s army, was my promised.
I had been given to him not long after my mother’s death.
We would be a power couple of the highest rank.
I fully understood his reasons for wanting me, but luckily, until I came into my powers, we couldn’t be bonded.
“You need to tell me your secret one day.”
“For what?”
“Always looking perfect. Even when you wake up, there isn’t a single hair out of place.”
“That is a lie,” I chuckled, rolling my eyes at her. “There have been plenty of evenings where we got drunk on my father’s ale and I woke up looking a mess.”
“Those do not count!” Noor bellowed down the light grey marble corridor. “And I seem to remember going to The Blessing after one of those nights and everyone still worshipped you.”
“It’s because I remind them of my mother.” Noor stopped in her tracks. She must have heard the heartbreak in my voice.
“You are the image of your mother, except for the golden hair.”
“I don’t see it, personally.” My mother was breathtakingly beautiful, with an inner warmth that was infectious.
“That’s because you don’t want to see it. You are just like her.”
“I find myself barely remembering her these days. She’s like a dream in so many ways.”
“You are the part she left behind. You’ll always have that.”
“I wish I could have saved her.” The words burned on the way out, and had for all the years I had been without her. Having me made her weak. Deep down, I blamed myself. If I hadn’t been born, Duska would have had the power to defend herself.
“You’ve got to stop blaming yourself. You were too young to go into battle.”
“I could have been trained. At least I could have done something!”
“We’ve been through this, Alora. You know Dylin females aren’t allowed to train for battle. That, and you are the princess. The only way you’ll be able to join the next war is if your powers surface.”
I was part of the Dylin bloodline, a descendant of the very first light wielder over four billion years ago.
It came with a lot of responsibility, including immortality.
If anything happened to my father, the power of the light would fall to me.
It wasn’t a responsibility to be taken lightly.
My mother and father had bound themselves and shared the great power when my grandfather relinquished it over three hundred thousand years ago.
The only way for my bloodline to die naturally was to give your power to your heir.
It was the reason a strong Dylin had to be promised or fated to me. In my state right now, if the great power were to come to me, it could destroy me. I simply wasn’t strong enough to channel it. With my own powers and promised mate, however, the power of the light could be shared.
Most normal Dylin lived for around thirty thousand years, but those gifted with some of the original bloodline had immortality.
Most of the distant descendants, like Noor, had special abilities.
I was grateful that I had an immortality that included her.
It made me wonder how we were related. We could possibly be very distant cousins.
The market was lively as we glided across the courtyard. It was mostly food stalls today. Fresh fruit, nuts, dates and dried meats were all on display.
“Why is there nothing shiny?” Noor sighed, picking up some apricots and paying for them with the gold coins from her pouch.