Chapter two
“You don’t have to help us. You know that, right?” Noor gave me a questioning look while I assisted in collecting all the dried flowers.
“Noor, if she wants to help, let her.” Luz gave me a reassuring smile, tucking her long blonde hair behind her eyes.
She was much older than Noor and me, and was able to control the power of photosynthesis.
She literally made plants grow. “You will not be judged here, Alora. I think it’s wonderful that you enjoy menial tasks. ”
“Thank you, Luz. It’s always a delight being in your meadows.
Helping with the dry flowers gives me such comfort.
” The fields stretched as far as the eye could see, with vivid colours of blue, purple, pink and yellow.
Dried flowers were used in a lot of our customs. Luz had to tend to her fields everyday.
Helping to collect all the dried flowers had been a favourite task of mine since I’d been a child.
It was one of the earliest memories I had of my mother.
“Are you going to tell us how you got on with your father?” Noor questioned, collecting another basket to fill with blossoms. “Will he allow you to train with the warriors?” I wasn’t the only female Dylin that wished to learn to fight.
Noor was hoping if I had been allowed, she would be able to follow.
She wasn’t some fragile female that needed protecting.
She had the heart of a warrior. Why shouldn’t she be rewarded for that?
Why couldn’t the other female Dylins and I train for battle if that was what we desired?
I would never understand my father’s reasoning when having us fight could be a turning point in this war.
“It didn’t go well. Elin was in his ear. He thinks I’m better suited to playing the harp.”
“Oh, gods!” Noor sighed. “You already know how to play the harp! Why can’t your father and Xavier see it’s the next step? They could double their army!”
“Our kind have never been good at making drastic changes,” Luz chimed in. “Look how long it took to change the tiles in the bathing pools.” She made a fair point. Those tiles took almost a thousand years to be changed.
“I wouldn’t call the tile choice drastic.
” Noor snorted, flicking a light breeze of wind with her fingertips to move a few stray pieces of hair from her face.
“It was partly Lito and Nell’s fault for taking so long.
They had to go and source the gold that was dusted around the tile’s edges. They were gone for almost a century.”
“I think more went on than they admitted,” I noted, putting my hair up into a bun. Our two suns were beaming brightly, making my skin glow in the most radiant way. “Nell hardly talks about it.”
“What do you mean? Are you trying to say Lito and Nell...fornicated while they were away?” Noor choked, dropping her basket of dried flowers.
“No, I’m not saying that.” She gave me a questioning look as I spoke.
I might have put my foot in it, but I wasn’t sure what had gone down.
To me, it was more like they had seen something neither of them ever wanted to talk about again.
Afterlight Veil had its secrets. Our home, Dallethas, was a safe place, but if you ventured into Dreonarus, especially the Barren Lands, danger was around every corner.
Night beasts that had escaped Eallarim, home of the Noxlin, stalked the mountains.
“Things rarely change here. That’s the point I’m trying to make. Noor, I wouldn’t worry about Lito and Nell. Whatever went on has finished now. Lito only has eyes for you.”
“I...oh...I wasn’t...” She was blushing, embarrassed that her feelings for Lito were becoming a little obvious.
“You don’t have to play coy with me, Noor.
I have been around too long for that. Sexual awakening is a beautiful thing for our kind.
You’re around the right age for it, too.
It’s usually between one thousand and two thousand years.
” Honestly, I was a little jealous of Noor.
She had come into her powers and her sexual awakening.
Lito would probably deflower her soon, and I’d be left even further behind.
“What is the chance of a Dylin female’s sexual awakening arriving before her powers?” The words fell out of my mouth before I could stop them. Curiosity always got the better of me.
“It has happened before. You are of the Dylin bloodline, Alora. Your power will be great and formidable. An ability like that takes time to manifest.”
“I hate feeling so useless.” Sulking was all I seemed to do these days.
“You are far from useless.” Gazing at me with her hazel eyes, Luz spread her fingers out towards the empty field in front of us.
“You need to be patient. Things grow when they are meant to. You can’t force what you are.
” One by one, tiny flower heads began to bloom up from the ground.
I never tired of watching her use her powers.
I understood what Luz was trying to tell me, but it didn’t stop my impatient side. I was one thousand, five hundred and six years old. Surely my powers should be starting to surface by now?
****
AS OUR TWO SUNS ECLIPSED each other, crowds began to descend towards the temple.
The Blessing occurred every three days, when our great suns became one.
Offerings were made to the Holy Ether, and those that did have power would all glow in unison, contributing their light to illuminate the temple for hours as a sign of respect.
“Stand up straight,” my father ordered as we made our way into the temple last. Everyone bowed as we walked past them.
It was a mass of bodies, all standing as they awaited our arrival.
Xavier was walking a few steps ahead of us, scanning the crowd for any signs of unease.
“You’re a young adult now, Alora. You must hold yourself with grace. Slouching is no longer an option.”
“Sorry, Father. I will do better.” That was all I seemed to say to him these days.
Lifting my head a little higher, I gazed around at all the eyes on me.
Some had smiles on their faces, others watched me in awe.
The Dylin princess in all her finery. My silver hair was curled and put partly up with diamond clips.
In general, Dylins didn’t wear much clothing—our lands were extremely warm—but we were always modest in what we did wear.
Today, I had a free flowing dress that was almost see-through, with a bodice and short skirt made of gold leaf and leather.
It was important that royalty wore some form of gold to The Blessing.
My father was in his usual gold armour. The way he held our race’s attention was mesmerising.
There wasn’t a single Dylin not watching him.
“Kneel,” my father commanded as he reached the top of the altar.
Nell, Elin, and Uri, our main priestesses and priest, were already waiting with the offerings of dried flowers, apricots, and wine.
The sacred candles had all been lit and were giving off a small amount of heat as I reached my seat.
Xavier sat beside me on the pew, giving me a small smile.
“Praise Holy Ether, our Mother and salvation.” Everyone dropped to their knees, waiting for the service to begin as my father took the seat on one of the pews across the aisle from me.
There were ten rows of pews near the altar, five on each side, facing each other.
All were reserved for the hierarchy: those with the strongest powers and served my father in the palace.
Noor was sitting behind me with Luz, Lito and my other friend, Fynn.
Uri, the highest priest, stepped towards the large, marble figure that symbolised Holy Ether. It was draped in gold cloth and held our suns in the palm of its hands.
“Holy Ether, please accept these gifts as a sign of our devotion. In your teachings, you made us pure. Our light is your light that gives us clarity. With your guidance, we feel no hunger. Your presence is all we desire. You are our salvation. PRAISE THEE, HOLY ETHER.” Uri used his light to bless all the items as he dropped them into the infinity pool that lay at the foot of the statue.
Everyone began chanting ‘Praise Thee, Holy Ether.’
The high priest’s thin, agile body was deceiving. As a seer and a tracker, he was one of the most powerful Dylins. With someone’s essence, whether it be a strand of hair or an item of clothing they had worn, he could track them through space and time, through every veil in the Holy Ether cosmos.
Putting his hands through his short blond hair, he closed his eyes for a few brief seconds.
When he opened them again, they were a shining, bright light.
The seer was searching through time and space, checking that no dangers lay ahead in the near future.
The Noxlin had their own seers and magical beings that kept their intentions from us, but Uri could sense any impending war.
“Let us give our light to Holy Ether,” Nell chimed.
Her beautiful hair was as white as snow and dropped in ringlets down her back.
She was in her priestess gown of pure white, like the others.
Her silver eyes shone brightly as everyone in the room with powers began to glow, projecting their light towards the statue and infinity pool.
I bowed my head, feeling completely insignificant. What could I offer Holy Ether? Nothing! Looking around the space, there were a few Dylin like me, with no power, but most were a lot younger than I was.
I was sure that training with a light sword would help my powers to manifest. Each light sword had its power given by Silverlight, my father’s sword, that channelled light itself.
Without my family’s bloodline, light would cease to exist, and the cosmos that Holy Ether had created at the dawn of existence would be lost. We would all be lost.