Chapter Twenty
After our few days together in The Shielding Valley, it became evident that Zohar was keeping secrets from my kind.
Darce spent a whole day going through the Noxlin history, and none of it matched the Dylin versions.
There were similarities, but both histories favoured their own race.
I explained the Dylin histories as far back as I could.
It appeared that the Noxlin were far better at recording their past. They had almost a million years more history than us.
“Are you saying that at some point our races were at peace?”
“I have no idea, but something doesn’t add up.
Everything your race accuses us of...all the allegations of why they went to war with us.
..none of it happened. We aren’t after your light sword, we never stole any power, and killing your.
..queen was a defensive move. We never intended to kill so many Dylin.
Our city was crumbling. We had no choice.
Your kind would have destroyed us. The Elder World texts explain that without light and dark, Afterlight Veil will die.
There must be a darker force at play. That night we met, the noc beast was being controlled.
It wasn’t a normal moon beast. Its eyes were more crazed. ”
“Controlled by what?”
“I have no idea, but for some strange reason, it was after you. It had been tracking you for days. Those beasts never go that far into the Barren Lands. Dreonarus has other dwellings for those creatures.”
“Wait! How do you know it was tracking me?”
“I was tracking you, too.”
Anger flared in my eyes. “Were you watching while Raiden died! You could have saved him!”
“No! I had no idea who or what you were. I arrived as soon as I could and saw you hiding up that tree. Raiden was already long gone.”
“How did you know the beast was after me and not Raiden, then?”
“It was scenting you. That’s how it knew you were in the tree.
It had been sent by someone to kill you.
” Darce touched my face. “I tried to rack my brain, wondering why that beast was sent after you. I noticed a strange light in its eyes, and then it dawned on me. The palace must have discovered how powerful you’re going to become.
Your king and princess must have turned on you, Alora.
They might have sent the beast in order to protect themselves from the power you will harness one day.
” I had never wanted to tell him the truth so much as I did at that moment.
“This is why you should run away with me. I can keep you safe.”
“My kind wouldn’t do that. It’s more likely that I would be forced to bond with a Dylin male. He could extract my power that way. If my king ordered it, I would have no choice.”
“You would be forced to bond with another? And your kind calls us barbaric!” It was easy to see the fury on his face. “When you say extract your power? What do you mean?”
“In our culture, powerful females share their power with males.”
“Why the fuck would they need to do that? Oh, wait! Are your males threatened by powerful females? Is that the issue? Do you know what my kind does with powerful females?” Urging him to continue with my eyes, Darce ran his hands down my arms. “We make them leaders. They all have a place of high ranking within the palace. Everyone’s power is their own.
We are all equal.” Darce painted such a perfect world.
“It’s hard realising all the lies my kind have told over the last few eons. It makes me wonder how much more they are hiding.”
“How easy would it be to get your hands on that Elder World book? I don’t want you risking your life, but we might get some answers. Even if you can only study a few pages and describe what you see.”
“I’m not sure. It’s guarded by our seer. What exactly are you looking for?”
“The events that happened before The Battle of False Promise. Have you ever noticed that there are few accounts of what actually happened at that battle or anything before that? It’s over a billion years that isn’t accounted for. What promise was even broken? What were our races fighting over?”
“It was a battle for power. Lustre could see the greed in Solace’s eyes when he tried to steal Nantu’s power. She went to war before he destroyed Afterlight.”
“Solace told his story a little differently from that. I believe Nantu caused friction between Lustre and Solace, turning them against each other. Noxlin don’t steal power!”
“You believe Lustre and Solace had once been friends!” That was absurd!
“What? Don’t you think Dylin and Noxlin could be friends?” Darce smirked, pushing his pelvis against mine. “We’re rather friendly these days.”
“We’re different.”
“In what way?”
“Oh, I don’t know, Darce! We just are!” When I pushed at his chest, he rolled, allowing me to collect my clothes. “We shouldn’t be talking about our race’s history anyway. That was one of our deals! I’ll never be able to get my hands on that book. Uri will see me coming.”
“Nantu was Noxlin and fell for a Dylin. You must have records about Anwar, Lustre’s general.”
“Who?” I had never heard of him.
“He was the powerful Dylin that tried to steal Nantu’s dark power. Can’t you see it? Your kind twists every story. It’s our darkness they are trying to steal, not the other way around.”
“Darce, I can’t do this right now! It’s too much to get my head around.” Getting dressed quickly, I reached for my boots.
Once Darce had put his pants on, he crouched down and took my hand in his.
“My intention wasn’t to confuse you, Starshine.
I’m trying to open your mind. To make you understand that both our races are hiding something.
I’m not saying that the Noxlin accounts are correct or that the Dylin are not.
The only way we might ever find out is by reading the Elder World books. ”
“How many books are there?”
“Three, but I’ve heard legends of a fourth.”
“Your race has two and we have one?” Darce nodded, stroking my knee. “Are they even written in a language we can understand?”
“No, but that’s not the only issue, Alora.
These books are over four billion years old.
There isn’t much left of them due to the decay.
” Luz had mentioned a similar issue when she had been given access to the book.
“It’s okay. We have plenty of time to work out a plan.
I’m not going to rush you, even if I do wish you’d run away with me right now. ”
“You’ve taught me well. I can look after myself.” As I softly kissed his lips, Darce sighed deeply.
“When you asked me to tell you how to bring a male to his knees...” he pulled back, searching my eyes, “were you worried this male might try to bond with you?”
“No,” I lied, stroking his face. “That was because of his sexual advances.”
“And that’s a better answer? Fuck! Alora, please...”
“I’m not saying I’ll never run away with you. It’s just that I can’t do it right now.” With a shake of his head, he looked over at Loki, Enyo, and Boulder, then stood up, reaching for his tunic.
We’d been in the valley for almost three days now, and both knew we needed to head home.
“I’ll wait until that day then.” The smile on his face didn’t quite reach his eyes. “It’s getting harder saying goodbye to you.” His honesty floored me. I felt exactly the same way but I couldn’t tell him that.
“You’ll see me in two weeks.” I finished tying my boots and stood up.
“That’s still too long.” Darce pulled me into his arms and ran his fingers through my hair before touching the side of my face.
“I’m going to look into Noxlin and Dylin fornication a little more while we’re apart.
I know I promised to try if you ran away with me, but I need to know I’m not risking you. ”
“Okay.” After kissing the breath out of me, Darce called to the pups and we made our way out of The Shielding Valley together.
“Look after her, you two.” He looked at Loki and Enyo before pecking my lips once last time. “I’ll see you in two weeks.” Nodding, I stroked his face before turning on my heels.
I could still feel his eyes on me as I began to walk away. Noor was going to be angry because I was over six hours late. Darce and I had so much to talk about that the time had slipped away from me.
****
“WE’RE GOING TO BE IN so much trouble,” I muttered a while later, looking at Enyo. She tilted her head as Loki lifted his nose high in the air, scenting something. A long growl escaped his lips before Enyo caught the scent too, and both of them took a protective stance in front of me.
I was only an hour away from Dallethas. Nothing too dangerous should have been this close to town. The heat haze made it difficult to see too far into the distance, but I could make out something moving towards me. As it drew closer, fear struck me. It was a light leaper moving at extreme speed.
Soleil was suddenly standing in front of me, silencing Loki and Enyo with a loud roar. Xavier and Noor were on his back. What had she done?
Motioning for Loki and Enyo to stand down, Noor began to speak, “Alora before...”
“This has nothing to do with you, Noor. You can leave!” Xavier interrupted.
“You think I’m going to leave her alone with you?” she spat, moving to stand in front of me. I was so stunned that I hadn’t even moved.
“ALORA! Is it true?” Xavier bellowed, his voice echoing around the mountains to the far right of me. “Have you been trained in battle by a Dylin male?” How had he found out? “ANSWER ME!” he yelled. He tried to step forward, but Noor used a strong gust of wind to push him back.
“You are not getting anywhere near her with that temper!” she threatened, pushing me further behind her.
“Alora, you will answer me. I need a name so I can kill him!” The image of Darce entered my mind, and I watched Xavier run his blade straight through his chest. I would never allow that to be Darce’s fate!
“You don’t know him! He’s a Dylin that left Dallethas a long time ago!” Lying with a little bit of truth was the best option.