Page 1 of Heiress of Fire

PROLOGUE

The young girl wore a simple beige dress. She almost couldn’t find her skin under the muted clothing she wore, but it was tradition. She was most accustomed to wearing mixtures of orange and yellow; the colors that were assigned to Auris Island.

Auris, the island of fire and sunlight.

She had never cared enough to allow the warmth in her chest to grow too strong.

Since her entire life consisted of ignoring the fire that dwelled inside of her heart – her mother and stepfather taught her to reject the power that lived within her. They said there was no necessity to do so because the King was a traitor for locking himself up in his castle.

Once a Bellatorman decided to activate their powers, they would immediately become an Apprentice. If the Apprentice desired to become a Soldier, they'd have to undergo six more months of intensive training. Her parents said there was no point in becoming an Apprentice, much less a Soldier.

But she couldn’t deny it anymore. The fire was calling to be awakened since she spoke to that girl from Auris who had sunlight abilities, along with that girl from Basalt with plant-growing powers.

She refused to pay attention to the distasteful scowls of the crowd that surrounded the arena, all of them sitting in their designated sections. On one side of the amphitheater, she found the sunlight girl she spoke to in a beautiful shiny yellow dress. Then, she noticed the other girl with her wavy blonde hair and a green dress with flowy sleeves and flowers stitched to the hem of her gown. Those two girls were the ones who fulfilled their duty as Soldiers and helped her see why it was important to activate her powers.

The girl had a deep belief that she would truly feel alive if she allowed her fire to be enabled.

“Are you ready?” Master Abigail asked. She nodded and kneeled in front of the warrior woman. The torchlights around the amphitheater cast a golden blanket over the woman’s face. The Master smiled slightly. “From this day forward, you shall be an Aurisan with activated fire powers, an Apprentice.”

She couldn’t help but smile. The Master held the horn above the girl’s head, she curved her head down. Closing her eyes, she could feel the warm oil falling onto the top of her head.

The fire used to be a little speck inside of her. Now, it was becoming a pleasurable wildfire inside of her heart. An exhilarating rush ran through every nerve in her body. She opened her eyes and stood up. Master Abigail stepped back with a small smirk on her face, an empty horn in her hand.

The girl looked down at her fingers, stretching them as they tingled. She furrowed her brows as she pictured purple fire enflaming her hands. The image in her head matched the scene before her.

Her fire was purple. It crackled loud, high, and mighty. Her face was covered in a violet hue as she watched in wonder at the fire that escaped her skin.

Surely there are other more useful, and better gifts.

A thought slammed into her mind, making her chest hurt. She was in front of a crowd, so she remained with a steady grin.

“Seems to be that you, Davina Almenara, are a unique child of fire.”

ONE

Sweat trickled down Davina’s temple as she jabbed to hit her best friend’s jaw. Leilani dodged gracefully with a grin on her face. Davina pursed her lips and groaned. She examined Leilani’s posture, stance, and position. She had to beat her, that was the goal that Leilani had set for Davina five months ago.

In a matter of six months, Davina had to become a better fighter than the eldest Dunbar twin, if she wanted to become a Soldier in the Bellatorman army by the next Ceremony – the Ceremony only held once every six months – Davina was not willing to wait another six months to receive her Soldatus emblem.

“Stop showing off,” Davina grumbled.

Davina twirled, sending a high kick to Leilani’s chest. Leilani pushed Davina’s leg away with ease.

“You need to be faster than that,” Leilani chirped.

Leilani’s blonde hair rippled as she blocked one of Davina’s punches. “Come on, Davina. You only have one more month for the Ceremony. Land a punch. A jab. A kick. Something!”

Davina sighed through her teeth as she and Leilani circled each other. That was when the Aurisan Apprentice realized Leilani’s skin was not shining the same way as hers.

“Lani, how are you not sweating?”

“I’ve been training since I was thirteen. Also, I heard Sadoc was visiting Castellum. I must look my best.”

Leilani flipped her hair before ducking and swiping her leg over the black mat. Davina jumped, nearly losing her balance. She yelped. Lani punched an uppercut, Davina blocked. Leilani did a rear hook, Davina blocked again. Frustration fueled her muscles into grabbing Lani’s arm and spinning to stand behind her.

Davina kicked the back of Leilani’s legs, making her fall on her knees to the mat, quickly snaking her arm around the Dunbar girl’s neck.

“I see that my lessons have worked.” Leilani smirked.

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