Page 2 of One Last Promise
“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 takecenturiesfor you to master it.You know this.Youmustgive 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 ONTOmy 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 toalwayslook 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 everyonestillworshipped 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.
