Page 24 of One Last Promise
“How long have you been out here alone?”I asked, watching him expertly cut up the boar.
“I’m not entirely sure.Around three months, if I had to guess.”
“Three months!”I had only been out here a month and was ready to go home.
“It’s a common thing for my kind.It’s a good test of willpower to come to these mountains alone.”
“Killing those moon beasts is a test for your kind?”
“No, I’m killing for revenge.”I swallowed hard, watching his knife.“Alora, how many times do I have to say it?If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it already.”He snorted, shaking his head.When Darce was this carefree, his features were...beautiful.A surge of light began to glow down my arms towards my hands as my body jolted with a feeling I’d never experienced before.It was a form of joy, but it bled into every inch of my body.“Fuck, should I be worried?Can you control it?”
“I’ve never glowed this bright before,” I gasped, studying my hands.Tiny flecks of light were settling all over my arms.
“Try to contain it, if you can.We don’t want to draw any attention to the cave.It’s warded to conceal, but if too many beasts choose to come in.I can’t keep them all back.”
“I’ll try my best.”Taking a deep breath, I tried to channel the light to my fingertips.My powers were starting to manifest; I could hardly believe it.The power ripped through my veins and I closed my eyes, trying to contact the core of it.My skin prickled as heat raced through me.
“Alora!ALORA!Stop!”A cold barrier froze my powers in their tracks, surrounding it.When I opened my eyes, I saw that Darce had cocooned us with his shadows.“Control it.You’ll burn out if you don’t.Try to calm it.”The energy within me blazed, fighting against the cold constraints of his darkness.“I’m trying tohelpyou.Stop fucking fighting me!”More of his power pushed against mine, nearly impossible to withstand.How strong was he?Was he an immortal like me?With that amount of power, he must be.“Relax.I’ve got you.”Slowly, I pulled my powers back, willing them to return to my body before finally taking a breath.“That’s it.Deep breaths.You are the master of your power.Take control.”By the time I opened my eyes, Darce’s shadows had almost evaporated.“Find the power in the pit of your stomach and put it out.”Doing as he asked, the last of my power faded.“That is quite some power for a fledgling.”Darce let out a breath of air.
“I...i...it’sneverbeen that strong before.”
“Your fake moon goddess must know that you are close.We are only a few days walk from your sacred mountain.Perhaps she blessed you already.”He was still watching me intently.“Or you could give yourself more credit, and realiseyou’regifted.For someone so tiny, that was a lot of power you harnessed.You must be immortal.”
“I’m fairly new to my power.It must be trying to settle.”
“Do you ever give yourself credit?”I couldn’t stop the smile that spread across my face.Darce wasn’t someone I could confide in about my power, but he was right: this force within me was mine to control.Was I on my way to harness the greatest power my kind had ever seen?Uri, our seer, had seen that in my future.That kind of power wouldn’t form quickly, it could take centuries to fully manifest.That didn’t matter, though.Finally, I was on my way to protecting my race.Looking at the handsome, carefree, male beside me, it made me wonder who exactly I needed to protect them from.If Darce truly was Noxlin, everything I had been told about my enemy appeared to have been a lie.
Dylin were a pure, truthful, and loving race.Betrayal wasn’t meant to course through our veins.
It made no sense.
Chapter nine
Noxlin’s marched onDallethas, crumpling my city to ash as they charged for the palace.When they broke through the palace gates, I was face to face with them.I forced my power to the surface.I had to protect my race.Suddenly, their features changed.The evil faded, and the vile monsters morphed into faces and bodies not too unlike my own kind, except for the dark hair.Shadows swirled around them until my eyes fixed on a familiar face in the middle of them.Darce.“We mean you no harm,” he insisted.“Alora, I’m not your enemy.Stand down.”
“Go to Holy Ether!She will judge you!”Xavier spat from behind me, throwing all his light power towards Darce and destroying him in seconds.
