Page 107 of One Last Promise
“Seize her!”Xavier ordered.Two guards grabbed my arms, making it impossible to reach the bracelet Darce had given me.Loki and Enyo went into full attack mode, biting the males holding me.Somehow breaking free, I tried to pull a sword from one of the guards, but Xavier shot fire towards Loki and Enyo.Using whatever light power I could pull from inside me, I blocked it, protecting them with everything that I was.“You’re mine now, Alora!”Xavier laughed darkly.“You’ve tainted yourself with that Noxlin, and now youwillgive yourself to me.Your fathercommandsit.”He forced more fire power at Loki and Enyo, but I held strong, protecting them.They would risk their lives for me, and I’d do the same for them.“Give it up!You’re not strong enough.”
“You are not taking them from me!”I roared, pushing my light power further to knock his fire back.“You will not claim me, either.”I signalled for Loki and Enyo to move out of harm’s way.They slowly backed towards the balcony, out of reach of Xavier.
When they were clear, I harnessed as much power as I could, the way Darce had shown me.I held it in my hands for a few moments before shooting it at Xavier.
The blast made him fall backwards.I quickly moved to touch the bracelet and call Darce.I had barely caressed it before my father appeared before me, striking it with his light power.It disintegrated before my eyes.
“You give yourself freely to a Noxlin anddareto bring a piece of his soul to Dallethas?”My father towered over me, his eyes deadly.Any ounce of love he had for me was gone.Hatred was all that shone through.“The poison within you is rancid.I can smell him on you.”Binding me with light rope, he motioned towards Xavier and his men.“Take her to the temple.Uri will bond you before sunset.”I looked out at Dallethas and the fight went out of me.Our two suns were already beginning to set.“And take thathideousdress off her!”
This was it.By the time Darce came to check on me, I would be bound to Xavier and be made to forget my love for him had ever existed.
****
EVERYTHING WAS FRAGMENTED.It might have been the light rope draining me, but I had no idea how I reached the temple.
Xavier and the guards were pulling at my dress, shredding it.I tried to call out, but no words came.Weak.I was so weak.
Picturing Darce’s handsome face, I tried to hold onto it.Our love had to get me through this.I had lost the part of his soul he had given me, but we were connected deeper than that.He had to feel me somehow.
“Cover her up!”I heard my father order.“She’s still the princess.I don’t want the entire army to see her naked body!”I felt a tunic being wrapped around me.I didn’t recognise any of the faces watching me.“Uri, are you ready?”
“A few moments, My Lord.”He was dipping the bonding rope in our sacred water.
“If you had listened to me in the first place, Zohar, you wouldn’t be in this predicament.”Xavier was gloating.My eyes were weak.I could hardly focus.“She’s not even come into her powers yet.I hope you appreciate what I’m doing for you.”
“Uri!”My father bellowed.“I want them bound...now.”
Suddenly, I was pulled to the altar.I had no idea who was holding me, but they made me kneel in front of Xavier.
“Get used to being on your knees in front of me, Princess.”The loathsome tone in his voice made bile rise to my throat.Gripping my arm, Uri began to wrap the sacred binding rope around our joined hands.
I struggled with all I had as I tried to break free.I didn’t want this.This male was pure evil.My power in his hands would destroy Afterlight.
I pushed that power against the constraints holding me, forcing whatever I had left inside me to search for Darce.Save me!I called out into the atmosphere.Save me!
“May these binds bless you,” Uri evoked the ritual, and the rope began to shine, starting the bonding.“Holy Ether, bless this union with your light and grace...”Tears were streaming down my face as our two suns began to set, creating a dooming backdrop at the front of the temple.
Darkness began to rise from the ground surrounding me, filtering through the cracks in the floor and immobilising everyone that the mist touched.
“What’s happening?I can’t move.”The soldiers around me began to panic, pulling at their legs that appeared stuck.“My Lord!Help us!”
“We’re under attack!Holy Ether, save us,” one of the priests begged, using his light power to bless the sacred water next to him.Still, the darkness continued to surface, coating every inch of the temple.
My eyes shot to my father, who had a look of pure rage on his face.His deadly stare fell upon me.Was he blamingmefor this?I had been stripped naked in front of him byhismen, and made to bond with Xavier.My father was amonsterlike Nantu!He would watch his city burn to keep his light power.I could see that clearly now, and I suspected that my mother had, as well.
Power surged through his body as he began to charge light into his hands.
“It’s the Noxlin army.She led them straight to us!”someone yelled from behind me as more shadows seeped into the temple, blanketing the entire place.We were in complete darkness.Bolts of my father’s power began shooting in every direction as he tried to disperse it.
“We’re all going to die!”another soldier screamed.
“It’s the Noxlinprince!Do not let him near Alora!”my father roared, pushing his light force higher into the sky, forcing the darkness back.Xavier gripped my hand tighter, refusing to release the hold he had on me.
“Uri, get on with it!You heard what Zohar said!”Xavier shouted through the darkness.He tried to light the area around us with his power, but he wasn’t strong enough.“Uri?Where are you?”Shadow fully engulfed us, breaking Xavier and I apart.
Pure darkness engulfed me, and I had never felt so safe.
Soft hands gripped me from behind, releasing me from all my binds.“It’s okay, Starshine.I’ve got you,” Darce whispered.I spun around and began sobbing uncontrollably into his chest.He was here!Darce was risking his life to save me.A bolt of lightning headed directly for us but he used his back to block the attack as he portalled us away to safety.
