Page 75 of One Last Promise
Chapter Twenty four
“You’re not going tosayanything?”Darce prompted, tilting his head.“I’m confessing my feelings and you remainsilent?”
“I’m not going to say anything until I’ve heard thetruthfrom your lips.”This was the male that had crushed my entire world.I couldn’t see any version of his events where I would forgive him for killing my mother.
Darce nodded and cleared his throat and changed my appearance back to Dylin before starting.“I was two thousand years old when I came into my full darkness power.My mother and father knew I was going to be powerful from how difficult I found it to harness.They would have the ultimate force to keep their race safe.When my power was manifesting, it drained me so much that I often had to rest for weeks at a time after using it.I had never felt pain like it.My veins were scorched from the aftermath of the dark magic.When I thought it couldn’t get any stronger, it simply kept building.I didn’t feel as if my body would be able to withstand it.”
“Are you trying to scare me, knowing that I might have all this to come?”I seethed, confused by where he had decided to start his tale.
“Not at all.Light power seems a little less dense than dark power.I’m sure you’ll harness your power differently than I did mine.”Taking another sip of my wine, I looked away, a little embarrassed that I was already trying to reprimand him when he had barely started his story.“At the Battle of Cataha, my powers hadn’t manifested yet.When I arrived at the city, I saw what was happening to my race.Your father and Xavier had orderedeveryNoxlin to be slaughtered.Our females that were protecting the children weren’t given a chance.Xavier distracted them by torching some of the children with his fire.
“Thescreams, Alora.I had never heard anything like it.Some of them were infants that were barely walking.We were trying to get them out of the city.We knew Cataha had fallen, so getting the children out was all we could do.
“Xavier and his army made light work of the female warriors while they were distracted.I tried to get to the rest of the children in time, but I was too far away.
“Watching over athousandprecious miracles be slaughtered in front of my eyes created a vehemence I had never felt before.I broke all my bonds, welcoming the full force of my power.It surged through me like molten lava, creating the darkest blanket of shadows my kind had ever seen.If your race couldn’tsee, they couldn’tkill!”Tears stung my eyes as I pictured the horrific things Darce must have seen.“The blanket of shadows continued to spread.I had no control over it.My rage was too great to care.All I wanted was to mobilise the rest of your army to get the rest of my kind out of Cataha.
“My father and General Nox could see the power I was controlling and used it to their advantage.Our warriors who controlled the night sky began to pull large, burning, meteorites from the heavens, shattering your armies.I had no idea what or who was being destroyed, but at that moment, I didn’t care.All I wanted was for your kind to pay for what they had done.
“By the time I managed to gain control of my power, your army had long retreated.All that remained was the carnage of that horrific battle: the ruins of our destroyed city, and half of your army, massacred by the giant boulders.”My body was immobile, trying to take everything in.Was he trying to say that Duska hadn’t been targeted purposefully, like my father and Xavier had suggested?“We had no idea Duska had been killed until one of our scouts came back with the news.You have to believe me.We took no joy in finding out your beloved queen had died.”
“You took herbody!You must haveknownshe died!”I shot up out of my seat, knocking my wine glass over.The red liquid trickled down the table, dripping off the edge.It resembled the blood that my mother must have bled on that fateful day.
Lies!Darce was lying to me!
“Alora, we foundnobody.We presumed your kind had already taken her back for burial.”Coming up to my side of the table, he placed his hand over mine, soothing the light power that I hadn’t noticed at my palms.“Take a deep breath.Don’t let your power consume you.”When I jerked my hand quickly away, he cleared the spilt wine with a flick of his.“Did you want some more wine?”
“You’re lying!My father told me you took her body.I’ve never had the chance to grieve properly and lay her to rest.Ending up here somehow, gave me the hope that I can finally bring her home.You must have her here!”
“Alora,” Darce lifted my face to meet the sincerity in his eyes, “I swear, we never took your mother’s body.Your father is lying.”
“No!”I sobbed, trying to pull away from his hold but the chair and table were blocking me in.“No!It can’t be.”Darce allowed me to hit his chest over and over as I let out all my frustration before the sobs began to erupt from my chest.When he pulled me into his arms, I didn’t stop him.I welcomed it in a strange way.Crying into his chest, I allowed all the grief to rise to the surface.His eyes told me all I needed to know.My mother, Duska, wasn’t here.
The revelation brought a whole new set of questions.If Duska wasn’t here, where was she?If my father hadn’t found a body, did that mean her body was still trapped under a boulder?Why hadn’t he scanned the ruins of Cataha to search for her, and most importantly, why did he lie about the Noxlins capturing her body?
I was gripping Darce’s back tightly when I began to finally control my deep sobs.Not once did he release his hold on me while I cried into his chest.
