Aveena: The City of Gold (The Black Knight duology Book 1)
Page 24
Once it was just Aveena and Michael alone in the room together, Aveena turned to Michael. “Initiation?”
To be continued...
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Aveena: The Path to Freedom (Excerpt)
Chapter 1
Houston, Texas
Year:2015
“O.M.G!” Ayva’s mouth hung wide open. “Tayen is going to have Aveena initiated?”
Vincent frowned at his twin sister, “Really? Did you really just say that?”
Ayva turned to Vincent with her mouth still hanging open. “Yes, and with good reason.”
Grandpa laughed, “You two are hilarious.” He adjusted himself on the couch, while his grandchildren fidgeting on the floor as they waited for him to continue the story.
Xavia, the twins’ mother, sighed with a chuckle, “Daddy, they are always like that.”
“You were like that too princess,” Grandpa chuckled.
Vincent sighed, getting impatient, “Okay, so can we continue please?” He really wanted grandpa to continue the story, but it looked like he was getting side tracked.
“Geeze Vincent,” Christian, the twins’ father, said. “Let him take a breather.”
Xavia and Christian Dawson sat on the smaller couch, next to the one that grandpa was sitting on.
“Yeah Vincent,” Ayva interjected, “Let him take a breather. You know what mom said about having good behavior while grandpa is here.”
Vincent’s eyes lowered and his lips flat lined, “She was talking about you.”
Grandpa slapped his knee and started laughing again.
Ayva shrugged and pushed her straight black hair over her shoulder, “Either way, if you don’t stop getting an attitude, moms not going to let you open any of your presents on your birthday.”
Vincent looked at his mom, who raised a brow, and sighed. All he wanted was for the story to continue. He had skimmed through his notebook a few times and noticed that a lot of his drawings were described in the story that grandpa was telling, and he wanted to match up more. He felt like he was coming onto something, but he didn’t know what yet.
“Ah, we can’t take away Vincent’s presents on his big thirteen,” Grandpa said. “He just wants me to continue, right?”
“Exac-tly,” Vincent said looking at his sister.
“Okay then, let’s just have a quick recap then,” Grandpa suggested.
Vincent gave a loud sigh, “Aveena is a princess, her uncle Lavier killed his brother, king Xavier. Aveena met Michael on earth when she was thirteen, they meet again five years later, fall in love-”
“Don’t forget Michael was supposed to kill Aveena,” Ayva interrupted.
“Yeah-right. Anyways, they had that situated, Aveena meets Tayen, leader of the organization- Now Aveena’s being initiated into the organization to officially become a rebel. Is that recap enough?”
“Vincent,” Xavia scolded.
“Ah, leave him alone Xavia,” Grandpa smiled. “Alright, let me get started...”
Raluza
Year:1875
Aveena’s palms dampened as she followed Michael to the basement. After he told her how members were initiated, fear washed over her. Sure, she was strong, but she had never been in a fight before. What if she couldn’t prove herself and they would think twice about making her a member? What if they didn’t think about it at all after her performance?
Aveena had never used her staff in actual battle before. Not even to defend herself. She used to watch her previous knight train with it sometimes, but he never taught her anything. He felt like it was his responsibility to protect her at all times, and that there was no use in training her. Before he was sent off to the Zext quarter, he left her his staff for her to protect herself, but she had no one to show her how to use it.
Michael slowly walked down the creaky steps. They seemed especially loud tonight since the bar was cleared out early. Tayen had closed the bar once the moon rose over the city and no one argued with her about it. People knew that if the bar was closing early, then something important was going on.
Aveena took one last deep breath before she reached the bottom of the steps. She had no idea what to expect, but she planned on being ready. She reached into her pocket for her staff ball, squeezed it in her hand, then it shifted into a silver metal staff. It was nothing special, but it would have to do. This and her powers of course.
Over the past few days Aveena had gained a significant amount of control over her powers. She wasn’t sure how she was able to control them so well, since all of her life she could barely use them, but she figured that it had something to do with Michael. She had the most access to her gift when he was around.
Now Aveena had to use what little control she had against her opponent for the initiation into the organization.
The organization was a group of highly skilled fighters who’s objective was to overrun the palace and take out King Lavier. Once the king was removed, Aveena would be able to take her rightful place at the throne and return it back to the way it was when her father ruled...before Lavier killed him.
The basement looked empty, like it had the night of Michael’s initiation, but he knew better than to believe that it was. He suddenly felt protective over Aveena and didn’t want to move from in front of her. The one light in the middle of the basement created shadows around the room, making it hard for him to tell who was down there with them.
Aveena looked around, but couldn’t see anyone either. Usually, she was able to see through the dark, but then again, it wasn’t dark. There was a light on that kept her eyes from switching over to night vision. She felt blind to the shadows and clutched her staff closer to herself. She could see how Michael’s shoulders raised, and was amazed at how his muscles flexed. He was tense. Protective even. She had to do this on her own though, or it wouldn’t be fair to the other members that were initiated through battle.
“Michael,” Aveena touched his warm shoulder and let her fingertips slide down his arm. Michael knew what she was doing and nodded without looking at her, then he stepped to the side.
Aveena stepped forward. A small amount of her powers slipped out of her under her will, but she wasn’t able to draw much after that. This would have to do.
“Okay,” Aveena sighed. She raised her chin and held her staff out in front of her. It felt awkward getting into a defensive stance, but she held it the best that she could.
There was a low feminine laugh coming from the darkness. It didn’t sound like Tayen’s. Besides, in a situation like this, Tayen would never laugh about it. She’d turn cold, and even heartless. No, this was someone else. Someone Aveena actually was excited to fight against.
Yasmine emerged from the darkness with a smug grin on her face. Her blue eyes lit up so brightly that they almost looked turquois, and her dirty blonde hair was pushed back by a black headband. For a woman built for battle, she looked as beautiful as the rest of them, but Aveena wasn’t going to underestimate her. Not even a little. If this woman participated in the war, then she was probably just as strong as Tayen. The princess would need a great amount of control over her powers if she were to beat this woman.
“I’m surprised Tayen didn’t pick one of the younger girls to fight against you. She must not actually want you to join us since she picked me as your opponent...”
The Path to Freedom will be coming soon!
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