The desert heat was merciless. It burned and scorched everything in its wake.
But Norah Belle couldn't feel the heat. Neither because of some ability to be immune to extreme temperature, nor because she was standing under a shade.
She just knew that it was hot. She had felt it before, years ago when this was actually happening. But this, right now, this dream, this memory, this... Nightmare was more than a recollection. It had been the same every night for sixteen years, and tonight was no different.
If anything, some of the things that happened that day would've seemed supernatural to her were she not a Herald of Lady Light herself.
Like how in this desert, the sun shone in its never-ending vigour in one second, and was gone in the next.
The darkness covered the sun and the Nevada desert in five seconds flat. Even the heat was replaced by a cold so deep it froze the cactus next to Norah.
But, as if appearing out of nowhere and covering a whole desert wasn't weird enough, the darkness swirled above her. With some struggle, she made out a shape in the swirling darkness.
She realized, with a horror that wasn't new to her that it was a face that looked down at her. She could do nothing but watch as the darkness spiralled downwards, directly at her.
Norah waited. The spiral would swallow her up and she would wake up, her pyjamas, slick with sweat, stuck to her skin.
But the dream wasn't finished with her yet.
The darkness stopped, a foot away from Norah's face. It receded, repelled by a boundary of blue light, that reached further by the second.
Wait
A shrill sound escaped the darkness as it slammed down on the barrier with a force that should've destroyed it.
This has never happened before.
A warm glow of white light rose from somewhere on the ground so fast Norah only saw it when it hit the blue dome. It didn't destroy it, but did the exact opposite. Strengthening the barrier so it pulsed with power.
The darkness pulled back, revealing a blue patch of the atmosphere. It was...not retreating.
Whatever bit of the sky had been visible vanished, as if it were never there. As if the spiral of darkness that had taken its place was all that was meant to exist.
Having gained some momentum, the darkness came at the shield, shattering it on impact, forcing it's strengthening light back. It was only when the light receded to Norah that she realized it had come from her.
The darkness did not slow down. It dived, taking shape as it fell till it was humanoid.
Whatever fear, whatever anxiety she had been feeling evaporated instantly. As the darkness came, screeching with each millimetre lost, Lady Light lifted her arm, in which her ten-foot sword formed.
And she rose to meet Lord Darkness, a cry of her own from her throat, the sword swinging in a perfect arc.
Then she woke.
Norah's first breath was followed by fits of coughing, a breath, more fits of coughing... If she waited for help she would die there on her bed from hyperventilation, the Haven had made it perfectly clear that they didn't care what happened to her. So she calmed her nerves, eased her breath.
It's just a dream.
She repeated the words to herself till the nightmare seemed like it was nothing more than just that. The peaceful snores that rose from the bed above her were not at all perturbed by the bed's movement or labored breathing. Not even in the slightest. The devil that rested above Norah would only awaken with the morning.
Norah checked the alarm clock on the bed rest but it was too dark. She let loose a soft glow from her left palm causing barely an itch from the Brand on her left arm. It was 4.00am. The regulation time for waking up was not for another hour.
Lots of things I could do in an hour.
Norah shoved any thoughts of sleep aside along with her blankets. She could go for a run, clear her mind. She could cover the entire island of Manhattan and be back within the hour. One of the perks of being a Herald of Light was the enhanced physical abilities. Surpassing human limits was just a plus to having the power of a small star in your veins, she guessed. It would be a waste not to utilize them.
Or maybe you're just avoiding going back to sleep.
She got up and made her bed from the same light from the palm of her left hand. Amina, her roommate, slept like the dead but switching on the lights would've been too much of a risk. The cold floor tiles that sucked the heat from her feet were a welcome reminder that this was the real world and not a diabolical dream realm.
They're more memories than dreams.
Norah made for her bathroom, splashed some cold water on her face and changed into joggers and her favorite black hoodie. She picked a random pair of sneakers from the rack, her Light being her only guide, she couldn't afford to be picky. The Haven of Stars didn't allow phones for Heralds – in – training. Too much risk of exposing themselves and their abilities to the world and/or other not so well – meaning heralds.
One of the things they needed to understand as Servants of the Great Guide was that beyond the innocence of human civilization, beyond the politics and petty crime, there was a war that raged throughout the entirety of the known universe.
But just because the rules were reasonable didn't mean they were any fun.
Norah stopped in front of her mirror. She was one inch short of six feet and her blond hair hung loosely at her shoulders but she was tying it up into a ponytail. Her golden eyes practically glowed in the dark.
The Haven was many things. Children whose parents were killed in action were taken in, trained and educated. Their bloodlines held a great affinity to the servitude of the Guide, but that didn't mean they were born with the power. The physical strain would be too much. Some people never made it to the branding stage, and those who did passed out for at least a week, slowly and unconsciously enduring the pain of the power forcing itself into your body.
And to show for all this pain?
A star shaped tattoo on your body that every time you summoned Light, reminded you of the pain you had to gone through to get that power in the first place by burning.
So, no. To be born a Herald was simply not possible because the power had to be given to you by the Great Guide herself through her representative on earth.
That is until Norah Belle. The first 'born' Herald. The cosmic mistake. Picked up from some orphanage in Nevada twelve years ago, when she was only four and barely comprehended the world around her.
Sometimes retired Heralds would 'adopt' children from institutions- for there was no better way to define it – similar to the Haven. They'd pick out the single one with the greatest potential (that is the people most likely to survive the branding) and train them themselves before sending them out into the battlefield. These people were known as sponsors.
And, considering that Norah was already a herald, she would never have to go through the branding process at all. She should've been the perfect candidate. But here she still was, sixteen years old and without a sponsor. By far the best student the haven had and would ever have but already she was too old to get any sponsors. That hope was dashed when she had turned fourteen.
She was stuck at the haven along with the other rejects and would probably end up thrown somewhere on the front lines to die.
How depressing
She thought sarcastically to herself as she pushed open the door to her room. She left it wide open because she knew how much Amina hated it. Childish, yes, but it was worth it seeing her in fits in the morning.
Norah made her way across the hallway and down the stairs. The haven was, to human civilization, another apartment building in Manhattan, but with four floors belowground housing a training center, a library a gym and the basement. There were currently twenty six heralds – in training at the Haven of Stars. They shared a room in pairs, based on gender, obviously, and age. Currently, Norah was the second oldest. There had been a boy, Adrian something, he had been eighteen years old but he had disappeared the previous year.
The four floors top most floors of the building were the offices and classrooms, one floor, the second, was the mess hall which Norah was just passing, the smell of coffee from the kitchen wafting to her nostrils. The rest of the building was residential.
The lights at the bottom of the stairs were on which as weird. Norah hopped off the last step then back onto it again and tried to hide behind the wall. But it was too late and she'd been seen.
There were footsteps and mentor Davis appeared and stopped in front of her.
"What are you doing Norah?" He asked in that intimidating baritone of his. Being a seven foot giant only added to fifty something year old herald's domineering features. His cold dark brown eyes could freeze you in place which also added to the difficult task of sparring with him. He was retired and had come to the Haven Five years ago.
The girl thought before answering the question with another question.
"What does it look like?"
The nightmares/memories had started two years ago, on the night of her fourteenth birthday, and every morning she'd wake up from them, unable to go back to sleep. A few weeks later, after deciding that they wouldn't stop anytime soon, she had resulted in using the extra hour in the gym downstairs or going for a run around the island and back.
But Mentor Davis had never been there to stop her. Maybe that was why she hid.
"Well," the African giant said, dropping a bag, which Norah only now noticed he was carrying, at the bottom of the stairs.
"To me it looks like you wanted to get some training early in the morning."
"True..." Norah said but he cut her off. "I can help with that."
Twenty minutes later, Norah landed painfully on her back on the rubber mat on the floor of the brightly lit training center. She let a moment pass while her dizziness wore off.
It was the fifth time this morning and it could have been ten hours that had passed for all she knew.
She stood, supporting herself with the wooden sword, even though she didn't need it. She was feigning weakness and she hoped it would work. Davis held his staff in both arms in a stance that would allow him to pounce at any moment.
He eyes fell to Norah's hand that supported her on the mat and his eyes softened, his guard lowered and Norah struck.
Once at his abdomen and another on the back of his knee when he doubled over. He crumpled and she held the sword at his throat from behind him.
"I win." She said grinning. She had actually beaten mentor Davis. If there had been an audience watching they'd have had to clap, even if they despised Norah. If there had been an audience, they would've...
Laughed hysterically because the mirage faded before her eyes and she was on the floor once more, the tip of Davis' staff at her throat.
Mirroring.
One of the most basic tricks in Light Summoning. To create a mirror image of oneself by projecting light from your body.
It took a moment for Norah to realize what had happened and in that precious moment, she had been defeated.
Davis stood expressionless over Norah.
"You let your guard down." He said.
"So did you." She retorted.
"Ah, but I got away with it." He grinned and helped Norah up.
"This doesn't count by the way," she grunted as she stood.
He looked at her questioningly so she explained.
"You say I should 'learn from every fight right?" she said and he nodded.
"But in this fight, you were summoning..."
"You're saying that you will never have to endure fighting against another servant of the Great Guide?" he had read her mind not literally. He wasn't a Herald of Life after all.
The mentor turned on his heel and returned the staff to a rack on the wall. Norah did the same with her wooden sword.
"That is not strictly true..." he said distantly then changed the topic.
"Anyways, wanna tell me exactly why?"
Norah glared at the man. It was as if he didn't realize the bombshell he had just dropped and then switched topics as if it wasn't a conversation worth having.
She was about to bring it up but there was anger hidden beneath his eyes. It burned momentarily and Norah saw the vulnerability behind it. For the first time Norah saw his age. The greying beard and the tired eyes. He had fought in the war long enough, whatever he had seen or done, it was not her place to ask.
So she didn't bring it up.
"Why what?" she asked a slight tremor in her voice.
"Why do you wake up so early every morning to train yet it's something you'll end up doing for most of the day anyways?"
Norah was about to speak when he read her mind again, cutting her off
"Don't lie to me by saying that you like training."
Norah thought for a moment.
"I can't tell you that. I'm sorry." She said and turned around so he couldn't see her defenses crumple and tears fill her eyes. She cursed at herself under her breath. How could she be so weak? She had survived jibes and insults from Amina, from the whole Haven even and yet here she was about to cry after nothing more than a question from Davis?
"So, where exactly are you going?" Norah asked. It was her turn to change the topic. Her back was to him and she could feel his eyes on her but she didn't dare turn around. Not until her eyes were dry at least.
When she did turn around Davis was observing her closely with what Norah may have misinterpreted as worry but she didn't have time to re-analyze him because his expression instantly turned to a grin.
"A request from my sister." He said, "Apparently, she needs me to run an errand for her in... Well, that's classified."
"A classified errand?" Norah asked genuinely puzzled but the giant was already headed for the door.
Then Norah suddenly understood. Sometimes Heralds of higher ranks could send out people like Davis to perform simple missions in the field, but what mission would require a retired Herald? Why couldn't his sister send someone else?
A thousand more questions rolled into Norah's mind but the one that bothered her the most was why did she suddenly care so much?
"Don't worry about it." He said reading her expression again, "I'll be back in a few days at the most."
She followed him up the stairs past the library then the basement but the man didn't stop to take his car. Norah presumed his keys were in the bag he'd left at the bottom of the stairs on the ground floor.
They climbed the stairs in awkward silence
"Why can't she send someone else?" she asked when she couldn't think of anything else. But when Davis hesitated she knew she had asked the right question. That didn't necessarily mean it would get the right answer.
"She's my sister," he said, "she asked me personally. And besides, you should know by now that she doesn't change her mind easily."
Norah watched from the entrance as Davis got into an airport cab and drive off. She thought about what he had said but couldn't find a way around it. He was right, Marie Toussaint wasn't one to change her mind easily.
She went back into the building and smiled to herself as she heard Amina screaming from all the way upstairs.