Zola Flash (The Zola Flash Series Book 1) (18 page)

RENZ WITHDRAWS A SWORD and tosses it to me. He then pulls out another for himself.

Staring at him, I see something is off. He’s not his normally cocky, brave and demeaning self. He looks crazed, scared, yet fearless and calm.

“It’s you and me, Princess. A fight to the finish!”

Yup. Definitely crazed.
“I will not fight you this way.”

“How about I make this easy for you?” He glances over my shoulder, and I turn to see Pin has successfully gathered my friends. “Either it’s you and me, or Pin and me!”

No!
Pin is still weak, not fully recovered. If he fights Renz, his life could be in jeopardy again. I will not put him in that situation. This is something I must do.

“Fine. I’ll do it,” I say to the offer.

Pin frowns. As always. “No.”

“Don’t worry. The gods always choose what’s best. But while I handle your brother, I need you to get my friends to the ship. This shouldn’t take long.”

“Be careful, Zola.” With that, he and everyone else head outside towards the ship.

Turning back to Renz, I draw the sword, as does Renz. Renz takes the first swing, and I respond with a matching one, countering his strike. He gives me a wicked smile then brings his booted foot up to my torso and kicks me to the cold, hard concrete.

Renz swings his sword again, and the blade nips my arm. Smiling, at his underhanded move, he takes a couple of more strikes.

I crawl backwards, managing to get to my feet. “Renz, stop this!” he strikes again, and I bring my sword up to meet his. “I don’t want to hurt you!”

Ignoring me, Renz swings again. So do I. Strikes and counters. Over and over again. My arms tire from the repeated sword dance.

“Duck, Zola, duck!” I hear Britney yell.

When did she start helping me?

I spin around as Renz’s blade comes flying through the air before stabbing into the wall. A miss.

He snarls. I jump up and grab him, pinning him against the wall with all my weight. His lapse in judgement will be his undoing. “Give up Renz!”

“Never!” he growls crazily.

I don’t want to do this, but he leaves me no choice. With a perfect arc of my arm, I swing my word at his head. My weapon slices clean through flesh and bone, and as Renz’s head begins slipping from his body, I drop my sword to the ground. The head rolls to a stop in front of where Britney stands. I turn away from the sight. This is not what I wanted. This is not who I am.

Returning, Pin walks over to me and draws me close until my head rests against his hard chest and whispers in my ear, “You did what you had to do. I’m proud of you.”

“He’s your brother. I didn’t want to kill him. I’m—”

“We haven’t been true brothers in a very long time.”

I turn to back to Britney and smile at her. “Thank you.”

“You speared me back there when you could have killed me for hurting him.” She points to Pin. “You’ve released me from Renz control. I owed you, but that doesn’t mean I like you now.”

I nod.  I can say the same thing.

Pin takes my hand and leads the way to the same ship I arrived here on. A voice behind us call out to Pin, and as we turn, the guards and the priest stop and bow.

Pin moves me aside and lowers the ship’s ramp. The priest rises and whispers something to Pin. I go closer to hear his words.

“The people of Payohlini need you to stay and take your rightful place as king.”

King? I guess that makes sense, since Renz is now dead.

“Zola . . .” Pin turns and stares into my eyes, but I speak first.

“I’m happy for you. You will be a wonderful king.”

Pin pulls my face up to his and places a gentle kiss on my lips. “I’m never leaving you again. I’ll be going wherever you go.”

“But—”

“I love you. I need, and want, to be with you. The Payohlini can choose a new ruler. There are other suitable relatives of my family who can rule.”

I throw my arms around him and bury my fingers into his lovely black hair. He chose me over a kingdom. I kiss Pin deeply. I did it. I won his love, his heart.

Pulling away from him, I intertwine our fingers and smile. He pulls me alongside himself up the ramp to my friends. The girls snicker, probably about the kiss, but I don’t care. My heart is full, and I never want to be without this feeling.

Once on the ship, everyone takes a seat, and Pin takes the controls. As the silent countdown on the com starts, I relax. Pin programs the ship’s auto-drive and takes a seat next to me. He watches as I rub the kit’s fur. I lost Doodle at the beginning of this journey. I’m not losing another family member. No matter if they are human, Payohlini, or just an animal.

I set the baby fox down and hug Pin.

“Have you given him a name yet?” he asks, taking my hand.

“I don’t know what to name him.”

“How about Digi.”

“Um . . .”

“I’ll take that as a no.”

“No,” I say. “The name is perfect. I like Digi.”

Pin checks the com as the ship approaches the Glucoxi wormhole. Earth, here we come.

The ship’s descent to Earth is slow. While everyone rises, I stay seated.

The landing gears haven’t engaged, and I’ve done enough falling to last me a lifetime.

There’s a loud thump, and everybody stumbles as the landing gears strike something and vibrations hum through the ship.

I peer through the window. Below, purple and white sand is everywhere. Earth does not have purple and white sand.

I look at Pin, who is already staring my way. The wormhole’s course coordinates should have taken us straight to Earth. This is definitely not Earth.

We’re on Victian.

I gaze out the window at the destruction. Everything is different. The majority of the buildings have been turned to ash. The rolling fields of flowers are no more. Bodies lay in trenches. Both Payohlini and Victian. My planet is dead. No life, no nothing.

Once the ship is secured on land, I exit with Pin. It’s easy to smell death in the air. I frown at him. “Why did you bring me here? I thought we were going to Earth.”

“This is your home, Zola. You need to talk to the Court.”

I stare across the war torn scape. My planet’s atmosphere is somewhat similar to Earth’s.  There’s a decent amount of oxygen. As long as they don’t go exerting themselves, my friends should be all right.

I turn to Carmen, and she takes my hand. Together, we all head for the palace—my palace. If the Court wants to speak with me, then they shall. Although, they might not like what I have to say.

We stop at the gantry gates of the palace. The members of the Court walk towards us. While we wait, the floating palace lowers to the ground. At least the Payohlini didn’t get a chance to destroy this.

We ascend the steps toward the six members of the Court. They bow before me. It’s weird having people bowing to me. I haven’t done anything for my people to deserve this.

The high judge steps forwards and presents me with a crown. “Princess, we have been given the privilege of greeting you and presenting you with your crown. Becoming queen is your sole and solemn duty. Your people—–what few remain—need you, Princess Zola.”

“I have only recently learned about my royal lineage, and becoming queen is something I need to think seriously about.”

The high court judge silently considers my statement and then instructs the members to take me to my room and set up rooms for my guests.

The other men nod. They lead us along a corridor of many doors, including one with my name emblazoned on it. With shaky hands, I push the door open and enter the room. Jumping, I gasp at what I find.

A lookalike sits on the bed, grinning. She look exactly like me, except for the hair. Where mine is long and straight, hers is short and curly. She has stardust blue eyes, just as I do. Yet, there is something wrong about her. Her energy, I sense, is similar but very different. Dark, even. The grin on her face seems sinister, and I have a feeling she’s not here for a play date.

Cautious, I move closer, and she stands and stares me down. This is strange. The resemblance is truly remarkable.

“Who are you?” I venture, a little fearfully.

“Hello, sister.” she says.

Sister?

To Be Continued . . .

Note to Readers

Thank you for reading
Zola Flash
and taking a chance on a new author. It means more to me than I can put into words, which is pretty awful since writing is one of the things I do best. I hope you enjoyed the beginning of Zola and Pin’s story so far. I enjoyed writing about them and their world, and I hope you will stay around for the next book.

Like an actor or musician, I believe my job as a writer is to write stories that are dear to my heart but also entertain my readers. I strongly believe that my readers should be able to contact me with feedback, criticism, or even just a hello when they need/want to. Communication is the only way for any relationship to succeed. And I want a relationship with my readers. So, if you have anything to say at all, no matter what, send me a holler at tmariealexander.com/contact-me. I’ll try to respond to as many as I can.

-T. Marie Alexander

P.S. If you enjoyed
Zola Flash
, please leave a review.  That would be a great help.

IF YOU’RE INTERESTED IN GIVEAWAYS, NEW BOOKS, ARCs AND JUST FUN STUFF,
JOIN MY MAILING LIST
.

About the Author

T. Marie Alexander, born LaTeaikia Marie Brown, is an aspiring fashion designer and wife.  She was born and raised in Searcy, Arkansas, where she was taught that any dream is possible. Since early childhood, she dreamed of writing stories that readers would fall head-over-heels in love with. In high school she began writing
Zola Flash
, but put her writing dreams on hold to attend the University of Arkansas in 2012.

Visit her online at
tmariealexander.com