Dawn had started a new day. The morning gradient sun of Vermilion Rose, sandstone, and golden honey peaked over the precious jewels of the African trees, which sends the lands into the light from the darkness of the ominous night. The fields rapidly bloomed with vivid and unfamiliar flowers and plants, racing alongside the sun. 

The sunrise awakened the animals, and the Northern and Southern tribes painted the cities with the sun. 

As the morning sun rose and a gentle breeze stirred, the great rhinoceroses, lions, zebras, hippopotamuses, and other wild and exotic animals became aware of their surroundings, watching the trees sway towards the African tribes to the west.

The sun also awakened the people that have gotten out of their homes and walked towards the Baobab trees before they started their day. Since the moment their eyes first saw God's light, it became evident to them that God was the one who brought them into his world and their duty was to be wholly loyal to him.  

The people of Qalong (The Beginning) arrive in Ea Halalelang Baobabs ( The sacred Baobabs ) as a traditional gathering of song and dance, with the traditional musical instruments of the Bongos, Shekeres, Djembes, devoted to their Creator;  they Morena Letlotlo. They worshipped him for the ground they walked on, and his daughters who were blessed with the celestial gifts of vibrant fields blossoming endlessly, bountiful harvests, glistening brooks, exotic wildlife, harmonious days. 

While many look to his children with awe, all but one never stood out to join the light... 

My name is Naleli, and I am not a regular human being. I was the African celestial of planet Qalong, I was the second-born princess of Qalong, second Heir to becoming a Chieftess, in a place made from the glistened stars and the deepest shadows of a darkened sky. For as long as I can remember, my life has been a harmony of silence over the noise of a shattered legacy. I was the second-born princess of Qalong, a marvellous place where the ancient harmoniously collided. 

Qalong may appear similar to Earth, but the flow of magic runs through its majestic landscapes. Mountains that breathe mist, rivers that rustle harmony, and castles that sparkle with the souls of the celestial beings. Qalong was my birthright, but should I claim it when I'm next in line? 

I was born to a powerful African God, Morena Letlotlo, who was a benevolent and loving Creator to his creations. My mother Mosela Matela, was an aggressively broken human woman originally from the tribe of Naha e Matla, whose ambition darkened any cared-for instincts after her village was in ruins during the war. 

While each of my nine sisters received celestial gifts from our father, as a part of him, I was bestowed with something else entirely, the rejection of my father's gift.

As the second-born, I bore the burden of being the forgotten child, the one who slipped through the cracks of cosmic favour. My sisters, radiant and formidable, were granted abilities that floated beyond the ordinary. 

They ran the show effortlessly and grandly, some could summon storms, others could mend hearts or shape the earth. Meanwhile, I was left without a gift, like an empty cup waiting for a stream of magic that would never come. 

My mother's disappointment was marked, it was as if I had violated the sacred cosmic law by not being perfect enough to meet her standards. 

Given her failures, she locked me away in a magical room deep within the castle, an exquisite, yet dreary fight arena-cum-bedroom. Here, the walls sang hymns to my existence in the form of whispers, echoes of my sisters' laughter wafting in from beyond, while I trained relentlessly under the watchful gaze of my mother and Uncle Thuso, the fierce general of our kingdom.

Uncle Thuso, though intimidating, was the only figure who balanced my mother's inhumanity and denial with a measure of intelligence. Growing up, he drove me in with concepts of strategy and wisdom, but as his gaze flickered with worry, I could see him wrestling with the knowledge that preparation would only take me so far. 

I was continuously shadowed by my mother's aspirations to mould me into a dominating, fearless warrior, a version of herself ambushed by life's trials.

In her eyes, I had become sealed in calabash for her unrealized dreams, but I harboured a storm within, yearning for the freedom my father wished to bestow upon me. 

You see, my father; Letlotlo, the Creator of planet Qalong, not only has the care of humans and other species, but he loved me just as fiercely as my sisters. He did not regard me as hopeless because I was not gifted, he simply wished to allow me the freedom to discover who I was and who I was meant to be, freed from the weight of expectations.

The fabric of my world began to solve the day my mother bore her fourteenth child. My siblings appeared in quick succession, each arrival punctuated by my mother's increasing illness. 

I watched as her strength weakened, her voice grew faint, and her wealth of darkness began to crawl across her face, as her face began to look sucked in like the devil's sick of sin. 

I had hoped that with her declining health, there might emerge a seed of compassion for me, like a moment that my existence would matter, when I could stand beside my sisters, no longer hidden in the shadows. But such moments were never presented, and the day she finally slipped away, my heart felt as though it had turned to stone. My father, too, developed sorrow. 

The great devastation of my family turned into a great light for the dihlotlolo (goons). He transformed his physical form into the twinkling stars above Qalong, leaving me distressed, an orphan in the cosmic sense, yearning for guidance from a father who existed only in the night sky. 

The stars became my aid, each one a twinkling promise of his watchful gaze. But the promises did not change the harsh realities of existence.

With my mother's passing, Qalong fell into a lack of tranquillity. The people of Qalong lived in fear. My Uncle Thuso, despite his efforts to rally the troops and defend what remained of our kingdom, was soon called away to war. The prince of chaos awaited us, a villain whose darkness had invaded our homeland, feasting on the grief that spread through thousands of villages.  

Without family, without power, I had no choice but to embrace the relentless call for vengeance that roared within me. It fueled my every step, igniting an ember of defiance. The winds of change were beckoning. I felt their whisper against my skin, urging me to discover my true potential. I was not just Naleli, the second-born princess without a gift. 

I was also Naleli, the daughter of a god, and I created within me the fire of courage, the will to rise like a phoenix from the ashes of despair, even without my father's gifts. 

As I prepare to journey back to Qalong, into the uproar of battles yet to come, I make a vow to reclaim my kingdom and defeat the villain who has taken so much from me. Perhaps, in this encounter with darkness, will I uncover the true essence of my being, the hidden power of love and vengeance twisted together.

This is my story, the beginning of a quest that will lead me through the gates of destiny. My name is Naleli, and I am here to find the answers of what to reclaim from not just my kingdom, but myself.