by M. H. Soars
The Prophecy of Arcadia
Arcadian Wars Book 1
By M. H. Soars
Copyright 2014 by M. H. Soars
Kindle Edition
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, in coincidental and not intended by the author.
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Acknowledgments
About the Author
PROLOGUE
Arcadia – 115 years ago
Garyanx Menix
“Your Majesty, the sions are ready.”
Every person in the room glanced up and stared at the nervous messenger. He couldn’t be more than eighteen years old. His face still held the boyish roundness of innocence. His entire frame shook slightly and perspiration gathered on his forehead as he waited for a response from his sovereign, Lord Droom of the Argamanx Royal House.
The tension in the air was palpable. It felt like the entire assembly held their breath. The moment we had all been dreading was upon us. The sions had been summoned and were in place, ready to perform a ritual that would forever change the fate of our beloved planet. Nobody could have foreseen that such an enlightened and powerful race would succumb to such a rudimentary foe.
Lord Droom sighed heavily. His handsome face had sunk in on itself, and dark circles were evident under his eyes. Losing his consort to the enemy had been a heavy blow, but the decision he had been forced to make shed upon him the final, bitter cloak of defeat. Millions of Arcadians’ lives would be sacrificed to save the planet. That outcome sat heavily on all of us, but it could have been much worse. Against the judgment of Commander Haarx, Nox Elite leader, Lord Droom had waited until the last moment to attempt to raise the Dome. “Let’s save as many lives as we can”, he had said.
My eyes shifted from Lord Droom to take in the rest of the assembly. The greatest minds of the planet were gathered in this room, inside the Argamanx Royal Castle. Or what was left of them. I shouldn’t have been there. I was a nobody, a simple apprentice, with an ability that few understood and many feared. But that was before the Myserians were unleashed onto our world. Now I was an asset, someone who mattered.
Argamania, capital of Argor, was the last standing city on the planet, and Lord Droom, our last hope. There were a few representatives from Lirix and Lorexian, neighboring countries of Argor, but none from Samshix, Jackur, or Mora, all countries situated near the epicenter of the invasion. Millions of people had already perished at the hands of our enemies. By unanimous vote we were condemning millions more to die.
“Your Majesty, time is of the essence!” Commander Haarx said, bringing Lord Droom back from wherever he had gone in his head.
Lord Droom ignored his councilor and rose from his chair. Somehow, he found the strength to look like his imposing old self again, powerful and regal. He took his time to look every single person gathered there in the eye, making us aware that the burden rested with all of us too. When he locked eyes with me, my mouth went dry. I wanted nothing more than to bail out of the room. But his piercing stare ensnared me. It felt like he was peering into my soul.
He walked with purpose across the room towards the double doors. Then he stopped, directly in front of me. Without a glance in my direction, he spoke softly, words only meant for my ears.
“If I shall not survive this endeavor, make sure my boys do not suffer.”
I was stunned. Why would Lord Droom entrust that task to me? He gave me no chance to reply. He left the room swiftly, going where no Arcadian had gone before, to the center of our planet, where our strength and essence rested. Success meant we would have a fighting chance to reclaim our planet. Failure meant there would be nothing left for the Myserians to destroy.
CHAPTER 1
Earth – Present Day
Alexia
I woke up with a start, turned to my nightstand and groaned when I saw my alarm clock. It was past three a.m. I hadn’t been able to enjoy a full night's sleep for the past week. It had started the night after my junior prom. Exactly twenty-four hours after I had finally “done the deed” with my boyfriend, now my ex-boyfriend, Thomas Rodriguez, and utterly broken his heart.
To be fair, I hadn’t broken his heart intentionally. I had wanted to love him as much as he’d loved me, but, unfortunately, being in love didn’t work that way. You couldn’t force yourself into it.
I pushed my blanket aside and got out of bed. I wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep anymore, so I might as well do something productive, like finish packing.
I turned on the light and walked toward my desk, where a pin board hung on the wall. It was covered with pictures of my family, as well as shots of myself in several ballet performances. Right in the center there was a picture of Thomas and me caught in a romantic moment that I hadn’t had the heart to unpin yet. He was looking at me in adoration. I was staring ahead with an uncomfortable smile plastered on my face. I looked at that picture every day to remind myself that I had done the right thing, but it didn’t make it any less difficult. I traced Thomas’s face with the tip of my fingers, let out a wistful sigh and turned away.
Trying to ignore the heaviness in my heart, I opened my half- packed suitcase. I was flying to Santa Barbara in the morning for my annual summer vacation. Since my breakup with Thomas I had become a pariah at school. I was more than glad to be gone, if only for a few months.
I was also dying to spend time with my cousins, Sam, Matt, Mia, Melanie, Sean, and Zach. Yeah, I had a big family. Too bad for me that I lived in Santa Fe and my cousins lived in California.
It was a waste of time to pack when Sam would not let me wear any of my so-called boring clothes, but I liked having something familiar to fall back on. I was folding some t-shirts when I heard a knock on the door. “Come in” I said. It was my dad. I must have woken him up.
“Couldn’t sleep?” he asked. He was wearing a suit instead of PJs. I was unsure whether I should invite him in or not. We hadn’t spoken in a long time. We weren't fighting or anything like that; we just kept missing each other. He had a really crazy schedule lately.
“You could say that. Did you just get home?” I knew the answer to that already. My dad was a big-shot corporate lawyer. I rarely saw him because he was always away on business trips or working late. I had learned to be independent from an early age.
“Yeah, this merger is taking a lot of my time.” He hesitated, his hand still on the doorknob, as if he wa
s debating whether he should come in or not.
We acted more like two polite strangers than father and daughter. Mom had died giving birth to me. I wished I was closer to the only parent I had but I was living proof you can’t always get what you want.
At first, Dad and I had lived in Santa Barbara with Uncle Gary and my cousins, but he had gotten a great job in Santa Fe when I was five years old. We had been here ever since.
Until I turned sixteen I had a live-in nanny called Mathilda. I don’t think she liked children. She never liked to play games, never talked much to me. But I had never complained to Dad. He was so busy and stressed already.
Now I could see lines on his face, and his eyes were bloodshot. Whatever this big merger was, it was taking a big toll on him. My heart constricted further.
“You should get some sleep. No matter how late you get home, you’re always gone before I wake up.”
There was a sudden shift in his body language. His lips pressed together and his hand tightened around the doorknob. I hadn’t meant to complain about his work schedule, but that was exactly what I had done.
“It can’t be helped, they need me. Don’t worry about it.” His answer was clipped, but then his body relaxed a bit as he noticed my open suitcase. “Do you need a ride to the airport tomorrow?”
“I already booked a cab.” I stared and waited, and soon we were enveloped by an uncomfortable silence.
After what it felt like forever, he finally nodded.
“Well, good night then.” He closed the door before I had a chance to answer.
“Good night,” I replied to myself. It was moments like these when I most missed the mother I never knew.
Samantha
“You all must be guessing why I requested a meeting this morning,” Gary said in a good mood, and I wondered why he was so cheeky at 6 a.m. He ignored the grunts he received in response.
The boys still wore their PJs and were suffering from a collective case of awful bed hair. I was the last to arrive -- not surprisingly, since I was the only one in the house who had bothered to change clothes and brush my hair.
The need to look somewhat presentable put me in a less than comfortable situation when the only seat left in Gary’s spacious office was next to Matthew. Considering the situation between us, I might have hoped the others would be more thoughtful and not make me sit next to him. No such luck.
I avoided making eye contact with Matthew as I took my seat on the big leather couch, putting maximum space between us. He shifted in his seat uneasily.
Gary’s office was a mix of contradictory influences. It had several pieces that could easily belong to a very conservative law firm, like the massive mahogany desk and the button tufted, classic leather sectional sofa in dark brown. His chair had a classic design too but it was in neon green leather, and the paintings hurt the eyes if you stared at them for too long. It was like two different people had decorated the office. The result would make an interior designer have a seizure.
I focused my attention on Gary sitting behind his desk, and waited for him to explain why we had been summoned for the second time in less than twenty-four hours. Alexia, our charge, was coming to Santa Barbara to spend her summer vacation with us and as usual, we had gone through a debriefing the day before.
As the Prodigies, we had been appointed since birth to be her protectors. However, unlike the majority of our fellow Arcadians, our abilities hadn’t started to manifest until very recently. The appointment had been more symbolic than anything else. This year, however, things would change.
Sean yawned loudly and received an instant glare from his twin brother in return. Not that he cared. My own twin sister, Mia, smiled sympathetically at Zach, which prompted him to soften his countenance.
“I’m pretty sure you must have a good reason for the meeting.” Matthew replied to Gary’s earlier statement, and I looked over at him. He was impossibly good looking, even with disheveled hair.
He sensed me staring and glanced my way, eyebrows furrowed. I felt heat rush to my cheeks and looked away.
Gary stood up and started to pace in front of us. “I just received word from the Council that Melanie must remain in Arcadia until she completes her training.”
“Why?” I asked. A sliver of dread pierced my heart. Since our abilities started to manifest we had taken turns going to Arcadia for training, but we never stayed more than a few days.
“Do you know how long it will take?” Zach asked before Gary could answer my question.
Gary stuffed his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “Who knows? But don’t worry about it. I’m sure she’ll be back in a jiff.”
A typical Gary response, I thought as I tried to hide my annoyance. Sometimes I wondered why Gary, with his carefree personality, had been appointed to be our mentor. And the Council wondered why we didn’t take our roles more seriously. It was kind of hard to relate with the tragedy of our planet when we had never lived on it, and the person who should be guiding us treated everything like a joke.
“What about Alexia? She’ll want to know where Melanie is,” Mia asked as she leaned forward, worry written all over her face.
“Oh, I already came up with the perfect excuse,” Gary answered. He went back to his desk and picked something up. “Ta-da!” He pivoted around holding what seemed to be a folder with a bunch of smiling girls wearing cheerleading uniforms on the cover.
“What’s that?” Sean asked, finally showing interest in the conversation.
“This is the solution to the Melanie problem. We’ll tell Alexia that Melanie joined this cheer association and is spending the summer at their camp.”
“At their camp,” Matthew repeated, like he was having a hard time processing the information.
“Cheerleading camp?” I asked in disbelief. Gary could not be serious. Melanie would never join the cheerleading squad in a million years.
Sean burst out laughing.
Gary frowned and looked at the folder in his hand. “What’s so funny?”
“Gary, the cheer camp excuse will never fly. Melanie loathes cheerleaders,” Mia explained to him. She had the patience of a saint.
Gary waved his hand dismissively. “Nonsense. It’s the best explanation for her absence. The cheer camp is out of town and it lasts a month.”
“What if Alexia wants to visit Melanie?” I asked.
“Just lie and say you don’t know where it is.” Gary went back to his desk.
Great, another lie to add to the gazillion ones we were juggling already. I looked at Mia, who leaned back against the couch in defeat. Once Gary got something in his mind, it was pointless to argue. Who cared, right, when he wasn’t the one dealing with the consequences.
After that, the meeting was pretty much over. I didn’t want to linger and be forced to walk back to my room with Matthew close behind, so I jumped off the couch when Gary dismissed us.
I tried to go back to sleep, but after the meeting, I was too wired. Plus my body was still sore from the training session yesterday. Kickboxing, aikido, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, kung-fu, you name it: any and every type of martial arts and self-defense techniques were part of our curriculum. Being a Prodigy meant I had be ready to fend off any type of threat to Alexia’s life.
I decided that what my body needed was a protein shake and maybe half an hour in the hot tub outside. The house was silent again as I made my way to the kitchen. I had just started to relax as I put the ingredients I needed on the counter. Then the shrill of the phone ringing made me dump protein powder all over myself. Just. Freaking. Great. Who calls so early anyways?
CHAPTER 2
Alexia
“You almost gave me a heart attack!” Sam shouted over the phone without preamble.
“Hello to you too, cuz!” I replied, trying to muffle a snicker. “Why the surprise? I told you I was gonna call before I left for the airport.”
My cousin was my best friend, and I didn’t keep anything from her. She was the only one who knew a
bout Thomas and that I was applying to Juilliard. Both were things I wanted to keep secret from everyone else. I didn’t want to deal with the questions concerning him and the extra pressure about Juilliard if my family knew about my intentions.
“You were supposed to call my cell, not the house phone!” She shout-whispered and I belatedly remembered that it was only six-thirty in the morning in Santa Barbara. Most likely, everyone was still in bed.
“I did! But you didn’t pick up. The taxi will be here any minute and you know I don’t like to talk on the phone around strangers.”
“I know, I know. I forgot my cell in my room. So, did you get any sleep, or was the excitement too much?” Sam asked in a teasing tone. She didn’t mean anything by it, she was just being Sam. But the question hit a sore spot. I hadn’t gotten any sleep, and it had nothing to do with my trip.
My cousin was my role model. What I loved most about Sam was that she was full of life, and she didn’t take any crap from anyone. She was also one of the most beautiful girls I knew, and had all the confidence that I lacked.
After a long pause, I confessed. “It wasn’t excitement that kept me awake.”
“Still feeling guilty about Thomas?” She asked carefully.
“Yeah.”
I didn’t like feeling all gloom and doom about it, especially with summer vacation ahead of me, but I had the feeling I would carry the guilt of what I’d done for a very long time.
“Should I make a T-shirt for you with the phrase ‘Woe is me’ on it?” Sam asked. Just like that she put a smile on my face.
“Shut up!” I shouted at her.
“I swear Alexia, if I find that you dyed your beautiful golden locks black and see you wearing emo clothes when I pick you up at the airport, I’m going to beat you senseless.”
I started to laugh when I heard another voice in the background. “Hey Sam, who just came in?”
