Filed to story: The Chosen Saga Novel PDF Free
As Soren ran through the keep, all she saw was decimation, death, and betrayal. She saw the end of her kind. All her children lay dead, all of them gone. She cried silently in anguish. How could this have happened? How could she have missed the signs? She was their protector, caretaker, and mother, and she failed them.
She ran through the rooms of her home, down the stairs, and into her prayer room. When she reached the bookcase, she grabbed the hidden lever praying that the hold had not been breached. Their only hope lay beyond. As she ran down the next staircase, tears streamed down her face while she prayed quietly. “Goddess, mother of all, please let the spark be there. Please, mother, save us.”
She slowed as she came to the inner door and found it in pieces. She stepped up to the wreckage and pulled the shadows around her as she stepped inside. There she saw him, the man who was half of her soul. The male, who had shared her life, love, and bed for over one thousand years. Her mate. The one who had betrayed her in every way possible. He was searching for the Spark, yelling and smashing as he went. He was so close to the secret hold. Thankfully she had never told him about it. He lashed out in anger and everything in front of him shattered. He couldn’t know how close he was. Soren could see his frustration, but she stayed hidden and quiet.
His screams tore through the room. “If it’s not here, she must have already hidden it away!” He knew he didn’t have much time before the Enforcers came back. He had to run. He was strong, but not that strong. Not yet anyway. “I will be back, you stupid bitch,” he muttered, “but by that time, you’ll be dead as the rest of them. I have ended you tonight, you just don’t know it yet. I will take my rightful place in time. You will regret the choices you made. I promise you that.” With this last threat, he stormed out of the room and ran into the night.
She waited until his power signature left the area before moving from where she had hidden. She needed to ensure he was truly gone, so she waited until she felt her Enforcers’ power return to the surrounding land. Only then did she release her breath, and the shadows wrapped around her. She thought her pain was under control, but the sobs started anew when she took her next step. Soren stepped back to the broken door. A quick flick of her wrist had the door reforming, which she then closed and locked. Soren picked her way through the debris to the alcove at the far side of the room. She stepped up to the statue of the Goddess. Soren pressed down on the statue’s hands and the hidden compartment popped on the side. Inside was her athame that she used to cut her wrist. She shook with her tears as she let the blood flow into the channel cut into the bottom of the drawer. A deep rumble started behind the nook, and the Goddess statues swung back. She hurried into the hidden room and over to the spark, forever grateful that he did not find this holy place.
The spark was the most sacred object Soren had in her possession. It was gifted to her straight from the Goddess. No one except for her, her mate, and the Enforcers knew she had it. She would have kept it hidden from everyone if she had known that this would come to pass. The spark was a direct connection to the Goddess, a tiny piece of her soul that the Goddess herself had given to Soren. Soren struggled to stay conscious while reaching out to the spark and her Goddess. She approached the cradle that held the spark and collapsed against it. Her strength finally succumbing to the wounds she had received.
“Mother, I beg of you. Please tell me what I can do.” Soren cried softly. “We have been betrayed. All of my young here were destroyed. My line has come to its end. We cannot keep the others safe for much longer. I have no way forward without my mate, he has turned his back on us. What can I do?”
Soren was startled when she felt a hand on her shoulder. The Goddess stood next to her with a serene smile. She struggled to stand while tears ran down her face. “What would you have of me?”
The Goddess reached for her and pulled her into her arms. “Always my faithful daughter even in all your sorrow. You are the very best of all my creations. You’ve stayed loyal for thousands of years, never deviating or questioning. I feel your pain in my very essence. Even with all the sorrow, you never questioned my path.”
Soren stayed within her Goddess’s arms. Trying to take in as much love and comfort as possible before stepping back. “Of course. Nothing could ever move me from your path, even if it’s been thousands of moons. How can I turn away? I was born into your arms. I was raised under your guidance. I have seen your face every night when I drift to sleep. You are my mother, and I could never turn away. But I have failed you.” Soren started to cry again as she dropped back down to her knees.
“No, my dearest, you have not. Your mate left my path to create his own. Without even thinking, he closed himself to me. Where I am not welcome, I cannot go.” The Goddess smoothed her hands down Soren’s hair. “The longer he continued to drift, the more he believed I had left him. That you would leave him as well. He let darkness grow inside of himself with the thought of you loving and leaving him for another. Wherever there is light, there is dark, and he turned away from the light. He went toward the dark’s sweet whispers.” The Goddess reached down and cupped Soren’s face.
She leaned into the touch needing comfort. “What can I do to fight him? He has become too strong. The unborn in the keep are all dead. The only ones that can carry on are those already born or hidden away. All of my young who survived are the newly born, the unmatched, and your Enforcers. There’s no way to create more life.” Soren’s voice hitched as she touched her ruined stomach. “We cannot match the growth of the others any longer. The work we do to protect this world from darkness will end. If I can no longer produce our young, we no longer have a way to survive, and the darkness will win.”
“Give me your hands, daughter.” The Goddess pulled her to her feet and placed her hands on the spark. The spark released a steady pulse of light. “Focus here. Feel the thrum of life.” Soren focused on the pulse of light that had her heartbeat fall into perfect sync. Soren felt the cool shell of the spark beneath her hands and the steady, serene pulse of power. The Goddess reached over and placed her hands on top of hers. “My child. Do not despair, for there is still hope. I cannot tell you what steps you must take, but I will always guide you as I have always guided you these past millennia. You must make your path with your own choice, as will others. We do not have much time. We can only hope those who come after will choose to follow the path that leads us all to salvation.”
Soren took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Okay, show me.” She looked deep into the spark and fell.
Araiya…Araiya. Please understand and forgive me. I only did what I had to do. Please don’t hate me, I love you, but it’s time to wake up. Wake up! Be careful. The darkness is near.
Araiya jolted awake and searched her room for whoever screamed. She whipped her head back and forth, expecting to see someone standing over her, waiting. She turned around to check out her window and saw that it was still dark, and she flopped back down. “UGH. This is so stupid. These dreams are kicking my ass.” She tossed her blanket off and sat up. “There is no way I’m going to be able to go back to sleep now.”
She got out of bed and pulled on some clothes. She brushed out her hair as best as possible and quickly braided it over her shoulder. When she was done, she looked at herself in her broken mirror. Even though the cracks, she could see that she looked exhausted. The deep purple bags almost matched her violet eyes. She pinched her chubby cheeks and turned away, disgusted. She wasn’t ugly per se, but she sure as hell wasn’t pretty. According to everyone she grew up with, fat girls can’t be pretty. She didn’t see how one’s shape decided attractiveness but pointing that out made the kids at school say she was as stupid as she was ugly somehow. Araiya looked herself over and wearing baggy clothes on her already thicker body made her look even bigger. Still, her size didn’t affect her face or her personality. She shook her head and crept from her room.
“Might as well get some of my chores done before anyone else wakes up,” she mumbled. She walked out of the house and down to the stables. Once there, she picked up a rake and got to work.
It was still pitch black out when she finished mucking out the stables and decided to return to her room. She figured she could squeeze in another hour or so of sleep if she could manage it.
For the second time that morning, Araiya awoke to screaming. Only this time, she knew who was screaming and who was jumping on her.
“Rai, it’s time to wake up!”
Araiya groaned as she pushed her brother to the floor. “Linc, what in the darkness. I’m trying to sleep. Get out.”
“No way it’s time to wake up. You have so much to do today.” Linc prodded her side. “If you don’t get up right now, I will have to do something you regret.”
“Linc, I love you but leave me the fuck alone. I haven’t slept very much these last few weeks. I will finish the rest of my chores when I get up. Now get the hell out of my room.”
Linc started to laugh. “Well, you asked for it.” He jumped back onto her bed and yanked the blanket off. He tossed it over his shoulder and attacked. The tickling started at her feet, and when she pulled them away, he went straight for her weak spot, her sides.
“Linc, stop.” She laughed and yelled. “I said stop.” Araiya tried to move away, but he would not stop attacking. He knew her weaknesses, and she started to scream and laugh harder. “Fine. I’m awake. I’m up. What the fuck is so important that you couldn’t leave me be. Look at what you have done. Now I’m cold.”
“Look, I’m sorry, but there’s no way you can go back to sleep. You have way too much to do today. I’ll help you with the rest of your chores, but there’s no way I can fix all of that.” Linc gestured to her entire body.
“What fix my whole body?” Araiya was confused as she glanced into her mirror. Her braid was tangled entirely and wrapped around itself. The bags under her eyes had become even darker and slightly swollen, now matching her black hair instead of her eyes. She looked close to death. Her cheek was crusty with drool, her eyes crusty with sleep. Her chubby face was lined from where it was pressed into the pillow. She also didn’t smell the greatest after the nightmare and mucking the stalls. “Okay, I see your point. I look like shit, but why does it matter? I don’t have to look pretty for the animals.”
Linc stared at her. “Rai, you have got to be kidding me. I can’t believe you forgot. I told Mom there was no way you would forget today, but she bet me five drakna you would.”
“Look, it’s early, I am tired, and I honestly don’t care what today is. I don’t want to play this game, so either tell me or leave so I can try to get a few more hours of sleep.”
“Are the nightmares that bad?”
“It’s just the one, over and over. I feel like I am there and just watching it all happen. It always starts the same. I’m in a bedroom. I watch this couple come in, and you can feel the love between them. It’s sweet, and then it turns dark. I am in the same room, but a storm rages outside. Lightning flashes when the man attacks his sleeping wife.” Araiya rubbed her arms. “Her scream Linc, I can’t even explain it. I feel not only her pain from her wounds but his betrayal. He continues stabbing and hitting her. There is so much blood when he’s finished that I always think she must be dead. I honestly wish she died, Linc, but she always drags herself up. She makes her way slowly through their home. He’s killed them all, all of their babies. I never see the dead thank the Goddess, but I feel her pain. She calls out to the Goddess, but she falls from all her wounds, and that’s when I wake up. It feels so fucking real, and I can never convince myself to go back to sleep after, so I sleep less and less. Maybe it is just some crazy dream my brain made up to reflect some of my bad life choices.”
“What do you mean?”
“In the dream, this woman’s whole life was crashing around her for trusting the wrong man. Like how mine did.” Araiya rubbed her face.