Chapter 1
Chestnut brown with mud-colored spots and a snow-white fur patch over the eye, the horse was powering through the storm with her on its back. Her long curls, tight as a needle, fiery red against the midnight sky, are bouncing and flowing with the mystic wind. Bow and quiver hung across her back, silver sword on her hip, she rides into the bush dense forest, prepared to take on the challenges along the way. Her navy-blue skirt clashed with her swamp green top, while the black leggings protected what her walnut-colored boots could not. This girl could not give up, her quest was far too important. She would complete this, even if it could be the last thing she ever does.
The overgrown forest was ever so close, she would be there by dusk. But dusk wasn’t a safe time, that’s when the creatures would arrive. The creatures that hurt her family, that took her home, that made her come on this journey. Her home was one of amazing feats, she was not a child of the poor. She lived well, her little brothers and older sister always made her day. She missed the twins, but there wasn’t much she could do except continue forward at this point. She looked around and found a river that was not far off from the current path. She led her horse towards it to set up camp. Dismounting her horse, she grabbed the bag from its back. In it was some blankets to keep them warm and some food to eat. They were running low, they would have to leave at dawn to get to the next village for food, if it wasn’t already too late. As night was approaching, she found some branches and made a fire to keep them warm and safe. She was living in one of her worst nightmares. Not long after sunset, she fell asleep.
The twins are standing by the pond in the garden, she was running to meet up with them. “Zaya! Zaya!” One shouts for her. She quickly gets to the pond and starts looking into it. “What is that fish called?”
“That’s a koi, JJ. They are very gentle fish. Would you like to feed them some bread?”
Jaxel and Ezekial were 6 years old. They were starting school in the fall. She was looking forward to walking them up to the doors on their first day. Hers was one she could never forget. Her older sister walking her up to the doors, a beautiful angel white, and hearing the bell’s radiating chime. The sound of people chattering and chalk on the boards, it was all very special to her. Then, the sound of horse hooves on the stone roadways caught her attention. A snow white horse was walking towards them, hanging from it was a crimson red skirt and midnight black boots.
“Jaz, what are you doing here?” she questioned.
“Mom wants everyone home before dusk. So, I came to get you. You take Zeke on Millie and I’ll take JJ on Storm. We need to hurry; the sun is setting quickly.”
The children quickly headed home, their parents waiting for them at the door.
“Quickly children, corral the horses and get inside. I don’t want to leave this door open any longer than necessary,” said their mother.
‘Why would Mother want everyone in so quickly?’ she wondered. She went up to her room to wait for supper. While watching the sunset, she heard an odd noise. A sort of howling, like you hear from wind in a storm or a wolf on a full moon. Suddenly, she heard glass shatter. She opened the drawer on her nightstand and grabbed her knife. Suddenly there were screams, causing her to bolt out of her room. It was completely dark, almost every light in the hallway was out. She started to run toward the twins’ room, when she spotted the shadow of a large, terrifying creature.
With a scream she woke up. Her horse jumped from the sound. Tears in her eyes, she began to worry. What if she couldn’t save her family, what if she couldn’t get past this fear. The sun was rising, so she packed everything up and put out the fire. Mounting Millie, she set track for the nearest town, hoping it hadn’t been taken as well. Looking towards the dark forest she would have to face just to get to town, she drew her sword hoping for no creatures to appear. Moving at a brisk pace, she cut away vines blocking the path. Nothing was yet to appear. The edge of the forest was near, she would soon be back on track when a tree fell near her. Her horse jumped out of fear, she held on tight. Looking around, she saw no creatures, but had Millie pick up the pace. They were out of the forest before noon, but she was getting hungry. She saw the next town and could see people hurrying through the streets. It was exactly what she hoped for. Seeing people moving around meant that the creatures hadn’t gotten there yet. She had finally found safety amidst the storm. She carefully took Millie towards the town, looking for a very specific house that she knew.
Walking Millie through the busy streets, she looked for the house. Two stories, almond brown, with a white grated door. She knew the family that lived there and knew she could get help. She was struggling to stay up from the exhaustion of the journey. She got looked at in concern by townspeople because she was covered in large cuts and bruises, but no one had the courage to stop her. She was feeling more and more exhausted but needed to find this family. When she spotted the house, she made way with haste. Dismounting Millie, she started to struggle. Three loud knocks on the door, and it opened. She spoke with very broken sentences, “Miss Caroline…”
“My dear! What has happened to you?”
“Please. Help,” she said just before collapsing into the woman’s arms.
“Children! Come quick!” the woman yelled. Three children, around ages ten to thirteen, came running.
“What happened to her?” asked the oldest.
“I don’t know, but please corral her horse and fetch the doctor. Your brothers can help me get her inside and get her gear off.”
The oldest girl quickly did what she was told, and the boys carried the gear into family room, while the woman carried the girl up to the open guest room. Wiping off some of the dried blood from the girl’s face, the woman just had to wonder what happened. “My, my. Armazaya, whatever has happened to you. How did you get this hurt, and why are you here armed?” A short while later, she heard a horse quickly stop. “Mother! I brought the doctor and Dad is on his way!”
The woman quickly rushed down the stairs to escort the doctor to the girl. “I must warn you; it is Armazaya. She arrived fairly beaten.” The woman stated to the doctor. The doctor paused for a moment.
“Princess Armazaya? The princess of the kingdom?”
“Yes, the princess. At this point, who cares though she needs our help, and we need to find out why she is here.”
The doctor checked the princess for any major injuries, only to find a sprained ankle. He then cleaned up her wounds and bandaged the worst of them, finally, splinting her ankle. “She needs to rest, whatever she went through, her body kept her strong until she felt safe. It may be nightfall before she wakes. Make sure there is water and food for her when she wakes. I’ll come check in on her in the morning.”
“Thank you, doctor. We’ll take very good care of her.”
“May I ask how you know her and why she might have come here?”
“Well, she’s seen me as another mother for when she was very young, her mother fell too ill to care for her, so I took her in and raised her until her mother was well. Just about a year was she with me.”
The woman began checking Armazya’s bags and gear for any signs as to why she might be here. There was blood on the sword and knife, but not the blood of any human. It looked as if it was from one of the stories she had been told as a young child. Creatures that had mutated beyond their realm at an astronomical event. That was it! The solar eclipse was a week ago. But they were only stories. Passed on generation through generation. How could they be real? There was no magic besides the magicians that traveled in their kingdom. And it is unknown about what goes on in other kingdoms. Waiting for Armazaya to wake was all she could do. In the meantime, she went to check on the animals, including Millie, and check the poor horse for any injuries.
While checking Millie for wounds, the woman’s husband arrived on horseback, far sooner than she would’ve thought. “Markus, thank goodness you’ve arrived. Armazaya arrived here injured and collapsed. I need to show you something I found.”
“Alright Carol, let’s try to sort this out.”
Walking into the dining room, they hear the eldest child yell from the top of the stairs, “She’s trying to speak!” Both parents rushed up the stairs to see if they could get any information about what happened to her.
“Arugas…. Attacked….” She half mumbled.
It was true. They weren’t fairytales at all. The kingdom was under attack. Maybe even the entire realm.
“I can’t believe it, they’re real? How soon until they reach out homes?” Carol worried.
“We need not worry, there are no signs of danger yet. I’m sure Armazaya will wake soon,” Mark cautiously replied.
“How soon? If they really are real, we need to know what happened! Azzie is the only one who has seen them as far as we know, and she may be the only one who can save us… If she carries her family's true blood strength that is,” Carol whimpered. They needed to know soon if anything happened, and Armazaya was alone. Was she armed because of the creatures? Or was something else going on? Was Armazaya hallucinating? It was too dangerous to send anyone towards the castle to investigate without information. The village was too small to spare the lives of soldiers that could protect them for an investigation.
“Mom, Tyson, and Lukas are confused and worried. They are hearing you talk about the Arugas, I’ve heard the stories, so I can stay with Azzy, but you need to tell them. If they are real, they need to know what they are,” said the oldest daughter.
“Thank you Asalya, just keep listening and call if she starts to wake. If she wakes give her a glass of water and try to keep her calm. We have no clue what she has been through.”
Carol calmly walks out of the room to the library and grabs a specific storybook, Stories of Encartia: Realms, Monsters, and Creatures. Bringing the book downstairs, she flips to story 15, Argulias Arcanya. She begins to read from the text.
In a realm beyond ours, there is a large village, which is known as a city. This city called Arcanya and has some of the happiest people. Yet this city is never safe. In the mountains, just a day northeast of the city, lies a home for some dark creatures. They hear the creatures speak, but it is very broken words. The phrases always return to a sort of prayer, “Argulias, our home, treasure most, lord beyond, life prolonged.” One day, the city decided to investigate these creatures, as they were making the worst of noises, scaring the children and elders to their ends.
They sent out a party of twelve, all trained military men, armed with axes and bows. Riding on their horses, they left at sundown to be there at their most active time the following day. When the party arrived at the mountain, they snuck into a cave, and carefully wrote notes on what the creatures looked and acted like. They were meat eaters, ripping apart mountain goats with their razor-sharp claws. With the body shape of a wolf, they seemed to be very agile, but then they seemed to walk and act similar to apes, or even humans. They seemed to vary in height from about four feet tall to about eight feet tall with a shoulder-to-shoulder width varying from four to six feet. They seemed highly aggressive towards other creatures and would puncture through turtle shells with just their teeth. It was noted that some seemed to have wings, and they seemed to have the most respect, maybe due to seniority or class, they must have been the upper levels or leaders. The party notices streaking tracks then caught that they had large tails, which dragged along the ground, and hurt anything in its path.
One of the men tripped and made a loud noise upon impact, attracting the creatures’ attention. One of the winged creatures came forward and grabbed him. “Invade home Argulias? We hurt home Arcanya. Take Arsol home Arcanya.” The creature stated before killing the man. The rest of the party lead the creature to their home, and when they arrived the city bell was rung to gather every person’s attention. The creature Arsol dropped just the head of the dead man and spoke. “You invade home Argulias safe. No more safe Arcanya. Night and night, one bye bye. Part left or eaten. Maybe imprisoned. Argulias mad, never safe Arcanya cause man invade home Argulias. Arsol return at sundown.” The creature Arsol then promptly left the city.
With the city in shock, they began to board up homes, but night after night, someone went missing or was found dead. The creatures had to be named. From their home of Argulias came the Arugas. Cruel creatures only capable of wrath. Another real had lost people shortly after a Solar eclipse, the same with a lunar eclipse in another realm, both realms with the same results as Arcanya. There leading to high guard on astronomical events as to protect their realms from the attack of the Arugas.
The children listened to the story quivering, wondering if their home was safe anymore. Carol comforted her boys, reassuring them that they would be safe. The safety of the kingdom relied on the hope that Armazaya had a trait that hadn’t been seen in her family for generations. But if she doesn’t, then the kingdom would be captured and defeated. This could not be something that happens. Word quickly began to spread around the town that the princess was sheltering there and was dangerously injured. What brought the princess to town? Why was she hurt? Where is the rest of her family? Carol was preparing for the town to come banging on her door for answers. Then she heard a call, “MOM! SHE’S WAKING UP!” Rushing up the stairs, Carol thinks of what she is going to say, what she is going to ask, and then realizes, the Armazaya must be scared. Her first job must be to comfort her. After that, she can start asking questions and trying to help clarify anything she might be asked.
Reaching the top of the stairs, she slowly begins to make her way to the guest room. Realizing what has happened to Armazaya, she knew that she had to be calm and quiet. Walking into the guest room, she sees bright blue eyes looking at her, from the redheaded princess who was sitting up in the bed.
