THE FIRE WITHIN
BOOK 1 of THE FIRE OF THE SOUL TRILOGY
By Racquel Kechagias
Copyright (c) 2012-2017 by Racquel Kechagias
Cover Design by Nadica Boskovska
Edited by Shyuen Hwong
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or, if real, are used fictitiously. All statements, activities, stunts, descriptions, information and material of any kind contained herein are included for entertainment purposes only and should not be relied on for accuracy or replicated as they may result in injury.
Copyright Notes.
All contents copyright (C)2012 by Racquel Kechagias. All rights reserved. No part of this document or the related files may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise).
Ebook 1st Edition, License Notes.
This Ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This Ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to your favourite Ebook store and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.
This book is dedicated to all who have ever had a dream and to those who have dared to follow it; this is my dream.
Other Works
By
RACQUEL KECHAGIAS
The Fire of the Soul Series
Book 1 – The Fire Within
The Deity’s Secrets Series
Book 1 – Miss Underworld
Novellas
Captive of Magic
Acknowledgments
First and foremost I would like to thank all of my readers at Bookrix and Booksie, without you guys I would have never continued this story and thus I would not be here now.
I would like to thank my family for all the support that you have given me and to my friends Christina, Aaron, Emma and Joshua for keeping me grounded whilst I wrote; to you guys I am indebted.
I would like to give a special shout-out to my editor Shyuen Hwong, rough drafts are often messy so I would like to thank you for all the cleaning that you've done!
I would also like to thank the lovely Cover Artist Nadica Boskovska who made the wonderful cover of this book. Nadica I look forward to working with you in the future.
I would also like to give a shout-out to the many friends that I have met in the past four years, my friendship with you will always be cherished.
Last but not least, I would like to thank you, the reader, for joining me on this wild ride. It is you guys that make all of this worth doing.
Contents Page
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1 – TROUBLE HAS A NAME
CHAPTER 2 – THE THREATS OF LIFE
CHAPTER 3 – THE CHOICE IS MINE
CHAPTER 4 – AN ANCIENT DANCE
CHAPTER 5 - ESCAPE
CHAPTER 6 – THE UNDERWORLD
CHAPTER 7 – THE KING’S FEAST
CHAPTER 8 – ADMISSIONS AND MEMORIES
CHAPTER 9 – STRANGE DREAMS
CHAPTER 10 – THE DEVIL AND I
CHAPTER 11 – TIME IS RUNNING OUT
CHAPTER 12 – DOUBTS AND FAREWELLS
CHAPTER 13 – MISSING VICTOR
CHAPTER 14 – THE ELDERS CIRCLE
CHAPTER 15 – UNCHARTED WATERS
CHAPTER 16 – ANTADOVIAN SECRETS
CHAPTER 17 – BEHIND ENEMY LINES
CHAPTER 18 – WILTED FLOWERS
CHAPTER 19 – OUR DARKEST SECRETS
CHAPTER 20 – NIGHTMARES RESURFACE
CHAPTER 21 – DISCRETION OF THE HEART
CHAPTER 22 – THE SERPENT IS REVEALED
CHAPTER 23 – A PREDEFINED PATH
CHAPTER 24 – BATTLE PHANTOMS
Prologue
Unknown P.O.V
There is no moonlight shining down upon the empty valley, though my sight is not hindered by this matter. I can see perfectly clearly the slope of the valley, how perfectly bow shaped it is. I can see the wild summer flowers that litter the valley, and the man squatting in the middle of it, his scavenged meal coming from places that I do not want to begin to think about.
The man is filthy; his beady eyes scan the area around him in search of me, although I can guarantee that he would not be able to see me until I am right there before him.
Now that I can see who this man is clearly, in his tattered clothing, I regret what I have done. Who’s to say that this kingdom - much similar to the ancient Babylon - would be better ruled under the hand of this man, to the one that I had just slaughtered in cold blood. I could still taste the old king's blood upon my lips, the royal blood tasting no better than that of a commoner; or even that of a street rat, similar to the one squatting in the field.
The village I have just passed through is filled with bars and gentleman's entertainment. These kinds of entertainment are made to be hidden in the night, for they tainted the soul in ways one can not begin to understand. Talking of souls, I think back to the fallen immortal hidden within my castle walls, about the power that he has - unwillingly - placed within me.
My attention turns back to the squatting man as I approach him. He looks as if he has been living in the gutters for a long time. It is disgusting, how low this man has settled with his life. Of course, all human life holds no difference to me, sure they had different skins and different upbringings but what little differences there is between them, do not compare to the differences of the people of the Underworld.
There are so many like this man in this village, all of them rotting away, like living corpses. The physical filth is not the only thing that is making them rot, however it is also the mental and emotional turmoil of living in a city like Babylon that is truly making them rot at the core.
I am now towering above the man. His beady eyes look up to me, his face covered in dirt and filth. He smiles, that of a man who has not hope but confidence in his future. He knows that I would not have failed on my end of the bargain, but now it is my time to collect on his half of the bargain.
"It has been done. The King and Queen are dead and the kingdom has forgotten their reign. You are now able to step up and take the throne that you long for," I sneer, uninterested in what this beady, filthy man could want from his King's and Queen's death. What loyalty he has to ask for someone like me - a Vampire - to kill the royalty that he should humbly serve. "Within your castle awaits the treasure that I promised you, a wife also awaits. She is ready to serve and please you in anyway that she can."
The filthy man rises to his feet, standing up to his full height. His height does not surpass mine, I am just tall enough to look down upon him, my eyes tightening as I register how close he is standing to me.
"Now that you have what you want, I have come to collect what I want." At my words the filthy man steps back his arms up in the air. He is trembling at the thought.
"Please, don't do this. You do not need to do this, I'll give you whatever you want, just please!" the filthy man pleads. It's disgusting really, that he fails to even keep his word, the very last thing he owns in this state.
"You cannot begin to understand what I need and want." I can hear the whimsical, longing note in my own tone. There is no way that this man, or anyone for that matter, could begin to understand what I want. I want my parents back, but I need someone who'll love me always and never leave me. I needed a wife, whether it takes a day or a decade.
I cannot all
ow the man to escape so I get down upon him, and pin him to the ground using my own weight. His beady eyes are watching me, and I look down into them. This is part of what the immortal told me must be done. The immortal said that the eyes are windows to the soul, and for a soul transfusion that eye contact must be constant during the process. With our eyes connected, I can feel the tearing of my soul. Only a single slither is to be passed onto the man pinned underneath me, but no matter how small the slither, the tearing of the soul is the most painful thing that one could ever feel.
"With my end of the bargain kept, yours is now about to be done. My soul does not belong to thee, but your first daughter it will live in she. Until her seventeenth year, she'll be kept within the castle. On her seventeenth birthday when you must choose a suitor for her, your choice will be me. Your daughter belongs to me mortal, if you place her in the wrong man's hands, everything you build up to that moment will be destroyed, and you will be returned to this state. This is what I promise you, and I pray to God you keep to this truth, for I shall not spare you," I say and when I stop I know that it has been done. I feel as if a piece of me is missing, and this I realize, must be how it feels to have a piece of your soul missing. I get to my feet and I begin to walk away, continuing in the opposite way of which I had come.
"Wait, you're leaving?" the man says, still crouching on the ground in disbelief. I stop for a moment and turn my head just slightly, so that he can see my face, now that the moon has reappeared.
"Yes, but I will be back one day Rupert, to claim what is rightfully mine." I say and I continue to walk on. There is no place for me here, but home is where I belong, and home is where I will go. The Underworld is the only place for me, where I will be welcomed back with the regal celebrations that are only meant for a King of my standard. My thoughts as I make my way home, is not what has just happened or what was done by my hand earlier that night, but the daughter that is to be born to that man. I pray to whatever god that would listen to a Vampire that she would not only be beautiful but noble and kind of heart. God, I hope these years go by fast.
Four Years Later
Rupert's P.O.V
The nursemaids rush about my wife whom lies upon the bed, exhausted from the physical exertion of labour. She looks beautiful, her wild curls tangling around her head which is covered in sweat. I can hear the cry of a child. This is the moment of truth; if it is a boy we are safe, if it is a girl then we'd start to play the waiting game. Waiting for what exactly? The return of the Vampire.
The nursemaids bring the child into the room, wrapped in a thin linen cloth. They smiled down upon my wife, whom holds out her arms waiting patiently to hold her child. "It's a girl," is the head nursemaid's words. These words are my child's - nay daughter's - own condemnation; these words are the very thing that stirs terror within my soul. They pass the baby onto my wife and I go to sit beside her, so that I may look at my daughter.
She's beautiful without a doubt, with mahogany brown hair and pale skin. Her eyes are the colour of emeralds and her lips are red as blood. I can see within her eyes the soul of that vampire. She only has seventeen years of peace before he comes for her. We only have seventeen years of peace before our world is torn apart.
"What should we name her?" My wife - Darleen - whispers. My wife's soft brown eyes are looking at me, searching for my own eyes.
"We'll name her Annabelle, for there is no-one as beautiful as she." I say and Darleen smiles at this. Her smile and the joy of having our first child, makes me forget my fears about the vampire. Alas I know that my fears will only be temporarily soothed and that they will return. However, for now I will simply enjoy having my two girls by my side, for I know it wont always be like this.
Chapter 1 – Trouble Has A Name
Anna's P.O.V
I wake up in the middle of the night, my father standing above me. There is an orange flicker on his face, and I realize that he's holding a lit torch. The ground beneath me is not the soft sheets of my bed, instead it is a cold hard stone, and I am instantly afraid. I try to stand on my feet so that I may run, but I cannot get any higher than my knees. I try to scream but I cannot, my mouth is gagged with an old cloth. My father grins at me before he turns to greet another man. The man is a priest, I can tell by his black robes and the silver cross around his neck. His face is scarred and old, he must be an elderly man but it is clear that he has the body and strength of a younger man.
"Is she ready? Have you prepared her body as I instructed?" The Priest asks my father.
"Yes Father Wright, her body has been sanctified and prepared for The Lord to do a miracle." My father says, and I wonder with horror what he has done to me in the hours that I slept.
"Very well I suppose we should start then," The Priest says, and I stare at the man in wide-eyed horror.
"Take away the gag Rupert; it is no longer needed now that I am here," The Priest orders. My father does not hesitate to do as the Priest asks, and he takes away the gag. I am afraid to scream, afraid of the consequences that will follow if I make a sound.
"What is your name?" The Priest asks, he is holding onto his cross and carefully fingering the silver beads.
"Father, my name is Anna. I don't know what my father has told you..." I say before a sharp slap forces my words to stop. I stare at him in horror, why did he just slap me?
"Hush girl. I'm not in the mood to be answering any of your questions. However, you will answer all of mine with short but precise sentences. There is no needing to go rattling off. Do you understand?" The Priest says, his eyes focus on me with an intensity that no words could justify. It is horrific the way that he stares into my eyes, as if he is looking for my soul inside of them.
The Priest goes on to say, "Your father has asked me to come here to perform an exorcism upon you, because he believes that there is a demon within you. However, if you confess of your sins and you ask the Lord for forgiveness, it is within his power to release you from the curse that binds you. However, if you do not than I must do as your father has asked of me. Do you understand?"
"I understand Father Wright," I say, my eyes staying focused on the man before me.
"Will you confess of your sins child?" The Priest asks me after a moment of silence. I know that this is my chance to say something, but how can I when I have not sinned. What could an innocent child, a ten year old girl have done so wrong to force her to repent? Or force her father to have an exorcism performed on her? The Priest takes my silence as a refusal to repent and takes a step back, clutching fiercely to his cross.
"The demon refuses to let her speak, Father Wright." My father says to the priest, however the priest ignores my father. Instead his attention, his eyes, are focused on me as he clutches to his beaded cross as if it is a lifeline.
"Show yourself demon, so that The Lord God Almighty may do his work." The pries screams at me and I tremble before him. Nothing happens and as the time passes the priest gets angrier. I don't know what he expects to happen, as he is waiting for a demon and there is no demon within me.
After a long silence the priest says a prayer "Lord God Almighty, through the power that you have invested in me, I call down your glory to banish the demon within this child. Demon, by the power invested in me by the Holy Trinity I banish you from this child, leave and never return." The Priest finishes his prayer. My father hands the priest a brander, whose iron is a burning red glow and at its tip - the brand itself - is a cross, one very similar to that of the Priest's.
"Now where was it that you said she had the Demon's mark?" The Father asks and I know he isn't talking to me. My father comes over to me, pulls off my cloak and pulls down my sleeve, revealing my star birth-mark to the Priest whom walks over and inspects it. He dares not touch the mark, and for that alone I am grateful. I am also grateful that I am spared from feeling his hands upon my skin. However, instead of feeling his fingers, I feel the red-hot iron upon my flesh, he holds it there for what feels like an eternity, but what must only be minuets
before pulling it away. I can smell my own flesh cooking and I choke upon the bile that rises within me.
The two men walk away from me and I watch them with loathing, a deep hatred that no girl should ever feel towards her father, or towards a priest.
"My payment," the priest says as he grins coyly.
"As we agreed thirty pieces of silver," my father says, handing over quite a hefty bag of coins.
"You may make your leave now Father Wright," my father says when the priest does not move.
"Of course; however, I want one other thing from you Rupert," the priest says, his grin growing larger as he quickly glances towards me.
"And what is that Father?" my father says with a sneer, his eyes blazing with anger in the firelight.
"I want your daughter for the night; I have always loved the soft, innocent flesh of children," the priest says, his words making no sense to me. What does he want me for the night for, so that he may brand me or torture me as my father does?
My father glances over at me and for a moment I see concern within his eyes, as if he can't bear to see me this way. I have hope that my father will deny the priest what he asks for. Instead my hopes are crushed as my father turns to the priest.
The Fire Within (The Fire of The Soul Series) Page 1