The Quest (Sanshlian Series Book 1)

by Dani Hoots

  “I don’t know why, I am just the guardian. You can ask her.”

  “Ask her? She is still here?”

  “No, it’s complicated. You will see.” He led me into the city.

  It appeared just as it did in my dreams. Destroyed, littered with years of war and mayhem. We walked through the city, footsteps echoing through the emptiness. The horror it must have been to watch this be destroyed. To watch it slowly deteriorate with time. I felt bad for Brayen. He had to witness it all. Then he had to wait and recall the memory for years upon years until I showed up. I couldn’t even imagine.

  “It used to be such a beautiful city,” he spoke. “Full of joy and wonder. It was a place of peace. Until he came. Until he destroyed it all.”

  “Until Nygard destroyed it,” I stated.

  He nodded as we walked further into the city. “Yes. He found the books of the ancients in the middle of the jungle. Nygard brought them to Violet, showing her all the powers they could hold from them but she didn’t want any part of them and told him to get rid of them before he got caught. Reluctantly, he agreed to get rid of them but as he was about to, something called to him and told him not to. The seduction of the power the books held was too much for him. It started out with just a few simple spells, nothing too terrible, but then he wanted more.

  “This was all in secret but Violet knew something was wrong and ended up informing the elders. She was scared he might do something rash and there would be no turning back. They didn’t want the evil to spread and tried to stop him but it was too late. He had become too powerful and destroyed all of those who had come to his door. It didn’t stop there. He wanted more and more power until it finally had complete control of him. He set out to conquer the planet. That wasn’t enough and he set out for the stars. He conquered the galaxy and started the Empire. The First Empire.”

  “But Violet stopped him.”

  “Eventually. After he left Sanshli, Violet disappeared for a while. I don’t know what happened and frankly I don’t think she did either. She had lost her memory of everything that happened and Nygard finally found her. He was about to kill her when he realized he could use her memory loss to his advantage. He tried to train her and make her like him but something triggered her memory and it all came back to her. She remembered what he had done to her and her people and used all the power she had learned from him to stop him. Now here we are.”

  “Why couldn’t she just stop him entirely? Why did she need me to do all this now?” That was the real question I wanted to know. Why couldn’t she stop him?

  “There is a lot you don’t understand about us,” he gestured to the building in front of us. “Here we are. This is the building only you can open.”

  I examined it. It was exactly like the one in my dreams. Dragon pillars and all. It was weird actually standing in front of it. It was still in good shape compared to the rest of the buildings around it. The dream had everything down to the letter. I wondered how that was possible.

  “Why have I been having dreams about this place?” I asked.

  “It was a calling, or a mark, Violet left on you so you knew your destiny. I’m surprised it took you this long to come looking. Your father knew about all of this, he was to prepare you until you started having the dreams. Then he was to bring you here.”

  “My father died eleven years ago.”

  “Ah. I didn’t know. I am sorry.”

  “It’s okay. This explains how he knew so much. I am surprised he never said anything about me being from here,” I guess he just didn’t know the war on Garvner would start then. He should have said something, or left a clue for me to find with the truth. Maybe that was what some of the markings that he left me meant. He was trying to tell me my destiny.

  I stood there, looking over the building, knowing now this is where my destiny had been leading me to all this time. It felt odd but somewhere deep inside, I felt at peace. As if years of searching were finally drawing to a close, even though I had only been on this mission for a few weeks. I kept on these thoughts when Brayen broke the silence.

  “I must retire now,” Brayen stated. “To the spirit world.”

  I quickly turned to him. “What? You can’t leave me. There is more I need to know. You are the only one who knows anything.”

  “Don’t worry, you will find out soon enough. Everything will be answered and you will know what you need to do. As for me, my job here is done. I can finally rest in peace knowing my job is finished. Goodbye, fair miss, and good luck,” he started to walk off and slowly disappeared.

  Chapter 21

  I kept staring at where Brayen had just been standing. He was gone and now I was alone to face my fate. Just as I had always been in my dreams. I must have been destined to be alone. Mission after mission, time after time. Alone.

  Memories of all the dreams I had rushed into my mind. The door that stood in front of me, the door that would hold all the answers. All of them. Then it hit me. The voices. I hadn’t heard any of the voices that had been in the dreams. Would those be there as well? Or were those just the voices calling me to come find the planet?

  I began to fear what could be behind that door. Millions of ghosts entering my mind. No, I couldn’t survive that. In the dreams, that is when I would wake up. I could get out. I couldn’t get out of this; I had to face it for real this time.

  “Cadi!” I heard a voice call behind me. I turned to find Jack and the rest of the crew racing towards me.

  No, I wasn’t alone. Not anymore.

  They approached me, out of breath from running across the city. Jack embraced me, not wanting to ever let me go.

  “Are you okay?” I had never seen Jack so worried.

  “I am fine,” I said as Jack kept his arms around me.

  David looked over the building I stood in front of. “What happened?”

  I didn’t even know where to begin. Whether or not I should tell them how the beast was a Sanshlian, how I was supposed to open this door, or how I was Violet and Nygard’s daughter. It was too much for me to handle, let alone them.

  I pushed Jack’s arms away from me, not knowing how long he was going to try to hold on to me. “Uh, long story.”

  “What was it?” Will asked.

  Jack wrapped his arms around me again. I sighed.

  “Let me go,” I said. He unwillingly backed away from me. “He was the guardian of Sanshli, making sure I was opening this building for all the right reasons.”

  “And you passed?” Will questioned, as if I wouldn’t.

  “I guess so.”

  “Every day has its surprises I presume,” Will muttered.

  “I agree, how did it know you weren’t lying?” David examined me as I shrugged.

  “It knew me. It knew why I needed to be here.”

  “Where is it now?” Rik asked.

  “Gone,” I looked out into the distance where he had vanished.

  “Gone? Gone where?” Jack peered around.

  “Gone forever. His reason for living is done. Now he can rest,” I faced the door. “And we can finish this for good.”

  “The Imperials landed just south of here. We must hurry,” David stated as I started for the door.

  “Too late,” a voice said behind us.

  I started laughing, knowing that my luck had really truly forsaken me. I peered behind me to find Neil standing there, hands together behind his back, as if he had been inspecting us for a while now. He was alone or at least appeared to be.

  Rik, Will and David pulled out their guns and pointed them at him. It was a stupid move and they knew it but it apparently didn’t stop them.

  “I don’t think so, gents.” Jack pulled out his gun and aimed it at Rik. It was a modified TG-2, highly illegal for him to possess. I don’t think it really mattered anymore though. “Put all of your guns down. Now.”

  “So you are the traitor,” Will began as he kept his gun level at Neil. “I knew it. Probably in with Arcadia this whole time, eh?�
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  I shook my head as I pulled out the other modified TG-2 Jack had hanging off his belt and aimed it at him. “No, he’s not. Jack, put down your gun.”

  He looked at me through the corner of his eye but didn’t let his gun leave Rik. He never thought I would pull a gun on him. I could tell he was heartbroken.

  “Cadi, what are you doing?” Jack whispered. I ignored him.

  Neil started clapping. “Bravo, Arcadia, I didn’t think you would ever pull a gun on him, your one true love.”

  I didn’t budge. “You are out-numbered, Neil.”

  “Do you really think I would come here alone?”

  As if that was their cue, Tom, Laura and Peter appeared out from behind the building ruins. They all had TG-2s raised at us. David, Will, and Rik threw their guns on the ground, knowing they had no chance against all of them. I, on the other hand, did. I kept my gun raised and didn’t budge.

  “Arcadia, lower your weapon. You don’t really want to shoot him,” Neil grinned.

  “Wanna bet?” I kept my eyes on Jack. He didn’t move.

  “Lower your weapon, Arcadia,” he ordered as he walked closer. He was standing within arm’s reach now.

  “You are right, I wouldn’t shoot. Him,” I quickly turned and shot at Neil. Without flinching, he grabbed my wrist and moved the barrel to point at David before the bullet left the chamber. The bullet hit David in the leg. David fell to the ground. It would only be a minor wound, but the surprise still caught me, and everyone else, off guard.

  “David!” I exclaimed as Neil pulled the gun out of my hand and punched me in the jaw. I landed on the ground.

  “What were you thinking Arcadia? Did you really think you could shoot me?” Neil grabbed me by the hair and started pulling me up the stairs. “After all this time, you think you could surprise me?!”

  “What can I say? It was worth a shot.”

  He threw me to the ground in front of the door. “You are so predictable, you know that?”

  “I suppose I do now.”

  “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

  “Better dead than working for you.” I grinned.

  “I don’t really care at this point, just open the damn door,” he said. I didn’t budge. “Open it!

  I shook my head. “I can’t. It’s protected by a spell.”

  “I don’t care. Open it.”

  “I can’t, didn’t you hear me?”

  “Yes, I know, only the daughter of Violet can open it. That bitch made sure of it. Now open it,” he ordered.

  I looked up at him. “How do you know that?”

  “Because, my dear Arcadia, I know I’m not strong enough to open the door or handle the guardian of this place,” Neil explained. None of the others knew what we were talking about so they kept silent as we argued.

  “Strong enough?” Then it struck me. “That means you’re...”

  “A Sanshlian? In fact, I am. A descendent of one anyway. Two actually. My father was an illusionist and my mother was a mind reader,” he grinned. “I take after my mother.”

  “Then that’s how you know, that’s how you always know. That is how you knew about us looking for Sanshli. How you always knew everything I was going to do!” I exclaimed, mad that I never figured it out earlier. That is what Father had been trying to warn us about. The Emperors, they were decedents of Sanshlians, and they wanted to awaken Nygard. It all made sense now.

  “Very good, Arcadia.”

  “You all have been trying to awaken him, he is your master,” I started to fill in the pieces.

  “Putting it all together now aren’t you?”

  “You need him to teach you the powers of that book, the book of the ancients.”

  “Yes, keep going,” he urged me on.

  “You knew you needed the daughter of Violet and Nygard. That’s why you had me this entire time. You were using me!” I knew I had always been a pawn, but I didn’t know how much he really had used me.

  “Right again, dear Arcadia. I ran into you and saw that you were her. Funny, it was all a coincidence finding you in the Kamps. I guess luck was just in my favor.”

  “You used me! This entire time!”

  “Yes, I used you. Get over it. Now, open the door!” Neil shoved me closer to the door.

  “I can’t!”

  “Liar! You are the only one that can, Arcadia,” he paused. “Or should I say Myra?”

  “Myra?”

  “That’s her name, the daughter of Nygard and Violet. Did no one tell you? Funny, you don’t even know your own name,” Neil explained.

  “What is he talking about, Arcadia?” Rik inquired.

  “Your sister here is the daughter of the legendary Nygard and Violet themselves, or I guess I should say your adopted sister,” he grabbed my wrist and pulled it to the door knob. “And she is the only one who can open this door.”

  He forced my hand onto the door and that is when I felt it. A ghostly being, a presence, enter my body. I was thrown back to the ground as the door opened. A bright light shone through the crack of the door. I felt different, as if something had changed. I looked down at my hands. They were getting lighter, fairer. I pulled my hair down to where I could see it. Blonde. The spell was over. I was who I was supposed to be. I presumed my eyes were purple now too.

  I heard murmurs of people behind me, but I didn’t listen. There was something more important on my mind. What was about to happen. It wouldn’t come as a surprise; I knew I couldn’t stop it. It always happened in the dreams. I grabbed my head.

  “No! No! Get out of my head!” I shouted. It was just like the dreams. A thousand voices swam inside my head and I couldn’t get them out. Neil stepped over me and looked into the building.

  “Good luck getting them out of your mind. Every person who has touched this door went insane. Most ended up killing themselves,” he laughed as he entered the building. “You don’t have to worry about me reading your mind anymore; I don’t want to be a part of what’s going on inside there now.”

  “Damn you, you bastard!” I shot out at him. He knew what would happen but he didn’t care. I had just been a pawn this whole time. Seven years I served him and this was all he wanted me for. I cursed under my breath.

  “Touchy,” he pulled out his knife and handed it to me. “Here, you can kill yourself with this if you want. I know you want to as well,” he let out a laugh and dropped the knife in front of me. I stared down at it.

  “Generals, bring the rest. I can still use them in this. Make them walk in front, in case there are some other traps,” Neil ordered. “And Jack, you can take her now. I don’t need her anymore. If you still want her, that is. Wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t. She’s damaged goods now.”

  The three generals each took one of the crew. David barely could stand but that didn’t matter. They forced him up and into the building with the rest of them. He grimaced with every step he took. I would have felt bad about shooting him if I didn’t have more things to worry about.

  Jack bent down beside me. “Cadi, what happened? Why are you like this? How’s this possible?” He asked. I started forcing the tip of the knife into my chest. He grabbed the knife from me. “Arcadia! Snap out of it!”

  I grabbed at my head again, “They’re all inside of my head! Get them out!”

  “Who? What? Cadi, what happened?” He tried to get something, anything out of me.

  “The ghosts of a thousand pasts. All of them, they are here, waiting.”

  “Waiting for what?”

  “Me,” I whispered. Jack didn’t know what to say.

  He pulled me up and decided to lead me inside the building with the rest of them. We both wanted to know how this was going to play out. Curiosity must have been in everyone’s mind. Curiosity about what was really going to happen next. Who was going to win this war. It didn’t look good for the Second Republic, but we really didn’t know what would happen once we were inside. Once Nygard was released.

  I let Jack
lead me into the building as I focused on what was happening in my mind. All the voices were whispering different things. I couldn’t understand them. I tried to separate them but I couldn’t. I held my head in agony. Sanshlian chants kept repeating themselves, thousands of them at once. I didn’t know where to start. I tried to keep my breathing steady but failed miserably. I felt as if I could crawl up in a ball and just wait to die. I knew that wasn’t like me, but at this time I didn’t really know who I was anymore. Or what I was, on that note.

  The entrance of the building led into a large, open room with walls covered in engravings. Engravings I could read. I tried to translate them but had trouble with my mind being overtaken. I peered around some more. A great statue stood in the middle. A great statue with a sword through the heart. Nygard. I tried to concentrate on what was going on around me. Neil was walking to the platform where a book was placed. A book? I closed my eyes. The book Nygard used to become all powerful. He wanted it for himself. I concentrated on the voices. They were becoming louder. I went down to my knees and held my head. Pain. Jack knelt down next to me and placed his hand on my back.

  “It’s alright; I will get you through this. Try to stay with me,” Jack stroked my back. Even after all of this, he still cared for me.

  I peered around again. Book. Neil. Nygard. Engravings everywhere. I closed my eyes. There was something, something I knew but couldn’t figure out what. I kept trying but it was hard, harder than it should have been. I damned the ghosts that took over my mind. I tried fighting them off but they succeeded in ruling over me. I opened my eyes again. Then I started reading the engravings.

  The engravings were about Nygard and everything that was going on. I didn’t realize until partially through translating them that they weren’t in the standard language. Why I understood them I didn’t know, but I kept on reading them. They told about everything, everything that could happen, everything that this could lead to.

  As I kept reading, I realized it made the voices go away. They wanted me to read this; this is what they were telling me to do. They helped me translate so I would understand, so I could prepare for what would happen next. Why Violet needed me, why this was all about me.