The Prophecy of Arnaka (The Arnaka Saga Book 1) Read online

  If she settled in the United States for a bit and found a reasonable place to live, she would use her time and resources wisely. That would give her the opportunity to reflect on different options and opportunities. She hoped that was the last mature, adult decision she would have to make for a while. She had been responsible for too long. Her passion wanted out of its cage.

  Elena decided to let destiny guide her. She would find a map and allow her destination to choose her. She walked down aisles until she found a display of globes. A globe would suit her purpose much more dramatically than a map. She could spin one with flair and let her new location choose itself.

  She grabbed a medium-sized globe and took it over to a chair and small table that were mostly hidden from view. She sat next to the globe, closed her eyes, and hoped she was not totally losing it. Then she spun the globe. It wobbled, tipped over, and fell to the floor with a crash.

  She didn’t move. She held her breath waiting to see if anyone would come to see what had caused the noise. After a minute or two had passed, she dared to look up. No one had noticed. She let out a big breath in relief. The tension gone, she laughed and picked up the globe. She occasionally did quirky things in life, and it was nice to be able to laugh at herself instead of seeing judgment reflected in Brandon’s eyes.

  She spun the globe again, this time holding the base down. She thought, God, it’s up to you. Choose the right place for me. She closed her eyes and extended her index finger until it hit the spinning globe. Before she opened her eyes, it dawned on her that by using a globe she had not limited herself to the United States as she had decided she would. She was going to pick up a U.S. map, but the dramatics of using the globe had tempted her.

  After turning it over in her mind for a minute, she decided to trust that her choice of instrument was right. She was committed to going wherever her finger had landed. Whether it was Calcutta or Paris, she promised herself she would go. She was nervous. Was she truly prepared to move to Timbuktu?

  She forcefully pushed the worries away. She would not live her life in the same way she had before. She would live in magic. She would trust in the flow of things. She would allow the adventurous side of life to guide her. Besides, she had asked God to show her the way so it must be her destiny. That was the way it worked, right? Was she finally finding faith in the divine nature of life, or was she losing her mind? Only time would tell.

  She drew in a deep breath and then another as she realized one was not enough. Then she peeked one eye open just enough to see the hazy outline of what part of the world her finger had landed on. She was relieved to make out the blurry outline of the U.S. She didn’t know if she would have really been willing to move to the tundra of Siberia if her finger found its way there.

  She closed her eyes again. She steeled herself. She had already seen that her finger had ended up in the U.S. That was a good indication that God was responding to her prayers. If not, chances were high that her finger would have landed on another continent, or even in the ocean. So this must truly be her destiny. She must go wherever her finger had landed.

  With a burst of courage, she opened her eyes. Her finger rested in the state of Arizona. She could live with that. She had never been to Arizona, but she knew it was warm. Her breathing, which she hadn’t even noticed had stopped, resumed. She got closer to the globe to read the names of cities.

  She squinted at the diminutive print and was able to read Flagstaff, but Flagstaff was not exactly where her finger had landed. She lifted up her finger and saw scrawled beneath it the word Sedona. Sedona, Arizona, would be her new home, and she had never even heard of it.

  Excited by the prospect of her new life, she ran to her car. She reached the parking garage and went straight for the trunk. There she rummaged through her bags until she found a thick, cable knit sweater. She pulled it over her head with urgency and rubbed her arms along the sleeves to warm up the wool. It was cold from the freezing temperatures in her car.

  With the sweater starting to warm her, her teeth relaxed their chattering, and she was able to find her laptop. She grabbed it, locked her car, and broke into a trot. Even with her sweater on, it was too cold to walk. Careful to avoid any patches of ice that survived the salt, Elena made it back to the bookstore. Now that she knew where she was headed, she had things to do. She ordered a hot tea and asked for the Internet code.

  She booted up her computer and searched for flights. It was a four-day drive to Arizona, and alone, in the emotional state she was in, this would be too much for her. She could figure out what to do with her car later. She found a flight to Phoenix that left Detroit the next day. She already had everything packed; she could actually make it. Her friends would help her with any final details.

  Elena could stay with one of many of her friends for the night. They had all offered their homes to her during the last few difficult months, but Elena felt the need to be alone with her thoughts. Staying with friends now, though, would be a relief after her stay in the squalid motel where she had nowhere to hide from her solitude and her shadow.

  She decided right then that she would no longer make things hard for herself because she thought she was supposed to be tough. Being strong also meant being wise. And she hadn’t been wise. Now she would take care of herself and not forsake her needs for those of others. Her life would be comfortable, and she would treat herself with love and gentleness.

  Yes, she would stay with friends. She would let them comfort her, distract her, and then drive her to the airport. It would be nice to have someone see her off as she started her new life. She booked the ticket.

  Elena woke the next morning in a warm, soft bed. It felt luxurious, and for the umpteenth time she regretted not having taken her friends up on their offers before. She pulled the down comforter up to her chin and stretched her legs wide in the queen bed. She lazily opened her eyes and took in the sun-filled room with its yellow curtains, bright white comforter, and sunshiny yellow sheets. It was glorious, and it made Elena forget that it was snowing outside.

  The floorboard heater kicked on and made the shimmery curtains billow as if a soft breeze were blowing in through the windows. Elena had left the blinds open, and the early morning sunshine streamed in, lulling her awake. Today was the day.

  Talking with her friends the night before, Elena had decided to leave her car in their care. They would sell it for her. Elena had also stacked boxes in their garage, though she had thinned her possessions down to a bare minimum. She would need an address before they could send the boxes to her.

  Elena had gotten rid of all photographs of her life with Brandon. Her marriage seemed like a sham now. She had also been saddened to realize how little art and writing she had created during her marriage. With her inner spark in peril, her creativity had not flowed.

  During the previous night of contemplation, she had made some important decisions. She would renounce her role as an attorney. Every time she practiced law her soul complained; to be dealing with a contrived system of laws made this world feel like an artificial one, and her soul rebelled. She would not be an architect anymore either. Architecture had satisfied her creativity more, but it was not what she was meant to do. Her spirit craved the lack of limitations that she could only reflect on a blank canvas or piece of paper. She had always been an artist and writer at heart.

  She would allow herself to be the person she was meant to be. She would allow herself the freedom to explore. At the age of twenty-eight, she had only seen glimpses of her true nature. She didn’t really know who she had wanted to be as a girl, when she was still unhampered by the limitations of society, convention, and family. Who had the little girl dreamt of being when she grew up? Elena didn’t remember anymore, but she would find out. She would give herself the opportunity to live her dream.

  The two seats next to Elena were empty even though the flight was relatively full. Elena was grateful for the extra space and stretched her legs out. She had never been out West before and was sur
prised to find the flight would be over six hours long. She had traveled more across the world than within the United States or Argentina. It satisfied her sense of adventure more to travel abroad; she had always yearned for the exotic.

  As Elena stared out the window at the passing landscape below, the stress of the last few weeks caught up with her. She realized how much tension she had been holding in her body. The emotion of the divorce and change in life direction had taken its toll. When she relaxed her muscles, she sunk into her seat, and her eyelids grew heavy. The hum of the engines outside her window lulled her to sleep.

  3 Fluorescent Stars

  Her name was Ashta, and the temple masters had been watching her for thirteen years, since the very night she came into the world. Today, they watched her as she performed an ancient meditation. She moved with great deliberation, slowly and carefully.

  Her body began in a crouch, her muscles accepting the demands she made of them. She moved along the bare ground as a wild animal teasing the surface of the earth. She came close to the ground, never touching it with anything but her bare feet. She swung her right leg out, parallel to the ground, and then moved it forward before bringing it gently to the ground again, as if it carried no weight. She repeated the motions with her left leg. Again, she raised her leg out to the side and placed it on the ground in front of her.

  The meditation appeared to require little effort, but the masters that watched Ashta knew how difficult it was to perform it with such grace. They too had been performing this meditation since they were children, when their masters had taught it to them. With a knowing eye, they watched their star pupil.

  The temple masters watched on in silence, knowing that each of them was thinking the same thing. There were three of them there that day. There were seven masters living in the Temple of Laresu’u Kal. Laresu’u Kal meant flowing waters in their native tongue, and the temple had been built on the edge of the River Haakal five hundred years before. It stood like a stoic tree, stately and strong along the riverbank.

  Forty-nine children currently lived at the Temple of Laresu’u Kal. They ranged in age from seven to twenty-one. The children saw their parents on occasion but lived on the grounds of the temple. Of these forty-nine children, only one had captured the full attention and hope of the masters. Since the day of her prophesied birth, the masters had monitored Ashta. On the very day she turned seven years old, her parents had brought her to the temple to begin her training.

  Exactly two hundred years to the day before Ashta was born, a great prophet had foretold the birth of twins. This prophet lived a solitary life out in the desert and only appeared in the villages when he had a message to deliver. It was one of these times when the mystic, Dann, appeared with a long, scraggly beard in the village of Rahn’ha. He went to the local temple there and shared a very important prophecy.

  Spirit had told Dann that twins would be born in their land and that these twins would change the world. He foretold that the twins would come at a time of strife and greed and that they would bring peace and golden light to the world. The twins would be born on the eve that welcomed birth to the earth, the equinox. On this night that heralded the coming of spring, the stars would shine unusually bright, announcing the coming of the twins into the world.

  The people had faith in the prophecy that the mystic delivered. They passed it down orally from one generation to another for two centuries until the prophecy was finally fulfilled. For two hundred years, on the spring equinox, all women that were giving birth entered the temples where the temple masters watched them closely. Outside the temples, the people held vigil through the night. The people sat in prayer and chanted, hoping that the twins that would bring light to the world would be born. And every year for two hundred years, their prayers did not receive an immediate answer. Clouds had covered the night sky of every spring equinox, obscuring the stars and the moon.

  As the years wore on, the people grew more and more discouraged. The temple masters encouraged them to continue in faith. When the time was right, the temple masters had said, the twins would be born. Only Creator could know when it was time for this great event.

  Holding space for mothers giving birth on the spring equinox became a ritual in the land of Arnaka. A powerful intention for miraculous beginnings supported those women that gave birth in the temples. The women’s labor took on a tone of the mystical as they gave birth with the natural impulses of their bodies.

  These women listened to their intuition and to that guidance received from celestial beings, so all babies born in the temples came into the world enveloped in an undeniable sense of magic. This set the stage for their lives. The children born on the spring equinox under this ritual would always be special.

  Two hundred years from the day that Dann shared his prophecy in the village of Rahn’ha, it became clear that the spring equinox that year would be extraordinary. There was a stirring in the air as darkness began to fall upon the land as if the wind knew that night would be enchanted.

  As soon as night descended upon the villages, a rumbling spread among the people. The sky was different than they had ever seen it before. The stars shone with fluorescence. Excitement gathered on the cool wind as it became evident that the prophecy would be fulfilled that night.

  Everyone arrived at the temples throughout Arnaka to pray for the coming of the prophesied twins. There were twenty-one temples across the ancient land, and masses of people began arriving at the site of each temple. People of all ages held vigil. Everyone, even the infants, sat spellbound all night. The anticipation was palpable. The people chanted and prayed.

  The level of excitement outside the temples was nothing compared to what was going on inside. The temple masters, all extremely intuitive and attuned to the workings of Creator, knew that night would bring what they had all been waiting for. The temple masters positioned themselves so that at least one of them could be with each woman that would give birth that night since no one knew which woman would bear the twins. The temple masters treated each woman as if she would be the one to bring the prophesied twins to earth. The masters understood that the energy at the time of birth would have a great impact on the infants as they entered the world.

  The temple masters sat on the floor of the birthing rooms behind privacy screens. They sat with their legs crossed and their backs straight for hours. Only their lips moved as their chests rose and fell. The temple masters, with eyes closed, chanted their prayers in a methodical rhythm that bordered on the hypnotic. Across Arnaka, the temple masters prayed in unison. Repeatedly, they chanted in their own ancient language:

  Source of all things:

  You radiate within and all around us,

  Even the darkness shines with your light.

  Let us breathe sacred breath,

  Creating a temple within where there is only you.

  Lead us in each moment,

  Guiding us to create reality in its fullest.

  Help us love all creatures as you do,

  Showing compassion for all life.

  Meet our body’s needs with plenty

  And grant us the wisdom to walk this earth.

  Allow us to forgive ourselves as we do others,

  Creating peace within.

  Grant us the knowledge of our divine purpose,

  With the strength to fulfill it.

  Repel the advances of darkness

  While we strive to hold pure light and faith in our hearts.

  We are grateful to you always. Thank you.

  As the women labored and the babies were born, one after the other, silence gradually descended upon the temple. The women’s grunts and cries quieted. As each baby was born, chanting ceased in another room.

  At the Temple of Laresu’u Kal, there was one woman that the temple masters feared may not give birth on the prophesied eve. But just as the sun was about to rise, the woman pushed out a baby girl. The infant girl was loud and strong. Her cry was robust and commanded attention. The temp
le master in the room with the newborn Ashta took notice.

  On the other end of Arnaka in the town of the green valleys, Na’anesh Kal, an almost identical scene played out. The temple master that sat with Anak’s mother was hoarse from the repetitive incantations. Dawn was about to break as she continued to chant prayers devotedly. She knew the babies must be born before the sun rose to be the twins of Dann’s prophecy, and so she kept on to support the mother.

  Seconds before pink tinged the sky, the cry of a single boy pierced the silence that had descended upon the Temple of Na’anesh Kal as the other new mothers and their babies gave over to exhaustion. The boy was vigorous, and he stared the temple master deep in the eyes when she rushed over to witness the child. The temple master immediately sensed that something was different about the infant boy Anak.

  The masters of the Temples of Na’anesh Kal and of Laresu’u Kal knew something extraordinary had happened that night. They knew that the infant born at their temple was special. However, they did not understand the discrepancy between the prophecy and what had occurred.

  Dann’s prophecy had told of the birth of twins. But that night two children of different mothers had been born, a girl and a boy, on opposite sides of Arnaka. They could not be twins. Nevertheless, despite this seeming impossibility, the temple masters knew that, somehow, the time of the twins had come. They prepared to wait for the years to reveal how it would unfold.

  4 An Other-Worldliness

  Elena woke up disoriented. She didn’t remember where she was at first. Her dream had felt so real. She rubbed her eyes to dispel the fog. It had been a continuation of the dream Brandon had interrupted.

  Elena had wedged her head in between the edge of her seat and the window while she slept. Now, she allowed herself to come to alertness gradually while staring out the window. They flew over a mountainous forest of pines, and it made Elena happy to see such vibrant green after months of white in Michigan. Even though she appreciated the beauty of the snow-covered landscape, she had grown tired of the bitter cold temperatures.