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

  “I know of a man in Sedona who is a master in these things, and I highly value the opinion of the person who recommended him. I was already planning on contacting him while I was here,” Marco said. “The man is an exorcist.”

  An exorcist? Was he serious? Elena didn’t think exorcists were real.

  “Seriously,” he said. “We should call him today. What you have told me sounds important, and I do not have the knowledge or skills to help you.”

  Four hours later, they were knocking on Victor Stone’s door. They were fortunate. Victor had been able to fit them in. Apparently, there were a lot of people in need of an exorcist. A last-minute cancellation had opened up, and, after Elena explained her dream over the phone, Victor suggested he see her that same day. Elena didn’t suppose it was a good sign when the exorcist thought it was important to squeeze her in right away.

  Elena didn’t know what to expect, but she was surprised that Victor looked so normal. He had twinkling blue eyes, a full head of white hair, and skin tanned by years of being out in the sun. Victor embraced them both before ushering them into his home. Animal furs covered the floor by the entrance, and feathers and animal hide drums adorned the walls.

  “Come over to the couch. That’s where we will be doing the work,” Victor said as he led them.

  Elena passed a sword hanging on the wall and asked, “Is that a real sword?”

  “Yes, it is,” Victor replied without explanation. Apparently, none was needed in Sedona.

  Elena had no trouble envisioning Victor wielding a sword. He had the air and strength of having fought in many battles over many centuries. Elena didn’t know where the thought came from, but she was not used to having thoughts that were theoretically impossible in the world as she understood it.

  Her sense of reality had become fragile when she crossed the threshold into Victor’s home. Elena recognized, without knowing how, that her life would never be the same. She was about to travel down the proverbial rabbit hole. Elena was surprised to discover she was excited. She was ready for her life to change.

  Marco sat next to Elena on the couch. Victor sat across from them.

  “Tell me exactly what happened in your dream, Elena,” Victor prompted her.

  As Elena recounted the nightmare for the second time that day, she looked at Victor. He was impassive, revealing nothing of his inner thoughts until she had spoken the last word of her story. She looked at Victor expectantly and found the courage to ask the one question she had wanted answered earlier.

  “If I had died in my dream, would I have died in real life?” Elena asked.

  Victor looked at her, expressionless. “Very possibly.”

  Victor’s answer hit Elena in the center of the chest, knocking the breath out of her.

  “Demons are a very real threat,” Victor told her.

  Elena would later identify this as the very moment when the reality she had known her entire life shattered.

  “What do you mean?” Elena asked.

  “The forces of dark and the forces of light have been at war with each other since the beginning of time,” Victor said.

  “How have I never heard of this before? I don’t understand. If this is how it is, why doesn’t anyone talk about it?” Elena asked.

  “It is because most people are blind to the truth. They do not see the world as it really is. What they believe is real because they see it with their eyes is actually an illusion. All of this around you that you see is not real,” Victor said while he gestured around him to the physical environment of his home.

  “What is real is actually what you sense and feel with your heart. That is the real world. It always has been. We live in a world where everything is magic and the seemingly impossible is possible.”

  “If I can no longer believe what I have always believed, but don’t know yet what I should actually believe, that leaves me in a very different place than I have ever been in before—one of not knowing anything,” Elena trailed off. This was new and unstable ground for her.

  “Things feel different. I feel different. But I don’t know or understand anything,” Elena said. “It’s like I have set sail and now I’m in search of terra firme.”

  “Knowing you don’t know anything is the first and most important step on any spiritual path,” Victor said with a wisdom born of deep experience.

  “You are a powerful being, Elena, though I see that you do not understand exactly what I mean. But you will come to see it soon. It is time for you to remember who you are and what it is you are here to do. You are a spiritual warrior,” Victor told Elena.

  Victor turned to Marco, “As are you.”

  Marco nodded as if he already knew this. Elena was confused and sat just looking at Victor, trying to process what he was saying. A spiritual warrior? What did that even mean?

  Victor looked at Elena’s expression and laughed a hearty laugh. This was not at all the man Elena expected to meet when she learned they were coming to see an exorcist.

  “Don’t worry, Elena. You will understand soon enough,” Victor said. “I am glad you have come to me. It is time for both of you to step into your life’s purpose. You have much to do on this earth.

  “It is important that you have found each other. You needed to find each other before you could fulfill your purpose.”

  “Marco and I only met yesterday,” Elena told Victor.

  “Time doesn’t matter. It doesn’t even exist in the way most people think it does. What does matter is that you have found each other,” he told them. “I can tell that you both know that too.”

  Marco and Elena nodded. It did feel like that.

  Victor turned to the pressing matter. “We will have time to talk about all of this later. We will see each other again.

  “Now,” Victor began, “you have a demon with you, Elena.”

  “How can you tell? What do you see?” she asked.

  “You have a shape-shifting demon attached to you. Shape-shifting demons show up as gray outlines around your energy field. They hide behind the glow of your aura.

  “Marco,” Victor said, “you do not have any discarnate beings with you. That is unusual. Have you done anything to clear yourself?”

  “No, I have not,” Marco said. “I have always sensed the darkness though. Even as a boy, I knew when something tried to attack me, and I would protect myself. I have always done this without understanding it. Years ago, I set off in search of answers. Now, you are the reason I came to Sedona.”

  “Oh?” Victor said. “How did you find out about me?”

  “A man I met on my travels in the Peruvian Jungle, Manay Quispe, suggested I find you. He spoke very highly of you.”

  “Ah yes, Manay,” Victor said. “I haven’t seen him for many years. How is he?”

  “He is quite well,” Marco told him. “He seems happy and healthy. His smile is brilliant even though he has lost some teeth. And he walks with a cane now.”

  “Hmm,” Victor said. “Those who are happy are healthy. Joy is the essential ingredient for health and long life.”

  The nostalgic moment came to a close and Victor turned to Elena again.

  “You are of the Mary Magdalene line, Elena,” Victor said.

  “What do you mean?” Elena asked.

  “I can feel it all around you. You are a descendant of Mary Magdalene,” Victor said.

  “Who is Mary Magdalene?” Elena asked.

  “The wife of Jesus.” This time Marco replied.

  “Jesus had a wife?” Elena asked. She had never learned that in her Roman Catholic upbringing.

  “Marco can fill you in later,” Victor said, ready to move on. “You will need to understand the importance of the Mary Magdalene connection.

  “But now,” Victor said, as if he had just mentioned a mundane detail and nothing more, “we need to address this demon that you have been carrying around with you.

  “Would you like me to remove it from your energy field?” Victor asked Elena.
r />   Though Elena had no idea what that would entail or what it even really meant to have a demon attached to her, she knew her answer.

  “Yes, please! I was terrified last night. Is this the same demon that was chasing me in my dream?”

  “Yes. You have had this demon with you for many years,” Victor said. Elena was shocked. She’d had a demon with her for that long? It seemed inconceivable not to have known that something was affecting her thoughts and actions for so long.

  “The dark forces watch those who have great light within them very closely. Demons wait for the opportunity to attack. They strike at moments of energetic vulnerability, like when you are too young to know how to protect yourself. That’s what happened to you. You may have had this demon with you since infancy. It’s possible. But we can find out in a minute if you’d like,” Victor said.

  Elena just nodded. It was too much information to take in. She didn’t know what to say or think anymore.

  “Elena, are you willing to act as a medium so that the demon can speak through you?”

  At the confused look on Elena’s face, Victor explained further.

  “That way, you can receive information to better understand the unfolding of your life. It will feel like you are hearing the answers within you. You will just know what the demon is saying. Are you okay with that?”

  “I guess so,” Elena said nervously.

  Without further preamble, Victor began, “I am addressing the demon within Elena. Will you talk with me?”

  In the most bizarre experience of her entire life, Elena felt the answer within her. Just moments before she hadn’t even felt the demon. She still had wondered at what Victor was saying and whether any of what he was saying could possibly be true. But all of a sudden, she could feel the demon’s presence distinctly, as if all she needed was to identify it to perceive it.

  Elena voiced the answer she felt within her, “Yes, I will.” The demon was prideful and liked to show its power.

  “How long have you been with Elena?” Victor asked the demon.

  “Since she was sixteen years old,” Elena voiced.

  “Why have you been with her all of this time?” Victor asked.

  “Because she is full of light, and I must interfere with her ability to step into her purpose. She must not be allowed to fulfill her destiny. I will command her life and wreak chaos until she falls into a spiral of darkness and leaves the earth.”

  “You will not!” Victor roared back. It startled Elena. The command carried undeniable power. Though six feet tall already, Victor seemed to grow even more from his seat on the couch. He was imposing.

  I call on the divine white healing light of unconditional love of Creator God to come fill and surround Elena, to extend down to the core of the earth and carry away any worry, any concern, any anxiety, any doubt, any negativity, and transform it into pure energy of the universe.

  I ask for a super bubble filled with light to encapsulate the demon attached to Elena.

  I command in the name of Creator God that the demon attached to Elena release its hold on her and step away now.

  I call on the Archangels Michael and Uriel and the Mighty Warriors of Light on earth to take the demon to the place of confinement, to the womb of transformation, now.

  I call to the Archangel Raphael and the angelic realm to come heal any harm or damage to Elena’s mind, energy body, and physical body done by the demon during the time it was attached.

  I give gratitude from my heart to the archangels and the angelic realm for their help with this clearing.

  The tone of Victor’s voice when he commanded the demon to release her left no question of his authority to command such an action. What he said would be done.

  Elena felt the desperation of the demon as it left her body. She felt the demon spiral out of her, and then she was free.

  Victor continued gently, “I ask the angels to do a soul retrieval for Elena, to return all soul parts that have fragmented off at times of trauma and pain, that she may be spiritually whole and strong.”

  Astonished, Elena felt herself tingling as angels returned pieces of her soul to her.

  “Do you feel Archangel Michael before you now, presenting you with a sword?” Victor asked.

  Elena shook her head no.

  “He is standing in front of you with a sword that is almost as tall as you are. Extend your hand to grab the hilt.”

  Elena did as Victor told her, and she felt something placed in her hand. It was unbelievable.

  “Now hold up the sword and claim your destiny!” Victor said.

  Elena raised her arm up high and felt the power of the sword. She must be dreaming.

  “Archangel Michael now stands behind you with his hand on your shoulder. Can you feel him?” Victor asked.

  Elena nodded. She could sense him. She also experienced a tingling sensation at her shoulder blades.

  “What is there at my shoulder blades that I feel tingling?” Elena asked.

  Victor’s smile could not have been more brilliant.

  “They are your wings,” Victor said.

  “What?” Elena asked.

  For the first time since the clearing session had started, Elena heard Marco’s voice.

  “I see them,” he said.

  “Your wings are mighty and strong, just as you are, Elena. You must own this truth. It is yours to own,” Victor told her.

  Elena heard a whisper at her right ear. Though Elena could not see Archangel Michael, she could feel his hand on her shoulder.

  The whisper said, “It has been a long time, my sister. I love you.”

  Then Archangel Michael kissed the top of her head and was gone.

  “Archangel Michael?” Elena asked Victor. “As in Saint Michael? Was just here? With us?”

  Victor nodded. He had been.

  “He just called me ‘sister,’” she told Victor. “How is that possible?”

  “That is very interesting,” Victor said while rubbing his chin pensively. But he offered no further explanation then.

  Abruptly, Victor stood and said to Elena, “We will meet again soon. Now, it is time for you to process on your own. Be gentle with yourself and take it easy. Rest. Most importantly, keep your vibration high.”

  Elena walked out of Victor’s house in a state of stunned silence. When Elena walked to the car, Victor held Marco back.

  “Will you take care of her?” Victor asked, concern in his voice. “It is a lot for her to process all at once. But it is her time. It is very important that she awaken as quickly as possible.”

  Marco got in the driver’s seat with responsibility for a woman he knew he was meant to protect. It was part of his life’s purpose.

  9 Deep in the Rabbit Hole

  Thoughts milled through Elena’s awareness and more filtered in at a subconscious level. She was emotionally exhausted and didn’t even have the energy to speak. She turned her head to look at Marco. He stared straight ahead at the road as he drove; he too seemed lost in thought. He turned toward her and smiled a smile that warmed her heart. Elena was already more comfortable with Marco than she had ever been with her ex-husband and knew she didn’t need to break the silence with forced talking. He understood her reverie.

  They pulled up to the Javelina Inn and Marco led Elena to his room. He held her around the waist, propping her up in her dream-like state. She didn’t know what was real and what wasn’t anymore. She was deep in the rabbit hole looking around trying to make sense of her surroundings.

  He sat her down on the freshly made bed and went to draw water in the bathtub. When it was full, Marco led her, still wordlessly, to the bath. He closed the door to the bathroom so she could undress in private. Even though Elena and Marco felt this sense of unexplained harmony, they had not been physically intimate yet, and Marco wanted to respect her privacy. Elena felt too weak to fold her clothes; she let them fall where she stood. They crumpled in a heap on the tile floor.

  The water was the perfect tem
perature. Elena slid down in the tub until the water fully covered her, leaving only the tip of her nose out of the water to breathe. She felt peace in her submerged water world. Her mind was quiet as there was too much to absorb all at once. The best she could do now was to wait for it all to fall into place.

  Behind her closed eyes, images flashed unexpectedly. It was as if she were dreaming but she was pretty certain she was awake; she moved her legs to make sure. She didn’t know what she was seeing, but she surrendered to it. When she did, the flashes became more intense, and she felt as if she were somehow living out the scenes she was seeing. She gave herself over to it completely, wiping all desire to analyze from her mind, and the colors instantly became more vivid, the sounds clearer, and she consciously stepped out of this dimension into another for the first time.

  * * *

  “Today you will learn to be one with the waters,” the temple master, Kaanra, told Ashta. Of the seven temple masters at the Temple of Laresu’u Kal, Kaanra was her favorite. White streaks had finally begun to mottle his dark hair, but other than that, he seemed ageless with his slight build and an athletic bounce to his walk. Kaanra had a kind glint in his eye that always comforted Ashta, even when his words were not gentle. Ashta sensed his heart.

  “Go,” he told her. “Feel her. Become the water.”

  “And how, exactly, do I do that?” she asked. It was a sensible question, she thought.

  “You will know, child,” Kaanra answered, although Ashta felt that his response told her nothing. How would she know if she had no idea what he was even talking about? How was she supposed to become one with the water? She was almost amused at the vagueness and immensity of the task.

  “Be with her. Be with her stillness, her power, and her knowledge. Feel the water as you feel yourself. Let yourself become her, and you will learn to master her knowledge. You must learn to harness the energies that surround you and are within you. You must become as familiar with the elements as you are with your own body. Know them and you will know yourself,” he said.

  “Now go, child. Become the water,” he said, and he turned and walked away.

  She stood still in the temple’s hall where Kaanra had found her, on her way to the dining room for breakfast. She was unsure of what to do now. Her assignment was to become one with the water. She was a bit bewildered.