Prophecy of Light - Trapped: Prophecy of Light, #1

By RJ Crayton

"Be careful what you say. Words have power." -- Auntie

Kady can't remember a time in her life when she wasn't hiding. From someone or something, but she's never been sure the cause of the secrecy. Auntie, her only companion and the only person she trusts, says that words have power, and she can't tell Kady what they are hiding from. Only that the two of them must stick together and stay under the radar.

When Kady awakens in the middle of the night with her house crumbling around her, Auntie hustles her into the night and tries to protect her -- through words, magic words.

While Auntie succeeds in hiding Kady, she falls victim to the mage who has been searching for them the past 10 years. Kady knows that she must find her aunt and save her. But will she be able to tap the power trapped within her to do it?

• Language: English
• Publisher: RJ Crayton
• Release date: Sep 29, 2016
• ISBN: 9781386094692

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Table of Contents

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Table of Contents

Dedication

Chapter 1 - Caught

Chapter 2 - Alone

Chapter 3 - A Stranger

Chapter 4 - Master

Chapter 5 - Dinner with a Dwarf

Chapter 6 - No Man’s Land

Chapter 7 - Hakari Ahet

Chapter 8 - Questions

Chapter 9 - Dreams

Preview

Chapter 1 - Failing

Also By RJ Crayton

About RJ Crayton

Dedication

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED to anyone who feels trapped in the darkness. Remember, there is light within.

Note to Reader

Trapped is the first book in the prophecy of light series. It is part one of the tale of Kady, who must learn to find the magic trapped inside. On some level, we all have to face this battle as we grow up, finding out what we’re made of, what we’ve got. Kady’s magic is more literal than figurative, but it’s a journey for her, all the same. I hope you stick with Kady over the course of the four books. Please enjoy this first book on me, and I hope you continue to the end.

-RJ Crayton

Chapter 1 - Caught

The air was filled with sand. That was all I could see when I awoke. I wasn’t even sure what had jolted me from my sleep — a noise, maybe. Whatever had awakened me, when I opened my eyes, there was a cloud of dust like a surging sandstorm. Everything shook.

Boom! A loud blast, one that vibrated everything in its wake, ripped through the house. Our house.

I didn’t understand. Who would blast our house? I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned, but could see little amidst the dust. Come, Kady, I heard Auntie say. Before my eyes could make her out through the haze, she dragged me to my feet. Everything shook again, and I stumbled.

What’s going on? I asked Auntie.

Shhh, she said, and she stuffed a small, thick pouch into a pocket of my night tunic. Just then, a shot of light pierced the thick air. It looked almost like a firefly, only it didn’t blink and it moved too fast. The steady glow just zoomed around the tiny room, through the haze of dirt and sand, and then zoomed out just as quickly.

What was that? I asked, almost regretting the question as I inhaled a lung full of the sand that coated the air.

It was a probe, Auntie whispered. I think it saw us. Come.

A probe? That didn’t make any sense. What kind of probe looked like a speeding firefly? I didn’t argue. Auntie knew things, more things than she’d ever let on to me. Auntie was different that way. She loved fiercely and wholly, but she always told me that words and stories have power, more power than I knew. Words held magic in them, sometimes. Dangerous magic. That’s why she kept certain things from me. She always said it was for the best. Only right now, it didn’t seem like it had been for the best.

Whatever Auntie had been keeping from me all these years had finally caught up to us.

We shuffled out of the back door and into the early morning air. The sun hadn’t risen yet, but a faint glow to the east said it was coming. We crouched briefly behind the rubble that had been our home, and I took in a deep breath of clean air, grateful to be away from the destruction. I wondered what in the world could have caused that damage to our house, especially since everything else around looked normal and undisturbed.

Auntie pulled me up to get moving again. We were behind the market shops. Here in the desert city of Halcyon, the market was the main drag of the crowded city. Dried-mud buildings served as storefronts and homes for most of the shopkeepers. Auntie and I had been here for two years. It was the longest we’d stayed in any one place. She’d always said it wasn’t safe for us to be in one spot for an extended period. But two years ago, Auntie had gone out to the market, leaving me in the little tent we lived in in the city of Galrach. When she came back, she said, she’d met with a man named Pylum, who bore the mark of the mage. He has a big heart and the gift of sight. He says we will be safe in Halcyon.

So, at twelve years old, after eight years of nomad life, Auntie and I moved here. She worked as a housekeeper initially, and eventually opened the bakery. We were safe. Or, we were supposed to be.

Auntie tugged me through the alleyway formed by the backs of stores on each side. I realized I wasn’t wearing any shoes as my feet hit the sandy ground.

Hurry, Auntie whispered, and we ran barefoot through the alleyway. We’d gotten a couple of blocks from our house, when she stopped suddenly, and whispered Shan-ti. A symbol in gold appeared in the night air and then dove to the ground. A deep hole about two feet wide appeared, and as I gasped in surprise, Auntie shoved me in it. Even though I tried to scream as I fell, my voice had been taken. Literally, it was stolen. I wanted sound to come out, but nothing happened. If I could have, I would have shrieked, because I didn’t fall right. Instead of a swift slice through the air, I floated to the ground and landed billowy soft at the bottom of this newly-created pit.

I lifted my arms and jumped up, but couldn’t reach the top. The hole I’d been cast into must have been at least eight feet deep. Even