Chosen Avatar: The Arkadia Saga, #1

By Tiffany Shand

Love lasts a lifetime… or several.

 

In the ancient city of Arkadia, Ella Noran and her team are on the hunt for artifacts and to discover the truth about the city's destruction long ago. When Ella stumbles upon a buried gateway, she unleashes the Esrac, a vampire species that nearly wiped out the Ancients.

 

But this isn't the first time that Ella's dealt with the Esrac. She's just living the latest reincarnation of her life, one that's tied directly to the destruction of the Ancients a thousand years ago. While she's been trying to avoid her ex-boyfriend Luc, a member of the Valan knights sworn to fight the Esrac, she doesn't realize that they've lived countless lives together since the Ancients existed.

 

Meanwhile, Ella's magic-wielding ability defies the sworn laws of the Republic. If she's discovered, she'll be put to death. But when your whole life is just a series of rebirths… death is just another chance at love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tiffany Shand
• Release date: Feb 4, 2019
• ISBN: 9781386649311

Tiffany Shand

Tiffany Shand was born in Essex, UK and started writing short stories when she was a child. She has always done writing in one form or another and started writing novels in her early teens. She writes both non-fiction and fiction, but mostly fantasy and paranormal romance. After doing a creative writing course in her early 20s she is now a freelance writer and professional proofreader. Tiffany lives in Essex with her two spoiled cats and one very nutty hamster.

Book preview

Prologue

Aurelia ducked as the sound of explosions roared through the city. The shining white stone towers that once touched the sky were now blackened, broken and burnt. Their windows long gone, and their walls crumbled. This wasn’t supposed to happen, she muttered. I never meant for this!

Airships hovered overhead, lighting up the sky with fire. The great city her people had built and treasured for centuries was falling before her eyes, and around her hundreds lay dead or dying. People coughed, and hands reached out for her as she moved past them. She was their avatar, someone meant to help them. But she knew she had very little time left. Her people would punish her for breaking the balance of magic by creating a device that had brought so much death. Magic prickled against her skin and she knew she had only minutes before the curse took effect. She would die today, no matter what happened. It was her punishment, her fate.

I never meant for this to happen, she thought. Yet, nothing can change it now.

You’ve lost, avatar, Esme, Queen of the Esrac, smiled. Her long blood red hair and teal skin gave her a menacing look, and her fangs glistened like metallic points. Surrender now, and I’ll let you live.

Aurelia wiped a tear from her cheek as she shook her head. What was left to live for? Her family, friends, her beloved – all dead. She could sense it. Now the city had fallen. You should know I’ll never surrender, Esme, she hissed.

I hoped you would say that.

Aurelia shot to her feet as Esme came at her.

The runes surrounding the gate—the very device she had created—flared to life, forming a glowing field of static around it. Fire flared in Aurelia’s hand, and she hurled it at the Esrac Queen.

Esme stumbled backwards, falling into the glowing wall of energy. Her talons gripped the sides of the gate to prevent the magic from pulling her through.

What are you doing? Esme screamed.

Sending you and all your kind to a realm where you’ll never harm anyone again, Aurelia replied. You will never escape the hell I’m sending you to. You made a big mistake coming here and waging war on my people.

She hurled another ball of glowing blue fire at the Esrac. She knew she’d made a mistake creating a doorway between the worlds. It was one that had cost so many people their lives, but she’d fix it. She might not have the power to destroy the Esrac, but she’d make sure they never hurt anyone else.

Esme’s claws scraped against the sides of the gate as she fought to hang on. You can’t do this.

I’m the one who first set foot in your world. I’m the reason the Esrac came here, I’ll make damn sure you never come back.

Screeches rang out as, one by one, every Esrac was dragged through the gate. Esme still hung on to it, refusing to let go.

You can’t leave me locked up forever! My followers will wipe out every avatar in this world so there will be no one left to control the gates and keep me out. Your precious city of Arkadia is already falling. You may have won this battle, but you haven’t won the war.

Go ahead. I’ll be there to stop you. Even death won’t hold me. Aurelia shoved Esme through the gate, watching the runes turn dormant as she did.

Aurelia slumped back against the wall as she drew her final breaths, knowing she had performed her duty. Their world would be safe from the Esrac. For now, at least.

Chapter 1: Ella

Ella Noran pushed her long black hair off her face, smudging dirt over her cheek as the midday sun beat down on her. She brushed the dirt off and sighed. Digging by hand was tedious work, but it was the best method of finding potential artefacts, and far less invasive than using any tech. She had to find something to prove to Griffin it would be worth excavating the area. He insisted this part of the old city wouldn’t be worth exploring, since scans had shown no potential artefacts. But she disagreed.

A faint whisper carried on the breeze came from behind her. She turned around, half expecting one of her team members to be there. No doubt Eric would try to play a practical joke on her again.

Eric, if that’s you, then stop it. This isn’t funny! she snapped.

No one there.

She frowned, certain she’d heard something, but shook her head. She didn’t believe the multitude of legends that said the city held some kind of monster. Most of the teams who’d come here over the years had soon returned empty-handed, using wild stories to protect their reputations. But Ella wasn’t superstitious like the rest of them. Those stories were almost as absurd as the rumours. Yet it had taken months to convince the Senate to agree to an expedition.

Glancing at her link, she saw she’d already been in her spot for over an hour and had found nothing but layers of dirt. It was already past noon, but she had a few more hours before heading back to the citadel for dinner with the rest of the team.

A low growl made her jump and scramble for her stunner. Its high voltage energy would deter any would-be assailants. Excavating the old city so close to the border where rebels lived had made everyone on the team uneasy, but she had felt bravest. Eric had stayed with her for a while before flying back to Celestus to get more supplies. He hadn’t been happy about her digging on her own. He agreed that as long as she had a weapon with her, she could take care of herself. She doubted the rebels would be interested in an archaeology student digging through dirt, anyway. What possible use could she be to them?

It’s just the wind, she told herself. Stop being so on edge.

She slipped the stunner into her belt. More whispering and the sound of chanting filled the air with words she couldn’t understand, yet she found no one there.

What is going on?

Ella glanced around for her dust bunny, looking for the tell-tale signs of his snowy white fur.

Fidget? she called. Fidget! Where have you wandered off to now?

She knew he’d come back. He always did, but he always seemed to get up to mischief.

Fidget, don’t do anything stupid or you’ll go back in your cage. The last thing she needed was for him to get stuck somewhere.

Food? chirped a voice. A pair of pointed ears appeared through the long grass, followed by the rest of the dust bunny.

Ella rolled her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. No, you’re not having more food. I’m not wasting supplies on your never-ending appetite. We didn’t come all this way for me to feed you all the time. If you’re that hungry, go look for some food on your own.

His ears drooped, and he gave her his best ‘but I’m starving’ look.

Come help me dig. We’ve got to find something useful to show Master Griffin, or he’ll never take me seriously. She cursed as another strand of hair fell over her face before scooping it back behind her ear. I need to prove this area is worth excavating.

As much as she wanted to find artefacts, she also hoped she’d find some trace of what had happened to her father here.

Fidget sat grooming his fluffy white coat, wagging his long tail behind him. Sometimes he helped, but dust bunnies had limited attention spans.

I’ll give you treats after, she promised. Come on, just dig down a few feet for me. I need to know if there’s something down here or not. She held up her scanner. There were signs of metal in the soil, but it didn’t tell her what kind.

Fidget perked up at the sight and used his