Heartbeat: Legend of Aya, #1

By E.A. Starlight

She will travel across a broken world to save the girl she loves...even if she has to kill a Goddess to do it.

 

Akshara is born a temple girl in the desert city of Aransia. She serves the priestesses, and pours the blood down the steps after sacrifices to thirsty, vengeful Gods. When her best friend Iva is chosen to be the sacrifice that renews the world and brings "The Girl with a Golden Heart" to the broken world of Aya, Akshara turns her back on the Gods only to find love in the eyes of the golden hearted girl she shunned. Little does Akshara know, but she is the one chosen to bear the soul of Aya itself, and protect the world from total collapse. But to do so will come at great personal cost, and will force her to choose between love or the people of Aya. 

 

Fari -- the Girl with a Golden Heart -- was born with her heart on the outside of her body, and wears a golden breast plate to protect it. She is the chosen representative of the Goddess Tars'keli, and is forced to serve as the body of the Goddess whenever the deity chooses. But now dark forces have taken control of Fari, and seek to use her to become divine. She must break free of them if she is ever to see Akshara again.

 

But no matter how far apart they are, these two young women will discover their hearts always beat as one. 

 

Heartbeat is the first book in the new epic fantasy series The Legend of Aya from author E.A. Starlight. 

Series reading order:

Book 1: Heartbeat

Book 2: Abyss Born

Book 3: Goddess Risen

Book 2 is coming soon!

• Language: English
• Publisher: E.A. Starlight
• Release date: Apr 6, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201033675

Book preview

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

COPYRIGHT 2021 E.A . STARLIGHT

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED UNDER THE INTERNATIONAL AND PAN-AMERICAN COPYRIGHT CONVENTIONS. NO PART OF THIS BOOK MAY BE REPRODUCED OR TRANSMITTED IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS, ELECTRONIC OR MECHANICAL, INCLUDING PHOTOCOPYING AND RECORDING, OR BY ANY INFORMATION STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL SYSTEM, WITHOUT PERMISSION IN WRITING FROM THE PUBLISHER. IF YOU VIOLATE THE COPYRIGHT OF THIS BOOK, THE GODDESS WILL BE VERY ANGRY WITH YOU, AND YOU WILL RECEIVE THE FULL FORCE OF HER WRATH. SO, DON’T DO IT. ☺

THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION. NAMES, PLACES, CHARACTERS, AND INCIDENTS ARE EITHER THE PRODUCT OF THE AUTHOR’S IMAGINATION OR ARE USED FICTITIOUSLY, AND ANY RESEMBLANCE TO ANY ACTUAL PERSONS, LIVING OR DEAD, ORGANIZATIONS, EVENTS, OR LOCALES IS ENTIRELY COINCIDENTAL.

WARNING: THE UNAUTHORIZED REPRODUCTION OR DISTRIBUTION OF THIS COPYRIGHTED WORK IS ILLEGAL. CRIMINAL COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT, INCLUDING INFRINGEMENT WITHOUT MONETARY GAIN, IS INVESTIGATED BY THE FBI AND IS PUNISHABLE BY UP TO FIVE YEARS IN PRISON AND A FINE OF $250,000.

HEARTBEAT

BY

E.A. STARLIGHT

BOOK I IN THE LEGEND OF AYA TRILOGY

The trilogy includes:

Book I: HEARTBEAT

Book II: ABYSS BORN

Book III: GODDESS RISEN

Book II and III are forthcoming.

Cover Design by E.A. Starlight

www.eastarlight.com

DEDICATION

For Emily – I love you.

For Natasha – I love you too, BFF.

For Leila – You’re a cute cat.

For Shelby – Thank you for being my first reader and for giving me the encouragement

to see this series through.

For all the lovers – Love is love, no matter who you love.

May Akshara and Fari’s love be written in the stars.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

E.A. Starlight is a fantasy author and hopeless romantic.

He’s also a poet with several poetry collections.

He lives in Chicago with his girlfriend, cat, and turtle.

Heartbeat is his first fantasy novel.

You can find his Facebook author page as E.A. Starlight Author.

His personal Facebook page is E.A. Lightstar (because Facebook wouldn’t let me be Starlight.)

You can send him a friend request if you like. He likes friends.

To join his mailing list visit:

https://mailchi.mp/ce211e8aa452/ea-starlight-fantasy

Visit his website at:

https://www.eastarlight.com

Broken Planet

What is set forth in this book is the history of a broken, dying land, that has somehow lived on for longer than the gods intended. But it persisted even without their intervention, and despite the fact that it was split into four equal pieces after a cataclysmic event that rendered each piece floating in space by itself, and only connected together by bridges of light that the inhabitants of the planet deemed too treacherous to cross. For when you reach the light bridge, the air grows cold, and the stars take over the sky no matter what time of day it is. And if you leap or fall from the side of the bridge, you will disappear into the abyss, lost forever to the monstrous emptiness. 

The secret to life on Aya is and always has been the keeper of the world soul. This is always a young woman, raised in the temples of Aransia, the desert city where the goddess Tars’keli herself is said to have been born, and reborn throughout the centuries in the form of a girl born with a golden heart outside of her body. The girl with a golden heart always grows up to become head priestess at the temple, and the keeper always becomes her attendant and guardian. The two belong together just as the stars and moon belong with the night sky. They cannot escape this fated pairing even though often they never truly understand why they are drawn to each other. 

The keeper of the world soul is a temple girl when she is young, tending to the fires of the priestesses, and keeping watch over the rituals. She never knows what she is, for if she or others knew, she might be in grave danger. 

There are privileged few in the entire world who possess the knowledge of the keeper’s existence. No one outside of these few has ever heard the legend, and it is kept sacred and secret by these privileged men and women. 

The keeper’s premature death would lead to the collapse of the world itself, and everything would blink out of existence in a single moment. She does not know it, but she is in fact protected by the gods for this reason, but this protection only lasts until she is of age. Then she grows into a young woman of great resourcefulness and bravery, and it is by her own wits that she protects herself from the harsh land.

Aya has been quite lucky, in that no keeper of the world soul has ever died before her appointed time, before the world is renewed, and the soul takes a long and well-deserved rest before it moves into a new girl. But the thought that the keeper might die prematurely is still believed to be quite possible by those who know of the sacred role. If the keeper were to die early, it would mean the gods had decided to let Aya fade out of existence. 

It is in the central temple of Tars’keli in the desert city of Aransia where Akshara is born a temple girl without the slightest clue of who or what she is. But perhaps fate will show her a way that has never been given to another keeper before in the history of this broken world...

Perhaps Akshara will be the first keeper to know her true nature and this knowledge will prove dangerous for all of Aya. 

I: Sacrifice

C ome on, Akshara. We’re going to be late and if you continue to stand there staring at me, I’m going to have to drag you along before Sarkasi notices we’re not ready for the ritual, said Iva, placing her hands on her hips and shaking her head at Akshara.

I don’t want to go to the ritual, Akshara whispered.

She knelt down, picked an Aransian sunflower, and blew the bright yellow petals right off, scattering them to the wind. The Aransian sunflower grows in the desert sand and is quite rare. To blow the petals off is a form of prayer and is thought to be good luck. Akshara thought she could use all the good luck she could get in that moment. 

This is the renewal of the world, and you know it must be done. The girl with a golden heart is coming soon too, and she needs us, Iva said.

Akshara sat down in the sand, picking up a fistful, and watching it fall from her hand over and over again. She knew if they went back to the temple, she would be separated from Iva forever. Iva had been chosen by the gods for a special task—one that would result in her death. 

You don’t even care that you’re leaving me here, do you? Akshara asked in her softest voice.

Iva sat down beside her and slid her arm beneath Akshara’s long black hair with several silver streaks throughout. She was only 8, but already had the hair of an elder. 

You’ll be just fine without me. I’m just going to the goddess a little earlier than I had planned. My blood is needed, and you know there’s nothing I can do about it. But you’ll be there holding my hand as the knife falls, yes? And then you can feast in my honor and dance all night with Heko. I know you want to...

Heko is an idiot. I want to dance with you.

Akshara turned toward her friend and took a good look at her. Iva’s short dark hair framed her golden-brown face, and her deep brown eyes seemed to belong to the goddess herself. That’s what Akshara had always thought anyway. Iva’s face was the sweetest that she had ever seen in her short life. And she knew that if Iva were allowed to grow into a woman, she would be the most beautiful in all Aransia. 

You can’t dance with me at the feast, Aksha. But I promise you I’ll find a way to watch you from the abyss. I’m going to haunt you for the rest of your life, you miserable girl! 

Iva pelted Akshara’s cheeks with endless kisses and Akshara couldn’t help but laugh. She wanted to tell Iva that she loved her, but she had never been able to do it. Every time she tried, the words would climb up her throat, and hang on the roof of her mouth—just ready to burst out, but not quite. She’d end up coughing instead and pretending as if the dust in the Aransian air was getting into her lungs. But now would be her last chance to do it. If she couldn’t now, then she’d go to her own death not knowing whether Iva had taken her last breath, closed her eyes, and felt loved more than they had been taught to love the goddess.

Iva’s kisses ended, and Akshara’s cheek instantly felt cold. She knew that from now on, she would always be alone, no matter who she met. And she would always despise the girl with the golden heart for being born in their lifetime and taking her friend away from her.

We’d better go before Sarkasi comes out here and drags us back to the temple, Akshara said. It’s not what she wanted to say, of course. For she felt the familiar stirring in her throat of the words she could never seem to find. 

Iva hopped up and pulled Akshara up with her. She took Akshara’s hand, and the two girls turned back towards the city of Aransia with its thousands of small dwellings made of mud and red stone, all with the same thatched roof. The defining characteristic of the city was the massive pyramid with golden steps leading up to the flat top where the girls would soon be, looking out over the city as the people prayed for Tars’keli’s blessing and a safe birth for the girl with the golden heart. 

Iva ran forward, and Akshara nearly fell to the ground and was dragged along by her friend. But as soon as Iva noticed her struggle to keep up, she slowed down and they walked hand in hand into the city as the sun began to fade behind them. 

TARS’KELI DRAG YOU straight to the black abyss, child! We need to get you ready immediately, said Sarkasi as she separated the girls, dragging Iva towards the inner chamber of the goddess. Akshara, I need you to get fresh water and scrub the altar for the ritual.

Yes, priestess, Akshara said, bowing before the young woman. Sarkasi had only recently taken over the role of temple head priestess after the death of Priestess Aracea. Aracea had traveled to the light bridge and plunged herself into the abyss, because she could no longer bear the life of a servant of the goddess. She had wanted to fall in love, and make babies, but that was never to be an option for her. So, she let sweet death take her instead. 

Sarkasi was not yet fully comfortable in the role, and Akshara could tell this by the way the priestess’ hand shook ever so slightly at her side. She didn’t believe Sarkasi fit to be a priestess, but what did she know anyway? She wanted to be like Aracea and get away from the dreadful place altogether. There was no way Akshara was going to dedicate herself to a goddess of blood and bone like Tars’keli—even though she had been raised in the temple and taught to love the goddess through reciting endless prayers, painting clay images of the deity, and taking part in the endless rituals that seemed to take place every night, all year round. 

I should kill Sarkasi and take Iva far away from here. I didn’t even get to hug her before she was dragged into the chamber for preparation. When I see her again, she’ll already be bound on the altar, and soon after her blood will be poured down the temple steps. 

Akshara thought this as she collected the water from the temple fountain into a small clay bucket. Then she went outside and stood at the bottom of the stairs, staring up at the top of the pyramid. She began to climb the steep stairs one by one, and almost dropped her bucket as her right foot slid backwards just a little. But the temple girl found her footing and continued her journey up the stairs that would soon enough be covered in the blood of her best friend—the girl she loved more than anyone in the world. 

As she climbed, she thought of Iva, and all the times they had upset the priestesses of the temple by mocking the ritual chants or running off into the desert far away from the city for hours and hours at a time. It had always been worth escaping for those brief perfect hours, even though it always resulted in a beating that left Akshara in tears. But Iva had never cried once in Akshara’s presence. She had asked Iva about it once, and the girl had replied that she could not feel pain. Iva demonstrated this on a number of occasions for her, often making small cuts on her arm without even wincing once. Akshara didn’t like to watch these demonstrations, but if she looked away, Iva would get mad. It was as if Iva was demonstrating some supernatural power that she was rather proud of. Or perhaps she really had wanted to hurt herself. Maybe Iva too had wanted to leave the service of Tars’keli and thought of pain and death as her only way out. After all, Iva had volunteered to be the sacrifice whose death would renew the world for another thousand years. Even though Akshara had begged her not to go through with it. 

What a silly, beautiful girl. I’ll never be as brave or as strong as Iva. Or perhaps as out of my mind as she is. The gods clearly made her for a great purpose—something greater than death. It’s me they should be taking tonight. Not Iva. This is wrong, and if I were half as brave as Iva, I’d tell Sarkasi exactly what I thought of this terrible goddess. And then I’d stab the priestess in the back so Iva and I could run away to the light bridge together. I know we wouldn’t fall off as long as we held hands and crossed together the whole way. We could live in the unknown lands and build a house together somewhere far away from people, their terrible rituals, and evil goddesses.

It took her an hour to climb to the top of the temple, and when she got there she knelt before the altar and splashed water from her little bucket on her face. Even though the sun was going down, it was still hot out, and Akshara wanted to