The Arcane Soldier E-Book

Isaiah Groomes

• Herausgeber: BookRix
• Kategorie: Abenteuer, Thriller, Horror
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Beschreibung

The United Nations Armed Forces has gained control of North and South America after years of fighting and the death of more than one million soldiers. The UNAF now turns its attention to Europe and Asia who is fight the Cerible on all fronts. The UNAF has split what little forces they have to Russia and Germany in a bold winter offensive in a desperate effort to gain the strength of another world super power.

Leseprobe

Isaiah Groomes

The Arcane Soldier

By Isaiah Groomes

BookRix GmbH & Co. KG81371 Munich

Chapter 1 The Temple

Everything around me is drowned by a heavenly glow. Even when I tried to block the light it was still so bright. For a second I thought I was alone until I heard a high-pitched smooth voice with a slight Slavic accent. “So, you are the New Arcane Psychic.”

Something grabbed me and pulled me out of the light. When I was brought to my feet the first thing I see is a garden full of green with life and splashed with color from the fruits and flowers of heaven. A gigantic structure stands behind the garden, I can’t tell if it’s a place of worship or a colosseum of some sort. The ground was made of light that warm to the touch. The person who pulled me out of the light wore a black mask, a gothic white trench coat with white trousers and black boots. The stranger looked like they were maybe 5 foot 8.

They were still had my hand when they started speaking again. “Welcome to the Arcane temple. I can sense the many questio-.” They paused after taking a good look at me, it felt like they were in shock. “You’re bigger than what I expected. What the hell are they feeding you on Earth? Wait what year is it on Earth right now?”

“My name is Ivan Grinch, it’s 2098. I’m a super soldier.” I looked around at everything in complete childlike bliss and then I looked back at the person who helped me to my feet and asked in a curios tone. “Who are you?”

The stranger took of their sleek mask to reveal their emerald green eyes, smooth freckled face, and red hair. Without the mask her voice was sweet and floated through the air. “My name Mila Petrova. I’m Arcane, just like you.”

Chapter 2 A gift

Mila guided me through the temple and showed me everything there was about it. The first doorway leads a huge common area which is where most of the other Arcane users are. Mila continued to answer my question before I ever said anything. “This is the main hall, the only rule here is to not fight or kill anyone here in any way shape or form. There is a special place for that.”

I stopped and looked at her. “Why did you say that so calmly?”

For the first time she didn’t answer my question before I spoke, but she was still calm and a little happy for some reason. “We are no stranger to death in this realm, we may die but we come back with no permanent damage.”

I suddenly started piecing it together. “Is that the reason I never really seemed to have lasting injuries when I was alive?”

She looked back at with a slight smile. “Yes, now you are starting to get it. We have special powers, some are universal, but most are unique to each Arcane user.”

I looked at my hands and noticed a slight blueish glow. I looked back at Mila and saw a bright a bright orange aura around her, I must have had a puzzled look on my face, or she knew what I was seeing. “You can see my aura, can’t you? That’s good, you are starting to notice your gifts.”

My head felt like it was on fire and I could feel everything around me. For a second, I think I knew everyone’s name and I could hear everyone’s thoughts, but just for a second and then it was silent. Mila’s eyes widened a little bit, she knew what was about to happen and tried to catch me before my brain overloaded and I passed out.

Chapter 3 Sparring

When I woke up, I felt a warm vibrant heat flowing from my head down to my feet. Mila had her hand on my forehead and when she lifted her hand up it was glowing a vibrant yellow. “You passed out. I forgot that you still need to fortify your mind before you can use your gifts. In the meantime, welcome to my home, if you need anything let me know.”

She walked to a small mat in the middle of the room and sat down with her legs crossed and her hands together. I looked around the room and noticed a mosin nagant and the Soviet flag above it on the wall. On the shelf below it was a Russian nesting doll and a very old looking grenade next to it. I got up and walked over to Mila. “Mila you asked me what year it was on Earth, that tells me you’ve been here for a while.”

She opened her eyes to reveal her glistening emerald pupils and tried to put together a year. “I’ve been here since 1944. I was born in 1920.”

I was blown away and lost almost all train of thought. “You don’t look 178 years old. You still look young and able.”

“Our bodies may change but we don’t age.”

She glanced into my eyes for a while and her pupils grew bigger. It almost made uncomfortable with how she was looking at me. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Your eyes are beautiful.”

“I wouldn’t call dull brown eyes beautiful.”

“No, your eyes have changed.”

She motioned me to sit next to her and join her in meditation. I sat next to her, crossed my legs, put my hands together, and closed my eyes.

“Ivan I will teach you how to meditate. Clear you mind and focus on your breathing. Do not think of anything, thinking will only keep your mind chained.”

I focused just in breathing and tried to ignore any temptations and fidgets. I kept my mind clear for what felt like a minute until I started thinking about my squad who I hoped was still alive. Once my mind was on them everything started to flood in until I could feel the danger that followed them. I opened my eyes out of fear and turned to where Mila was sitting to see an empty mat. I turned back to the bed I was passed out on to see Mila cleaning her mosin nagant. When she looked up, she seemed impressed. “You’ve been meditating for about 3 hours. That’s pretty good for someone new to it.”

She put her gun back on the wall and helped me back to my feet. “Follow me, I will teach you the basic powers that every Arcane user has.”

I followed her outside and looked back at the two-story home with 3 three visible windows from the front and the brown shingles on the roof. I kept following Mila back to the temple and went through the main hall and into a large courtyard full of other Arcane users who didn’t bat an eye at us. She found a nice open spot, turned to me took off her trench coat and watched it fade into tiny sparks of energy. She put her hands together, took a deep breath and pulled a rapier sword with no knuckle guard. It seemed to glow with a yellow energy. “You’re a super soldier, you should know hand to hand combat so we shall start with swords. Clear your head of all thoughts and think of your weapon. Once you have obtained it, draw it from your mind.”

I gave her a funny look but decided to try anyway. With my eyes closed I could only think of a sword, I reached behind my back and felt the hilt. When I pulled from the hilt, I could feel the weight of the blade and the grooves of the grip. When I opened my eyes, I saw the faint blue glow of the longsword. It was well balanced and felt vibrant with energy. Mila continued with her lesson, “Good. Now, use your instincts and fight me as if you intend to kill me.”

At first, I thought she was using that as a teaching method, but then I felt her hunger for blood. I raised my hilt to the right side of my chest and let the blade rest on my left arm and pointed it towards Mila. She circled around me with and I mirrored her movement. I felt a flash of heat and saw a flash of red from her aura then she leapt forward and attempted an overhead swing, but she looked slow, almost too slow. I rolled to my left and swung for her chest, but I was met with resistance from her blade. She had a sick smile on her face and pushed off my sword and threw an energy pulse that felt like a shock wave bouncing around in my chest and threw me back a couple of feet. “Ivan you are boring me. Do something or I will kill you in the most painful way possible.”

I ran toward her and slashed at her but was met with the same resistant blade and saw her hand raise to throw another pulse. “Two can play at that game Mila!”

I backed off her and raised my hand to her. A blue mist materialized a few centimeters from my hand and shot toward Mila. The mist wrapped around her waist and crushed her as it dragged her closer to me. In a matter of seconds she was in front of me, defenseless and incapacitated. I walked toward her while the mist kept her in place and thrust the blade into her stomach and released her from the blue mist. I looked her in the eyes. “Is that good enough for you Mila.”

She still had a smug look on her face and coughed up some blood and whispered in my ear. “That was a little entertaining, so I’ll make this quick.”

She put her hand on the side of my head and my body stopped moving. She stepped back and took the blade out of her body and put her hand on the wound until her hands started to glow and the wound disappeared. She looked back at me struggling to regain control of my own body and stabbed me in the chest. “You almost gave me a run for my money Ivan, but you still have a lot to learn. Don’t worry about your wounds, I will heal you later.”

I couldn’t tell if I blacked out from blood loss or if I died but everything around me became pitch black as I fell to the ground. I woke up in the same room with the gun on the wall and the doll on the shelf. I got up, stretched and started looking for Mila. I looked across the room to see Mila putting ingredients in a pot of water. She looked up and gave me the same innocent smile she gave me when I first met her. “Ivan how old were you when you died?”

“I was 24 when I died. Why do you ask.” She pulled out two shot glasses and a half empty bottle of vodka. 

“Perfect! Let us drink tonight.” She poured two shots and gave me one of the shot glasses.

“Cheers to a new arrival.” She raised the glass and waited for me to do the same.

“Cheers.” She clinked the glasses, and we drank the shots. I walked to the shelf, picked up the doll and studied it. “So, what is this doll for. I used to see it all the time as a kid, but I never got the concept.”

She walked over to me and I felt an intoxicating energy that wasn’t any type of alcohol or drug, when I looked toward her, I was blinded by a hot pink aura. She picked up the doll and took the top off the first doll to reveal the second one. “It’s a babushka doll. It’s supposed to symbolize a woman’s fertility.”She kissed my cheek and wrapped her arms around me.