The Last Seer

Prologue

Sometimes life can seem so normal, but in the blink of an eye, everything can change. Everyday for the last ten years, Arabella awoke in her sleepy little town, genuinely content with the path her life had taken. So content, in fact, she could almost completely forget about the threat on her life that loomed in the back of her mind. Almost.

The hour before sunrise was usually Arabella’s favorite time of day; there was a stillness to the world that filled her soul with a sweet serenity. There was a fine layer of dew sparkling on the soft, green grass that blanketed the rolling hills. She had a habit of taking a steaming cup of coffee outside, where she would stand on the creaky, wooden back porch of their perfectly imperfect home, and breathe in the crisp morning air, but this morning was different.

Today, the peaceful stillness of the morning had surrendered to the terror and chaos of a living nightmare. It began when she was awoken abruptly by the sound of far-off screams. It sounded as if all hell were breaking lose in her normally quiet town. She could feel the ground trembling beneath her. Her blood pressure spiked, as she ran to the living room window, and wrenched open the yellow lace curtains, only to see flaming rocks and debris raining down on her beloved town. Her friends and neighbors, people she had known for ten years, were running and screaming in the streets, fleeing from their homes that had been viciously and remorselessly set ablaze. The sound of her rapid heartbeat was deafening as she stood there, paralyzed in front of the window, knuckles white from gripping the curtains so fiercely, watching her worst fears come to life. The small, country town of Sunset Valley, the first place she had ever been able to call home, was under attack.

Arabella was still standing frozen at the window when she heard her husband’s voice behind her. “Arabella, come away from the window!” His voice was firm, but caring. Her head whipped around towards his direction, causing her long chestnut-colored hair to wrap around her shoulders. The owner of the voice came into the room with an empty satchel. James wasn’t exceptionally tall, but he was sturdy and muscular, and possessed a strong presence. He swiftly moved into the kitchen and began filling his bag with anything he could find.

Arabella ran to her husband, and said, “James, they’re here. Cassian soldiers. Do you think they’ve come for her?” He didn’t stop what he was doing to reply, “I don’t know, but we always knew there was a chance they would. We have to prepare ourselves, Bella, and stick to the plan.” The blood in her veins turned ice cold, as the color drained from her face.

“No! No, I … I can’t!” she replied, her voice shaking uncontrollably. He immediately stopped what he was doing. He crossed the tiny room in a matter of seconds. When he reached his wife, he took her lovingly by the shoulders. He looked at her intently, so intently, she could clearly see the tears building in the corners of his deep blue eyes. “I know this will be the hardest thing we have ever done,” he told her, “but we made this contingency plan for a reason, my love. If we stay together, we may all die. At least this way, we still have a fighting chance. I don’t think their presence, here of all places, is a coincidence. They are hunting her, as we knew they would.” He saw panic flash across her hazel eyes. He was speaking calmly and rationally. In fact, if it weren’t for the tears in his eyes, Arabella would never have known how much it killed him to speak the words. “We stick to the plan. Now go and get Ally!” He commanded her. She knew time was of the essence, but she couldn’t help herself as the thought of possibly never seeing him again was almost too much to bear. She took his face in her hands and kissed him quickly, but with as much passion as she could muster. He did not chastise her for wasting time. He kissed her back, and when they parted, they took one last look into each other’s eyes before he said, “Go! Hurry!”

There were moments from that fateful morning that Arabella knew she would never forget. The way the bombardment shook the entire house, including the very ground she stood upon, the way the air smelled of smoke and ash, the sound of fear and panic in the streets, and every detail of her husband’s face as he urged her to flee. There were also moments from that morning she compelled herself to forget, for fear the pain from it all would consume her. In future, when she looked back on this day, she would only remember what happened in bits and pieces. It would all become a blur to her. She would remember dragging out the two bags from the back of their closet, the ones that always stayed packed. She remembered all too clearly, the overwhelming feeling of her heart breaking as she saddled her horse. She also remembered how hard she fought not to look back at her beloved home, as she rode towards the mountain pass. She would remember hearing the loudest boom of all, just as she reached the base of the mountains, and still, she did not look back as she galloped onward with tears streaming down her face and a little girl in her arms.