Arianna Rose: The Arrival (Part 4) (30 page)

The way he swayed and stumbled, Arianna expected at any minute he would topple over.  But he surprised her by maintaining his footing. 

“I will open the portal to Gehenna and bring my army here.  We will destroy you and the pathetic people of this planet!” Darius screamed so loudly, spittle sprayed from his lips and his voice cracked several times.  But deep inside, Arianna knew the threats he’d made were anything but hollow. 

She advanced toward him, a
pproaching with caution.  But as soon as she flinched, he disappeared.  She looked all around her, scanning the immediate vicinity and expecting a surprise attack.  She did not see him anywhere.  Her eyes raced to the battlefield and saw that the monster with the amber mane and ruby eyes vanished as well.  MaryAnn and Adam turned to face her, looking to her for answers.  She assumed they wanted to know why she burned an ethereal shade of palest blue.  Little by little, those who remained made their way toward her. 

Dane, Jason, MaryAnn, Adam and Avery Parker, Beth’s immediate family, arrived first followed by Kirsten, her now-widowed aunt.  Adele and Arthur Parker hobbled along, injured
but still walking, and joined them.  Their faces were dirty and tired, each of their wounds visible.  Both of Beth’s maternal grandparents, as well as her great-aunt and great-uncle, had been killed.  Ted, Kirsten’s husband and father to Ella and Joe, had been claimed during the attack also.  Arianna knew there was something she should say, anything to ease the aching void the good people before her were feeling.  But she knew firsthand words would never be enough.  The unshed tears shining in their eyes reinforced that knowledge.  Still, they seemed to look to her for guidance. 

“A battle has been
fought and lives have been lost, precious lives,” her voice poured from her lips from a freshly tapped source.  “Father, husbands, mothers and sisters have fallen.  But I will not allow their deaths to be in vain,” she promised.  “A war has been waged.  Darius is not a warlock.  He is not like us.  He is the son of the devil himself, and he has just warned of what’s to come.”

Gasps sounded among their small crowd, as well as utterances of astonishment. 

“I am the Sola, and before today, I did not know what that meant.  But I do now.  I know what I am.  And I know what is expected of me.” 

“How can we fight Darius?” Adam asked. 

“If he is the son of the devil, then he is pure evil,” Jason added somberly.  “We’ve never fought anything like that.  How can we possibly defeat a force so strong?”

“
How can God allow evil to overtake the world?” Avery asked without the slightest trace of disrespect.

“That’s why I am here,” Arianna heard truth spill from her like sun-warmed honey.  “I am the Sola,
a soldier of God, born of this Earth to stop Darius and save humankind.”

“
Are you saying you are an angel?” Desmond asked and gripped her arm.  He turned her to face him.  His full lips twitched, a smile undecided about appearing worrying his mouth.  His eyes were the sky, his hair sunlight, but staring into his face, she saw his soul; a brilliant galaxy glittered with diamond-crusted constellations.

“I am Arianna Rose, the Sola,
a witch, an angel.  Those are just words, whatever you wish to call me,” she said, truth echoing through her core and welling her eyes with tears.   “I was born to lead you, to defend humankind.  These powers I have, that all of us have, they are a God-given gift assigned to us for a reason.  We are to use them to fight for humanity, to stop him.”

The group was silent.  The area around them
was still, as if heaven and Earth waited with bated breath for their allegiance. 

“Darius is gone.  He retreated.  That means we won, doesn’t it?” Avery asked. 

“This was just a battle, the first of many to come.  Before Darius left, he said he’d open a portal to Gehenna, the dimension he resided in for four centuries before coming here, and bring his army through.”

“Gehenna,” Arthur blanched and said.  “
Isn’t that just a legend?”

“Gehenna is not a legend.  We all know of its existence, just not by that name.  Gehenna is hell.  Darius is talking about hell,” she explain
ed.

A collective gasp befell
the group before expressions grew grim, the realization of what was to come settling and weighing on them with leaden heaviness. 

“
Darius intends to open the gates of hell and begin a reign of terror on this planet.  We need to find him and stop him before he can,” she said and looked from one face to the next until she’d exchanged a knowing glance with each.  “The battle to save humanity and life as we know it has just begun.”

The End

About the Authors

Jennifer and Christopher Martucci hoped that their life plan had changed radically in early 2010.  To date, the jury is still out.  But late one night, in January of 2010, the stay-at-home mom of three girls under the age of six had just picked up the last doll from the playroom floor and placed it in a bin when her husband startled her by declaring, “We should write a book,
together
!”  Wearied from a day of shuttling the children to and from school, preschool and Daisy Scouts, laundry, cooking and cleaning, Jennifer simply stared blankly at her husband of fifteen years.  After all, the idea of writing a book had been an individual dream each of them had possessed for much of their young adult lives.  Both had written separately in their teens and early twenties, but without much success.  They would write a dozen chapters here and there only to find that either the plot would fall apart, or characters would lose their zest, or the story would just fall flat.  Christopher had always preferred penning science-fiction stories filled with monsters and diabolical villains, while Jennifer had favored venting personal experiences or writing about romance.  Inevitably though, frustration and day-to-day life had placed writing on the back burner and for several years, each had pursued alternate (paying) careers.  But the dream had never died.  And Christopher suggested that their dream ought to be removed from the back burner for further examination.  When he proposed that they author a book together on that cold January night, Jennifer was hesitant to reject the idea outright.  His proposal sparked a discussion, and the discussion lasted deep into the night.  By morning, the idea for the Dark Creations series was born.

The Dark Creations series, as well as the Arianna Rose series, are works that were written while Jennifer and Christopher continued about with their daily activities and raised their young children.  They changed diapers, potty trained and went to story time at the local library between chapter outlines and served as room parents while fleshing out each section.  Life simply continued.  And in some ways, their everyday lives were reflected in the characters of each series. 

As the story line continues to evolve, so too does the Martucci collaboration.  Lunches are still packed, noses are still wiped and time remains a rare and precious commodity in their household, but it is the sound of happy chaos that is the true background music of their writing.  They hope that their work, though penned for a young adult audience, will be appreciated by the young of every age, and that all enjoy reading it as much as they enjoyed writing it.

The Dark Creations Series
(A YA paranormal romance series)

Dark Creations: Gabriel Rising (Part 1)

Dark Creations: Gabriel Rising (Part 2)

Dark Creations: Gabriel Rising (Part 1&2)

Dark Creations: Resurrection (Part 3)

Dark Creations: The Hunted (Part 4)

Dark Creations: Hell on Earth (Part 5)

Dark Creations: Dark Ending (Part 6)

Coming Soon:

Arianna Rose: The Gates of Hell (Part 5)

The Arianna Rose Series
(A paranormal romance series)

Arianna Rose (Part 1)

Arianna Rose: The Awakening (Part 2)

Arianna Rose: The Gathering (Part 3)

Arianna Rose: The Arrival (Part 4)

Thank You So Much For Reading Our Book!

We deeply appreciate your readership and would love to hear from you!

For information about upcoming releases (or just to say hi!) please visit our website at
http://darkcreationssaga.com
or
at
http://on.fb.me/1dlUUF5

Thank you again for reading!

Love,

Jennifer and Christopher Martucci

Oh, One Last Thing Before You Go…

When you turn the page, you may be given the opportunity to express your thoughts on Facebook and Twitter automatically.  If you enjoyed our book, would you take a second to click that button and let your friends know about it?

If they get something out of the book, they’ll be grateful to you, and we will be, too!

Thank you so much!

Love,

Jenny and Chris