Druidess Found (Druidess Trilogy Book 1) Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copywrite Page

  Synopsis

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Enjoy the Journey? Help make a difference!

  My Path to creating

  My Vision of this franchise in the making

  Other novels by Machelle Hanleigh

  About the Author

  Acknowledgements & Special Thanks

  Druidess Found

  By Machelle Hanleigh

  Druidess Found

  An Inhabitants at the Center of the Universe Novel

  Copyright © 2020 by Machelle Hanleigh

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review. For more information, write to: Machelle [email protected].

  First Edition, March 2020

  Cover Design by Russ Brothers

  ISBN 978-1-7348458-0-8 (eBook)

  Druidess Found

  Their meeting was not by chance…it was orchestrated.

  As one of the four Chosen to the Kahoali Queen, Moto is a warrior with extraordinary abilities. In his pursuit to discover answers about the devastating night terrors that plague him and threaten his people, he finds his heart and soul on another world. Though Kahoali only bond with other Kahoali, he cannot deny the connection between himself and this outsider, or the signs the bonding process has begun.

  After the unexpected death of her foster parents five years earlier, Kaily worked hard to achieve a quiet life on Earth. When a dark warrior invades her life, her dreams, and her very existence, her quiet life changes forever. Through him, she discovers a past she never knew she had, and one she doesn’t want to exist. While she longs to return to the simple life she left behind, she cannot deny the connection between her and this warrior, or the bond being created.

  When Kaily is in danger, Moto does the unthinkable…he brings her to Center Village of the Kahoali home world. There they must choose between the bond they share and the expectations of their past. The choices they make will impact the fate of the Universe itself. But are these choices truly their own? Will their connection save or destroy the Universe?

  If you love Romance... If you love Fantasy... This is the book for YOU!

  Druidess Found is the first book of the Druidess Trilogy, part of the groundbreaking, cross genre Inhabitants at the Center of the Universe series by Machelle Hanleigh. If you want something new that breaks from the norms, with a fulfilling story, then you’ll love this page turning series. Take the first step in the journey that will take you to the Center of the Universe and change the way you look at genres forever.

  Chapter One

  Moto skimmed his fingers over the surface of the water in the bowl delicately balanced on his thigh. The surface of the water held an image, now etched into his being to the very core. He didn't know why one such as she captured his attention with such a profound affect on him. There was nothing extraordinary about her. She lived on a world full of Inhabitants who possessed no knowledge of the Universe. They displayed no abilities to touch the energy which flowed throughout the entirety of the Universe, and it included her.

  His current dilemma sparked his travels from his home world in search of answers and brought her into his awareness. If not for his need for answers, she would not exist in his reality, but she did. She kept drawing him to her. At times he would seek her out in person, and other times in the bowl of water he used as a looking glass. He made certain she remained oblivious to either form of intrusion into her private life and world.

  He couldn't help himself. Ever since he first laid eyes on her, he felt drawn to her. Something about her entranced him and kept him going back. Even when he told himself he wouldn't, he did. It didn't make sense. She was no one of consequence and not someone who could help him. He found her by chance on his quest for answers, nothing more, nothing less. She meant nothing to him. Yet, somehow, she meant everything to him. It didn't make any sense.

  "If only you could help me." Moto whispered as he caressed the surface of the water and the image it held.

  The image in the bowl turned towards his whisper as if she heard him. He knew she couldn't hear him. The movement and timing of it was nothing more than an illusion. She sat at ruins. They were the same ruins he found her at the first time, and the same place he often found her. He couldn't understand why she would spend so much time in a place where the building crumbled around her feet. Yet, she seemed to find solace there. He felt the peace which emanated from her in those ruins.

  He continued to skim the surface with his fingertips as if he could caress her soft fair skin with the barest of touches. He imagined her skin felt soft and satin smooth to the touch. In addition to not speaking to her, he avoided touching her at all costs. He did want to touch her and in far too many ways better left unexplored. There were complications. The biggest complication being her origins. She didn't live on Ki, and thus considered an outsider. Outsiders found no welcome in the villages, especially not his. Center Village he called home since becoming one of the four Chosen to the Queen. Moto didn't know what Queen Shakti would do if he brought her to his world. He knew his Queen to be a fair Queen, but as a Kahoali, she kept to the Kahoali ways. He did too, for the most part, when it suited him.

  Another complication was the girl herself. He didn't know what she would do or how she would react. Her world remained isolated from the rest of the Universe. Most of the other worlds he visited on his travels for answers held Inhabitants who knew they were not alone in the Universe. Many of those Inhabitants remained on their worlds without traveling between any of the other worlds in the Universe. Still, they knew of the existence of other Inhabitants and worlds. The Inhabitants of her world did not. Something about her kept drawing him to her. Something which kept him going back to her anyway he could. Anyway, he could and remain unknown to her.

  "Lovely girl."

  Moto dumped the water in the bowl and sent it back to his hut as he glared at Shimani. His unawareness of Shimani's approach indicated just how distracted she kept him. He, a trained Kahoali warrior, distracted by a slip of a girl! No one, not even his protege, should be able to sneak up on him without him knowing it!

  Shimani sat down next to Moto and smiled despite the glare that would send others scrambling for cover. "What do you want?" Moto asked.

  "Thought you might like some company," Shimani said.

  "You mean the Queen sent you to check up on me."

  Shimani shrugged, "that too."

  Moto shook his head and looked out over Crystal Lake. This place often provided him peace, and usually without interruption. The early morning light gleamed off the mist of the waterfall and brushed the surface of the glass smooth
water. Much of Crystal Lake and meadow were illusion like, not exactly an illusion, but close to the untrained eye. A path led from each of the six original Kahoali villages to Crystal Lake. Not directly, the paths were portals from and to each of the villages. Moto turned his attention back to Shimani. "Tell the Queen I'm fine."

  Shimani's smile faded and his features took on a serious demeanor.

  Moto shook his head, "Don't."

  One of Shimani's eyebrows rose, "Queen Shakti has every reason to be concerned about you."

  "You agree with her?" Moto knew his tone bordered on hostile. Normally, he tried to be more patient with Shimani, but this time, he didn't bother. He didn't like being checked up on, and he didn't like that Shimani caught him in a weak moment.

  Shimani shook his head, "I didn't say that."

  "Then what are you saying?" Moto couldn't keep the bite out of his tone. He knew Shimani didn't side with the rest of them, but he felt out of sorts and not in the mood for politeness.

  "Who's the girl?" Shimani asked instead.

  "No one," Moto hoped his tone communicated to Shimani he intended not to talk about the girl.

  "I see."

  "No, you don't see. No one sees." Moto stood and walked back and forth. The movement did nothing to dispel his agitation.

  Shimani remained seated. Moto credited it to Shimani's occasional good sense. "I do see, Moto. I see what the night terrors are doing to you. How you are not sleeping. How your travels are taking you away from the village, and your responsibilities for longer and longer periods of time. How you stopped taking me with you on those travels. How you lack basic control over your emotions."

  So much for good sense, Moto thought to himself. He held up his hand. "Enough!"

  Shimani stood and waited.

  Moto impatiently tied his long, dark braids back at the nape of his neck. "My apologies," he said with a slight nod of his head. Shimani didn't deserve his anger or his frustration. The girl maybe, not Shimani, for the most part.

  Shimani acknowledged Moto's apology with a nod of his head and waited.

  "What?" Moto demanded. Shimani could be almost as irritating as he himself. Serves him right, he thought to himself, for taking Shimani under his tutelage.

  "What's changed?" Shimani asked.

  Moto shook his head, "I don't know." He started pacing by the water's edge while staring down into the depths. The soft meadow carpet gave way to the water's edge. He didn't step on to the edge as he knew it dropped off despite the illusion that the edge of the lake gradually grew deeper. Moto shook his head again. He felt irritated. As the night terrors continued and time passed, he noticed himself growing more and more agitated, and he couldn't explain or understand why. He forced himself to stop pacing and faced Shimani, "I don't know," he said. "The night terror is the same. The outer villages abandoned and the inner villages under attack. I can't see who's attacking us, ever. I feel the heat of the fire as the huts burn around me. I hear the screams of pain. I feel the death and destruction of our people, of all our people, Shimani. I stand in the middle of the destruction, helpless to stop it. I stand there, doing nothing!" Moto ran his hand through his dark, tiny braids untying them in the process.

  Shimani didn't reply. He stood there and waited for Moto to continue.

  Moto looked out over the meadow to the forest edge behind Shimani. "I sense we are running out of time, and I am no closer to finding anyone who can help me understand the night terrors. No one to tell me if they are just night terrors or a vision of what's to come." He focused his attention on Shimani. "If they are not visions, I can rest in peace and endure the night terrors, but if they are visions of future events," Moto left the rest unspoken. Both he and Shimani knew the potential consequences if they were visions and not night terrors. "I am no closer to finding answers. How am I supposed to make Queen Shakti understand the danger when I can't tell her with certainty, they are visions?" Moto not only felt helpless, he was helpless. He couldn't answer the questions Queen Shakti and the Shanees posed to him.

  Shimani opened his mouth as if to reply but closed it without saying anything.

  Moto knew there was nothing left to be said. Out of anyone in all the villages, Moto confided in only two individuals, Shimani and Sari, his confidants from the very beginning. He still felt the same terror that woke from his night terrors. He couldn't go back to sleep or sleep well for so long afterwards. He no longer remembered what it felt like to get a restful night's sleep. That first night he walked the forest surrounding Center Village, and then proceeded to check on each and every village and their surrounding areas. All appeared as it should. Even now, no outward indication could be found that danger loomed in the future for any of the thirteen Kahoali villages. But the night terrors continued.

  When it became apparent the night terrors would not stop, Shimani and Sari convinced Moto to confide in the Queen about his night terrors. Queen Shakti called the Council of Shanees together, at which point, they grilled him until he lost his temper and stormed out. For some reason, the Queen restrained from administering disciplinary actions against him for the disrespect he displayed towards the Council and herself. Instead, all gave him a wide berth and acted as if the incident didn't exist.

  Only recently he started having daily conversations with the Queen in hope he could convince her to prepare for a possible attack. It might not help, but it would be something. He needed to do something. He couldn't find the answers he searched for, so he hoped that maybe he could at least prepare the villages' defenses. As it were, none of the villages were prepared for any kind of attack. There were no defenses, and only a handful of warriors. The lack of Kahoali warriors in the villages caused additional contention between his Queen and himself. He struggled against that problem for a very long time. The Queen and Shanees appeared to be content with their heads buried in their headdresses and eyes cast to the present and not the future.

  Their conversation this morning deteriorated faster than he expected. Queen Shakti refused to budge as she refused every other morning. Unlike every other morning, Moto didn't contain his temper from the start. His emotions always ran hotter than any other Kahoali warrior or any other Kahoali. But then again, every other Kahoali didn't live with his night terrors. No other Kahoali saw what he saw, and neither could the other Kahoali do what he could. Except Shimani. Shimani's abilities developed in the same way Moto's did. Shimani accompanied Moto on enough excursions to other worlds that he saw much of what Moto saw. No one left the safety of the villages and no outsider gained permission to visit any of the villages, ever. Not that anyone asked or tried in the past 140 years.

  Moto walked over and laid his hand on Shimani's shoulder. "Thank you." He knew Shimani attempted to help, and only followed orders. Moto turned to leave. He needed space and time, not that having more time would help with his night terrors. Moto put distance between them. As he put his hand up to open a portal, he heard Shimani call after him.

  "Where are you going?" Shimani's words remained calm. Moto appreciated Shimani's calm nature and provided more reason why he liked him. Shimani didn't get upset. Shimani's calm also annoyed him at times, like the present. Moto couldn't recall a time when he witnessed Shimani ever lose his temper.

  Moto didn't reply.

  "Don't forget about the evening repast." Shimani called after him.

  Moto lifted his hand in acknowledgement of Shimani's words and then stepped through his portal. He didn't need reminded of what his duties to his Queen and people were. Again, he reminded himself that Shimani only wanted to help. Moto didn't need or want to give his Queen further irritation. She could be a patient woman, but he knew he tested her patience beyond what others found healthy to test. Not even her favorite Chosen should test her as he did. Being her favorite saved him on more than one occasion.

  Moto stepped out of his portal. His destination lay beyond his current location and he could only reach it through the Ancestral Gateway, a stone arch in the middle of a forgot
ten forest. No buildings stood nearby. No evidence indicated any buildings ever existed there. Yet, there were stories of a great Ancestral City from which the Kahoali people originated. The stories described a way of life which didn't resemble the Kahoali way of life. Moto didn't trust the stories' accuracy, but he couldn't deny the evidence provided by the Ancestral Gateway of their truths.

  As a youth, he questioned the elders in his village about the details of the stories and learned no one thought of them more than just stories. No one gave credence to that way of life. It became accepted that as the stories passed from generation to generation, they grew into the grandiose stories of today. The stories entertained and were not to be confused with historical facts. It irritated him how facts became what could be believed and everything else stories for nothing more than entertainment around the fires of the evening repasts. His irritation didn't provoke him to provide his people evidence to the contrary. He valued it as his and Shimani's secret alone. The Kahoali didn't want the truth of the stories. As an adult, he came to terms with that reality.

  The Kahoali history passed down by word of mouth from generation to generation. No wonder their history grew into stories divided in the believable as historical and the unbelievable as entertainment. Moto often wondered why they didn't make some kind of permanent record of their history. Why no historians? No formal written language? No one knew how much of their history and way of life each generation discarded or failed to pass down. No one cared. He cared, but it didn't matter. His voice alone didn't change anything, a lesson he found difficult to learn in the recent days.

  A part of Moto felt the loss of his people's past knowledge. They were not a simple people. They lived in villages, true, but life felt more than what it appeared on the surface, at least to him. Village life afforded a peace that perhaps a city couldn't. Peaceful did not equate to simple. There society contained complexities beyond a simple village life. Often those complexities irritated Moto. Their villages contained wonders some might view as impossible. The construct of their huts, for example. On the surface, the huts looked simple enough, but they were sturdy and cool in an otherwise hot and humid climate. Yet, in other ways his people appeared primitive, example being the lack of a written language.