Sonora: And The Eye of the Titans

  SONORA

  SONORA

  AND THE EYE OF THE TITANS

  T. S. HALL

  The purchase of this book without a front cover may be unauthorized. If this book is coverless, it may have been reported to the publisher as “unsold,” “stolen,” or “damaged,” indicating that neither the author or the publisher received payment.

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

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the publisher. For information regarding permission, contact New Guy Publishing, Attention: Authorization Department, PO Box 3927, Ketchum, ID 83340.

  This book was originally published in paperback by New Guy Publishing in 2011

  ISBN-13: 9781539539872

  ISBN-10: 1539539873

  Copyright © 2016 T. S. Hall

  Cover art copyright © 2016 by Joshua Jadon

  All rights reserved.

  www.sonoraseries.com

  Table of Contents

  Acknowledgment

  Foreword

  One: Tryouts

  Two: Confusion

  Three: Training

  Four: Upperclassmen

  Five: Upperclassmen

  Six: Girl

  Seven: Game

  Eight: Rover

  Nine: Sas

  Ten: Swan

  Eleven: Glue

  Twelve: Halloween

  Thirteen: Father

  Fourteen: Cave

  Fifteen: Conferences

  Sixteen: Ski

  Seventeen: Aftermath

  Eighteen: Planning

  Nineteen: Road

  Twenty: Island

  Twenty-One: Eye

  Twenty-Two: Fever

  Twenty-Three: Prom

  Twenty-Four: Storm

  Twenty-Five: Beginning

  Acknowledgment

  So many people have been crucial to the completion and success of this book. First of all, I’d like to thank my mother and father for their unending support in the pursuit of my dreams. I’d also like to thank Clarissa for being the first to read my adventure and giving me the confidence to persevere. Thank you to my amazing brother, Gavin, who gave me the tools to complete the final manuscript. I’d also like to thank Katie, Kyle, Barclay, Rick, Martha, Molly, Jarrod, Taylor, Patrick, David, Paige, and Jenny for helping to inspire and support me in my quest for adventure.

  Foreword

  Fifteen years ago, the capital city of Titanis on the world of Sonora, came under attack from a power-hungry general. He was a part of a silent majority of Sonorans who were angry with the increased freedoms of humanity, and other species, given to them by laws enacted under the leadership of King Tildar and Queen Kalia. The general infiltrated the highly regarded ranks of the Royal Guard, isolated the King, killed his most loyal guards, and assassinated him while the general’s forces took control of the army and air force.

  With the help of a few loyal guardsmen, Queen Kalia was able to escape the palace with the last royal decedent of the Zeus bloodline and heir to the throne. Only six months old, this baby girl represented the only threat to the general’s claim over the kingdom. General Salazar sent his elite guard after the last of the royal family, cornering them on the outskirts of Titan land near the edges of Crystal Lake.

  Surrounded by hooded assassins, Queen Kalia sacrificed herself, enabling her sister and daughter to escape through one of the ancient gateways that ported them to Earth. In order to protect the royal heir to the Titan throne, Kalia’s sister changed her name and adopted the baby as her own. With the help of a guardian warlock named Sas, she gathered a contingent of loyal followers and blended into human society by hiding away in the small mountain town of Sandy, Oregon.

  One

  TRYOUTS

  “Allora…,” The dream shook wildly as sleep escaped the prone, brunette sixteen-year-old. She opened her eyelid halfway, unwilling to give up her slumber. “Allora!”

  “Five more minutes mom,” Allora said in a half-conscious state of annoyance as her mother rocked her body back and forth.

  “It’s six-thirty princess,” Milly said, slowly heading for the door. “You’re going to be late for soccer tryouts.”

  Allora’s eyes popped wide, and the dark purple bed sheets flew into the air. Scrambling around the chaos of her room, she found the sporadic soccer clothes littering the floor of her closet. A shoe flew across the room, as she rummaged for important accessories.

  “Where are my cleats?” Allora yelled as she sifted through the funky armoire at the edge of the bed. The piece of wooden furniture had no straight lines, with curves that curled like waves. It sat next to shelves of multicolored gemstones, snow globes, and odd looking South American dolls that her late uncle had brought back from his trips.

  “Ma, cleats, I can’t find them,” Allora said, while tossing all of her shoes out of the armoire.

  “You mean these?” A blonde girl said, popping her head around the corner of the bedroom door frame. Allora rushed across the room and grabbed the shoes, shoving them into her duffel bag. “Have you ever been on time to anything in your life?”

  “Shut up Katie,” Allora said, smiling slightly at her best friend.

  “You kind of look like a goblin.”

  “You look like a troll.”

  Allora grabbed a brush from the desk to her right, and stood in front of the mirror pulling the knots aggressively from her long brown hair. Her beauty was subtle, with dark brown eyes, fair skin tone, and long legs with a few scars on her knees due to a childhood filled with adventures in the forests of Oregon.

  “Girls, come eat some breakfast before you go,” Milly said, flipping eggs onto a plate in the kitchen.

  Allora threw her duffel bag toward the door, and slumped down at the table as a plate slid in front of her. Aunt May sat across the table still in her pajamas, reading the newspaper. She was lean and fit, with short dark brown hair, green eyes, and a serious demeanor.

  “Don’t forget, you two need to be at training practice at noon in the outer realm,” Aunt May said from behind the paper.

  “We have daily doubles,” Allora argued, while scarfing down a piece of bacon and toast at the same time.

  “I don’t care young lady,” Aunt May exclaimed, dramatically lowering the newspaper. “You are not missing a training session. You are almost of age, and I can’t have you unprepared for what may come.”

  “Even though you two never tell me what may come.”

  “May is right. You four need the practice. You’ve still got a lot to learn before you’re old enough to focus.”

  “Oh, that reminds me, make sure to tell the boys to show up after soccer practice,” Aunt May said, pulling up the newspaper.

  “Hey, when is Sas coming back?” Allora asked, gulping down some orange juice. “I haven’t seen that big fur ball in forever.”

  “He’s still at Shangri-La for the Guardian’s meeting,” Milly said, placing another plate down as a young brunette girl hopped into the empty seat at the table. “Probably not for another week or two.”

  “Sas smells,” Allora’s sister said as she shoveled food into her mouth.

  Bell was thirteen years old with dirty blonde hair, short in height, with rimmed glasses, green eyes, and an intelligence that had her skipping grades.

  “Can’t argue with that,” Katie said, sipping down the last of her coffee. “We need to roll.”

  Allora grabbed a piece o
f toast, her duffel bag, and ran to the door.

  The light was just peeking out over the horizon, which was blocked out by the enormous Douglas fir trees that lined her five acre yard. The morning dew trickled off of the rhododendron leaves, and the birds chirped a song in the cool mountain air. The sun lifted above the eastern mountain, and warmed the atmosphere as they jumped into Katie’s red Jeep. Sun rays pierced the thick forest canopy as the car sped through the winding roads. Big block letters of Sandy High School greeted them as the car turned into the parking lot near the base of the field.

  “You should’ve been named Captain,” Allora said, as they gathered their bags and cleats.

  “She had more goals than I did last season,” Katie said, slinging her strap across her chest. “Besides, you know that Coach Taylor wasn’t going to give leadership to a junior.”

  “And the fact that she’s a royal suck-up to the facility,” Allora added, prompting a giggle from her best friend.

  They strolled up to the field where a group of girls were stretching. From the left of the goal, a pretty blonde girl strutted up. Her expression was stern and angry from behind the layer of makeup caked on her face.

  “You’re late, as always,” Jenny said, tersely.

  “Nice to see you too,” Katie responded, tossing her bag on the ground.

  “What are you doing here?” Jenny asked, staring at Allora. “Freshman team tryouts aren’t until next week.”

  “Ha. Ha. You should be a comedian.”

  “You know that you’ve got no chance of making this team.”

  “I’ll take my chances,” Allora responded, flashing a fake smile.

  Jenny rolled her eyes and went back to bossing around a few sophomores.

  “I really hate that girl,” Allora said, unzipping her bag and pulling out her shin guards.

  “Yeah, she sucks,” Katie admitted, slumping down to stretch her legs.

  Coach Taylor arrived a few minutes later and quickly got them going with a few warm up runs around the field. Wind sprints were followed by suicide sprints, which were preceded by high stepping for the length of the field ten times. By the end of the half-hour speed drills, Allora’s legs were burning, and she was out of breath. She had taken a couple fitness classes at the local gym, but nothing could prepare someone for the rigorous daily double practices that were required to make the varsity squad.

  After about an hour, the soccer boys started to arrive. Tanner, the junior mid-fielder, rolled into the parking lot in his black Ford Bronco, and popped out of the driver side door. He had short blonde hair, sharp high cheekbones, dark blue eyes, bushy eyebrows, and a muscular body that was accentuated by his polyester compression workout clothes. Dax jumped out of the passenger seat, clad in a similar cut-off shirt, and soccer shorts. Katie’s twin brother was tall, muscular, with light thick brown hair, and dark brown eyes.

  Allora caught them out of her right eye as she refilled her water bottle from the fountain near where the track met the stands. Tanner sauntered up, and smiled.

  “I thought you said you weren’t going to run the gauntlet this year,” Tanner said, speaking about the tryout’s infamous nickname.

  “Katie talked me into it,” Allora said, topping off her bottle and twisting the cap back on. “Besides, it’ll keep me out of doing workouts with my mom, who insists that I stay in good running shape. I’m guessing that she thinks I’m fat.”

  “Well, you’re definitely not fat,” Tanner said, pinching her side playfully.

  Allora scrunched her abdomen and smiled. Her expression quickly changed when she saw Jenny stomping over from across the turf field.

  “I gotta go,” Allora said, taking a swig out of her water bottle and running over to Katie who was scolding her twin brother over taking her earphones.

  Allora ignored Jenny’s glare. Glancing back, she could see the couple fighting over something. Jenny’s emotions were always unpredictable.

  “Scrimmage time,” Coach Taylor yelled, prompting everyone to meet in the middle of the soccer field. The coach split up the groups to make them even, and tossed one team a few yellow bibs.

  Allora watched as Jenny began whispering something to her friends Nancy and Tanya, two ruthless girls who didn’t have a sympathetic bone between them.

  “Watch yourself out there,” Allora said to Katie who was adjusting her jersey.

  “Against the bruiser squad? Please. I can run circles around those idiots.”

  The scrimmage began and was mostly uneventful for the first fifteen minutes. Allora was playing midfield, and finally got an opening, passing it cleanly to Katie, who took off like a cheetah. She maneuvered around a defender, leaving her wide open to take it toward the center. Nancy was cross field and made a quick step towards the oncoming player. There wasn’t much room to get in front, so Nancy slid from behind, taking out Katie’s legs. Blonde hair snapped forward, and she hit the turf with a thud. The slide tackle was highly illegal and prompted everyone to head to that side of the field. Allora saw the whole thing and was steaming mad. She sprinted to Nancy and shoved her to the ground. A fight broke out. Coach Taylor was screaming as the guys in the locker room flooded the field to watch.

  “Catfight!” Dax yelled.

  Allora felt a hand grab the back of her hair, pulling her along the ground. Instinctively, she pivoted her foot, and through the mask of matted hair, she swung a fist, connecting with a jaw. Someone screamed, and fell backwards as the coach was finally able to pull girls apart. With a flick of her brown hair, Allora noticed that the girl she had punched was Jenny, who laid on the ground glaring maniacally and holding her cheek. The blonde captain got to her feet and stared Allora down.

  “You’re going to pay for that trailer trash,” Jenny said, getting really close to Allora’s face. Some of the other girls were fighting, occupying the coach.

  “Nobody pulls my hair.”

  “Your daddy never taught you manners, did he?” Jenny said, adjusting her swollen jaw. The question instantly got Allora’s emotions boiling. The hairs on the back of her neck stood straight, and even the fake blades of grass on the turf stood up. “Oh, yeah, that’s right, you never had a daddy. I guess that’s why you’re such a disappointment in life.”

  The comment hit Allora like a knife to the gut. She was shocked into speechlessness, stunned by an anger and hate she’d seldom felt before. A faint swell of electricity crawled up Allora’s spine, moving through her torso and into her arms.

  Jenny glanced over to Tanner, who was standing on the track with the other soccer players, then back to Allora. She raised an eyebrow and whispered, “Oh, and by the way, this little thing between you and my boyfriend… that’s over.”

  A pulsating energy flowed into her palms as she extended them away from her body and let out a tormented scream. Suddenly, her palms burst into purple flames. Only the gawkers immediately surrounding Allora witnessed the spectacular phenomenon, but in mere moments, panic spread among the several dozen surrounding onlookers. Allora herself didn’t realize what was going on until she felt the heat from the flames. Her whole body felt heavy, and the purple light of the fire danced in her peripheral as the world became fuzzy. Devoid of any energy, she dropped to the ground. The last thing she saw before blackness swallowed her was Tanner’s bright blue eyes. He was right by her side when she slipped into a deep sleep.

  Two

  CONFUSION

  Lying prone on the bleached white linens covering the bed, Allora slept peacefully. A plastic bag of hydrating vitamins hung on a metal rack feeding clear liquid into her veins. The hospital room smelled of a strange mixture of lavender and bleach.

  Standing at the foot of the bed, Milly and Aunt May remained steady and silent for a long minute of reflection. The event had taken them completely by surprise.

  “How is this possible?” Milly asked after a moment.

  “There are plenty of Sonorans that have focused before the maturation age,” Aunt May replied.

  “
Yes, but focused an element? And an element like fire.”

  “Well, that is rather rare, I know. You can’t be all that surprised given her bloodline though.”

  “I don’t remember her father ever being able to focus an element.”

  “Ancestral DNA can lock in certain gifts that don’t reveal themselves for generations. I can’t really see any other explanation.”

  The faint sound of Allora’s breathing echoed against the whitewashed walls of the intensive care unit. The two women stood idly, contemplating their next move. Contingency plans had been put in place, but as is the case for most unexpected catastrophes in life, neither of them were mentally prepared.

  Milly’s heart began to beat faster and her head throbbed as she thought about the potential consequences of her daughter’s tragic event.

  “Do we need to be worried about being compromised?” Milly asked.

  “I don’t think so,” Aunt May said, staring down at her niece. “The energy signature would have been strong, but they would need to have someone close by to detect it.”

  “And the humans?”

  “I’ll come up with a logical reason for the fire.”

  “We also need to increase the security personnel. Can you get a hold of Baymar? I want him stationed at the summer camp just in case.”

  “What about Sas? Should we get him back here early?” Aunt May asked.

  “No, he’s got to finish that meeting. It’s going to be even more paramount that the Guardians are prepared for the inevitable. When Titanis finds out that a living royal exists, all hell will break loose.”

  “I thought that we’d have a few more years to prepare,” Aunt May said, her tone filled with concern and dread.

  “We should get out of here,” Milly said, eyeing the door. “If she is an Elemental, her dead skin will peel, and those burns will heal fast. Not exactly something that the doctor will understand.”

  “Wh-what’s going on?” Allora asked, perplexed by her abnormal surroundings. As she scanned the room, Allora’s memories slowing surfaced. She eyed the tightly wrapped dressing on her hands and remembered the horrifying fire that had engulfed them. Not entirely awake, Allora rubbed her eyes. A strange energy filled the room.