Unus (Stone Mage Saga Book 1)

by Raven Whitney

  He shrugged as though the answer was right on my nose. “Because we like the status quo. Even though many among the other species look down on humans, we all still enjoy the fruits of their labor and innovations. That and our world is more or less at peace for the first time in a long time and we'd like to keep it that way. We know that sooner or later, humans will realize they aren't alone and that will bring inevitable conflict, but we aren't eager to incite that. Humans may be weak, but they are many. In an all-out war of species, they're more of a contender than you'd think.”

  “So you want world peace.”

  “Who doesn't? To use modern terminology, war sucks.”

  10

  The now familiar clanging of the guard's metal sword hilt against the iron bars of the cell awoke me sometime later. In this dark, windowless hellhole, it was easy to lose track of time and the sun's movements. You never really realize how vitally important the sun is to daily life until you're without it. I would never take that cheery, glowing orb's presence in my life for granted again if I ever made it home.

  “The stone mage alone this time,” he commanded from outside the cell, as he pulled the door open.

  I looked over to Liam who didn't look happy. I'd noticed that he didn't smile much to begin with. His look said there wasn't much he could do to help this time.

  Not that I had a choice to begin with, but I trudged over to the guard, giving the bastard a dirty look. A stink eye wasn't nearly enough to express the level of anger and hatred I was beginning to feel, though. For the first time in my life, I wanted to beat somebody up. And it wasn't just the flunky guard whom I was beginning to loathe: it was the sons of bitches who brought me here. Who killed the closest thing I ever had to a sister.

  He followed closely behind me this time, his aggressive presence pressuring me forward. The undine man was leaning against the bars of his cell again. I couldn't tussle with the guard again or he'd “handicap” me. Taking a page from Lexie's book of tricks, I faked a stumble and grabbed the bar that the undine man's arm was against. The skin-to-skin contact again induced the same electric, almost prickly feeling in my hand as last time. That could mean one of two things: that the magic was working or that I was desperate enough to believe I had a shot at getting out of here that it was having some kind of placebo effect on my brain.

  “Get moving,” the guard growled impatiently from behind me, shoving me into the dirt with his boot.

  “How about helping me up instead of shoving if you're so impatient? That would make this whole process go faster,” I snapped angrily as I pulled myself upwards with the bars. I touched the undine man's bare arm again, just in case the boot to the butt counted as the “next physical contact” Liam had mentioned. By now, I'm sure the poor fey guy thought I was hitting on him.

  I walked quickly down the path to the arena, not giving any excuse for the guard to touch me again. In the holding cell, I looked across to see a half-shifted silver she-wolf prowling back and forth in her cell anxiously. I could tell that the wolf was a she by the fur-covered breasts on her very muscular chest. Whether her anxiety was brought on by fear or anticipation of ripping me to shreds, I couldn't tell. It was probably the latter.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something on the other side of the holding cell. Looking over, I saw that there was a large battle ax propped up against the wall. The ax had two large blades protruding on both sides. It was simple in design: no engravings or adornments decorated it or the long wooden shaft that was attached to it. Picking it up, I found that it was much lighter than I was expecting it to be, but that its length would make it difficult for someone of my height to use.

  To my left, the doors groaned open. The wolf charged out of the gate before I'd even gotten the chance to walk out of the cell. I jumped and yelped when she hit an invisible barrier and bounced back to the other side of the arena.

  Octavius made a tsk-ing sound like my grandmother would when I would sneak a cookie before dinner. His cheerily patronizing tone carried to his chastisement, “Now, now, pretty girl, no need to be so impatient. Wait until your quarry gets into the arena first so I can watch while you tear her to pieces.”

  His voice brought bile up the back of my throat, and my fingers unconsciously squeezed harder on the handle of the ax. My quivering legs wouldn't budge until the guard kicked me into the arena. I managed to keep my balance this time and not fall on my face. That was a very good thing because the moment my feet hit the sand, the she-wolf launched herself at me using the wall as a springboard.

  I barely had time to duck before her white talons would have sheared through my throat. She landed on all fours behind me and turned to leap at me again. I jumped to the side and dodged her attack again. This seemed to frustrate her because her attacks grew more desperate.

  She swiped her claws at my belly and nicked the skin there. The scent of my blood seemed to make her even more mindlessly enraged because she dove at me again. This time, when I jumped out of her way, I accidentally dropped the ax. Noticing it on the ground next to her, she knocked it to the other side of the arena with one of her massive hand/paws. Not good. I couldn't keep dodging her, either. Eventually, she would hit her target and kill me again. I would have to attack her and I didn't have my weapon.

  On all fours, she stalked closer to me with her eerie, wolf-gold eyes locked onto me. With every step she took closer to me, I backed up, but her stride was so much greater than mine, that she was still gaining ground on me and I would hit the wall at some point.

  I needed to know when she planned to strike. I had to have some kind of edge against this hulking behemoth if I wanted to get out of this ring alive. In the back of my mind, I remembered that Liam had said I was probably telepathic....

  Our eyes met as my nearly bare back grazed the cold, rough stone, and suddenly, I wasn't in the arena anymore. Disjointed, random images flashed vividly before my eyes:

  Chasing deer through the snowy, mountain forest with my pack. Making love with a handsome, black-haired stranger whom I was magnetically drawn to. A lone wolf, passing through my pack's territory in search of his mate— me. Trapped in a cold cell, alone, away from my pack. Thrust into a pit with a scrawny mage. Kill her and go home to Christian. Kill her. Kill her. Attack!

  I was thrust back into my own eyes as I saw her white fangs flying at my face. I threw myself to the side, narrowly missing having my throat ripped out. Her head crashed audibly into the hard stone, stunning her for a few seconds. They were seconds I direly needed to pull myself from where I'd landed in the sand. I dove for the ax, grabbing it up and holding it defensively just as she began to shake off the dizziness.

  My God, there was a human being in that terrifying shape. An innocent woman who had a family, a husband— people who loved her and would mourn her. She'd done nothing more to deserve this terrible fate than I had. And as I stared at her stumbling on the other side of the arena, I knew that I couldn't kill her. I couldn't be the one to take her away from her loved ones. If that got me killed, then so be it.

  I dropped the ax and held my hands up in a gesture of surrender. “Selena!” I called her by what I knew her name was. What I'd heard her lover whisper so tenderly in her ear. “You don't have to do this. He can't make you into a monster,” I cried out fervently, hoping to reach her. But I didn't even know if she could understand English in her half-shifted state.

  She froze and stared at me. Even though she had a wolf's face, it was clear that she understood me and was taken aback and confused that I knew her name.

  “You don't have to sacrifice who you are. I've seen your memories: you are a good and beloved person. Just because he says you have to fight doesn't mean that you do. Don't let him take that away from you.” I pointed to Octavius, sitting in his throne above us in his viewing box. She lowered her clawed arms to her sides and stood a little bit taller, continuing to listen to me. “If you feel like you have to kill me to get back to Christian, then go ahead. I won't stop you. But thi
nk of the woman you'll be when you return to him.”

  Seeming to consider my words, she took a deep breath. Then, slowly and with great caution, she eased towards me. With each step she took closer to me, her body morphed back into a human woman. Nude, she walked to me, completely unabashed at her bareness.

  As a human, she had milky pale skin and warm, chestnut brown hair that tumbled in glossy waves to her lower back. She was slender and walked with a fluid, almost animal grace. Her face was heart-shaped with boldly beautiful features that would make any model envious. Stopping in front of me, her bright hazel eyes met mine.

  “You're fuckin' crazy, Stone Mage,” she said, her voice tinged with a Southern accent. Her hand grabbed mine and she stood next to me, facing Octavius and Unus where they sat alone in the viewing box. The other captives in the cells went silent and the air was thick with fear. I didn't need to look around to know that all eyes were on Octavius, waiting for his next move.

  His face, normally alabaster, was nearly purple with rage. He quivered with it, as though he was trying to contain a hurricane in a paper bag. His fist slammed into the skull on the end of the wooden arms of his ebony throne, shattering it and sending large splinters of wood and bone flying across the platform.

  “How dare you defy me?” His melodic voice boomed through the entire tower, loud enough that I could feel it vibrating in the pit of my stomach. “Filthy mongrels! A glorified human and a lowly were-bitch seek to place themselves above me— the most powerful mage in history.” At the word were-bitch, I could feel Selena tense beside me, but she made no moves. Octavius stood and began to pace angrily around the platform, ranting and raging in Latin, before finally turning back to us.

  “You will pay for your arrogant insubordination.” He pointed at us and I could feel the blood draining from my face. Selena's hand tightened painfully around mine. “I may not be able to kill you, yet.” He pointed at me before slowly sliding his finger to Selena. “But you, I can make an example of.” A smile of demented joy spread across his lips, and Selena made a small whimper, barely audible even though I was standing right next to her.

  Realization at what he meant to do hit me like a ton of bricks, and I screamed, “No!”

  From around us, a ring of fire exploded outward. He would not kill Selena, too. The flames vanished impotently as they collided with the domed iron cage. It didn't matter that they didn't reach him. I would power through it. I would get him.

  I intensified the flames, channeling all of my rage, but still they vaporized as they came against the barrier. All of a sudden, the flames ceased entirely and I felt a rebounding punch resonate through my body, like I'd hit the brakes in a car and slammed against the seatbelt.

  “You need to quiet down,” Octavius commanded with his eyes still rapt on Selena's naked form, his voice now chillingly flat and hollow. The last thing I saw was Octavius flicking his finger at me before everything went black.

  An intense jolt awoke me sometime later. Pain suffused my head and neck immediately. Where was Selena? Even though it was agonizing, I looked around desperately, needing to see that she was okay.

  “Whoa, relax.” Liam was sitting on the floor beside me. He pressed me back down onto the dirty cot. The body heat from his hand radiated through the thin fabric of my camisole. It was in stark contrast to the slivers of coldness creeping up from the floor. When he pulled back his hand, I missed that warmth.

  “You died again. You need to take it easy,” he cautioned, but I could hear a note of almost dishonesty in his voice. He was hiding something from me.

  “No. Where's Selena?” I pushed his hand off. I tried to stand up, but I was still too shaky and fell back onto the floor.

  Liam lowered his eyes from mine and murmured, “Just stay down.”

  So she died anyway. His passive confirmation of my horrible suspicions felt like a slap across the face. My chest clenched up like there was a vise around it and I couldn't breathe, could feel every beat of my heart punching against my ribs. I squeezed my eyes shut against the pain of it all. Violent sobs wrenched through my chest and I started to weep. I curled into a ball on my side to try and support my aching chest. But it did no good since nothing physical was broken.

  What good was this miracle from God if I couldn't save an innocent woman with it?Through it all, I felt Liam's hand on my shoulder, his thumb soothing back and forth. Once my tears ran dry and I'd stopped hyperventilating, I lay almost catatonic for a long time. It was my fault that Selena was dead, that Christian's wife was gone. It was my fault that Lexie was kidnapped and beheaded. Just because I didn't mean for any of this to happen, didn't mean it wasn't my fault. That their blood wasn't on my hands.

  And what of the other three people who'd died yesterday— the sorrowful mountain troll, the fae woman, and the bear-man? Surely they all had families, too. And it was my fault they were dead. If I hadn't bought this bracelet, they would all still be alive.

  “Quit beating yourself up,” Liam said so softly that I almost didn't hear him. “Everyone dies here. It's just a matter of time.”

  “And Lexie? Would she have died too if this damned bracelet had stayed in a dusty box in some greasy kid's garage?”

  “Again, just a matter of time. No matter what your lifespan is, everyone dies eventually. And we who live without a limit to our years almost always die bloody.”

  “It's all my fault,” I whispered, curling up even tighter. I wish I could just disappear....

  He exhaled, “No, it isn't your fault they died. But it will be your fault if everyone in here dies because you did nothing but sit and sob on the floor. Now are you going to get up and get us some help or are you going to stay there and wallow in your self-pity? Pull yourself together.” His voice gradually got louder until he was almost yelling at me. But I took his words to heart. I couldn't do anything for Lexie or Selena or the three nameless victims, but I could still do something for everyone else still in here— including Liam and me.

  Liam stood up next to me and offered me his hand. In response, I held up my own in refusal. If I was going to do what needed to be done to get us out of here, I needed to at least be able to stand up under my own power.

  Once I was above the floor, I noticed for the first time an odd chattering noise coming from outside the cell. I walked over to the edge, ducking Liam's hand which reached out to try to hold me back, and saw what he'd been hiding from me: Selena didn't just die. She'd been skinned alive.

  Her now completely skinless body hung on a chain from the metal dome over the pit with a meat-hook crammed through the top of her mouth, now forever open in a silent scream. I knew it was her from all of that beautiful brunette hair, now soggy, lifeless, and matted. What remained of her blood dripped slowly onto the sands below. The chattering noise was from the carnivorous skulls clamoring below her like starving dogs for every drop.

  I couldn't make it to the bucket before I threw up everything in my empty stomach. I retched over the floor long after I voided my stomach of its acid. For long minutes, I continued to dry heave and shudder. I couldn't afford to fall back into my previous state. I had to keep it together and get out of here.

  Pushing myself to stand on my still-shaking legs, I made my way over to the rusted little pipe, not even wide enough for me to poke two fingers into. “How do I do this?” I looked to Liam, who shook his head and shrugged.

  Maybe since I was supposed to turn to water through mimicry, that doing it was like magic— reliant on faith. But how was I supposed to believe that a solid human being like me could become a liquid? And what if my power worked like that bounty hunter's that Liam mentioned? Despite my best efforts to evade her, Selena and I did touch. Though I didn't feel anything when I touched her like I did when I touched the undine, the worry that I'd turn into a werewolf was still prominent in my mind.

  It was a risk. I didn't know enough about my abilities yet to know what kind of contact I needed to mimic someone and what kind of contact would erase that mimic
ry. If when Liam touched me through my shirt earlier, he'd accidentally become my “next physical contact”, then this could be a waste of precious time and magic. But I had to trust that Liam knew more about this whole thing than me. He wanted out of here just as much as I did and if he thought this was too risky, he would have said something.

  “Try to picture yourself turning into water,” Liam suggested after I'd just stood there staring at the pipe like a useless lump for several moments.

  I looked at him and raised an eyebrow in question since that was so far from my guess of what to do.

  “From what I've heard from shapeshifters, concentration and a very specific visualization of the change you want to make is the key to shapeshifting in a conscious and controlled way,” he explained. “You may want to touch the water in the pipe, too. I don't know if it'll help you change or not, but it will give you access to the pipe once you have.”

  Nodding, I turned back and brushed my fingers against the cold, damp pipe. The water dripping out of it was just above freezing and made me recoil the first time I touched it. I closed my eyes and focused everything I had on it. For several long minutes, I just stood there with my hand in the water until eventually, the cold caused me so much pain that I couldn't think about anything else. I yanked my arm back, cursing and shaking the water off it. I put it between my legs to try to warm the burning away.

  “You were onto something there. I saw your fingers go translucent,” Liam exclaimed, crossing the cell to me. He gently pulled my hand from my thighs to examine it. Like the heated, callused hands which caressed them, my fingers were solid and opaque.

  I flexed my reddened, still-numb hand and winced at the lingering prickles. “I'll try again in a minute. Let me get my hand back to normal.”

  Liam nodded and released my hand. “Don't take too long, though. The guard will be making his next round in an hour.”