Soul Stone Mage Complete Collection Boxed Set

by Sarah Noffke

  “Gillian is still with you?” Azure asked, shocked that the grumpy gnome hadn’t disappeared.

  “Actually, the little munchkin gave us this,” Monet said, holding up a small disc. It had a tiny red dot on it, inside a black circle.

  “What’s that?” Azure asked.

  “It’s a finding device,” Ever supplied.

  Monet pointed to the red dot. “That dot is you. The black circle is us. We just had to keep moving until our circle met your dot. It was pretty cool.”

  “Wow, Gillian actually helped you?” Azure asked.

  “Don’t tell the little guy that I said this, but I think he missed you.” Monet cupped a hand at the side of his mouth in a fake attempt at stealth.

  “He just wants me to become queen so I’ll supply the gnomes with our honeysuckle crops,” Azure guessed.

  “Probably. Gnomes are so self-serving,” Monet agreed.

  “Which makes me think you’re half-gnome,” Azure said before turning to her father. “Monet will take you to safety. You’ll most likely be okay with him, although his stories are dangerously boring and he’s offensive enough to piss off an orc. Try and stomach him while you’re together.”

  Richard nodded, pressing his lips together. This wasn’t like anything he was accustomed to, but he was making a show of being brave.

  Azure slid her gaze to Monet, giving him a half-smile. “Don’t get caught! No messing around, just go straight to the border.”

  “Yeah, totally. Don’t worry your little blonde head.” Monet winked at her and strode forward, waving for Richard to follow him. “Hey, do you have any money? I need to pay the toll in the Dark Forest.”

  Chapter Five

  “So you’re telling me your mother gave away her precious soul stone to make the Duke stay silent?” Ever asked as they strolled through the city. Azure had wanted to run to their destination, but that would have drawn too much attention. They pretended to be model citizens instead, sauntering through the streets.

  “Yeah, so now we have to sneak into this monument ceremony and take it from him. I think I can figure out how to do the last part, but getting the Duke alone will be difficult,” Azure said.

  “Leave that part to me.” Ever nodded reassuringly. She would have thought his bright blue eyes would have set him apart in Terran, like Monet’s eyes did, but people didn’t notice them. Everyone acted as if they were preoccupied, something she’d noticed yesterday when she’d entered this land. Strange to consider it was only yesterday that she’d stepped into Terran.

  A bike cut them off, and Azure held up her fist. “Watch where you’re going, buddy!” she yelled.

  Ever shot her a look of disbelief.

  “I’m trying to help us blend in. The people of Terran have awful tempers,” she told him.

  “Probably because they’re all coming down from sugar highs,” Ever said, observing the shops and restaurants as they passed. The stores all had displays in the windows or posters showing the food they sold.

  “Yes, the people here love sugar. They actually manifest all their food from it,” Azure said, fondly remembering the way the donut she’d had at Heidi’s house had melted in her mouth. “I mean, it’s delicious, but it has no nutrition. And the people of Terran don’t eat any vegetables.”

  “That explains so much. It appears they’ve misconstrued much of the information from Earth.” Ever smirked at a shop they passed.

  “I kind of sensed that, but since I don’t know much about Earth, I couldn’t figure out what-all they’d gotten wrong.”

  Ever paused. “Well, for one, you see this store?”

  Azure read the sign. “Pot Dispensary.”

  “Right. We have these all over Los Angeles, which I’m guessing the people of Terran learned one way or another. However, the ones on Earth sell a drug that is fondly called pot.”

  “And they took it literally.” Azure laughed, staring at the large pots lined up in the store’s window.

  “Yes, and their Apple store sells artwork of actual apples. And if I’m not mistaken, they’ve named all their banks ‘Starbucks.’” Ever shook his head, his eyes sparkling with laughter. “Wow, these people are thick.”

  “Well, if you’ve never been to a foreign planet, and had only received bits and pieces about it through the Dark Market, I guess there could be a lot of confusion,” Azure said.

  “Yeah, but why not just be yourself, right? Why imitate another planet?”

  “My thoughts exactly, but I’m guessing that’s why everything is out of whack for them. They overuse their magical resources and have bad nutrition because they refuse to be who they are. They’re humans on Oriceran, not Earthlings who live on a foreign planet,” Azure mused, the ideas occurring to her as she said them.

  Ever sped up as they approached a large grassy area where people were starting to gather. “Think we’re getting close.” He paused when they came to the artificial grass.

  “Yes, this should be the ceremony for the Crushmore monument.” Azure noted a large object covered with a tarp next to a stage. The platform was much like the one she’d seen at the emperor’s press conference, with a podium and a navy-blue curtain at the back.

  “Wait, did you say ‘Crushmore?’” Ever asked.

  “Yes. Apparently it’s modeled after some monument on Earth. It’s four different famous people’s faces chiseled into stone.”

  “Presidents of the United States. Not really famous, as much as leaders,” Ever said, scratching one long black sideburn. “And it’s called Rushmore. Man, how did these humans screw things up so much? They’re ridiculous.”

  “That’s what I said when they imprisoned me. I think they’re all partially braindead from sugar overload,” Azure replied.

  “Which will hopefully make our job easier.” Ever pointed to a path at the back of the stage.

  “I’m sure there will be guards back there, surrounding the Duke,” Azure said.

  “Which means we’ll need to draw them away. Any ideas?”

  “Yeah, I think so.” Azure remembered the dog that had accompanied the Duke when he captured her. She held the tip of her wand against her finger, hiding it along her arm, and flicked it at the curtain bordering the back of the stage. A feline, small and black, appeared. It was of course an illusion, but it would work for their purposes. The cat looked at Azure before turning its green eyes to the curtain and disappearing behind it.

  Azure had only enough time to glance at the crowd gathering several yards away, all of them excited for the unveiling of the monument, before she was distracted by barking coming from the backstage area. A moment later, a black cat sprinted through the curtain with a brown dog on its heels. A flood of guards chased after the dog, all of them running but not able to keep up with the four-legged sprinters.

  “Do you think that’s all of them?” Ever asked, watching as the guards passed them.

  “Hard to tell,” Azure said, but she was cut off by yelling from behind the curtain.

  “Get him!” someone yelled, and another set of guards emerged from behind the curtain.

  “Okay, that’s probably all of them.” She had counted five guards edging out from behind the curtain. “Now what?” she asked, turning to Ever.

  He pressed his eyes shut and she could feel something warm flowing from him, but only because his Light Elves’ magic was so different from her own.

  “Okay, as soon as you enter the backstage area, no one will be able to go back there or leave but you,” Ever said.

  “You’ll create an enchantment on the backstage area?” she asked, impressed. That was an incredibly strong and specific spell.

  Ever merely nodded his head. “I’ll only be able to hold it for a few minutes, so you need to get in there and retrieve your mother’s soul stone, then get out fast.”

  “And then we’ve got to get the fuck out of Terran,” Azure said, unsure how they’d do that. She’d figure it out once she had her mother’s soul stone.

  “G
o now, while the coast is clear.” Ever urged her forward.

  “Okay, I’m going,” she said, casting a glance at Ever. Symbols had started to appear on his arms and neck, a result of the spellwork.

  With a sharp nod, she entered the curtained area.

  “Did you find Rover?” the Duke asked, turning around. His eyes growing wide. “What are you doing here?”

  Azure tensed. This wasn’t a normal human. There was something completely sinister about Phillip, who bore only a small resemblance to her father. His eyes were beadier, his nose more slender, and his demeanor was completely intimidating. “I’m here to take back something that belongs to the queen of Virgo.” Azure held out a hand to him. “I want my mother’s soul stone.”

  The Duke smiled, an expression absent of any joy. “Oh no. She gave that to me to ensure that I kept you a secret. I did, so the soul stone is mine.”

  “You exposed me, and lost Richard his crown!” Azure realized she was yelling.

  Phillip simply shrugged, his brown trench coat hiking up on his shoulders as he did. “I’ll retrieve the guards so they can take you back to prison, this time without your wand,” he said, his eyes narrowing on the wand in her hand. She tightened her fingers on it.

  Phillip strode to the other side of the curtain and halted, nearly ramming into the material. “What have you done? I can’t leave!”

  “And you’ll stay here for eternity if you don’t give me my mother’s soul stone,” Azure lied.

  “Look, you little witch, you’re not getting the soul stone back, and you’re not going to ruin this ceremony,” Phillip hissed.

  “The way I see it, you’re stuck back here with a witch who has a wand. You’re kind of screwed,” Azure said, holding her wand high and preparing a combat spell.

  Over the loudspeaker someone cleared their throat. “Before the Duke starts the ceremony, we’ve got a special surprise for you. Please join me in welcoming our musical entertainment tonight, Lady Ga Goo!” the announcer said, his words followed by a deafening round of applause.

  When the noise had died down, Phillip leaned forward. “You may have a wand, you filthy half-blood, but I have something more powerful,” he said, slipping his hand into his pocket of his trench coat. From it he withdrew an oval amethyst. Azure had never seen it, but she instinctively knew the soul stone belonged to her mother.

  “Not only will you not get this stone, but, using its power, I’m going to take yours too,” Phillip said just as the music started to play much too loudly.

  “No!” Azure yelled, knowing she was running out of time. Her soul stone rose off her chest as it had when it pulled her to her father. However, this time it was being stolen from her. She clamped a hand on it as she directed her wand at her mother’s soul stone. The only way she’d have been able to steal it was by knowing where it was, which the Duke had made too easy.

  The soul stone tugged toward her in the air, taking Phillip’s hand with it at first. Then it broke free and raced across the space between them. Azure shot her arm in the air, fingers splayed wide. The stone flew straight into the palm of her hand, and she yanked her arm down to her side. Phillip lunged at her, but she stumbled back several feet, falling through the partition walls. She watched as the curtains moved in front of her, but the Duke couldn’t break out of the backstage area. Azure tipped her head in Ever’s direction. He had backed up several yards and was still enchanting the backstage area, by all appearances. But in the distance the guards were on their way back, one of them carrying the large brown dog over his shoulder.

  Azure peeled herself off the stage, her mother’s soul stone clutched in her hand. “We’ve got to get out of here,” she said, racing for Ever.

  He nodded, and pulled something from his pocket. Still muttering under his breath, he held out a small pink flower. Azure frowned, not understanding why he was offering this to her.

  Ever directed his gaze to her and finished his muttering. He shook his head, as if coming out of a daze, and thrust the flower forward. “Touch the petals. It’s a connecting device which will teleport us back to the rendezvous point.”

  His enchantment was broken when he stopped muttering. Phillip clambered out of the curtained area. The guards were nearly on them. Azure’s hand shot forward to the flower, and immediately the bright pink flower sucked her in. She disappeared and fell through a tunnel, spiraling around many twists and turns before being spit into a particularly dark part of the forest.

  Chapter Six

  Azure’s body felt like it had been turned inside out. She hit the forest floor with a thud, her teeth slamming together as she landed. Unable to keep her balance, she fell to the ground, her palms encountering a patch of thorns.

  “Fuck!” she yelled as a vine slipped around her ankle. Azure rolled onto her back, pointing her wand at the noxious vine, which was seeking to strangle her. “Nestati!” she screamed, and a second later the vine disappeared. Azure hurriedly stood, brushing herself off of leaves and dirt. Ever stood a safe distance from the patch of vines and thorns. He was smirking at her with the large pink flower crushed in the palm of his hand. An identical pink flower grew in the patch of thorns where she stood.

  “Transporting oneself using fairy flowers is always a bit tricky, since they have poisonous thorns and deadly vines,” Ever said, tossing the broken flower over his shoulder, to the ground.

  “Poisonous?” Azure shrilled, turning her palm over and pulling a thorn from it.

  “Yeah. You’ll be okay. Hella nauseous, but you’ll survive. They’re meant to incapacitate the person who transports into them so the vines can do their job,” Ever explained.

  At Azure’s feet, the pink flower Ever had thrown to the ground and the one in the patch of thorns and vines turned brown and shriveled in on themselves.

  “So let me guess—fairy flowers grow in pairs. You pick one, and it will transport you to the other when you need it,” Azure said.

  “Good guess. And yes, but finding them is nearly impossible unless you’re a fairy.”

  “But not for a rebel Light Elf who hangs out in the Dark Forest, huh?” Azure asked.

  Ever’s ears had returned to being pointy. She directed her wand at her face and changed her hair and eyes back to their normal shade of blue.

  “The princess returns,” a voice said at Azure’s back.

  She turned to find Gillian sitting on the branch of a nearby tree, which was about where she’d seen him when they’d first met. He was still wearing the same brown suit, and his bowler hat still had a red flower on it.

  “And thanks to your help, Ever and Monet were able to find me in the Land of Terran.” Azure smiled at the gnome.

  He grimaced, shaking his head. “You must never share that with anyone. Honestly, I was just tired of waiting around for you to return.”

  “Then why didn’t you simply leave?” she asked, amused.

  “I would have, but I feared that Monet would break rules on this quest if I left him without supervision.”

  “Right! I forgot that you’re simply along to keep us from doing anything illegal,” Azure said.

  “You have in fact not forgotten that,” Gillian said, disappearing and then reappearing a few feet from her. “Were you successful on your mission?”

  “Well, I was apprehended and thrown in jail, but yes, I was successful,” she said, and pulled her mother’s soul stone from her pocket. It twinkled at her, glowing slightly.

  “It has been used recently,” Gillian remarked, staring at the gem.

  “Yes, the Duke of Terran had it and used it for his own purposes. You can tell because of the glow, can’t you?”

  Gillian didn’t answer, but instead gazed at something behind her. A rustle of leaves drew Azure’s attention to whoever was approaching.

  “What is the emperor of Terran doing here?” Gillian asked.

  Monet and Richard walked through some tall plants several yards away. Monet’s hair had returned to its natural mint-green color, and
he looked to be greatly winded. Glancing over his shoulder, he pulled the back of his arm over his forehead to wipe off the sweat. Relief flooded his eyes when he turned back and saw the group just ahead.

  “Did you just say the human is the emperor of Terran?” Ever asked, his gaze on the two approaching men.

  “Indeed I did. He’s been reigning for many decades,” Gillian said, his boxy chin held high.

  “Well, that ended today, when all of Terran found out at a press conference that he’s my father,” Azure said.

  “Whoa! That’s far out. Your mother is the queen of Virgo and your father is the emperor of Terran.” Ever shook his head in disbelief.

  “Interesting.” Gillian pulled his notebook from his breast pocket and scribbled notes.

  “Glad you made it,” Azure said, striding forward but then hesitating. Richard was regarding her with some intensity. His eyes roamed her face as if he were seeing her for the first time, and the fine lines around his eyes deepened for a moment. It was hard to say how old he was. Humans lived a long life on Oriceran thanks to the magic, but not as long as witches and wizards. He looked like he was her mother’s age, minus maybe a hundred years.

  “We didn’t really have a chance before, but I wanted to formally say it’s good to finally meet you,” Richard said, extending his hand to her.

  Azure eyed the hand and turned to Monet, who was checking them out. “Were you followed?”

  He had a wide smile on his face. “Not by humans. I might have insulted a herd of centaurs, but I think we lost them.”

  “Good thinking! You’re trying to escape a treacherous land and you create more trouble for yourself,” Azure said.

  “Actually, I was trying to help us escape. I simply asked them if we could get a lift. They apparently didn’t think giving us a ride was an acceptable idea,” Monet said.