Soul Stone Mage Complete Collection Boxed Set

by Sarah Noffke

  Turning before she changed her mind, Azure hurried down the wraparound porch’s steps. Mist coiled over the rolling green hills, shrouding the cottages in the distance. Still, Azure knew what the fog hid, because this was her home. She knew Virgo like the back of her soul stone.

  Thankfully no one was out at this early hour, but that just meant that the witch she was about to wake would be quite angry with her. Azure swept past the various houses painted bright pinks, pale blues, or mossy greens. Not until she’d come to the house surrounded by statues of cats did she pause. The figures were in various stances: hissing, stretching, sleeping. The witches’ and wizards’ familiars didn’t just offer protection in physical form, but also when modeled in other media such as stone or clay.

  Azure hurried down the cobbled path and rapped on the old redwood door. Inside the cottage she heard a great rustle, followed by a good bit of cursing.

  “I know who it is. She thinks just because—” a voice growled from the other side of the door.

  A moment later the door peeled back, but only an inch. A witch’s eye stared at Azure. “I’d ask you what do you want, but I already know,” she rasped.

  “Well, can I come in then?” Azure asked, peering over her shoulder to look for neighbors who might be snooping.

  “Yes, if you answer this riddle,” Fay Anna Essence said, a laugh in her voice.

  “You knew I was coming to see you, and you know what I want. Don’t you know, since you can see the future, if I answer it right or wrong?”

  “That’s not how clairvoyance works, Princess Azure.”

  “Go on, then.” Azure was resigned.

  “Which creature walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening?” the witch asked.

  Azure thought for a long moment. A distant memory of her gran humming as she worked crept into her head. She often spoke of the Sphinx’s riddle, a structure on Earth that had been built by witches and wizards when the gates had opened between the two planets long ago. The Great Pyramid was also a result of Oriceran trespassers. Gran used to say that people passed through their lives as one does through a day. Lately she’d been saying more and more that she was in the evening of her life, soon to pass into the night.

  “Man,” Azure finally sputtered, allowing the memory to fade. “Man crawls on all fours as a baby, as an adult he walks on two, and then he walks with a cane as an old man.

  Fay Anna pulled the door back, revealing her face, which was wearing an annoyed look. The witch’s dangling earrings were caught in her long obsidian hair. Her black eyes studied Azure as she opened the door. “Go on, Princess. Take a seat at the table.”

  A cat with long gray hair rammed its head softly into Azure’s shin and drew its body across her leg. She knelt and scratched the animal’s back before scurrying for the table, which was covered in silk tapestries.

  A low-hanging chandelier dripped with glass of various colors just above her head. Around the small space were cluttered shelves, holding crumpled boxes and lumpy sacks. A strange pair of eyes hid in the darkness of the shelves, appearing and disappearing between different rows of books.

  “Go on, take a seat. I’m overdue for a nap,” Fay Anna said, ushering Azure to a rickety chair that didn’t look like it could bear her weight.

  “Nap? It’s early morning,” Azure stated, sitting down but carefully placing most of her weight on her feet.

  “Exactly!” Fay Anna winked. Her face was young, but her eyes were old. She wore her violet soul stone in a cuff of silver and onyx around her forearm.

  “Oh, well, I won’t take up much of your time,” Azure reassured the fortuneteller.

  “No,” Fay Anna said, lifting her head and looking at the door as if she had heard a silent knock. “No you won’t, because Zar will be here in a bit. We’d better get to work.”

  From the buffet against the back wall, the witch lifted a tea tray and placed it before Azure. Steam rose from the tea as she poured it into the cup she set before Azure.

  “Now, blow on that and then take small sips until it’s almost gone. I daresay you only have another minute before you’re pulled away,” Fay Anna said, her black eyes on the door.

  “Me? Zar is coming to see me?” He managed the stables, and had been in charge of the horses for ages.

  “No, he’s coming to see me, but you’ll be led away,” Fay Anna said, leaning forward in her seat across from Azure to peer into her cup.

  The tea was hot, as if it had been brewed only moments ago. Hints of jasmine and chamomile lingered in Azure’s mouth when she set the nearly empty teacup back into the saucer.

  “Now swirl the leftover tea leaves in the cup,” Fay Anna said, her fingertips pressed to her temples.

  Azure did as she was told and handed the teacup to the older witch. No one in Virgo was superior to Fay Anna at the art of tasseography, or more simply put, reading tea leaves.

  The witch leaned forward, one dark eyebrow arched. She shook her head as if what she saw in the tea cup didn’t compute. Closing her eyes, she reached out and picked up the teacup, bringing it to her chin. When she opened her eyes she dropped the cup, letting it fall to the table where it smashed into several large bits.

  “What is it? What did you see?” Azure asked, pushing her seat back as she stood.

  Fay Anna combed her long hair forward onto her shoulder, as if to keep herself warm. “It can’t have been correct. No one has seen her in ages. She isn’t supposed to even still be alive.”

  “What? Who are you talking about? What did my tea leaves say?”

  “Mage Lenora,” Fay Anna said in a hushed voice, as if she were afraid that someone could hear her. “The tea leaves said you’d find Mage Lenora.”

  “But… No… I mean…” Azure trailed off in a series of different sentences. Mage Lenora was the oldest witch ever. If the rumors were true, she lived on the top of the Mountain of Truth. No one had seen her in over a hundred years, and yet wands for every new witch or wizard were miraculously delivered to Virgo when needed. They were always found on the threshold of the House of Enchanted with the name of the witch or wizard the wand belonged to written on a piece of parchment and tied to its end. All wands were made from the Howling Willow outside Mage Lenora’s home.

  Azure had opened her mouth to ask a real question when a knock sounded at the door. She jumped back, stepping on the tail of the gray tabby that had taken up residence behind her.

  “I’m sorry, Winston. I didn’t mean to.” Azure apologized to the cat, who hissed at her before charging off.

  Fay Anna didn’t pay this commotion any attention as she pulled back the front door.

  The rush of muttering could barely be heard from the threshold. Azure pulled in a breath, combing her hands through her tangled curls. Mage Lenora. That didn’t make any sense. Why would she seek out the oldest witch?

  “I see. A disturbance at the stables,” Fay Anna said from the door.

  Azure strode around the table, nearing the front door. On the other side of the threshold stood a wizard with reddish-orange hair tied back in a ponytail.

  “None of the horses want to work anymore. They just frolic in the yard now,” Zar said, raking his hands over his forehead, stress oozing from his wrinkled face.

  “Uh huh. I might have an enchantment that will work,” Fay Anna said to the stablemaster, but her voice was directed back toward Azure.

  “I just don’t know why anyone would allow a pixie into Virgo. They have to be invited in. Someone has allowed this one entry, and she’s creating quite the headache for me,” Zar said, now rubbing his eye.

  Pixie! Azure darted forward, brushing past Fay Anna. “I must be going.”

  “Princess Azure,” Zar said, kneeling in a show of respect.

  “Good day, Zar,” Azure said, curtly nodding at him.

  “Take care, Princess Azure,” Fay Anna called to her back as she scurried to the stables just over the next ridge.

  Dammit,
Azure thought. She should have known that pixies had to be invited into Virgo. That’s why she’d never seen one in their land. Fairies, yes, but they were different. Actually, without fairies the gardens in Virgo wouldn’t be lush with vegetables and their fruits wouldn’t be exploding with richness.

  Azure didn’t stop running until she got to the doors of the stables. They, like most of the buildings in Virgo, were painted in intense pastels. The shutters were spearmint green, the walls periwinkle blue and the doors cotton candy pink. Azure ripped open the stable door, only to discover exactly what she’d dreaded she’d find.

  None of the horses were in their stalls. Through the gate at the back, Azure could hear the swoosh of tails and see hints of bright colors as she marched across the hay-strewn ground. How could she be queen when she created more problems than she solved?

  The sight that met Azure’s eyes clouded her head with frustration. No wonder cool-as-a-sea-slug Zar was discouraged. On the expansive grounds of the stables, the palominos, Arabians, Latvians, and Appaloosas alike laid in the grassy yard. Each of their manes and tails had been braided and woven with flowers. Around the lounging animals were an assortment of apples and heirloom carrots. And buzzing around their heads, whispering in their pointy ears, was a pixie with bright blonde hair.

  “Oh, fuck,” Azure said to herself. Pixies, she now realized, created disorder by enthralling the horses. No wonder she’d never seen them in Virgo. They were inhibitors. Without horses, the fields wouldn’t get plowed, buildings wouldn’t be built, and the people in Virgo would be forced to walk great distances on their own feet.

  Azure took a deep breath and snapped her fingers in the air. “Buzz Buzz!”

  The pixie, who had been only a blur of color as she swept between the different animals, paused in the air. She turned her head in Azure’s direction, batting her eyes at her. The pixie waved her off, shaking her head as she did, as if she was preoccupied with arranging the mane of the palomino in front of her.

  “Buzz Buzz! Get over here, or I’m pulling out my bow and arrow and going pixie hunting!” Azure held up her wand, pointing it in the direction of the creature she had thought was all sunshine and rainbows. Small, sweet things could be very deceiving.

  A series of mutters filled the air as the pixie shot across the space, leaving behind sparks as she did.

  An impatient hum fell from the pixie’s mouth when she paused in front of Azure. It sounded like a curt “What?”

  “You can’t do this. You’ve enchanted our horses, and now we have no one to help us with the work,” Azure started to say.

  Buzz Buzz cut her off with her own retort, which sounded like a field of spring frogs all trying to croak over each other.

  Azure shook her head at the pixie, but realized immediately that disagreeing with the tiny thing wasn’t going to get her anywhere. This pixie was more dangerous than the Orcs if she wanted to be, with those sweet pink cheeks and long eyelashes.

  Raising her wand, Azure flicked it at the horses, and the ribbons and flowers disappeared from their manes and tails.

  A sound akin to a siren wailing emerged from Buzz Buzz’ mouth. Azure pretended she didn’t hear it, and turned on her toes.

  “If you want an animal you can enthrall, follow me. The horses of Virgo are off-limits.”

  The pixie hummed so loudly that Azure was sure it would explode her eardrums. Acting as if she were unaffected, she turned back to the hovering pixie. “There will be no negotiating. You will leave the horses of Virgo alone. They have work to do. If you want a better alternative, follow me, otherwise I’ll escort you to the border where you’ll be uninvited from Virgo and never allowed within in our borders again.”

  Buzz Buzz landed on the sandy ground and kicked once, making the tiniest of dirt storms fly up from her slippered foot.

  Azure leaned over the little creature. “Get mad all you want. I didn’t know what you planned to do here, but now that I do, I’ll offer you something else. However, fight me on this and I’ll offer you to an Orc as something to floss their teeth with. Your call.”

  With a high-pitched squeal of dissatisfaction Buzz Buzz marched forward, throwing a look of longing behind her before charging off in pursuit of Azure.

  Hopefully the horses would return to normal with the pixie gone. Zar would have Azure’s head on a stake if he found out she had been the one responsible for allowing Buzz Buzz inside their borders.

  Once outside the stable grounds, Azure set off for the area of the forest that bordered Virgo. She didn’t know if her plan would work, but if it didn’t, instead of attending her coronation she’d be tried for the murder of this dumb pixie.

  They’d traveled only a few yards when Buzz Buzz flew close to Azure’s ear and began muttering nonsensical rubbish at her.

  “Look! I don’t know what you’re saying. I’m trying to help you, but you need to shut your damn mouth for five fucking minutes. Otherwise you’re going to ruin everything, okay?”

  The pixie stared at her, her face stony, her wings fluttering to keep her in the air. Finally she nodded, her lip quivering as if she was about to break into loud wails.

  “Just trust me,” Azure said. She wanted to follow up that statement with “I know what I’m doing.” However, that wasn’t true. This was the true definition of “winging it.”

  Veering off to the more wooded area at the back of the stables, Azure noted that the sun had journeyed above the treetops. Soon witches and wizards would be bounding out of their houses, probably congregating to discuss the upcoming coronation. She slipped through a set of cottages nestled especially close together. It didn’t cost Buzz Buzz the same effort to traverse the same space.

  Only once had Azure encountered the creature she was looking for. Well, she hadn’t been looking for him as much as hoping he’d show himself to her. It was common knowledge that they lived in the forest around Virgo, but hardly anyone ever saw them. There were many mysteries like that in Virgo, which was one of the trillion reasons Azure loved her homeland so much. The top reason was simple though—it was the people.

  The line of cottages was now far in the distance, and the forest was thick around them. Buzz Buzz kept close to Azure, although the border of the Dark Forest was still several dozen yards away. The low-hanging branches of the mossy trees hovered just above the ground, which was rife with mushrooms and large holes where squirrels and mice had burrowed.

  A twig cracked behind them, and Azure halted. Buzz Buzz didn’t notice the noise because she was humming loudly enough that she couldn’t hear anything over that racket. Turning slowly, Azure clamped her mouth shut so as not to allow her squeal to spill out. Two yards away, much closer than she would have expected the creature could have gotten without them sensing him, stood the most magical animal on Oriceran.

  “Buzz,” Azure said, keeping her eyes forward and her spine stiff.

  The fucking pixie, who needed to get a clue, muttered to herself and then swung around. She went completely silent for a moment, but that was followed by a deafening squeal.

  “Easy, now,” Azure said, grabbing the pixie out of the air and holding her to her chest. Buzz Buzz’ wings fluttered against her hand as she tried to escape her grasp.

  “Calm down, or I’m shutting off your tiny airway,” Azure said in a gentle whisper.

  Buzz Buzz’ muttering turned into a low hum that sounded like gentle music.

  The unicorn several feet away lifted his head and stared at the pair, curiosity written in his green eyes. His rainbow mane shifted when he tilted his head as if trying to read them from a different vantage point. The unicorn was solid white, but his tail and mane were an array of colors that danced across the entire spectrum.

  “Hello,” Azure began. “Are you the same unicorn I met before?”

  The unicorn shook his head, but only slightly.

  Okay, so she’d now met two unicorns. That was new. Only a handful of witches or wizards from Virgo had seen one of these creatures in the
last ten thousand years.

  “I’m Azure, and this,” she held Buzz Buzz out in her fist, “well, I’m sure you’ll understand her better than me.” Azure pulled the pixie close to her face. “If I let you go, do you promise to behave yourself and stay far from the horses?”

  The pixie nodded her head firmly, her eyes intent on the unicorn. Azure opened her fingers and felt the pixie’s wings brush her palms as she flew toward the unicorn.

  Buzz Buzz paused only a few feet from the unicorn, who held his head high, exerting a majestic force over the area. She hummed, muttered, chanted and then threw her hands in five different directions.

  After a long deliberation, the unicorn nodded his head. Buzz Buzz dashed back and kissed Azure on the cheek, squealing with delight. The pixie flew away, sparks twinkling in the air, and glided into the unicorn’s mane. She disappeared and then reappeared on the other side, a gigantic smile lighting her face. Azure didn’t speak Pixie, but the tone of the muttering spilling from her mouth indicated great excitement and happiness. “I think I leave you both in good hands,” Azure said, bowing and then adding, “and hooves… Anyway, thank you.”

  The unicorn looked at her, a long piercing stare that communicated more than she knew how to interpret. Finally he turned away, strolling toward a cluster of trees in the distance. Buzz Buzz changed direction with him, humming a melodic tune Azure hadn’t previously heard from the pixie. A moment later the pair had disappeared, although they should only have been a few feet away.

  Chapter Thirty

  Firelight danced in the mirrors set around Azure’s room as three witches worked to braid her hair. Apparently the ringlets she had worn at her first coronation wouldn’t do this time. Neither would the dress from the previous event, which had been as heavy as an Orc. No, this time she had to have three braids, one representing her first coronation, one representing the time during which she had proved herself, and a third that symbolized this coronation. And the dress she wore now was as heavy as three Orcs, because symbolism came in threes. It was again bluish-gray, like her hair. The bodice, as before, was covered in lavender gems. However, sapphires had been added to the low neckline and hem and dotted the skirt and train.