Soul Stone Mage Complete Collection Boxed Set

by Sarah Noffke

  “Well, I’m out,” Monet said, refilling his goblet.

  “But,” Cap said, his voice full of conviction, “if you enter the Great Pyramid of Giza at night, most of the brood will be away from the nest, hunting.”

  “Oh…” Azure breathed, putting it altogether. “That does make sense.”

  “Did anyone else hear the part where we’re entering the lair of the beasts?” Manx asked.

  “So that we can slay it,” Ever told him.

  “Thank you, Cap,” Chibale said in a dismissive tone. “That was quite helpful.”

  “Well, that settles how you’ll get into the pyramid—it sounds like it’s already open,” Reynolds supplied.

  “Actually, it is still locked to outsiders, based on the magic that Ata used to open it,” Cap said, not having moved.

  “Ata…” Chibale said, his voice sounding haunted.

  “Yes,” Cap hissed. “You’ll still need the feline, in order to enter the Great Pyramid of Giza.”

  “Feline?” Azure asked, first thinking of Finswick, and then Manx.

  Chibale closed his eyes for a beat, agitation wrinkling his brow. “Yes, I suppose it is time that we reveal your secret, Cleo.” He turned his focus to the ground, where the sleek, black cat sat stoically.

  From the stone floor, a figure of a beautiful woman sprang up, standing where the cat had just been. She had long, shiny, black hair and wore a large crown adorned with a cobra. Gold bracelets dangled on her wrist, and her eyes sparkled with an ancient wisdom.

  Monet plopped his goblet on the table with a loud bang. “Would it be too much to ask for you all to cut me off before I start hallucinating?”

  “You can’t be…” Gran said, her voice a hush.

  The regal woman turned to the side, holding the long train of her robes over one arm. “I assure you that I am.”

  Gran’s face drained of color. “But you’re—”

  “As you can see, I’m not,” the woman said.

  “This abbreviated conversation is cute, but can someone please tell us what’s going on?” Azure asked.

  The woman, obviously of great nobility, gave Azure an unhurried stare. “I’m Cleopatra, once the queen of New Egypt.”

  “And now you’re a cat,” Monet stated.

  “How are you still alive?” Ever asked.

  “My enemies sought my kingdom, my power,” Cleopatra began, her words hot with conviction. “They would have taken it from me, stealing it for their own land. I couldn’t allow that, so I faked my own suicide.”

  “They found a deadly serpent alongside your body,” Gran said, her eyes skirting to the right and left, like she was putting together invisible puzzle pieces.

  “Yes, and those who were glad to see me gone believed the snake to have killed me, guided by my own hand,” Cleopatra said.

  “But the serpent merely held your power, your magic,” Gillian guessed, his pad of paper in hand, ready to take notes. One punishing look from Chibale, though, and he dropped his pen, thinking better of the idea.

  “Once my mortal body was gone, I took the form of my familiar—the cat you saw moments ago,” Cleopatra explained.

  “And because your magic is contained in the serpent you wear, you have immortality?” Reynolds asked.

  “Because I sacrificed my crown in order to protect the New Egyptians’ magic from villains, the gods have seen fit to leave me as I am.” Cleopatra looked to Chibale, a fondness in her eyes. “I have served every king and queen to preside over our coven.”

  “And you can get us into the Great Pyramid of Giza?” Azure asked.

  “I am the last remaining monarch of New Egypt,” Cleopatra stated proudly. “My bloodline will open the pyramid, without a doubt.”

  “Can you use that blood to open Khufu’s tomb?” Ever asked hopefully.

  “I cannot,” Cleopatra said plainly.

  “So, after your death…” Azure dared to venture.

  “I lost my physical form. What you see before you is simply an apparition,” the once great queen said, her voice marked by a raw pain.

  “But you were able to preserve your magic for your coven.” Azure tried to inject hope into her tone.

  “Yes, but the monarchy died with me, and the New Romans took over,” Cleopatra stated. “That is why to rule our coven, one must display the greatest power. With my bloodline gone, it was the only way to choose a ruler.”

  Azure ran her eyes over the tattoos that covered Chibale’s arms, neck and face. She still thought there had to be a better way, one that wouldn’t incite a greedy war for the throne. Azure wondered if democracy was possible for New Egypt.

  Chapter Nineteen

  When the sun had risen, Azure stepped out of the Sphinx, desperate for fresh air. The dry desert that stretched before her was not the welcoming sight she’d longed for. A nostalgia for Virgo rumbled in her chest.

  Her eyes settled on the Great Pyramid of Giza in the distance. It was one of the many connecting factors between Oriceran and Earth. Sunlight kissed the crystal at the top of the structure, giving off a blinding glare.

  Azure rarely remembered she was half-human, but for some reason, it hit her especially hard right then. Maybe it was her homesickness, reminding her of who she truly was. She wasn’t only the queen of Virgo or the protector of the Howling Willow—she was also a girl. A simple human whose ancestors came from Earth.

  “Thank you for coming to see me,” Oak said at her back.

  She turned to find the tall wizard, his black robes flapping in the hot wind of the desert behind him. Azure’s face screwed up in confusion. “You didn’t ask me to come and find you.”

  Oak smirked. “And yet you’re here at precisely the time I intended for you to meet me, so maybe somehow, I did.”

  Azure couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “Why is it that you and Gran like to pretend I’m getting memos that I’m not?”

  Oak tapped the side of his head. “We are all connected. Messages transfer through sheer will and thought. It is a fool who would have the thoughts of others, not realizing that there is no privacy even in one’s own brain.”

  “I’m going to have to ponder on that conundrum for a while,” Azure said with a laugh.

  Oak waved her over to the carriage, where three of the dragons were lounging, flicking their tails through the soft sand.

  “I’m leaving Timber, Ronalds and Theresa with you,” Oak said as Micky strode over to them, her bright eyes shining.

  “What do you mean?” Azure asked.

  “I trust that they have spent enough time with you to serve you in the way you deserve,” Oak continued.

  She shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

  Oak turned to her, a knowing expression on his face. “No, I suspect you wouldn’t, as that’s the end of the conversation we’re about to have. But I like to start there and go in reverse.”

  She could have sworn that Micky gave her a commiserating expression that said, ‘He’s frustratingly confusing, isn’t he?’

  “Okay, so start at the beginning,” Azure encouraged.

  “Micky and I won’t be with you any longer; it’s our time to leave,” Oak said, looking adoringly at the dragon.

  “Where are you going?” Azure asked, knowing it was none of her business.

  “Home,” he said simply.

  “I thought you said that your home was wherever your dragons are. But you’re leaving three of your dragons here?” she challenged.

  “Ah, but you only know that because I started from the end,” Oak said.

  Azure pressed her finger to her temple, trying to stave off the pressure erupting behind her eyes. “Can you please help me make sense of what you’re telling me? Currently, it doesn’t make sense.”

  Oak nodded. “Although I’ll miss my other dragons, they have elected to serve you, which makes me proud, and I’m confident that I’ll find them again. But the time has come for me and Micky to go our own way, at least for a little while.”


  “You said you were going home,” she reminded him.

  “Yes, the Baltic Longtooth dragons originate north of here,” Oak stated.

  “By the Baltic Sea,” Azure guessed.

  “Naturally,” the wizard confirmed. “The mountains there still conceal a healthy population of dragons, and that shall be our first stop. It will be good for us both to return.”

  “So you’re from the same area as the dragons,” Azure stated, rather than asked.

  “Queen Azure, if you look at me—really look at me—you’ll know who I am.” Oak looked intently down at her, his bluish-silver beard rippling in the wind.

  At first, Azure wanted to argue. To complain that this was a bunch of silly riddles. But an ache pulsed deep inside her, and she couldn’t ignore it. Her connection to the Howling Willow. Instead of pushing away the feeling, Azure allowed it to blossom, and it brought with it a series of images. Small green dragons. Mountains. Beautiful water. Wind soaring across her face as she flew high over the land.

  Azure opened her eyes with a deep gasp, not even realizing she’d closed them. “You’re a dragon.”

  With a serenely neutral expression, Oak nodded. “I was a dragon, many lives ago. I assure you, I’m pure wizard now.”

  “But how?” Azure asked. “How did you become a wizard? And why? Isn’t being dragon better than being a wizard?”

  Oak pulled his long pipe from his robe, turning it over in his hands. Seeming to give up on the idea of smoking, he put it back. “To answer your first question, I’m honestly not sure what’s better. Humans are wonderful and dragons incredible. They are both uniquely majestic in their own ways.”

  Azure’s mind was racing. “But how? How did you become a dragon? I’ve never seen this type of magic.”

  A wisdom glittered in the old wizard’s eyes. “It is rare magic, indeed. A young, but powerful witch was obsessed with me when I was a dragon. Giving me no choice in the matter, and knowing nothing of my own heart’s passion, she turned me into a man.”

  Azure clapped her hand to her mouth. It all made sense now. “So that’s… the dragons… the weredragons… That’s why they follow your lead, isn’t it? Because you used to be one of them.”

  Oak’s eyes drifted to the dragons still lounging in the distance, making little movement as they bathed in the scorching heat. “Yes, mademoiselle. I have their full loyalty because we grew up together. Timber and Ronalds are my brothers. Theresa a dear friend. And Micky, well…as you know, she’s special.”

  Oak pulled the velvet box that Azure had given him from his robe pocket. He took a single step and gracefully placed his hand under the dragon’s head, directing it upward. With his free hand, he opened the box containing true love, and the bright, gold light shone. Oak turned the box over and poured it on top of the dragon’s head, bathing her in an incredible light.

  What appeared to be liquid gold spread, enveloping the dragon’s entire body. Micky didn’t appear to be in pain, but it was increasingly difficult to make out her face. The light brightened to the point that Azure had to shield her eyes, but even with her arm in front of her face and her head turned to the side, the glow permeated through her eyelids. Then, just as quickly as it had flared, it faded away.

  Tentatively, Azure lowered her arm and turned her head to face forward again. Where Micky had been now stood a woman with the warmest features. Her eyes shone with a quiet acceptance, and her pink mouth drew into a genuine smile. She wasn’t old or young; much like when she was a dragon, she appeared timeless, with a beauty that was breathtaking.

  Azure should have been used to women sprouting from the form of animals, yet she found herself speechless.

  The woman’s mouth parted as if about to say something, but only a gasp fell from her lips. She clapped her hand to her chest, staring down at her body, which was covered in a loose garment.

  Oak’s eyes twinkled with unabashed adoration as he stared at the woman who had just appeared.

  “Is that Micky?” Azure asked, already knowing the answer.

  The woman looked up at Azure and blinked several times, like trying to orient herself. “I am,” she said in a soft voice.

  “But how?” Azure asked Oak. “How did you transform her? You didn’t use magic.”

  Oak clasped his hands behind his back, tipping forward on his toes and then back again. “Oh, no. I’ve searched for that spell and have been unable to find it; that witch, she was quite skillful, but it cost her greatly.”

  “She’s dead?” Azure asked, not able to take her eyes off the woman who was once a dragon.

  “I’m afraid the dragons were unable to look the other way when she changed me without my consent,” Oak said, also casting his eyes on the woman. “You see, I was in love, but not with the young witch. I was in love with one of my own—the very woman you see before you now.”

  “Oh! You and Micky were in love,” Azure said, a chill running through her core.

  “Yes. And you ask how I was able to transform Micky into a woman.” The wizard held up the velvet box. “True love has great powers. It can change everything. What this box held, I could have used to secure almost anything I wanted.”

  “And you used it to make me into a woman,” Micky said, a thoughtful reverence in her eyes as she stared at Oak.

  “Being with you is what I want most, but you already knew that.” He offered her his arm, and she took it at once, sewing herself to his side.

  Azure thought she should turn away and give the pair privacy. She brushed her hand over her face, trying to avoid looking at the lovers, who were gazing sweetly at each other.

  “The dragons will know what to do,” Oak said, demanding her attention. “All you must do is tell them when you’d like to leave and where you’d like to go. I’ve enchanted the carriage to operate in my absence.”

  “So you’re really leaving?” she asked.

  “I thought I could wait, but once I had the essence of true love, I found it difficult,” Oak admitted.

  “And there is not much else we can do for you now,” Micky said, her voice so familiar to Azure, as she’d heard it time and again in her head.

  “Yes, what happens now is solely in your hands, Queen Azure,” Oak stated. “But the dragons will be here to take you home, should you be successful.”

  “And you’re returning home?” she asked, marveling at the couple before her.

  Oak pulled his gnarly wand from his robe pocket. “We will return briefly. A reunion, of sorts. And then I daresay we will desire our time alone.”

  Azure didn’t hide the embarrassed smile that sprang to her mouth. “Well, thank you for… well, everything. For protecting us. For guiding me. For—”

  Micky stepped forward, bowing low to Azure. When she lifted her head she said, “I believe we’ve served each other. And the honor has been one I’ll hold dear, Queen Azure.”

  Unable to stop herself, Azure threw her arms around Micky, pulling her in tightly. It proved to her that whether a dragon, a werecat, or a pixie, all females shared a connection, a sweet sisterhood.

  Oak smiled broadly, his eyes twinkling. “And now we leave you, but we hope this is only farewell and not goodbye.”

  “Farewell,” Azure said, taking a step backward.

  “Farewell,” Micky said, slipping her arm back through Oak’s.

  The wizard held up his wand, twirling it above their heads. A moment later, the two disappeared, leaving Azure with a strange warmth in her chest.

  Chapter Twenty

  “How, pray tell, are we to find a witch who hides her shop?” Monet asked, as they bustled through the busy streets of the city.

  The vendors yelled for the group’s attention, selling their wares. Because everyone was careful to be shut in their houses at night, the cobbled roads were busier than usual during the day. New Egypt was a kingdom used to operating during the evening and night hours, when the heat wasn’t so intense, but avoiding vampires had become the city’s chief priority.

>   “I’m not sure,” Azure mused, pausing and rotating in a circle.

  “This is about where we were the last time we went into the shop,” Ever said at her side.

  “I think it was right there.” Azure pointed to a plain brick wall where a couple of children were playing a game with chalk on the sidewalk.

  The street around them faded, all of the colors suddenly muted. Azure blinked, unsure what was happening to her vision. Her feet seemed to rise off the street, and her heart felt as though it was lodged in her throat.

  She was about to scream, then her vision went black.

  A musty smell tickled Azure’s nose, making her sneeze. Her eyes burst open to find she was standing at the counter inside Myrtle’s Collectibles.

  “How did I get here?” she asked, spinning around to find Ever and Monet behind her.

  Ever shared her confusion, staring down at his arms and legs as if to ensure they were still in the right place.

  Monet, on the other hand, yawned, looking slightly bored. “We’ve been transported,” he imparted. “Makes your head feel like it has been turned inside out, doesn’t it?”

  Azure pinched her forehead in her hand, nodding. “Yeah, it hurts like a bitch. This is the teleporting you do?”

  “Yeah, but I’m not the one who brought us in here. I’m guessing it was her.” Monet pointed behind the counter.

  Azure turned to find Myrtle, one of the strangest witches she’d ever met—which was saying quite a lot. The old woman had a blue and yellow shawl covering her black hair and neck, but still the tattoos on her chest and on her chin were visible.

  “Myrtle, did you bring us in here?” Azure asked.

  The witch started to nod and then snapped her fingers at a lizard perched on top of a large jewelry box on the counter. “I know I could have made the shop visible, but then people would have seen it and come in here.”

  “And you don’t want that,” Monet said, turning his attention to a rack of old potion bottles. “They might have tried to buy something, and that would be simply awful.”