Soul Stone Mage Complete Collection Boxed Set

by Sarah Noffke

  “And we’re lost,” Monet said, turning and hitting a dead end.

  “We’ll just backtrack,” Azure said, her nose itchy from the mold and dust in the dark hallways.

  “Where do you think the vampires hang out?” her friend asked, following her as she took the corridor back to where it had split.

  “Well, Chibale said there are hundreds of rooms, so I guess they have options.” She took the other hallway, taking them in a new direction.

  A revolting smell made them both cover their noses. Azure sucked in a small sip of air through her mouth. “Wow, what the hell?”

  “We’re in a billion-year-old pyramid,” Monet said through the cracks between his fingers. “I’m guessing it hasn’t been cleaned in a while.”

  “No,” the queen said softly, holding up her wand for light. “That’s not the smell of dust. That’s the smell of rot.”

  A loud scratching noise echoed above them. They tore their gazes upward as dust and rock rained down. Covering her head, Azure bolted forward, fearful that the ceiling was about to cave. A stone, much like the door they’d come through, slid down from the ceiling, neatly fitting in between the two walls and blocking the way they’d come from.

  “Fuck, I hate when that happens,” Monet said, turning his wand in the direction opposite the long hallway.

  Azure pressed in tight to him, as a figure stepped out of the shadows and into the light cast by their wands.

  “Well, I think we found what stinks,” she said, staring at the ancient mummy standing only ten yards away.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  The group passed many doors, which Chibale ignored. He’d walked with purpose, not hesitating whenever they’d approached a split.

  “How do you know where you’re going?” Ever finally asked him.

  Chibale paused. “I can feel him.”

  “Your brother?” Ever asked, needing clarification.

  Chibale nodded, staring ahead at four archways that lead in different directions.

  “How do you know he’ll be in the king’s chamber?” Manx the fox challenged.

  “Ata will be with the king, trying to release him,” Chibale explained.

  “He won’t know that you need royal blood of a pure lineage,” Ever guessed.

  “No, as that was revealed only by the Book of the Dead pages. But Ata led the vampires in here, probably thinking that their ignorance would be his key to freedom,” the interim king said, a new confidence in his voice.

  A ghostly groan echoed from the archway on the end, just as Chibale started in that direction.

  “Uhhh…didn’t you hear the murderous grunt coming from that archway?” Manx asked, stuck in place.

  “Yes, but that’s the one that leads to Ata,” Chibale said, charging forward.

  Ever cast a look over his shoulder at Manx and Blisters. “Look alive. We’re fine as long as we stick together.”

  Manx morphed into raven form, flying after Chibale’s retreating back. “I’ll take my chances in the air, rather than on the ground.”

  “Come on, Blisters,” Ever said, waving the shivering unicorn forward. “Follow me.”

  Blisters nodded at Ever’s command and started after him, in the direction of the howling noise.

  “I’ve got this,” Monet said, pushing in front of Azure.

  He held his wand high, twirled it through the air and pointed it directly at the mummy. Dark bandages covered the monster, except over its eyes, where two green glowing lights stared back at them.

  A red bolt of fire shot from the tip of Monet’s wand and hit the beast squarely in the chest. It rocked backward, catching itself on the neighboring wall. With a snarl, the mummy righted itself, staring at them with a new vengeance.

  “Damn, that would have blasted a house off its foundation,” Monet said breathlessly.

  Azure stared around at the walls trapping them. They were slick and rose up twenty feet to the ceiling. They were pretty literally entombed.

  “Try a paralyzing spell,” she suggested.

  “I thought of that, but paralyzing something that is already dead probably won’t work,” Monet pointed out.

  The mummy lumbered forward, its hands outstretched and its revolting odor overwhelming them.

  “But at this point, we should try just about anything,” Monet said in a mad rush, pointing his wand at the mummy and whispering an incantation.

  A green flame shot from the end of his wand and knocked into the mummy. It froze mid-step.

  “It worked!” Azure rejoiced.

  “We’ll celebrate later.” Monet grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her roughly past the creature, through the narrow hallway.

  Over their running footsteps, Azure heard the mummy grunt. She dared to pause and look back. The monster had unfrozen and, with jerky motions, had turned around, and was standing squarely in the corridor.

  “Okay, so that helped, but not for long,” Monet said.

  “What are we going to do?” Azure asked, discouraged by the ineffectiveness of the usually-strong paralyzing spell.

  The mummy’s bandages tore as its mouth opened wide and let out a scream so deafening, Azure thought it would burst her eardrums. She clapped her hands to her head, pressing against the overwhelming sound that sought to make her ears bleed.

  Small, black bugs began to spill from the mummy’s mouth, flying in their direction.

  “Run!” Monet urged, pulling her away.

  “Pssst.”

  Blisters heard an echo behind him, just as he was about to step through the archway after Ever. He froze, every muscle in his body tensing.

  “Pssst,” the noise came again.

  Not here, Blisters thought, trying to will himself forward, though he felt cemented to the ground.

  “I’ve come to finish you,” the voice of Scabs sang through the darkness.

  Blisters took off, his legs propelling him through the archway and into the next room, fleeing from Scabs. The sight he found there filled his stomach with dread.

  The room was circular, and every square inch of the walls were lined with archways. At least a dozen options winked back at him, and, to his horror, his friends were nowhere to be seen.

  “Ever! Manx!” Blisters called out.

  He turned back, but didn’t know which door he’d come through. He spun in a full circle and became instantly disoriented. Not only did he not know where he’d come from, but he was clueless about which archway to take.

  He rotated again, looking at each option for a clue, but they all looked exactly the same.

  Suddenly, one of the archways flickered, and Blisters’ pulse skipped with hope.

  Ever is coming back for me.

  Something moved through the archway. Something dark.

  Scabs stepped forward, into the dim light of the room. “Hello, Blisters. Are you ready for the end?”

  The room the group had entered was brighter than the others, its walls lined with gold.

  “It’s pretty spectacular,” Ever said, turning his head to take in the sight. When he didn’t find a unicorn at his back, he spun, panicked. “Blisters? Blisters, where are you?”

  Large columns covered in hieroglyphs ran the length of the room. On the far end was a single archway.

  Manx swooped down, landing on Ever’s shoulder. “I don’t see him in the room.”

  “What?” Ever asked. “How can that be? He was just here.”

  A ghoulish howl echoed behind them, from the other side of the nearest column.

  Chibale’s dark eyes shot to Ever, and he pulled his flail up, holding it menacingly. “Be on guard. An enemy is near.”

  “Did you see anything from the air?” Ever asked Manx.

  “No, nothing,” the raven said. “I was looking for Blisters, but only saw the columns and a small, bright orb.”

  Ever sighed. “That classifies as ‘anything’.”

  “Oh, I guess it does,” Manx said with a squawk, launching into the air to circle overhe
ad.

  Another sound. This one a tearing noise, echoing from behind a different column. Ever and Chibale spun in unison.

  “Show yourself,” Chibale commanded.

  Ever made quick hand movements, pulling from the energy around him. The ancient stones were a massive resource, and he felt a surge of power pool up in him. He threw a force forward, like casting a fishing line. Then he yanked his hand back, and a white orb shot through the pillar, a strange face attached to it.

  “Stooooop!” a voice cried.

  Ever held his hand up high, pinning the enemy in the air.

  It was a transparent figure of a large man. A ghost.

  The apparition covered his face with his hands and wailed loudly. “Don’t hurt me! I’m sorry!”

  “It can’t hurt us,” Chibale said with relief.

  “No, it can’t.” Ever dropped his hand, releasing the ghost. “What were you doing? Who are you?”

  The ghost bounced on the stone, rolling over once before straightening to a standing position in front of them. “I’m Morris, a treasure hunter. Well, I used to be.” He peered down at his milky-white form. “I’m no longer alive, as you can see. I suffocated in one of the chambers at the top, trying to break into the pyramid. The magic here made me into a ghost.”

  “I can see that,” Ever stated, just as Manx landed on his shoulder.

  “I searched the room,” the pooka informed him. “You should know there’s a ghost in here.”

  “Thanks,” Ever said dryly. “Anything else?”

  “Nope, but honestly, I didn’t search very well,” Manx admitted.

  Ever shook his head, focusing his attention back on the ghost. “You were trying to scare us, weren’t you?”

  Morris lifted his arm, appearing to be afraid of retaliation. “Well, I don’t get many visitors. None, really. Not until recently.”

  “You’ve seen the vampires?” Chibale asked. “Are they close by?”

  “Yes, I’ve seen them, but I don’t mess with the monsters,” Morris said with a shiver. “They are scary, and I’m afraid of what they’d do to me.”

  “You’re already dead,” Manx reminded him.

  “So?” Morris asked, fisting his meaty hands on his hips.

  Manx rolled his eyes. “So your reasoning obviously died along with you.”

  “Anyway, the vampires mostly reside on the bottom, three levels down,” Morris said, pointing at the ground.

  “Are there any here right now?” Ever asked.

  “Ummm…I don’t know,” Morris stated nervously. “I guess I could look.”

  “That would be great,” Ever said. “Can you also keep an eye out for our friend, Blisters? We’ve lost him.”

  “How will I know I’ve found him?” the ghost asked.

  Manx laughed. “You can’t miss him, he’s a unicorn.”

  Scabs stepped forward, a wicked smile on his face. “Blisters,” he said with a hiss. “Do you know how long I’ve followed you, watching your every blunder?”

  “Not long?” Blisters guessed, backing up and knocking into the stone of two archways.

  “I’ve been following you for years, waiting for the perfect time to make my move,” Scabs growled, stepping in closer.

  “You must have a lot of time on your hands.”

  Blisters’ insides were vibrating, but something else in him was spreading. A strange sensation he’d never felt before.

  “Do you know what a shadow-self gets if they successfully take out their other half?” Scabs asked, a dark glint in eyes.

  “Persistent guilt…?” Blisters guessed.

  A cold laugh fell from Scabs’ mouth. “Not hardly. I’ll be rewarded with incredible strength, power and influence.”

  “Sounds like a lot of responsibility.” Blisters edged to the side, but Scabs pivoted, not letting him out of his sight.

  “When I first found you, I was too curious to take you out,” Scabs began. “I couldn’t understand how my counterpart was such a complete loser. After some time, I even started to feel sorry for you and doubt my mission. But then I got tired of watching you screw up and decided to finally put you out of your misery.”

  Blisters halted. He felt warmth blossom in his chest. “I’m not a loser!”

  “You mess up everything that you touch!”

  Blisters stomped his hoof. “Because of me, witches and wizards will be cured of vampirism.”

  Scabs shrugged indifferently. “Maybe. Or maybe you lost your mane for nothing…loser.”

  The heat in his cheeks overwhelmed Blisters, and he shot forward before he could stop himself.

  Scabs’ eyes widened with shock; he wasn’t expecting to be charged.

  “You take that back!” Blisters yelled, knocking straight into Scabs and sending him to the ground.

  The two unicorns rolled, entangled. They slid through one of the archways into a new room, where lava bubbled up around the perimeter and splashed onto the platform where they stood.

  Blisters broke away from Scabs, who wore an evil grin.

  “What a perfect place to end you,” Scabs said, his eyes glowing red from the reflection of the lava. He leapt forward, his horn down, pointed directly at Blisters.

  Momentarily paralyzed, Blisters held his breath, unsure what to do. Just before Scabs ran into him, he dove to the right.

  Scabs slid past. The evil unicorn threw his hooves down, skidding to a halt before falling over the edge into the deadly lava. He huffed, and steam shot from his nostrils.

  Blisters spun around and darted back through the archway into the room he’d come from. He didn’t stop until he’d sprinted through another doorway into a new room.

  “Oh no!” Blisters squeaked, finding himself in a box-like chamber.

  There were only three full walls—no way out. He turned on the spot, looking for an option.

  Maybe I can just hide out here until Scabs gets lost, he thought. But he gulped when he saw sinister eyes staring back at him from the archway.

  “There’s nowhere to run. Get ready to say goodbye,” Scab said, his voice full of malevolence.

  The evil unicorn raked his hoof across the stone and charged, his black mane rippling in the wind he caused.

  Blisters didn’t tense up this time. Instead he waited, faking the look of fear on his face. When Scabs was about to collide with him, Blisters darted to the side, rolling head over feet.

  Scabs’ horn pierced the wall, where it stayed stuck in the stone. He pushed the wall with his hooves, trying to free himself. “You’ll pay for this! Just wait!”

  Blisters didn’t think waiting was a good idea. Instead, he sprinted through the archway and picked a new room. He halted as soon as he entered it, though, his blood chilling in his veins. He had to remind himself that they were deep inside a pyramid, so everything he was seeing had to be an illusion.

  He trotted on the narrow pathway to the center of the platform, marveling at the sight around him. The platform wasn’t surrounded by lava or walls. Instead, it was suspended high in the air with the kingdom of New Egypt laying below; a representation of the Great Pyramid stood directly beneath him.

  Although Blisters had wings, he didn’t dare try and fly out beyond the platform. He knew a trick when he saw one. He wasn’t granted more than a few seconds to take in the strange views before Scabs materialized in the archway.

  “I’m really getting tired of chasing you, coward,” the shadow-self said, his eyes glowing as he unfolded his black wings. “This is where you die.”

  Scabs obviously thought Blisters was a coward. And the best way to defeat others was to use their judgments against them, Blisters reasoned.

  Scabs scraped his hoof across the stone like a bull about to charge. He lowered his head, his eyes brimming with malice. The evil unicorn shot forward.

  As his shadow-self raced toward him, Blisters feinted to the right. Scabs fell for the trick and darted to the same side. At the last possible moment, though, Blisters reversed, going the o
pposite direction.

  Scabs, thinking he’d outsmarted Blisters, soared out past the platform. His wings flapped, keeping him up for a moment, but it was clear there was a force pulling him down. Shock covered his face as his wings faltered.

  “What the…” Scabs’ legs scrambled in the air as panic overwhelmed him. He slipped down several inches, like being jerked by an invisible cord. “Help me!” he yelled.

  Blisters hung his head, not enjoying seeing the demise of anyone, even his own enemy. “I can’t, Scabs. You’ve fallen into the oblivion; you’d know that if you’d paid attention in unicorn school. If the sky appears when you’re locked inside a structure on the ground, it’s an illusion disguising the abyss.”

  “Stop talking, dammit, and save me!” Scabs was yanked down several more inches despite his wings flapping rapidly.

  “I can’t, Scabs,” Blisters said mournfully. “You brought this on yourself.”

  “No, no, no!” Scabs screamed.

  Blisters could watch no more.

  He backed up carefully, shaking his head at the wrongness of it all and darted for the archway.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Running as fast as they were, Azure thought her feet would fly out from under her. She ran face-first into a thick cobweb and pulled at the silk, trying to clear it away from her mouth and nose as she ran on. A loud crack made her and Monet halt suddenly. The ground shook, nearly knocking them off balance.

  Monet gave her a startled look, and they both turned to find what had made the noise. Like before, a large slab had fallen from the ceiling, blocking off the way they’d come.

  “Finally that worked in our favor.” Monet doubled over, breathing hard.

  “Yeah, but who knows how many more mummies are prowling around this place?” Azure said, swiping the sweat out of her face along with the cobweb.