A Deep Blue Stone Atop A Dais Novels & Stories

The old moonstone dais had never looked less like a holy place. They crested the ridge at dusk, the sky bruised purple and red. The clearing below lay in a natural bowl, ringed with jagged stones and scrub pine. At its center, the dais sat: a wide circle of pale, veined stone half-sunk into the earth, its surface etched with ancient lines. Tonight, it was ringed with vehicles. Tribunal transports and shield rigs hummed around it like parasites clinging to a heart. Portable floodlights had been set up at the cardinal points, bathing the dais in stark, clinical white.

The walls glittered with embedded crystals that caught and reflected Ursula's witch-light, multiplying it into thousands of blue stars. But it was the center of the chamber that commanded attention. A perfect circle of standing stones, each about waist-high, surrounded a raised dais of polished black stone. And on that dais, pulsing with a soft silver light that seemed to bend and distort the air around it, was a crystal unlike any I had ever seen. "That's it," Ursula breathed, her voice hushed with awe. "It has to be."

Carved from single piece of stone unlike anything else in the city. Not volcanic black like the Scorchmark. Not the pale gray of the surrounding forest. *White.* Pure white stone that seemed to generate its own light. And on its surface— The twin crescents again. Deeply carved. Enormous. Covering the entire dais. Luna walked toward it. The demon blood was so loud now it was almost sound. Almost *voice.* Not her father speaking through it. The blood itself. *Recognizing.* *Returning.* She stepped onto the dais.

With a loud scream he came to rest at the end of the tunnel which opened towards a large chamber adorned with chairs in two straight lines facing it's other while at the end of the chamber laid a golden throne and on the top of the empty throne a crown was kept. All manner of precious stones adorn the crown but on particular one seems to caught his fancy,a blue glowing stone at the top of the crown.the stone which seems to attract him,keeps drawing him forward till he arrives in front of the throne.with one coordinated move he pick up the stone from its base holding it in his palms but a scurry of a mice frightened him as he clenched his palm in fear crushing the stone.With trembling hands a

But no matter how hard I try, I can't escape the feeling of wrongness that permeates everything. It happens on the eve of the ceremony. As I'm helping to decorate the great hall, a small, ornate box appears at my feet as if by magic. With trembling hands, I open it, revealing a delicate silver chain supporting a pulsing blue stone—identical to the one from my vision.

in gold. " My Lord! Your followers have come back with the test subject! ” Drillspike said while kneeling down. The door started to form ripples within it. " You may enter! ” A loud voice shouted. The followers then carried the rest subject through the door. On the other sideline of the giant king’s court. In the middle stood a grey mountain filled with blue diamond clusters and cobalt stairs graced within the middle. Leading to a man sitting on a high throne . He was wearing a cape and a hood with the Akarrian “A” on its head.

Then he nodded toward the steps. “Go,” he said quietly. I climbed the steps alone with each footstep echoing through the silent hall. At the top of the platform, I stopped in front of the obsidian throne. For a brief moment I looked at it, taking in the weight of what it represented. Then I turned away from it and Instead of sitting, I faced the crowd. I stepped forward until I stood at the very edge of the dais. Below me, Dante remained where he was, his hands clasped behind his back as he watched.

As I passed him, his eyes narrowed, his smug smile faltering slightly at the absolute lack of fear on my face. I stopped in front of the pedestal. The Moonstone was a jagged, raw crystal, pulsing with an eerie, blinding white light that made the hairs on my arms stand on end. The air around it was thick with ancient, oppressive power. “Elena of the Northern Wilds,” Councilman Vance intoned, stepping up to the edge of the dais, his heavy silver staff resting between his hands. “Place your right hand flat upon the sacred stone. State your loyalty to King Dominic and the realm. If your heart is pure, the stone shall remain white. If you harbor deceit, your life is forfeit.”

Power disguised itself as pleasure. “Nothing interests you?” Hugo asked quietly. “I’m married,” I replied flatly. He chuckled. “Marriage has never stopped powerful men.” I ignored him. Then the auctioneer’s voice rose above the noise. “And now,” he announced dramatically, “the highlight of tonight’s collection… the diamond of the evening. Welcome… Blue.” She stepped onto the stage. And everything inside me froze. The room blurred. Conversations faded. The world narrowed until nothing existed but her. Black dress.

Some avert their gaze as I walk toward the dais, and others simply step to the side, still murmuring under their breath. My eyes remain fixed on him, my face lifting with a warm smile… until something else catches my attention. Someone is standing beside him–not the elders, not the guards… My gaze shifts and then I see her. Aspyn. She's standing on the dais only a few feet away from him. The dress she has on is unmistakable–ceremonial white with golden flowers sewn over the sleeves and bodice. The dress for a Luna-to-be. The pearls etched on each caught the suoght as she moves slightly to look at me. My chest tightens as our eyes meet and my steps slow until I stop somewhere near the middle