A Deep Blue Stone Atop A Dais Novels & Stories

This was such a huge ceremony for them. Then my gaze caught on Linda. She sat near the front, draped in a stunningly provocative red dress. She sat as though she owned the moon itself, legs crossed, chin high, her eyes fixed on me with daggers so sharp I felt them prick my skin. Cauldron sat off to her side, broad-shouldered and imposing, flanked by elite warriors. They looked like statues carved from stone, unblinking, emotionless but all handsome as hell. And then… There was the ancient stone. Placed upon a black velvet pillow atop a raised pillar.

Obedient. They dragged me into the corridor, down a spiral stairwell slick with moss and age. I caught glimpses of what lay beyond—chambers carved from rock, weapons hung on walls, maps, old artifacts humming with old magic. Then we reached a vast underground chamber. And I stopped breathing. The walls glowed with a faint blue light, pulsing slowly like a heartbeat. In the center stood a massive stone dais with ancient runes circling it. A pedestal rose from the center, and on it sat a jagged black stone that shimmered with shifting colors—blue, violet, green, then black again.

The lights in the hall dimmed, and a single, powerful spotlight hit the center of the stage. “And now,” the spokesman said, his voice dropping to a reverent tone. “The final piece. The crown jewel of our collection.” The assistants brought out the necklace. It was a stunning blue diamond, surrounded by a halo of smaller white diamonds, set on a platinum chain that looked like liquid moonlight. Under the chandelier’s glow, the blue stone reflected a deep, oceanic light that danced across the walls of the hall. It was so beautiful it felt illegal to look at.

Viridios answered. The stepped into a large, empty receiving hall. The floor was covered in a riot of carpets. Drapes hung from the ceiling in so many colors that Bailey's vision swam. In the center of it all stood a large dais. On it, a single twisted wooden throne. The legs of the throne grew from the dais itself, branching up into the seat. Flowers bloomed along the top of the throne. It was breathtaking. In front of the dais was a gong made of malachite. Beckett slowed and pulled Bailey to a stop. Jayce stepped up beside them.

Some still carried that faint wariness in their eyes, the unease of people who hadn't quite figured out what to make of the woman who came back from the dead trailing shadows. I understood. I hadn't quite figured that out myself. And at the end of the carpet, standing on raised stone stairs at the center of the coliseum, was Darien. My breath left me. He was dressed in a deep blue suit with gold trim that caught the light every time the snow shifted around him. His dark hair was swept back from his face, and his silver eyes found mine the instant the doors opened, locking on with an intensity that made the entire crowd disappear. He was holding a scepter at his side, a tall staff topped with

I touched the blue stone, tracing its cold edges. "You keep staring at my hand. Is there a flaw in the setting?" The attendant looked up, flustered. "Forgive me, Lady! I did not mean to be impolite. I have only seen the descriptions of that stone in the ancient archives. To see it in the flesh... it is mesmerizing." I frowned. "It’s a blue glass replica, surely. Why the interest?" The clerk’s eyes went wide. "Lady, do you truly not know the legend of what you carry?"

he teases. “Watch it,” she chortles. “The noise,” I nod ahead in a daze, the tune growing louder which each passing footstep that I take towards it. “What are you on about?” Dakota follows behind me, her tone drenched in curiosity. “This sound,” my eye’s light up as I stop in my tracks, staring at the sapphire encrusted crown that sat carefully upon a blue velvet pillow - locked delicately within a golden clasped glass case, preserving its sheer beauty.

VALERIA. The heavy basalt walls of the grand hall seemed to physically hold their breath. The silence was absolute, save for the frantic, hushed murmurs of the remaining pack loyalists and the rhythmic drip, drip, drip of freezing rain and black blood hitting the polished obsidian floorboards. I stood at the top of the raised dais, my posture rigidly, impossibly unyielding. Below me, standing dead in the center of the sprawling room, was Kaelen.

I said, my voice cutting through his protest with that sharp, double-layered resonance of the matured Midnight Eclipse line. I took a slow, deliberate step toward the edge of the stone dais, my hands resting calmly on my tactical belt. The ring of brilliant violet around my pupils flared with a terrifying, full-strength radiance that forced the front-row delegates to instantly lower their eyes in raw, instinctual submission.

"It isn't. I don't have any affection for you. I just really need it." I punched him. "What do you think of me clothesline ?!" he just laughed. "He's here. You should shut up." I stared at him before I faced him. Damn, we're away. I saw the headmaster walking towards the podium. He sneezed first before speaking. "News has broken. The stone from district one has been stolen." We all sighed at what the headmaster said. "Stone as in the Trait Stone?" I asked the one next to me. "Yes." I turned to him. "You knew?" he nodded.