Stoneheart Miraculous Novels & Stories

*Crack—! A crystalline shattering sound ripped through the arena, cutting her shriek off at the throat. Under the stunned gaze of the entire pack, the dull grey surface of the Sacred Stone shattered into a spiderweb of a thousand fissures. From every crack poured a divine, dark-gold light, a tidal wave crashing through a dam. Not lamplight. Not fire. It was a sun that had been trapped in a stone prison for millennia, finally breaking free.

Tabitha's POV I looked at him, my face etched with confusion, and asked, "Is there more?" Wilmot fidgeted a bit, pulling something from his pocket with a hint of shyness. "A birthday without a gift? That's not right. I found this in an ancient church when I was wandering around. There's a mysterious vein of ore nearby the church, and this moonstone was mined from there. It was then blessed with holy water in the church, considered a sacred item that brings peace and good fortune. I've had several close calls with death, yet I survived as if reborn from the brink. So, I thought I'd give it to you, Ms. Hartley."

Where the other prayer stones were solid, uniform pieces of carved rock, this one showed a hairline crack running down its center. It had been broken and then carefully mended, the join so subtle it was almost invisible. But as I turned it in the torchlight, I could see that it wasn't quite the same color on both sides—as if two different stones had been fused together. My blood ran cold as understanding dawned. This wasn't a prayer stone at all. It was something far more sinister, something that explained the impossible voice I'd heard. A mimic stone—I'd read about them in the forbidden texts, artifacts so dangerous that most packs had banned them entirely.

But I kept walking, focusing on the image of my daughter's face, using it as a shield against the onslaught. Suddenly, the oppressive trees gave way to a small, circular clearing. In the center stood a single, towering monolith of smooth, black stone. It was the Whispering Stone. It pulsed with a soft, dark light, and the voices seemed to emanate from its very surface. This was it. I approached it, my heart hammering. I didn't know what to do. Speak? Touch it? As I stood before the Stone, the whispers coalesced into a single, resonant voice that spoke directly into my mind.

Before Chad could speak, Grace said, "Forget about whether he's a miracle doctor. I got a great piece of raw stone and waited for you to open it. Now that you're here, let's open it!" Cheers erupted from the crowd as Grace walked to the hall's center and yanked off the red cloth covering the stone. "This is a top-grade piece I brought back from out of town at great expense!" As Chad looked at the stone, he was stunned. His entire body tensed, and his hair stood on end.

“Rissa.” His voice sounded distant. Josh stepped closer. “What did you see?” My lips parted. No sound came out. The stone beneath my palm pulsed again. This time harder. A crack split across its surface. Light burst through the fracture. Not soft now. Blinding. Mark pulled me back just as the altar shuddered violently. The ground shook. Birds exploded from distant trees. The stone split down the center with a sharp ringing sound like metal screaming. Something inside it moved.

“Perfect! Mr. Gravestone will be inspecting your progress first thing tomorrow.” My head whipped towards Richard in shock. And as he started to dismiss the group, my eyes floated back to Mia and There it was. The trap I hadn’t seen coming. That bitch. As Richard finally dissolved the meeting, Mia’s evil smirk was unmissable but I held my own too. I walked to my desk with steps that refused to wobble, though my body screamed in protest. And then I saw it. The rare green stone sat waiting for me,gleaming like a challenge from the universe itself. Less than five minutes and they’d already placed it.

Ran her fingers behind the left support frame. Cold stone. One edge slightly loose. She pressed. Nothing. Then remembered the smaller key taped behind the letter. She pulled it free. Tiny. Brass. Old. The stone had a narrow opening almost invisible beneath moss-dark mortar. Victor saw it. “Use it.” She inserted the key. Turned once. A click answered. Then a deeper mechanical sound rolled beneath the altar like old machinery waking from sleep. The third stone shifted outward by itself. Dust spilled. Behind it—

Why should I hesitate now? "Madam Josefa. Are you the one who set my Limits?" The old woman smiled at me kindly. She let go of my arm and dug into the pocket of her dress. She pulled out a rectangular black stone, about the size of my palm and handed it to me. One side, engraved into the stone and outlined in golden ink, was an eye with a six-pointed star in the middle where the iris would be. "When he opens up his heart to you, give him this. It's a wishing stone. Tell him to use it only when he is at his most desperate. When he has nothing left to lose."

I begged the Magic silently to help Avamarie find someone who wouldn't lose even before they began. An odd frustrating noise prompted me to open my eyes to see the soul eater pulling back slightly to look at me with confusion. I had seen this look once before when the woman had attacked me for the very first time. I felt a warmth on my chest, and I quickly realized it was the stone I had been given. Triumph filled me knowing the creature had failed due to this stone, and I sent a silent 'thank you' to Avamarie for giving it to me. "Vicki!"