Stone Obsession

By Julie Morgan

Dark magic doesn't die easily. Luckily, neither does she.

In a world racing toward extinction, the Siren Amaryah fights for survival. Under the plagued waters of Antarctica, she faces sea creatures mutated into predators by an old, dark magic. The frozen lands above are riddled with danger, as well, where Pirates, Magicians, and Islanders all vie for power. A single Legacy Stone could change all that—it could bring back the world Amaryah lost. And she plans to find it. After all, if there's nothing left to live for, she has nothing left to lose.

Or so she thinks.

Dark magics have ways of fighting back, and she'll face more threats than ever before—not least of all the possibility of a long-forbidden love. A love she may have to sacrifice in order to save her world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Julie Morgan
• Release date: Sep 16, 2018
• ISBN: 9798201220723

Julie Morgan

USA TODAY and award-winning bestselling author Julie Morgan holds a degree in computer science and loves science fiction shows and movies. Encouraged by her family, she began writing. Originally from Texas, Julie now resides in central Florida with her husband and daughter, where she is an advocate for children with special needs. She can be found playing games with her daughter when she isn't lost in another world. For more information please visit her at www.JulieMorganBooks.com

Book preview

Chapter 1

Shadows of the underworld danced around the walls of the cave. The darkness offered but a small refuge from the world I wished to escape. I was supposed to be hunting, as my part of the system did. We hunted, and the others ate. Anything left over was given to us. It wasn’t right. Often, I wanted to keep the bounty for myself and feed those close to me.

While I swam along the bottom of the cave, a dark shadow blocked the small amount of light over the entrance and brought me from my horrendous thoughts. The mass was large… Large enough to be a sea monster.

A low, subtle growl radiated throughout the cavern. I could feel the rage of the monster through my body. He was hungry, and if I were found, I would be his meal. When I pressed my body against the inner wall, the chill of the cave sent a shock through my body.

The light once more invaded the dark of my cave. The sea monster had continued on, not knowing anything was watching him. All it would take was a smell, a series of movements. He could turn and I… Well, I couldn’t think about what he could do right now.

Food. We needed food. The sea creature could feed my ailing mother, and so many of us in the lower part of our caste. I needed the courage to fight this monster on my own, so I reached deep inside myself. He could best me and eat me alive, or I could gain the upper hand and win. We desperately needed the food, the bones, the skin. My belly growled, adding insult to injury.

If I sneaked up and attacked, I could have the upper hand. The monster was farther away, and that gave me the advantage I needed.

While I gripped my trident, a weapon given to all of us in our community, it lit a bright gold and glowed in the darkness. After inhaling a deep breath, I swam hard, fast toward the beast. Just as I approached, he turned, teeth bared. His body was the size of a sunken ship. He snarled, and it echoed through the waters, surrounding me with the threat of death. The monster’s mouth opened wide. It was filled with teeth as far back as his throat.

Death would be a welcomed reprieve from the reality that had become my life. Trident in hand, a scream pushed past my lungs, and the creature rushed toward me. I’d set my target on the gullet of the monster. What I didn’t expect was for the creature to bank. His body slammed into mine, and the force shot me through the waters, like a rocket aimed toward the icebergs.

I groaned as pain throbbed throughout my body. I gave myself a shake, grateful nothing was broken. The monster roared under the waters and charged in my direction. I smirked, ready for him, and pointed my trident toward the throat of the creature. While I sped through the waters, I anticipated another bank move. When the creature didn’t turn away, I shoved my trident into its neck, penetrating its throat. A scream bellowed from the creature.

Blood seeped from the wound and floated around my body. It was this day, this fight that I’d won. Its eyes rolled into the skull of its head, and death claimed its next victim.

Blood continued to rush from its wound, and I had mere minutes before the sharks in the waters arrived. They had been known to travel for miles to acquire fresh meat. I would not be their target, not today, not ever.

I need a chain, I mumbled to my trident.

Metal links appeared, and they wrapped around the beast, securing it to me. I pointed the blade of my trident toward the wound, and a golden light shot from the ends and cauterized it. At least he’d no longer bleed. The quicker I escaped this area, the more likely I’d avoid the sharks.

As I swam forward, the trident’s magic pulled the beast behind me. I should have had more than enough food for a few seasons, but that was if I was able to keep my kill. The warriors would be out guarding the outskirts, and they’d stop me, most likely. I’d be given my portion, but it might end up being scraps and bones. On the bright side, I could at least make weapons from them.

Inside my quarters, light was barely visible where my mother lay. My mother’s health plagued me day in and day out. She was dying, and there was nothing I could do. No money for medicine, not enough food to even feed her. Even my arranged marriage to Caspian, who was a warrior in our caste, offered no aid. It wasn’t because he wouldn’t help, but that he couldn’t. His hands were tied. Until we were wed, he could not provide anything to help aid us. Until our union was complete, nothing would change.

The sad part—I did not love Caspian. Maybe over time, I could, but I did not care for him in that sense. In an attempt to keep our system strong, our Monarchs felt it necessary to mix our races. They’d come up with the plan to blend the warriors with the food makers and the hunters. I didn’t think many wanted to accept the idea of it all, but in time, it became part of our lives. When the idea was presented to Caspian for my hand in marriage, I was told he had actually sneered. When one of the dressers to the Monarchs came to clean me, Caspian looked upon me as if I were a meal and he were starving.

I had never felt so used, so naked, in my entire life. Caspian would never see me for me, only the person I was presented as. Clean hair, skin, and makeup presented only a mirage of what a person was, not who they are.

No one had actually seen me for me.

Now, I dreaded the day my mother would pass on. It could be today, tomorrow, next month, maybe next year, but she was withering away, and with no money, medicine, or food, I couldn’t help her.

The food I was given from the beast I’d killed was enough to barely feed one. The warriors took everything else from my catch. The food would be brought to the royals first for claiming. While the royal caste sat fat and ate more than their share, food would be sent out to the rest of the factions in our society.

The ones who lived closest to the city got more than most. Where our royals had a blue color to their bodies, the ones who lived to serve them had a green color spread across their bodies. The coloring was similar to stripes on a tiger.

The warriors served as the police force and guarded everyone in the green and blue factions. Past the red was the yellow line, the farmers. There was no food to be farmed in our areas, as it was too cold, but day in and day out, those in the yellow faction tried to grow something, anything, that could work as sustenance. Then there was the purple line, the poorest of the poor, the bottom dwellers as we had been called. If we were to fight and die during a hunt, our presence would not be missed, nor would anyone actually realize we existed in the first place.

The walls of my home were so bare, it felt as if they had eyes and they judged me, staring down at me as I stood with nothing to my name. Sea urchins grew in the small gaps along the walls, waving to and fro with the current of the waters. After I set my trident against the wall, my mother turned on her side, her haunted eyes upon me.

When I pressed my fingertips together, an air bubble formed. It grew to the size of the room, the water escaping outside the sphere. The large air pocket allowed us to talk, communicate, fight. Everything we could do on land, we could do here.

Mother, I whispered. She lifted a hand, and I went to her side. I have food, enough to feed you.

You need your strength, she mumbled.

Lightly, my fingers combed through her hair. And you need to heal and recover.

I’m old, she whispered with a smile.

I opened my mouth to say something back when my home erupted in a vibration. It was unfamiliar, but I knew it could not be an earthquake.

Go, my mother whispered. See what is going on. Could be a visitor.

A visitor would not make an arrival like this, I told her. After letting go of her hand, I opened the door to my house and peered out. The water held against the air frame I’d created and shimmered with the light, along with the ice above.

I gasped. A ship has arrived, but it wasn’t just any ship. It was marked with symbols for Sirens. Why would someone venture down to where we were, the South Pole of Antarctica?

Mother, I need to go, I told her.

The air sphere collapsed, and water rushed back into our home. When I glanced back to my mother, she turned on her side and waved me off.

When I followed the ship as it moved across our waters, I realized something was amiss. Thoughts plundered my mind with different questions and scenarios ranging from someone bringing us help to forming an army and attacking the Islanders. My mind ran wild with anticipation of what the visitors might bring.

If the Islanders saw the ship, would they know it was Sirens? The markings were on the bottom of the ship, not on the sides or top. To them, it might appear like a fishing boat…but who fished in Antarctica?

The Islanders hated us Sirens, and rightfully so. Why would a lamb be willing to work alongside a wolf? It made no sense. When our worlds separated, families were torn apart and friendships were severed. However, if we aligned, we could possibly go ashore for more food and maybe medicine. That was, of course, if the Islanders did not deceive us after a truce had been accomplished.

If there was a possibility of something new, something that could bring hope to our part of the world, then I wanted to be part of it. My part of the caste would never be allowed to any type of gathering, but this piqued my interest. I would find a way in, even if it meant using Caspian to sneak inside.

Chapter 2

It was not common practice where one of the lower castes would attempt to sneak into the inner sanction of the city. Unless the one doing the sneaking in was there for a purpose—food, money, or maybe to stage a coup.

My purple caste lived on the outskirts of the city, the rundown, dilapidated part. Some called us derelicts, others the trash of the sea. We fought for food and survival, all to have it stripped away as soon as we reached the city. I wanted to leave, to get out of this place. I hated it. All of it.

Well, maybe not all of it. I did have a few allies. One of which would be my betrothed, Caspian. I didn’t necessarily hate or despise him, but it was hard to trust him…or anyone for that matter. Trust was a luxury not many of us could afford. Someone might have your back one day, but the next, if you had food, you could be your best friend’s worst enemy. It was hard, damn hard.

Then there was my mother. She was my best friend, and her life was in my hands.

As I swam from my part of town, death appeared to be the color of choice amongst my comrades. Everyone was pale already, and in comparison to my part of the district, each of us seemed sickly. Most of us were. I supposed I was the fortunate one of the group. Hunting kept my system strong. Food would help. Scraps were good for small things, and sometimes making a salve. My mother’s skin was so weak, and salves were all I could afford at times. If we needed the salve, we would not eat. If we ate, then her skin would become weak again. It was a never-ending, vicious cycle.

A small child swam from her home, her eyes red with tears. She stopped in front of me, and her bottom lip trembled, then she swam off. I glanced back toward her home. Our neighbors… Their father was on the verge of dying, like my mother. No one came to help. No one cared enough.

Anger spiked, driving me that much faster toward our City Hall. The scenery around me shifted through each block, each turn I took. From rundown disgusting, to better living conditions, to warriors’ boundaries, until I reached the outskirts of royalty.

I had no reason to be this far into the city. If I were caught, I could be held for questioning, at least until Caspian came for me. He was sort of turned into my get-out-of-jail-free card.

While I took to the shadows, I looked up, and the ship had breached near the gathering hall. The hall glittered with thick silver and blue streaks as if someone had smeared it onto a sterling canvas. Green had been worked in with splashes of red. Nothing to represent yellow or purple. Obviously.

Sirens from the blue and green tribes filled the area with a few of our warriors, the red clan surrounding them. The royals wore their crest of the blue stone, as well as jeweled outfits covering their torsos and hips. The crest was that of Antarctica, silver and blue, our colors as worn by our Monarchs. It sickened me to see all the wealth spent on frivolous shit, yet my mother was dying and there were children starving.

I leaned in toward the commotion. Hearing whispers and chatter of a visitor with news of the great beyond puzzled me. Great beyond of what? The world in which we never saw or heard from? The Islanders? I needed to know more.

With my back pressed into the wall of my shadow, I grabbed my hair and pulled it over my shoulder. Then, whispers of a Legacy Stone carried through the muddied conversation.

Legacy Stone? Mother talked of this stone when I was a child. This couldn’t be real. It was bedtime stories, nothing more.

Inside the hall, a large giant air sphere had been placed to allow anyone an audience when needed. And by anyone, it was usually green factions, never purple.

I need his land.

I need their son to stay away from my daughter.

I need more food.

I need medicine.

Make the lower factions stay in their areas. We don’t need their filth here.

Yeah, that one was my favorite.

It disgusted me how the higher factions acted toward one another.

While I kept to my shadows people-watching, I grew curious if Caspian might be of the few in attendance today. He could fill me in, or he could also not mention this even happened.

I tell you what you need to know. Some things I cannot talk about for your safety, he’d told me one afternoon.

Hands grasped my shoulders from behind. A jolt of fear rushed through me. Shit, I’ve been caught! Turning to my assailant, ready to fight and flee, it was none other than Caspian.

I slapped his arm and shook my head. He pressed his fingertips together and formed an air pocket for us to converse.

You about gave me a heart attack, I whispered.

He grinned. What are you doing, Amaryah? He pushed a few strands of hair from my face.

I batted away his hand. Stop that. What’s going on? Why are people gathering? What was this talk of the Legacy Stone?

Honestly, I’m not sure. I just arrived. My presence was requested.

Did your parents ever talk to you about this stone?

He nodded. Yes, but I never thought anything of it till now.

I tapped my chin for a moment. I could use this to my advantage. Would I be able to go in with you? As your betrothed?

He raised a brow. So now you’re accepting the position you’re in because it benefits you?

I smiled and shrugged my shoulder. Nothing changes between us, but Caspian, if this were something we can do, something that can alter the course of our world, we need to do it. I would do it. For my mother. For all of us. I would volunteer.

You’re so brave, he whispered and leaned in toward me.

What are you doing? I asked and pressed a hand to his chest. He wore the crest around his neck, and it was cold to my touch. Please, don’t pretend we are anything more than friends.

He crossed his arms over his thick, massive chest. Caspian was very strong, tall in stature, and had short-cut hair. His eyes were as light as mine, and if I did feel something for him, his smile would do me in. It was beautiful, but for me, that was where it stopped. He’d make someone very happy one day, but unfortunately that someone would not be me.

Let me kiss you. We’ll be married soon enough, he whispered and cupped my face.

Batting away his hands once more, I shook my head. No, please don’t. What I want most in this world is to save my mother and our city. Help me do this, and then we can talk about us being more.

His smile faltered. He knew I would do anything for my mother, even marry him. But it would not be for love.

He nodded. All right, have it your way. But you cannot be seen. Understand? And for all things in our world, do not blurt out you’ll volunteer if there is a mission.

There will be a mission? I couldn’t help the excitement in my voice.

He raised a brow.

I sighed and gave him a nod in return. Yeah, I got it. Even betrothed, I still couldn’t be seen inside. Using him like this made me sink to the lowest possible level of all things despicable. Using Caspian to gain an upper hand was not who my mother raised me to be. Bartering for an advantage… Right.

Caspian. I touched his arm and kept his attention for a moment. I need this, for my mother. Please.

He touched my cheek. I know. Now, you know the back way into the meeting space. Go there and hide in the shadows. You’ll be able to hear everything being said. As I said before, do not speak out, cough, anything. If your position was compromised—

Yes, yes I know, I said. I’ll be in a heap of trouble. Thank you. Now go. I’ll take it from here.

His lips pulled into a soft grin, and he removed his hand from my cheek. Please be safe. Until we’re wed, there is only so much I can protect you from.

I lowered my gaze and moved out of his bubble sphere. His body distorted with the movement of the water, then he collapsed it. A moment of us staring at one another passed, then Caspian smiled. He was so good to me, and here I was, using him. Yeah, I was going straight to hell.

The camouflage of the shadows allowed me to sneak around the backside, swimming toward the door. After I moved inside, I slipped into a darkened area. I turned to check my surroundings, guiding the door closed, not wanting to allow a latch sound.

Any light that followed me inside had disappeared. My armband trident glowed a soft blue when I touched it. Most of the area I was in had hard plastic boxes that were placed on top of each other. Maybe a storage area?

Voices echoed from a nearby chamber. I listened in the hope to hear something, anything. Keeping to the darkness of the room, I moved closer to where the sound had been coming from. At a corner, light poured onto the floor in a distorted array of shadows and hues. I had to be just outside where the meeting in session took place.

The auditorium had a giant sphere surrounding the entire room. After I placed my hands upon it, I gently pushed my way through. My hair dripped on my shoulders, and I tiptoed to the nearby wall where I pressed my back against it, keeping myself concealed. I was vulnerable but safe, so long as I wasn’t exposed.

White columns held up the auditorium, carved from an ancient iceberg. It wasn’t until the last few decades our icebergs were in danger. That included our auditorium. Cracks expanded across the ceiling, but if the sphere held, all would be safe. However, if the walls broke? The sphere would collapse. If the walls fell while we were inside, there was a good chance no one would make it out alive. The blue faction were fools to continue to have meetings here. I was a bigger fool for being among them today.

The pictures of theaters I’d found in the library reminded me of this meeting room. Except theaters had seats. At one point in time, our elders had considered this, but it was just another way to spend funds on themselves, rather than helping out the rest of our community.

Our matriarchs in white provided a bright contrast to their blue coloring. Jewels hung on their necks, clung to their ears, and beautiful hair combs with pearls and diamonds held the women’s hair in place. So elegant. I looked down at myself and closed my eyes. Anger bubbled into a spark. They had no idea how much their jewels would feed our part of the city.

As I looked back over to the gathering, fury began to drown out any sense of silence.

Hello, peasants, meet your rulers. Bow to me, for I am important since I am blue.

Sitting back once more, I was, for once, grateful for my pale skin and light-colored hair. I was otherwise hidden. Unless my shadow peeked onto the floor and gave away my location. Curious, I shifted my gaze downward and sighed with relief when I saw no such shadow.

Our warriors, the red faction, lined the exits. I assumed Caspian was there, somewhere.

I was here for my mother. I had to do this, for her, for our clan. Changes were needed in a desperate way, not only in our caste, but in our world, or we would indeed become extinct. The first of our line, the blue faction, would never consider this. Why would they when everything was provided for them and they never wanted for nothing? The green faction lived just below the blue, like ladies-in-waiting to the queen.

No, this had to stop. We had to change. We had to do something… No, I needed to do something. Someone was here with news from another clan. If there were a mission to be had, I would go, even if they had no idea who I was. I didn’t need a history book to tell my story. We needed our history told to prevent it from happening again.

That was, of course, if I were able to get to the Legacy Stone.

Chapter 3

Ionce read a quote from a book in our library, a quote from a man who was popular during the twentieth century. I couldn’t recall who it was, but he lived one century before the downfall of our civilization. The quote was something like: The definition of insanity was doing the same thing repeatedly, but expecting different results. I had to wonder if any of our royal members of society had become insane