Crucible and the Crown (Misfits of Magic Book 3)

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

Micah cursed viciously as he slammed magic against the rock wall for what felt like the millionth time. He kept trying to break through in different sections using a variety of methods, but it failed every time. The wall was reinforced by some sort of magic he hadn’t seen before, making it impossible to damage it.

Being separated from Jackie again after they’d just been reunited made his blood boil and his temper flare. Normally, he was pretty levelheaded, but if anyone fucked with his mate, he completely lost his shit.

Now, she had been taken from him…again.

When this was over, someone was going to fucking pay for putting them through this.

He’d make damn sure of it.

The moment Jackie had been pulled out of the tunnel, he’d tried to go after her but something had held him back. It had literally felt like his feet had been frozen in place, making it impossible to move. Whatever it was had released him the moment the entrance had closed up, and he found himself trapped in the dark tunnel with Kellen and Lia.

The fact that he had no idea where Jackie had been taken made him want to raze the entire fucking mountain to the ground. The only thing that had stopped him was his worry that he would end up crushing himself and his friends if he did that.

Then again, he didn’t seem capable of destroying anything at the moment.

His magic still worked. The light orbs he’d made that were illuminating the dark tunnel they were in made that clear enough. However, his magic didn’t work on the rock walls or allow him to teleport outside. He also couldn’t reach out to Jackie through their bond. He knew that she had dealt with a similar situation while he’d been stuck inside the sarcophagus, but she’d handled the whole thing much better than he was.

Being without her was bad enough, but not even being able to connect with her through their bond was slowly driving him insane.

It was humbling to admit just how dependent he’d gotten on being with her. If he couldn’t touch her, he wanted to see her. And if he couldn’t see her, he needed to be able to connect to her mind. She probably didn’t realize just how many times he reached out to her throughout any given day simply because he missed the hell out of her.

His need for her was boundless, an eternal cycle of longing and loving.

And he knew he would continue loving her in the next life and beyond.

While they had all figured Jackie had probably been pulled into another part of the Crucible, he still wasn’t happy about it. He had faith that she could handle herself, but he was sick and fucking tired of being separated from her. At least she’d had the two shifters with her earlier to help her through the trial.

But now, she was isolated and alone.

He wasn’t quite sure why this felt different than the earlier test, but something about it made his internal warning system go off. Because of that, he kept trying to find a way out of the mountain so he could get to her. Unfortunately, whatever entity was in charge of this shitshow wanted the rest of them trapped inside so they couldn’t interfere with whatever she was doing.

“Do you think this is like the test earlier?” Lia asked. “I mean, is Jackie hidden somewhere inside this mountain? Do we have to find her?”

“She’s out there. Not in here with us,” Micah told them. He wasn’t sure how he knew that, but he did. “I think this mountain is acting like a magical barrier so I can’t reach her, not even through our bond.”

“Yeah, it feels like a freaking prison,” Kellen agreed. “We’ve been walking for over an hour, and everything looks the same. What are we supposed to be doing here? At least the maze was interesting, even if the shit inside of it was trying to kill us. This is…”

“Boring as hell?” Lia finished for him. “On top of that, I never thought I was claustrophobic before, but this is making me rethink that.”

“Same,” Kellen said. “At least we know we’re not going in circles because of your magical glitter.”

“Don’t talk about my glitter,” Lia growled.

Kellen chuckled. “Yeah, whatever.” He sobered again and said, “So, are they just trying to stall us, or do you think they really are planning on killing us all in here?”

“If they wanted us dead, I think they would have tried already.”

“Well, they kind of did in the labyrinth earlier,” Lia pointed out.

Kellen snorted. “None of that was serious. We managed to walk out of the labyrinth with barely a scratch on us.”

“And this is serious?” Lia asked. As she threw her arms out, she forgot she was holding a handful of glitter, which meant she ended up tossing some out in a colorful arc. “Fucking hell. I hate this place.”

“Relax, glitter girl.”

“I will fucking end you,” Lia snarled at Kellen, making him chuckle. Several heartbeats later, she said, “You know what? That’s actually not a bad idea.”

“What? Ending me?” Kellen said in mock horror. “Damn, I thought we were friends.”

Ignoring him, she said, “Maybe I can use this to melt through the walls.”

“Try it,” Micah encouraged eagerly.

She did, looking extremely disappointed when it didn’t melt anything. “Bummer.”

“Maybe it will work once you get your apex alpha abilities,” Micah suggested. “Don’t worry. I’m sure you will be able to melt something someday.”

That seemed to perk her up.

Kellen sighed. “Too bad. Something is making me really uncomfortable in here. Like everything in me is telling me to bust the hell out of this place, right the fuck now.”

“Hey, didn’t you say that you can get through all kinds of magical wards?” Lia pointed toward the rock wall. “Micah’s been trying to break through the walls, but why don’t you give it a go?”

“Sure. Why the hell not?” Kellen started to run his hands over the rock, shoving at the walls as they continued walking. “This just feels like regular rock to me. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. Should I just start flinging magic at—”

His words cut off as he just disappeared into the wall.

Micah blinked. “Where the hell did he go?”

“I have no idea. I guess apex alphas really are immune to most protection wards. That’s pretty fucking cool.”

Micah reached out and touched the area Kellen had disappeared into, but his hand just met solid rock. “I wonder if—”

He gasped as hands reached out and grabbed him and Lia. He felt an uncomfortable pressure on his body as they were pulled through the protection wards that had been blocking the walls. It felt like his lungs were being wrung out until he couldn’t draw in any air. It was strange, like there were different layers of wards that were warring with one another that he was being squeezed through. He wanted to study it so he could analyze exactly how it had been created, but it hurt too much to think straight.

Then, he was through the wards, and the intense pressure instantly disappeared.

“What…the…fuck!” Lia wheezed out.

The alicorn shifter was sprawled out on the bright green grass as she gasped for breath. Micah had managed to stay on his feet, but he had to put his hands on his knees to brace himself.

“You guys okay? I can’t believe that shit actually worked.”

Micah glanced over, and his eyes narrowed at Kellen, who looked like he hadn’t been affected at all by the protection wards. “Fucking apex alphas…”

Kellen laughed. “Don’t sound so irritated. You usually surpass me in all things magical, so let me have this one little victory moment.”

Grumbling to himself, Micah turned away from his friends to glance around.

After they had been walking around in dark tunnels for so long, the beam of light shining in through the large hole in the high ceiling was almost blinding. They had entered a massive grotto that was covered in foliage and brightly colored flowers. Ferns and vines hung down from the ceiling and walls, creating an intricate web of greenery.

Tall trees with bright blue leaves stood guard around a lagoon filled with shimmering water that was being fed by tiny waterfalls spilling out of the crevasses in the stone. Small groupings of white flattop rocks were spread out on the bright grass, and more stones created a pathway toward the lagoon.

“Okay, this is much better than the tunnels,” Micah said.

“Hell yeah, it is.” Kellen grinned. “I’m really starting to like having a free pass through magical wards.”

Chuckling, Micah nodded. “That’s a damn good power to have.” He paused for a second, then added, “This place feels different than the tunnels. I mean, it’s obviously different, but—”

“No, you’re right. There is a different feel to the magic in here,” Kellen agreed. “Actually, the wards felt strange, like there were multiple layers from different sources.”

That coincided with the conclusion Micah had come to as well.

“So, is this still part of the Crucible?” Lia asked. “Are the vines going to come alive and try to pull us into the lagoon to drown us or something?”

“Don’t know. I guess it’s possible. Other than that, I think this is a good place for us to rest a little while we come up with a plan,” Kellen said.

“Good idea, but let’s stay alert.”

Still feeling the effects of passing through the protection wards, Micah walked over and took a seat on the closest flat rock. As the others got settled, he took another good look around. The white light shining down the hole cast a haze over the space, making it look like everything was softly glowing. The vibrant greenery was almost too bright, and the oversized flowers growing all over were oddly comforting.

“Something about this place seems familiar to me, but I know I’ve never been here before,” Micah told them.

“I’d worry about you if you had been to this creepy cave in the middle of nowhere,” Lia said dryly. “What are you doing?”

Kellen had pulled out his phone and was attempting to call someone. “I tried to call and text our friends while we were in the tunnels but there was no signal. Since there is an opening in here, I thought I’d try again.”

“I thought that was against the rules,” Lia reminded.

Kellen shrugged. “The queen said they couldn’t interfere in the labyrinth. We’re not in the labyrinth anymore. Besides, no one said anything about us phoning a friend for some answers.”

“That’s true,” Micah murmured. Using that logic, he reached out to his cousin, but Braxton didn’t respond. “Whatever magic that is being used to block me is stopping me from reaching Brax.”

“My calls won’t go through. Neither will texts,” Kellen announced. “I guess we can nix that idea.”

“It was a good try, though.” Lia paused before saying, “Honestly, do you think Jackie’s parents are trying to kill her?”

“I think it’s more likely that they will try to kill me. Then they won’t have to deal with a dark angel-mage hybrid sitting on the throne next to their fae queen.”

“If they killed you, it would destroy Jackie as well,” Lia pointed out. “That is the way it is between true mates. So, why even bother letting her take the throne?”

Micah sighed. “Maybe they found a way around that. Or perhaps they are simply willing to attempt it and see how it goes. Who the fuck knows.”

“I don’t know the brother very well, but how did Jackie and Kami turn out to be so normal?” Kellen asked.

“By separating themselves from their parents and avoiding them as much as possible.”

When Kellen’s stomach growled, he sighed heavily. “Damn, I wish I packed some snacks for this little quest.”

Micah used his magic to create a plate of thick sandwiches stacked high with bread, meat, and cheese. Holding it out to the shifters, he grinned when both of them immediately grabbed a few and began eating.

“See? Your magic is totally awesome,” Kellen said around a mouthful of food.

While dark angel magic wasn’t as versatile as fairy or pixie magic when it came to making food, Micah could at least handle a few basics. He picked up a sandwich and bit in, chewing thoughtfully as he pondered their situation. Something about that grotto was nagging at him, but he wasn’t quite sure what it was.

Getting up, he slowly began to pace around as he continued eating, then he walked toward the lagoon to examine it closer. Releasing his wings, he flew up to look at the hole in the ceiling but couldn’t pass through the magical wards guarding the opening. But when he looked back down at the grotto, the truth hit him. “The flowers.”

“What about them?” Lia asked.

“They’re like the ones back home in the Hell Realm,” Micah explained as his feet touched down on the ground again. He retracted his wings and rolled some of the tension from his shoulders. He was getting a bad feeling like an itch on the back of his neck that wouldn’t go away.

Kellen glanced at the flowers with a puzzled expression. “You think we’re in the Hell Realm?”

“No. We can’t be, or I’m sure I would be able to reach Brax or Uncle Luc. See those trees? The ones with the blue leaves are exactly like the ones found in the Fairy Realm. And this lagoon looks like the one Sapphire uses back in the Shifter Realm. And the white stones are like the ones the Winter Palace is built with. That’s what has been bothering me. Everything in here seems familiar, but not. That’s because it’s a mix of things from different realms. I’m sure if we examined everything in here, we could find something that is from the Human Realm and the Celestial Realm as well.”

Kellen and Lia got up to join him by the lagoon.

“Okay, so what does that mean?”

“It means that I don’t think this place is part of the Crucible.”

“So, what is it? And where the hell are we?” Kellen asked.

“We are in the Realm of Illusions, and this is the beginning of the end,” a deep voice replied.

Micah, Kellen, and Lia spun around, searching for the source of the voice as they guarded each other’s backs.

“Who is that? Show yourself!” Micah demanded.

A tall male with long white hair and glowing silver eyes glided out of the shadows. Dressed in flowing black and silver robes, he looked like an ancient god from the Celestial Realm. The glowing eyes and powerful presence also backed up that assumption, but Micah had never seen a god so aged and weathered-looking before.

“Who are you?”

“Before I answer your question, I need to see if you are worthy of the answer.”

That was cryptic as fuck, but Micah was game. “Okay, how do we do that?”

The god slowly smiled. “By surviving.”

Then, a gleaming sword appeared in his hand, and he attacked.