Behind the Sorcerer's Cloak (3 page)
Back in Glastonbury, Holly sat on the patio, waiting for Myrddin. The morning sun was warm, but it gave her no comfort.
Owen returned from prowling the garden.
“How much longer must we wait?” he moaned.
Holly shook her head. She wound a side curl round and round her finger. First one way, then the other.
Like Owen, she was tired of waiting.
In fact she was growing angry.
She'd been waiting all summer! She felt mad just thinking about it.
Her brother and cousins had played key roles in major adventures, and she'd just tagged along. Sure, she had been part of things, but Chantel, Adam and Owen had each been chosen by a Wise One.
She, Holly, had been ignored.
This adventure was supposed to be hers, but now Adam was lost and everything sidetracked. As soon as Adam had found Myrddin's staff, it was supposed to be her turn. She was going to help the mysterious Wise One called the Lady. Now Adam had messed up, and the Lady was silent.
Holly simmered as she looked back over her summer.
Equus the Great White Horse God appeared to Chantel in her dreams. She rode the wind on his back.
Ava, the amazing Hawkwoman, came to Owen in the form of a real hawk as well as in dream form.
Myrddin actually had a human form. They'd all met him, not just Adam. Holly looked around ruefully. This was his home. She was sitting on the patio of Myrddin's house in Glastonbury where he was known as Mr. Green.
So what had happened to the Lady?
Holly's anger rose in a great wave. “Come on, Lady! I'm fed up with being ignored.” She kicked the table leg. “Ouch!” She rubbed her foot and came to her senses.
Owen stared at Holly in amazement. She rarely got angry. What was happening to her?
Holly's flash of anger dissolved. She began to think.
Many things were wrong. Big things. Adam was lost in the Mists of Time; Myrddin had vanished to rescue him. Ava and Equus hadn't come to help. And the Dark Being was approaching.
What if Owen was right and something else was wrong? What if the Lady couldn't contact her?
There could only be one explanation.
“Owen,” Holly said slowly. “Old Magic isn't working properly. I think it's spread too thin trying to protect us.”
Owen thought for a moment. “You mean it's struggling because so much bad stuff is going on at once?”
“Yes.”
“So what? We can't do anything about it.”
“Can't we?” Holly let her curl spring back. “We're supposed to be Magic Children.”
“So?” said Owen. He shrugged. “None of us has real power. I can't turn you into a frog.”
“How do you know?” said Holly.
Owen grinned. “Don't tempt me.” He waved an imaginary magic wand. “Abracadabra. Turn Holly into a frog. â¦Darn, it didn't work.”
“No, seriously. If we are Magic Children we should be doing magic, not just relying on the Wise Ones.”
Brother and sister stared at each other.
“Usâ¦do magic on our own? What sort of magic?” said Owen.
Holly suddenly seemed older and more assured, “Think about it. Everything's going wrong because the Dark Being's found Earth. She's affecting how people think and feel. Myrddin said everyone is becoming angry and more warlike. And I did, just now. Anger just swept over me. We need more Earth Magic to counteract the bad stuff, and we are the only humans who can do it.”
“Sure, butâ¦but⦔
“But nothing. The Wise Ones have been showing us how to use Earth Magic all summer. They told us that humans once used it all the time. We've done it before.”
“But only with support,” said Owen.
“Not much support. A lot we made up on our own, remember? What did the Stones tell you when we were in Avebury?”
Owen thought for a moment. “That everyone's rituals are differentâ¦that earth, air, fire and water are just symbolsâ¦it doesn't matter how we use them. That what's important is to concentrate and believe.” He looked across at Holly with wide eyes.
“Exactly,” said Holly. “So let's do something. Let's concentrate and believe, instead of sitting here. Let's focus on light.” Holly grabbed Owen's arm and led the way down the steps to the damp lawn.
The Dark Being's chuckle echoed across the universe. Her wait was over. Zorianna was reporting, sending mindspeak and mind pictures of what she'd accomplished on the humans' planet.
Bad news flashed to the stars
. Equus and Ava found
their Tools before I reached Gaia, Mistress.
The Dark Being roared with anger. She paced around, tossing energy bolts and shattering a nearby star.
Eventually she calmed and returned to listen to Zorianna again.
I have more bad news,
warned Zorianna.
The Wise Ones
have taught four human children about Earth Magic.
This time the Dark Being snorted in derision.
Four children. What can four human children do against my magic
and my army? You are being overly cautious, Zorianna.
They are no ordinary children,
said Zorianna.
They do
unexpected things
.
So do I,
replied the Dark Being.
Now send me good news.
Zorianna sent images.
The Dark Being laughed when Zorianna showed how she'd snatched the magic staff from the human child and Myrddin.
She felt the shock wave made by Zorianna thrusting the staff through a portal into the Mists of Time and plunging after it.
A second unexpected shock wave made her gasp, then she laughed again
. So the human boy child followed you,
Zorianna? He is grasping the hem of your cloak? What
courage! If he survives the journey, that boy shall help me
conquer Gaia. He will teach me Earth Magic. Well done,
Zorianna.
The Dark Being applauded the mind pictures. She threw off her cloak of darkness and revealed her presence, surrounded by a circle of gathering Shades.
Come, Zorianna. Come, human boy
. She flung open her arms and waited for them to arrive.
And waited, and waited.
Flashes of anger and despair reached her from Zorianna.
Earth Magic was fighting back. The Mists of Time had thickened.
Zorianna, the boy and Myrddin's staff vanished.
The Dark Being's boiling anger made the fabric of the universe quake. How dare Gaia fight her? Annihilation was too swift a punishment for such treachery. Once she had located Zorianna and the staff, she'd send the Shades to torture and enslave Gaia's inhabitants.
The Dark Being stared at the Mists of Time. She was poised, ready to pounce.
Holly knelt on the grass in Myrddin's garden and gestured Owen to kneel opposite her.
“Copy me,” she ordered.
“Bossy Boots,” said Owen.
Holly grinned. “Come on. What have you got to lose?”
“My image. We look daft,” said Owen.
Holly refused to be sidetracked. “Copy me,” she insisted. “I learned this from one of the dancers in Avebury. It's a way to focus thoughts.”
Holly placed her hands flat on the grass before her. “Earth support me,” she chanted.
She raised her hands above her head. “Air surround me.”
She moved her fingertips to touch her temples. “Fire enlighten me.”
She raised her hands above her head. “Water cleanse me.”
She folded her hands over her heart.
“Come on, Owen, do it with me.”
Owen looked around. No one was watching. “Okay, Sis, here goes.”
“Don't call me Sis,” said Holly automatically. She placed her hands back on the grass.
Owen rolled his eyes but copied her.
“Earth support me,” he mumbled. “Air surround me.” He stumbled through the unfamiliar actions and words.
“Good. Now we do it over and over and think of Adam and Myrddin. But you've got to believe. Like we did when we called Ava back in the second adventure. Got it? We've got to believe we are sending Adam and Myrddin hope and protection.”
“Okayâ¦okayâ¦I've got the idea.” Owen placed his palms on the grass again.
“Earth support me.
Air surround me.
Fire enlighten me.
Water cleanse me.”
“Earth support me.
Air surround me.
Fire enlighten me.
Water cleanse me.”
Brother and sister chanted the words over and over. With each repetition, their voices grew more assured.
The chant rose and fell, was captured by the breeze and wafted far and wide around Gaia.
Adam trembled with fear and exhaustion. The Mists of Time were endless. His strength was fading. They were traveling faster and faster. He could feel it in the way thick cold mist slipped past his body. He hated the sensation.
Zorianna yelped.
Adam forced his fingers to grasp a little more cloak, cracked open his eyes and squinted up.
Something had happened, something had changed.
He wished he hadn't looked. He was dangling from the hem of the cloak, swinging to and fro in slow arcs. He shut his eyes again, sick to his stomach.
“I've gotta look. I need to know what's going on.” He spoke sternly to himself, forcing his eyes open to look up along the length of Zorianna's body.
He gasped.
“The staff's rebelling. It's taken over.”
Instead of Zorianna carrying the staff, it now dragged her along. She stretched out behind it, struggling to hang on, just as he'd struggled to hang onto her.
Hope flickered in Adam's heart. He remembered Myrddin telling him the staff punished people who wrongly wielded it. Yeah, about time it did something, he thought.
He closed his eyes again and focused on holding on. The pull on his arms was agonizing. He gritted his teeth and wished for the dreadful journey to end.
Zorianna screamed orders at the staff. “Staffâ¦I command youâ¦Heed meâ¦I am your mistress now.”
Adam's eyes flew open again.
The angle of their flight changed.
The staff was dragging them down toward Earth.