Cry of the Wolf (Avalon: Web of Magic #3) (11 page)

“No. You heard the Fairimentals.
You
have the gift, not me.”

“Zach,” Adriane said, searching his eyes. “I saw the way you were with Windy. You loved him. As much as I love Storm. I may not know much, but I have learned this: magic always starts here.” She placed her hand on the boy’s heart.

He looked at her hand, then into her eyes.

“I’m so sorry Windy is gone,” Adriane continued. “But you have to go on. The Fairimentals need you… I need you.”

“You… do?” he asked, eyes wide.

Adriane looked away. “You’re everything I’ve always dreamed of being. Strong, confident, independent.” She turned to him again. “And you understand what’s going on around here. How are we supposed to figure this all out without your help?”

“I’m not going back to the mistwolves.”

“But it wasn’t your fault. It was a horrible accident.”

“You don’t know that!”

Adriane took his hands in hers. “You could come back to Earth with me. You’d meet lots of friends and you could go to school and learn all kinds of things.”

“You think I could fit in there?” he asked uncertainly.

Adriane smiled at him. “If I can, you sure can.”

Zach didn’t return the smile. He dropped her hand, turned, and walked to the branch stairway. “I’m going to take care of Wind Dancer.”

“Can I help?”

“No,” he answered sharply, then his voice softened. “I want to say good-bye alone.”

Adriane understood and respected his wish. She watched as he started down. “Zach,” she called after him.

He stopped.

“I’m going to find Storm.”

“I know,” he said, and walked away.

T
HE BRIGHT SPECKLED
egg sat on the sandy shores patiently waiting as Adriane walked back to the lake. Colors swirled through the shell as she approached. She knelt down and patted it.

“It’s time for me to go,” she explained.

The egg quivered slightly.

“You have to stay here. The Fairimentals will take care of you now.”

Deep blues and purples moved across the shell as the egg leaned into Adriane’s arms.

“C’mon, now don’t get like that. You’re going to make me all sad again.” But she was already crying. She hugged the egg. “Thank you, Drake,” she said softly.

From the corner of her eye, she caught the flutter of air. She could just make out the hovering, translucent shape of Ambia.

“You have many questions,” the Air Fairimental said.

“Was the wolf stone meant for me?” Adriane asked, sniffling as she got to her feet.

“Nothing that happens is truly random.” Ambia’s cool voice brushed against Adriane.

“Why did you choose me?” Adriane asked.

“You are a warrior.”

“No, I’m not. I’m scared all the time,” she said angrily. “What kind of warrior is that?”

“The heart of a warrior is not measured by how strong you fight.” Marina rose in tinkling chimes out of the crystal blue waters. “It is your spirit that connects you to the magic.”

“Why me? The magic… I mean, don’t I get a choice?”

“Why did you come to Aldenmor?” Gwigg’s scratchy voice rose from the ungainly mass of twigs and dirt.

“To find Stormbringer,” Adriane said quietly.

“That is a choice of the heart.” Ambia smiled. “That is why you have been chosen to find Avalon.”

Avalon. It always came back to that mysterious place of legendary magic.

“What is Avalon?” Adriane asked.

“Everything around you… the sky, the earth beneath your feet, the magic itself… all are the forces of nature, of life. All are connected to Avalon,” Gwigg spoke. “We have called on you to help us find it. To make the magic new again.”

“If
you
can’t find it, how are we supposed to?” Adriane asked.

“We are elemental spirits of this world,” Ambia said. “We are bound to Aldenmor.”

Gwigg swept around Adriane. “Three will be tested,” the rough voice said. “One will follow her heart. One will see in darkness. And one will change, utterly and completely. This is the Prophecy of Three.”

Ambia swirled across the grass. “It will take three—a healer, a warrior, and a blazing star—to find Avalon and heal the sadness. Only after each has met their challenge will you be ready.”

“I don’t know how to help.” Adriane hung her head. “You need a knight, a hero, like Zach.”

“This is
your
journey, Adriane,” Ambia told her. “Even if you do not know, you know what is right.”

“I can’t do it without Storm.”

“The mistwolves must find their own destiny.” Gwigg spun close to Adriane and stopped. The Fairimental parted a thicket of leaves. A small, shining orb dangling from a metallic chain glistened.

“Give this to Moonshadow,” the Earth Fairimental said. “It is a gift to help the mistwolves find their way.”

Adriane took the sparkling orb from Gwigg and slipped it in her vest pocket.

“You must follow your path.” Ambia swirled around Adriane.

A flash of light caught her eye. It glowed between two giant trees that surrounded the glade.

The Fairimentals’ voices all blended together in a strange but beautiful harmony. “The magic is with you, now and forever.”

Adriane looked at the Fairy Glen. It was so beautiful, so peaceful. She wanted to just sit by the water and feel the magic of the Fairimentals wash over her. To answer all her questions. Instead, she turned and walked away, toward the twinkling light hovering gently between twin towering trees. Adriane felt her wrist for the wolf stone and summoned her courage. She stepped into the light… and vanished.

T
HE SUDDEN BRIGHTNESS
of snow-capped peaks made her shield her eyes. Temporarily disoriented, Adriane stood still, trying to get her bearings. She was on a hilltop near the base of the upper mountain ranges. To her right, great peaks rose above. To her left was the plateau that led to the smaller ranges. She could see the crisscross of gorges that ran like a ragged patchwork. She wondered which gorge Windy had hidden them in, and felt a stab of loss for the magnificent griffin.

She looked behind her, where she’d just been, and saw nothing unusual. Not even mist. The Fairimentals would take no chances that anything uninvited might find a way into the Fairy Glen. There would be no evidence, no signs, no clues to follow.

She zipped up her vest as a cool wind sent a chill through her. She felt something in her pocket. Startled for a second, she took out the sparkling orb given to her by the Fairimentals. Tiny stars twinkled in the small ball. It looked like a smaller version of the fairy map given to Kara by Phel; the map the girls had lost to the dark witch’s manticore. Was this the same thing? Maybe the mistwolves would know, if she could find them. She slipped the gift back into her pocket.

The landscape was sparsely scattered with rocks, wiry brush, and short, wind-twisted trees. Ahead lay hidden valleys covered in shifting, thick fog. This was a harsh environment. Suddenly Adriane thought she might have been a bit hasty leaving the Fairy Glen so soon.

Stay focused, she reminded herself. If the Fairimentals sent her here, the mistwolves must be close. She had no choice but to use the wolf stone to contact Storm. She would have to chance any magic trackers. She couldn’t just wander around without some direction.

She held up her wrist and concentrated, forming an image of Storm in her mind. Immediately, the gemstone pulsed with golden light.

“Stormbringer,” she called softly. “Where are you?”

Adriane stretched out, reaching harder.

The smell of earth filled her senses. Cool grass cushioned her feet. She felt dizzy suddenly as the landscape moved past her. Gray shapes came into focus in front of her eyes—in front of Storm’s eyes.

“Storm!”

She was running up a hill with several other wolves.

“I am here.”

Adriane’s heart leaped at the sound of the familiar voice in her head. “Where are you?”

“The pack is on the move.”

Through Storm’s eyes, Adriane saw them. Several hundred mistwolves, adults and pups, cresting the hill before her. The smell of the pack filled her nose and she longed to run with them. Storm howled, and the pack howled in return. The wolfsong filled her heart. Adriane threw back her head and howled with them.

“Stormbringer!”
a different wolf growled.

Moonshadow stood before her, eyes blazing.
“The human will not join the pack.”

“I have brought something for you from the Fairimentals,” Adriane said eagerly.

“Is this some human trick?”

“She is my packmate,”
Storm growled as she faced the pack leader.

The wolves circled around Storm.

Adriane felt her own lips pull back into a snarl. She growled—or was it Storm?

“Human,”
Moonshadow said to her.

With a start, Adriane realized the pack leader was talking to her.

“We are moving, seeking a new pack home far away from here. The pack must be protected. We need Storm now.”

“The Fairimentals want you to have this gift,” Adriane said. “I think it might help you find your new home.”

Moonshadow snarled.
“I will give you until the two moons rise in the sky to bring this gift to me. If you are not with us in that time, so be it.”

The wolves began to disappear into mist.

“Storm, how do I find you?” Adriane asked quickly.

“The magic is with you,”
Storm’s voice echoed through the mist and disappeared.

Adriane blinked. Sparse, empty hills stood before her. The sensation of sharing the wolf’s mind, of being a wolf, had filled her heart with joy. To be separated from that made her feel so empty. She shivered.

The pack was leaving, migrating to a place far away. She had until Aldenmor’s two moons rose over the valley to find them. Reaching out, she spun slowly in a circle, silently calling Storm. When she faced the hills to her right, the wolf stone glowed. Dusting herself off, she headed down into a valley of shadows.

The valley was thick with trees. But these woods were not inviting like the lush forests of the Moorgroves. Here the trees seemed to twist and bend, fighting against one another, struggling for a foothold in the rocky earth.

She wound her way around giant, gnarled roots and misshapen logs until she came to a dirt path. The going was easier, with better visibility, so she could see if anything was coming—which also meant that whatever she saw could see her, too.

She tried not to think about that and focused instead on what she had learned from the Fairimentals.

Three will be tested. One will follow her heart, one will see in darkness, and one will change utterly and completely.

What did that mean? She wished Emily and Ozzie were here to help figure it out, they were much better with riddles.

Were they each being tested in some way? Emily had learned to be a healer and had healed the animals at Ravenswood. Kara had saved the unicorn. Now was it
her
turn?

Three will find Avalon and heal the sadness. Heal Aldenmor? She should have asked the Fairimentals more, but she had a feeling they didn’t have all the answers either. What was happening on Aldenmor was only the tip of the iceberg. If this sorceress—this witch—was not stopped here, Aldenmor, Earth, and the web, even Avalon itself, would not be safe. What would happen then? She shuddered. She had spent most of her life learning to live with loneliness, but she had never felt more alone than she did right at this minute.

Crunch!

Adriane spun around, ready to defend herself.

Nothing.

A dry branch cracked nearby. Then another. Behind her. She turned, but saw only gnarled trees, thick with thorns.

Searching for a good place to hide, she spotted some large rocks partway up the side of a gully. Rivulets of melted snow formed splotches of water, some running into small streams, some lying stagnant. She tried to avoid splashing in the puddles as she scrambled up the ravine and ducked behind the rocks.

She waited. Her heart was beating fast, and she took deep breaths, willing herself to calm down.

A loud snap behind her made her jump. Something was pushing through the dense undergrowth, coming right toward her. Adriane gasped, thinking of the small, agile imps. She looked left and right. She had made a strategic error. The rocks she thought would hide her were boxing her in.