Cry of the Wolf (Avalon: Web of Magic #3) (14 page)

“Is that the best you can do?” she yelled.

“Adriane!”

Adriane looked back and saw Zach standing with Drake at the crest of the hill. They were safe. She smiled. And everything went black.

A
BUMP SHOOK
Adriane awake. She opened her eyes to darkness. The creaking of wheels and the hard floor bouncing beneath told her she was in some kind of wagon, rattling on a very bumpy road. She was all scrunched up, trapped in some kind of sack. She had no idea how long she’d been there, but the ache in her muscles felt like it had been a while.

“Hummmrr doo raahh … ”

Someone was humming. It sounded awful… and awfully familiar.

“Hummmahuma Wahh wahh.”

She tried to move, but the sharp pain in her shoulder made her stop. Carefully she reached around the back of her neck and felt a tender spot. She winced. Definitely a bruise, a big one. She flashed on a giant monster swatting her with a fist the size of a chair.

She moved her wrist in front of her face and focused on the wolf stone. Its soft light was weak, but enough to see she was in a large, black sack.

She heard sounds of sniffing and quickly covered her wrist, dousing the magic like a small flame.

“Ooo, you feel that?” the voice outside said. “Magic rock! Scorge is gonna get big reward. LaLaaaa!”

Scorge! That was why the humming sounded so familiar. It was that pesky orange… thing. And he thought
she
was a magic rock.

“Magic rock all right.” He patted the bag as he happily hummed.

Adriane heard the sound of wheels on stone as the road smoothed. Suddenly, the wagon came to a creaky stop.

The sounds of shuffling and scuffling closed in about her. She braced herself. A door on the wagon opened and she was dragged out, still in the sack, and dumped onto a hard surface.

“Be careful of rock!” Scorge complained.

Heavy doors opened and she felt herself being dragged across sandy ground. The sound of the doors slamming shut echoed behind her. She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach as the ground tilted. She was going downhill.

Soon the ground leveled out. The echoing of footsteps and voices suggested she was in a large, enclosed space.

Something hit the floor next to her.

“Great Queenie, I have traveled long and far to bring you this great magic.”

It was Scorge and he was groveling on the floor next to the sack. Adriane felt something cold press in around her, probing with the touch of magic. She stifled a gasp as ice stung at her wrist.

A voice, sharp as a razor, hissed, “You have brought what I seek?”

“Oh, yes! Great magic that has slept for thousand years,” Scorge said between his constant thumping. He must be groveling up a storm.

“From another world, Your Mightiness,” he continued. “Reward should only be as gigantic as Royal Highness thinks humble servant deserves.”

“Show me this great magic,” the cold voice ordered.

Adriane heard Scorge scamper to his feet. “M’lady … your magic rock!”

Adriane was jarred as the sack was lifted up, ripped open, and turned upside down.

She spilled out onto a cold, smooth floor.

Her muscles spasmed painfully as she tried to uncoil. Flashes sparked in her eyes in reaction to the sudden rush of light. She heard voices around the room snickering.

She could see Scorge’s back. He was facing another figure. Long, flowing dark robes glided silently across the cold floor, moving closer.

“You!” the figure said.

“Me, me!” Scorge squealed and danced in delight, then saw that the tall figure was looking past him.

He turned and practically choked.
“You!”
Scorge sputtered, leaning down to press his dirty orange head into Adriane’s face.

Adriane’s thoughts were hazy. She could barely catch her breath.

“What you do with Scorge’s rock—
graagah
!”

Scorge was swept away with a flick of the figure’s wrist. He dropped to his knees, and pointed at Adriane. “That witch stole rock!” He began bowing and groveling again, shaking with fear.

Snickers turned to laughter.

“Silence!” The chamber fell deathly quiet at the icy command.

Adriane’s mind cleared as her eyes adjusted to the light. At first, she thought she was in some kind of cathedral. The vast chamber rose to a high vaulted ceiling hidden in darkness. Then she realized those weren’t stained glass windows; they were crystals imbedded in walls as if the entire place had been carved out of a mine.

She looked up at the robed figure in front of her. A hooded cloak shielded the features from view. Adriane knew who it was. The same terrifying figure that she, Emily, and Kara had once seen at Ravenswood—at the portal. The Dark Sorceress.

“Where is my dragon?” the sorceress asked with a deadly calm.

“Um… dragon?” Scorge croaked.

She turned on him. “The dragon egg, you imbecile!”

“Er… dragon egg?”

“That
rock
is an egg! Or… ” she turned to Adriane. “… it was an egg.” She raised an arm in the air.

With a jolt, Adriane was forced to her feet. She tried to resist but couldn’t control her own body. The sorceress examined her carefully. She moved her arm, and like a puppet on a string, Adriane lifted her own arm, exposing the wolf stone.

“Interesting,” the sorceress said.

“Very… ” Scorge groveled. “… interesting!” He bowed some more. “Smaller rock, smaller reward…” he muttered.

The sorceress’s sleeve slipped down her arm, revealing a hand with slender fingers tipped with long, sharp nails. She flexed, and the sharp claws slid back into her flesh.

Two figures moved behind Scorge. They were as tall as the sorceress, serpent-like, with snake heads, and long, scaly bodies. They carried staffs that sparked with power.

“Take our guest and make sure he gets… what he deserves.”

Scorge looked right and left, eyes widening. “Um… Scorge change mind, don’t need no rewar
ghhh
!” A fist had grabbed Scorge by his throat. And then the guards were gone as quickly as they had appeared, Scorge with them.

The sorceress pulled back her hood and advanced toward Adriane. Strikingly beautiful, she had alabaster skin like a porcelain doll, rich red lips, and long, white-blond hair streaked with blazing bolts of silver lightning. Then Adriane looked into her eyes. They were not human, they were the eyes of an animal—no—some creature—slit by vertical pupils, cold, dark, and pure evil.

“So it was you I felt at the portal,” the sorceress said.

Adriane choked, sweat running down her face.

“Come, come, child, I know you can speak.”

“Please… let… me go,” Adriane managed to sputter.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Was I hurting you?”

As if the string holding her had snapped, Adriane fell to the ground with a moan.

“Humans are such fragile things. Is that better?”

Adriane wiped spit from her mouth as she sat up. She rubbed her arms and legs to get the circulation moving. “Thank you.”

“So polite.” The sorceress circled Adriane, her silky robes rustling lightly as she moved. “Do you know anything about magic? No. How could you? No one to train you. Such a waste.” She smiled and Adriane caught a glimpse of vampire fangs. “Now… ” The smile faded and her eyes flashed like cold steel. “Where is my dragon?”

“I don’t know,” Adriane answered truthfully.

The eyes sparked dangerously. “Are you trying to make me angry? Is that what you want?” She flexed her hand, and the long, sharp claws slid out from her fingertips.

“I don’t know where the dragon is.” Adriane wobbled unsteadily to her feet, eyes carefully trained on the razor claws.

The sorceress continued to circle Adriane. “I have tracked the magic of the egg and I know it hatched. Then it just disappeared. Vanished… like mist.” Her breath was cold as ice against Adriane’s face. “Odd, don’t you think?”

“I don’t know.”

The sorceress pointed a claw at her wolf stone. “Pity. Your stone is useless to me. It’s been tuned to you. Just as the dragon has already imprinted on… whom?”

Adriane remained silent.

“But you are already bonded to a mistwolf, aren’t you?”

Adriane said nothing.

“Aren’t you?” The sorceress’s eyes blazed into Adriane’s.

“Yes,” Adriane answered meekly. She couldn’t turn away from those hypnotic eyes.

“Do you know that once a magical animal and a human are bonded, the bond is for life? One without the other is death to both. Did you know that?”

“Why—why are you telling me this?” Adriane stammered.

“So you know the truth. The animals are a burden and make you weak. Look at you now, you can barely stand up. All because you could not resist following the cry of the wolf.”

Adriane stiffened.

“You think you are the first human to try and help those pathetic Fairimentals by bonding with animals?” the sorceress said scornfully. “There have been many, and all have failed. The
truth
is the Fairimentals will use you. And when you are used up, they will tell you how your spirit will be joined to the greater good of… Avalon.”

She leaned in and hissed like a snake. “Avalon is not what you think it is.”

She stepped back, her claws gleaming dangerously. “You are afraid to be here. You think this is all some perversion of the precious magic that binds you to these animals. Now amplify that fear a thousand fold and you have a small sense of what Avalon truly is. The only chance you have of actually entering Avalon is by working with me.” Feral eyes blinked as a sly smile escaped her lips. “Give me what I need—what we need—to open the gates.”

Adriane could feel the sorceress reach out her icy touch.

“Call the mistwolves. Bring them to me.”

“No!”

“I wonder. Just how strong is your bond? Will your mistwolf come for you? Or will she stand alone and watch you die?” She smiled evilly. “Let’s see.”

Instantly, Adriane was surrounded by serpent guards.

“Take her,” the sorceress commanded, robes flying as she turned away.

Strong hands pulled Adriane toward a doorway. “I will never call the mistwolves!” she yelled.

“Then you will die,” the sorceress said simply, then paused. “Oh, how is your friend, Kara? I’m looking forward to meeting her again.”

The sorceress’s words echoed eerily as Adriane was dragged down a damp and musty tunnel. They passed open rooms, huge cavernous spaces cut into the earth, where figures worked on large crystals, sparks of fire flaring from the stones. The tunnel turned and twisted, going down into the earth. Adriane’s heart pounded in her ears and her mind raced. These passageways all looked the same. She would never be able to find her way out of this place. The guards finally deposited Adriane in a wide room, where she collapsed against a wall. Glints of light flashed off rock and crystal. She could feel energy flowing through the walls, pulsing like blood.

Adriane shivered, pulling her knees into her chest. She could hear moans in the darkness around her.

She got to her feet and raised her wolf stone, willing it to glow. Cutting a swath of golden light in front of her, she saw rough crystal shapes jutting from the ceilings and cave floors. It was as if the entire place had formed right out of the earth itself. The light fell over a creature lying in the corner. Adriane moved closer and saw it was a pegasus, a winged pony, like the ones hidden at Ravenswood. This one was covered with ragged scars. Its wings were torn, green-glowing ooze on its back, sides, and legs. Black Fire.

Adriane edged closer and knelt before it, the light of her gem jittering.

The creature half opened its eyes, struggling to move.

“Shh, it’s all right.” Adriane tried to calm the creature, but she was shaking.

“Corintha… ” it breathed.

“What?”

“Corintha… where is she?” It nodded weakly across the room.

Adriane got up, trying to steady the light as it swept across the room. It settled over the still body of another pegasus. There was no need to get any closer. She turned back. “I’m… sorry… ”

The pegasus slumped. Tears ran from its eyes.

Something shuffled behind her. Other animals were slowly creeping out of the darkness. Adriane stifled a cry as her heart filled with anguish. There were dozens of creatures, some she recognized, like quiffles and jeeran, and some she didn’t. The glint of golden cat eyes flashed as two big spotted cats emerged. They looked like Lyra—before Emily had healed her. All the animals had the deathly glow of the Black Fire.