Spellsinger (Avalon: Web of Magic #5) (18 page)

One of the four elemental guardians of Aldenmor, the Earth Fairimental is made of magic rooted deep in the elements of earth. It takes form using bits of rocks, twigs, and trees. Like all Fairimentals, the Earth Fairimental’s magic is tied to Aldenmor and can only appear on Earth for very short periods of time

Ariel was the first creature Emily healed by herself and has a special bond with the healer. A snow owl with white feathers and wingtips of turquoise, lavender, and gold, Ariel is a very loyal and loving companion and a key member of Team Magic. Ariel communicates telepathically but her verbal skills are improving all the time.

Resembling large blue rabbits with iridescent purple spots, brimbees are fun loving, magically imbued animals that inhabit just about every region on Aldenmor. Brimbees have a definite mind of their own and can be boisterous and outspoken. They are not very far up the magic chain, but put a pack of brimbees together and look out!

W
ITH A SHUDDER
, flames erupted from the stone hearth, pushing aside the screen to roll across the rug in a fiery wave.

Hsssssssssssss.

Like snakes, tendrils of flame reached up and coiled around themselves.

“Get the extinguisher!” Emily yelled.

“Wait,”
Lyra told the girls. The big cat was on her feet, fur standing along the scruff of her neck.

“It’s not burning anything.” Ronif pointed a wing at the rug.

The fire was now completely outside the fireplace, on the carpet in the center of the room. The flames left no mark on what they touched, as if the fire were merely a ghost.

Swirling yellow, red, and blue flames reached to the domed ceiling of the library.

They formed a figure, shimmering and glowing before the group.

“A Fairimental!” Eddie the brimbee exclaimed.

“It’s a
Fire
mental!” Balthazar said, astonished. “The most powerful and dangerous of the Fairimentals.”

“We thought you were lost!” Ozzie’s fur stood out as he leaped to his feet.

The fiery figure reached with flaming arms toward Kara.

The blond girl squealed and stepped back.

“Stand still, Kara!” Adriane urged.

Kara stood motionless as a writhing river of fire swept up the fairy map. A tendril snapped like a whip and the portals expanded, wrapping Kara in a blazing web of fire.

“You opened the portalsss!” the Firemental hissed at her.

Kara winced. It was not the fire that burned her, but the heat of her own shame.

“I…I’m sorry… I don’t know what I did. I messed up really bad. And now the Dark Sorceress is all over Avalon…”

“The witch waitsssss in her lair.”

Kara’s eyes widened. “The sorceress is not in Avalon?”

“She needssss map.”

Kara looked at the pattern of portals burning along the fairy map. “We’ll never let her get it again!”

“There isss another…”

“Another map?” Kara felt desperate waves of magic as the Firemental struggled to hold itself together. She barely heard the small voice hissing in her ear.

“Follow your path, blazing ssstar, and ssssave Aldenmor.”

The Firemental whirled around the room, encircling the three mages.

With a final spatter, it flickered out.

“Wait!” Adriane gasped. “Come back.”

The fairy map cooled to a small silver-blue orb and came to rest in Kara’s hand.

“Is everyone all right?” Emily scanned the room, making sure no one was burned.

“I’ve never seen anything like that before!” Balthazar exclaimed.

Lyra stood next to Kara, flicking her tail.
“If they risked sending a Firemental, things must be bad on Aldenmor.”

“There’s a second fairy map!” Ozzie exclaimed.

“The only other map I know of…,” Adriane began slowly, “belongs to Moonshadow.”

Emily looked worried. “If the Dark Sorceress needs the other map—”

“She’s going to go after the mistwolves,” Adriane finished.

“We must warn them.”
Storm paced.

“Why would she need another map if she already knows what’s in this one?” Ronif asked.

“Maybe she doesn’t,” Kara said hopefully.

“Maybe she needs a second map to open other portals,” Rasha suggested.

The warrior got to her feet. “Either way, there’s still time. We have to get to Moonshadow before the Dark Sorceress and we have to get to Avalon first.” Adriane pounded her fist. “It’s the only way to save Aldenmor. I know it!” A quick glance at her friends told Adriane that they were all thinking the same thing. Without Avalon’s magic, Aldenmor would be lost.

“Remember when the Fairimentals first came to us at the glade?” Adriane asked.

Emily nodded. “They told us to find Avalon.”

“And that’s what Kara was doing.”

Kara’s eyes flew open wide. “So maybe… I did good.”

“You do have a knack for using magic in unusually lucky ways,” Adriane smiled wryly.

“Kara.” Emily stepped in front of the blond girl. “Whatever you did, we know

you
meant
to do good and that’s what counts.”

“That’s right!” Ozzie leaned over the table to hug Kara. “We’re always with you no matter what!”

The animals converged on Kara in warm hugs.

Kara flushed but smiled, holding the gooey ferret away from her sweater.

“Thanks.” She placed Ozzie back on the rug.

The Firemental had said to follow her path. She had worried that her blazing star magic would send her spiraling out of control, burning out in a blaze of glory. She felt the fire roiling at the very core of her being. Well, whatever blazed inside her, it was time to let it free!

Kara tossed her golden hair over a shoulder, forging ahead before she could stop to think about what she was saying. “If we’re going to save Aldenmor, we’ve got to stop talking about it and
do
it!”

The room was silent. They all knew Kara was right. The time had come for the

girls to put all they had learned to the test. To act now. Or it would be too late.

“We’ll use the unicorn horn and open the portal here on Ravenswood,” Kara said. “Just like I did before.”

“It’s time.” Emily took Kara’s and Adriane’s hands in hers.

Lyra pushed her large head into Kara’s side.
“Time to stand together.”

“Time to save our friends!”
Storm stood between the mages.

“The Fairimentals chose me to choose you.” Ozzie stood tall, puffing out his furry chest. “Now let’s all choose to do what we were chosen for. Let’s go!”

Ronif and Rasha looked at one another as the sticky ferret whizzed by and charged out of the library.

“We’ll bring the unicorn horn and the fairy map,” Kara said, racing ahead before she could change her mind. “The magic of the horn should keep us safe.”

“I’ll tell Gran we’re going on a school trip,” Adriane said.

“I’ll get the Pet Palace shut down,” Emily said.

“I’ll go pack,” Kara concluded firmly.

Everyone looked at Kara.

“What?” she shrugged. “I’m not going without a change of clothes!”

“Good to have you back, Kara,” Emily smiled.

Kara grinned and glanced at Adriane.

The dark-haired girl raised her fist and touched Kara’s fist. “Okay, we’ll meet at the portal field in half an hour.”

“What should we tell the others?” asked Ronif.

“Tell them to get ready!” Kara said. “We’re going to bring them home.”