Trial By Fire (Avalon: Web of Magic #6) (14 page)

One question remained.

“Where are we going?”

Reflected from the glimmering stars, glints of fire played across the unicorn’s golden eyes.
“Home.”

He lowered his head and shot forward. In a blinding flare, he leaped through the final portal and the web disappeared.

T
HE HALLS WERE
so dark they could barely see, but Adriane did not want to use her wolf stone and tip off the sorceress of their approach. Lyra ran at her side. Her feline night vision helped them keep up with the determined Dreamer. At least they were going up.

“There’s something ahead.” Adriane felt her jewel spark with danger. She willed the wolf stone silent.

They were approaching a series of large caverns.

“I remember this place,” Adriane whispered. “There were forges where imps worked building crystals.”

But the rooms ahead were deserted, spilling an eerie green glow into the hall. Whatever activity had gone on in there before had long been abandoned. Zach felt his way around the wall, moving across the entrance. He quickly covered his dragon stone as it flashed. Lyra sniffed the air, growling.

They peered into the chamber, jewels splashing light across dozens of crystals. The structures were all cracked and broken, their sharp edges blackened and covered in an ominous green slime. These had to be the Dark Sorceress’s failed experiments. Here was the source of the Black Fire, poisonous residue released from the sorceress’s attempts to construct her monolithic giants.

Emily shuddered. Every jagged green edge reminded her of an open wound.

Dreamer scurried back, shaking his head as if stung.

Lyra hissed, the fur on her back raised in a long ridge.

“Oh, no!” Ozzie cried.

“Careful.”
Lyra pushed Ozzie aside as he almost stepped in a puddle of glowing poison. Sections of the stone floor had been eaten away where the toxic substance had settled.

“Stay in the tunnel and keep moving,” Adriane ordered.

They made their way to the last chamber, a vast opening in the earth.

“I can feel them!” Zach cried.

Adriane tried to calm her wolf stone. Surely this close the sorceress would sense the magic of their jewels. But her caution fell by the wayside as they rounded the corner and entered the immense cavern—and saw the crystals.

Something had happened since they were last here. The air was filled with electricity. The three crystals pulsed as sparks of power arced between them.

Adriane quickly scanned the room for Storm.

Zach touched Adriane and pointed.

On the far side of the cavern, red-eyed creatures as black as coal scurried everywhere. Sparks of power jumped and raced, leaping from crystal to crystal.

Emily shivered, even though it was hot in the chamber. Something tickled at the back of her mind, pushing at her, growing more intense. She had felt this before—

“What is it, Emily?” Ozzie asked, looking at her drawn face.

“Magic is coming,” Emily answered. “A lot of it.”

They all looked at one another. This was it. Whatever the sorceress was doing, it was all about to happen.

“Find Storm.” The warrior nodded and the small mistwolf trotted forward.

The group circled around the chamber, staying in the shadows at the base of the crystals.

Dreamer barked at Adriane.

“Storm!” Adriane cried. The silver mistwolf stood in the center of the three crystals. Her body glowed, illuminated by waves of mist wafting into the crystals.

Adriane ran to her friend, throwing her arms around the wolf’s neck—and fell to the cold, stone floor. She had fallen right through Storm as if the wolf was a ghost. Adriane scrambled to her feet, confused and worried.

“Storm?”

“
My heart soars to see you, warrior.”

“Storm! What’s wrong?”

“Zachariah, my son”
the voice of the mistwolf Silver Eyes called.

“I’m here!” Zach’s face was pressed against the crystal. “Don’t speak, save your energy!”

Emily carefully walked around the crystal, examining it, touching it lightly, reaching out with her senses as she would a sick patient.

“Wolf sister!”
Moonshadow’s voice filled Adriane’s head.
“Tell your packmate to release her hold on us!”

“Storm?” Adriane questioned her bonded.

“Brother,”
the packleader called out.
“You must not break the crystal!”

“What are you talking about?” Zach asked. “We’re going to get you out of there!”

“No, you cannot!”
Moonshadow insisted.

“Why not?”

“We are all infected with the Black Fire,”
Moonshadow snarled.
“We cannot be released.”

Zach gasped and turned to Adriane and Emily.

“I have held them here until your return, healer,”
Storm said to Emily.

Emily flinched. There must be one hundred mistwolves in those crystals! How could she possibly save them all? She could feel the Black Fire swirling, ripping apart the fabric of their magic.

“
Healer,
” Storm insisted.
“You must save them.”

A sudden commotion and flashes of blue drew their attention to the back of the cavern. Dozens of imps had left the forges, aware of the strangers’ intrusion. With a wail, the imps pounced like a black wave.

Lyra roared as Adriane jumped, spinning in the air, landing and rolling across their path. She sprang up into a fighting stance, wolf stone raised and blazing. With a fierce swing, she launched a ring of golden fire. The imps in front exploded in inky blobs, splattering across the floor.

Shrieking, the others ran as fast as they could out the door.

“If the sorceress hasn’t noticed us yet, she sure has now,” Zach said.

Adriane grabbed Emily’s arms. “Can you do this? Can you save them… and Storm?”

Emily’s lips trembled, her heart in her throat. “I… I don’t know.”

“Emily.” Ozzie was at her side. “When that magic hits, they’ll be killed for sure. You have to try.”

Emily looked at her friends. She was a healer, she had to act. “I need time.”

“I’ll get it for you,” Adriane said.

“What are you going to do?” Zach asked, stumbling to her side.

“I’m going to pay a visit to the sorceress.”

“I’m going with you,” the boy insisted.

“No. You stay here and help Emily. She needs the power of your dragon stone.”

Zach was not convinced.

“Zach,” she said carefully. “You’re barely healed yourself. I need room to maneuver. I can’t be worried about you.”

Zach nodded. “I’ve seen you in action. No one’s better.”

A twitch of a smile played across Adriane’s lips.

“I’ll go with her,”
Lyra growled, lips drawn in a vicious snarl. “
It’s payback time!”

No one was going to argue with that cat.

“All right,” Adriane said. “Let’s go!” She took a step and faltered—and turned to Storm. She could not afford the emotion. Not now. She stared at her friend. The mistwolf was transparent—fading.

“I am always with you
.”

Adriane turned away and closed her eyes, letting the feelings wash through her, honing them into a laser beam of purpose.

Without a backward glance, she strode into the corridor. If she had looked back, she would have broken, knowing that was the last time she would ever see her packmate alive.

K
ARA STOOD IN
a ring of stone. Mist rose from the glittering mosaic floor. The tiles were pristine, ageless, untouched by sand, undamaged by wind and sun. Giant pillars surrounded the pattern of interlocking stones, their towering surfaces sparkling with colorful gems. In the distance, palms swayed in the breeze as the roiling sound of waves lapped upon the shore. She was on an island somewhere.

A fragrance sweeter than freesia or jasmine blooms filled the air. She turned to see dozens of floating figures. Gossamer wings seemed to catch and hold the light, reflecting it onto their flawlessly smooth faces and flowing hair—fairy wraiths. Large emerald eyes watched her.

“We have waited for your return, blazing star,” a wraith of unimaginable beauty spoke.

“Where am I?” Kara asked. But the moment the words left her tongue, she knew.

“You are at the Gates of Avalon.”

Kara felt a chill run through her body.

“The great unicorn has brought you here.” Another wraith fluttered close by, her long silken body almost translucent as she sparkled in the air.

A warm wind whispered past Kara’s face, tickling her neck and ears. She looked into the large exotic eyes of the wraiths. Warmth filled her body as voices seemed to come from everywhere at once.

“Close your eyes.”

“Now open them.”

With a whoosh of sea and spray, the island swept past her in a dizzying vision.

“What do you see?”

The waters fell away into stars. Golden lines spiraled and looped into the distance—the magic web.

Mesmerized by the intricate beauty of the web, Kara stared as images turned like pages from an ancient book. Deep, rich forests, sun-kissed fairy meadows, crystal-peaked mountains, glittering lakes of blue—she was looking at Aldenmor! It was so beautiful she could barely contain herself.

“Everything’s changed,” Kara breathed.

Suddenly the image zoomed across the web to another place. A glorious city appeared like something out of a dream. Crystalline spires rose against skies of blue and white. Magic sparkled like city lights—a city of magic!

“Avalon really does exist!”

“It does for you.”

The images faded as Kara turned toward the gentle voices. “I don’t understand.”

“You choose to see it.”

“As it once was.”

“As it will be again.”

Kara slowly began to understand. If you believe hard enough, dreams can come true.

“How do we get there?” she asked.

“The Gates of Avalon are locked,” the wraith answered.

“Only three mages together may enter the Gates,” another wraith said. “With the key.”

“But I need magic to save Aldenmor,” Kara said worriedly.

“And magic you shall have.”

“But once the magic begins to flow, it cannot be stopped,” a wraith said. “It could be wonderful and it could be very dangerous. Do you understand, mage?”

“Totally,” Kara said. “I mean, no.” She had so many questions she wasn’t sure what to ask. How was she supposed to start the magic? Would it be enough? And where were her friends? Were they okay? She opened her mouth, “What is a blazing star?” she finally asked.

“There are a few who not only choose their own destiny, but change the path of the future. Your power is guiding magic along the right path, choosing what it will become. You are an ember from the fire. Rise now into a blazing star.”

Kara nodded. She still felt unsure and suddenly shy. “I don’t feel special. I just want to help my friends.”

The wraiths encircled her.

“Make the magic shine, blazing star.”

Kara saw something shimmering at her feet. It was a scalloped, teardrop-shaped jewel—the very one Kara had found in Ravenswood so long ago. Then, she couldn’t keep it, because it had not been given to her.

Kara stared at the unicorn jewel, stunned. “But I returned it to you.”

“And now we give to the one who can truly wield it. Make it yours.”

She knelt and reached for the jewel, grasping it in her hand. A spark of light flashed from the stone. A magic jewel! It was everything she had ever wanted—why didn’t it seem so important now? All she wanted was to find her friends, to make sure they were okay. She wanted to help save the creatures of Aldenmor.

Kara turned the jewel over in her hands. It sparkled with magic. “Thank you,” she said to the wraiths.

The wraiths fell away, vanishing with the wind, leaving her with a whisper,
The magic is with you, now and forever.

Suddenly, there were no more questions. There was only one choice. Kara pictured magic, pure and good, flowing along the magic web to a world that desperately needed it.

She held her new jewel high and concentrated. The unicorn jewel blazed with diamond-bright light. Suddenly, the entire island seemed to melt away as waves of energy swirled around her. Golden hair flowing, Kara threw her arms open wide. With a rush, the whirlpool of magic lifted into the air, streaming across the sky. Ribbons of rippling lights cascaded onto the web.