Trial By Fire (Avalon: Web of Magic #6) (15 page)

It had begun.

Kara smiled—and everything vanished as she was jerked backwards, pulled into the forbidden Otherworlds.

T
HE DARK SORCERESS
stalked across the stone floor of her throne room. Her blood boiled, bubbling like the tainted water in her seeing pool. The blazing star and the unicorn had been within her grasp—right here in the same room! And now they were gone.

Those Fairimentals had tricked her! She had been wrong about the maps. Instead of revealing the Gates of Avalon, the joining of the maps had called the blazing star’s unicorn. Now that mage could be inside Avalon—

The Dark Sorceress felt the wave like a jolt!

She watched the fairy map, hanging open like a twinkling dome. One by one, the stars flashed as magic flowed, coursing its way through the sequence of portals, heading for her crystals. She licked her lips with a pointed tongue. She would have liked once and for all to find out where the Gates of Avalon were, but the girl had vanished before revealing the location. It didn’t matter really. Let the Skultum deal with her, she thought.

The girl had released the magic—and yet, feelings of uneasiness prickled against her skin. A warning.

Another jolt!

Something was not right. The magic of Avalon should have reached the one she needed to weave a new web. Yet the magic
was
coming. She wasn’t wrong about that.

Had the blazing star changed the portal path? No, impossible! The mage was too inexperienced.

Gripping the stone pedestal, she reached out, but it was not the magic of Avalon she felt. It was familiar, magic she had never thought to touch again. The sorceress laughed aloud. Here she was trying to build a new key, and the blazing star had just found the original key to the Gates of Avalon!

A striking turn of events!

She raised her arms. Lightning crackled from her fingertips—she had to make sure her crystals would secure this magic. She reached out to tap into the mistwolves—

Snarling teeth snapped at the sorceress in a roar of defiance.

The sorceress reeled back with the force of the shock.

Something was blocking her from their magic!

A silver mistwolf swirled before her eyes, flowing in and out of mist, holding the magic of the pack strong.

Along the fairy maps, star points gleamed and flashed as the magic flowed closer.

Carefully, she dipped a claw into the pool. An image of a red-haired girl surfaced. Emanating from the magic jewel on the girl’s wrist was a strong, blue-green light. It pulsed, slowly at first and then rapidly. The light surrounded the huge crystals.

Another of those mages! How had they escaped the dungeons? For the first time in decades, the Dark Sorceress felt something worming its way through her: doubt—and fear.

Furious, she swiped her hand through the water, splashing it across the floor—and over the boots of a tall, dark-haired girl.

The witch stood with a start. How could this girl have gotten into her chamber? Then she noticed the large beast slinking from the shadows to stand next to the girl. The cat’s eyes glowed with feral rage and its lips pulled back, revealing razor teeth.

Concealing her surprise, the sorceress carefully walked to the center of the room.

“Well, well, the warrior mage.” A smile played across her thin lips. “I’ll say one thing about you mages, you’re stubborn.”

“And you’re dead meat!” Adriane’s heart hammered in her chest.

“Eloquently put, but I wish you would learn some manners.” The Dark Sorceress raised her hand, and the giant doors behind Adriane and Lyra slammed shut, locking them in the chamber.

Adriane was suddenly aware of the stone wall at her back, and the fact that Stormbringer was not at her side. She didn’t see any of the sorceress’s serpent guards, but they could be hiding in the shadows.

The witch’s eyes fixed on the wolf stone. “I know what you think you’re doing, trying to buy your friend some time to heal the mistwolves. But they’re long gone.” The sorceress’s eyes sparked. “Just like your mistwolf.”

Adriane faltered, stung.

“Your wolf is dying while we sit here and chat.” Her blood-red lips contorted into a wicked smile. “And for what?”

For an instant, all Adriane wanted to do was run back and fight alongside Storm. She fiercely pushed the feeling away.

“And what about you, great beast?” the sorceress sneered at Lyra. “Where’s your friend, the blazing star?”

Adriane quickly scanned the room and spotted Kara’s backpack on the floor. But her friend was not there. “What have you done with her?” she demanded.

“Me? Why nothing. She has abandoned you. And as you can see,” she swept her hand toward the flowing lights of the star map, “the blazing star has released magic for my crystals.”

Lyra circled behind the sorceress, snarling. “
You will pay for what you have done.”

“Ah, yes.” The witch extended long claws from her fingers. “I remember now. Your sisters were some of the first I tried in the crystals. I watched them struggle for hours. And what did you do? You ran away because you couldn’t help them.”

Lyra roared in anger.

“Doesn’t matter now. Do you really think you can stop me?” the sorceress railed. “You have been a thorn in my side for too long! All of you! Right now, my armies come. And with them my special warrior. You remember it, don’t you?” She stared at Adriane. “It’s called a manticore. Vicious creature, lethal.”

Adriane signaled Lyra with a glance. The cat pounced, lunging straight for the sorceress. With a wave of the witch’s hand, red fire shot across the room. Lyra’s wings flew open, and she swooped into the air above the deadly magic. The witch followed, trying to hit the cat again. The distraction was long enough for Adriane to hide what she was doing.

“Drake!” Adriane called, raising her wolf stone in the air.

“
Momma!”
the dragon’s voice boomed in her head.
“There are many creatures here!”

“Remember what I told you?”

“Yes.”

“Do it. Now!”

“I help!”

“Yes, Drake, help us!” Then Adriane leaped. She spun into a circle, weaving rings of golden fire from her fists. With every ounce of strength she could muster, she forged the rings into a fireball and hurled it at the sorceress.

The witch caught the movement and blocked the oncoming magic, shattering it into the walls. Adriane feinted to the left, sending another fireball straight at her enemy. This one smashed into the sorceress, covering her in blazing light.

Lyra landed at Adriane’s side, forcing her own strength into the warrior’s jewel. Adriane spun again, building the power, as a third ball of magic careened into the witch. Again and again, she pounded away, screaming in rage as wolf fire consumed the sorceress, lighting the room in a rising inferno.

Adriane spun to a stop, breathing hard, exhausted. She had not meant to unleash such excessive force. Save your strength, she told herself. Don’t let your emotions cloud your actions!

The tower of fire that was the sorceress blazed wildly. Then it began to move, gliding across the floor. In a sudden burst, the fire lifted from the witch—revealing her untouched.

She waved a clawed finger in a spiraling motion. Adriane suddenly felt dizzy and disoriented. The room seemed to shift as the witch slammed the fire back against Adriane and Lyra. They were thrown against the wall and crumbled to the ground.

Pinpricks of light burst in Adriane’s head. Trying to stop the room from spinning, she saw Lyra slumped on the cold floor.

“That was good. Very good. You know why I am not going to kill you, don’t you?”

Adriane watched the sorceress brush herself off as if nothing had happened.

“I’m going to build a special crystal just for you and your friends.” She casually sat on her throne and laughed. “I think your magic is quite ready for harvesting.”

K
ARA HAD NO
idea where she was. Skeletal trees loomed through flowing mist. It was hard to make out much else in the gloomy twilight. The place was eerily quiet, but she knew she wasn't alone. She could sense him before she saw him, and he—the one she had to face—was the real danger.

He had deceived her. He'd made her believe she had talent, that she could sing—and instead tricked her into spellsinging. That set off the chain reaction as one portal after another opened. Now the magic was flowing—so what was she doing here?

“Kara Davies.” She finally heard the deep, velvety voice she remembered so well.

Kara turned slowly, and defiantly stared into his eyes, dark as coal, mean as a winter night. He looked exactly as he had at the Ravenswood benefit concert, morphed into the body of tall, dark-haired, magnetic Johnny Conrad.

“Congratulations.” He clapped his hands and bowed. “A jewel. Just what you’ve always wanted. Pity it won’t do you any good here.”

Even now, she had to remind herself this was
not
Johnny Conrad. This creature was not even flesh and blood. This was the dark fairy B*Tween had told her about. But it didn’t matter what shape he took, or what he told her. Kara’s fear turned to shimmering anger. No one made a fool of Kara Davies, not even him!

There was only one way to defeat him: make him reveal his real name, trick him into saying it out loud.

Dressed in Johnny's signature black leather pants and silk shirt, he took a step closer. “The blazing star, going out in a blaze of glory,” he taunted. “Maybe I’ll write a song about it.”

“Where are we?” Kara asked.

“This is the Otherworlds, and only one of us will leave.” He spun into a dance move. “It’s only fitting that we meet here. You see, this is where I was trapped until freed by the—oh, you know, it’s all in the family.”

Kara would not flinch. There was no way she would give him the satisfaction of frightening her. “By the way,” she said, forcing herself to appear calm. “You're not Johnny Conrad. So what should I call you? Your zillions of enquiring fans want to know.”

“It’s—Ha! Uh-uh.” He wagged his finger, then singsonged, “I’ll never te-ell.”

Kara shrugged. “Have it your way. You tricked me once, but in the end, I sent you packing.”

“That's the nice thing about life, isn’t it?” he sneered. “You always get a second chance.”

Kara held her defiant posture. And hoped he didn’t see her swallow, didn’t hear her heart thudding.

“This will be so much fun!” He clapped his hands.

“Don’t underestimate me,” Kara growled. He was so cocky, so sure of himself. There had to be a way she could trick him. He was wily though—and expecting her to try that.

He began to circle her, taunting, “You have no friends here, no winged cats, mistwolves, or fast-talking ferrets—no one to save you. Let’s see you spellsing your way out of this one!”

As he babbled, Kara pressed herself, Think! What would Emily do? What would Adriane do? What would the fairies do? She had fairy magic; what did that mean?

“Spellsinging, been there, done that.” She shrugged. “Is that all you can do?”

That got his attention. “I can do lots of things,” he bragged.

Her mind raced—could she match him, use her wits to save herself, get him to blurt his own name?

“I know,” she said. “Why don't we play a game?”

“Excellent.” His eyes narrowed.

Kara focused on her new unicorn jewel. She never had a stone of her own before. Maybe she could tap into her fairy magic… but what magic did she know how to use? Magic that was hers alone—

Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!

Colored bubbles burst in the air. That sound, which usually annoyed her, was music to her ears.

“Kaaraa!”

The Skultum watched intently as five mini dragons flew and chirped happily around Kara’s head. “Fairy dragons? Oh, this is good!” He laughed. “No one bonds with fairy dragons.”

“Think again, slimeball. I do.”

Red Fiona, purple Barney, blue Fred, orange Blaze, and yellow Goldie were fairy creatures—the kind that didn't need portals to flit from one world to another. From the start, the dragonflies had been drawn to Kara and only Kara. It was the only magic she’d ever really had on her own.