Why couldn’t she remember? What had happened?
Teens pressed forward, eager to bask in Kara’s glow. All those smiling faces, desperate for her approval, ready to grant her every wish, to do anything she asked. No, she wanted to scream, I don’t deserve any of this! I did something… really bad.
Lightning struck again and the room came to a dizzying stop. Time froze as Kara turned away from the stage and pushed through the throng. Her beautiful corsage fell to the ground, crushed as she bolted. Face aflame, she ran for the lobby, past tables laden with food and star-shaped sculptures glinting with ice.
Wind whipped at her hair, destroying her carefully arranged tresses as she fled out the massive front doors of the country club. In a crash of thunder, the skies opened and the rains fell.
Kara ran and ran, flying over the manicured lawns, stumbling onto a rolling green ocean of golf course that stretched as far as the eye could see.
Terror ripped at her heart. She had dreamed of this country club, the pool, the tennis courts, the grand ballroom, watched as the bulldozers cleared away the forest to make way for all that she had envisioned.
Why did it feel so wrong?
Losing her heels in the slick grass, she ran barefoot through the bleak landscape, stopping just before the tree line. Was that an animal hiding in the shadows?
“What is this place?” she screamed. “Tell me!”
She didn’t want to know. She had to know. If she didn’t find out she might lose herself completely.
The woods were thick, lush, full of dark foreboding trees that seemed to be watching the bright country club. The ballroom with its glittering lights loomed like a monstrosity, mocking her plight.
She plunged through the bushes, ripping her beautiful dress into a muddy, tangled mess of rain-soaked taffeta.
“Give it back! I want it back!” she wailed into the woods.
She ran until her legs buckled beneath her. Exhausted, she fell against the remains of an old stone wall, her breath heaving in her chest.
Lightning streaked across the skies illuminating a weather-beaten sign. Ivy and moss covered the remains, a lone survivor of what was, once upon a time.
In the harsh light of the storm, Kara saw the worn words etched upon the gateway to nowhere.
Welcome to the Ravenswood Wildlife Preserve. Take only photos, leave only footprints.
“No!” Kara screamed as the rain lashed at her. She slid to her knees, grasping for memories stolen by the cold, uncaring wind.
The realization struck with the force of thunder. This was once a place of magic and dreams. And she had destroyed it.
Once upon a time had come and gone, and there was nothing left to do but cry.
THE APPROACHING STORM lashed Emily’s long curls across her face, nearly sending the graduation cap perched atop her head airborne. She stood on a low stage, not far from Mrs. Beasley Windor who addressed the assembled crowd.
“It is now my pleasure to present the graduating class of Stonehill High with your valedictorian, Emily Fletcher.”
Cheers greeted Emily as she stumbled forward.
She scanned the hundreds of students seated on folding chairs in front of the stage. None were familiar; none had the warm looks of the friends she knew. The graduates watched her, nodding and laughing.
And they weren’t all human. She caught glimpses of slitted blood-red eyes, flexing claws, glinting teeth.
At the perimeters of her vision, an intricate weaving fluttered like delicate wings.
Mrs. Windor continued her introduction. “Miss Fletcher is the winner of the Journalism Award for her story on the forests outside Stonehill.”
“You mean the Ravenswood Preserve.” Emily shielded her eyes from the rain as she searched for the vast forest thick with trees. But a black shape drew the webs tighter around the edges of her mind, obscuring her view.
“As student council president, she supervised the auction and sale of the many animals from the preserve,” Windor continued. “Sold off to zoos and research facilities…”
Emily’s jaw set in a tight line. Windor’s words faded away as yowls and cries floated over the field.
The webs sunk deeper into her mind, obliterating all thoughts of forests and friends. What did she care about the animals from Ravenswood anyway? She couldn’t stand the helplessness she felt in the face of their pain. It was easier to turn away, swallow the fear, and move on.
Mrs. Windor had moved from the podium and was gesturing for Emily to step forward. Emily obeyed, eyeing her audience. She realized she was shaking. She gripped the wooden podium, cleared her throat, and began. “We are the sum of the experiences that have shaped us. Today, we learn the truth of who we are.”
At the very back of the crowd, a hooded girl rose from her seat, black cloak rippling in the wind. “We all know who you are.”
“I, I’m…” Emily stuttered. The strange girl’s cold voice sent chills racing up her spine.
The students, so self-assured, snickered and sneered. Patterns of light floated around them, halos of fallen angels.
“Who are you?” Bright sparks danced around Emily like snowflakes, blurring their faces into glinting eyes and twisted grins.
“We are the chosen ones,” came the chorus.
“They are all mages.” Eyes aglow under her hood, the strange girl glided down the aisle toward the podium. “Like you.”
Emily, gasping for breath, held up her hands. The same pattern of lights emanated from the heart-shaped jewel that suddenly appeared on her wrist.
“Where are your bondeds?” Emily asked, horrified at what she already knew to be true. Somewhere deep inside, a terrible loneliness threatened to spill over like bile. She knew what it felt like to lose all she held dear. But a dark mage did not care. The teens around her had no remorse or regret. Like creatures of shadow, they only knew how to take what they needed.
Emily struggled to focus, her breath shallow, eyes straining. As she studied the shifting lights, she realized there were two distinct patterns. She had seen each of them before. Shards of glistening ice were powering the dark weaving that covered her vision.
But she could see in darkness.
“This is a dream,” Emily spoke steadily, trying not to panic. The Dark Sorceress and the Spider Witch were making her see these things. Her two enemies were here, inside Avalon, working together.
“Bravo.” The mysterious girl laughed and threw back her hood. She was about Emily’s age, taller, with wild strands of glimmering red hair set off by amber eyes in a pale, doll-like face.
“Welcome home, dark mage.”
Emily faced the Spider Witch. “I am not a dark mage.”
Sylvan smiled, her face contorting into a half-human monstrosity. Faceted yellow eyes glittered as her robes undulated over eight thick spider legs. “You could not resist the pull of dark magic before, and you cannot resist it now.” Her voice grated like bone.
“I am not a dark mage!” Emily struggled but she was already falling. A wondrous web of lights spread before her, its glowing threads connected to those who had given their magic to open the Gates of Avalon.
Dark swirling tendrils reached for her, soothing her, comforting her. There was nothing to fear. All her pain would wash away if she just took the magic of her friends.
Emily reeled back. “I won’t do it.”
“You have already brought what we need, dark mage,” a harsh voice hissed in her mind. “Now complete the final step.”
She reached out to her friends. The mistwolves, unicorns, Drake, Gwyx, and Buttercup appeared before her at the Gates of Avalon, still connected to her weaving.
“Do it!” the steely voice commanded.
The animals, sensing Emily’s distress, growled nervously. But they would not abandon their bond to the healer.
“Lorelei, jump away, now!” Emily cried out. “Get everyone out of there!”
The voice in her mind laughed.“They cannot hear you.”
Emily sobbed, sinking beneath the spell.
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she watched the horror unfold. The magic was overwhelming her, drowning her. She was the mage destined to see in darkness, but she had become lost in it. It would be so easy to give in.
“Some patterns are destined to be rewoven, dark mage.”
Something blossomed in her mind. A faint glow of orange hovered at the edge of her vision.
The dark mage cried out, her head pounding as if her mind was splitting in two. She desperately wanted to stop hurting her friends, but deep inside, the part of her forever tainted, forever dark, hungered for magic with white-hot intensity. Suspended between pain and horror, she was frozen, unable to move.
The glow brightened, orange and fuzzy, wrapping itself into her twisting aura.
I take care of you. You take care of me.
In a flash she saw a small, furry face. It was so fast, gone in the blink of an eye.
Horrified, Emily tried to sever the orange strand. It was all happening again, this nightmare playing out before her eyes. She would do anything not to watch Ozzie die again.
But the warm magic enveloped her, struggling to give her the strength she no longer had.
“Complete your path!” the harsh voice commanded.
Emily closed her eyes. She didn’t have the will to fight any longer. She would not take her friend’s magic. This time she would let Ozzie take her magic.
In a surge of light, the scene before her splintered into fragments. Dark auras fell away, unraveled like tattered string.
Breath rushed into Emily’s lungs as if she had been suddenly pulled up from a crushing wave. The splitting pain in her head melted away and the jumbled magic cleared from her vision.
But that was not what shook her to the very core of her being.
Before her stood a golden-brown ferret, face scrunched in concentration, eyes shut tight, shaking as if he might explode.
“Ozzie.”
The ferret opened his eyes and leaped back. “Gah!”
“Are you really here?” she asked.
The ferret took a flying leap right into Emily’s arms. “All twelve pounds of me.”
“Focus, dark mage!”
Surrounded by the gold-orange magic of her best friend, Emily brushed the remnants of the spell aside.
“My name,” the healer replied evenly, “is Emily.”
“Are you all right?” Ozzie hopped to the ground and surveyed the ominous surroundings.
“Ozzie!” Emily could hardly believe he was here. “But you were an elf!”
“I pestered the ’mentals so much, they turned me back just to get rid of me.” The ferret shrugged. “Besides, my old pants didn’t fit any more.” He crossed his arms over his belly.
The healer hugged him so tight he squeaked. “You saved me, again.”
“We have to find Adriane and Kara!”
“I know.” Emily got to her feet and checked her jewel. The bright rainbow colors were dark with the pain of her animal friends.
“Healer! Over here!” Lyra’s frantic yowl broke through the mist.
The familiar dark magic of Avalon seethed around her, reaching greedily for her heart stone. With a wave of her jewel, Emily cut a swath of light through the gloom.
Focused as she was on finding her friends, she could not help but feel shocked by what she saw. The ruins of a circular plaza lay moldering around them. Jagged remains of crumbling buildings bore no resemblance to the gleaming crystal city of legend. An ancient stone floor surged and cracked beneath the twisted roots of thorny trees.
In the distance, the skyline spiked like teeth through the haze. Remains of what looked like observatories and great halls littered the rubble, statutes lay cracked in empty pools.
Emily and Ozzie raced around a fallen tree and practically stumbled over the blond girl hunched on the ground. She was sobbing, her body wracked with sorrow.
Lyra paced around her, tail swishing in concern.
Ozzie nodded a quick greeting to his friend, then joined Emily as she knelt beside the blazing star. She scanned the landscape for Adriane and Dreamer.
“Where’s Adriane?” she asked Lyra.
“I don’t know. As soon as we got here, Kara fell under the spell.”
“Okay.” Taking a deep breath to brace herself, the healer opened her magical vision. One look at Kara’s aura was enough to make Emily gasp. A tight net of dark purple and green had wormed its way into her magic, knotted so tightly, she could never unravel it.
“She’s trapped in the dream spell,” Emily told the worried cat.
“Impressive,” sneered a cruel voice behind them.
Emily and Ozzie leaped to their feet, Lyra ready by their sides.
From the mists, a young woman emerged. She was strikingly beautiful, completely human, with no sign of the half-animal monster she truly was.
The Dark Sorceress strode toward them, blond hair flowing down her back, green eyes glinting. “Welcome to Avalon.”
“HOW DOES IT feel to complete your quest?” The sorceress’s voice was as sharp as her heels echoing off the broken tiles. Her robe gleamed with ornate symbols. “Your key to enter the Gates of Avalon was truly inspired.” In the eerie half light, mist pulsed around her like shifting phantoms.
Emily caught flashes of red eyes, only they didn’t belong to the sorceress. Hideous teeth burst from the mist, snapping at her before vanishing back to smoke. Dozens of other shadow creatures swarmed close to their mistress.
The Dark Sorceress smiled. “My bondeds are eager to meet yours.”
Lyra crouched by Kara, hackles raised, lips pulled back in a fierce snarl. The blazing star’s bright aura was so twisted, Emily feared she might never bring her friend back.
The sorceress’s emerald eyes settled on the blond girl’s shaking, huddled body. “I thought the blazing star would become a dark mage first. It’s in her blood. But it doesn’t matter now.” She gazed into the distance. “And the warrior…”
“Where is she?” Emily demanded.
Perfect white teeth glinted between ruby lips. “Shadow magic runs wild in her.”
Deep purple swirled into Emily’s jewel as she caught a dark reflection through the trees, like a shadow.
“Even with your skills, you will all succumb to Avalon’s power.” The sorceress trailed a hand through the air, gathering ripples of glinting green in her palm.
“You can’t control me!” Emily cried defiantly.
But the words of the ancient mermaids swam in the healer’s mind. You bring darkness upon us. You will kill us all! She felt dizzy, saw colors bending around her in shimmering waves.
“She’s not alone anymore!” The brave ferret tried to stare down the sorceress, anger sparking in his brown eyes.
She merely sneered at Ozzie. “You’d think the Fairimentals would have selected a more suitable form for you, elf. Alive or dead, there is no escaping the true meaning of the prophecy. Only dark mages can rule Avalon.”
“No.” Emily refused to believe that. But there was so much dark power here, she could barely comprehend its depth.
“Take a good look. This is what you have fought for.” The sorceress gestured at the devastated landscape. “A city of broken dreams, lost hopes, stolen secrets. The only magic here is dark magic created by dark mages.” The sorceress moved closer to them. “With the magic of Avalon, a dynasty of dark mages will rule the web forever.”
“Join us, healer,” a second voice crackled. “Finish what we started.”
Emily whirled. Suspended between crystal shards, the Spider Witch’s bulky form sat in a green web. Eight legs twitching, she spun Avalon’s magic into a large, green cocoon upon the plaza floor. Coils of energy whipped around the cocoon and whatever lay inside it.
“Avalon was cut off from the web when the gates were closed,” the witch rasped. “But now, our new web will flow with magic once again.”
Emily’s vision allowed her to pierce through the
outer layer of the cocoon. Instantly, she recognized the ancient stone well inside the witch’s weaving. Glowing strands stretched from the well through the very floor of the city, connecting to the magic web. Not so long ago, Emily herself had woven the Otherworlds to the Spider Witch’s web. This weaving was identical.
All at once, the healer understood what must have happened, why Avalon had been missing for so long. Just like the Otherworlds, it had been severed from the web. Once upon a time, pure, good magic had flowed from Avalon, reaching all worlds. But something terrible had happened. The city had been destroyed, its magic twisted. The whole web would have been poisoned if the crystal city had remained attached. Whoever cut Avalon off from the web had done so to keep the dark, destructive power sealed inside.
Emily, Adriane, and Kara had believed finding the legendary home of magic would be enough to heal the web and help their animal friends. But opening the gates had unleashed an ancient evil that was never supposed to have been set free.
The prophecy had not been meant as a call to action.
It was a warning.
Emily’s knees felt weak. She and her friends had made it possible for the Dark Sorceress to enter Avalon. And after thousands of years, the Spider Witch had just reconnected Avalon to the web.
But the malevolent forces needed more.
“You will give me magic.” The sorceress turned icy green eyes to Emily. “Just as I taught you.”
“You’re crazy if you think we’ll help you!” Ozzie moved toward the sorceress, but Emily held her friend back.
The sorceress snarled at Emily. “Take the magic of your bondeds and complete your transformation, healer.”
The dark magic called to Emily like a haunting melody. She had used it many times, and the sorceress knew better than anyone how difficult it was to resist its power. Emily could feel the pulse of animals beating through her. Thousands across the web had put their trust in her. She would do anything to keep them safe. She shot a glance at Kara, her friend lost in the darkness.
Full Circle (Avalon: Web of Magic #12) Page 11
