All's Fairy in Love and War (Avalon: Web of Magic #8)

by Rachel Roberts

  ALL’S FAIRY IN LOVE AND WAR

  Copyright © 2013 Red Sky Entertainment, Inc.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher, except where permitted by law.

  Electronic Edition

  Published by Premiere Digital Publishing, Inc.

  Made in the U.S.A.

  ISBN-10: 1938582624

  ISBN-13: 978-1-938582-62-2

  Cover and interior illustrations by Allison Strom

  The actors are at hand; and, by their show,

  You shall know all that you are like to know.

  I, prologue like, your humble patience pray,

  Gently to hear, kindly to judge our play.

  “OW!”

  Kara dropped her script for the school play and shook her fingers hard. The fourteen-year-old wasn’t ordinarily clumsy, but in her haste to “rise and outshine” this morning, she’d grabbed for the safety pin without looking to see that it was closed. It wasn’t.

  Unsurprisingly, Kara had nabbed the starring role in her school production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. She’d play the Fairy Queen Titania, with typical grace and style—and a killer costume. This pink and poufy killer dress, to be exact.

  She whipped around in front of her full-length mirror.

  Whack! The costume’s wide silk wings flapped open, smacking the back of her head. Okay, scratch the grace and style.

  “They’re still crooked!” she whined.

  “Stand still, I’m not finished.” The reproach came to her telepathically, in a familiar purring voice. It was from the exquisite leopard-like cat at her side, whose whiskery mouth was clamped down on six safety pins.

  “That doesn’t look right, Lyra,” Kara complained to her feline friend, looking over her shoulder at her reflection.

  “I think I know a few things about wings,” the cat replied, emerald green eyes twinkling. She wasn’t kidding. She was a magical animal, a winged cat Kara had bonded with.

  Ding! Kara’s pink laptop, perched precariously on the edge of her canopy bed, signaled an incoming IM.

  She sighed dramatically. What would her friends do without her? With one wing attached, the other half-pinned and dragging on the carpet, she grabbed the hem of her dress and strode over to her bed.

  The IM-er was Molly, aka goodgollymolly:

  goodgollymolly: k, u sure this green base will come off?

  With one hand, she tapped back a message to Molly, who was working on her makeup for her role as one of the fairies in the play.

  kstar: just apply a light coat, u’r a fairy, not the hulk!

  goodgollymolly: ooo I luv the glitter sprinkles, wait till u c :)

  Kara had started back toward the mirror when the pink phone on her desk began to ring. With a perfectly polished nail, she hit the speaker button.

  “So what’s the story on the cast party?” Heather was already in full-whine mode. “And these sleeves are too puffy.”

  “Hello? They’re cap sleeves. They’re supposed to be puffy,” Kara reminded her friend. “Tif, you there, too?”

  “’Those be rubies, fairy favors; in those freckles live their savors,’” Tiffany read dramatically. “How’s that?”

  “Cool. No one will notice anyway with our incredible costumes,” Kara assured her, inspecting her own dress. She adjusted the scoop neck on the bodice, checking that the crystal beading was threaded perfectly down the front.

  Lyra nimbly nosed the wide wings in place.

  La-la-la-la-la. Her cell phone, half-buried in her pillows, sang out. Now what?

  A split second before hitting TALK, she glanced at the Caller ID, and frowned.

  “Hi, it’s me,” Emily said, her voice betraying a trace of anxiety. “How’s the play going?”

  “Fine,” Kara answered. She knew she sounded curt, but Emily didn’t seem to notice.

  “I just called to remind you we’re meeting with Adriane at Ravenswood this weekend,” Emily said. “We need something really exciting to announce the new tourist season.”

  Ravenswood was the animal sanctuary she, Emily, and Adriane were in charge of. A year ago, Kara would have scoffed at such a lame idea—but a year ago, she didn’t know she was a mage. And she could never share that secret with Heather, Tiffany, and Molly.

  “I’m really busy right now!” Kara exclaimed.

  “Hey, Princess Rapunzel!” an impatient voice broke in. “How are we going to keep feeding the animals without the council’s support?” It was Adriane, already channeling her inner warrior. So early in the morning! Kara refused to respond.

  “And we’re swamped at Ravenswood with emails,” Emily added. “Not to mention the mage mission of retrieving the missing power crystals.”

  Not trying real hard to hide her exasperation, Kara told them, “Yeah, yeah. The show’s tomorrow, so you’ll have to live without me until then.”

  “Kara, we need you!” everyone wailed and dinged at once from the phones and computer.

  “Chillax. It’s under control,” Kara said. “Fairies, pick me up in thirty minutes.” She hung up the landline.

  “Good luck with the show,” Emily said.

  “Thanks. Later.” Kara tossed the cell into the pile of stuffed animals that lined her window seat. Then she stomped back to the mirror. Why did those two girls always make her feel so… so angry! There was more to life than using magic, even if it was for the cause of Ravenswood and the… she turned to see Lyra staring at her with her big green cat eyes.

  Kara flushed. “It’s not about you.”

  “You don’t have to apologize for how you feel,” the cat said, stretching on the rug and licking the fur on her left front leg.

  “Stop being so understanding!”

  Her whole morning routine was being disrupted! She adjusted the sparkling tiara and brushed her long, golden hair.

  Adriane and Emily took to magic like ducks to water. Kara’s magic only frustrated her. Sure, Kara was totally into the excitement, the thrill of using magic. But the kind of excitement she had managed to stir up was the kind that could kill a person. And who needed that kind of stress? Not me, thought Kara. All this worrying about how to use her magic was enough to bring on a stress attack—or worse, a bad complexion.

  And after all she’d been through, she still couldn’t understand her blazing star powers. She’d accidentally absorbed shape-shifting magic, only the ability didn’t come with instructions. She had finally gotten it under control only to lose it again.

  And now she was right back where she had started. One incredibly powerful magic jewel and no idea what to do with it.

  It was time to face facts. She was never going to master the magic of the unicorn jewel. It was high time to get back to what was real. In just three short weeks Kara had managed to work on all kinds of projects, including putting herself in the middle of the school play, part of Shakespeare Day at Stonehill Middle School.

  But now she was beginning to feel totally swamped—being pulled from all directions. Between the mage quest, Ravenswood, the school play, and her friends, it seemed she had no time to spare.

  Chill, she told herself. I’ll figure this out, and without magic!

  She looked at Lyra and reprimanded herself. Without magic, she never would have met her best friend. She thought about how many lives were at stake. After all, she, Emily, and Adriane weren’t the only ones in danger. The whole reason they had gotten involved in this mess was t
o help the animals—Ozzie, Stormbringer, and countless others from Aldenmor and beyond. And now Storm was gone. And the web was totally flooie. And they were the ones, no—she was the one—who had released all that magic and set the power crystals spinning out of control. Not Emily, not Adriane, not Ozzie, not the Fairimentals. She. Moi!

  Kara was overwhelmed just thinking about it. What if she never found out what being a blazing star really meant? What if she was never meant to use magic? What if it was all some horrible mistake? The thoughts made her sick to her stomach. She wanted to tell Emily and Adriane how scared she was, but she couldn’t. People depended on her to be a certain way. Calm, cool, and in control, as flawless on the inside as she was on the outside. And who was she to let them down? Sure, the pressure to be perfect was hard to bear. But the thought of disappointing people was even harder.

  If you have a test, you prepare, she thought as she slipped into the outfit’s matching sparkly slippers. But how do you prepare for a fight to save the entire web of magic? Or creatures that could eat you alive and still have room for your friends?

  She flopped down on the bed, yanking up her white leggings under the skirt. Then she stood in front of the mirror. “Perfect!” Kara was pleased with the full effect of the glorious costume. The pearly white wings looked especially real, sparkling like a magical butterfly.

  “You’re late, thou fawning, onion-eyed flap dragon!” Kyle dramatically swung into Kara’s room, arms spread wide. He was reading from his Make Your Own Shakespeare Insults book.

  Kara quickly threw the dress’s paper wrapping over Lyra to hide the large cat. “Kyle, I’m busy!”

  “Your play is so dumb,” Kara's older brother complained as he sat on the paper-covered “chair,” eliciting a growl. “Fairies, love spells, magic—as if!”

  The chair began to move sideways. Kara lifted her brother by the arm, guiding him the rest of the way to the door.

  “I have to finish getting my costume ready, Kyle. So beat it.”

  “Even Marcus and Joey are in the play,” he whined. “What am I supposed to do?”

  “What you do best,” Kara suggested. “Make fun of everyone and cause trouble.”

  “Forsooth!” he said as he leaped down the stairs.

  Kara swung the door to her room shut—finally a minute to herself!

  A sudden static charge sparkled through the room. The lights dimmed, went black, and came back on. Lyra popped her head free from the paper wrapping, eyes alert.

  That’s odd, it’s not the season for a brownout, Kara thought.

  Then she noticed something really odd, a bright light outlining her closet door. Even with the door closed, she could see the light shimmering and swirling from inside.

  Kara looked to Lyra questioningly. The cat was crouched, ready to spring, hair bristling along her neck.

  Kara cocked her head. She heard sniffing and whispering—someone was in her closet!

  “Eeek!” Kara leaped onto her bed.

  “Where are we?” a squeaky voice asked.

  “I don’t know,” a second voice answered gruffly.

  “Well, look at the map,” the high-pitched voice whispered.

  “It’s not on the map!”

  “Lemme see that thing!”

  The closet door slowly creaked open, sending bright light spiraling around Kara’s room.

  A long nose poked through the crack in the door, sniffing. “I smell magic!” the squeaky-voiced creature said, whiskers twitching.

  “Get out there and take a look,” the other voice said.

  “No way. You go!”

  “No, you!”

  The door burst open. A large rat and a pointy-eared, goblin-like creature rolled onto the rug, tussling.

  “Hey!” Kara leaped to the floor, Lyra growling at her side.

  “Ahhhh!” The startled creatures jumped back, scrambling into a bookcase and knocking over a shelf of fashion magazines.

  “We can explain everything!” the squeaky-voiced creature said, shaking with fear. It looked like a big dog-sized rat, long nose and whiskers quivering.

  “Sparky, it’s her!” The other eyed Kara and her glittering outfit carefully. He looked like a boy, except he had green skin and pointy ears. He wore a leather aviator cap with goggles, black vest with lots of pockets, and red pants tucked into knee-high boots. A thick belt full of brightly colored vials wrapped around his waist.

  “We’re rich!” the rat thing squealed. “Oop—”

  Lyra stepped in front of Kara, growling.

  “Spare us, Princess.” The rat quivered, eyeing the ferocious-looking cat.

  “Who are you?” Kara demanded.

  The strange boy bowed. “Princess, I am the great hobgoblin explorer, Musso the Magnificent, and this is my assistant mookrat magic sniffer, Sparky.”

  “Assistant?” The mookrat shifted beady black eyes.

  “Quiet, you still get thirty percent.”

  “Hey!” the mookrat snarled, wiggling his long nose. “You said I could get twenty-five!”

  “Fine, have it your way.” He turned back to Kara. “My associate and I have been surfing the magic web for days. We have braved the treacherous wild magic in nothing but a bubble on this most excellent adventure to find you.”

  “Is that a portal in my closet?” Kara asked, looking at the unbelievable swirling light hanging in the middle of her Capri pants. Through its center, Kara saw spirals of stars stretching across the infinite lines of the magic web.

  “It’s a porta-portal,” Sparky said.

  “What my hairy friend here is saying is that this portal is moving.”

  “I sniffed our way here,” Sparky announced, nose wagging proudly.

  “Yes, so if you are ready, Princess, we must be off before it clos—ack!” Musso reached for Kara, but was blocked by a mouthful of Lyra’s razor teeth.

  “What are you talking about?” Kara asked Musso.

  “We were hired to find you so you can save the magic web.”

  Sparky looked at Musso. “How’s she gonna do that?”

  Musso poked Sparky on the snout. “She’s the blazing star, you nosepod!”

  “Ooo, blazing star!”

  “I’m not going anywhere!” Kara said adamantly. “So go back wherever you came from.”

  “But there’s major trouble,” Musso cried. “Everyone needs you!”

  “Take a number,” Kara said, holding up her jewel. The gem suddenly erupted with diamond-bright light.

  “Ahhrg!” Musso and Sparky dove out of the way as the portal pulsed wildly, drawing in the magic of the unicorn jewel.

  Kara was jerked forward, her necklace biting into the back of her neck. “Ahh, Lyra! It’s pulling my jewel in!”

  Lyra sprang in front of Kara, pushing the girl back.

  Musso and Sparky jumped to their feet, pushing Kara forward.

  “Hurry, it’s closing!” Musso yelled, looking anxiously as the bright portal spun in on itself.

  With a fierce growl, Lyra swiped at the two intruders. They scrambled apart, trying to avoid the sharp claws.

  Kara went flying forward, jewel first, into the portal. “Lyra!” she screamed.

  Lyra raced into the closet and leaped, diving through the dwindling hole. The portal closed and vanished, leaving a perplexed Musso and Sparky stranded in Kara’s bedroom.

  KARA FELL LIKE Alice down the rabbit hole, tumbling and landing in a heap.

  “Lyra!” she called frantically, struggling to untangle herself from her voluminous skirt, spitting blonde hair from her face.

  “I am here.” The cat was behind her, emerald eyes warily surveying the immediate area.

  Kara followed Lyra’s gaze. Golden brown trees with thick trunks soared overhead, twisting sunlight into shafts of shimmering shadows. She’d fallen into a glade in the woods. A clump of purple heather had cushioned her fall. Jasmine and peach blossoms filled her senses.

  Something flew by Kara’s face, accompanied by a flourish of tink
ling bells.

  “Hey!” Kara stammered, readjusting the straps on her fairy wings.

  Two more swept in, stopping abruptly in front of Kara’s face. They were tiny figures, about the size of butterflies. Translucent wings pulsed with light and formed swirling patterns in the air. Luminous wide eyes stared at Kara as tiny hands covered thin mouths. They were giggling.

  “Uh… hello,” Kara started—then jumped. Three more had zipped under her skirt, forming moving lumps in the pink silk.

  “Hey!” Kara quickly stood, shaking her curious visitors loose. “It’s rented!” She smoothed out the long dress.

  “Fairy wraiths,” Lyra explained as they merrily whirled around her. “We must be in the Fairy Realms.”

  “Great! No sign of a portal for weeks, and then one opens in my closet!”

  Catching a glint out of the corner of her eye, Kara spun around. Furry heads peeked out from behind rocks. Something that looked like a small bear with glimmering purple fur sat staring at Kara with big golden eyes. Birds of deep greens, reds, and purples fluttered above her head, chirping excitedly.

  “Shoo!” Kara tried to swipe them away. “Let’s just find that portal and jump back through,” she said to Lyra.

  “That’s what I’ve been looking for. There’s no sign of a portal anywhere around here,” Lyra responded.

  A troop of brave, squirrel-like creatures with orange tufted ears had moved toward Kara’s feet. Their bushy tails swept the forest floor as they investigated the girl.

  “Scrooch?” One of the orange squirrels had scampered up a rock for a closer look at Kara.

  “No, thank you.” Kara looked down to see the front of her dress glowing with a brilliant hue. She fished the unicorn jewel from inside her bodice. The gem was ablaze with light.

  “I’m a magical lighthouse!” Kara quickly willed her jewel to calm down.

  “Scritch!” the orange squirrel thingy demanded.

  Kara sighed. “Fine. One skritch.” She reached out—but the animal squealed in horror.

  In a mad rush, all the creatures bolted, leaving Kara and Lyra alone.