Spellsinger (Avalon: Web of Magic #5)

by Rachel Roberts

  They could not let that happen to their new friends. Kara and Adriane raced toward the stone marker.

  BEASLEY WINDOR TRIPPED half a dozen times on roots she could have sworn were trying to snag her. She had whacked her head twice on low lying branches that she was certain swept in out of nowhere—it simply couldn’t have been that she was looking one way and walking another. This was a dangerous place.

  It had to go.

  Giggling whispers floated through the woods.

  Who was that?

  A flutter of leaves made Mrs. Windor turn toward a large outcropping of willow trees. She carefully tiptoed off the trail.

  Hunching over, she peered into the small screen of the digital camera she had borrowed from her niece.

  Strange creatures were here, and they were playing games with her. They were certain they had nothing to fear—and that would be their undoing.

  “I’ve got you now,” she whispered.

  Kara and Adriane hid behind a tree, watching as Mrs. Windor walked directly toward a space between two bushy willow trees.

  “She’s moving away from the glade,” Kara whispered. She couldn’t believe their luck—

  Adriane gasped, pointing. “Right into trouble.”

  A pack of duck-like quiffles were pulling a large branch back tight, ready to let it fly at their unsuspecting visitor. Their big, webbed feet tapped with anticipation as the woman moved closer.

  “We’ve got to do something!” Adriane said urgently.

  “We can tell her they’re migrating visitors from Canada,” Kara suggested.

  “Uh-huh, and what about that?” Adriane pointed behind the quiffles. “A visitor from Atlantis?”

  Kara’s eyes widened. Standing a dozen feet beyond the quiffles, in a pool of warm, golden-glowing light, stood a pony with green and purple wings—a pegasus. All Mrs. Windor had to do was turn to the right with her camera and she would get the video of the year!

  “Do something!” Adriane pushed Kara.

  “All right, all right. Here.” Kara tapped Adriane’s jewel.

  A searing bolt of golden light ripped from the stone, smashing into a treetop with a terrible explosion.

  Whammm-crrrackkkk!

  Three quiffles went flying as their branch shot forward. Mrs. Windor shrieked and whirled around—where a collection of seared branches toppled down, quickly piling up to obscure her view of the pegasus.

  Adriane gave Kara a stern look. “I didn’t say to knock down the whole forest!”

  A small blur of gold and brown dashed behind the new barrier, kicking the magical animals away and herding them deeper into the wilds of Ravenswood. Kara breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Ozzie, the magical ferret, give her a thumbs-up—well, actually a paws-up.

  Mrs. Windor was frantically looking in every direction. “Who’s out there?”

  Kara and Adriane poked their heads out from either side of the tree just in time to see Mrs. Windor about to trip over Rommel the wommel!

  “Hey, watch where you’re—!” Rommel started, but his warning came too late.

  Mrs. Windor, still holding onto the camera with trembling fingers, looked into the face of the small, talking koala-like bear. She leaped back, cried out, and tripped, landing in a puddle of mud.

  By the time she raised her camera and wiped the lens clean, Rommel had rushed off.

  “Come back here you little freak!” Mrs. Windor shouted, spitting out muddy goop.

  “Oh no,” Kara groaned. What were they supposed to do now?

  A sudden gust of wind blew around the woman, a spiral of force that kicked up dirt, twigs, and stone, quickly forming into what looked like a mini-twister!

  “Adriane!” Kara hissed. “Stop it!”

  The dark-haired girl looked at her wolf stone. The jewel was pulsing with strong amber light. “I’m not doing that!”

  Then the ground beneath Mrs. Windor trembled. The whirlwind spun closer to the struggling woman. Mouth agape, she managed to keep the camera focused.

  Suddenly, Mrs. Windor’s camera was ripped from her hands by a blast of wind. It flew into the air, smashing to pieces against a large stone.

  The whirlwind picked up grass, vines, twigs, and leaves, magically forming into a figure made from the earth itself. Sparkling quartz eyes regarded its surroundings.

  “It’s a Fairimental!” Adriane gasped.

  Fairimentals were extremely magical beings, the keepers and protectors of good magic on Aldenmor.

  “What’s it doing here?” Kara asked.

  “Magesss,” the twiggy figure rustled, bits of leaves and dirt flying as it wobbled about.

  “What the—?” Mrs. Windor looked closer at the creature.

  With a sudden shudder, the Fairimental exploded, sending debris everywhere.

  Mrs. Windor whirled around and raced back through the woods, howling.

  Adriane and Kara ran to the various pieces of the Fairimental. Two tiny whirlpools of dirt and leaves spun from the ground, desperately trying to regain shape.

  “Warrior…” one said. Rattling crazily, the whirlpool flew apart.

  “…blazing star… terrible danger,” the other small pile managed to say. It, too, was starting to break up.

  “What’s happened?” Adriane asked urgently.

  “…ussse… fairy map…”

  Kara swallowed hard, thinking about the glowing map she had lost.

  “Spellsing as three...” The Fairimental caved in on itself, shaking violently into a whirling mess. “Before isss too late…”

  Then whatever force was holding the Fairimentals together abruptly vanished and their elements crumbled to the ground.

  Adriane looked at Kara.

  The girls knew that the Dark Sorceress of Aldenmor would stop at nothing to find magic, and Avalon was the source of all magic. Her most recent attempts to locate Avalon had damaged the magic web itself, the strands of magical energy that connected worlds everywhere, and supposedly, reached all the way to Avalon. As far as the girls knew, the portals to the Fairy Glen on Aldenmor—where the Fairimentals lived—were still missing. No one had seen or heard from the Fairimentals since those portals had disappeared... until now.

  “What was it trying to tell us about the fairy map?” Adriane asked.

  “We already know the sorceress has it.” Kara remembered the gift the fairy creature called Phelonius had tried to give her. At the time, she didn’t know how important it was. In fact, she didn’t know what it was at all. Until it had been stolen and taken back to the sorceress. It was their one clue to finding Avalon.

  “Maybe she’s trying to use it,” Adriane guessed.

  “This is just great!” Kara tossed her hands in the air and spun back to face Adriane. “We’ve got Mrs. Windor about to announce Stonehill’s first alien sighting and Johnny Conrad is arriving in two days! We can’t have Fairimentals and who knows what else popping up!”

  “Maybe we should just postpone the benefit,” Adriane suggested quietly.

  “No way!” Kara stated. “This show is going on! The Fairy Glen and Avalon are just going to have to wait.”

  Adriane bit her lip as she watched Kara stomp away, heading back to prepare Stonehill for the event of the year.

  EMILY RACED UP the steps of Stonehill’s Town Hall. It was a little after four on Thursday, and hundreds of people were gathered on the sidewalk facing the old red brick building. Main Street had been cleared of parked cars and blocked off, and the park across the street from Town Hall was filled with even more spectators. Photographers and professional TV news crews had descended upon the normally quiet town square.

  At the top of the steps, near the front entrance, stood a small podium with a microphone stand. A WELCOME JOHNNY CONRAD banner fluttered above the doors.

  A pudgy security guard with curly red hair and freckles stood beside the main doors. “Hello, Emily. Got quite a crowd today.”

  “Hey, George!” Emily said breathlessly as she slipped past him. She fl
ew down the dark wood-paneled corridor, passing dozens of photographs detailing Stonehill’s history. She whipped past an open door where she smelled food and heard laughter. Inside, Mayor Davies and the Town Council gathered in the small room, chatting.

  The real activity was centered in the main meeting room. Emily burst through the doors and was nearly run over by Kara’s brother, Kyle, and his friend Marcus, who were rushing by with stacks of folding chairs in their arms. The meeting room had been transformed into a reception hall, complete with streamers strung across the walls, balloons bouncing above decorated tables, and a budget-busting buffet piled with enough food to satisfy the entire population of Stonehill—twice!

  “Over to the left…a bit higher,” Kara commanded, standing in the midst of her “troops,” more than two dozen volunteers from school. Her buds Heather, Tiffany, and Molly were doing their best to center a big poster of Johnny Conrad on the rear wall.

  “It looks great, Kara!” Heather yelled.

  “My arm is getting sore,” Molly muttered.

  “No pain, no party!” Kara hollered. She looked down and brushed the front of her new leopard-print blouse, one eyebrow raised defensively at the possibility of a stray crumb.

  Resisting the urge to duck and cover, Emily announced herself. “Sorry I’m late, Kara, the McHenrys dropped off their monkeys at the Pet Palace. The monkeys used to be in a circus. You should see them, they’re so smart and—”

  “Emily!” Kara snapped, cutting her off. “Ice!” She slipped a large bowl into Emily’s hands.

  “Nice to see you, too,” Emily groused, glancing over at Kara’s clique. Molly shrugged and waved. Heather held up a small sign with an arrow and pointed it at Kara. It said: GIRL OUT OF CONTROL!

  Emily giggled as she headed past them. It felt good to be on the same side as Kara’s other friends for once. Maybe this event was exactly what the town needed to come together and support Ravenswood. And it was all thanks to Kara.

  “Attention! Johnny will be here at seventeen hundred hours sharp!” Kara bellowed. “That’s less than an hour from right now for those of you who haven’t been paying attention. Everything has to be perfect!”

  Kara’s blond hair whipped wildly as she spied her brother and his friend daring to rest for half a second. “Those chairs won’t move themselves, you slackers!”

  “Aye, aye, mon capitan,” Marcus snapped to attention, giving Kara a salute.

  Smiling, Emily walked into the kitchen. She was just starting to fill the ice bowl when Kara breezed in.

  “Everything under control at Ravenswood?”

  “Ozzie’s in command,” Emily answered quietly. “He’s under strict orders to keep the animals at the glade.”

  “He better not let anyone past his fuzzy face,” Kara whispered, frowning. “We’re lucky Mrs. Windor hasn’t said anything about what she saw. Yet.”

  “Doesn’t make me feel any better about what happened.”

  “We can’t worry about that right now.” Kara scanned the kitchen for any other slackers.

  “It’s our job to worry about it.” Emily dumped more ice.

  “Hey!” Kara yelled at Joey. “Easy on the food, save some for the rest of us!”

  “Anyway, we have to stay calm, Kara—Kara?”

  “Tick tock.” Kara pointed at her watch as she breezed back out of the kitchen.

  At ten minutes to the hour, the room was ready. Kara scooted, shooed, and skedaddled the volunteers out of the room and locked it behind her so that nothing could be touched. She stood guard alone, eyes darting, another frown forming.

  Emily approached cautiously. “Hi. My name is Emily. Can Kara come out to play?”

  Kara slumped against the door. “There’s just so much going on...”

  “You’re doing a great job,” Emily reassured her. “And so is everyone else. It would be nice if they heard that now and then.”

  “Okay. What do you think we should do about the Fairimental’s message?”

  “We should contact Zach after the press conference, when everything calms down,” Emily answered, referring to the human boy Adriane had met on Aldenmor.

  “Fine. I’ll call the d-flies. They can make a portal phone call.”

  Something squawked in Kara’s bag. She hauled out a small walkie-talkie.

  “Ground control,” she said.

  “Drone One to Queen Bee,” a voice hissed.

  “Go ahead, Drone One.”

  “Target spotted. Headed right toward Main Street. You are not going to believe it!”

  “Stay calm, Drone One…” Kara urged.

  “It’s Johnny Conrad! Ahhhhh!” The walkie-talkie crackled and cut off.

  “We’ve lost Drone One,” Kara said. She quickly checked her watch. “T-minus five and counting. How do I look?” She fluffed her blond hair.

  “Perfect.”

  Kara grinned. “Let’s move out!”

  They ran into the room where Mayor Davies and the other council members were still chatting away.

  “People! People!” Kara hollered. “Let’s go. Our guest of honor has arrived!”

  “Ooo, how exciting!” Mary Rollins exclaimed.

  “Let’s keep this orderly now,” Mayor Davies cautioned. “Just another visitor to our humble town.”

  “Look! It’s Johnny Conrad!” Heather was jumping up and down, pointing out the front window.

  “Ahhhh!” Tiffany screamed.

  Everyone in the room rushed for the door at once, stampeding past the mayor. Soon the vast crowd outside started screaming.

  This was it. Kara was about to become a star.

  OUTSIDE TOWN HALL, Kara stood beside her dad. She heard the rumble of engines and the blare of car horns.

  And in the distance... music?

  Kara’s eyes widened as she and everyone else in the enormous crowd turned toward the street, where a jet-black convertible T-bird with the top down drifted their way. A young, dark-haired guy stood on the hood, a microphone in his hand. A tour bus crept along at a respectful distance behind the singer. A guy with sunglasses sat with a mixer board in the back between two huge speakers while another one drove, their heads bobbing to the beat of the thundering, pulsating, blisteringly happening song that was currently topping the charts.

  Let me tell you, if I sing it true, get up and start the dance,

  No matter what you do, it's your life, you're you,

  So come on and take a chance and dance!

  Dance! Dance! Dance!

  Take a chance and dance!

  Johnny Conrad’s thick, tousled black hair glistened in the golden afternoon sunlight and his deep, model-perfect cheekbones filled with dusky shadows as he rapped. His soulful deep blue eyes were cast heavenward and his lanky, muscular body swayed with the music, his pale shirt clinging, his black leather boots and pants shining, his long leather jacket curled behind him. The booming music seemed to ensnare his listeners as everyone moved to the beat. Molly, Heather, and Tiffany were bopping like crazy, dancing around the black car as it rolled up to the curb.

  Just take a chance and dance!

  Dance! Dance! Dance!

  Take a chance and dance!

  The entire crowd was caught in the rhythm, the enveloping sound, and the enchantment that was Johnny Conrad. Dancing, moving, shaking, and screaming, adults, teens, and children all rocked out to the sounds of the latest music sensation.

  Johnny leaped from the hood, his headset microphone catching every note as he sang his heart out. Security held the crowds back as Johnny climbed the wide steps of Town Hall, heading right for the podium. The song ended and Johnny took a bow, creating another round of searing screams from his audience. Smiling, he waved and tossed the headset to his driver.

  Mayor Davies stared in slack-jawed wonder at Johnny, who patiently nodded and waved to his fans and the press. Cameras flashed bright lights into the singer’s brilliant blue eyes.

  “Hello, Stonehill!” Johnny called out.

  The crowd
erupted in frantic, ear-piercing screams. “Johnny! Johnny!”

  Kara was practically beside herself as the superstar approached, but she had a job to do. She nudged her dad’s arm, snapping him to attention. She noticed Adriane standing next to Emily, cheering.

  Mayor Davies cleared his throat four times, right into the podium’s microphone, but nothing happened until Johnny put a single finger to his lips and winked at the adoring crowd—which immediately fell silent.

  “They’re all yours,” Johnny whispered, nodding to the mayor.

  Kara watched Johnny, transfixed.

  Whoa. This guy was hot.

  “Johnny Conrad, thank you for taking time out of your mad busy schedule to help the Ravenswood Wildlife Preserve—your act of super cool generosity has moved us all,” Mayor Davies read from the script Kara had written. “The town council would like to offer you and your crew—our best suites at the Stonehill Inn…?” He turned to Kara.

  She smiled ear to ear.

  The mayor shrugged and continued. “And as mayor of Stonehill, I’d like to present you with the key to our city!”

  Covering the microphone, Mayor Davies arched an eyebrow, “I think you’ve already won the key to my daughter’s heart.”

  “Dad!” Kara wailed.

  Johnny smiled at Kara—and she managed not to faint. Then he turned toward the crowd and shot them a dazzling smile, holding the big golden key high over his head.

  “Thank you very much. We’re proud to play for all you fine people. And for the amazing Ravenswood Wildlife Preserve.” He winked at Kara.

  Kara practically leaped into the air.

  “And we’ve got something special planned,” Johnny announced. “As part of a promotion for my new CD, Under Your Spell—”

  Screams erupted, but quieted down as Johnny raised his arms.

  “I’m inviting one fan to sing onstage with me during the concert Saturday. The performance will be streaming live all over the world!”

  “Ahhh!” Kara screamed.