Or maybe that was just what Johnny wanted her to think.
Adriane’s hand closed over the locket—
And for a single instant, Kara and Adriane’s minds were linked. Kara understood that Adriane hadn’t grabbed the locket for the sake of Ravenswood, or for Avalon, or even to protect herself; her only thought was to help her friend. Kara had been so wrong.
The chain securing the locket snapped—and Adriane threw it down, crushing it with her boot. Kara looked at Adriane, her eyes brimming with tears.
Adriane just nodded.
Howling with rage, Johnny ran around the stage, gesturing and singing wildly.
The fairy map floated above the audience as they bounced it to and fro. Bright stars moved inside it in shifting patterns.
If anyone had been in the open field just behind the trees, they might have seen a much larger light show. Paths of stars swirled in the portal as the blazing star’s magic created a chain reaction. Other portals opened one by one in a frantic tumbling of cosmic dominoes.
Johnny sang and a swirling cloud of intense energy formed several feet above his head. Deep shades of red and blue blended together as bolts of lightening shot out from its center, reaching for the fairy map. Suddenly, something else bobbed up into the air above the audience. It swatted the fairy map away then fell back into the crowd.
“What is that?” Emily asked.
Some sort of furry animal was being tossed into the air above the heads of the crowd.
“Ozzie!” Emily cried.
“Woot!” the ferret chortled as the crowd flipped him head over paws. Each time Ozzie flew into the air he swiped at the fairy map, knocking it away from Johnny’s grasp.
But all eyes were fixed on Kara, who was shining in a diamond-white light that bathed the stage and the crowd.
Kara tried desperately to control her magic, but it was too late. She had changed, and not in the way she had imagined. She had betrayed her friends and the bright light inside had turned—to darkness.
Suddenly, a loud guitar chord rang out over the crowd. An enormous cheer rose up.
Adriane was standing beside Kara, guitar in hand. “Let’s rock and roll!”
Grasping her friend’s magic, Kara wrapped herself in the warrior’s strength. Together they sang, their voices mixing in magical harmony.
Together we stand strong
Together we can make it right
When everything feels wrong
Let’s shine our light!
Clouds of white crystals rose from Kara, filling the air with beautiful sounds and washing away Johnny’s swirling pattern.
Whirling around to signal his band, Johnny switched to another tune, his voice thundering out over the stage. Tossing his head back, he howled a spellsong that morphed the mages’ magic. A roaring phoenix of red fire rose into the sky, opening its maw as if to bake the girls where they stood.
Kara held the unicorn horn tight and magic leaped forth. A blue-white unicorn formed in the air. The sparkling image reared back and charged the phoenix, impaling the fire creature with its horn. Cool silver sparkles rained down on the amazed audience as the images vanished.
Johnny launched into a smoldering version of the title song from his new CD.
I put a spell on you,
One look in my eyes, you know it’s true
One note of my voice tells you what to do
Don’t you know, I put a spell on you
Adriane’s guitar squealed in feedback and sparks flew. The girls’ voices faded as they began to sway under the spell of the song.
Suddenly, the sound of a flute sent an achingly beautiful melody arcing over the crowd. It was Emily. She stood next to Kara and Adriane. Playing her flute, she sent out the song of Lorelei, the song of friendship she shared with the unicorn.
Johnny stopped singing. Was he weakening?
“Come on, girls,” Kara yelled. “Let’s kick it!”
One chance for us all to stand together
One hope it’s going to last forever
We’ve got the spirit
We’re going to make it
I know the magic’s on our side
Kara’s voice sounded like… Kara’s voice, but to her friends it was the voice of an angel.
“Everybody help us! Join in!” Kara called out.
The entire audience sang with the girls.
Johnny was quivering, shimmering in lights. B*Tween’s song carried powerful magic. He ran behind the amplifiers as his human form began to melt away, twisting into a green, scaly monster.
Kara saw a dark shadow and caught sight of a bat flying away from the stage. She stood between Adriane and Emily and held out her hands. Adriane and Emily clasped hands with their friend, raising their arms high. A bolt of magic flew from the mages, arcing out into the evening sky.
Fireworks lit up the night as the Skultum was swept into the dreamcatcher and pulled into the swirling vortex. The portal closed.
For several long moments there was nothing but silence on the great lawn of Ravenswood. Then someone in the audience started clapping and others joined in. The audience surged to its feet, crying out for more!
Kara embraced her friends as they took a bow to a thundering round of applause. The band was looking around uncertainly for Johnny.
Holding the mic, Kara announced, “Johnny had to fly. But, before we go, I’d like to invite all the contestants to sing with us. Tonight, we’re all stars!”
The excited girls rushed onstage, surrounding Kara, Emily, and Adriane.
“I’d like our special animal friends to join us, too. They are the spirit of Ravenswood. Let’s have a big hand for Stormbringer!”
The crowd cheered as the silver wolf loped on stage and stood beside Adriane.
“My best friend ever, Lyra!”
Lyra padded over to Kara. Kara knelt and hugged the cat so tightly, Lyra thought she would burst.
“Ariel!” Emily shouted out.
The snowy owl swooped over the astonished crowd and landed on Emily’s arm.
Adriane took the mike. “And the one and only rock and roll ferret, Ozzie!”
The crowd went crazy cheering as Ozzie scampered onstage, pumping his paws in the air.
Kara turned to Heather and smiled. “You start.”
Heather smiled back and sang.
We’ve got the spirit
We’re going to make it
I know the magic’s on our side
We’ve got the power in the darkest hour
So don’t give up the Spirit of Avalon
Everyone sang together. Their voices joined as one and they sang from their hearts, sending the sweetest, truest, most powerful magic ringing out across the preserve, across their world, and across the magic web to what lay beyond.
“I’VE NEVER SEEN so many messages!” Ozzie exclaimed. The ferret was at the library computer reading through the hundreds of e-mails that had been pouring in from all over the world.
Congrats on a great show!
The special effects were awesome!
Are you available to appear in Springfield?
Ravenswood rules!
“We haven’t finished the ‘I told you so’s’ yet.” Adriane paced the floor of the library, throwing her arms in the air. “You and magic, Kara! It’s like throwing gasoline on fire!”
Kara nodded, eyes lowered. Emily was there, too, along with Storm, Lyra, Ronif, Rasha, and Balthazar. The unicorn horn lay on the table where Kara had put it—after she had confessed everything. Next to the crystal horn, the glowing orb of stars twinkled, tiny points of light inside configured in a still unknown pattern.
It had taken most of Sunday to get the great lawn cleaned up. It would still take some weeks before everything was back to normal. If that would ever be possible.
But all Kara thought about was how much she’d wanted to believe Johnny’s lies, how her selfish emotions had triggered her magic in all the wrong ways. She had really messed up big time. Why
couldn’t she make good magic like the others? Even after all this time, she had no better control over the magic than when she had first discovered it—maybe even worse. She was supposed to be part of a team, building trust and confidence, not destroying everything they worked so hard for—like the friendships she had almost so carelessly thrown away.
She leaned into Lyra, hugging her friend quietly.
“Ha! Check this out,” the ferret said. “Teen singer, Johnny Conrad, rejoined his band for a show in Memphis. When asked about the successful benefit performance at Ravenswood, he seemed in a daze and couldn’t remember the show!”
Emily looked over the ferret’s shoulder. “Well, at least he’s okay.”
“Great!” Kara was on her feet. “The real Johnny Conrad won’t remember anything!” she exclaimed. Her star had come and gone.
“Here’s one from the Town Council,” Ozzie said.
Congratulations on a terrific event. Stonehill has been on the news all day. The Ravenswood Wildlife Preserve and Ravenswood Manor have been marked for landmark status. We need someone to represent the town, any suggestions?
Adriane ran to the screen. “Wow. That’s incredible!”
“How about that, Kara?” Emily said.
“Tell them to send Mrs. Windor,” Kara said, walking to the window.
The others stared at her.
“Let her take the credit. I’ve had my time in the spotlight,” she said wistfully.
Emily glanced at Adriane and nudged her. “You were also under the creature’s spell, Adriane.”
“Yeah,” Adriane sighed. “And I’m really sorry about the way I acted. Really sorry, Kara.”
“I know.” Kara half smiled. “Thanks. But you broke your spell. I couldn’t.”
“Because of this.” Adriane held up her wrist. Her wolf stone sparkled with amber light. A stern look from Emily made the warrior quickly cover her jewel.
“It’s okay, you can say it. We all know I don’t have a jewel.”
“And that’s why Johnny—whatever it was—was able to control you for so long,” Emily said. “That locket acted like a magic jewel, focusing your magic.”
“Only it wasn’t good magic,” Kara stated. “Just like the last jewel I didn’t have.”
Emily continued gently, “And when you find your jewel, it will be totally amazing—”
“I’ll never find one!” Kara burst out.
“We don’t know that, Kara.”
Kara turned away as the others waited.
“We got the fairy map back,” Ronif offered. “That’s a major victory.”
“But I don’t even know what I did!” Kara cried, glancing at the glowing orb. “Did I open the path to Avalon or not? The Dark Sorceress could be there right now!”
She stared sadly out the window. “I should have known what the Fairimentals were trying to say to me.”
“What’s that?” Adriane asked.
“They said, ‘Spellsing as three.’ Not one, but three.”
“And that’s what we did,” Emily said. “We beat that monster by singing together, as three.”
“Both of you have done so much. All I do is ruin everything I touch.”
“That’s not true, Kara.” Lyra brushed against her. “You helped me grow back my fur.”
“That was a mistake,” Kara started. “I didn’t mean… oh, I didn’t know what I was doing!”
“We’re all learning as we go, Kara,” Ozzie said. “We’re bound to make mistakes.”
“Not like this one. And what about the next time? Am I going to turn against my friends when they need me? Or worse?” She hung her head, letting her long blond hair fall over her face.
“Kara, what are you saying?” Adriane asked.
“I… I’m just not good at magic and I hate being not good at anything! I’m not going to use magic any more. I’ll help out with the Town Council, but you’re going to have to find another mage.”
“Kara, you’re our friend, you can’t leave,” Emily pleaded.
“Emily, that’s exactly why I have to.” Kara faced the other girls and animals. “You guys are my friends… and I can’t keep getting you in trouble. I just want to go back to being normal.”
“Priority e-mail!” Ozzie called out.
The girls looked over the ferret’s head at a bright icon arcing across the browser. It looked like a small shooting star.
“What kind of icon is that?” Adriane asked.
Ozzie clicked on the star. It was a file folder containing a message.
Your concert was wonderful. We’re sorry we could not be there. Stand ready, mages. The portals have opened and now your trials have just begun. You must go forward, together as three, and alone as a healer, a warrior, and a blazing star. It is time to follow your path… and come home.
The magic is with you, now and forever.
B*Tween
“B*Tween!” Kara said, amazed. “They know about the magic?”
“It seems our journey is about to take a turn,” Emily said.
“Do we go forward as three?” Adriane asked.
“Four, actually,” Ozzie corrected her.
Emily, Adriane, and the others turned to Kara, waiting for her to make her decision.
Whatever she chose to do, Adriane, Emily, and Ozzie would have to deal with the situation whether they liked it or not. Maybe Kara just wasn’t cut out to be the blazing star. They would just have to wait and see.
THE DARK SORCERESS stood in her lair, hidden beneath the sands of the burned out desert. With a claw-tipped finger, she swirled the waters of her scrying pool and the images appeared. The ruined land known as the Shadowlands—once one of the most beautiful forests in Aldenmor—fluttered in the crimson waters. Blackened husks and dust littered the ground where towering trees had grown only a few short years ago.
Sacrifices must be made, she thought. Magical energies swept through her long, silver hair as she raised her arms. With a sweep of her hands the image shifted, zooming out above the desert dunes where golden hues of the sky peeked through the dark cloud layer of Black Fire. The image zoomed farther until she saw the magic web itself, strands torn and frayed, old and weak.
Time was running out. Without an infusion of magic, the web would not last much longer. She was in a race with the Fairimentals to find Avalon, the only hope for saving the web. And this time, she would be the victor.
The swirling waters shimmered and settled. Peering into the inky void, she thought for a moment that her spell had failed. Then a bone chilling cold snaked from the image, emanating from the towering walls of black ice that dominated the Otherworlds. Along sheer, gleaming slabs, enormous frozen spider webs glittered with silent menace.
The echo of footsteps skittered across the polished floor. The sorceress recoiled as a misshapen shadow stretched across the ice. Eight legs moved beneath a wide robe. Faceted yellow insect eyes blinked coldly within a dark cowl. The one she sought was there, waiting for her.
Unlike the wretched Skultum, this being, that used to be her friend, could not change her form at a moment’s urging... though what she saw was so repulsive, she almost wished that it could.
“Well, well, Miranda. I thought you’d forgotten your old friends,” the Spider Witch’s voice grated with a cold, inhuman clicking.
The sorceress sneered. “It’s time.”
She didn’t look at the creature directly. The sight of it disgusted her, perhaps because the same fate could easily have befallen her—and still might if she was not careful. But the Spider Witch’s transformation had given her incredible power, and the sorceress needed her old friend—for now.
“You plan to open the Gates of Avalon again?” The Spider Witch clicked hard mandibles beneath her cowl. The sorceress realized the creature was laughing at her. “You have no key, remember?”
How could she forget? Building the key to Avalon had been her life’s work until—
“I have a plan. I will draw the magic I need into my crys
tals and make another key. Once I open the gates, I will use the magic of Avalon to open the Otherworlds. You will then be free to reweave the web.”
“A web woven with the magic of Avalon,” the Spider Witch clicked, relishing the idea.
“One we control.”
Antennae flicked beneath the witch’s cowl. “You were the one that got me locked in here in the first place. How do I know I can trust you?”
“The Fairimentals trapped you in the Otherworlds, not I!”
“Nonetheless…” The Spider Witch moved slowly, her legs clicking on the black ice. “What makes this time different? The Fairimentals have proven their ability to be… shall we say, lucky.”
“I have the fairy map that holds the path to Avalon.”
The sound of flickering wings buzzed from the Spider Witch. “And who shall open this fairy map? The blazing star is dead and I am reasonably sure the map was not given to you.”
The sorceress calmed herself. “Three new mages have been chosen to stand for the Fairimentals… including a young blazing star.”
“Interesting.” The witch stopped pacing. “Go on.”
“They are unschooled in magic. Only one is powerful enough to do what is required. The map was given to her. She does not possess a jewel so her magic is wild, untamed, and driven by emotion.”
“What makes you so sure this blazing star can open the map?”
“She already has.” A wicked smile crossed her red lips as the sorceress flicked a strand of lightning slashed hair from her face.
Several long minutes passed before the Spider Witch spoke again.
“Three mages, you say.”
“The blazing star, a warrior… and a healer.”
“A healer? Oh, now this is very interesting. Can she weave magic as well?”
“Of course not. These mages have no mentor.”
“Was not Henry Gardener supposed to train the new mages?”
“That old wizard will be no threat to us.”
The Spider Witch skittered forward and the Dark Sorceress gasped. It seemed close enough to touch her.
Spellsinger (Avalon: Web of Magic #5) Page 11
