“Shhh, it’s okay.” Kara’s jewel blazed furiously. “We’ll get you out.”
Dreamer growled as the portal pulsed with green light.
“What trick is this?” boomed a voice from inside the swirling portal. Jewel pulsing wildly, the knight stepped out.
Lyra and Dreamer leaped in front of the net, blocking the knight from his prey.
The knight turned his horned helmet toward the mages. Red eye-slits pulsed in rhythm with his green jewel.
Scrambling to her feet, Adriane faced the knight.
But Emily pulled her back. “No, Adriane. You can’t fight, not now.”
The knight raised his staff. A beam of green light began scanning the desert. “Where is the unicorn magic?”
“He doesn’t have it!” Emily whispered to the others.
“But if he didn’t capture it, then where did it go?” Adriane asked.
Emily and Adriane held their breath as the knight’s magic fell over the rainbow gem and the wolf stone. It slowly passed over the unicorns’ horns without even a twinkle.
“Riannan gave her magic away,” Electra said, shuffling in the cramped net.
“We did, too,” Ralfie added.
“Riannan said it was okay,” Violet sniffled.
“I gave it up so the knight could never get it,” Riannan told Emily.
“Where did it go?” Emily asked.
“I don’t know.” The unicorn hung her head. “I couldn’t focus it.”
Dreamer and Lyra growled as the green light moved over them.
Emily felt frantic. She had been entrusted to keep the unicorns safe, and now their magic was missing. She’d failed miserably. “Tweek, how do we get them out?” Emily’s voice was tight with panic, realizing the knight could easily pull them away at any moment.
“We need a goblin spell book. Anyone got one?”
“No!” Ozzie thumped his tail.
“Oh wait, I do.” The E.F. held up his HORARFF. “If only we had a jewel that wasn’t all flooie so we could focus goblin magic.”
“What about this one?” Ozzie held out his ferret stone.
The knight’s magic edged toward Kara.
“Hurry!” Adriane urged.
Tweek started rifling through images, letters, and documents. “I have over three hundred different dictionaries in two hundred languages stored in my HORARFF, plus local street map directions,” Tweek said proudly.
“Gah!” Ozzie sputtered.
Suddenly, the knight’s green beam fell over Kara. The jewel upon his staff flared as it scanned the unicorn jewel.
“You think to hide the magic in this jewel,” he hissed. “Give it to me!”
“Kara’s got the unicorns’ magic?” Emily gasped.
“Makes perfect sense,” Tweek said, studying his HORARFF. “Magic attracts magic.”
“Stay away from them!” Kara’s voice rang out. She stepped toward the edge of the ring with Dreamer and Lyra, drawing the knight away from the net. Gleaming diamond magic sparkled from her jewel.
The unicorns mashed together as they scrambled to watch the blazing star. “Yay, Kara! Go blazing star!”
Kara bowed to the cheering unicorns, jewel blazing with power. “I’m back!”
A bolt of green magic shot from the knight’s jewel.
“Ahhh!” the blazing star screamed as the foul magic encased her. Shimmering in green light, her body twisted into a haggard, green-skinned banshee.
The unicorns gasped. “Boooo! Hissss!”
Lyra roared, ready to strike.
“Lyra, stay with me. I need your help,” Kara commanded, flicking a tress of greasy hair away with gnarled fingers. Her blue lips scowled. “Nobody messes with my accessories!”
Fists raised, she fired a dazzling bolt of diamond-white magic back into the knight. With a twirl, Kara transformed herself into a twinkling pointy-eared sprite with flowing turquoise hair. “That’s better.”
“Whoohoo, Kara! Yay! Oooo, pretty!”
“Twingo!” Tweek projected a series of symbols and letters in the air. “Ozzie, try this. ‘Plithree floob.’”
The ferret held his jewel and called out the translation. “Feel my beard!”
With a fizzle, Ozzie sprouted a long beard. “What the—?!”
“Fuzzy got fuzzier!” the unicorns shouted.
“Yay!”
“Not yay!”
“Oh, right.”
“That’s not right,” Tweek mused.
“You’re telling me, you, you, you—!” Ozzie flapped his beaver tail and pulled at his beard.
“Give me the magic!” the knight growled, his murky green power smashing into Kara.
The green magic slithered to the sand, revealing a black imp with blood red eyes.
“Black is so not my color,” the Kara imp said. She waved her arms and twinkled into a small purple spriggle with huge sparkling lavender eyes.
“Okay, okay, try this one.” Behind the net, Tweek had projected a new line of symbols. “‘Rathroo migwump.’”
“Fix my shoe!” Ozzie called out.
Ozzie’s left foot expanded into a huge red shoe. “Gah! This is ridiculous! What kind of magic is this?”
“Oops, wrong dictionary. That’s pixie magic.”
Again, the knight hurled his vile green magic at Kara. The blazing star fought back with a stream of shining white light. The dual forces of magic crashed into one another, slamming back and forth in a magical tug of war. No matter how hard each battled, neither Kara nor the dark knight could hold the advantage over the other. They were at an impasse.
Dreamer and Lyra stood on either side of Kara, guarding her, helping to keep her magic focused.
“You cannot hold out forever,” the knight hissed as the blazing star morphed into a massively ugly ogre.
“You’re right,” Kara’s gruesome ogre voice bellowed. “There is no way I’m missing the school dance next week!” The blazing ogre forced a huge wave of magic back at the knight.
“What is this?!” the knight shouted. A pink halter top now adorned his upper body, matching the bunny slippers on his feet.
“Ozzie, hurry up!” Adriane called out impatiently.
“Okay, try this one,” Tweek said, stopping the scrolling symbols at a page of incantations. “‘Ngop maj beembo!’”
“Open the freezer!” Ozzie yelled. A pile of ice cubes dropped on his head.
“Close, but no twig,” Tweek fretted. “Focus the magic with your jewel!”
“I’m going to focus you into mulch!” Ozzie concentrated on his stone.
“Bimidee bootilee aoool!” Tweek shouted.
Ozzie held up his jewel. “Release the toads—doh!”
“No, aoool!”
“Ties that bind!” The ferret stone blazed with light. “Yes!” Ozzie quickly spread the golden magic over the net. The green grid that had trapped the unicorns melted away and vanished.
“Fuzzy did it!” Ralfie hooted.
“Way to go, Fuzzy,” Adriane said.
The ferret quickly shone the light over his feet and face, removing the giant shoe and beard.
“Quickly now.” Emily and Adriane herded the group into a semicircle. “Just like we practiced.”
“How? We don’t even have our magic anymore!” Dante cried.
“And Kara’s a—!” Calliope looked at the magical duel. “What is she?”
“That was low!” The blazing star’s voice bubbled from a mass of slimy yellow tentacles. Still holding the evil knight at bay, her jewel blazed and she became a magnificent fairy princess with shining silver wings. “Wings never go out of style.”
But Emily saw that Kara was starting to lose the tug-of-war. The blond girl couldn’t keep this up much longer.
Under the power of the knight’s jewel, the blazing star twisted into a goblin with knobbly green feet, then snapped into a whiskery rabbit-like brimbee. Finally, she morphed into a scaly, lizard-like Skultum, the creature from whom she’d absorbed her shape-shifting powers i
n the first place.
The Kara Skultum snarled, lizard eyes flashing in panic. “I can’t change back! Help!”
“Release the magic in the jewel!” The knight jerked his staff backward, extracting a flash of glowing magic from Kara’s gem. The magic warped, expanding into the shape of a skultum. Scaly snakeskin shimmered along its reptilian body.
Kara morphed back to her regular self, but her eyes were wide with fear. She held up her jewel—but nothing happened. She couldn’t shape-shift!
“This is not unicorn magic!” The knight roared.
The blazing star stared in shock. The knight had taken her shape-shifting magic. The unicorn magic wasn’t in her gem after all.
Kara quickly regained her composure. “You really didn’t think I’d hide the unicorn magic in here, did you? Oh, that is so obvious.”
Swirling his staff in the air, the knight hurled a trio of magical whirlwinds at the mages.
Adriane, Kara, and Emily all fired their jewels at once. Each mage struck a tornado, forcing the whirlwinds against the rocks. Magic sparked as the rock towers began to quiver and melt.
The unicorns honked a few feeble notes.
“It’s not working!” Violet cried desperately.
The knight thrust his staff forward, sending the whirlwinds spinning furiously around the mages and unicorns.
“Hey, why don’t you pick on someone your own size!” Tweek’s voice rang out loud and clear across the desert.
The Experimental Fairimental stood right behind the knight, peering out from the base of a rock tower. “Hey, metal head!” The E.F. rattled his twigs at the startled knight. “Perhaps you should try fighting a real Fairimental.”
The knight glowered. “I will have your power, Fairimental!”
“Stick and stones may break my twigs…”
Emily’s heart raced, fearing for Tweek. But she knew he was buying her enough time. She turned to the unicorns. “We may not be able to work our magic alone, but we can do this together.”
“You cannot defeat me!” the knight shouted at the E.F.
“Well, you’re right. I give up.”
Where Tweek stood, the air suddenly filled with twigs, grass, and shrubbery. The valiant E.F. had exploded, scattering over the dry desert floor.
The evil knight laughed.
“Oh no!” Emily cried. “Tweek!”
The knight turned his pulsing red eye-slits toward the mages and unicorns. There was nothing now to stop him.
THE KNIGHT RAISED his staff, hurling the whirlwinds at the mages.
“Fire together!” Adriane called to Emily and Kara.
Bolts of blue, gold, and white entwined and smashed into the cyclones. The whirlwinds slowed, but kept spinning.
“Riannan, what do we do?” Pollo asked worriedly.
The brave unicorn closed her eyes tight and concentrated.
poot. A sound, tiny, but sure, came out.
“What was that?” Dante asked, shocked.
“Her horn sparked!”
“I saw it, too.”
“How did she do that?”
“We don’t need our horns to make magic!” Riannan called out.
“That’s the spirit, Riannan,” Emily encouraged. “Everyone, hurry!”
Thirty young unicorns concentrated now, but all they could manage were tentative poots and hoots.
“Just sing from your heart,” Emily instructed.
The horns began to pulse, then squeak and squonk.
“BAweeeeMOWAYYYee!”
A deafening note blared across the desert.
Spruce held his horn up and blasted another one.
“BWEEHooopAH!”
“That’s it!” Adriane cheered. Dreamer stood by her side, helping to focus the magic.
The cacophony of honks and tootles blended together, building into a wave of sound.
The knight’s jewel flared unevenly as the wobbling whirlwinds began flinging wild magic everywhere.
Suddenly, from high above, a single note hung in the air, strong, confident, and unwavering.
It was Riannan. The unicorn held her horn high. A rainbow of lights shimmered up and down her crystal horn as a surprisingly sweet melody flowed like honey.
“Way to go, Riannan!” Ralfie’s awed voice came from the middle of the group.
Another note rang out, sweetening the sound of Riannan’s melody with a delightful harmony.
Pollo’s horn began to glimmer, faintly at first, then shone pure silver.
All at once a flurry of silvery notes soared over the circle, ringing against the wild winds. More notes flowed, blending in perfect rhythm, melody, and harmony. Even the tall rocks vibrated with a pulsing beat.
“Get your dance on!” Kara twirled in a twinkle of blazing magic.
Moving to the beat, the unicorns danced, shuffled, and grooved to their glorious music. Magic glittered up and down the unicorns’ horns as vivid colors returned to their coats. A dazzling bright flash surrounded Riannan. Her coat gleamed like a treasure chest of shining gold and sparkling diamonds.
“Impossible!” the knight roared. “They have no magic to make music!”
“We have music by heart!” Riannan sang out, smiling at Emily.
When rhythm, melody, and harmony meet
It’s music by heart
The magic complete
As the music engulfed her, Emily felt something sweet and familiar. Something she thought she’d lost. Her own healing magic was stirring to life, bright and pure as when she’d first discovered it. Emily sang, healing magic blazing in her gem stronger than ever.
In a soaring chorus, the unicorns focused magic with the steady pulse of their horns. As the music reached a crescendo, swirls of rainbows cascaded over the circle. The whirlwinds burst apart as the unicorn magic touched them.
“How did they get the magic back?” The knight’s cry echoed across the desert. “Ack—!”
Something was standing on the knight’s head. A pile of twigs and scrub brush leaped from his helmet and landed on the tip of his staff.
“Tweek!” Emily shouted.
The knight frantically tried to shake the E.F. loose. But Tweek held on, prying the jewel free of the staff.
The knight lurched forward, grasping.
“I’m open! Over here!” Big beaver tail flapping, the berret scurried across the sands.
Tweek threw the gem, sending it flying across the circle. Ozzie swatted it with his tail, batting it right through the rainbow of unicorn magic. At the top of the rainbow, the crystal’s green glow faded, replaced by brilliant white light.
Adriane leaped in the air, golden wolf fire blazing from her gem. This time, she didn’t stumble. Her balance was perfect. Dreamer matched her movements exactly, warrior and mistwolf fighting side by side. Adriane fired her magic straight at the knight.
Flung back by the impact, the knight smashed into a rock tower.
Emily raised her hands high, conducting the unicorn choir. Gold, blue, and diamond-white mage magic mixed with the rainbow magic of the unicorns. Together, mages and unicorns turned their magic on the evil knight.
A high-pitched scream echoed inside his helmet. But it was not the grating voice of the knight. It came from someone else.
The knight crashed to the ground—his black armor screeched as he sprawled into a motionless heap.
The last strains of lyrical melody echoed over the desert as the unicorns and the mages drew their magic back to horns and gems.
“Bravo!” Tweek called, walking from behind a rock pillar.
“Tweek!” Emily exclaimed. “We thought you’d exploded!”
“Naturally,” he answered. “That was all part of our plan.”
Ozzie strolled up behind him, giving the E.F. a high twig.
“I must say we pulled that off quite well,” Tweek told the berret.
“What’d you guys do?” Adriane asked.
“I made a dummy Tweek,” Ozzie explained. “And I used my jewel to make
it seem like the fakemental was talking.”
The mages were impressed.
“Yay! Fuzzy!” The unicorns all cheered.
Ralfie bent and scooped the ferret onto his back, bouncing Fuzzy high in the air.
“Gah! Can’t you just give me a medal?” the berret screamed as he somersaulted.
Tweek walked over to the fallen knight.
“Is it dead?” Electra asked.
“Quite. Without its jewel, there was nothing to sustain it,” Tweek explained.
“Let’s see who our mystery guest is.” Adriane and Dreamer knelt by the lifeless suit of armor. The warrior carefully raised the faceplate.
“Ahhhh!” the group screamed, all peering into the empty space where a head should have been.
Emily couldn’t believe her eyes. “It’s empty!”
“It’s a golem,” Tweek explained.
“Say what?” Kara asked.
“An inanimate object given life and controlled by magic.”
“Like a puppet,” Adriane said.
“Yes,” Tweek agreed.
“So someone else was operating it?” Kara asked. “How?”
“With that!” Tweek pointed at the knight’s transformed crystal.
It floated in the air now, shining with rainbow prisms.
“Glorious blossom!” Tweek cried. “I’ll be promoted to a full mental!”
“What is it?” Emily asked.
“It’s a power crystal!” Tweek explained. “One of the nine that were washed away from Avalon.”
The unicorns and mages stared at the fantastical gem.
“Wow.” Kara walked up to the beautiful power crystal, its rainbow light reflecting in her wide blue eyes. “It’s amazing!”
“Everyone in the known web is going to be after this baby, and we’ve got it!”
Tweek said happily, then stopped short. “O’ me twig.”
Suddenly a bolt of lightning split the air. The flash glimmered into a giant circle of light. Behind the mist-shrouded opening, lines of stars arced across infinite strands of web. Two shadowy figures loomed at the portal, ready to emerge.
“Look out!” Adriane shouted, ringing the group in a shield of gleaming wolf light. “I think someone’s already found it.”
MUSIC DRIFTED FROM the swirling portal, a beautiful song of friendship.
Emily knew that song—she would never forget it. Just as she hadn’t forgotten the elegant creature now coming through the portal, traveling between worlds. A sleek white unicorn stepped onto the desert sand, her horn twinkling with magic.
Song of the Unicorns (Avalon: Web of Magic #7) Page 11
