“What do you wear?”
“Four.”
“They’re all size four!” the spriggan cried.
“Woo-hoo!” Kara yelped, stomping around Lyra.
Goldie joyfully somersaulted over Kara. “Do you have anything in a size .02?”
“Absotootly!” The spriggan beamed.
“Ooo, I can’t decide.” Kara skipped from store to store.
“Kara!” Lyra bolted after the blazing power shopper.
A dozen dwarves leaped into the air, then landed in a row with arms crossed, feet kicking out.
Brightest star of magic, fairest of the mall,
There’s no need to choose when you can have it all!
Spriggans and pixies cartwheeled out of their stores carrying cashmere wraps, chiffon dresses, jackets and—
“Shoes!” Kara was so happy she could barely breathe.
Glorious shoes in every style and color, pair after pair, each more awesome than the last.
“I’ll take those!” She pointed to a pair of strappy gold heels. “And that and that and that!”
Wrapped shoeboxes and shopping bags flew through the air practically burying Goldie as the d-fly tottered beneath the growing pile.
“That should last me until back to school shopping.” Kara grinned in satisfaction.
Pixies chased Lyra with pink, silver, and rhinestone collars.
“I don’t need a new collar, I have thirty-five already!” the cat yelled. “Kara!”
You wear the hottest brands and start the newest trends,
There’s always more in every store, the shopping never ends
Power shopping princess, your fashion star is blazing,
What we have is what you want, guaranteed—
“Amazing!” Kara leaped and shouted. She grabbed Lyra’s front paws and danced her back and forth, caught in a frenzied fashion fever.
“Snap out of it!” Lyra roared. “We have to find the unicorns!”
“Not now, this is everything I ever wanted!”
Arms held high, Kara shimmied and swayed. The music picked up, moving faster and louder.
Try on these shoes they go with that vest
A necklace, a bracelet, may we suggest
Until you are happy we will not rest
Beaming, Kara headed toward the shiny escalators. There were at least three levels she hadn’t even seen!
“Kara!” Lyra pushed through a wall of gift boxes, locking her green eyes on her bonded’s. “You’re under a spell.”
“Must… fight it… stop… shopping!” Goldie landed on Kara’s shoulder, paws shaking Kara’s neck.
All at once, Kara felt dizzy, as if she were seeing everything through a haze.
Lights and glass, steel and chrome spun around her, as the boggles, pixies, and spriggans disappeared back into their stores.
“Wow.” She inhaled deeply, then looked at Lyra. “Hey! How come they all knew I was going to be here when I didn’t know I was going to be here?”
Her eyes strayed to the glowing power crystal in her hand. How did that get there?
“There’s something very strange about that jewel.” Lyra swished her tail.
“I don’t remember Tasha saying anything about a power-shopping crystal,” Kara said slowly.
She sensed the pull of the jewel’s magic, but it didn’t feel like the other power crystals the mages had found.
“I wish I knew more about this power crystal,” she mused.
She looked up, eyes widening. Directly across from her was a store she hadn’t noticed before:
GOBLIN FELDMAN’S EMPORIUM
WHAT WE DON’T HAVE, YOU DON’T WANT!
The windows glittered with dazzling objects.
“Hey, look at that.” Kara grasped the power crystal and headed toward the sparkling store.
“Wait, come back!” Lyra and Goldie followed their brave leader into the most dangerous boutique of all: a jewelry store.
“BY THE GODS!” The dragon’s purple eyes widened with astonishment as he stomped toward Adriane, Drake, and Fred on his two enormous feet.
He was about Drake’s size, but his horse-like head was longer and more slender. His black scales glinted in the sunlight, and deep purple slashes zigzagged across his leathery wings like lightning in the night sky.
Adriane spun into fighting position, wolf stone blazing as she faced the fearsome black creature. “That’s close enough!”
Dreamer snarled and Fred dove into Adriane’s pocket.
Ignoring the warrior and her wolf, the dragon focused on Drake. “It is a sign from the High Wyvern! A red crystal dragon to aid me on my quest and endure all the pain—rrr, I mean, share the glory with me.”
“Hi,” Drake answered. “I’m on a quest, too.”
The black dragon motioned to Adriane and Dreamer, his long forked tongue snaking from his tooth-filled snout. “And you brought snacks.”
Drake rumbled indignantly. “That is my mama.”
The black dragon blinked as if puzzled, then roared with laughter. “Brother, you must be mad with the heat.”
“What did you do to us back there?” Adriane demanded.
“Silence, pitiful human!” Silver spikes along his sinewy neck reflected glints of sun as the dragon’s head snaked menacingly. “Only the great red dragon may speak to me.”
“Fine,” the warrior growled. “Drake, ask him.”
“What did you do to us?” Drake repeated.
The beast stomped indignantly, sending dust and rocks flying. “Can it be true? A dragon bonded with a human? Unthinkable!”
“Think whatever you want,” Adriane said. In other circumstances, meeting another dragon would’ve been cool. But this one was getting on her nerves. “Just answer the question: What happened?”
The dragon’s giant eyes flicked toward the warrior, sizing up the girl and her magic. He snarled and addressed Drake. “You were attacked by the most reviled enemy of our race, a shadow dragon. It uses fear as a weapon.”
“Shadow dragon?” Adriane asked. Tasha had mentioned dangerous creatures being spotted all along the web. But shadow creatures! The warrior remembered fighting a horde of the ferocious magic feeders on the Spirit Trail. They would need powerful magic to survive outside the astral planes.
The dragon puffed out his chest. “I, the greatest warrior since Dwrrlgaarowlrowl the Noxious, shall defeat this creature and return a hero!”
“Hey.” Adriane waved. “I’m over here.”
The dragon snorted, releasing a lick of fire. “I would rather die than become a slave to the humans.”
“We can arrange that,” the warrior snapped, “but we need to find that shadow dragon. It has something we want.”
The dragon hesitated, then gave in to curiosity. “Speak, human.”
“The creature you’re after has a powerful jewel. Do you know anything about it?”
The dragon thought for a minute. “So that is why I could not vanquish the beast. It is being aided by your foul magic!”
“We’re not helping it!” Drake protested.
“We need to find it,” Adriane told him.
“I have been tracking the shadow dragon for days. I had the beast right where he wanted me until you showed up.” He loomed over Adriane, but took a step back when Dreamer snarled.
Adriane narrowed her eyes. “How come you didn’t follow it?”
“Rrrrr,” the dragon rumbled. “He’d be expecting that.”
Dreamer snorted. “You were scared, too.”
“Silence!” The dragon fired a burst of flame over the mistwolf’s head. “I fear nothing!”
“That’s enough out of you.” Silver fire burst from Adriane’s fingers, singeing the tip of the dragon’s nose.
The beast went cross-eyed as he pulled his head back sharply.
Adriane lowered her arm, letting the magic dissipate into harmless sparks. “What’s your name?”
The dragon turned his back on Adriane, moving surpri
singly fast for a creature so large. His long spiked tail swished across the red sand. “I do not speak with humans,” he huffed.
Adriane sighed. “Ask him what his name is, Drake.”
“I’m Drake. What’s your name?”
The black dragon slowly turned, head raised high in the air. “I am the great hunter, Gwylrrtrwrx.”
Adriane blinked at the incomprehensible grumble. “What did he say?”
Drake cocked his head. “I think his name is Runs-With-Tail.”
“Rrrr, it is my training name until I complete my warrior quest. I will slay the shadow dragon and then I will be given a full name.”
“So, Runs, um, Gwyx, it seems we’re on the same quest. You want the shadow dragon, we want the jewel,” Adriane said.
“Dragon Home is counting on me. They sent me because I’m their greatest warrior.”
“Do you know how to fight this creature?” Adriane did not want to be rendered helpless again by the shadow dragon’s strange power.
“Of course I know!” he roared, then eyed Drake. “Rrrr, the question is, how would you fight it, brother Drake?”
Drake considered. “He will not be as strong without the power crystal.”
“Exactly! We will take its power source and I will annihilate, eviscerate, mashed potato—!”
“Hold that thought, Megatron.” Adriane leaned in close to her friends.
“In the name of the High Wyvern, I command you to help me on my quest!” the black dragon bellowed.
“Uh uh.” Adriane held up a finger. Gwyx flinched.
Drake lowered his giant head as Fred hopped onto Adriane’s shoulder.
Gwyx inched closer, trying to eavesdrop.
“Pffffft!” Fred shot a raspberry and the big dragon leaped back.
“What do you think, Team Wolf?” Adriane whispered.
Dreamer shifted uneasily. “I smelled Gwyx, but I couldn’t track the shadow dragon.”
“Since Gwyx can, I think we should team up,” the warrior stated.
“He said this place is Dragon Home,” Drake said excitedly.
The warrior smiled. “We should learn more about it.”
“I don’t trust him,” Dreamer snarled.
“There is something strange about him,” Adriane conceded.
“I don’t like how he speaks to you.” Drake huffed a puff of smoke.
“Every culture is different,” Adriane said calmly. “For now, you’re the boss.”
“Right.” Fred nodded.
“No, I meant Drake. We’ll play along with him until we find the crystal.”
“Okay, Mama.”
Adriane patted Drake, then offered Gwyx a dramatic bow. “The great red dragon will address you.”
“Ah, excellent.”
“We will go with you,” Drake announced.
“Splendid!” Gwyx beamed, then quickly scowled. “I am accustomed to battling alone, but I cannot deny my brother if he wishes to accompany me.”
“It is an honor to aid to such a great warrior as you,” Adriane gushed.
“I’ll show him who he thinks we are!”
“You will tell me more about Dragon Home?” Drake asked eagerly.
Adriane grinned. None of them had met another full sized dragon before—not even Drake. Maybe her baby boy would learn more about his own kind.
“Brother, you have only to ask. I only pity you for taking abuse from such a… loud human.”
“RoaRR!” Drake agreed angrily, then winked a big golden eye at Adriane.
The warrior stifled her giggles. “Master Drake, those hunters will be here soon. We must bustle.”
Gwyx lifted his head high. “I, the greatest warrior of Dragon Home, shall find the shadow dragon!”
The warrior hopped into Drake’s saddle. Dreamer scrambled up behind her.
Adriane gave Gwyx the most respectful look she could muster. “Lead on, O mighty hunter.”
“To victory!” Gwyx trumpeted, bellowing a jet of fire into the air.
With a beat of mighty wings, the two dragons soared into the reddened skies.
“IT’S HORRIBLE!” THE kobold leader wailed, shielding his watering red eyes from the bright sunlight.
They stood in a verdant valley filled with huge flowers, babbling brooks, and trees laden with ripe fruit. Snowcapped mountains surged to the skies, protectively encircling the pristine vale. The air sparkled, warmed by the dazzling sun.
But Emily knew something was wrong. Magic sparked through her jewel, itching like sandpaper against her wrist.
The rest of the kobolds cowered, desperately seeking shade beneath fragrant peach and apricot trees. “Fix it, hurry!” they implored.
“Emily, what are they talking about?” Lorren inhaled the sweet air.
The healer studied the kobolds and frowned. Each creature adapted to its natural environment. The kobolds should be living somewhere darker and colder. “This environment is totally wrong for them,” she explained. “The sun is way too bright for their large eyes, and their thick fur is too heavy for this warm climate.”
“Are you sure this is your home?” Ozzie asked the kobold. “Maybe you got lost.”
“We know our home when we don’t see it!” the creature wailed.
“Ozzie,” Emily murmured, raising her rainbow jewel. “Give me a boost.”
The ferret’s orange gem sparkled as he hopped to her side.
Gingerly reaching out with her magic, Emily focused on a patch of bright purple daisies, watching intently as a halo of light blossomed. Plants had magical auras too, more subtle than magical animals, but visible to Emily’s heightened vision. The daisies, with their large smooth petals and strong stems, appeared perfectly healthy. But when Emily looked deeper, she saw the truth: The flowers’ aura was a jumble of red and blue, like two different colored ribbons tangled together in a knot. Instinctively, Emily sensed the blue magic was the daisy’s true magical aura. The red magic was eating away at it like a virus. Emily shuddered. She’d seen this before, when the water magic of Aldenmor had made the sea dragons sick.
Widening her magical vision only confirmed her fears. This strange red magic polluted the land, twisting the natural blue aura out of shape.
“Ouch.” Ozzie winced, feeling the healer’s shock.
Emily whispered, “This whole place hurts.”
“You mean the land is sick?” Lorren asked.
Emily nodded grimly. “Yes. It isn’t supposed to look like this.”
Once, she had felt the pain of Ravenswood when the forest spirit was corrupted. But here the land itself hurt.
Lorren’s mouth was tight with concern. “The only magic I know that could do that is a power crystal.”
Emily agreed. “We need to find it before it does more damage.”
“Please help us, great weaver of magic,” the kobolds wailed.
“You can actually heal the land?” Lorren’s eyes went wide.
“No way! This isn’t like healing an animal,” Ozzie exclaimed. “You can’t risk something like this on your own.”
Ozzie was right. This was new territory. The only way to heal this land was to reweave its magic back into its original pattern. She would have to amplify her magic through a web of animals, as she had done on Aldenmor. But her new powers had hurt so many. This could be even riskier.
But what choice did she have? The kobolds, huddled in a miserable clump, were suffering. She was a healer and these creatures needed her help. “I have to try.”
“You sure about this?” Ozzie’s brown eyes were wide with worry.
Know this, healer. Your power for weaving magic surpasses even hers.
The words of the Dark Sorceress echoed in her mind. Ozzie was right to be concerned.
But Emily was not the Spider Witch. And if her Level Two powers enabled her to heal in this new way, she had to take the next step.
Deep down Emily already knew she could do it.
She spread her arms wide. “Ready?”
Without waiting for Ozzie’s response, the healer enveloped the clump of daisies with a wave of glowing colors. Instantly her jewel flashed dark as magic prickled along her skin. Taking a deep breath, she wrapped her power around the voracious red threads. Her fingers moved through air as she gently tugged at the red, trying to unravel it. To her surprise, it came loose easily. A loop of red magic separated from the daisies’ blue auras and floated before her eyes. And she was doing this with only Ozzie’s magic to support her.
“It’s working!” Ozzie gasped.
The daisies began shimmering, changing. With bright sparks their purple petals melted into sharp red spikes, and the green stems twisted to woody brown.
“The bugbear pod!” the kobolds cried happily.
“I don’t believe it!” Lorren said, stunned.
Emily barely heard him. Encouraged, she expanded her healing web over the lush valley floor. She tugged at the red magic, her fingers moving faster as she tore it loose, allowing the blue pattern to regain its original shape.
The mountain peaks wavered and changed, their bright colors sliding off like melting snow. Fruit trees groaned as their bark shifted back into thorny branches; the whisper of the rushing stream silenced, becoming the ominous quiet of a dense bog. Mist seeped over the craggy land like a dank cloak, chilling her to the bone.
She was vaguely aware of Ozzie, Lorren, and the kobolds gasping in awe as she wove away the red magic faster and faster. It was working. Everything was turning back to the way it was supposed to be. The original blue pattern shimmered across the valley, strong, renewed, and healthy once more.
She felt Ozzie using his magic to gently slow hers down, but Emily didn’t want to stop. She dove deeper, spiraling to the very core of the land.
In a brilliant flash, she found coils of silver lacing beneath the land like pipelines—the magic web itself, feeding magic into the vale. The web’s dazzling auras danced before her enhanced vision. It was the most incredible thing she’d seen yet, almost too much to take in.
A thread of the red magic caught her eye, trailing away far into the distance. Emily’s heart thudded with excitement. It was still connected to the source!
Pushing the limits of her power, Emily widened her magical vision even further, following the thread. Sure enough, it led to a gleaming crystal, floating like a sparkling vision on the magic web. The power crystal.
Dark Mage (Avalon: Web of Magic, Book 11) Page 8
