It was worse than she had feared. Creatures of various sizes and shapes lay sprawled in the tall grass, crying and shaking. A pegasus stood forlornly, his hide covered with burns, one of his gauzy, butterfly-like wings hanging at an unnatural angle, limp and torn. Two or three long-eared, deer-like jeeran staggered, their soft, green-striped fur charred and their skin oozing blood. There were many species Emily couldn’t even identify—small red bear-like creatures, jet-black possum creatures—but their feelings of pain were all too familiar.
They were covered with patches of a sickly greenish glow, the unmistakable sign of the Dark Sorceress’s hideous Black Fire. Its dark energy seeped into Emily’s mind, making her feel light-headed.
A winged shape momentarily blocked the early afternoon sun as Ariel swooped from the sky and fluttered onto Emily’s arm, wings sparkling with magical highlights of turquoise and purple. “Ooooh,” the owl sighed sadly as she surveyed the scene.
Ariel was the first creature Emily had ever healed by herself, and seeing the healthy shine of the snow owl’s feathers bolstered Emily’s courage. “I’m glad you’re here,” she said, hugging the owl close.
“Emily!” Adriane ran into the field, followed by Ozzie, Balthazar the pegasus, and Ronif and Rasha, silver-billed ducklike creatures called quiffles. These magical animals had proved valuable advisors to the girls over the past few months.
Baby quiffles poked their heads out of pockets in Adriane’s down vest. “Tell us what to do, Emily,” the dark haired girl said.
Emily snapped out of her daze. She looked at the ring of friends waiting for her. She wasn’t doing anyone any good standing there staring. It was time to help.
Her first instinct was to run to the nearest injured creature and just dive right in. But a voice in her head—her mother’s calm, cool, unhurried voice—warned otherwise. Take the time to get organized. Don’t move faster than you can think, or you’ll end up working twice as hard and helping half as well.
“Start figuring out who is worst off,” she instructed her friends, working to keep her voice calm and assured. “Bring me those first. But keep the others near so I can get to them as fast as possible. Move the healed ones out of the way as soon as I’m done with them.”
The entire group whirled into action. Within seconds Kara was hustling back over to Emily, ushering forward a badly burned red koala-sized bear. “Start with him.” She patted the small, furry bear before hurrying away.
“Easy, there,” Emily said, calming the scared creature. “Any idea what it is, Ozzie?”
“A wommel. They live in the trees of the Moorgroves.”
Emily stared at the creature. It was keening softly, its big, wide eyes glazed over with pain. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Adriane herding a small group of limping, burned jeeran toward her. Did she have the strength to do this?
“It’s going to be okay, little one,” she murmured, placing a gentle hand on its soft, furry chest. Her rainbow jewel flashed erratically, cycling through colors.
She took a deep breath and forced herself to be still, to allow the wommel’s pain to flow into her. Her stone pulsed in time with her heartbeat, and after a moment she became aware of the creature’s heartbeat, fast and panicky beneath her hand. She breathed deeply and steadily, and gradually its heartbeat slowed, locking onto hers. Emily focused on the wommel’s injuries and concentrated on sending out healing magic. The rainbow jewel blazed with light, and soon she could feel the Black Fire’s poison weakening, breaking up—and leaving the creature’s body. The sickly green glow faded, dissolving into rainbow sparkles that floated away on the breeze.
Emily barely had time to point the healed wommel toward Ozzie before the next victim arrived—and the next, and the next. For a while she could hardly even think, which was just as well. She had never seen so much horror and heartbreak all in one place. It seemed that the parade of injured creatures would never end.
Finally, Emily found herself healing the last of the injured. Her knees wobbling, she sank to the ground, the dry seed heads of the autumn grass tickling her hands as she leaned back and felt the slight breeze cooling the sweat from her brow. Still, she couldn’t quite seem to relax. A tiny nagging hint of something—a sound?—tickled the edges of her mind, like a teasing memory. But what was it? She wrinkled her nose and shook her head, but the vague sense of uneasiness remained.
Ozzie scampered up to Emily. “You did an amazing job. Who would have thought when I first met you that you would be the perfect healer mage I was looking for!” The ferret beamed with pride.
“Thanks, Ozzie,” she said distractedly. Something was buzzing in her ear. Climbing to her stiff, tired legs with a groan, Emily glanced around the meadow once more, trying to pinpoint where the sound was coming from. But nothing she saw gave her an answer, so she just shrugged and followed Ozzie over to where her friends were standing among a kaleidoscope of creatures.
“Does anyone hear that?” she asked.
“Hear what?” Kara panted as she jogged over with Lyra.
Another wave of frenzied, broken, tuneless noise swept through Emily, like needles of sound piercing her all over. “That!” she gasped. “Those sounds. Can’t you hear it?”
Adriane shot her a concerned glance. “What does it sound like?”
“Like—like an instrument badly out of tune.”
“You’re probably just exhausted.” Kara smiled briefly at Emily, then turned and clapped her hands for attention. “Is that everyone?” she called. “Does anyone else need help? Speak up, guys.”
“We’re all better,” the red wommel answered. “Thank you, healer!”
“Yes, thank you, healer!” More creatures echoed the wommel’s gratitude as a cheer rose up over the meadow.
“You were incredible,” Adriane said to Emily.
“Yeah, really,” Kara agreed.
Emily gave them a tired smile. A few worried mumbles from a handful of quiffles caught her attention. They were gathered around Ronif.
“You heard it, too?” one quiffle asked another.
“Where did it go . . . must be hurt really bad. . . too dangerous. . .”
Emily stepped toward the quiffles. “What are they saying, Ronif?”
“There might be another wounded creature, healer,” the quiffle answered.
“Where?”
Ronif edged a little quiffle forward. “Tell them what you know, Waldo.”
The quiffle called Waldo shrugged. “I think there was another, healer,” he said, flapping his rubbery silver beak. “It was making horrible sounds.”
“Sounds?” Emily echoed. She felt a chill trickle down her spine. “Ariel, did you see anyone else?”
“Something runs, hidden.”
“What kind of creature?” Emily asked Waldo as Adriane, Kara, Stormbringer, and Lyra walked over to join her.
Before the quiffle could say anything more, a newly arrived pooxim—a sleek little creature that looked like a cross between a songbird and a rabbit—spoke up in a singsong voice. “I see-saw it,” the pooxim announced. “A glim-gleaming blue thing with flish-flashing angry eyes full of magic.”
“Did anyone else see this magic creature?” Adriane asked.
“There was something behind us, following us!” another wommel cried excitedly. “We barely got away from it. It tried to run us over.”
“But it wasn’t blue,” Waldo said. “It was green. It nearly kicked my head off.”
“You’re both wrong,” a pegasus piped up. “It was a big purple beastie.”
“No, it was red,” a quiffle disagreed. “And it was howling so horribly I almost lost my mind—and my eardrums.”
“Wait a second.” Emily held up a hand. “Waldo said the creature was green, and the pooxim said blue. But you guys saw red and purple.”
The pegasus shrugged his sleek, spotted shoulders. “It was so hectic when we came through the portal. Maybe I can’t be sure of the color, but the sounds it made were unforgettable.�
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“Maybe it was something evil,” a wommel suggested nervously.
At that moment, the noise came again, filling Emily’s head. She clenched her fists hard, her fingernails digging into her palms. Glancing down at her stone, she saw that it was glowing with soft, multicolored light. She chewed on her lower lip. Her uneasiness was growing. She didn’t think it was evil she was sensing—just uncertainty and suffering.
“There’s another creature out there,” she murmured aloud.
Ozzie looked at her. “Sounds like a lot of creatures.”
“And it—they—also sound wild,” Adriane added.
“It’s hurt bad and needs help.” Emily took a step toward the forest. “I’m going to check the woods.”
Adriane grabbed her arm. “You are not going out there by yourself.”
“What am I, chopped rugamug?” Ozzie straightened up to his full sixteen-inch height.
“No offense, Ozzie.”
“It could be dangerous,” he said.
“Right,” Emily agreed quickly. “That’s why you’re coming with me. It’s okay, Adriane,” she continued. “You stay and get things organized here.”
“Take Storm with you,” Adriane ordered.
The great silver wolf rubbed against Emily’s side, her ears pricked alertly.
“Thanks, Storm.” Emily cast a glance at the forest surrounding the meadow. Even in broad daylight, the thick, tangled trees looked gloomy and forbidding. Whatever was out there needed help—needed her. With a deep breath, Emily headed into the woods.
“FOUR, FIVE…” KARA was counting off a group of jeeran, making notes on her phone so the creatures could be logged into the Ravenswood journals. She looked up as Adriane approached.
“How’s it going?” the dark-haired girl asked.
“Eight, nine. . .” Or was that the same one she’d already counted? “Aargh!” Kara cried as she completely lost track of where she was.
“Everyone is settling in,” Adriane announced. “Thank goodness Emily got here in time.”
“One, two, three. . . Hey, you! Stand still!”
Adriane was glaring at her.
“Six, seven. . . what?” Kara demanded.
“I think we should contact Zach.”
Kara smirked. A few weeks ago, Adriane had followed Stormbringer through the portal to Aldenmor. She’d had an amazing adventure there. But since her return, she refused to talk about the time she had spent with the adorable sandy-haired guy she’d met there. Emily and Kara were dying for details.
“Need a last-minute date to the harvest dance?” Kara asked innocently.
Adriane rolled her eyes. “Get real, Princess Pea Brain,” she snapped. “I just think we should try to find out what’s going on over there. Something caused the portal to open again, and these injuries were really awful.”
Kara had to admit she had a point. “Okay. I can do that.” She grinned. “What would you do without me?”
“Just call them.” Adriane frowned. “Though why they listen to you is anyone’s guess.”
“It’s all in the training.” Kara took a deep breath, picturing the tiny, brightly colored dragonflies in her mind.
“Yoo-hoo!” she sang out. “Goldie, Barney, Fiona, Fred, Blaze! Come out, come out, wherever you are!”
A cloud of multicolored bubbles danced into sight. The bubbles burst in a sudden blizzard of flashing rainbow sparkles, turning into chirping, brightly colored flying mini-dragons.
“Kaa-raaa!” a golden one sang. It fluttered up and down happily before coming to rest on Kara’s shoulder.
“Goldie!” As Kara scratched the little dragon’s head, Goldie’s golden, jeweled eyes glowed with pleasure.
Red Fiona, orange Blaze, and purple Barney vied for her other shoulder. “Kee Keee!”
“Dee-deee!” Blue Fred hooted gleefully, zipping around Adriane’s head, leaving little trails of colored sparkles behind.
“Listen up, crew,” Kara commanded sternly. “We have work to do.”
The dragonflies perked up and sprang to attention.
“We need a little portal,” Adriane said. “Like the one you made for me on Aldenmor.”
“So start spinning,” Kara ordered.
Moments later, the dragonflies had joined wingtips and were spinning in a perfect little circle.
“Good dragonflies,” Kara said.
“Ooooo,” Barney cooed.
“Show us where Zach is,” Adriane said, picturing the boy’s handsome face and warm smile, the way his eyes danced. “He has that dragon stone I gave him. Hone in on its magic.”
“Ooookayy.”
A swirling, wavering mist appeared inside the circle of spinning dragonettes. Adriane clutched her wolf stone with a look of intense concentration.
“Are you getting anything?” Kara peered into the small window anxiously. The dragonflies could be restless and unpredictable, and they were being asked to make strong magic. She knew they only had a few minutes to make contact.
Adriane shook her head in frustration. “Lyra, we need your help!”
The cat loped toward them. “Rasha, Ronif, Balthazar, bring the others, too.”
The pegasus and two quiffles came, as did a dozen other animals drawn by the urgency in Lyra’s voice.
Kara gestured for them to come closer. With all of their friendly magical energy joining in, Adriane’s stone glowed brighter. She looked at Kara and held out her wrist. Kara reached out and touched her fist to Adriane’s, making the wolf stone flare with amber light.
The mist within the portal swept away, replaced by a new, slightly hazy scene. The background details were blurry, like faded watercolors, but Zach’s sharp-featured face stood out clear and unmistakable in the foreground.
“Adriane?” he asked uncertainly, blinking toward them. “Is that you?”
“It’s me!” Adriane called. “How are you?”
“Fine. My dragon stone just went crazy,” Zach said, holding up the bright red jewel on his wrist. Crimson facets sparkled like tiny flames. “I knew it was you.”
“Hi.” Kara’s head pressed close to Adriane’s.
“Hello.”
Adriane glowered. “You remember Kara.”
“Yes.” But his eyes were on Adriane.
“How’s Drake?” she asked, referring to the baby dragon Zach was raising on Aldenmor.
There was a sudden thunderous, roaring sound in the background. “What’s that noise? Are you in trouble?”
“No, no, it’s okay,” Zach assured her quickly. “Drake is fine. He’s really getting big and he misses you. Did all those animals make it to you safely?”
“Totally!” Kara called back. “It was a regular Noah’s ark.”
Zach and Adriane looked at Kara.
“Oops, sorry,” Kara whispered. “You two kids go right ahead. This is a long-distance call. Pretend I’m not even here.”
“Just tell us what happened,” Adriane said.
As Zach opened his mouth to speak, his face swam woozily and his voice suddenly faded, as if the volume on a radio had just been turned way down.
“Hey!” Kara said sharply to the dragonflies. “Keep spinning!”
“KOookoo!” the dragonflies sang excitedly, spinning faster and faster. “Soo-reeeeeee!”
Zach’s face swam back into clear view. “. . . another explosion near the Dark Sorceress’s lair, ” he was saying. “The biggest one yet.”
“Is that how all the animals got burned?” Adriane asked.
Zach nodded. “Black Fire came down all over the place,” he reported grimly. “But that’s not all—whatever the Sorceress did made the portals here go wild. The one leading to Earth opened, and a bunch of others just suddenly disappeared—including all of the ones to the Fairy Glen.”
“Oh, no!” Adriane gasped. This was seriously bad news. The Fairy Glen was the home of the Fairimentals and the magical heart of Aldenmor. “Have you tried to contact the Fairimentals?”
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�Of course. But we haven’t been able to find—”
His face wavered again. The dragonflies’ bright wings were flickering wildly as they spun, letting out tiny popping noises and rainbow colored sparks.
“Wrap it up,” Kara muttered to Adriane.
Adriane bit her lip.
“… you have to be careful,” Zach was saying. “One of the mistwolves said he saw a suspicious creature go through the portal. He said it reeked of evil.”
“Evil,” Adriane breathed, tensing. “Did he say what kind of creature?”
Zach shook his head. “It went through too fast. Just be on the lookout.”
“Okay, thanks.” Adriane said.
“Adriane, I’m real glad to see you,” Zach said.
“Me, too.”
“I—”
“Me, too,” Adriane smiled and blushed.
Zach grinned back
“How cute is this?” Kara said with a sugary smile. “Just make sure she’s home by ten!”
At that moment, the dragonflies flew apart in a flurry of squawks and chitters. The portal blinked out of existence.
“You ditz!” Adriane yelled. “Didn’t you hear what he said?”
“Dragon stone, huh! How come he has a magic jewel?”
“Forget the stone! Something evil might have snuck in when the portal opened!” Adriane exclaimed.
“Oh, that.”
“And it’s loose out there,” Adriane finished.
Together the girls turned their gaze to the edge of the glade. Beyond the tall firs that encircled the glade, an ocean of trees stretched into the blackness of deep forest.
A monster. And Emily was out in the woods tracking it down right now!
“I’VE FOUND ANOTHER print, healer.”
Emily hurried to peer over Stormbringer’s shoulder. A patch of sunlight illuminated a hoofprint pressed into the moist dirt near the edge of the path. The mistwolf had already discovered half a dozen similar prints, beginning at the edge of the woods back in the meadow.
“Same size and shape as the others,” Emily mused, studying the print. “Could be jeeran.” She leaned closer as the faintest hint of sound flashed through her. Music? No, more like those off-kilter chords she’d heard earlier. She listened closely, but the sound was gone, leaving behind a lingering sense of anguish and defeat.
Secret of the Unicorn (Avalon: Web of Magic #4) Page 3
