Heart of Avalon (Avalon: Web of Magic #10):

by Rachel Roberts

  Carefully, she weaved the lines of magic together, forming a delicate web. Feeling the boost of her friends, Emily reached out to the animals. Indi supported her, giving her everything he could to keep her strong.

  Lights flared along the web, brilliant points of stars flickering to life.

  Drawn to the healing magic, dozens, then hundreds, then thousands of animals came to her. Building in power, their magic thundered down the strands of the healer’s magic web.

  “Here it comes!” Tasha’s jewel meter beeped and whirred.

  Arms outstretched, Emily felt the power rush through her. She connected with Indi, and knew instinctively where the sickness had struck Marina.

  “Now!” she cried.

  The magic moved at her command. Rushing from her, it encircled the hydra in a ring of blazing blue fire. With every last ounce of strength, Emily drove healing magic into the core of the sickness.

  The explosion was so intense, Emily almost blacked out. Fire filled every pore of her being as the virus leaped from Marina into the healer. The agonizing pain of every animal she’d summoned seared through her body, suffocating her as if she were drowning.

  Then—in a heartbeat—the pain stopped. The hydra convulsed and fell apart, splattering to the floor.

  Emily scanned the cave, dazed. Without the hydra to fight for her, The Dark Sorceress had vanished.

  “We did it!” Ozzie shouted, raising his paws.

  “That was amazing!” Marlin agreed, high-fiving the ferret.

  Emily struggled to focus as she reached for Indi. What she saw made her gasp. The unicorn’s aura pulsed bloodred. He had absorbed the full brunt of the water virus, not only from Marina, but from every creature in her vast web.

  “No, Indi!”

  Shifting patterns of red spiked like fire, refusing to match his shape. At first she thought it was the virus twisting his magic. But when she looked closer, his magical aura didn’t fit the pattern of a unicorn. The unicorn wasn’t his true form after all—but what was?

  “Unbelievable!” Tasha exclaimed, gripping her glowing magic meter.

  “We are so rad,” Kara bragged.

  “Very cool,” Lorren grinned.

  “Yes, but I’ve isolated another jewel frequency,” Tasha said. “Whoa.”

  “What is it?” Zach asked.

  Tasha looked up. “Power crystal.”

  Emily’s heart skipped a beat.

  “Where?” Adriane asked.

  “It’s… right there.”

  All eyes turned to where Tasha pointed.

  “Indi?” The truth hit Emily with stunning clarity. “A power crystal.”

  She watched in horror as the virus attacked her bonded, tearing his magic apart. Indi desperately struggled to hold his form. But he had given everything he had to save her.

  “I did good, Emily.” Indi’s beautiful unicorn body melted away like wax.

  “Wait!” she cried, reaching out for him. “Please, don’t go!”

  The creature that was Indi slipped from her grasp, leaving a faint whisper of profound longing and gratitude—the last, lonely cry of a living, magical animal.

  GENTLE WAVES LAPPED over white sands. Emily whirled around, taking in the turquoise ocean and swaying palms. Near the treeline, blackened driftwood lay scattered in the ashes of a campfire. She’d been transported back to the island where they’d started. But how? Why?

  Behind her, leaves shook faintly.

  “Indi?” In the dense tropical foliage, Indi’s magical aura flared chaotically, shifting from gold to blue, green, pink, and purple.

  “What’s happened to you?”

  Waves of distress radiated from the bushes.

  “I know you’re here.” Emily took a step closer. “Please come out.”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “I ugly blob.”

  “I don’t care what you look like.”

  The spiky colors calmed with her words. Fronds rustled, and a shadowy shape hesitantly emerged.

  Emily’s breath caught.

  The thing before her was horribly misshapen. Indi’s unicorn shape had melted into a lumpy gray mass. Patches of purple crystal rippled in irregular patterns over his body. Fuzzy ears stuck out at weird angles, and a long tail dragged behind him as he hobbled across the sand on stubby legs. Only a pair of pained indigo eyes told Emily she was looking at her bonded.

  The healer gently placed her hands on Indi’s lumpy form, trying to calm him. “Why did you bring us back here?”

  “I brought you here,” a gentle voice said.

  Mist rose from the water’s edge. Emily could hardly believe her eyes as a form began to take shape from the water itself—the figure of a woman rising from the ocean. Long hair flowed in soft waves down her back, framing a delicate face. A crystalline aura dazzled around her like a diamond cloak.

  “Marina?” Emily asked, even though she knew it was not the Fairimental.

  Clear azure eyes met Emily’s gaze. “I am a water sylph, Neerie.” Her voice was light and melodic, like a mountain stream.

  Emily stood awkwardly, unsure what to do. Sylphs were powerful creatures of elemental magic.

  “I’m Emily,” she blurted out.

  “I know who you are, young healer.” The sylph glided across the water like a shimmering angel. “I have been waiting for the heart.”

  “The heart?”

  “The Heart of Avalon.” She gestured to the shivering mass beside Emily. “The most powerful of the nine crystals.”

  “I’m a magic animal,” Indi protested weakly.

  “Why do you resist your true form?” the sylph asked, eyes shining.

  “I want to be pretty unicorn,” Indi’s voice trembled. “For Emily.”

  Crystalline facets began to spread over his molten torso but still he struggled to keep whatever unicorn shape he could.

  “A power crystal wanted to become a real animal for me?” Emily said shyly, then frowned at Neerie. “Why didn’t you just take him when we first got here?”

  “The Heart of Avalon needed to be charged with the purest of magic. Only by becoming a true bonded could he transform.”

  “Why can’t he stay a unicorn?” Emily asked.

  “That is impossible. He is a power crystal designed to strengthen all the magic of Avalon.”

  And suddenly, Emily got it. Power crystals were drawn to magic. But Indi had been drawn to Emily because, inside, he needed pure magic to survive. And the purest magic came from the bond between humans and animals. Bonding with her had helped him learn the most important lesson: true magic could not be taken, but must be given freely. Indi had sacrificed himself to save her from the virus and now, Emily realized, each would have to make the most painful sacrifice of all.

  The sylph reached a gleaming hand toward Indi. “It is time to come home.”

  Indi moved toward Emily. “Stay with me, Emily.”

  “I wish I could.” Emily’s throat tightened with tears.

  Indi shivered, clinging with lumpy paws. “I’m your bonded.”

  “I know.” Kneeling, she gazed into Indi’s deep blue eyes. Instantly, she felt the amazing magic inside. But it was tinged with deep loneliness. All he wanted was to be a real animal and stay with her.

  “Indi, you must go back.” Emily hugged the creature, rocking him gently. No matter what he was, their connection was real. “You have to be who you really are.”

  “You are in my heart, forever.”

  Emily could feel the sorrow pouring from him as Indi finally resigned himself to his fate. With a shuddering sigh, all the color washed away as the creature that was Indi began to shrink, folding in on itself, shapeshifting for the last time. In her outstretched hands, Emily held a plain gray, heart-shaped rock.

  With a loud crack, the stone split down the middle.

  “Indi!” Emily sank to her knees, aghast.

  Two halves fell to the sand like tears, two pieces of a broken heart.

&nbs
p; Emily frantically searched for Indi’s bright aura. “I can’t see his magic!”

  “The heart is gone.” Neerie bowed her head. Water streamed from her body as if every part of her cried.

  Emily gazed up at Neerie. No shining lights appeared around the water sylph, either. Without Indi, she couldn’t see magic anymore! It was as if she were right back where she’d started. And this time she had no jewel to help her. Worst of all, she had lost her bonded.

  “How do I heal him?” she pleaded.

  “All that he has become is still there, if you look into your own heart,” counseled Neerie.

  Emily pictured Indi, a beautiful unicorn prancing proudly about the deck of the Fearless Flyer. A tear slipped down her cheek as she remembered the pure joy he had felt being her magical animal.

  Gazing at her empty silver bracelet, she had to make a choice. She could live her life trapped with pain and fear, or she could transform, like Indi, and let her heart guide her.

  Closing her eyes, she reached for Indi’s magic. A familiar flicker of blue light tickled at her senses—her jewel. Her magic was a part of him now, sustaining him.

  Gathering her courage, she picked up the two halves of Indi’s broken heart and gazed deep into the gray rock. A little purple aura sparked faintly, like a tiny flame.

  “I’m here.” She gently weaved the cool blues and greens of her own magic around his.

  She opened her heart, prepared to accept the pain, but what shone through was what they both needed to heal: love.

  “You never have to be lonely again.”

  With the full force of her magic, she brought the two halves together.

  The two auras swirled into one glittering rainbow, a perfect match, like two pieces of a puzzle. In a bright flash, crystalline facets sparkled around the dull gray rock, transforming it into a dazzling heart-shaped crystal.

  It was the most beautiful jewel she had ever seen.

  “My magic healed him,” Emily cried happily.

  The vibrant power crystal floated into Neerie’s outstretched hands. “The strength of your love healed the heart.”

  From inside the crystal, Indi’s reflection looked at Emily with bright indigo eyes. She could see Indi’s magic glowing stronger than ever. But this time, his aura fit his shape. This was who he truly was. A power crystal—the Heart of Avalon.

  “I’ll miss you.” Emily smiled, steeling herself against the pain of losing her bonded. “You are everything that I wanted.” Hands covering her face, the healer wept.

  Light blazed from the heart’s center as the power crystal released its true magic. Swirling like crystal rain, Indi’s bright aura cascaded over her, washing away the pain. Emily opened her eyes in wonder as the twinkling magic merged into the shape of a large, four-legged creature.

  “Indi!” Emily exclaimed.

  As the light faded, Indi stood in front of her. He was no longer a colt, but a full-grown unicorn stallion.

  Surprised, Indi looked himself over, stamping glittering magic from long, muscled legs. His hide swirled in deep purples, and his crystal horn gleamed with all the colors of the rainbow. Deep indigo eyes fixed on his bonded.

  “Stuck.”

  The sylph’s eyes twinkled. “He has bonded with you in the only way he could. He has chosen to be your paladin, if you will accept him.”

  “I do.” Emily threw her arms around the unicorn’s neck. Her paladin. She was a Level Two mage. “I love you, Indi.”

  Indi stepped back and knelt before her. “For you.”

  The sylph smiled sweetly. “A unicorn can give its magic to whomever he chooses.”

  In a brilliant flash, a gem appeared in Emily’s open hand. But it was not the familiar flower shaped healing stone that shone forth. Dancing patterns of purple, gold, blue, silver, all the colors of the rainbow filled her transformed jewel. It was a heart.

  “Thank you.” Emily beamed as she fastened it onto her silver bracelet. “I thought I might never bond with an animal.”

  “Healer, you are not meant to bond with an animal,” Neerie told her.

  Emily’s heart sank. It always seemed to come to this moment. She would get so close with an animal only to be left alone in the end.

  “Your gift is to bond with all animals.”

  Gazing at her paladin, the healer finally understood. It didn’t matter what kind of animal she was working with; she had always been able to heal them, to make magic with every new friend she met. And they were all with her, the colors of their auras swirling brightly in her rainbow jewel.

  Neerie smiled. “Let your magic flow and make the bond between all humans and animals as strong as your bond with Indi.”

  Realization hit Emily like a bolt of lightning. The dragon eggs! They were the hope of Aldenmor’s water magic. Suddenly she knew what she needed to do—what she was meant to do.

  “This is your destiny, healer.” Neerie smiled at her. “Make the magic new again.”

  Emily wanted to jump up and down in excitement. Her jewel had evolved. She had reached Level Two and she had her paladin to help her when she needed him. Forever.

  “What about the heart?” Emily asked, gazing at the crystal shining in Neerie’s hands.

  “When you have retrieved all the crystals, you must bring them back here.”

  Emily gazed up and down the shoreline. “The Gates of Avalon have been here the whole time?”

  “The Heart of Avalon will remain to show you the way.”

  Emily climbed onto Indi’s back, sitting proudly atop her paladin. “We need to get back to our friends.”

  The unicorn shook his magnificent head and long purple mane. Whirling around, his hooves kicked up glittering stardust. Magic swirled from his horn, opening a dazzling rainbow portal. Rearing up on his hind legs, Indi prepared to jump.

  Holding the heart high above her head, Neerie began to melt back into the crystal clear waters.

  “Wait.” Emily turned to the sylph. “Where is Avalon?”

  Sweet as summer rain, the sylph spoke. “Avalon is where your heart is.”

  THE SOUND OF steel drums and clamshell castanets fell silent as Marlin held up his hand. Everyone turned toward the stage.

  “I am Prince Marlin, heir to the throne of Aquatania,” he said, voice booming over the crowd.

  Standing on a raised podium just off the shores of Aquatania Beach, he looked every inch the prince, dressed in red velvet robes dotted with golden jewels. The domes of the city spread behind him, glittering in the surf. His father, King Spartos, sat beside him, scanning the representatives from Aldenmor gathered to hear the prince’s speech.

  “This year, the Wave Fest is truly a special celebration,” Marlin continued, gesturing across the beach. “Today we are making magic!”

  Anxious merboys and girls formed a long line, waiting. And at the front stood Emily, Ozzie, and the other mages. Beside them a pile of dazzling eggs shone with all the colors of the rainbow.

  “What is the meaning of this?” King Spartos rose to his feet as startled gasps ran through the crowd.

  “Father, you have taught me the rich history of the merfolk,” Marlin said. “But a future without magic is a future without merfolk.”

  “You promise something you cannot deliver,” the king said, regarding his son sternly. “We must face the truth.”

  “This is our truth,” Marlin’s voice rang out. “We must not, cannot let magic die!”

  Jaaran, Kee-lyn, and the other dragon riders applauded.

  King Spartos nodded curtly, not convinced, but willing to give his son a chance.

  Marlin sought out Emily and smiled, confidence shining in his eyes.

  The healer took a deep breath as hundreds of anxious eyes turned to her. She gestured to the first merboy in line, a skinny teenager with dark curls, and black eyes wide with fear and excitement. He approached Emily and knelt in the sand.

  Concentrating, she saw his magical aura dancing around him, pure and bright as a sunrise. Her ra
inbow heart jewel sparkled in the same colors.

  With the strength of her paladin, she sent golden light shimmering over the eggs, searching for the perfect match. And then, from deep in the pile, an aura glinted. The magic was strong, its bright pattern about the same size, shape, and luminance as the boy’s—a perfect magical fit. Biting her lip, she carefully extracted a yellow-gold egg and placed it before the merboy.

  The entire crowd took a collective breath as a loud crack echoed up and down the beach. A crooning noise filled the air as a small fin pushed a section of shell away. An infant sea dragon suddenly popped his head out, eyes blinking in wonder. As the merboy peeled the sticky shell from the baby’s head, their wide eyes locked.

  Emily alone could see their bright auras float together, blending into a bright new golden pattern filled with hope and promise.

  With a squeal of joy, the baby dragon flopped into the waiting arms of its bonded. The boy rose to his feet, holding his new friend aloft. The crowd erupted in cheers as the other teens congratulated the boy, eagerly waiting for their chance to get their own bonded dragon.

  “Remarkable.” King Spartos surveyed the ecstatic crowd. Then he turned to the prince. “I applaud the prince and the mages for this gift. But, son, how did you know they would bond?”

  “I am the merfolk prince.” Marlin met his father’s gaze. “But I am also a dragon rider.”

  The merprince shook off his ceremonial robe, revealing a blue-green jumpsuit underneath, the traditional garb of the dragon riders. Shock registered on the faces of the king and the merfolk in the crowd.

  Marlin waved a hand toward the water. “I bring you—my bonded, Niva.”

  Scales of purple and green glittered over Niva’s sleek body as she rose from the waters. Marlin dove in to meet her. In an instant, he resurfaced astride the beautiful sea dragon’s back.

  “And Harry, Elroy, Avril, Bertrum, Fizzles, well… you’ll meet them all later.”

  A dozen baby dragons frolicked around Niva, adoring eyes locked on Marlin.

  Niva reared up in the waves as the merprince raised his fist in the air triumphantly. “Together we will spread our magic throughout the oceans, and all of Aldenmor—for what once was, and for what will be again!”