Jaaran and Kee-lyn stepped forward and clapped, joined by the other riders. Soon everyone at the Wave Fest was cheering wildly at the prince’s proclamation.
Offshore, the sea dragons of Aquatania leaped into the air, scales gleaming as they splashed happily in the water. The merprince grinned ear to ear as Niva deposited him on the beach by the eggs, six baby sea dragons bundled in his arms. Several more clung to his legs and feet.
Joy filled Emily at the sight of Marlin’s magical aura, clear and bright. Niva and a dozen babies had increased his magic tenfold.
From the waves, a figure made of water surged to the surface. Flowing aquamarine hair highlighted with turquoise danced on the frothy spray.
“Marina!” Emily cried. “You’re okay.”
“Thank you, healer.” The shimmering blue watermental smiled at Emily. “The sea dragons will keep the water magic strong.”
“Was the Dark Sorceress really a mage?” Kara asked.
“That is true, blazing star,” Marina admitted. “The prophecy has foretold that three mages will find the home of all magic. Many have tried to find Avalon but none have succeeded.”
Adriane’s wolf stone flashed silver. “What makes us so different?”
“Even without a mentor, you have all learned what it means to be a mage.” Marina flowed over the water. “You must use nine power crystals to open the Gates of Avalon and reweave the web with Avalon’s magic.”
“What if we can’t?” Kara asked worriedly.
“The web is almost gone. You are the last hope, the last mages.”
Emily, Kara, and Adriane exchanged a startled glance.
“So it’s all up to us,” Emily said softly.
“What about the crystal that you-know-who,” Adriane nodded at the blazing star, “lost?”
Kara glared at the warrior. “I’ll find a way to get another one.”
Tasha stepped in. “I’m working on some ideas.”
“At least we know where to bring the crystals when we have them,” Marlin said, beaming at Emily.
“All right, who’s next?” Ozzie stomped up and down the line of waiting merteens, clam-on-a-stick held behind his back. Two of Marlin’s baby dragons waddled after him and gobbled up the treat. The ferret turned and bit down on a wooden twig.
“Who’s a good widdie biddie dragon?”
“Cribby?” Emily turned, smiling incredulously.
The ornery sea elf sat in the sand, cradling a white and gold sea dragon pup in his arms. Cribby tickled the happy pup, then looked up at Emily. “What? So the merboy missed one.”
Marlin grinned. “Looks like you have a new first matey.”
With a toothy smile, Cribby held the wide-eyed pup over his head. “His name’s Cribby, Jr.”
“Wonderful.” Emily beamed. “Good job, Cribby… and Cribby, Jr.”
“Can I pick one out?” Kara was practically dancing. “Come on, Em, pleeeeeeze!”
“Sure, everyone can.” Emily smiled. “Show them to me as each rider approaches. I’ll know if it’s the right match.”
“All right!”
Lorren, Kara, and Tasha fell into the eggs like kids on Christmas morning.
Jaaran approached the merprince, Kee-lyn by his side. “Marlin, I’m sorry.” The tall rider spoke without hesitation or embarrassment. “We were wrong about you.”
“No, it’s me who should be sorry.” Marlin faced the warrior squarely.
“You saved the dragons and our magic.” Gratitude shone from Kee-lyn’s eyes.
“Believe me, I had a lot of help.” He gestured toward Emily and the mages.
Kee-lyn smiled at the healer. “We’ll have our hands full training the new riders and dragons.”
“We all have important work to do now, keeping the magic strong. We want you to know, Marlin, the dragon riders swear their allegiance to the future king of Aquatania.” Jaaran extended his hand.
Marlin grasped it firmly. Jaaran and Kee-lyn nodded, then left to join the others by the eggs.
Marlin gazed at Emily shyly. “Still have some things to work out with my father, you know. I guess that’s how it is.”
“You stood up for what you believe in. He has to respect that.” She gazed at the king, proudly accepting congratulations from the guests. “I think he knows how lucky Aquatania is to have a prince like you.”
He took her hand in his and looked deeply into her eyes. “No one ever saw magic in me, until you.”
Emily blushed bright red.
“How’s this one?” Kara plopped a bright orange and yellow egg in Marlin’s hands.
“Kara,” Emily giggled as the blazing star winked at her.
“I need to Google you.” The blazing matchmaker pulled the befuddled prince away, leaving Emily alone. “See how you match up with our healer.”
Turning, the healer spotted a solitary figure watching the ocean, her back to the happy throngs. The tall warrior’s magic shone like a full moon in the midnight sky, full of mystery, deep as the night. Emily strode over to her.
Adriane turned and smiled. “Good work, Doc.”
“Thanks.” Emily looked around. “Where’s Zach and Drake?”
“They left to find Moonshadow and the mistwolves. He has a lot of questions about his parents,” Adriane said, then asked abruptly, “Have you noticed anything different about Kara?”
“You mean she’s pushier than normal?” Emily joked, but she could feel the anger radiating from the warrior’s tense figure.
“You just can’t force others to use their magic.” Adriane’s dark eyes shifted toward Kara distrustfully. “She could’ve really hurt Zach.”
“Adriane, she didn’t mean to do that,” Emily said gently. “She was just trying to help.”
“That wasn’t the first time she’s lost control of her magic,” Adriane said coolly. “And it won’t be the last.” The warrior’s dark eyes narrowed. “Why didn’t the Fairimentals tell us there were other mages? What else haven’t they told us?”
A chill went up Emily’s back.
“We’ll figure it out together, like we’ve always done.” The healer tried to sound convincing.
“This one!”
“No, this one!”
“Emily, come on! Which one?”
“GaH!” Ozzie dashed by, clutching an egg as the dragon riders chased him.
“Hey,” the healer said, smiling at Adriane. “Come help with the eggs.”
“No, I’m going to take a run. Later.”
Emily sighed as she watched Adriane jog down the beach. As if from thin air, Dreamer appeared by her side, easily keeping stride with the warrior’s fast pace. Emily blinked, startled by the silver magic glowing in a perfect halo between them. Instead of two individual patterns blended together, their aura was one solid circle, as if they were one and the same.
She turned her gaze to Kara. The blond teen sparkled with beauty as she chitchatted with Lorren, Marlin, Tasha, and King Spartos. Adriane’s magic might be shadowy and mysterious, but Kara’s magic could blind you.
Emily knew Kara had a good heart, but she did share some of Adriane’s concern. The blazing star was meant to enhance magic, but if she wasn’t careful, her brilliance would eclipse everyone around her.
The mages had to work together, now more than ever. But instead of bringing them closer, it seemed as if the magic was driving them apart.
Emily gazed out at the hopeful faces of the dragon riders and her friends, all waiting for the touch of a healer. Her anxiety melted away with the joyous cheers that filled the Wave Fest. She’d be busy the rest of the afternoon matching merteens with their bonded dragons and she couldn’t be more thrilled.
Bonding with Indi had connected her to the essence of magic, the friendship between humans and animals. Every animal she had ever touched shone from her heart jewel, reflecting from its gleaming rainbow facets.
Emily was a healer. She would have to deal with pain.
But her magic had the power to transfor
m pain into something far stronger: love.
And where there was love there was hope. No matter what might happen, she had found the true heart of Avalon.
“BE CAREFUL WITH those!” the Dark Sorceress yelled as she strode through the courtyard behind her new keep.
Oxen stamped and snorted, terrified, as several orcs edged giant cages off a metal cart.
One of the cages dropped hard, releasing a bloodcurdling shriek.
The sorceress peered through the glowing bars. The cage seemed empty, but she knew better.
Magic eaters, especially vicious ones at that, shadow creatures were very hard to trap. But the healer’s web had attracted all kinds of animals.
“Easy, my pets.” The sorceress smiled, then turned to the orcs. “Put them with the others.”
“Yes, mistress.” Yellow tusks grazed the ground as the orc groveled.
She continued through the teeming courtyard where imps, goblins, and trolls worked by torchlight, erecting a spiked barrier encircling the stone towers of the keep. While the Fairimentals planted daisies in the ruins of her former lair, she was creating an impenetrable stronghold.
All was going according to plan.
The Dark Sorceress flung open a set of heavy wooden doors and swept into her new lair, red lips curved in a satisfied smile. The workers she had found in Port Tuga had done well, quickly constructing this magnificent keep hidden in the Black Woods. A group of lizard-like servants froze as she passed by, then hurriedly continued laying the black marble floors. The entire chamber gleamed, setting off her ornate silver throne. A fitting place from which to rule the magic web.
She turned down a long hallway, relishing the spacious chambers opening on either side. A definite improvement over her lair in the Shadowlands, and far superior to the Spider Witch’s moldering castle.
Cold fire flared inside her. The Spider Witch was moving fast. Soon, her former ally would be one step closer to reweaving the magic web. The sorceress could not let that happen.
She ascended the winding staircase to the very top of her tower.
The mages believed they had defeated her in the Crystal Caves, as she had intended. Let them think she was weak—that would only work to her advantage. Securing the magic of the dragon eggs would have been nice, but it would all be hers soon enough. Until then, the magic she had tricked the healer into acquiring would do quite nicely.
She had accomplished what she had set out to do: help the healer become a Level Two mage. Each mage had to be Level Two; it was required for what was about to happen. The remaining crystals were incredibly powerful, made even more so by the twisted dark forces unleashed on that fateful day so long ago.
She laughed, vampire teeth glinting.
The mages knew nothing of the true nature of the prophecy. The Fairimentals would never risk telling them.
With a sweep of her arm, she opened the heavy door at the end of the hallway, almost giddy with excitement.
Which one would it be? The blazing star’s appetite for magic was nearly as strong as her own. But the warrior’s anger could easily twist into hate. She had tested the redheaded healer’s abilities with astounding results, but emotions made her weak.
It could be any of them. But one thing she knew for certain.
One mage would betray her friends at the Gates of Avalon.
That was the real prophecy.
Striding into the dark chamber, the air seemed to shimmer with color. She smiled at the one who would serve her—help her enter Avalon and complete what she had started.
Sprawled across the bed, Henry Gardener awoke with a start, eyes blazing red. Every joint in his body ached from his spellbound slumber.
“It is time to complete our quest, old friend.” The Dark Sorceress’s cold voice sliced through stagnant air. “The dark mage must arise.”
Ferocious predators with shark bodies and wolf-like heads, sea wolves have razor teeth and eyes black as night. Some of the fastest creatures in the ocean, they travel in packs and swarm in the warmer waters off the southern coasts of Aldenmor.
A huge monster with multiple snake-like heads, the hydra can be found in swamps and bogs. Elemental hydras are especially terrifying. When one head is chopped off, two heads sprout in its place, making it a fearsome opponent in battle.
This rare creature is half lion, half scorpion. When threatened, the chimera’s deadly tail whips over its head to strike attackers. Naturally solitary, it lives in the high desert, hunting at night and seeking shelter in cool caves during the day.
Ancient inhabitants of the sea, mermaids live near underwater portals and concentrations of water magic. Secretive and fiercely protective of their magic, they lure ships who get too close with a hypnotic siren spellsong, causing the unfortunate sailors to shipwreck. Mermaids are ancestors of the merpeople of Aquatania.
“OVER THERE, WARRIOR.” Dreamer pointed his nose toward the ridgeline.
Adriane straightened her flying goggles, thankful she had taken Zach’s advice and packed them. She was warm enough in her black tank-top even though she had packed her jacket. Her body, lean and toned from years of running, sat comfortably in the saddle. She held the reins lightly, giving Drake enough room to keep his speed without jostling his riders.
“Take us in, Drake.”
Feeling the tap of her right boot, the dragon soared in a wide arc, picking up speed as his wings caught the dry updrafts rising from the cliffs below.
“We’re not the only ones here.” Adriane leaned forward as the mighty dragon cleared the ridgeline. Blackened campfires spread over the low-lying hills, their smoky remains a sure sign that someone—a lot of someones—had recently been here.
“Wolf Fire to Base,” Adriane spoke into Fred’s blue belly.
“Copy, Wolf Fire. Go,” Tasha’s voice responded.
“We’ve spotted the remains of several encampments,” the warrior reported as they flew into the canyon.
“This is so exciting!” Tweek’s voice cut in. “You’re in a whole new quadrant of the web! I’m extrapolating!”
Fred let out a few beeps and boops, the sound of Tasha adjusting her magic meter. “The power crystal is dead ahead, but I’m getting some very strange readings. Stay alert, Wolf Fire, you’re probably not the only ones after that crystal,” the goblin advised.
“Roger, Base.” Adriane paused. “What’s new from Star One and Doctor D?”
“So far, so good. They’re both on the trail of crystals.”
“Okay, Wolf Fire out.”
Drake soared over another canyon, the largest one Adriane had seen so far. Dust devils spun in the deep basin, obscuring the eerie landscape with shimmering reds and golds.
The mistwolf growled in sudden alarm. “I’ve got something!”
“Where, I don’t—”
The sky exploded in fire.
Dreamer howled as Drake staggered in mid air. Adriane responded instantly, hauling the reins tight and forcing the dragon’s eyes away from the blast.
Something whizzed by Adriane’s head. An arrow, flaming with bright blue magic! A split second later, another arrow trailed vivid light across the sky. Several more detonated like fireworks, shooting across Drake’s wings.
The ground tilted crazily as the dragon fought for control, roaring in anger.
Another volley whistled dangerously close.
“Base! We’re under attack!” she yelled, then realized Fred had disappeared.
The warrior raised her right wrist, jewel blazing as she struggled to guide Drake through a maze of exploding magic.
“Dive! Dive! Dive!” she commanded.
Wings folded, the dragon plunged straight toward the ground.
“Hang on, Dreamer!” Adriane shouted. Silver fire streaked through the air, disintegrating dozens of arrows.
The mistwolf hunkered low in the basket, hackles raised.
“Now!” Adriane shouted.
At the last minute, Drake extended his wings, skimming the ground like a
red rocket.
Groups of heavily armored lizard-like creatures swarmed into the canyon.
“Magic hunters,” Adriane spat.
Drake swept overhead, roaring fire and scorching the ground. In a flurry of screams, the hunters ran off in all directions.
“Easy.” Adriane pulled the reins left, sweeping Drake in a tight circle.
Whipping her arm, she flung rings of fire around the hunters.
They threw down their weapons as the silver magic crackled fiercely against the red sand. Her message was received loud and clear: Don’t mess with us!
“They’re after the power crystal,” Dreamer said.
“Good luck, chumps!” Adriane waved at the hunters as Drake zoomed away, adding a powerful roar of agreement.
“Something smells.” The mistwolf sniffed over Drake’s flank.
“I took a bath before leaving The Garden,” Drake insisted.
“The power crystal?” Adriane asked.
“Yes, up ahead in the next valley,” Dreamer confirmed. “But there’s something else.”
The warrior’s wolf stone blazed deep red.
She gripped the reins tightly and leaned low against Drake’s neck. “Okay, let’s do it.”
The red dragon caught an updraft. With a powerful beat of wings, they crested the ridgeline and dove into the wide valley. Before them, thick coils of purple smoke whirled, glints of light sparkling inside.
“What is that?”
“Power crystal!” Dreamer howled.
The smoky coils thrashed as if alive, snaky threads twisting into a shape with venomous eyes and gleaming teeth.
This wasn’t just smoke. It was some kind of creature. Adriane raised her wolf stone as the monstrous apparition turned burning eyes to face her.
Heart of Avalon (Avalon: Web of Magic #10): Page 13
