Cry of the Wolf (Avalon: Web of Magic #3)

by Rachel Roberts

  CRY OF THE WOLF

  Copyright © 2012 Red Sky Entertainment, Inc.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher, except where permitted by law.

  Electronic Edition

  Published by Premiere Digital Publishing, Inc.

  Made in the U.S.A.

  ISBN-10: 1938582578

  ISBN-13: 978-1-938582-57-8

  Cover and interior illustrations by Allison Strom

  SUNLIGHT FLASHED THROUGH the trees as the dark-haired girl ran, plunging wildly into the woods. Yellow, orange, and red leaves crunched under her boots as she dashed past towering maples, cherries, and ash. It had recently rained, and the woods smelled clean and crisp.

  “Follow my voice.”

  Adriane Charday heard the words in her mind as clearly as if they had been spoken aloud. Listening closely, she turned toward an outcropping of rocks and leaped over a downed log, running hard, breathing steadily.

  “You’re getting cold.”

  Adriane turned sharply left, her long, jet-black hair blowing in the wind. “We’ll see about that.”

  With a quick sweep of her wrist, she cut her gemstone through the air. It sparkled gold from its setting in her black-and-turquoise bracelet, and Adriane smiled, confident she was on the right trail.

  It had been a month since she and Emily and Kara had learned about the magic web: the network of magical energy that connected Earth to other worlds. They had discovered a portal to a world called Aldenmor, and learned of the Dark Sorceress, her attempts to capture magical animals, and of the horrible Black Fire poison. At first, both monsters and animals from Aldenmor had come through the portal, right into the Ravenswood Wildlife Preserve, where Adriane lived with her grandmother. The animals all spoke of Ravenswood as a legendary sanctuary of magic and it had to be protected. With the help of some pesky little creatures called dragonflies, the three girls had woven a magical dreamcatcher over the portal, hoping it would let good things through, while keeping evil creatures out.

  But with magic you just never knew. The dragonflies didn’t seem to need a portal at all, they just popped in and out of nowhere. Banshees that had stalked Kara had been able to move through water, and had even attacked her in the Jacuzzi. One thing was sure: magic was unpredictable. They had to expect the unexpected.

  The discovery that magic was real was the most monumental thing that had ever happened to the girls. What was even more astounding was that each of them seemed to have a part to play in a larger puzzle, a mysterious destiny that required each girl’s own unique talents as mages, users of magic. Elemental beings were trying to protect the good magic of Aldenmor. They were called Fairimentals and according to some ancient prophecy they needed a healer, a warrior, and a blazing star to do… something. What that something was exactly, the girls didn’t know. Neither did their magical animal friends. But whatever it was, it involved finding a mysterious hidden place, the home of all magic: Avalon.

  Emily, the healer, spent a lot of time with the magical animals that had made Ravenswood their new home. When she wasn’t with them or helping out at the Pet Palace, she was in Ravenswood Manor’s incredible library, cataloging information about wildlife, both earthly and magical. More and more, too, she had emails to answer, as curious people began to surf their way to the Ravenswood website the girls had set up.

  Kara, the blazing star, was President of the Ravenswood Wildlife Preservation Society. She spent half her time setting up tour schedules, planning fund-raising parties, and reporting on their progress to her father, the mayor. The other half she spent making sure the town council never found out about the magical animals hidden at Ravenswood. Not all the members of the town council wanted a wildlife tourist attraction outside of their town, and Kara had to keep them reassured about their decision to keep the preserve open with the girls working there as guides.

  Adriane felt it was essential to learn all she could about the magic she shared with her wolf friend. Her name was Stormbringer and she was a mistwolf, a creature of great magic. Storm had called Adriane “warrior” from the first moment they had met and the girl spent every spare moment practicing, experimenting, pushing herself further and faster, obsessed with embracing her new abilities, scared she could lose them.

  She took a deep breath of crisp autumn air and lengthened her strides, stretching into the run. She and Storm had been playing this new game of hide-and-seek for about two weeks now, experimenting with the magic of her golden, paw-shaped gem called the wolf stone. Each time Storm moved farther away, testing the limits of their connection. How far could they go from each other before the connection was lost? So far, they hadn’t reached the limit—if there was one.

  Through the trees, Adriane caught a trail of mist vanishing over a rise. She made a sharp right, and then sprinted up the hill, trying not to slip on the moss.

  Brow furrowed, she concentrated on her stone and was rewarded with a quick image in her mind of Storm. The big silver-and-white wolf was just on the other side. With a grin, she crested the top, and leaped.

  “Adriane!” Storm’s voice cut through her mind. “Watch out for that—”

  The image of the wolf vanished as Adriane flew through trails of fog with a startled cry.

  “Oof!”

  Her shoulder knocked into something hard and she landed in a pile of sticky leaves and twigs. Facedown.

  Storm was loping toward her, tongue lolling.

  “—tree,” she finished.

  The tree’s oversized leaves had been holding rainwater until Adriane had bumped into it. She glared up through her now sopping-wet bangs. “Thanks for the heads up.”

  “Are you all right?”

  “I was concentrating so hard on seeing you, I didn’t see what was right in front of me.”

  The wolf seemed to be laughing. “You must learn to see the tree through the forest.”

  Adriane spit out a piece of leaf. “That’s forest for the trees.” She sat up, picking matted leaves from her face and hair. “Oh, look at me!”

  “Wait a minute,” Storm commented. “I think you missed a spot.” Her tongue flashed out, licking a bit of leftover leaf from Adriane’s chin.

  “Cut it out!”

  The wolf’s golden eyes danced with mischief. “Hold it. Here’s another one.”

  Adriane squealed as Storm planted her big paws on the girl’s chest, knocking her flat onto her back, her tongue slobbering over every inch of her face.

  “Forget it, that doesn’t help!”

  Storm lowered her head and pulled back.

  Giggling, Adriane dug her fingers into the thick fur at the wolf’s neck, then gave a heave and flopped her over. Together, girl and wolf rolled across the hill, then lay still, side by side, panting.

  Adriane’s down vest was now covered in leaves. Storm’s coat had twigs sticking out of it.

  “You look ridiculous,” Adriane said, giving the wolf’s stomach a thump.

  “A mistwolf never looks ridiculous,” Storm informed her. She rolled over onto her back and stuck her legs in the air, twisting from side to side in an attempt to dislodge the debris from her coat. “Mistwolves are dignified and fierce.”

  And alone, Adriane thought suddenly, her smile fading. There were no other mistwolves. Storm was the last of her kind.

  Was it fate, or destiny, or just some haphazard random coincidence that she had met Storm? Maybe she’d just been lucky.

  She sat and gazed at the forest, spread out
below. The autumn colors rippled like wildfire, blazing under the noon sun. Storm sat down beside her. Draping an arm over the wolf’s back, Adriane pointed to a clearing in the forest off to the west. “See there by Owl Creek?” she asked. “That field is where I first found my stone, and you.”

  She looked at the beautiful amber-and-gold stone, the same color as the oak leaves that gently spiraled around them. She didn’t know where the stone had come from; she knew only that finding it had made her feel special, as if it had been put there just for her. In her hands, the rough stone had transformed into a smooth, polished jewel in the shape of a wolf’s paw, and a bond was made, forged like iron between a lone wolf and a lonely girl.

  Taking a deep breath of crisp fall air, she leaned against Storm, comforted by the solid strength and furry warmth of the wolf. It occurred to her that just as the mistwolf’s solid form could evaporate into mist, so could this luck disappear. Wasn’t that what always happened? She felt the familiar knot of fear in her stomach starting to build.

  Adriane remembered when she first arrived at Ravenswood, not even a whole year ago. She hadn’t wanted to live with her strange grandmother in a weird house. She didn’t want to have anything to do with Stonehill, Pennsylvania, at all.

  This is not my home, Adriane had thought. And no one can make me say it is!

  She’d been all over the world and had lived in all kinds of places because her parents were famous artists. Some people might think that was glamorous. It wasn’t. Always moving from place to place. Never feeling she belonged.

  She frowned. They hadn’t even come with her, they had just dropped her off with a grandmother she barely knew and flew off again to who-knew-where. They sent postcards… sometimes.

  “Do you want to talk about it?” the wolf asked.

  Adriane made a face. “No.”

  “That probably means you should.”

  “What are you, my counselor or something?”

  Storm didn’t answer, and Adriane continued to lean against her, listening to the wolf’s heartbeat, feeling the way Storm’s chest moved in and out with each breath.

  “My parents stuck me here, and I won’t even see them till next summer,” she said quietly into the wolf’s soft fur. “They don’t want me.” There it was—she’d finally said the thing that had been a hard, hot ball of pain ever since she’d come to Stonehill.

  Her parents didn’t want her.

  Like Storm, she was alone.

  “You’re feeling sorry for yourself again, aren’t you?” Storm asked. “You get this funny look on your face.”

  “I do not.” Adriane sat up.

  Her long, dark hair fell over a scowling face. She knew she was acting like a grumpy two-year-old, gearing up to throw a tantrum. She tried to calm herself. “How come my closest friend in the world has four feet?”

  Storm gave a strange bark that Adriane recognized as wolfish laughter. “You’re just incredibly lucky.”

  Adriane grinned. “Did I miss out on the ‘plays well with other humans’ gene or something?”

  Storm touched her cool nose to Adriane’s cheek. “I was without a pack until I met you.”

  “What happened to the mistwolves, Storm?”

  “They vanished. I have some memories from Aldenmor, but I feel like I have always been here, connected to the forests of Ravenswood.”

  “Don’t you want to find out?”

  “Our paths have led to each other. And together we will find the answers we seek.”

  “I can’t even find you without a magic stone.”

  “You are my packmate. You will always find me.”

  “How can I be sure?”

  Storm’s warm golden eyes turned to look into Adriane’s dark ones. “Our bond is sure. Hold it tight and never let go.”

  “I won’t, Storm. Not ever.” She hugged the wolf, burying her face in the soft silver fur. “It’s everything.”

  “You must trust in your gifts.”

  “Sometimes you sound just like a human grown-up,” Adriane said.

  “There’s no need to be insulting,” Storm replied.

  Adriane snorted. Storm had been right, as usual. Talking about the things that bothered her always helped, even if it didn’t really solve them.

  “Life is moving all around us.” Storm jumped up, dissolved into mist, and vanished. “Don’t get left behind!” Her voice seemed to hang in the air where she had been sitting only a moment before.

  Adriane leaped to her feet and went after her friend, more determined than ever to be strong. Maybe in the process, she’d discover something all her own. A place where she truly belonged.

  WHERE WAS THAT wolf hiding? Adriane skidded to a stop at the edge of a large clearing. Ringed by magnificent oaks and pines, the field rustled with the wispy sigh of meadow grass and wildflowers.

  This was the field where they’d discovered the portal, hidden by magic they could not yet control. Closing her eyes and concentrating hard, she held up her braceleted arm and moved slowly in a circle, scanning the trees, thinking not of the jewel itself, but of what she wanted it to help her do: focus on Storm, her friend.

  The wolf stone sparked to life with an amber glow.

  The sharp image of crystal-blue water flashed in Adriane’s mind. Mirror Lake.

  “I’ve got you,” she called out, laughing.

  “Then come and get me.” The wolf’s voice filled her mind.

  Adriane stepped into the field, focusing on Storm’s image.

  Flash!

  The wolf stone flared with light as the forest faded around her.

  Holding up her wrist, Adriane spun in a circle. “Storm, I’m going to find you,” she called out.

  Trees swept past her field of vision in a blur.

  Flash!

  She felt the soft padding of paws hitting the hard earth in long strides.

  Adriane pushed hard, closing her eyes, and the wolf stone blazed with light.

  Flash!

  The sudden smell of damp wood filled her nose; the leaves beneath her feet felt cool and damp.

  Feeling the magical connection grow, Adriane willed herself with all her might to find her friend—

  It was as if a door suddenly flew open.

  She opened her eyes and every detail of the forest came into sharp focus. Adriane staggered, overwhelmed with sights and sounds, tastes and smells, sensations unlike anything she had ever experienced. It felt as if she was no longer was in her own body. She was low to the ground, mighty muscles corded and taut, ready to leap and run with the strength of a wolf.

  She was a wolf, running free, the wolfsong filling her heart with a power she had never dreamed possible.

  “Storm!” she cried out.

  Two wild hearts beat as one, a hunter without prey, a warrior without purpose, a lone wolf without a family, never to hear the yelps of pups, the last of her kind.

  Caught in a whirlwind of feelings she could not control, Adriane threw back her head and howled. The sound tore from her throat, feral and wild, echoing through the forests and beyond.

  Before her, the portal in the field swirled open. How could it have opened? The sparkling dreamcatcher hung in front of the portal, floating in the air before a spinning tunnel of stars.

  From somewhere across the astral planes, the wolfsong answered her call.

  Head lowered, Adriane turned and saw a mistwolf shimmer into existence. A huge black wolf stood in the field. He raised his black-ruffed head and howled.

  Could this really be another mistwolf? Was Storm not the last of her kind?

  Adriane ran toward him. “Who are you?”

  The wolf backed away, the fur of his ruff standing out threateningly. Fiery golden eyes narrowed as she approached.

  “I am Moonshadow, pack leader of the mistwolves. Who dares to call the wolf pack?” The wolf’s lip curled, revealing long, sharp teeth.

  Adriane stopped short. “I am packmate to a mistwolf.”

  The wolf snarled, then te
nsed, ready to strike. “Humans do not belong with mistwolves.”

  As if possessed, Adriane snarled back, an inhuman cry. Her stone flashed golden fire on her wrist and she instinctively leaped for the wolf.

  Silver mist flashed in front of her and Storm appeared, teeth bared.

  The two wolves faced each other.

  “Stand aside, the human has challenged me,” the strange mistwolf called.

  Storm glared fiercely at the other wolf. “She is my packmate. Her fight is my fight.”

  “You belong with us,” the pack leader said, a strange sadness to his tone.

  “You cannot be real. There are no others.”

  The giant black wolf threw back his head and howled. Behind him, dozens of mistwolves appeared from the portal. Blue, black, white, silver, golden, female, male, and pup, they stood looking at Storm. Suddenly, they lifted their heads and howled as one.

  Storm answered. And the wolfsong filled the field.

  Adriane wanted to feel it, to share it with her friend. She threw her head back and howled with them. The wolves suddenly fell silent and faced the girl.

  Adriane stifled her howl, self-consciously aware that she was not a part of the pack.

  “This is a time of peril for all mistwolves,” the pack leader said to Storm. “You must run with us now.”

  Adriane’s world began to crumble. She understood the joy that filled Storm’s heart and the white-hot fear that filled her own.

  Storm locked eyes with her. “I must follow the call of the wolfsong.”

  Adriane lowered her head.

  “Be strong, warrior.”

  Adriane felt tears running down her face. “Take me with you.”

  “That is not possible,” the pack leader said. “The mistwolf belongs with her own kind.”

  Adriane felt numb. How could she stand in the way of her friend discovering the most important thing in her life? If Storm left, she’d feel deserted by her best friend. If she made Storm stay, she’d feel worse. She braced herself as Storm went to stand by the pack leader.