The griffin screeched up at the skies.
“Let’s go!” Zach yelled at her.
Adriane skidded over to the egg, grabbed it, and hoisted it up to Zach. He stared at it for a moment, then took it, and reached for Adriane. Gripping his hand, she threw her leg over the back of the griffin and pulled herself up behind Zach.
Explosions rocked the riverbank as fire rained around them.
With a ferocious beat of his wings, the griffin was off the ground, Adriane barely holding on. Windy rose into the sky and stopped, hovering in place.
A dozen winged creatures had swarmed into a line across the top of the gorge, blocking their escape.
“Gargoyles!” Zach breathed.
Adriane could make out what at first looked like big, hairy, flying apes. Then she saw pointed leathery wings flap in the air, and wicked-looking bony horns that ran down their arms, backs, and legs. She could see their fierce, blazing eyes bearing down on them.
Windy circled. There was no way out.
The monsters advanced, flying slowly into the gorge.
Zach was desperately searching for an alternate escape route. “We can’t get through them!”
A booming voice cut through the air. It was loud and gravelly and completely undecipherable.
Windy squawked.
Zach told Adriane, “You were right. They want the egg. They want us to hand it over and they’ll let us pass.”
Adriane hugged the egg close. “This is your world. What do you want to do?”
The boy sighed. “I’m open to suggestions.”
Adriane scanned the ridgeline along the top of the gorge. She saw boulders balanced precariously along the edges. “Take us close to that wall,” she said, pointing to the far side of the canyon.
“We’ll be trapped over there!”
“I’m going to try and loosen those rocks on the ledge above,” she told him.
“With what?”
“With this,” she said, raising her wrist. The wolf stone pulsed with power. “If we can break their line, Windy can fly through the opening and we run like lightning.”
“That’s crazy!” Zach exclaimed.
“That’s my suggestion.”
The boy looked at the egg for a moment, then glanced back at Windy. The griffin snorted his vote.
“Okay, let’s do it.”
Zach guided Windy toward the far wall of the canyon. The strata reminded Adriane of sand sculptures, layered with pastel shades of green, red, and purple.
Adriane scanned the ridgeline. Huge boulders lined the lip, hanging over the drop. Remembering how she had used the power of her stone to move objects before, she focused on the largest of the rocks. In her mind, she saw it moving, breaking free of its ancient bed.
The gargoyles had turned their line toward them, advancing like flying nightmares. Green fire sizzled between them, forming into a fireball that danced over their heads.
Adriane concentrated harder and felt a familiar sensation, like she was pushing through water. But it was too thick, too hard to break through. A drop of sweat ran down her nose.
Zach glanced at her and up at the rocks above them. “Go for the small one.” He pointed to a spot below the boulder. “See? It’s wedged just under the cliff line.”
Adriane switched her focus to concentrate on the smaller rock… the water barrier felt thinner, and she pushed harder. The rock began to shake.
One gargoyle had flown forward in front of the others. The green fireball flew across them and landed in the leader’s claws.
“Hurry!” Zach yelled.
With a grunt, Adriane felt herself break through and the rock came free, tumbling out over the gorge. It landed on the head of the lead gargoyle and bounced off harmlessly.
Zach’s face fell and his shoulders slumped.
The gargoyles closed in, making harsh guttural sounds. They were laughing. They knew their prey was trapped.
A sudden, sharp grating sound echoed above them, stone against stone. Thunder reverberated across the canyon as the entire ridgeline crumbled, sending truck-sized boulders falling into the gorge. Before the gargoyles could react, their line was torn apart, crushed by the impact of the two-ton rocks. The six in the middle were swept away and vanished instantly. The others chaotically scattered in surprise. The fireball exploded, smashing the leader and two others into the canyon walls.
With a fierce yell, Zach spurred Windy forward. The griffin didn’t need any encouragement. He reared up and shot between the gargoyles, straight toward the top of the gorge.
The monsters were confused long enough for the griffin to break what remained of their line. But the last four were quick. They fell on Windy, tearing at the griffin’s wings with sharp claws. The griffin screeched in pain. Adriane was suddenly surrounded by the beating of leathery wings. She tried to shield her face, but long, sharp claws grabbed at the egg, trying to pry it loose from her arms. She gasped as wings beat around her head. One monster was on Zach; another had a stranglehold on the griffin’s neck, trying to drag him down. Adriane’s stomach lurched as the canyon walls tilted, the ground far below sweeping past at impossible angles.
A glint of steel flashed through the air. The gargoyle on Zach fell away, howling, one wing sliced from its body.
Windy was struggling to stay airborne as the other gargoyles swarmed over his head, trying to avoid the killing wrath of the boy’s sword.
Adriane kicked out, knocking the creatures away from her, and freeing her arm. Another dove at the egg, wrapping its claws around it. Blazing red eyes blinded her as razor teeth tried to snap at her neck. She screamed and golden fire exploded from her gemstone. The force threw the gargoyle off. The other swooped in and grabbed Adriane’s arms, pinning her gem against her waist. She couldn’t move her arm. She watched in horror as the monster unhinged its jaws, opening a mouth full of razor teeth. The creature leaned into her face—and suddenly its head was gone, removed from its body with one cleave of the boy’s sword. The monster’s body fell back, green gore spurting from its neck as it fell into the gorge.
The last monster came at them, flying in fast. With all of her might, Adriane swept her stone into an arc and whipped out a blaze of fire. The power smashed into the gargoyle, sending it careening into the canyon wall. With a shriek, it fell and vanished.
The griffin soared out of the canyon.
“You all right?” Zach called back.
Adriane was shaking so hard, she was sure she’d lose her grip. Yet, through her sweat and tears, she still clutched the egg, holding it tight.
Windy dove into open desert, gliding low and fast.
Adriane watched, as if in a dream, as Zach pulled a small container from the griffin’s collar. He bit off the lid, and poured dark, thick liquid onto Windy’s side. It was then that she saw deep gouges had been ripped through his flesh, leaving ragged green lines of glowing poison. Black Fire.
The griffin gave a violent squawk, sharp eyes now glazed with pain. The dark liquid covered the worst of the wounds.
“Is he okay?” Adriane asked worriedly.
“He’s hurt bad. I have to get him down before the poison reaches his heart.”
“I’m so sorry!” she cried out. “It’s all my fault!”
“Stop it!” the boy yelled. “Pull yourself together! We would have all been killed if you hadn’t done that trick!”
Adriane bent over the egg, wishing Emily were here to heal the brave griffin.
They coasted over a stretch of wide-open desert pocked with huge craters like the surface of the moon. The mountains towered in front of them as Zach guided Windy toward a pass between two of the tallest peaks.
“I’ve never seen creatures attack like that!” Zach said. “Whatever this thing is, they want it bad.”
“What do we do now?” Adriane asked.
“We have no choice. We’re going to the Fairy Glen.”
“But you tore up the map. How are we supposed to find the Fairimentals now?”
“I know where they are.”
Adriane’s eyes widened. What was Zach leading her into? She had no choice now but to trust his judgment.
She hugged the egg close, feeling the pulse of the new life within as they flew deeper into a world Adriane never could have imagined.
THE DESERT QUICKLY gave way to tree-covered foothills. Ahead, rivers fueled by melting snow flowed through a labyrinth of fjords that divided the upper mountain range. They were soon flying over fast-moving water, following rough, white-frothed rapids through twisting and turning ravines.
The griffin dipped suddenly, then regained his balance, snorting and gasping for air. Holding tight to the boy’s shirt, Adriane looked at Windy’s wounds. They were bad. Glowing green pulsed along thin arteries, fanning into the griffin’s wings. Whatever the boy had poured over them must have only dulled the pain. Adriane knew the courageous creature would never give up until his heart burst, and hers along with it.
Zach leaned low, calming the animal, whispering soothingly. Adriane couldn’t hear what he was saying, but she could see his hand stroking Windy’s neck.
“How much farther?” she asked worriedly.
The boy straightened up. “The Anvil’s just up ahead. It’s not an ideal entry, but it’s fast.”
They were flying low enough to feel the spray from the rapids tumbling and rolling beneath them. Adriane tried to release the tension in her shoulders and focused on the strange sword now sitting quietly in its leather sheath by the boy’s side. The intricately carved hilt was set with small, shimmering stones.
“I’ve never seen a sword like that,” she noted.
“It’s an Elven spirit sword.”
“Are you a warrior?”
“I fight when I need to.”
Adriane shuddered. “I hate it here. So many awful things. How can you fight for this?”
“That’s not what I fight for,” he said quietly.
The roar of rumbling water suddenly filled her ears as they crested the edge of a tremendous gorge. Beneath them was a cavernous opening in the earth completely surrounded by colossal waterfalls. It looked as if the gigantic circle of thundering water served as a drain for the entire world. Adriane gasped. These were the most awesome waterfalls she had ever seen.
She knew now why this place was called the Anvil. Water hammered ten stories down, crashing into an inferno of white mist far below.
Zach gently ran his hand over the griffin’s neck. “Which one, Windy?”
The griffin nodded his eagle head toward the largest of the mighty falls.
“Hang on. This is going to get a little bumpy,” Zach called back to Adriane.
“Where are we going?” Adriane screamed over the deafening noise.
“That one,” he yelled, pointing straight ahead.
Rainbows arced in the air, sparkling off spray from the booming falls. Behind, thousands of tons of water plummeted straight down, crashing into the abyss.
“We’re going around that?” Adriane cried in astonishment.
“No.”
“Oh.” She sighed with relief.
“We’re going through it.”
The griffin dove toward the center of the falls.
Before Adriane could question the sanity of this action, she was rocked violently forward as water thundered over them. For an instant, she felt the pounding pressure would pulverize them like tiny bugs. But nothing happened.
She slowly opened one eye. Then the other—and gasped.
Below were forests. Dense verdant forests that stretched forever under a brilliant sun. There were no waterfalls, no mountains.
“What happened?” she asked, her heart beating wildly.
“We took a shortcut,” he answered.
She looked down and her eyes opened wide at the sight of beautiful rolling hills and—farmlands? Villages? “You said there were no other people here!” she exclaimed.
“No other humans,” Zach corrected. “We’re over the Moorgroves, near Arapaho Wells. This is elf country.”
“Elves?” Adriane repeated in amazement. Ozzie had always insisted he was really an elf trapped in a ferret’s body, but the reality of it had never hit her—until now. There was a thriving civilization here, while death and horror threatened not a few moments away. Adriane shaded her eyes to block the sun, and saw mountains way off in the distance. She had no idea how far they had come.
“How did we get here?”
“Through a portal,” Zach said. “Aldenmor is riddled with them, if you know where to look. Probably like your world. In ancient times, some connected the worlds.”
“Some still do,” she said.
They had left the populated area and were above forests so thick Adriane couldn’t make out individual trees. Windy’s breathing was labored, and he wobbled dangerously, trying to keep airborne.
“We have to get him help!” Adriane yelled.
Zach wiped sweat from his eyes as he peered down at the trees below. “There, Windy,” he commanded, leaning over and pointing.
The griffin dove into green and everything went gray. They were in a blinding mist. Where had that come from? There had been no sign of it from above.
The jolt shook Adriane as Windy landed hard. Zach was off the griffin in a flash, checking his wounds.
Adriane slipped down to cool, moist earth and gently placed the egg on the ground. She recognized the place instantly. The magic glade at Ravenswood! She was home!
Then she realized that this was not the place she knew after all. It only looked like it. This glade was much larger. A deep-blue lake lay before her, its surface broken by sparkles of sunlight, twinkling like diamonds. Along the shoreline, willows swept delicate branches across the water. Tall trees surrounded the glade like a wall. And the meadows around them were filled with the rainbow flowers that had been brought to Earth by the great fairy creature, Phelonius.
“This is amazing!” She turned about in awe and stopped, her breath catching in her throat.
Windy lay on the ground. He wasn’t moving. Zach was kneeling quietly by his side, gently wiping dirt away from the griffin’s eagle head. The creature’s once sharp, clear bird eyes were closed and he wasn’t breathing.
“Oh no!” Adriane cried out.
The boy looked up, his cheeks stained with tears. “He’s gone.”
“But these flowers have healing magic!” She swept her arm over the field of rainbow flowers. “They can help him!”
Zach shook his head. “It’s too late. The strain to get us here was too much.”
Adriane ran to the griffin, forcing her magic stone to pulse with healing light. “Please,” she called in a hoarse whisper. “Emily, tell me what to do!”
But there was no answer. The griffin was gone and her wolf stone could not call on the power of Emily’s healing jewel.
“No!” She fell to her knees, crying.
A sound like tinkling bells drifted over her.
Adriane turned. A thin veil of mist lingered in the center of the lake, lit from behind by a single shaft of sunlight. She blinked. Through her tears, Adriane saw a girl standing about ten feet from shore—on the water. The figure was made of water, flowing blue and green, swirling up from the lake itself.
“The griffin was a brave warrior,” the watery figure said. The clear, pure water caught glints of sunlight as if the magic within sparkled.
Dust and dirt swirled behind Adriane. She covered her eyes. When she opened them, another figure stood next to her. It looked like tumbleweed woven together with twigs and leaves. Small branches stuck out at weird angles. “Sometimes magic can bring great loss,” the creature said in a rustling voice.
“Who are you?” Adriane asked, looking at the fantastical creatures.
“I am Gwigg, an Earth Fairimental,” the pile of twigs said, bits of leaves flying off it.
“I am Marina, a Water Fairimental,” the water girl said, gracefully gliding to the shore’s edge.
“You hav
e come a long way.” A light, airy breeze brushed past Adriane. She caught the translucent shape of something moving, flowing and hovering near her. “I am Ambia, an Air Fairimental,” the breezy shape said.
Zach stood up and approached the Fairimentals. “Windy died to get us here!” he yelled angrily. “Why couldn’t you help him?”
“The spirit of the griffin has come back to the magic,” Marina said, her voice like silky chimes.
“Spirits of the past will always guide us into our future,” Ambia whispered like the wind.
“Why did Windy have to die?” Zach cried, wiping tears from his face.
“We will weep with you,” the Fairimentals gently answered together, combining their voices into a melody that drifted into a breeze blowing across the Fairy Glen. The willows swayed, releasing hundreds of tiny flowers upon the crystal waters.
“It was my fault,” Adriane said, looking down at her boots, dark hair falling over her face. “If he and Zach hadn’t rescued me, Windy would still be alive.”
“Why did you send an elf to her planet?” Zach asked the Fairimentals, trying to make sense of what was happening.
“For her,” Marina answered.
“What’s so special about her?”
“We need human magic users,” Gwigg rustled.
“I’m human. I—” Zach kicked at the dirt. “I could learn magic, too!”
Ambia hovered around the boy. Adriane could just make out her shimmering shape. With a soft breeze, the Air Fairimental dried the tears on Zach’s face.
“There are many levels of magic,” Ambia said, her translucent shape glittering in the light.
Marina’s sparkling eyes focused on Adriane. “She has the ability to become a powerful mage.”
A mage? Ozzie had used that word. A mage was a human who used magic.
“Only through the bond with a magical animal can magic be mastered completely,” Marina said.
“And now my friend is gone.” Zach’s shoulders slumped.
“You have brought us the drake,” Gwigg said, his strange shape of twigs and leaves reforming as he spoke.
Adriane looked at the egg sitting silently by her feet. “The drake?”
“If the sorceress had gotten the drake, the balance of power would have shifted.”
Cry of the Wolf (Avalon: Web of Magic #3) Page 6