“The sorceress must be stopped,” Marina’s watery voice chimed.
“Aldenmor must be healed,” Ambia whispered.
“What is… the drake?” Adriane asked.
“A dragon,” Ambia breathed.
“A red crystal dragon,” Marina added, magic sparkling through her watery shape. “They hatch once every thousand years.”
“A dragon?” The boy looked horrified. “Windy died to bring a dragon here? They are vicious and horrible creatures!”
“The drake is a very powerful creature. When dragons hatch, they imprint, bond deeply, with the first person they see. The sorceress intended the hatchling to imprint on her, giving her magic of unimaginable power.” Gwigg shuddered, bits of sticks and dirt falling to the ground.
“That’s why the sorceress wants magical animals?” Adriane asked.
“Yes.”
“The unicorn would have fallen if not for the blazing star.” Ambia swirled around Adriane.
Adriane thought of Kara. She’d give anything to see that bright smile right now, even though, only a day ago, she would have been happier to wipe it off that smug face. She felt a sharp sting of homesickness. She missed her friends. “Can you send me home?” she asked the Fairimentals.
“Yes.”
Adriane’s heart leaped.
“Your destiny is clear, Adriane,” Marina said.
“How do you know me?”
“You wear the wolf stone. You have made it yours.”
“Wolf stone? That’s a wolf stone?” the boy asked.
“My friend… that I’m looking for, is not exactly human,” Adriane said to him.
“What is she?” he asked, his hands balled into fists.
“A mistwolf.”
Zach’s ruddy complexion reddened and his eyes blazed with anger. “A mistwolf!” he spat and stalked away.
Adriane, confused and hurt, looked to the Fairimentals.
“Zachariah was raised by mistwolves.” Ambia’s voice blew like cool wind.
This time it was Adriane’s turn to feel shock. Moonshadow had said a human had been responsible for killing the pack mother.
Adriane ran after the boy. The time had come for secrets to be revealed.
WILDFLOWERS SWIRLED AROUND Adriane as she walked down the lush path in pursuit of Zach. Wide, lustrous leaves of purple, pink, and blue sprouted everywhere, lending the glade a gleam of rainbow brilliance. She wished she could explore this extraordinary place, and she had about a million questions for the Fairimentals. But she had to find Storm and get home. Her Gran was used to her going off on her own, but she would certainly worry before too long. Hopefully, Emily and Kara were covering for her.
The path led to a grassy meadow. In the center stood an enormous tree, giant branches stretching out in all directions from a trunk as thick as a house. In fact, it was a house—a tree house. Wooden platforms were cleverly hidden amidst the green boughs. They were connected by natural stairways made of branches and covered by foliage thick enough to keep out any rain or cold, although she wondered if there was really ever any bad weather here.
Zach was sitting on a platform two levels up, gazing out over the Fairy Glen.
“Hi,” Adriane said shyly as she approached.
The boy remained silent.
“Can I come up and sit with you a while?”
“Suit yourself.”
Adriane climbed up to join him. The platform formed the floor of a large room. Branches had grown around and through the floor, forming tree chairs and even a tree bed, with a mattress piled thick with soft leaves. Thinner branches hung down the sides, like green curtains.
“This is an amazing tree!” she exclaimed.
“This is Okawa,” he told her.
She looked around. She didn’t see anyone.
She pointed at the tree questioningly. Zach nodded.
She studied the enormous tree. Gran had always spoken about nature spirits but Adriane refused to believe her, shrugging it off as just plain weird. Yet this tree was very much alive. She could feel it.
Adriane politely bowed. “Hello, Okawa. I am honored to meet you.”
The great tree rustled, and a few of the smaller branches seemed to bend in toward Adriane, enfolding her in the fresh green scent of leaves.
“He likes you,” the boy observed.
“I like him, too.” Adriane sat next to Zach and looked out at the lake. “I feel so protected here, so safe.”
He cracked open a hard-shelled fruit that looked like a small red coconut and handed her half. “Okawa has taken care of me for a long time.”
Adriane took the shell and drank the milky liquid inside. It was sweet and delicious.
“Thank you,” she said.
“You can also eat the stuff inside, it’s good.”
As they ate, Adriane noticed an old steamer trunk next to them. It was open and she could see clothes, some old books, a spyglass, and a few assorted tools.
“What’s all this?” she asked, indicating the trunk.
“It belonged to my parents.”
She reached in and picked up a photograph set in a brass frame. Two smiling, proud parents holding a laughing baby in their arms looked out at her.
“That’s me,” Zach said.
“The baby, I take it.” She smiled.
The corner of Zach’s mouth twitched slightly upward.
Adriane noticed an old pocket watch. “May I?”
He nodded.
She examined the watch. It was engraved in script lettering: “To Alexander, always yours, Graziela.”
“A gift to my father from my mother,” he explained.
“It’s beautiful.” She put it down and studied the boy. “How old are you, Zach?”
“I don’t know.”
“When was your last birthday?”
“What do you mean?”
“You know, birthdays… with birthday parties?”
Zach looked puzzled.
“You’ve never had a birthday party?”
“No.”
“Well, it’s fun. You wear silly hats and your friends give you gifts.”
“My friend is dead.”
“I’m really sorry… ” Adriane felt her eyes brim with tears and quickly wiped them away.
“It wasn’t your fault,” Zach said.
They sat watching the sunlight play across the lake.
“Zach… tell me about the mistwolves.”
“No!” Anger raged, threatening to boil over within the boy. He jumped up and walked away.
“Please, Zach. My friend is still alive. Won’t you help me find her?”
Zach walked to Okawa’s massive trunk, reaching for its strength.
“My parents were magic users,” he said into the tree.
Adriane’s eyes opened wide.
“They were killed when I was a baby. I was found by the mistwolves.” He turned around, leaning his back against Okawa. “The pack mother, Silver Eyes, took me in and raised me. She taught me to run with the pack and to sing the wolfsong… ” His eyes were dark with sadness. “She loved me, and I loved her like my mother.”
Adriane sat quietly, hardly breathing.
“I was the runt and my pack brother did not trust me. Now he is the pack leader.”
Adriane flashed on the black wolf that had taken Storm… Moonshadow.
“A witch had begun using magic in terrible ways. We knew she was once human. Moonshadow believed humans did nothing but bring sadness and destruction. He thought I would bring ruin and death to the pack… and one day I did.”
He slid to the floor, knees raised to cover his face.
“More than anything, I wanted to find the monster that had killed my human parents. I became obsessed with hunting it down. I thought that if I could prove my courage, Moonshadow would accept me in the pack… ” He paused to steady his breathing.
“I was hunting in the Shadowlands with several of the pack when I found the creature. I was so full of ha
te, I thought nothing for my packmates. Instead of avenging my parents, I… I led the wolves into a trap… ” He faltered.
“What happened to them?” Adriane asked after a few seconds.
“I was the only one who escaped.” The boy buried his head in his knees.
“One of the fallen wolves was Silver Eyes… my wolf mother.”
Adriane sat quietly.
Zach took a deep breath, calming himself. “Moonshadow sent me away. He said I would never be a wolf brother. I wandered for a long time until I met the elves. They took me in and fed me and brought me here, to the Fairimentals. I began my work for them, scouting, acting as their eyes and ears. When I found Windy, he was just a pup, caught in a trap. His parents had been killed, also. We’ve been together ever since… until today.”
Adriane slowly rocked back and forth, hugging herself. “I never see my parents,” she told Zach. “They might as well be dead. If it wasn’t for Storm, I don’t know what I’d do. And now, she’s gone. She left me to run with the pack.”
The boy sat watching her. “So we’re both alone,” he finally said.
“What’s happened here, Zach? To Aldenmor.”
“There was some kind of explosion in the Shadowlands. Since then the Black Fire has been spreading.” He rose suddenly and walked to the edge of the platform, gazing out over the Fairy Glen. “Everything’s changing so fast. Aldenmor is in terrible danger.”
“Those poor animals I saw in the valley,” Adriane whispered.
“Wilderbeasts. They once roamed all over that area, herds of them. Not anymore. And more animals are going to die if she is not stopped.” His eyes blazed. “That is what I fight for.”
Adriane stood up and joined him. “The Fairimentals must be proud of you.”
“No. That’s why they need you.” He looked down. “I’m not good with magic.”
“People have different ways of using magic,” Adriane said. “My friend Kara, back on Earth, she doesn’t have a gemstone, and she makes all kinds of magic just by being who she is.”
Zach listened intently.
“The way the Fairimentals treat you, the way Okawa cares for you… the way the Elven sword comes to life in your hands. Zach, everything about you is magic.”
“No. You heard the Fairimentals. You have the gift, not me.”
“Zach,” Adriane said, searching his eyes. “I saw the way you were with Windy. You loved him. As much as I love Storm. I may not know much, but I have learned this: magic always starts here.” She placed her hand on the boy’s heart.
He looked at her hand, then into her eyes.
“I’m so sorry Windy is gone,” Adriane continued. “But you have to go on. The Fairimentals need you… I need you.”
“You… do?” he asked, eyes wide.
Adriane looked away. “You’re everything I’ve always dreamed of being. Strong, confident, independent.” She turned to him again. “And you understand what’s going on around here. How are we supposed to figure this all out without your help?”
“I’m not going back to the mistwolves.”
“But it wasn’t your fault. It was a horrible accident.”
“You don’t know that!”
Adriane took his hands in hers. “You could come back to Earth with me. You’d meet lots of friends and you could go to school and learn all kinds of things.”
“You think I could fit in there?” he asked uncertainly.
Adriane smiled at him. “If I can, you sure can.”
Zach didn’t return the smile. He dropped her hand, turned, and walked to the branch stairway. “I’m going to take care of Wind Dancer.”
“Can I help?”
“No,” he answered sharply, then his voice softened. “I want to say good-bye alone.”
Adriane understood and respected his wish. She watched as he started down. “Zach,” she called after him.
He stopped.
“I’m going to find Storm.”
“I know,” he said, and walked away.
THE BRIGHT SPECKLED egg sat on the sandy shores patiently waiting as Adriane walked back to the lake. Colors swirled through the shell as she approached. She knelt down and patted it.
“It’s time for me to go,” she explained.
The egg quivered slightly.
“You have to stay here. The Fairimentals will take care of you now.”
Deep blues and purples moved across the shell as the egg leaned into Adriane’s arms.
“C’mon, now don’t get like that. You’re going to make me all sad again.” But she was already crying. She hugged the egg. “Thank you, Drake,” she said softly.
From the corner of her eye, she caught the flutter of air. She could just make out the hovering, translucent shape of Ambia.
“You have many questions,” the Air Fairimental said.
“Was the wolf stone meant for me?” Adriane asked, sniffling as she got to her feet.
“Nothing that happens is truly random.” Ambia’s cool voice brushed against Adriane.
“Why did you choose me?” Adriane asked.
“You are a warrior.”
“No, I’m not. I’m scared all the time,” she said angrily. “What kind of warrior is that?”
“The heart of a warrior is not measured by how strong you fight.” Marina rose in tinkling chimes out of the crystal blue waters. “It is your spirit that connects you to the magic.”
“Why me? The magic… I mean, don’t I get a choice?”
“Why did you come to Aldenmor?” Gwigg’s scratchy voice rose from the ungainly mass of twigs and dirt.
“To find Stormbringer,” Adriane said quietly.
“That is a choice of the heart.” Ambia smiled. “That is why you have been chosen to find Avalon.”
Avalon. It always came back to that mysterious place of legendary magic.
“What is Avalon?” Adriane asked.
“Everything around you… the sky, the earth beneath your feet, the magic itself… all are the forces of nature, of life. All are connected to Avalon,” Gwigg spoke. “We have called on you to help us find it. To make the magic new again.”
“If you can’t find it, how are we supposed to?” Adriane asked.
“We are elemental spirits of this world,” Ambia said. “We are bound to Aldenmor.”
Gwigg swept around Adriane. “Three will be tested,” the rough voice said. “One will follow her heart. One will see in darkness. And one will change, utterly and completely. This is the Prophecy of Three.”
Ambia swirled across the grass. “It will take three—a healer, a warrior, and a blazing star—to find Avalon and heal the sadness. Only after each has met their challenge will you be ready.”
“I don’t know how to help.” Adriane hung her head. “You need a knight, a hero, like Zach.”
“This is your journey, Adriane,” Ambia told her. “Even if you do not know, you know what is right.”
“I can’t do it without Storm.”
“The mistwolves must find their own destiny.” Gwigg spun close to Adriane and stopped. The Fairimental parted a thicket of leaves. A small, shining orb dangling from a metallic chain glistened.
“Give this to Moonshadow,” the Earth Fairimental said. “It is a gift to help the mistwolves find their way.”
Adriane took the sparkling orb from Gwigg and slipped it in her vest pocket.
“You must follow your path.” Ambia swirled around Adriane.
A flash of light caught her eye. It glowed between two giant trees that surrounded the glade.
The Fairimentals’ voices all blended together in a strange but beautiful harmony. “The magic is with you, now and forever.”
Adriane looked at the Fairy Glen. It was so beautiful, so peaceful. She wanted to just sit by the water and feel the magic of the Fairimentals wash over her. To answer all her questions. Instead, she turned and walked away, toward the twinkling light hovering gently between twin towering trees. Adriane felt her wrist for the wolf sto
ne and summoned her courage. She stepped into the light… and vanished.
THE SUDDEN BRIGHTNESS of snow-capped peaks made her shield her eyes. Temporarily disoriented, Adriane stood still, trying to get her bearings. She was on a hilltop near the base of the upper mountain ranges. To her right, great peaks rose above. To her left was the plateau that led to the smaller ranges. She could see the crisscross of gorges that ran like a ragged patchwork. She wondered which gorge Windy had hidden them in, and felt a stab of loss for the magnificent griffin.
She looked behind her, where she’d just been, and saw nothing unusual. Not even mist. The Fairimentals would take no chances that anything uninvited might find a way into the Fairy Glen. There would be no evidence, no signs, no clues to follow.
She zipped up her vest as a cool wind sent a chill through her. She felt something in her pocket. Startled for a second, she took out the sparkling orb given to her by the Fairimentals. Tiny stars twinkled in the small ball. It looked like a smaller version of the fairy map given to Kara by Phel; the map the girls had lost to the dark witch’s manticore. Was this the same thing? Maybe the mistwolves would know, if she could find them. She slipped the gift back into her pocket.
The landscape was sparsely scattered with rocks, wiry brush, and short, wind-twisted trees. Ahead lay hidden valleys covered in shifting, thick fog. This was a harsh environment. Suddenly Adriane thought she might have been a bit hasty leaving the Fairy Glen so soon.
Stay focused, she reminded herself. If the Fairimentals sent her here, the mistwolves must be close. She had no choice but to use the wolf stone to contact Storm. She would have to chance any magic trackers. She couldn’t just wander around without some direction.
She held up her wrist and concentrated, forming an image of Storm in her mind. Immediately, the gemstone pulsed with golden light.
“Stormbringer,” she called softly. “Where are you?”
Adriane stretched out, reaching harder.
The smell of earth filled her senses. Cool grass cushioned her feet. She felt dizzy suddenly as the landscape moved past her. Gray shapes came into focus in front of her eyes—in front of Storm’s eyes.
“Storm!”
She was running up a hill with several other wolves.
Cry of the Wolf (Avalon: Web of Magic #3) Page 7