Mages and bondeds made their way into a stone-walled antechamber. Marble pillars marked the way to the main chambers.
They came to a stop in an enormous room gleaming with black marble floors. Red stained glass windows lined the upper levels. A long swath of midnight velvet led to an intimidating ebony throne.
A cloud of mist morphed into wolf form and padded across the floor, sniffing for danger.
“Still decorating from Dungeons ’R Us,” Kara observed, dusting herself off.
“She’s not here,” Emily stated flatly.
Adriane nodded. “Still in Avalon then.”
Kara scanned the empty throne room. “Your spell must have cleared the whole place.”
“It only hit the guards outside.” Emily and Buttercup had moved to another corridor to the right of the throne. “Whoever was in here ran from something else. Up there.” The healer peered at a narrow staircase spiraling up into darkness.
Dreamer crouched by her side, hackles raised. “Something foul.”
The mages’ jewels all pulsed in sync, a deep red signal of danger.
“Stay together,” Adriane ordered, making her way up the staircase.
At a signal from the warrior, Dreamer and Lyra brushed past, sniffing carefully for traps.
Goldie clung to Kara’s neck, ready to protect the blazing star.
Jewel light played against the stone walls in a carousel of color that made the mages feel even more claustrophobic inside the curving stairwell.
Emily’s jewel suddenly whirled to a dark purple bruise as they ascended the last steps. Chills prickled up and down her arms. “Dark magic.”
“Where?” Adriane asked.
An empty hallway stretched before them. Starlight danced through rows of windows glittering in the dank air. Pinpoints of magic grasped at the perimeters of the healer’s mind, converging dead ahead.
“In there.”
Sweeping bands of jewel light illuminated a wooden door at the hallway’s end.
Buttercup growled and wedged himself in front of Emily.
“Dreamer, with me.” Adriane glanced at the others. “The rest stay here.”
Locked into her packmate’s heightened senses, the warrior silently crept forward, mistwolf by her side. At her touch, the door creaked open ominously. Shadows rippled as flickering torchlight spilled from the room. Something flew past the door, slithering across the ceiling, vanishing into the hallway. It was so fast, it could have been a trick of the light.
The mages whirled around. They had all seen it. But what was it?
Streams of jewel light lit every corner.
Right above them, trapped in the light, was a slimy black ink blot with hideous pulsing tentacles. With a siphoning hiss, the creature absorbed the light, plunging the corridor into darkness.
“Shadow creature!” Kara cried.
The thing flew at the mages, but Dreamer and Lyra intercepted the attack, tearing at it with teeth and claws.
Dreamer howled as the shadow creature melted over him like a black leech. Dripping needles pierced his skin, paralyzing his cries to a whimper.
Magic exploded in the corridor.
“Hold your fire!” Adriane snarled. “You’ll hit Dreamer!”
Blue magic flew from the rainbow jewel. “Help me heal it!” Emily cried.
Buttercup bounded in front of her, shaking his head. “Baaaadogggg!”
But his warning came too late. Emily screamed as the creature leeched into her magic, twisting it to the core. The creature had no aura, no light at all. Only a bottomless black hole of pure violence.
“Emily!” Kara tried to help her friend, but her bright magic was pulled into the thing with such force, she could barely break away.
“Kara!” Goldie spun overhead.
Slashing and snarling, Lyra struggled to free Dreamer from the deadly attack.
“Stand back!” Adriane yelled. Silver light burst around her body. In a flash, the warrior turned to mist and shot into her bonded. Suddenly Dreamer vanished, only to reappear across the room. Shrieking in fury, the shadow creature flew at the blazing star.
Kara was thrown backward, diamond pink exploding from her jewel. Windows shattered in a hail of colored shards. But instead of injuring it, Kara’s blast only strengthened the nightmarish thing. Sucking in the magic of the blazing star, it doubled in size.
Kara scrambled to her feet and grabbed Goldie. “No good, it’s feeding on our magic!”
Emily’s mind flashed to the sea wolves attacking defenseless creatures in the oceans of Aldenmor. Like those predators, she could not heal the shadow creature. This thing was a ruthless killer that only cared about taking magic from its victims.
Emily knew there was only one choice.
“Stay with me,” she told Buttercup as her hazel eyes shaded to black.
With surprising ease, her rainbow jewel glistened blood-red. She reached for the creature, the darkness flooding her veins.
Its bloodcurdling shriek abruptly stopped as it disintegrated in a haze of smoke.
Voracious hunger ripped through Emily. The dark power had infected her and wanted more magic. Buttercup fought to hold her, but it was not enough. She was slipping over the edge. Power radiating in dark waves, Emily descended on Dreamer, covering his black fur in a blanket of red magic. Silver light whipped from his body, absorbed into the twisted rainbow jewel.
“Emily, you’ll kill him!” the warrior screamed, wolf fire exploding from her jewel.
Adriane and Kara grabbed hold of their friend, draping her in a blanket of silver and pink. Buttercup, Lyra, and Goldie added their magic, struggling to give the healer the strength she needed.
Emily eyes cleared to bright hazel.
The downed mistwolf lay panting on the ground, his silver aura frayed and torn. But Emily quickly rewove the beautiful pattern, spreading it back over the mistwolf. As Dreamer’s aura shone true, Emily’s jewel phased to green, then blue. All traces of darkness were swallowed by her pure healing light.
The healer’s heart pounded in her chest. It was as if she had been watching herself, helpless as the darkness took over. She may not have become a dark mage permanently, but the cold hunger for magic lay buried inside, waiting to strike.
Dreamer stretched and stood, eyes bright. “Thank you, healer.”
Adriane hugged her packmate, then met Emily’s haunted eyes.
“Logan was right,” the healer said faintly. “Dark magic kills them.”
“Guys, over here!” Kara was through the door, her eyes wide with shock. Emily and Adriane hurried to her side.
An old man lay sprawled on the floor, his skin as pale as the thin white hair on his head. His skeletal ribs barely moved with the weak breath rattling between his cracked lips.
“It’s him!” Kara gasped.
Though they had never met him, the healer, the warrior, and the blazing star all knew they were looking for the first time upon Henry Gardener, the wizard who should have been their mentor.
TWO FULL MOONS rose in the night sky, casting shimmering silver light through the Black Forest. A chorus of croaks and chirps punctuated the cold breeze.
Henry Gardener huddled under a blanket beside the crackling campfire, clutching a cup of steaming broth. An expression of sheer amazement passed over his gaunt face. Three mages, a mistwolf, a winged cat, two dragons, a mini dragon and a—thing—were all staring at him expectantly.
“Is that a fairy dragon?” the wizard asked.
“This is Goldie.” Kara patted the mini’s head.
Goldie hopped to Gardener’s knee, twirled, and bowed.
“Fantastic!” Gardener’s eyes twinkled with glee.
“You bet,” Goldie replied.
Gardener studied the blazing star for a moment, then shifted his gaze to Emily, then Adriane.
“It’s simply incredible, you’re bonded to all these animals. And dragons!” He eyed the huge red and black dragons. “I thought they were extinct.”
&
nbsp; “PfffffT!” Gwyx pfffted, irritated. “Another human. It’s like a plague.”
“That’s Gwyx. And this is Drake, my baby boy.” Adriane stroked Drake’s soft, scaly neck as he hung his head over her shoulder.
“You must be Adriane.” Gardener turned his gaze to the warrior. “You have your grandmother’s eyes.” The wizard regarded the black mistwolf sitting by her side. “You’ve bonded with a dragon and a mistwolf?”
“I am the warrior’s packmate, Dreamer,” the mistwolf said.
“He’s magnificent.”
“And this is Lyra.” Kara ran her hand over the big cat’s silky back.
The deep lines in Gardener’s face had softened, and his bright blue eyes shone with a brilliance that belied his age. “Now I understand why you have done so well.” His eyes misted suddenly. “I am honored to meet you all. My name is Henry Gardener.”
“We know,” Emily said, refilling his cup.
“He was supposed to protect Ravenswood and help us learn about magic,” Adriane told Drake with a hint of anger.
Gardener smiled sadly. “Things don’t always work out as planned.”
Kara scowled. “All we ever saw were a bunch of paintings in the manor that look like you.”
“That’s because they are me.”
“But that’s impossible!” Adriane exclaimed. “Those go back to the founding of Ravenswood which would make you over 200 years old!”
The wizard sighed. “That is how long I have lived at Ravenswood.”
Emily eyed him warily. “Are you telling us you’re immortal?”
“Hardly.” The wizard stretched his old limbs. “But I believe the magic has kept me alive for a reason.”
“Why did you leave Ravenswood?” Adriane demanded.
“Where have you been?” Kara asked.
“Why were you with the Dark Sorceress?” Emily queried.
“Hawttdog?” Buttercup offered a half-chewed treat.
Gardener held up his palm. “I know you have many questions but first, I must know this.” He studied Kara. “What of the sorceress’s plans?”
Kara met his gaze levelly. “She’s inside Avalon.”
“I was afraid of that,” he sighed. “Yet I can see you remain together, even after opening the gates.”
Kara’s eyes narrowed. “Oh, you mean did one of us turn into a dark mage?”
“That is the prophecy, yes.”
“I did,” Emily said before the others could answer.
“The healer.” Gardener shook his head, confused. “But the sorceress always planned to turn the blazing star.”
Emily took a breath and explained. “The Spider Witch got to me first. She trapped me in a spell and I helped her weave a new magic web.”
His piercing blue eyes locked on Emily. “To become the dark mage you would have had to kill your bonded.”
“She’s fine now,” Adriane said protectively.
“Better than fine!” Kara added.
“Goodogg!” Buttercup insisted.
Emily spoke quietly. “I didn’t really kill Ozzie.”
Gardner looked over the group. “Ozzie?”
“An elf sent by the Fairimentals to help us,” Kara explained. “They disguised him as a ferret.”
“I thought I killed him,” Emily continued. “But I only removed the ferret spell. Now he’s back at his village in Farthingdale.”
“Interesting,” Gardner said thoughtfully.
“Hello, it would have been nice to know that one of us would be a dark mage!” Kara fumed.
“Would you have completed your quest if you had known?” Gardener asked. “Each time, the Fairimentals thought the new mages could break the cycle.”
Adriane glared at the wizard. “So why did you leave Ravenswood?”
Gardener set down his cup and shrugged the blanket off his shoulders. He seemed to be getting stronger with every passing minute.
“I went looking for the power crystals,” he said. “What I found was Aldenmor in terrible danger.” He held up his hand before the mages could continue their questions. “Let me start at the beginning.”
The mages and animals settled in around the campfire.
“It was in the Ravenswood forest that I first discovered magic. I was about your age, and at that time, the manor belonged to an old English couple. I was an apprentice to the stable master. In those woods I met a mistwolf, Chain. He had been drawn to the powerful magic of Ravenswood. He was scouting out the forest for other animals to follow. He took me through the portal to Aldenmor. There I discovered more incredible animals. And not just animals. Races as different from humans as the magical animals were from the animals of Earth. Fairy, warlock, goblin, troll, and many variations in between, each with different capabilities to control magic. Most amazing of all, I met the Fairimentals. They told me about the magic web, and that it was growing weak. If Avalon, the source of all magic, could not be found, it would get worse and eventually fade away along with the magic. They said that of all magic users, none were as powerful as a human bonded with animals. My mission was to find three mages: a healer, a warrior, and a blazing star. Together with the animals, they would open the Gates of Avalon—and save the magic web.”
“The Fairimentals sent Ozzie to find us,” Emily said suddenly, looking at Gardener. “Just like they sent you to find three mages.”
“The more I learned about mage magic, the more I wanted to bond with an animal. But that was not to be. Instead I studied jewel crafting with a warlock master.”
“That’s why you had all those crystals in your secret workshop at Ravenswood,” Adriane said, drawing the wizard’s attention. “We found the data crystal with the recordings of Stormbringer.”
“You know her?” Gardener asked eagerly.
“She is my paladin,” the warrior replied, holding her silver jewel in the light. “And the spirit protector of Ravenswood.”
“I knew she was special,” the wizard murmured.
“I thought the Ravenswood portal opened right before we got there,” Emily said.
“The portal is immensely powerful. I didn’t know how to open it. But the animals could. Many crossed back and forth for years.”
“More than likely starting a few legends about the haunted woods,” Kara speculated.
“Did the sorceress and the Spider Witch live near Ravenswood too?” Kara asked.
“I met Miranda and her sister, Lucinda, on Aldenmor. Their grandparents were mages who traveled back and forth between Aldenmor and Earth. Miranda was headstrong, sharp-tongued, a warrior. She was clever, eager to acquire magic any way she could. Her sister Lucinda was different; she was a visionary who saw great goodness and hope in the magic. She had made her home in the Fairy Realms, which at the time was nothing but separate races all squabbling and fighting. Lucinda helped build the realms into the Five Kingdoms. She was honored with the title of Fairy Queen, and was loved by many as the blazing star.”
Gardener’s eyes gleamed in the firelight as he recalled his old friends.
“I discovered Sylvan in Virginia when I heard about the girl who could read people’s minds and miraculously heal the sick. I knew I’d found my three mages, and I brought them to the Fairimentals.”
Adriane stoked the fire. “How many mages came before us?”
Gardener shook his head. “I don’t really know. No one before us had succeeded in opening the Gates of Avalon. But we had to try.”
“So you made the nine power crystals,” Kara prompted.
“The key.” Gardener nodded. “I had the idea of combining the magic of the animals with jewels. And that’s when Miranda started to change. She had bonded with a very powerful cat, named Faylinn. They were always fighting for control of their magic. I should have seen it coming…”
Emily spoke quietly, “The Dark Sorceress said only a dark mage could enter Avalon.”
“Miranda had a talent for finding less than reputable magic masters in places like Port Tuga. It was there s
he uncovered the dark prophecy. Of all those who tried before us, one mage had always turned dark. She never understood that the dark mages made the other quests fail.”
“But some of the power crystals were dark,” Adriane pointed out, regarding the wizard suspiciously.
“Believe me, they were not intended to be dark crystals,” Gardener assured her. “On the day we tried to open the gates, Miranda sealed her fate as the dark mage.”
“She killed her own bonded,” Emily whispered.
Gardener closed his eyes as if to block the memory. “In that one terrible moment, the power crystals turned dark. Sylvan and Miranda fought, but Miranda turned the dark magic on Sylvan, horribly transforming her.” He stopped short, as if continuing the story was too painful.
“And Lucinda?” Kara asked breathlessly.
“Lucinda tried to stop it but she was caught in the blast of magic and…” Gardener broke off, a haunted look shadowing his features. He took a shaky breath and continued. “The Fairimentals knew what had happened and took the power crystals away. They hid the island so Miranda could not find the Gates again.”
“And she’s been trying to find it ever since,” Kara realized.
“What did you do?” Emily asked Gardener.
“I returned to Ravenswood. I purchased the land in 1810. The magical animals stopped coming, and without their magic, I could not open the portal back to Aldenmor. All I could do was wait, hoping there would be new mages to begin the quest again.”
“You must have started wondering if new mages would ever show up,” Emily said.
“I kept busy studying crystals, trying to learn the secret of bonding with the mistwolves.” He smiled at Dreamer and Adriane.
The warrior hugged her packmate close.
“Then one day, about two years ago, the portal at Ravenswood suddenly opened.”
“Just before I came,” Adriane told him.
“Animals from Aldenmor were seeking sanctuary in Ravenwsood, telling stories of a terrible dark mage destroying their home. I knew their arrival meant new mages would be coming. I jumped through to find the power crystals. But something was terribly wrong on Aldenmor. Portals were shifting, the web was in a rapid decay. And worst of all, Miranda had evolved into the Dark Sorceress. She captured me before any of you even got to Ravenswood.”
Full Circle (Avalon: Web of Magic #12) Page 8