Emily took a deep breath and reached out for the Fairy Realms.“I need all of your help.”
“We’re ready, Emily,” Prince Lorren returned her call.
“We are all with you, healer!” cried the proud kings and queens, along with every pixie, spriggan, and sprite she had met in that magical realm. They had given the mages their support throughout the quest, and did not waver now.
Emily smiled with joy and relief as all the fairy magic flowed through her jewel.
She quickly realized the Spider Witch was nowhere to be found. Wherever her enemy was, the weaving was safe, still firmly under the healer’s control. Rose pink filled the phelower, adding to the rainbow of colors.
“Keep going,” Kara’s voice was filled with excitement.
“We’re almost there!” Adriane exclaimed.
Reaching out, Emily tentatively tested the key. But the dark portal would not open. Drake’s magic would come last, so where was she supposed to get more? Where had she not looked?
“Flup up!”
Buttercup’s aura sparked excitedly, tugging Emily’s awareness to a different part of the web. She shuddered. Buttercup was leading her toward the big red swath of the Otherworlds.
She had not seen it since the Spider Witch tricked her into weaving that dark place onto the web. One terrible mistake that had led her down the path to becoming the dark mage.
Emily recoiled, but Buttercup held her steady, shouting out his own magical call.
“Great witch,” a chorus of familiar voices answered.
The kobolds! Fear raced up her spine. They were grateful to her for healing their home, but like all dark creatures, they had a powerful desire for magic.
They sensed her now, and immediately responded. “We will give you our magic, great weaver,” the kobolds promised. “Without your help, we are surely lost.”
Emily gasped in wonder as magic flowed from the heart stone and into her weaving. Otherworld creatures like the kobolds never gave their magic to anyone! Yet here they were, freely offering their help. The kobolds had turned their dark powers around, using them for good. Buttercup bounced with glee as deep blue locked into place in the glowing phelower.
Emily was vaguely aware that she was trembling, her body exhausted by the strain of controlling so much magic. Still she forged on.
Her vision zeroed in on a single fiery aura: Drake.
The powerful creature eagerly sent his magic to the healer, chest puffed with pride. The phelower weaving sparkled like a rising sun.
Emily tried her key again. The dark shield held, locking the portal tight. It wasn’t enough.
The determined dragon tried to give her more, steam pouring from his nostrils with the effort. But he just didn’t have any more to give. In a burst, Drake’s red aura flickered, unable to sustain the tremendous weight of the magical weaving. Adriane and Dreamer stood by their bonded dragon, feeling his magic slip away.
“Drake, you can’t do it on your own. Find Dragon Home!” Adriane urged.
Emily loosened her hold on Drake and desperately searched the magic web for more dragons. But the creatures had hidden themselves well. Dragon Home was not there. And even if she found it, they would have to give their magic willingly to complete the key to Avalon.
“Emily, take my magic,” Drake snorted, even as his muscles shook.
“Drake, one dragon isn’t enough,” Emily told her friend.
“Yes, it is.” Steely determination rang in the dragon’s strained voice.
“Drake!” Adriane cried. “Back off, now!”
But the brave dragon ignored her, sending more of his magic.
A wave of sickness washed over Emily: she realized what Drake meant. There was only one way a single dragon could generate enough magic to finish the portal.
“No!” Adriane’s scream shook Emily’s weaving to the core. The warrior fought to give her bonded strength to finish the key, but it was not enough.
“Mama, you have to open the portal before it’s too late.” Drake’s golden eyes met his mama’s.
Kara’s eyes flashed with dread. “There has to be another way!”
“You know there isn’t.”
“Drake, I can’t,” Emily whispered.
The healer felt her weaving shift, wobbling in and out of shape, the colors bleeding into each other before snapping back again. The key was starting to fall apart.
The courageous dragon’s aura surrounded Emily. “You have to.”
Emily had to finish it now or lose their only chance to enter Avalon.
Adriane stood by her bonded, enfolded in his wings.
“I love you, Mama.”
Emily gathered Drake’s aura in her trembling hands, watching as he poured everything into her brightly glowing jewel. Magic left his body in waves of fire, until it was only connected by a thin, taut strand. One final pull and the key would be complete.
Once again, a bonded animal would be sacrificed. Only this time it would be for real. Even though Drake was offering himself, he would still be killed by Emily’s hand.
The mages locked eyes. They could not afford to hesitate.
“Do it, Emily!” the dragon’s pained voice pleaded. “Now!”
A great flash of light rocketed across the magic web, nearly knocking Emily off her feet. Powerful magic swirled around her as a giant black dragon landed in the circle.
“Brother Gwyx?” Drake asked, astonished.
“I knew you would try something stupid like this. Sacrificing yourself for the humans. Unbelievable!” The black dragon stood haughtily, teeth bared in a grimace. “If you ask me, I—”
“Can we discuss this later, Gwyx?” Adriane yelled. “Help your brother!”
“Ah, right.”
With a mighty roar, Gwyx gave his brother magic. Drake’s aura swirled around his body like a halo of flames.
“And another thing—” the dragon began.
“Not now, Gwyx!” the warrior cut him off.
“I think now would be good.”
Waves of dragon magic thundered across the web, power beyond anything Emily had ever felt. Scores of dragons roared as they revealed their hidden home.
“I convinced every dragon at Dragon Home to lend a wing, too,” Gwyx said smugly. “My new warrior quest. You better hurry before they change their mind. I promised them all a major Ak feast.”
The High Wyvern trumpeted his mighty call across the web. “Mages, we cannot allow Drake to sacrifice himself for humans, we must help our brother. Now go forth and make a web where every dragon may soar free!”
“Thank you.” Adriane practically leaped to hug the black dragon.
“Go, go, go!” Kara shouted.
Emily swiftly gathered up the dragon magic, swaying under the massive weight. But she held steady as fiery magic funneled into the weaving.
The phelower’s surface shimmered into gleaming facets like a giant rainbow jewel.
The key was complete.
“You did it!” Adriane whooped.
The air shook and the ground shifted beneath their feet as suddenly the phelower seemed to melt, swirling into itself. The Gates of Avalon were opening.
Emily braced herself for the onslaught of dark magic—but the massive portal merely churned in the air, its shadowy surface hiding whatever lay inside.
“Where’s all the magic, Emily?” Adriane asked nervously.
The healer reached into the portal, instantly recoiling as she felt the dark power. “In there… We have to go inside.”
Warrior, healer, and blazing star looked at one another. Each had sacrificed more than they ever imagined in the undertaking of this quest. Now Avalon’s magic was finally within reach, and with it their chance to save the magic web and all their friends.
“The Dark Sorceress is in there, she’ll be ready for us,” Adriane warned. Dreamer growled and stood by his packmate’s side, his glossy black fur tinged with the silver glow of the wolf stone.
Kara nodded, one h
and resting on Lyra’s back, the other clasping her shimmering unicorn jewel. “We’ve got strong magic, too.”
Adriane called to the packleader standing just outside the mosaic circle. “Moonshadow, you and the unicorns guard the gate. Be prepared for anything!”
“We will wait for your return,” the fierce mistwolf growled.
“And keep the portal open,” Drake told the healer as Gwyx snorted his agreement.
With an excited whine, Buttercup shuffled next to the dragons. Emily smiled and nodded at her newest bonded. His magic would help balance their fiery power.
Adriane put her hand on Dreamer’s ruff; Lyra stood proudly between Kara and Emily.
“One jumps…” Adriane began.
“We all jump,” Kara finished.
Rainbow lights bathed the group as Emily raised her wrist. “Nothing’s going to separate us ever again.”
Linking arms, the three mages advanced, bondeds by their sides.
And one by one, they each disappeared, swallowed by the dark Gate of Avalon.
THE SUN DRIPPED below concrete canyons as Adriane left the gallery, heading east on 14th Street. The N line subway would take her uptown to meet her mom at some new, trendy New York City restaurant.
She would be graduating from art school in a week, her peers and teachers astounded by the paintings she had produced this past semester. “Dark and moody,” they were labeled. “Bold, brooding, and breathtaking.”
Throughout high school, her extraordinary work had garnered controversial reviews. She’d been hailed a renegade genius, the one to watch. Everyone wanted to be her friend; she shunned them all. In truth, no one really knew what to make of her or her art. Even if she wanted to, how could she explain it? Not even she fully understood the dark visions splattered across the canvas in frantic brush strokes.
Adriane walked faster, her leather jacket fading in and out of the shadows. Storefronts and restaurants glinted and gleamed; their cold facades seemed to hide something fearsome around the next corner. She shifted her eyes, body tense, alert for danger.
This was not new to her. All her life she had felt things no one else could. At first it had been no more than fleeting feelings, a feather drifting across her mind. But after spending that summer in the woods, everything changed. She may have left Ravenswood years ago, but Ravenswood had not left her. Something had followed her to the heart of the city, a dark presence that hunted in the very shadows that spawned it. Adriane pulled her jacket tight and bounded down the stairs to the Union Square subway station.
As she moved silently through the throngs on the platform, her paranoia grew stronger. No one else seemed to sense the beast was here. Shadows moved down the long winding tunnels, slithering into darkness. Headlights appeared like monstrous eyes as the oncoming subway train pulled into the station.
Adriane got in the crowded car and held onto the steel pole as the train moved swiftly, rocking its way deep into the belly of the massive city. She made no eye contact, focused instead on the streaming lights through the window. Each flash brought the girl’s face closer, dark eyes boring through the glass.
The hunger etched into her guarded gaze stared back at her unrelentingly.
As much as she hated what she saw, at the same time she needed it, wanted it—but the more it called to her, the faster she ran, terrified to answer.
Today was different; she had never felt it so strongly.
The lights of the darkened underground tunnel sparkled and flickered, streaking across the window as the train raced uptown.
She had never found anyone to confide in, someone who would understand what she kept locked away like a dark secret. She had only dared to glimpse the creature through fragments on canvas.
Tonight she would finally face it.
The subway window flashed, illuminating an animal. Another flash—inches from the glass, long jowls snarled menacingly. The creature threw back its head and howled.
The screeching whine echoed through the tunnel as the train lurched to a stop. Adriane screamed, bumping into the gray-suited man next to her.
“Sorry,” she muttered. Shakily, she jumped from the car. Carried forward by a wave of people, she stumbled through the turnstiles and up the steps, emerging into the gray evening.
Red and green traffic lights and streetlights flickered like wildfire as she crossed in front of the Plaza Hotel, the giant, block-long building a reminder of some grand manor house left vacant in her dreams. The city pulsed with life around her, glass and steel reflecting the mass of blaring cars and laughing people.
Through the din, she felt it waiting for her.
She could head west on the well-lit 59th street and be on Columbus Avenue in about twenty minutes. Instead, she entered Central Park, a lone island of trees, lakes, trails, open meadows, and dark secret places in the middle of Manhattan.
Something teased at the corners of her mind. Hold on, she told herself, inhaling the cool spring evening. She made her way along the tree-lined pathway that skirted the skating rink. The deeper she walked into the park, the stronger the feelings, the sharper her senses became. Joggers and bikers, couples and parents pushing strollers vanished as if driven from the darkened woods, fearful of the oncoming night.
Adriane went farther into the park, where shadows muffled the chaotic city sounds.
She picked up the pace, hurrying over a footbridge just past the Central Park Zoo. The animals whined, restless, hiding in their cages. They knew what hunted tonight.
The tall bronze statue of Alice and the bespectacled rabbit watched her pass. She had always loved to visit them, wishing them well on their journey to Wonderland.
Whispers filtered through the air assuming sharper shapes in the wind. Her keen senses picked up the scent immediately.
Something was waiting for her.
There.
A grassy underpass. Darkness covered the tunnel like a black hole.
Ghostly footsteps floated from the shadows.
She felt ready to bark or snarl, alarmed at the intense animal-like feelings roiling inside.
The steps quickened, deadening to a soft thud.
Wait, she told herself. Wait for it to come.
And it did.
From the darkness, the slender figure of a girl emerged, dark hair flowing in the chill wind. Striding into a pool of light, the girl’s intense black eyes fixed on Adriane.
“Tag. You’re it.”
Spinning in a circle, the girl laughed maniacally, vanishing in a whirl of mist.
With a snarl, Adriane turned away, catching her reflection in a puddle. In the rippling water a wolf stared back.
The darkness had not followed her from Ravenswood. She was the beast.
Lupine strides carried her across the damp grass, her muscles relaxed, her mind sharp, finally free of fear. Running as if it were the most natural thing in the world, her sleek fur-covered body glided past trees. Senses expanded, the creature turned her black eyes to the park, sniffing the air for prey.
She was the hunter now.
She lifted her head and howled into the night. A wolfsong no other would hear. She was the lone wolf—as it was meant to be.
The mistwolf leaped into the shadows, vanishing to black.
ONCE UPON A time there was a princess, and everything she touched turned to gold.
Kara sparkled as she swirled through the ballroom. Flowers, balloons, and confetti floated gently through the air. On the bandstand, Overdrive was rocking the crowd into a dancing frenzy of celebration. This was a magical night and every graduating senior from Stonehill High was swept up in the spell.
The princess lived in a grand castle.
The Stonehill Country Club looked amazing, a fairy tale castle for a fairy tale night.
Her beauty entranced all who gazed upon her.
All eyes were riveted on Kara. She and her bests, Tiffany, Molly, and Heather, had planned this event. They’d worked on it for months. And now it was here, the night she
had been waiting for. After all, a girl’s senior prom only came around once. And Kara was the belle of the ball.
A thousand lights flickered around her, and for an instant, Kara swooned. Her thoughts flitted to that dark place in her mind. Slowly, over the years, a coldness had lodged itself in her heart. An empty hole of dreams long gone and forgotten. Kara bit her lip, glossed and shiny. It was confusing, frustrating, as if something important had passed her by. As if a piece of her was missing. Something that couldn’t be filled by the promise of a prom, a hot date, or a fancy dress.
The cute lead singer took the mic to make an announcement. Partiers pushed close to the stage, anticipation gathering. “Your queen of the Stonehill High Senior Prom is—Kara Davies!”
The crowds parted, allowing their queen to walk among them. Cell phones flashed as pictures and videos clicked, tweeted, and texted across the web of lights, reminding her of—something important. Everyone loved her, wanted to be close to her. She was a shining star—or was it something else?
All her friends’ faces rushed by in a blur, some she knew and some she had only seen in dreams. Flashes of ghostly visages, animals, strange yet familiar, their haunted eyes staring sadly as if waiting for her to do something, to help them.
Lightning flared outside the bay windows.
“Make room for the king and queen,” the rock singer urged.
Kara’s mind was hazy, her eyes filled with sparkling lights. This moment was everything she had dreamed of, worked for, the culmination of years of effort. But instead of happiness, a dark heart thudded inside her, rasping at her throat in a silent scream. She shivered and her dazzling smile faltered. A chink had appeared in her armor, a crack in the walls she had so carefully constructed. No one really knew the girl behind the perfect face, the golden tresses. She could tell no one about those nights alone, shaking with the intensity of her sorrow, aching for what she could not put into words. She was smart, beautiful, had all the connections and the ambition to use them. She should have it all! Instead, she felt empty, hollow.
There was a time, years ago. She had found something precious, only to have it fade away like a sweet summer morning. No matter how hard she tried, no matter how hard she worked, something was lost and she couldn’t ever get it back.
Full Circle (Avalon: Web of Magic #12) Page 10