“Lorelei!” Emily cried, running to embrace her friend. “I can’t believe it’s really you!” The healer buried her face in Lorelei’s silky soft mane.
“I’ve missed you so much, Emily.” The unicorn lowered her beautiful head over the healer’s shoulder, her silvery voice ringing like delicate chimes.
The young unicorns rushed forward, horns gleaming, crowding around the mages and the new unicorn.
“Ooo, a unicorn!”
“She’s so pretty!”
“Did you come from Dalriada?”
“Did you bring apples?”
“By the great tree!” rattled another voice from the portal.
Silhouetted against the swirling doorway stood a creature that looked like a larger version of Tweek, made of branches, thick leaves, and bits of earth.
“Master Gwigg!” Tweek cartwheeled over to the Earth Fairimental. “Thank goodness! Look! We found one of the power crystals!”
“Well done, Tweek,” Gwigg’s rough voice rustled. “It will be kept safe until the others are secured.”
Lorelei turned her sparkling eyes to the herd of young unicorns. “Your horns are tuned already!”
The unicorns’ horns glowed as they proudly displayed their brightly colored coats.
“We couldn’t have done it without Emily,” Riannan said, her golden hide shimmering.
“Lorelei must bring the new class to the Unicorn Academy right away,” the Earth Fairimental rumbled. “She’s one of the best teachers the U.A. has ever had.”
“How cool.” Emily smiled.
“How are things on Aldenmor, Gwigg?” Adriane asked. “We haven’t heard from Zach and the mistwolves in weeks.”
“Thanks to you three mages, Aldenmor is healing nicely,” the Fairimental rattled. “The Garden is blooming, and your friends say they miss you all the time.”
Adriane smiled widely.
“Dreamer is looking very good indeed,” Gwigg observed.
“Warrior wolf!” the mistwolf barked, rustling Gwigg’s twigs.
Adriane hugged the black wolf. “Emily’s magic helped me heal Dreamer.”
Emily held her sparkling rainbow gem next to her friend’s wolf stone. The two magic jewels flashed with gold and blue light, warrior and healer, forever linked.
“Sharing the magic has made each of you stronger.” Gwigg turned to Ozzie. “Sir Ozymandius, you’ve changed, as well.”
“Yes, I’m tuning my jewel.” The berret proudly held up his ferret stone.
“No, I mean that.” Gwigg pointed a branch at Ozzie’s new giant beaver tail.
“Gah! Can you fix it?”
Gwigg approached the berret. “I can give you two choices. You may get your original tail back and remain a ferret.”
“Or?” Ozzie asked hopefully.
Gwigg paused, tendrils of magic glowing around him. “Or you can become a beaver.”
“GAH!” The ferret’s eyes bugged out. “I’m already gaining weight! I’ll take my cute fuzzy tail, thank you very much!”
A glowing swirl of mossy green magic sparkled from the branch that served as Gwigg’s hand and surrounded Ozzie’s rear.
“What’s going on back there?” the alarmed berret yelled, whirling around to try and see his behind.
“A very proper ferret tail,” Tweek informed him.
Kara clutched her unicorn jewel worriedly. “What about my magic? Is it all gone?”
The mass of shrubbery shook as Gwigg regarded the blond girl. “There is great magic inside you, blazing star. But you must be patient. Tuning it is a lifelong process. With practice, and the help of your friends, you may be able to master the fairy magic inside of you.”
Kara didn’t look convinced.
“Where were you?” Pollo asked Lorelei.
“We almost got eaten!” Violet added.
“With the web emergency, all the unicorns are busy at their sectors so we sent the centaurs to bring you to the academy,” Lorelei explained. “The protection amulet had a failsafe built in to take you to the mages.”
“How did you know we still had our magic?” Dante asked Emily.
“The knight couldn’t find it because you didn’t believe you had it anymore. But the magic was always inside you.” The healer smiled at Lorelei. “You just had to believe in yourselves.”
“The magic is especially strong with you, Prince Pollo,” Lorelei said.
Pollo’s forelock poked straight up. “Prince?” On his forehead, a star-shaped blaze shimmered beneath his crystal horn.
“Pollo! He’s the prince! Way to go, Pollo!”
“O’ me twig!” Pollo cried.
Riannan held her head high. “Congratulations, Pollo.” Looking at her brother’s mark, her dark eyes flashed with disappointment. “You’ll make a great prince.”
“And you will make a great princess, Riannan,” Lorelei added.
Everyone stared at Riannan’s forehead.
Pollo’s eyes opened wide. “Riannan, you’ve got the royal mark, toot!”
“I do?” Riannan exclaimed.
The unicorns gathered around the pair, hooting and honking in surprise. “Inconceivable!” Tweek cried, twigs dropping to the sand. “I’ve never heard of a prince and a princess!”
“This is a very good omen, indeed.” Gwigg rumbled. “Two unicorn leaders will keep the magic twice as strong on the web.”
Emily hugged Riannan. “You’re going to make a wonderful princess, I just know it.”
“I’ll always try my best,” the princess promised.
“I’m so proud of all of you,” Emily told the unicorns.
Tweek’s quartz whirled in his twigs. “Well, let’s get back to Aldenmor.”
“Tweek,” Gwigg said. “You are the very first Fairimental designed to stay on Earth. Your mission is not over. There are still eight other crystals out there somewhere. They must be found.”
The little E.F. shuddered.
“Gwigg, can Tweek come back with us to Ravenswood?” Emily asked.
“You’d have the whole preserve as your home,” Adriane added, smiling.
“A little Ravenswood moss would really bring out your quartz,” Kara said.
“The mages will face their most difficult challenges in the days to come, Tweek,” Gwigg rumbled.
“Well, I—” Tweek twiddled his twigs.
“Someone my own size for a change.” Ozzie wiggled his tail. “Join the team, Twighead.”
Tweek nodded. “Very well.”
Ozzie threw a paw around the E.F.’s shoulders. “Great! What do you eat, anyway?”
“Eat?” Tweek asked. “Why, nothing.”
“Perfect.” The ferret beamed. “That’s more for me!”
Gwigg approached the mages. “The unicorns will do all they can to stabilize flowing magic. But we need you to find all the missing power crystals and open the Gates of Avalon.”
“Do you know where the other crystals are?” Emily asked.
“We believe that one is in the Fairy Realms,” the Fairimental said. “They will be attracted to great magical power.”
The power crystal floated into one of Gwigg’s twigs.
“This one ended up near the Otherworlds. The Dark Sorceress and her allies used it to control the golem—the knight who tried to kidnap the unicorns. They will try to find the others.”
The mages exchanged worried glances.
“There is much to do.” Gwigg whirled toward the portal. “We must bustle.”
“I’m going to miss you guys.” Emily moved between the unicorns, hugging each one.
“You’ll always be our favorite teacher.” Violet nuzzled Emily with her lavender nose.
“Come see us for our graduation concert!” Spruce bleated.
Kara sniffled, arranging Calliope’s pale green forelock. “Remember, check your mane and tail after every class and you’ll look perfect all day long.”
“One day we’ll ride the web together!” Calliope exclaimed proudly.
> “You know it!” Kara broke out crying.
“Oh no, Kara, now you’re going to make me cry,” Emily cried as she hugged Riannan and Pollo.
“Ahhhh!”
“Bweeeee!”
“SnIFFle!”
Adriane hugged as many unicorns as she could grab while Dreamer and Lyra nuzzled the others.
Ralfie and Dante shuffled over to Ozzie.
“We’re going to miss you most of all,” Ralfie said.
The unicorns swarmed around Ozzie, nudging him with their brightly colored muzzles.
“All right, all right, now get going,” the ferret said, waving his paws toward the portal. “Beat it, you pests.”
“Bye, Fuzzy.”
“We love you!”
Lorelei herded the baby unicorns toward the portal. One by one, they jumped through. Lorelei looked back at Emily before following them in. “Until we meet again, Emily.”
Gwigg whirled in after the unicorns. “The magic is with you, now and forever.”
The mages waved until the last of the group vanished. The portal swirled closed and winked out.
Emily spotted Ozzie standing to the side. The ferret’s back was turned, heaving in deep breaths.
“Ozzie,” she said, gently petting his back. “Are you crying?”
“No way!” the ferret sniffled.
“We’re all going to miss them,” Emily said, lifting the sobbing ferret into her arms and hugging him tightly.
EMILY PATTED DOMINO’S neck as she and the twelve other riders executed their final moves in the Happy Trails horse show. Lining up in the center of the arena, the riders tapped their horses’ necks. In one fluid movement, all the brightly splotched horses dipped their heads to the ground in a deep bow.
Sierra rode Apache to the front of the group and he reared on his hind legs, whinnying happily.
“Good job, Domino!” Emily petted the black and white horse’s sleek neck.
Domino nickered, pleased with her performance.
Applause broke out from the crowd in wooden bleachers set up outside the arena. Emily smiled as she saw her dad and stepmom waving to her and cheering. David’s arm was around Dreamer, ruffling the wolf’s fur. The mistwolf howled his approval, white star on his chest gleaming in the sun. Ozzie sat next to Veronica, happily munching a corn dog.
It was still weird to see her dad with Veronica. Emily had been so afraid that her dad’s new wife would take him away from her, but now she knew nothing was further from the truth. Like her magic, the bond she shared with her dad was something that would last forever. Nothing in the world could ever change that.
“How about we go for another ride?” Adriane said, scratching her horse, Taco, behind his ear. He was nearly all white, with a few black spots and a flowing black and white tail.
“My last day is going to be spent buried in mud to get all this dirt out from under my nails,” Kara advised her friends. She smoothed her golden and white horse’s blonde mane and adjusted her cowboy hat.
The show over, the riders followed Sierra outside of the corral.
“You guys did great!” Sierra told them, taking the reins as the mages dismounted. “I’m so glad we could spend some time together.”
“Thanks again for helping,” Emily said. “We couldn’t have gotten the unicorns home safely without you.”
Sierra shook her head. “Don’t forget. You guys better keep me filled in on everything going on at Ravenswood.”
Kara looked intently at Sierra’s turquoise necklace. It almost seemed to be glowing. “Your jewel is looking more magical all the time.”
Sierra glanced at her gem, then whispered, “Ever since the unicorns came, I’ve been feeling much more in tune with my jewel.”
The three mages traded glances, eyebrows raised.
“Promise to e-mail us and keep us up to date on your jewel,” Emily said.
“And any other magically interesting news,” Adriane added.
“I will,” Sierra promised, leading the horses back into the barn. “I’ll see you guys at the farewell dinner tonight.” The brown-haired teen paused, smiling. “Unless a herd of dragons show up.”
“Don’t worry, dragons travel alone,” Adriane said.
“Well, the big ones do,” Kara argued. “But the smaller ones like the dragonflies travel in packs.”
“True,” Adriane agreed. “Then there’s the wyverns, they mate for life.”
Sierra’s brown eyes widened in astonishment.
“We’ll be there, Sierra,” Emily promised.
The mages walked over to David, Veronica, and Dreamer.
“That was wonderful, girls!” David praised them, leaping down and hugging Emily.
“Emily, you were terrific,” Veronica said, an overstuffed ferret lying face down over her shoulder.
Emily pushed her red curls from her eyes and smiled shyly at her stepmom. “Thanks.”
“Hey, Veronica’s got a great idea,” David said enthusiastically. “A trip to the Living Desert Zoo State Park! How ’bout it?”
“David,” Veronica stopped him. “Only if the girls want to go…” she looked expectantly at Emily.
“We’d love to,” Emily said.
Veronica’s dark eyes sparkled. “They have all kinds of rare desert plants and animals,” she explained excitedly.
“And snakes and spiders,” David added with a wink.
“Cool!” Emily said.
“Rad!” Adriane’s eyes shone.
“Ewww.” Kara frowned.
David put his arm around Emily’s shoulders. “You’re so lucky, Emily, to have such good friends.”
“I know,” Emily agreed, relaxing into his embrace. “Daddy, I’m really happy for you.”
“Thank you, sweetheart.”
Emily smiled. Funny, she thought. She had been so worried about meeting her new stepmom, but she had found the courage to overcome her fears, and it turned out better than she could have ever imagined.
She would need all her new strength to meet the challenges that lay ahead. How were they supposed to return nine power crystals to Avalon when the Fairimentals didn’t even know where eight of them were? How could three Level One mages, well, four with Ozzie, master their magic enough to save the magic of Avalon itself?
Looking at her friends, her family, there was one thing she knew for sure. The magic blazed inside of her stronger than ever. And, like her warrior best friend, she would always fight for what she believed in.
“You know, the Living Desert Zoo has a whole collection of unique species,” Veronica said, patting Ozzie’s back as he lay over her shoulder.
“UrrrrP!”
David nodded. “I bet you’ll find animals unlike anything you girls have seen before.”
Emily, Kara, and Adriane exchanged looks, their magic gems sparkling brightly in the warm desert sun.
Emily smiled at her dad and stepmom. “You might be surprised.”
THROUGH WALLS OF black ice, the desolate landscape shimmered like a spectral mirage. Clouds of gray shifted over barren fields littered with misshapen trees.
“The place has a certain twisted charm, wouldn’t you say?” The Dark Sorceress turned away from the bleak vista to face her old friend in the prison of ice.
“You just got here.” A finely wrought cloak covered the Spider Witch’s face, but inside the dark hood, pixilated eyes flickered yellow and green. “That traitor, Gardener, locked me here years ago.”
“Trust me, we are in a much better place than Gardener is right now.”
The Spider Witch suddenly whirled on the Dark Sorceress. “You said you would get me out!”
“And you said you could control that golem.”
The Spider Witch’s bulky body trembled. Slender spidery fingers brushed against the tapestry that hung from the wall of ice. Silken strands spread into patterns like oils on a canvas.
“The golem was the best I could do,” the Spider Witch said sadly.
Upon the dark weaving,
the image of the golem remained. “The mages ruined my beautiful work.”
Magic sparked along the loose strands of her tapestry.
For a moment, the sorceress actually felt sorry for this pathetic creature. “I never meant to harm you, Sylvan.”
“You could never handle those crystals!” the Spider Witch hissed.
“Listen to me.” The sorceress had to be careful. Her friend was unbalanced, her mind unraveling like the web itself. “While the web is in chaos, we can open the Gates of Avalon.” She met the witch’s malevolent stare. “Use the powers you have mastered. Look upon the web and tell me what you see.”
The Spider Witch’s glittering eyes turned to her frayed tapestries, focusing on the strands of the magic web beyond the walls of their prison. Spiders skittered past the hem of her long robe. “The web must be fixed.”
“Yes, I agree.”
“Then I need those unicorns,” the Spider Witch insisted.
“All we need is the key to the gates.”
“Those mages took our crystal!”
“There are eight others.” She had to keep the witch focused on weaving the new web. The witch would never notice when the sorceress stepped through the Gates of Avalon and took all the magic for herself. “Think! With the power of Avalon, you will be able to weave the web, just the way you want it.”
“Yes, yes, I must weave. But I must get back to my lair.”
“And how do you propose we do that?”
The cowled creature cackled. A swarm of shadowy spiders rippled over her grotesque form. “I have an agent in the Fairy Realms already on his way to find the second power crystal.”
“Really.” The sorceress tried to hide her surprise. “That is news.” Maybe her old friend wasn’t as crazy as she looked.
“Not everything revolves around your world,” the witch spoke with a clarity that sent chills through the sorceress. “But those mages will ruin everything.”
“You have no idea.” The Dark Sorceress dug her silver talons into the pale flesh of her palms. Those mages had destroyed her crystals. Her lair. Everything she had worked for.
Song of the Unicorns (Avalon: Web of Magic #7) Page 12