“Wait up, Tink,” Kara called to the fairy wraith as she and Emily hurried through the trees to the main driveway.
Ravenswood Manor loomed in the night, dark and imposing. Moonlight glinted off the high turrets and peaked roofs. The wraith streaked up the front steps—and vanished.
The mages skidded to a stop, casting beams of jewel light over the large double doors.
Suddenly, the doors creaked open.
Three girls, a ferret, an owl, a cat, a wolf, and a pile of twigs peered into the dark foyer.
The wraith wavered and zipped down the hallway.
The group slowly moved after it.
“It’s in the kitchen,” Emily whispered.
The light bounced across shiny polished pots and pans hanging from the ceiling, and off the heavy steel of the double freezer before zipping through a wooden door.
Ozzie, Tweek, and Ariel slowly pushed the door open. In front of them, a circular staircase spiraled down into blackness.
“Tink’s leading us to the basement!” Adriane exclaimed.
“But why?” Kara wondered. “There’s just old stuff down there.”
“That’s the only kind of stuff in this house,” Ozzie commented.
“Let’s go!” Kara ordered, then stepped out of Lyra’s way. “After you.”
Creeping down the stairs, the group followed Lyra and Dreamer through corridors stacked with piles of old furniture, lawn chairs, and broken statues.
The mysterious wraith was bobbing in front of them, softly blinking, as if checking to make sure they were all there. It floated into a dusty room filled with metal racks crowded with cardboard file boxes, old crates, and dusty knickknacks.
Suddenly the light vanished.
“Where did it go?” Ozzie asked.
Jewel light pierced the darkness, crisscrossing the room.
“Spread out, there must be a secret panel or door,” Kara instructed.
The mages separated, moving down different corridors.
Adriane’s head pounded—she felt disoriented, the dark corridor blurring before her eyes. Dreamer stood close, his muscles tense. Something was definitely down here.
“Emily, you see anything?” the warrior asked anxiously.
“Nope,” Emily answered, then called out. “Ozzie?”
“Nope, Tweek?” Ozzie shouted.
“I’m standing right next to you.”
“Gah! Kara?”
“Kara?” Emily called again after a few seconds. But there was no answer.
“She’s gone!” Lyra growled, padding to the wall, sniffing.
“Kara!” everyone called out.
“Mmhphfff.” Something was making a racket, from behind the wall.
Tweek and Ozzie scrambled up an old dusty chair, climbing onto a ledge above Adriane.
“Kara, is that you?” Ozzie asked, knocking on the wall.
A horrible shriek echoed from the other side.
“It’s her,” Adriane confirmed, running her hands over the ledge on the wall. She felt a small trigger and pushed.
The wall suddenly swung open, revealing a terrified Kara.
“Good work,” Tweek said.
But all Kara could do was point to the startling apparition behind her.
Adriane gasped as she stared into the snarling face of a glowing, silver mistwolf. Stormbringer.
OZZIE SCREAMED.
The ghostly figure of Stormbringer stepped forward, silvery outline shimmering.
“Storm?” Adriane whispered, wolf stone flashing. “Is it really you?”
“Pardon me.” Tweek casually walked past the girls and right through the glowing ghost. The little elemental stopped in the belly of the wolf.
“Gah!” Ozzie grabbed his ears.
Tweek examined the image with his turquoise gemstone. “It’s a cohesive light structure.”
“A hologram!” Emily realized, lowering her rainbow stone. She stepped forward and passed her hand through the image.
“I knew that,” Ozzie said, nonchalantly smoothing his fur back in place.
Disappointment flooded through Adriane. Of course Storm wouldn’t be here. Her packmate was dead.
“See her feet and ears?” Emily pointed at the hologram.
“It’s a younger Storm.” Adriane looked closer. “About Dreamer’s age.”
“What is this place?” Kara inspected the large room, Lyra close by her side.
Dozens of candelabras abruptly flared to life, illuminating a table strewn with papers. Enclosed glass shelves were crammed full of amulets, charms, and vials. Paintings and photos in ornate wooden frames lined the shelves and walls.
“Looks like a workroom.” Emily was awed.
Lyra sniffed the air. “No one has been in here for years.”
“You!” Ozzie cried as the wraith materialized in front of his nose, waving her tiny hands.
The wraith dove under a pile of papers on the desk. Rifling and rummaging, she emitted a worried, high-pitched humming.
Ozzie scampered after her, sending papers flying. “Come back here!”
The wraith darted to the other side of the room, diving under Lyra’s belly and leaving a trail of blue and violet twinkles.
“Here’s the hologram’s source.” Using his gem like a magnifying glass, Tweek followed a thin beam of light to a crystal set in a strange metallic device on the table. He lifted the crystal out, and the wolf disappeared. “This is a data crystal, the same design as my HORARFF.”
Adriane stepped over Ozzie. “Could there be any more images stored in it?”
The E.F. reset the crystal. “The image was stuck, but I should be able to—”
Suddenly Storm’s hologram flashed, dissolving into another image: the forests of Ravenswood. The picture shifted over to a silver wolf pup playing in a meadow.
“Journal entry forty two.” A disembodied voice floated from the crystal. “This may be the only record of the last living mistwolf.”
“That voice,” Kara exclaimed.
“It’s Mr. Gardener!” Adriane gasped, stepping closer. Her wolf stone sparked as she watched Storm, so young and strong.
The voice of Gardener continued. “After I lost my wolf, I thought I would never see another again.”
“Gardner was bonded to a mistwolf?” Ozzie asked.
“Hoo noo?” Ariel cooed.
“This is big,” Kara confirmed.
“Shhh!” Adriane whispered.
The images of Storm continued to play.
“I don’t know where Stormbringer came from. It’s as if she just appeared from the forest. I thought she could help me understand what has happened on Aldenmor, but she has no recollection of the other mistwolves and will not leave this place. It’s as if she’s waiting for something.”
“Someone,” Adriane breathed, wiping tears from her eyes.
The image swung over the vast and empty forest.
“If there are other mistwolves out there, I know Storm is the one who can save them. I must do what I can to help the new mages.”
The image abruptly cut off.
Adriane was totally stunned. Mr. Gardener had been right about one thing: Storm had saved the mistwolves. But she should have lived to see the pack flourish, should have spent a long life with Adriane, mage and bonded animal exploring their magic together. But Adriane had let her die—
Dreamer was at her side, wet nose nudging her hand as he whined with concern.
No. She still had a mistwolf to save.
“Did you have any idea?” Emily asked Adriane.
Adriane shook her head. “Gardener was already gone when I got here.”
“Something happened between Gardner and his wolf,” Kara mused.
Just like something had happened to Storm, Adriane thought. And now Dreamer. When humans bonded with mistwolves, did it always end in disaster? Is that why Tink had brought them here? Could Storm be trying to reach her now? A ghostly presence from beyond—
“OooooooO!”
Ozzie lay on a stack of flat objects, Tink scratching his tummy. With a sigh, the ferret slid to the floor, then looked up to see everyone staring at him. He jumped to his feet. “What?”
The wraith squealed, happily somersaulting in the air.
“Hey, look at this.” Ozzie turned over the wooden board he’d been laying on. “It looks like a secret code.”
“It’s a Ouija board, Ozzie,” Emily said, examining the exquisite board engraved with bright red letters and numbers. There was a sparkling jewel in each of the four corners, mounted atop different painted designs. YES and NO were printed in the bottom corners.
“Everyone’s seen those in horror movies,” Kara explained. “You use them to contact spirits and ghosts.”
“No way,” Ozzie scoffed.
“Way,” the blazing star continued. “The spirit channels through someone and moves a wooden pointer over the board, spelling out messages.”
“Here’s the pointer.” Emily held up a beautifully carved triangle with a large clear crystal in the center. She set it on the board.
“Wait! There are some very important rules you have to follow,” Kara warned. She held up her hand and counted off. “One, never go into a haunted house—especially after dark. Two, never, ever, go into the basement.”
“So far, so good,” Emily observed wryly.
“Oh,” Kara continued in a hushed voice, “If the board spells out ‘help me,’ it always means there’s a monster right behind you.”
Ozzie whirled around, then jumped back.
Emily dragged a small chest to the middle of the room and set the board on top.
The mages, Tweek, and Ozzie crammed in, sitting cross-legged on the floor around the board. Lyra, Dreamer, and Ariel looked on.
“Okay, everyone, paws, hands, and twigs on the pointer,” Kara directed.
“Ask it a question,” Adriane said.
“Can I buy a vowel?” Ozzie asked, surveying the graphic capital letters.
“Oooh, I know!” Kara exclaimed. She paused and cleared her throat, looking around the room with wide blue eyes. “What kind of quiz is Mrs. Herring giving in homeroom?”
The pointer didn’t budge.
“Let’s try to use our jewels,” Emily suggested.
The mages, Fairimental, and ferret closed their eyes in concentration, breathing deeply. Amber, pink, blue, turquoise, and gold light filled the room.
“Is there a spirit in the house?” Emily asked in a hushed tone.
Instantly, an icy gust of wind extinguished the candles, plunging the room into darkness.
“Is that a yes?” Adriane asked.
Bang! The door slammed shut, making everyone jump.
“All righty then,” Kara said nervously. “Someone ask something.”
“Storm, is that you?” Adriane whispered, peering around the room.
The jewel in the pointer started to glow, casting light across the board.
“Hooooo.” Ariel’s big owl eyes opened wide.
“It’s moving!” Kara squealed.
The pointer vibrated beneath their fingers, moving to the NO.
“Are you Orenda?” Adriane asked, resting her fingers lightly on the pointer.
The pointer started blinking more brightly as it shifted and moved across the board to the YES.
Suddenly the jewel blinked and started vibrating.
“Stop shaking, Ozzie!” Adriane scolded.
“I’m not doing anything!” the frightened ferret protested.
Dreamer growled and paced back and forth, his emerald eyes alert.
The pointer slid across the board, pausing on a series of letters until it had spelled out:
H E L P
“This is bad,” Kara said, and looked around the room, waiting for the monster to come crashing in.
“Who needs help?” Emily asked.
The pointer flew in zigzag patterns, spelling out another word:
S T O R M
Help Storm. Adriane’s heart pounded. “How do we help Storm?”
The pointer swirled to blood red. A sudden wail pierced the room.
“Tink!” Ozzie cried.
The little fairy stretched thin like a rubber band. Her glowing form winked in and out before vanishing in a puff of blue twinkles.
Adriane tried desperately to focus, but the room was spinning, making her dizzy.
“Whoa.” Kara grabbed Lyra as the room suddenly started shaking before coming to an abrupt stop.
“That’s not Orenda,” Adriane said quietly. The pointer pulsed like a beating heart.
“Then who is it?” Ozzie asked.
“HoBBob!” Tweek screamed, his voice deep and raspy.
“Who?”
The pointer flashed as the red light zipped into Tweek, sending his body whirling. Suddenly he snapped back to normal. “Holy twig!”
The E.F. spun in circle and leaped in the air. “Chew on this!” he roared, quartz eyes flashing red, spitting loose twigs everywhere.
“What’s happening to you, Tweek?” Emily asked nervously.
“Fascinating.” Seemingly back to normal, Tweek blinked his quartz eyes. “I’ve been possessed by unspeakable evil.”
Suddenly Tweek’s limbs coiled, cracking as red eyes glowed malevolently from his distorted face. “I think…” His voice warped into a bone-chilling shriek. “Ravenswood will be destroyed!”
Tweek shuddered violently as he exploded in a flurry of twigs, leaves, and moss and vanished.
ADRIANE WALKED BRISKLY between the towering firs at the glade’s edge. The morning sun glinted through leaves varnished with an emerald sheen by the night’s rain. Bushes and ferns lazily swayed, leaving trails of light dancing across small pools of water.
Reaching out with her wolf senses, the warrior tried to feel the presence of Orenda. “Spirit of Ravenswood, are you there?”
Orenda and Storm were both in trouble—somehow they were both connected.
She felt the sudden sting of awareness, as if she were being watched.
Adriane shivered. For the first time since coming to Ravenswood, the forest felt cold, distant. Was it only the wind? Or something else, lurking in the shadows.
A growl interrupted her dark thoughts. Dreamer’s nose was in a bush, sniffing at something.
Adriane studied her packmate. The wolf was tall and graceful; his puppy fat had tightened into rippling muscles. Lustrous jet-black fur marked with white paws and star upon his chest gleamed like velvet. He was awesome.
She trained her senses on him, trying to connect. Jumbled images raced through her head—gleaming spider webs trapping a monstrous cocoon—
Adriane gasped. Had the mistwolf really seen the spiderwebs? Maybe she and Dreamer were just out of sync, freaked by her strange dream. Or maybe, she had been world walking, like Tweek had suggested. And the danger only existed in the spirit world—for now.
Adriane focused harder, forcing a connection. Her jewel flashed and Dreamer stopped abruptly, shaking his head with a yowl of pain.
She drew back immediately. “Sorry.”
Dreamer locked his deep green eyes on hers. The wolf stone pulsed, and fear tingled along her arms. His magic was slipping away. She turned, casting magic fire from her fist. With a quick movement, she swirled the fire into a lasso, an easy exercise she had done hundreds of times. But the golden circle flared and fell apart, dissipating to sparks.
Adriane closed her eyes. What was happening? Was she losing the connection to her magic as well?
Tough it out, she told herself. All her life she had toughed it out.
Growing up, she’d moved around too much to make friends. She had always been the strange new girl. She was used to being alone, it was easier that way.
Stormbringer had been her first true friend. The wolf had opened a whole new world to Adriane. But it wasn’t just the magic that filled her with the sense of belonging she so desperately needed. It
was also meeting Emily, Ozzie, Lyra—and even Kara. Without Storm, Adriane might never have met the most important people in her life—friends who loved her.
But now Storm was gone. She had not bonded with Dreamer like she had with Storm, and maybe she never would. When Storm died, a piece of Adriane had died with her, and the hole in her heart could not be filled with another.
A cloud passed over the sun, plunging the shimmering forest into shadows.
Dreamer followed her through a thicket of trees behind the cottage. Gran had made it a real home for her and Adriane. It was always warm and welcoming, with delicious scents coming from the kitchen where Gran spent hours cooking. The responsibility of looking after the preserve must have been overwhelming, even for a woman of such determination and grit as Gran. Now it was up to Adriane. This was her home. Not only the stone and wood house, but also the hundreds of acres of forest. And it could all be lost.
Adriane walked by a line of quiffles and brimbees stretching from her house practically to Wolf Run Pass. The animals edged away anxiously as if they were scared of Dreamer—or of her.
The wolf kept his head low, following Adriane as she stepped onto the front porch. “What’s this, the chow line?”
“Pre-tour inspection,” Emily answered from the open kitchen window.
“Dear Fairimentals,” Kara sang as she walked out the front door. She carried a bright silver case. “Need help. Tweek has exploded—again. Oh, and I got an A in Math!”
Adriane stared wide-eyed. Had Kara gone nuts?
“Message for the Fairimentals,” Kara explained, allowing a hint of worry in her voice. “As soon as I can get through to Goldie, she can take it.”
“No luck yet, huh?”
“No.” Kara smiled weakly.
Adriane understood Kara’s concern. The blazing star had formed a deep attachment to the mini dragon, and vice versa. The dragonflies could usually get through all kinds of magical interference, but if they couldn’t even hear Kara… the mages would be completely on their own.
“In the meantime…” Kara said, observing the long line of animals. She set the case on the porch’s swinging bench. “I want everyone looking their best for today’s tour.”
Dreamer shifted restlessly, then lay down next to Lyra.
Ghost Wolf (Avalon: Web of Magic #9) Page 4