Magic Prophecy: A YA Portal Fantasy (Legends of Llenwald Book 3)

by DM Fike

“I’ve heard it amplifies your dark essence like a stereo dialed straight up to 13.” Nobody stroked the stone’s smooth surface. “Maybe we have a chance to move this baby after all.” The gremlin motioned for Avalon to the opposite side of the exposed square stone.

  Kay grabbed her by the shoulder before she sat down. “Be careful.”

  “Of course.”

  Nobody sat cross-legged, palms up on his knees like a yoga instructor. He closed his eyes and hummed under his breath. Avalon mimicked his position. She even tried to replicate the humming.

  Nobody burst out laughing.

  “What?” Avalon asked. “Am I doing it right?”

  Nobody tittered. “Why would we mumble under our breath? We never do it for any other magic spell. You should see how dumb you look.”

  Avalon glared at him. “I’m following your lead.”

  “I know!” Nobody’s laughter intensified. “That’s why it’s so hysterical.”

  “Stop with the jokes, gremlin,” Kay interjected. “We don’t have time for your antics.”

  “Everyone’s a critic,” Nobody grumbled, letting the laughter die. He relaxed his stance, sitting more casually with his legs draped to one side. He did shut his eyes again, and Avalon did the same.

  There was no mistaking the empty void of dark magic in her gut. It had grown past its normal intensity, her wind, lightning, and light magic fading in the background. It surged not only in her body but stretched into the floors and walls around her.

  “You feel that, don’t you?” Nobody’s voice broke into her thoughts. “That’s the chaos stone constructed into the fortress. We need to grab it and cover all that energy with our own dark magic.”

  “Cover it?” Avalon asked hesitantly.

  “Like wrapping this baby up in a blanket and delivering it to a new mommy.”

  Avalon had no idea what that meant, but she could sense Nobody’s dark magic pooling around him. It oozed along those dark magic lines, creating a new magical sensation fused of both dark magic and part of his essence. Avalon chased a different line with her own void, fumbling around until her dark magic attached itself to the strange material. After a while, it caused her to vibrate, as if her own magic and the lines themselves had struck each other with a tuning fork.

  “Ooo,” Nobody giggled across from her. “That tickles.”

  His merriment didn’t last long. Coating the lines that ran through the entire building with their magic took a physical toll. Sweat formed on Avalon’s brow from the strain. Her temperature fluctuated as if she had the flu. The void in her stomach churned. Still, she continued stringing her dark magic along, enveloping the far corners of the fortress.

  The ground shaking took everyone by surprise. Avalon gasped, opening her eyes. The candles in the room remained glowing, but with black flames that cast more shadows than light, making it hard to see Kay and Bedwyr. Vimp put a paw on her leg.

  “Eeee?”

  “Don’t stop!” Nobody spat through clenched teeth. “We’re not finished!”

  She closed her eyes again, concentrating on those lines, pulling with all her might. It felt like stretching a large rubber band to its limit. Her magic might pop.

  As the shaking intensified around them, vibrating in sync with that now awful humming in her gut, Nobody cried, “We won’t make it!”

  They were so close. If only she could meet her end with Nobody’s along the top of the fortress, the entire place would be covered. Every muscle seized to make it happen. “We’re almost there!”

  “It’s too much!”

  The gremlin faltered, his magic retreating. She grabbed it and held on tight, her body straining. “Nobody!”

  “It’s useless, Avalon! Let go! Let go on the count of three together, or the weight of releasing the chaos stone will crush you!”

  “We have to keep trying!”

  “One…!”

  “Oh yeah!”

  Avalon pried one eye open. She found Vimp staring up at her with concern.

  “Two…!”

  Avalon realized that what they really needed was a boost.

  “Vimp!” she yelled. “Bite us!”

  “Oh yeah!”

  “Thr…yeeeeeOW!”

  Nobody’s dark magic line surged forward toward hers in a rush before fangs sunk into her neck. Their dark magic energies collided in a clash, forming an enormous chasm that enveloped over the fortress itself. The vibrations in the ground reached a fever pitch. In the blackness that followed, she could sense no one, not even Nobody.

  She opened her eyes.

  She stood on a plane of unending darkness. A space without stars, but full of an energy that continued to vibrate violently all around her.

  Focus.

  Ladybug’s voice rang out like a shotgun blast.

  Focus on your destination.

  With every muscle screaming for release, Avalon concentrated on the Emerged Falls castle with its numerous spires, viewing it from an upward angle from beyond the main castle wall. She thought of winding cobblestone streets on the grid-like pattern. She concentrated all that buzzing energy on taking them there.

  The air stopped rumbling. An even emptier black hole filled up inside her, an absolute nothingness. It gobbled up everything they had covered under the blanket, then blinked out of existence.

  CHAPTER 35

  AVALON FLOATED IN a complete and utter state of non-existence. It wasn’t just darkness, but a complete lack of all five senses—no sight, smell, sound, taste, or touch. Only her soul, doomed to drift aimlessly for all eternity.

  The bubble of senselessness popped, allowing the real world to rush back in to fill the unoccupied space. The chamber reappeared, along with lit candles and all its occupants. Avalon fell off the dais with a crash, a pulsating pain in her neck where Vimp had bitten her. She felt full of lead. She wondered if she was woozy from Transport, but as she slid unnaturally across the floor, candles from all parts of the room tumbling after her, she realized belatedly the ground had a sharp slope to it. She didn’t stop until she smacked her back against the wall, Nobody and Vimp piled in a heap next to her, surrounded by mostly snuffed out candles.

  Groaning under her injuries, she found Kay had taken to the air, using a ball of wind to extinguish any errant candle flames. Bedwyr maintained his balance, candle in hand for light, one leg bent upslope to keep upright. “Where did you transport us?” the dryad demanded.

  “Emerged Falls?” Avalon guessed.

  “Yes, but where exactly?” He gestured to the incline of the fortress. “Transport is not like teleporting. You’re moving an entire building. It needs a level foundation.”

  As if to emphasize his point, a horrible snapping noise echoed overhead. A crack formed above the doorframe, streaking across the ceiling. Bits of dust, then larger stones, shook loose as the crevice widened, tearing the room in two.

  “Oops.” Nobody tried to rock his legs out from underneath him to stand. Unfortunately, the wall that both he and Avalon used for support shifted, gravity pulling it toward the ground. They sank even more against it.

  Kay swooped next to them, grabbing them by the arms so they could stand. They managed to get one foot on the rising floor, the other on the wall. With her tired limbs, Avalon stumbled even with the fairy’s help. Then the wall jerked again a few more feet, almost sending them sprawling down again. A rain of fine gray powder washed over them, covering them from head to toe. The building moaned like a dying animal, straining and snapping.

  “Where’s the exit?” Kay yelled.

  “Over here!” Bedwyr pointed to the crevice on the far wall, which had opened to expose daylight on the other side. He hopped across the slope, careful not to slip, and hoisted himself atop the widening crack. He let out a primal cry as he jumped into the light, disappearing from sight.

  Kay held onto both Nobody’s and Avalon’s hands, half-guiding, half-dragging them forward as they skittered across the room toward freedom. Vimp latched on for dear life around
Nobody’s waist. Kay managed to stay airborne, even as the walls and floors jerked downward, threatening to collapse. Kay lifted Avalon up first to the crack. She paused, terrified at the twenty-foot drop to the debris-filled ground below.

  Then the wall buckled. The snaps filled her ears in a deafening crash as someone pushed her from behind. She only toppled for a split second before a force lugged her upwards, lessening the impact as she hit the uneven street below.

  Kay yelled, “Go! Go! GO!” barely audible over the crumbling fortress. She stumbled, that same hand pulling her forward, causing her shoulder to scream in pain as they dodged stones, many larger and heavier than her. The haze generated by the demolition decreased visibility to the point where all became dark. She simply kept on running, until the hand that led her slowed down and stopped.

  “We’re far away enough,” Kay said. Blinking, she could not even see down to her hand, even though she knew he still held it.

  A breeze stirred from the opposite direction of the winds gushing from the collapsing fortress. Small particles poked her eyes. Soon, the wind at her back faded, leaving only the softer breeze behind.

  “You can open your eyes now,” Kay said.

  Brushing away the tears and dust, she found a sooty Kay had created a small whirlwind around them, blowing outward all the other particles in the air. A steady stream of debris floated toward them, sharp cracks warning of the building’s continuing demolition. Kay slowly widened his wind circle, exposing more cobblestone streets and a shadowy form with frazzled green hair.

  “Nobody!” Avalon ran to him. Kay’s wind blew away some of the more egregious specks on the gremlin’s body, but he too looked like he had rolled around in an ashtray. The gremlin opened his arms, revealing a surprisingly clean Vimp with dark blue fur and black hair a stark contrast to his grayness.

  “Got a tip for you,” Nobody growled. “Never… ever… hesitate when fleeing a toppling building. Especially when you have a guardian fairy as your knight in shining armor.”

  “I’m sorry,” Avalon said. “Are you hurt?”

  “If the gremlin’s jabbering, he’s fine,” a calm voice answered behind Kay. Bedwyr entered the whirling vortex. “The real question is, did we land in Emerged Falls?”

  Kay took stock not only of the cobblestone streets but of an iron streetlight and wooden signpost. “I recognize this place. We’re in the Attan district, two gates away from the castle itself.”

  “That makes sense,” Avalon said. “I was concentrating on a spot near the castle.”

  Bedwyr curled his lip. “You should have thought of a nice flat field. The fortress is destroyed now.”

  “Sorry we broke your toy, dude,” Nobody chirped. “That’s what happens when you thrust two newbs into a ridiculous magical situation.”

  A globe-sized ball of fire rocketed like a meteor from outside the whirlwind, aimed at Kay. He dodged out of the way, damping his wind magic for a second. Debris filled Avalon’s vision again as she stumbled in the ashen fog.

  A second fireball erupted to the left of her. Nobody screeched. “Sadus!”

  A large thud shook the ground, its vibrations running up Avalon’s spine. Another fireball lit the ground yards away. In that brief flash before the light hissed and faded, she saw a blood red claw, curved scales and a serpentine spine slinking through the gloom and out of sight.

  “Fire dragon!” Nobody screamed.

  The dragon must have focused on the gremlin’s voice because dozens of fiery spikes shot down in their general direction. Everyone retreated backward, the sinister beacons of light making more of the street visible as they fled. Avalon, still drained from Transport, barely missed getting roasted by one projectile, the scorching heat searing her back as it crashed into the stone behind her. Another firebomb hit a nearby two-story house made of wood, causing it to erupt into a bonfire.

  Kay summoned another whirlwind, catching them all in its circle. A loud roar followed by heavy footfalls indicated the dragon had taken pursuit. “We can’t keep running this way!” Bedwyr yelled to Avalon’s left. “The fortress blocks our path!”

  The fairy halted at this, flipping around on his heels to face the dragon head on.

  “Kay!” Avalon screamed.

  Kay raised his hands as the dragon poked out of the gloom, a horrible reptilian head on a thick neck. Screeching in victory, it opened its ember red jaws, exposing rows of sharp fence-post sized teeth before it spewed out another wave of fireballs.

  Kay conjured up an immediate counter wind, curving the fireballs’ path so they fell harmlessly to the street. He then brought both hands down swiftly, causing a lightning bolt to strike the dragon square on the nose from the sky high above. The crackling thunder rattled loose pebbles on the street. Not being prepared for such brilliance, the after image of the shocked dragon lingered even when Avalon closed her eyes.

  As Avalon’s sight and hearing returned, the dragon roared in pain, stumbling about in the haze beyond. Next to her, Nobody slapped his cheeks with both hands, blinking. A stunned Vimp shivered on his shoulder, head buried in the gremlin’s neck.

  “Warn us next time before you do that,” Nobody yelled at Kay.

  Kay heaved with deep breaths. “We had to try something or die with our backs to the wall.”

  Bedwyr stared into the gloom where the dragon raged. “You may have only made the beast angry.”

  As if to prove his point, a stream of lava-like fire shot out at them. If Kay hadn’t pulled Avalon to one side, she would have fried on the spot. Nobody and Bedwyr managed to dodge in the same direction, all four of them finding themselves with their backs to a pile of rubble. The pooling lava blocked escape in every direction except straight toward the dragon.

  They were trapped.

  Avalon faced Nobody. “We’ve got to teleport out!”

  “Sure, I’ll get right on that, as soon as I recover from exhaustion from moving a fortress halfway across the continent. In the meantime, feel free to teleport yourself.”

  Avalon, already sluggish and slow, knew he was right. Touching any stirrings of magic caused her an incredible throbbing pain. She couldn’t have started a light breeze even if she wanted to.

  A terrible sizzling sound filled the air. An insidious yellow-orange glow flickered in the gloom, outlining the underbelly of the beast. It spread from its chest right up to the top of its throat, matching furnace-like eyes. When its jaw opened, Avalon swore it looked like a volcano about to erupt.

  Kay grabbed her around the waist, intending to fly them both out of harm’s way. Avalon pushed back against him, keeping them both grounded. “What about the others?”

  “I can’t carry everyone.” Kay tightened his grip.

  But it was too late. The lava projected from the dragon’s mouth, accelerating toward them with no time to dodge. Avalon buried her face in Kay’s tunic, meaning to be as close to him as possible in her final seconds.

  The seconds stretched on. No searing heat tore her apart. The dragon screeched, his tone shifting from fury to pain. Avalon untangled herself from Kay.

  The lava spray had miraculously fallen on the cobblestones just underneath the dragon’s maw, burning new potholes in the street. The polluted air limited visibility, but the dragon remained illuminated in its own glowing ember light. It whipped his head violently from side to side, as if trying to shake something off. Avalon couldn’t pinpoint the source of its pain until a flash of blue from the ground struck it, burying deep underneath two scales in its neck. A trickle of molten blood seeped from this new injury. Only then did Avalon see the white-uniformed knight beneath the dragon, standing in defiance like a David to his Goliath, flinging yet another barrage of razor-sharp icicles at vulnerable points in its scales.

  “Halicia?” Avalon asked.

  “Nay,” Kay answered. The dragon spit a puny fireball down at her, and the knight waved it harmlessly to the side. “Desert Rose.”

  “NOW!” Desert Rose screamed. Covert K uniforms em
erged from the shadows to form a line behind her. The pale slender knights of merfolk heritage aided Desert Rose in flinging more ice daggers up toward their enemies. The stouter, dark-skinned dwarven knights kept the dragon’s fire attacks from hurting the offensive team.

  Once the dragon realized it was losing the fight, it took to the air, the gust from its great wings knocking the knights off balance. They got in a few more hits but not before the dragon lurched away into the air, its cries indicating its retreat.

  “Woo-hoo!” Nobody whooped in the aftermath. “The cavalry! Praise Omni!”

  He didn’t have time for more praise as the merfolk knights swung on their heels, more ice daggers hurtling from their fingertips at him.

  Kay brought up a counter wind at the last possible moment, blowing most of the daggers away from Nobody save one that grazed his cheek.

  “Stop!” Kay yelled over Nobody’s howls of pain. “I am Sir Marcus, Covert K knight of Emerged Falls! We are not your enemy!”

  “Stand down!” Desert Rose pushed past the line of Covert K knights. As she strode toward them, flames erupted from the lava pools still in the streets, splashing her without harm like water. She looked like a Hollywood actress, complete with windblown hair. Even though she had saved them all, Avalon couldn’t help but feel a sting of envy.

  Desert Rose scrutinized the dust-covered Kay to ensure his identity. When she did the same to Avalon and Nobody, she wrinkled her nose. “What happened? Did you get caught by Bedwyr’s Army before he moved his fortress here to attack?”

  Avalon straightened, not wishing to be outdone by her magical rival. “Nobody and I brought the fortress here, by ourselves, when we heard your distress call.”

  Desert Rose snorted, turning to Kay. “You may have saved her, but whatever you did addled her brains.”

  “Nay, it’s true,” Kay said. “Bedwyr’s fortress is filled with chaos stone. They transported it with a boost from Vimp.”

  She paused at that. “So we’re not under attack from Bedwyr’s Army?” She pointed at their fourth party member, his identity muted by gray soot. “Then who else are you traveling with?”