Dark Mage (Avalon: Web of Magic, Book 11) (13 page)

Logan leaned back, placing his fingertips together. “I can’t say I’m sorry you came all this way for nothing. But it can’t be done.”

“Why not?” she demanded.

“The nine crystals were forged long ago. There is no way I can duplicate the enchantment or material exactly.”

Kara felt panic setting in. If Logan couldn’t help her, the entire quest would fail because she couldn’t control her magic. She could not accept that. But what was she going to do?

“However...” Logan’s eyes twinkled as he turned the power crystal over in his hand.

Kara looked up expectantly.

“I
can
provide you with a shell, something that can hold the same amount of magic as a power crystal. It might serve as a temporary replacement. Enough to do the job, anyway.”

“Really?” she asked hopefully.

“But you can’t enchant it using mage magic.”

“What do you mean?”

Lyra bristled.
“He’s talking about dark magic.”

Logan grinned. “I can teach you what you need to know.”

“What, you mean act like the Dark Sorceress? Forget it.”

Logan’s eyes turned icy. “The Dark Sorceress is a vicious changeling whose brutality is matched only by her twisted addiction to magic. Hardly my style.”

Kara calmed. To her surprise, she believed Logan.

“There isn’t just light and dark magic. In between there is shadow,” the young man continued. “I’m not evil just because I study arcane arts, and you’re not good just because you use mage magic.”

Kara blushed. “You’re right. I’m sorry. So if it doesn’t matter to you who controls the web, why not just help me save Avalon?”

He stood, smoothing his spotless jacket over his lean figure. “You intrigue me, Kara Davies, blazing star.”

“That’s because I’m totally intriguing.” She got to her feet. Logan was taller than she expected. She had to look up to see into those dark eyes.

“I’ll help you. But don’t let it get around. It might tarnish my image.”

“Kara, I don’t like this,”
Lyra hissed, standing in Kara’s path.

“Are you afraid to learn more about magic?” His eyes were impossible to resist. “You are perfectly safe. And you have powerful protectors.”

Kara crouched by Lyra. “If I don’t follow Mr. Congeniality, I can’t replace the power crystal,” she whispered. “Besides, I saved the Fairy Realms, I have a power crystal, the best paladin ever, and you guys, what could possibly harm me?”

“Nothing,” Goldie chirped.

Lyra growled.

“Just chill.” Kara brushed past Lyra and followed Logan across the dance floor toward the back of the club. She would see this through. Logan was going to help her make another power crystal, and that was all that mattered.

There was something cat-like about the fairy’s long strides as he guided Kara toward a black door studded with brass spikes. Another pair of stone bouncers guarded the entrance, stepping aside as Logan waved his hand.

“Come. Let me show you what I do,” he smiled as the door swung open.

There was something about his confident demeanor that put her at ease. He was a lot like her, she realized. Still, as she stepped into the mysterious chamber, a shadow of doubt gave her pause. She shuddered. What was she getting into?

It would all be worth it in the end, Kara assured herself as she descended into darkness.

“T
HEN THERE WAS
the time I fought the giant squid,”
Gwyx boasted as he glided alongside Drake.

“Wow, a giant squid.”
The younger dragon hung on the other’s every word.

Gwyx had been bragging incessantly since they left the desert. The arid landscape had given way to high, forested plateaus full of tall redwoods and rocky cliffs. Gwyx had first found the shadow dragon in a cave somewhere in these mountains. He was sure it had returned and was holed up there, hoarding its prized power crystal.

“That feat was only matched by my victory over the demon lord, Fuzzlebub,”
Gwyx droned on.

Ignoring the black dragon, Adriane hunkered down against Drake’s neck, her cheeks flushed with anger. “That Kara has some nerve. She just cut us off!”

Fred huffed indignantly from Adriane’s pocket.

Zipping her leather jacket tight against the winds, Adriane glanced over her shoulder at Dreamer. The mistwolf poked his head out of his basket. He understood her thoughts. It was bad enough that Kara had abandoned the unicorns when they were in danger. Now she was hanging out at some fairy mall instead of taking a power crystal back to The Garden. Adriane sensed there must be more to that power crystal than the blazing star had told them, which meant she was hiding something. Kara was acting more and more like the spoiled, too-popular-for-her-own-good golden girl Adriane had first met. That girl had taken magic for herself, not caring that her actions put everyone else in danger. She would have done anything to get what she wanted. Adriane tightened her grip on Drake’s reins. The real question was: What did Kara want?

“If you don’t stand with the pack, you are a danger to the pack,”
Dreamer said.

Adriane nodded grimly. Dreamer was right. As packleader, she knew how important it was to stand together. If Kara had gone rogue, she was a danger to everyone, including herself.

Totally oblivious, Gwyx swept low over the trees, startling a herd of silvery deer.
“Look, brother!”

“Ooo, pretty,”
Drake hummed.

“I’m hungry. Let’s go rip the head off that doe.”

“That is so mean!”

Gwyx turned his purple eyes to Drake.
“What do you eat, then?”

“Wheat noodles and vegetables...”

“What are you, a cow?”

“With extra spicy Ak sauce!”
Drake retorted.

Gwyx snorted.
“Your contact with humans has dulled your instincts. You know nothing about the warrior code.”

“And what’s that?” Adriane was suddenly paying attention to the dragon braggart.

“Eat or be eaten.”

Dreamer grinned.
“You have a point there.”

Adriane thought for a moment. “Does this shadow dragon live by the warrior’s code too?”

Gwyx’s eyes flared.
“The beast has no honor.”

“Where did it come from?”

“The story of the shadow dragon is told to every hatchling.”
Gwyx spit a lick of flame.
“There was a time, long ago, when dragons bonded with humans, imprinting themselves upon mages as soon as they hatched. But a great dragon warrior was horribly cursed by his bonded.”

“Cursed?” Adriane found this hard to believe.

“The human turned against his dragon,”
Gwyx growled.
“Selling his own bonded for its magic! So great was the betrayal, the dragon’s heart was twisted to utter blackness. He became the shadow creature, a monster whose only desire was to steal the magic of all dragons until not one hatchling was left alive. To escape the beast’s wrath, the dragons fled to this hidden world and shunned all contact with humans.”

Adriane let the tragic story sink in. “That’s why Drake is the only dragon anyone’s ever seen.”

“And will be the last if I don’t stop the beast from finding Dragon Home.”

“So how did the shadow dragon find your world after all this time?”

Gwyx’s eyes flashed in anger.
“Someone has summoned it. The elders suspect a human is out to destroy us.”

Adriane frowned. “What human would even know the shadow dragon existed, much less how to summon it?”

Gwyx roared.
“Such is the way of humans. Lies, deceit, and betrayal mark their history. Now humans want to destroy us and the shadow dragon is their greatest weapon. Being of right age and sound mind, the task has fallen to me to slay this foul beast. It is my warrior quest.”

“Humans aren’t all bad,”
Drake protested.
“My mama is human, and I am bonded to Zach, a mage.”

“No dragon is safe,”
Gwyx insisted.
“You have already been corrupted by your pitiful humans. You are nothing like other dragons.”

“If they’re anything like you, then I’m glad!”
Drake snorted.

“Oh really, well—”
Gwyx suddenly stopped short, a look of terror glazing his purple eyes.

“What is it?” Adriane nudged Drake close to the black dragon.

“The beast is near.”
Gwyx flew in a tight circle, scanning the trees below.

“Take us down, Drake.”

Wind whipped Adriane’s long hair as Drake sailed toward the forest floor. The red dragon landed smoothly in a small clearing among towering trees.

Adriane hopped down from the saddle, removed her flying goggles and checked her silver wolf stone. Nothing. She couldn’t sense any magic at all.

“Dreamer?”

The black mistwolf sniffed the air all around them, trying to pick up the magical scent. After a minute he shrugged a wolfish shrug.

“There.”
Gwyx motioned with his snout. His purple eyes glinted in the shadows of the huge redwoods. The tree line stopped where a sheer rocky cliff surged from the forest like a massive wave. In the stony cliff face, a cave yawned into total blackness. Adriane followed Gwyx’s nervous gaze. Inside that cave lay the shadow dragon, and with it, the power crystal.

“We have to move fast, before it detects us,” Adriane ordered, then remembered to defer to Gwyx. “Would you lead us, great warrior?”

“Rrrrrr,” Gwyx rumbled, shuffling from foot to foot.
“I suppose you have a plan?”

“Stealth is our only chance,” Adriane said. “We have to avoid a fight at all costs. We sneak in, grab the jewel and hightail it out.”

“I agree.”
Gwyx nodded emphatically.

The warrior retied her pony tail, revealing a nervous blue dragonfly hiding on her shoulder. “Fred, you gonna be all right?”

The blue dragonfly looked uncertain.

“If it gets too rough, you go tell the others.” She gave the brave little fairy dragon a kiss. “Okay, Team Wolf, let’s do it.”

Gwyx wavered.
“But do you not think the beast will see—”

In a swirl of sparkling magic, Dreamer shimmered into a cloud of mist. Suddenly Adriane and Drake disappeared.

Gwyx’s eyes went wide.

“We’re right here.”
Drake’s big red head suddenly materialized in front of Gwyx’s nose.

“By the great wyvern! Of course! Mistwolf magic will shield us.”

“The shadow dragon won’t see us, but we’ll see it,” Adriane explained.

Dreamer’s mist quivered.
“It’s there, I can feel it!”

“How?” the warrior asked. She still wasn’t picking up anything.

“When I take mist form, I can track the shadow creature.”

Adriane’s jewel flashed as she connected to her packmate. Instantly, cold fire spiked at her senses, filling her with an icy dread. The shadow dragon was powerful, even at this distance. She didn’t want to think what it would feel like once they came face to face.

“Move it, Gwyx,” Adriane ordered.

The warrior dragon obeyed warily, allowing himself to be hidden under Dreamer’s mist.

Positioning herself between the two dragons, Adriane admitted that she wasn’t sure how she was going to protect her friends—or herself—if the creature unleashed a full attack. If it came down to a fight, she only hoped Gwyx fought half as well as he talked. Fleeing was not an option.

“We’ll need complete silence once we’re inside,” Adriane instructed the dragons. “Dreamer’s mist will absorb most of the noise, but step lightly and stick together.”

She could feel Gwyx’s body trembling with anxiety.

“Easy.” She patted the black dragon gently. “We’ll get through this just fine. We’ll have the crystal before the shadow dragon even knows we’re there.”

“Right,”
Drake agreed.

Gwyx edged closer to the red dragon.

“Hammer time!”

The dragons marched in sync toward the dark cave. Aside from the dirt being dislodged, no one would have known they were there, thanks to the magic of the mistwolf.

“Perhaps I should stay by the entrance and prevent its escape,”
Gwyx whispered nervously.

“We stick together,” Adriane ordered.

The cave gaped before them like a black maw waiting to swallow its prey.
“Rrrrrr, there’s something I should tell you—”

“Stow it.” Adriane gave Gwyx a shove as the group entered the cave. Obsidian-flecked walls gleamed, as if the mountain were watching them with dozens of flashing black eyes.

A ferocious growl rumbled from the depths below.

Cold, black power pierced Dreamer’s mist like a hundred electric shocks.

Gwyx shook, a small whimper mewling from his throat.

Adriane’s stomach turned. An awful dread enveloped her, making her skin crawl, every instinct screaming at her to run away.

Fight it! She commanded herself. Protect the pack at all costs!

The cave floor slanted sharply, taking them deeper and deeper. The dragons walked slowly. They too were fighting the disorienting pull of the darkness below.

Adriane pushed on, magic vibrating through her like thunder. They were getting close.

Gwyx stopped suddenly and pointed a trembling wingtip.

Pale light played over gleaming walls of a giant underground cavern. There, dead center, the shadow dragon lay coiled on a flat rock, rippling scales of smoke and shadow undulating. The creature was larger than Gwyx or Drake. And unlike those real dragons, this one was not solid. A nightmarish apparition of dragon magic, the creature’s long spiked neck snaked from a shifting, ghostlike body. Giant wings fluttered like specters, teeth and claws appearing and disappearing like avenging spirits.

Adriane stood stone still.

The beast suddenly lifted its massive head. Eyes like livid coals glowed in the darkness, sweeping the cave with a hunter’s glare. Its black forked tongue shot from its mouth, tasting the air for intruders. The beast knew something was in its lair, even if it couldn’t see them.

But all Adriane could see was the glowing object throbbing like a wicked heart inside the monster’s chest. Shadowy red and purple radiated from the crystal in hypnotic waves. At once the warrior knew she’d have to change her plan. She couldn’t just sneak up and snatch the power crystal; it had merged with the creature. To get her prize, she was going to have to slay the dragon.

Tapping her dragons on their wings, she gave them the silent signal to advance. Surprise was the only advantage they had.

The creature shifted, blood-red eyes darting around the cave. Adriane steeled herself. They would have only precious seconds before the beast discovered them.

They were almost there. Adriane raised her wrist, preparing to—

With a blood-curdling shriek, the shadow dragon struck like a viper. To Adriane’s shock, it lunged past the group. A second noise ricocheted off the walls behind her, rocketing into a deafening chorus of fear.

“Gwyx!”
Drake cried.

Adriane whipped around and saw Gwyx standing—completely visible—at the cavern’s entrance. He had been too frightened to move.

“mama.”
Gwyx cowered as the shadow dragon attacked in a storm of dagger claws and razor teeth.

Snorting fire, Drake charged into battle, knocking Gwyx away from danger. With a terrible shriek the shadow dragon turned its rage on the red dragon.

Adriane leaped through the air, Dreamer snarling at her side. Silver fire burst from her wolf stone, lassoing the shadow dragon’s neck. With all of her strength, Adriane yanked the beast away from Drake. The monster spun around, its blazing eyes boring into Adriane like an iron spike of pure terror.

She collapsed to the ground, her mouth open in a silent scream. Paralyzed, she could only watch in horror as the monster pounded into Dreamer, crushing the mistwolf with nightmarish power.

Fighting to stay conscious, the howls and screams of her friends filled her head with unbearable agony. Her worst fears were unfolding horrifically in front of her. Her pack was dying, and she was powerless to do anything!

“No!” she cried.

Adriane was the packleader. She would fight to the death to defend her pack. Survival was as instinctual as breathing. Desperately, she reached out to the strongest member of her pack.

A silver spark flashed from her jewel. For a second it was as if she stood on the highest hill of the Ravenswood Preserve, the green meadows and thick forests surrounding her. The preserve’s pure magic engulfed her as the great forest protector, Stormbringer, her paladin, filled her with strength.