Dark Mage (Avalon: Web of Magic, Book 11) (16 page)

E
MILY HAD WALKED
right into a trap. She stared in disbelief at the immense tapestry hanging from the wall in the Spider Witch’s vast chamber.

The design on it was an image of the entire web, every tiny strand intricately woven into place. It didn’t look like the free-flowing map that Tasha had displayed on the library ceiling. Instead of glittering loops and swirls, the tapestry’s version had sharply defined lines in diamond and square shaped patterns. It felt cold and lifeless. A monstrous aberration, just like its creator.

“Magnificent, isn’t it?” The Spider Witch gazed at her masterpiece, the power crystal glowing in her hands.

Emily stiffened as the unicorns gathered closer, their horns flashing erratically, strobing the room with crimson. Indi stood in their midst, trapped like the others in the witch’s spell.

“Let them go!” Emily demanded. Indi’s twisted aura cut through her senses like a knife. She tried to focus as the walls tilted, colors dripping like blood.

“I’ve had experience entrapping paladins.” The witch emitted a clicking sound like grating laughter. “You can see for yourself that he and the other unicorns have not been harmed.”

Not physically, anyway. But the witch had twisted their pure magical auras into a pattern of her own design. Her heart ached to help them.

“I should thank you, healer. It’s been a long time since the Otherworlds have been a part of the web.” The witch pointed a long finger at a glowing diamond-shaped green section.

Emily saw how the section fit perfectly into the rest of the tapestry, like a piece of a puzzle. Her face flushed with anger and guilt. “You tricked me.”

The witch’s yellow eyes glittered from the darkness of her hood. “Yes, I sent the kobolds to you. I knew you could not resist the desire to help them. You are a healer.”

Emily eyed the power crystal gleaming in the witch’s hands. For the first time, Emily could clearly see the crystal’s aura. It radiated murky waves of purple and black. She shivered. “You used that to lure me here.”

The witch turned the jewel over in her hands. “Do you know what kind of crystal this is?”

Emily shook her head.

“A healing crystal.”

Emily gasped. “How could you use a healing jewel to twist unicorns?”

“It shouldn’t surprise you. Healing and weaving are the same thing,” the witch said. “When you heal an animal, you are repairing a damaged pattern. When I weave, I am taking a pattern apart and making something new. You understand?”

Emily did understand. Before she could heal any creature, she first had to undo—take away—the illness, or injury.

“What would make the unicorns come to you?” she asked as the unicorns pressed closer. “They would never answer your call.”

“That is true.” The witch’s eyes danced. “But they would answer yours.”

Emily furrowed her brow, confused. She hadn’t directed them here.

“An easy mistake for a novice to make. The web you made with the sorceress’s help summoned all kinds of creatures to your aid.”

“I don’t understand.” Emily thought that web was just a terrible memory.

“My dear healer, a web that powerful continues to radiate magic long after the spell is complete. I simply directed it at the unicorns. They came because
you
summoned them.”

Panic spread through Emily’s body, escalating with every heartbeat. The web she had made with the help of the Dark Sorceress. So many animals had answered her call because she was the healer and they trusted her. But she had unwittingly betrayed them, giving their magic to the evil sorceress. And now it was all her fault the unicorns had been trapped!

A horrifying thought occurred to her. “All those dark creatures appearing on the web, shadow creatures—my web summoned them, too?”

The witch loomed over her with a sickeningly satisfied smile. “They have all been answering your call.”

Emily felt dizzy, as if she were about to pass out. Her whole life, she had worked to help animals and keep them safe. But now she saw how right she had been to fear her magic. Reaching Level Two had spelled disaster for the web, the unicorns, and all the animals that needed magic to survive.

“You’ve seen for yourself the old web is damaged beyond repair,” the Spider Witch said. “My web can replace it. See how perfect my pattern is.” The witch indicated her tapestry. “So much improved over the old one.”

“What do you need the unicorns for?” Emily demanded.

“The web is only as strong as the magic that flows through it. The unicorns will run the web as they are meant to, but they will spread
my
magic where I want it to go.”

“A unicorn’s magic can’t be taken! And they would never give magic to you.”

“But they will give it willingly to you.”

Indi leaned his head over Emily’s shoulder, his dark aura enveloping her.
“Lead us, healer.”

“The web needs magic,”
the corrupted unicorns called.
“Let us run!”

Emily felt overwhelmed. Like a true spider, the witch had set a trap for everything she needed: the unicorns, the Otherworlds, Emily herself.

Repulsed though she was, Emily couldn’t help seeing a certain beauty in the work. There was logic, albeit twisted, in what the Spider Witch said. Emily had seen the extensive damage on the magic web. Maybe it really was beyond repair. She winced. The only thing she was sure of was her need, as a healer, to save the animals at all costs.

“I know you see the beauty of my design,” the witch said into her ear. “You are the only one who can truly understand.”

Emily studied the tapestry, opening her magical vision. Hidden beneath the witch’s cold, angular lines, she could see faint sparkles of looping strands—the original web! She could feel it slipping away like sand. But as long as even a hint of the original web was still there, she could heal it! It was the only shot she had. She didn’t have much time. And she’d need all her friends to do it.

Emily tried to play it cool while she formulated a plan. “What do you want from me?” she demanded of her captor.

“There is one last thing I must have to complete my web. No one can find it.” The witch ran her hand over the tapestry. “Except you.”

Emily kept her expression as immobile as stone.

“The Gates of Avalon,” the witch pressed. “
You
are connected to it through your paladin, forged from the Heart of Avalon.”

“The island?” Emily asked as the final piece of the puzzle fell into place. The witch needed Emily because the healer was the only one who could find the Gates of Avalon, with Indi’s guidance.

“It is impossible to locate,” the witch continued, “constantly moving, protected by a strong shield, as you know. But your paladin can find it.”

“What happened?” Emily asked. “Why did your quest fail?”

“That doesn’t matter now.” The witch leaned in so close Emily could smell her rancid odor. “You have a chance to save the web. If the unicorns don’t spread the magic of Avalon along my web, there will be no magic web at all, and all your animal friends will die.”

Lorelei stepped to Emily’s side. “
The animals need us.”

“We must run the web!”
the unicorns chorused.

The healer edged back, but Lorelei moved in closer, the other unicorns right behind her.

“Open the gates.”

“Release Avalon’s magic for us!”

If she could get this power crystal to the island, Emily could heal the web with her friends. She could only pray Adriane, Kara, and Ozzie would find their way and meet her. With all her heart, she believed they would. They just had to be there. She had never needed her friends more than she needed them now.

The witch held out the power crystal to Emily. Shadows shifted across her hazel eyes.

The healer accepted it, her fingers closing around the pulsing gem. “Indi, show me the Gates of Avalon,” she commanded.

Magic flashed from his horn, illuminating the exquisite patterns. A brilliant point of light flashed near the edge of the design. Emily knew that aura. It was the Heart of Avalon, the crystal that would guide them to the island.

“At last!” The Spider Witch’s insect eyes gleamed as she raised her arms.

Dozens of spiders dropped from the ceiling on glowing silken threads and skittered onto the tapestry. In a frenzy of clicking and hissing, they began to weave.

The Spider Witch’s arms swooped through the air like a mad conductor as her spiders wove the elusive Gates of Avalon into the witch’s pattern.

The tapestry rippled, strands shifted and finally settled as the Spider Witch’s web locked into place.

Colors flared to vibrant life under Emily’s magical vision. The witch’s web was flawless. The unicorns’ auras had been woven as a perfect complement to the new web they would run upon.

“It is done!” the witch cried triumphantly.

The healer grasped the power crystal in trembling hands. Magic flowed through her like dark fire as auras swirled and glowed around her. She wasn’t even trying, and she could see the auras of the unicorns, Indi, the tapestry, even the Spider Witch herself.

The unicorns reared and whinnied, eager to run the dark web.

The Spider Witch threw off her black robe and climbed up the tapestry on her eight horrendous spider legs. Reaching into the center of her evil web, she sat like a giant black widow. Glittering insect eyes gleamed at Emily.

“Go, healer. Bring me Avalon!”

L
ORREN PACED ALONG
a wide strand of glowing green web, the little orange dragonfly, Blaze, perched on his shoulder. The goblin prince and Ozzie had landed on a nexus, a point where several strands of web intersected like crisscrossing railways. A dozen brilliant portals swirled around them.

Lorren had used Blaze to dial up Goldie. But when he discovered she was at Ravenswood, he sent another of the dragonfly crew—purple Barney—to find Kara, and take his magical call. Now he was explaining, “Kara, I was worried about you. That’s why I sent Barney.”

“Well, that’s nice, but I’m fine,” Kara snapped.

“Then where’s Goldie?” Lorren asked.

“Sent her home.”

“You what?”

Ozzie scrambled up the prince’s shoulder and shouted into Blaze’s belly. “You compost heap! Where’s Emily?”

“What?” the blazing star’s offended voice asked.

“Ozzie! I’m talking to Kara, not Tweek.” He brushed the ferret away, annoyed by the interruption.

Grumbling, the furry mage scowled, trying not to tumble into an open portal as the unstable web rippled beneath his paws. Untethered, tangled strands shifted, snaking into a massive knot of green in the distance. If Emily had been here, as Tweek claimed, she wasn’t here now. If that mulch pile let anything happen to her, Ozzie would feed him to the jeeran!

“You don’t know where Emily is?” Kara asked.

“Tweek was trying to pop us to her.” Lorren paced anxiously.

“What about Xena?”

“She’s on her way to the mistwolf packhome. She found a power crystal but—”

“Oh and she yelled at
me
for not taking my crystal to The Garden. She is unbelievable!” Kara ranted. “She’d better pull it together, because I just made a new power crystal.”

“You did?” Ozzie ran over. “How?”

“With my new friend.”

“And who’s that?” Lorren asked.

“If you must know, his name is Logan and he knows everything about every—”

“Logan? The Fairy Underground has a huge file on that guy,” Lorren yelled. “He’s a dark fairy!”

“So what? You’re a goblin. You have something against fairies?”

“No, I mean yes! Kara, Logan is not your friend.”

“Well, I like him and I can take care of myself!”

“Oy.” Ozzie threw up his arms in frustration as he listened to them.

“Kara, you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into.”

“That’s the popular theory.”

“You haven’t talked to the others, you don’t even know what’s going on.”

“Don’t know, don’t care.”

Fed up, Ozzie stomped away, plopping himself onto a glittery mound. “Great, Lorren’s fighting with Kara, Emily’s missing, and Adriane’s running all over the web. I might as well be talking to myself!”

Twinkling light sparked up Ozzie’s spine. He scratched his back and sighed dejectedly. Nobody ever listened to him. But why should they? It wasn’t like he was helping on this quest anyway. There was still one more power crystal to find and nobody knew where it was, least of all him.

“I got the lonesome ferret bluewuwuwuwuwuues,” Ozzie sang a mournful ballad. “And I don’t know what to dowoowoowoowooo—oogAH!”

He leaped to his feet, his fur crackling like a sparkler. “What the—!”

“So because I don’t use magic I’m not good enough for you?” Lorren’s voice echoed across the stillness of the web.

“I’m the blazing star! I guess you’ll never understand.”

“Fine!”

“Fine!”

Ozzie furiously tore at the sticky webbing covering the mound he’d been sitting on. Reaching into the wet mass, he pulled out a glittering, goo-covered object. He rubbed it clean with his furry arm, revealing brilliant crystalline facets. His ferret jaw dropped.

“Lorren,” he squeaked.

The prince wheeled around, almost tripping over Ozzie as he yelled into Blaze’s belly. “I understand this Logan character, and I don’t like you hanging out with him.”

“I can’t believe you’re jealous!” Kara scoffed.

“Lorren!” Ozzie jumped up and down, waving the power crystal.

“I am not jeal—”

Ozzie grabbed Blaze’s foot. “Gimme that d-fly!”

“—ousOOowEEwa!” Blaze stretched like a rubber band.

“Ozzie what are you doing?” Lorren scowled.
“I found a power crystal!” the ferret screamed.

“What? Are you sure?”

Ozzie touched the power crystal to his jewel. Instantly, his fur stuck out like a porcupine.

“Ozzie found the last crystal!” Lorren cried.

“Good work, furball, one less thing for me to do,” Kara said. “Thanks for the chat, but I need one last ingredient for this replacement crystal. If Adriane doesn’t screw up, we have them all. Later.”

“Kara, wait.” But she had hung up. Lorren grimaced. “I don’t get her.”

“She’s a teenage girl, don’t even try.” Ozzie jumped as the power crystal flashed in his hands. “We have to get back to Ravenswood!”

Lorren scanned the dozen doorways swirling dizzyingly around them. “Which one?”

“That one,” Ozzie pointed to a swirling circle of light.

“How can you tell?”

Ozzie picked up a packet of trail mix he had carefully placed when they arrived. “Better than bread crumbs.” He dumped the last of the raisins and nuts in his mouth.

“Ozzie, you never cease to amaze me,” Lorren exclaimed as he followed the ferret through the doorway.

They tumbled out into a pile of animals in the middle of the portal field at Ravenswood.

“Are you okay” Tasha rushed toward them, magic meter in hand.

“Look what I found!” Ozzie crowed, holding up his prize.

Bathed in the light of the flashing green crystal, quiffles, brimbees, and wommels turned on Ozzie with a strange glint in their eyes.

“Don’t all thank me at once.”

Like a wild pack, the magical animals charged, flattening the ferret.

“GAH!”

Tasha pointed her magic meter into the melee. “These readings are off the charts! That crystal is driving the animals wild.”

Ozzie slipped away from the pile, only to be tackled by Lyra.

“Where’s Kara?”
the cat roared furiously.

“Ozzie, stop it!” Tasha cried.

The ferret ran in circles, Lyra and the animals on his heels. “Hellllllp!”

“The crystal, make it stop!” Tasha dodged a flying quiffle. “It’s making everyone crazy!”

Ozzie spun around, brandishing the jewel. “Back off!”

With a flash, the crystal’s magic dimmed under his control.

Lyra shook her head, confused.
“What happened?”

Ozzie kicked at her. “You tried to eat me!”

“Sorry.”

“Amazing!” Tasha scanned Ozzie and the power crystal. “The power crystal’s dark magic didn’t affect your ferret stone at all.”

“Yeah, thanks for the help,” Ozzie said sarcastically.

In a flurry of twigs, Tweek materialized with a crunch. “I’m ba-AAK!”

The Experimental Fairimental’s quartz eyes bugged out and twirled as the power crystal enveloped him in murky light.

“Hold yourself together, twigman.” Ozzie turned the jewel away from the E.F.

“I don’t believe it!” Tasha gasped, wide eyes glued to her screen.

The group circled Tasha.

“What’s happening?” Lorren asked.

“The Spider Witch has made her move. She’s added the Gates of Avalon to her web,” Tasha whispered.

Glowing green lines reached out greedily from the Spider Witch’s lair in the Fairy Realms, snaking tendrils across the web and locking in the final power crystal, the Heart of Avalon. Everyone stared at the image, shocked.

“There it is! The Gates of Avalon!” Rasha said, stunned.

“We
have
to get to there,” Tasha exclaimed. “Now!”

“We’re missing a crystal!” Tweek fretted.

“Actually, we’re not. Kara made a new one,” Lorren said icily.

“Where? How? Who?” Tweek spluttered.

“What’s that?” Ozzie pointed to a blinking light moving across the web.

Tasha’s face went pale. “Emily’s jewel. But it’s totally dark.” She flipped a switch. Two other dark spots appeared on the map of the web. “Adriane and Kara. Their readings have gone dark as well.”

“Wait,” Ozzie said. “You said Kara’s crystal was acting funny. Adriane’s too. Now Emily has one in the center of the witch’s web. And now this one,” he held his crystal tight. “They’re all bonding with dark crystals.”

“I knew Kara was acting weird!” Lorren exclaimed.

“We have to get to the mages!” Tasha cried.

“Let’s go!” Tweek yelled.

“Get us to Adriane!” the quiffles shouted.

“Get me to Kara!”
Lyra howled.

The ferret pulled Lyra aside as the group rushed to open the Ravenswood portal.

“Lyra, I’ve got a bad feeling about this. We don’t know how the dark crystals are affecting the mages.” The cat held her head close to Ozzie as he whispered. “What’s going to happen when we put the power crystals all together? We can’t risk bringing everyone into something really dangerous.”

Lyra glanced at Tasha, Lorren, Tweek, and the animals.

“Okay,” Tweek announced. “I’ve sequenced a series of portals we can jump through, the final one will lead to Emily.”

Suddenly, the Ravenswood portal swirled open, casting a weird, diffused glow over the field. The protective dreamcatcher hung in its center, the Spider Witch’s sickly green magic slithering over its strands.

“Let’s go!” The entire group charged, all preparing to jump into the Ravenswood portal.

With a roar, Lyra leaped in their path.

“What are you doing?” Lorren tried to step around her. “Let us through!”

Lyra firmly stood her ground.

“Listen up!” Ozzie ordered. “We know the witch has control of the web.” The ferret scratched his chin thoughtfully. “What we don’t know is, well, everything else.”

The group ignored him, surging forward.

“Wait!” Ozzie implored his friends. “I grew up on Aldenmor and I’ve traveled all over the web, but the only home I’ve ever had is Ravenswood. No matter what happens to the rest of us, I’m counting on you to protect our home.”

The last traces of anger and confusion left his friends’ faces.

“You too, Lorren. We need you here.”

Slowly, the goblin prince bowed. “Good luck, Sir Ozymandias.”

Nodding in silent thanks, the ferret leaped onto Lyra’s back.

With a final glance at their friends, Lyra and Ozzie jumped through the portal, leaving Ravenswood behind.