Dark Mage (Avalon: Web of Magic, Book 11) (19 page)

“Adriane, you don’t understand!” Kara’s shield buckled. Even her blazing star magic could not withstand the righteous wrath of the warrior.

The dagger slipped from Drake’s chest, and the ground beneath them shook.

“Something’s happening!” Ozzie cried.

Wind howled across the ancient ring. The pillars began to glow as the last two crystals rose from the ground beside Drake.

“It worked.” Kara’s wide eyes watched her two crystals floating to join the others.

The moment they had all been working so hard for, risking their lives for, was upon them—the culmination of the prophecy, the completion of their quest.

But it was not what any of them had envisioned.

Nine power crystals spun in a blaze of magic, blurring red, orange, green, purple, blue, and silver. The colors twisted, melting into deep, pulsing black. Where nine crystals had floated, now there was only one. One power crystal. One key.

A single prism of light shot from the key, and then another, and another, until nine beams formed a perfect circle, hovering above the ancient floor. It was not like any portal the mages had ever seen. The surface was covered in facets of moving light, like a jewel.

Oblivious to everything, Adriane and Kara tumbled on the ground, literally at each other’s throats.

“Stop it! Stop it!” Ozzie frantically ran around the two mages. “Can’t you see what’s happening?”

Emily slowly advanced toward the portal as tendrils of mist reached for her like ghostly fingers.

Lyra arched her back and hissed. Dreamer began snapping at the air.

Like a dam bursting open, magic surged through the gateway engulfing Emily in a maelstrom of dark power. Silken strands, glistening like mirrors, looped and swirled around her. She called Indi, the heart of her magic, but her paladin had been turned, his twisted magic burning at her senses. She couldn’t see the ring or her friends anymore.

“Adriane, Kara,” Emily tried to call out, but her voice was so weak. She knew no one heard. Bright patterns and shapes rocketed through her mind until she could see nothing but chaotic swirls of magic. She tried again to speak, but only managed a hoarse whisper. “Help me.”

Suddenly, in the sea of kaleidoscopic colors, one bright orange glow seemed to separate from the blur. She grabbed for it like a lifeline.

Ozzie rushed toward his friend. “Emily, hold on!”

“Ozzie,” she cried, reaching blindly for him. “I can’t see you!”

“I’m right here.”

Emily tried to explain. “I have to get this magic onto the Spider Witch’s web.”

Ozzie felt a chill go up his spine. Had he heard her correctly? Emily was going to help the Spider Witch?

Ozzie planted himself in front of Emily, ferret stone blazing. There was no way he would let his friend fall to the witch.

Colors flashed and warped in Emily’s mind as she grabbed Ozzie’s magic. “Don’t leave me, I’m so scared.”

“I’ll never leave you.” Ozzie entwined his magic with hers. He would never let go. “You take care of me. I take care of you.”

Time and again, the brave ferret had saved Emily through the power of his friendship. And no matter how bad he felt about himself, about his life as a ferret, she would always find his golden aura and make it sparkle.

But this time it was Ozzie who saw Emily’s aura. Avalon’s magic was so powerful, she had begun to shimmer, her true colors visible. A beautiful rainbow cascaded around her like summer rain. But it was being washed away as darkness swirled over her eyes.

“Emily,” the ferret rasped as the healer locked onto his stone. Still Ozzie stood strong, refusing to let Emily go, even as he knew his friend was slipping away.

All at once Emily saw everything with crystal clarity. The Spider Witch’s web lay before her. It was beautiful, perfect, each newly formed strand carefully laid in place. All it needed was magic.

With a final pull, she ripped the last shreds of her best friend’s magic away from him.

Everything was surreal, as if happening in slow motion, as Ozzie’s jewel exploded.

The weaver raised her rainbow jewel to the skies and summoned the dark creatures who would spread Avalon’s magic.

Across the ring, Adriane and Kara still struggled, oblivious to the danger, and to Emily.

“Adriane, stop it!” Kara screamed. “The portal’s open!”

“You killed him!” Adriane cried.

“Oh no! Who died?”

The warrior and the blazing star froze as Drake sat up, staring at them both with worried golden eyes.

Adriane could barely speak. “Drake, you’re alive?”

“Yes, Mama, I’m fine.”

Adriane turned to Kara, stunned. “I don’t understand.”

Kara gasped for breath. “There was a shadow creature inside him, I tried to tell you! I used
its
magic to finish the crystal, not Drake’s.”

“The shadow dragon! Why didn’t you say something?”

“I didn’t know for sure until the last minute. You really think I would have killed Drake?”

The sound of hooves suddenly filled the air as hundreds of unicorns surrounded the ring, stomping and snorting.

“The unicorns!” Adriane exclaimed.

Kara’s face lit up. Then she saw the red magic swirling from their horns. “Wait… something’s wrong.”

Portals exploded open in blinding flares. Adriane and Kara shielded their eyes from the intense light as, one by one, the unicorns leaped, trailing the magic of Avalon behind them.

Frantically, Emily wove, feeding dark magic to the unicorns.

At her feet, Ozzie’s body lay still on the cold ground.

“Ozzie?” Adriane called out nervously.

“Emily, what happened?” Kara was almost afraid to find out.

Ignoring them, the healer stood over the small, furry figure, her fingers glowing red.

The sound of clapping echoed across the ring

“Bravo.” A tall, cloaked figure stood behind them. The Dark Sorceress smiled.

Adriane and Kara leaped to their feet, bondeds by their side. Silver and diamond white magic shot from their jewels, smashing into their enemy. But the magic failed to touch her.

Ghastly creatures burst from thin air, wings, claws, and teeth glinting with malice. The shadow creatures latched onto the mages’ magic, absorbing it with voracious hunger. Kara and Adriane were pulled to their knees as they tried to control their jewels. Dreamer, Lyra, and Drake roared in pain.

“Adriane, stop!” Kara cried. “They’ll take all our magic!”

With a scream, Adriane yanked her magic free. She scrambled to her packmate, soothing him as Kara hugged Lyra.

“The three mages. The grand hope of the Fairimentals.” The sorceress walked toward the Gates of Avalon. “The Prophecy of Three has come to pass. It always ends with one mage turning dark and betraying the others. It has happened over and over again. You know why? Because Avalon is dark, it has always been dark. And the only
real
chosen ones are the dark mages.”

The sorceress pinned Kara with her animal eyes. “Kara, join me now.” She extended a pale hand. “Become the blazing star you were meant to be.”

Kara glanced at Adriane. The warrior watched her warily. Emily stood over Ozzie, as if she were trying to heal him.

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Kara said firmly. She walked over and stood next to Adriane. “I’m staying where I belong, with my friends.”

The sorceress’s evil eyes looked deep into Kara’s, searching. “It seems I still can be surprised.”

Adriane glanced at Kara suspiciously. “What does she mean one always turns dark and betrays the others?”

“I guess the wishing crystal went to my head,” Kara said in a rush. “All I could think about was replacing the power crystal I lost. But I’m not dark. Are you?”

“No,” Adriane answered firmly. “I was trapped by the power crystal but I’m okay now.”

“I am so relieved,” Kara cried, hugging her friend.

“Me, too.” Adriane threw her arms around Kara. Neither of them had turned dark. And Drake was alive!

“Keep your friends, blazing star, it doesn’t matter.” The Dark Sorceress swept her cloak around her and turned to the portal. “Your time has come and gone. Whereas mine is just beginning. Oh,” she swept her hand through the magic snaking from the portal, “don’t worry about all this magic, my shadow creatures will take care of it—and the unicorns as well.”

Followed by her monstrous creatures, she stepped through the Gates of Avalon. One by one, the nine prisms of light vanished until nothing was left, not even the key.

The mages had been shut out.

Adriane and Kara looked at one another in disbelief.

“Wait,” Kara said. “If you didn’t turn dark and I didn’t, then…”

Emily swayed back and forth over the ferret’s body. But she was not healing her friend. Caught in the dark weaving spell, she directed the unicorns along the magic web—the Spider Witch’s web.

“Ozzie, get up,” Kara ordered.

“Ozzie?” Adriane’s voice wavered.

Ozzie’s chest was still, his body limp.

Too shocked to speak, Adriane and Kara rushed to the ferret.

He wasn’t breathing.

“Emily, do something!” Kara screamed.

Lyra nosed her friend, mewling in pain.

Dreamer howled an anguished cry.

“Please, Ozzie! Don’t leave us!” Adriane sobbed.

But the ferret was already gone.

The mages huddled on the stone floor, grief stricken.

But that meant little to the healer now, for the Prophecy of Three had come to pass, just as the sorceress said it would.

Adriane had followed her heart. She’d found her home at Ravenswood.

Kara had changed many times to become the blazing star.

Tears streaming down their faces, the warrior and the blazing star gaped at Emily—the one nobody ever worried about, the most constant, the most compassionate, the one always ready to help.

And now, when she needed her friends the most, they had failed her.

“Emily, can’t you see us?”

“Emily, we’re right here!”

It was too late.

Emily had seen in darkness. She had seen dark magic. And now she had become the dark mage.

Bear-like creatures with coarse black hair, kobolds live in the cold, misty bogs of the Otherworlds. They are territorial and fiercely protective of their race. Kobold Shamans have a rich tradition of using magic to make talismans and amulets that identify individual tribes.