Full Circle (Avalon: Web of Magic #12) (9 page)

T
WO FULL MOONS
rose in the night sky, casting shimmering silver light through the Black Forest. A chorus of croaks and chirps punctuated the cold breeze.

Henry Gardener huddled under a blanket beside the crackling campfire, clutching a cup of steaming broth. An expression of sheer amazement passed over his gaunt face. Three mages, a mistwolf, a winged cat, two dragons, a mini dragon and a—thing—were all staring at him expectantly.

“Is that a fairy dragon?” the wizard asked.

“This is Goldie.” Kara patted the mini’s head.

Goldie hopped to Gardener’s knee, twirled, and bowed.

“Fantastic!” Gardener’s eyes twinkled with glee.

“You bet,” Goldie replied.

Gardener studied the blazing star for a moment, then shifted his gaze to Emily, then Adriane.

“It’s simply incredible, you’re bonded to all these animals. And dragons!” He eyed the huge red and black dragons. “I thought they were extinct.”

“PfffffT!”
Gwyx pfffted, irritated.
“Another human. It’s like a plague.”

“That’s Gwyx. And this is Drake, my baby boy.” Adriane stroked Drake’s soft, scaly neck as he hung his head over her shoulder.

“You must be Adriane.” Gardener turned his gaze to the warrior. “You have your grandmother’s eyes.” The wizard regarded the black mistwolf sitting by her side. “You’ve bonded with a dragon
and
a mistwolf?”

“I am the warrior’s packmate, Dreamer,”
the mistwolf said.

“He’s magnificent.”

“And this is Lyra.” Kara ran her hand over the big cat’s silky back.

The deep lines in Gardener’s face had softened, and his bright blue eyes shone with a brilliance that belied his age. “Now I understand why you have done so well.” His eyes misted suddenly. “I am honored to meet you all. My name is Henry Gardener.”

“We know,” Emily said, refilling his cup.

“
He was supposed to protect Ravenswood and help us learn about magic,” Adriane told Drake with a hint of anger.

Gardener smiled sadly. “Things don’t always work out as planned.”

Kara scowled. “All we ever saw were a bunch of paintings in the manor that look like you.”

“That’s because they are me.”

“But that’s impossible!” Adriane exclaimed. “Those go back to the founding of Ravenswood which would make you over 200 years old!”

The wizard sighed. “That is how long I have lived at Ravenswood.”

Emily eyed him warily. “Are you telling us you’re immortal?”

“Hardly.” The wizard stretched his old limbs. “But I believe the magic has kept me alive for a reason.”

“Why did you leave Ravenswood?” Adriane demanded.

“Where have you been?” Kara asked.

“Why were you with the Dark Sorceress?” Emily queried.

“Hawttdog?” Buttercup offered a half-chewed treat.

Gardener held up his palm. “I know you have many questions but first, I must know this.” He studied Kara. “What of the sorceress’s plans?”

Kara met his gaze levelly. “She’s inside Avalon.”

“I was afraid of that,” he sighed. “Yet I can see you remain together, even after opening the gates.”

Kara’s eyes narrowed. “Oh, you mean did one of us turn into a dark mage?”

“That is the prophecy, yes.”

“I did,” Emily said before the others could answer.

“The healer.” Gardener shook his head, confused. “But the sorceress always planned to turn the blazing star.”

Emily took a breath and explained. “The Spider Witch got to me first. She trapped me in a spell and I helped her weave a new magic web.”

His piercing blue eyes locked on Emily. “To become the dark mage you would have had to kill your bonded.”

“She’s fine now,” Adriane said protectively.

“Better than fine!” Kara added.

“Goodogg!” Buttercup insisted.

Emily spoke quietly. “I didn’t really kill Ozzie.”

Gardner looked over the group. “Ozzie?”

“An elf sent by the Fairimentals to help us,” Kara explained. “They disguised him as a ferret.”

“I thought I killed him,” Emily continued. “But I only removed the ferret spell. Now he’s back at his village in Farthingdale.”

“Interesting,” Gardner said thoughtfully.

“Hello, it would have been nice to know that one of us would be a dark mage!” Kara fumed.

“Would you have completed your quest if you had known?” Gardener asked. “Each time, the Fairimentals thought the new mages could break the cycle.”

Adriane glared at the wizard. “So why did you leave Ravenswood?”

Gardener set down his cup and shrugged the blanket off his shoulders. He seemed to be getting stronger with every passing minute.

“I went looking for the power crystals,” he said. “What I found was Aldenmor in terrible danger.” He held up his hand before the mages could continue their questions. “Let me start at the beginning.”

The mages and animals settled in around the campfire.

“It was in the Ravenswood forest that I first discovered magic. I was about your age, and at that time, the manor belonged to an old English couple. I was an apprentice to the stable master. In those woods I met a mistwolf, Chain. He had been drawn to the powerful magic of Ravenswood. He was scouting out the forest for other animals to follow. He took me through the portal to Aldenmor. There I discovered more incredible animals. And not just animals. Races as different from humans as the magical animals were from the animals of Earth. Fairy, warlock, goblin, troll, and many variations in between, each with different capabilities to control magic. Most amazing of all, I met the Fairimentals. They told me about the magic web, and that it was growing weak. If Avalon, the source of all magic, could not be found, it would get worse and eventually fade away along with the magic. They said that of all magic users, none were as powerful as a human bonded with animals. My mission was to find three mages: a healer, a warrior, and a blazing star. Together with the animals, they would open the Gates of Avalon—and save the magic web.”

“The Fairimentals sent Ozzie to find us,” Emily said suddenly, looking at Gardener. “Just like they sent you to find three mages.”

“The more I learned about mage magic, the more I wanted to bond with an animal. But that was not to be. Instead I studied jewel crafting with a warlock master.”

“That’s why you had all those crystals in your secret workshop at Ravenswood,” Adriane said, drawing the wizard’s attention. “We found the data crystal with the recordings of Stormbringer.”

“You know her?” Gardener asked eagerly.

“She is my paladin,” the warrior replied, holding her silver jewel in the light. “And the spirit protector of Ravenswood.”

“I knew she was special,” the wizard murmured.

“I thought the Ravenswood portal opened right before we got there,” Emily said.

“The portal is immensely powerful. I didn’t know how to open it. But the animals could. Many crossed back and forth for years.”

“More than likely starting a few legends about the haunted woods,” Kara speculated.

“Did the sorceress and the Spider Witch live near Ravenswood too?” Kara asked.

“I met Miranda and her sister, Lucinda, on Aldenmor. Their grandparents were mages who traveled back and forth between Aldenmor and Earth. Miranda was headstrong, sharp-tongued, a warrior. She was clever, eager to acquire magic any way she could. Her sister Lucinda was different; she was a visionary who saw great goodness and hope in the magic. She had made her home in the Fairy Realms, which at the time was nothing but separate races all squabbling and fighting. Lucinda helped build the realms into the Five Kingdoms. She was honored with the title of Fairy Queen, and was loved by many as the blazing star.”

Gardener’s eyes gleamed in the firelight as he recalled his old friends.

“I discovered Sylvan in Virginia when I heard about the girl who could read people’s minds and miraculously heal the sick. I knew I’d found my three mages, and I brought them to the Fairimentals.”

Adriane stoked the fire. “How many mages came before us?”

Gardener shook his head. “I don’t really know. No one before us had succeeded in opening the Gates of Avalon. But we had to try.”

“So you made the nine power crystals,” Kara prompted.

“The key.” Gardener nodded. “I had the idea of combining the magic of the animals with jewels. And that’s when Miranda started to change. She had bonded with a very powerful cat, named Faylinn. They were always fighting for control of their magic. I should have seen it coming…”

Emily spoke quietly, “The Dark Sorceress said only a dark mage could enter Avalon.”

“Miranda had a talent for finding less than reputable magic masters in places like Port Tuga. It was there she uncovered the dark prophecy. Of all those who tried before us, one mage had always turned dark. She never understood that the dark mages made the other quests fail.”

“But some of the power crystals
were
dark,” Adriane pointed out, regarding the wizard suspiciously.

“Believe me, they were not intended to be dark crystals,” Gardener assured her. “On the day we tried to open the gates, Miranda sealed her fate as the dark mage.”

“She killed her own bonded,” Emily whispered.

Gardener closed his eyes as if to block the memory. “In that one terrible moment, the power crystals turned dark. Sylvan and Miranda fought, but Miranda turned the dark magic on Sylvan, horribly transforming her.” He stopped short, as if continuing the story was too painful.

“And Lucinda?” Kara asked breathlessly.

“Lucinda tried to stop it but she was caught in the blast of magic and…” Gardener broke off, a haunted look shadowing his features. He took a shaky breath and continued. “The Fairimentals knew what had happened and took the power crystals away. They hid the island so Miranda could not find the Gates again.”

“And she’s been trying to find it ever since,” Kara realized.

“What did you do?” Emily asked Gardener.

“I returned to Ravenswood. I purchased the land in 1810. The magical animals stopped coming, and without their magic, I could not open the portal back to Aldenmor. All I could do was wait, hoping there would be new mages to begin the quest again.”

“You must have started wondering if new mages would ever show up,” Emily said.

“I kept busy studying crystals, trying to learn the secret of bonding with the mistwolves.” He smiled at Dreamer and Adriane.

The warrior hugged her packmate close.

“Then one day, about two years ago, the portal at Ravenswood suddenly opened.”

“Just before I came,” Adriane told him.

“Animals from Aldenmor were seeking sanctuary in Ravenwsood, telling stories of a terrible dark mage destroying their home. I knew their arrival meant new mages would be coming. I jumped through to find the power crystals. But something was terribly wrong on Aldenmor. Portals were shifting, the web was in a rapid decay. And worst of all, Miranda had evolved into the Dark Sorceress. She captured me before any of you even got to Ravenswood.”

“The Fairimentals didn’t tell us any of that!” Kara fumed. “We couldn’t get a straight answer out of them!”

“The Fairimentals do not think like you and I. They are elemental creatures, focused only on protecting the magic of Aldenmor.”

Adriane poked at the fire. “At least we know why the sorceress was after the mistwolves and the unicorns, and wanted Drake’s egg so much. She’s been stealing animal magic to try and open the Gates of Avalon.”

Emily stared into the flames thoughtfully. “I thought Avalon was supposed to be filled with good magic to flow along the web to all worlds.”

“Perhaps it was, once.” Gardener shrugged. “Whatever lies behind the gates bears no resemblance to the original Avalon.”

“But how could it have gone dark?” Kara demanded. “What happened?”

“The legend of the dark mage goes way back. During the time of the original Avalon, many humans and animals worked together. Until some humans realized they could simply steal magic from animals.”

“You mean betray their bondeds,” Adriane growled.

Gwyx rumbled. “
That is how the shadow dragon was created. A human sold its bonded dragon for magic.”

“That is correct,” Gardener said. “The path to dark magic has always been through the betrayal of bonded animals. Legends tell of the crystal city. And in its center lies an ancient pool, the very source of all magic. It is known as the Well of Tears.”

Emily sat up, startled. She had seen a well in her vision of Avalon when she was still under the Spider Witch’s spell.

“That sounds sad,” Kara said.

“Indeed,” Gardener agreed. “Nevertheless I still believed that three mages would have one last chance to complete the quest before the web unraveled.”

Firelight flickered over the awed faces of the healer, the warrior, and the blazing star.

“You mean us,” Adriane said quietly.

Gardener told them solemnly, “You are the last mages.”

The enormity of the simple words hung in the air like a thundercloud.

“According to the Fairimentals, it’s all over,” the warrior said angrily. “We failed.”

“But it seems no one became the dark mage,” Gardener said. “At least, not permanently.”