Heart of Avalon (Avalon: Web of Magic #10): (10 page)

E
VERYONE SCREAMED AS
the Fearless Flyer plunged straight toward the jagged rocks below.

Emily clung to the mast as Ozzie rolled across the deck, crashing into Lyra’s side.

Abruptly, the boat lurched, slowing its rapid descent as if someone put on the brakes in mid air!

“What’s going on?” Marlin yelled, gripping the rail.

The river tilted and spun beneath them as the boat swung away from the waterfall. The Flyer was living up to its name. It was flying!

A large shadow swept across the deck, followed by a great rush of wind. Emily felt the dragon’s immense strength even before she saw him. “Drake!”

Drake swooped from the sky, Adriane, Zach, and Dreamer on his back. Bands of silver and red magic lassoed the boat, lifting it up and away from the falls.

“Drake, take us down easy,” Zach called out.

“I am trying.”
Muscles corded like iron along the dragon’s neck as mighty wings skimmed the outer edges of the falls.

Orange light crackled wildly.

“I can’t swim!” Ozzie suddenly remembered, focusing his ferret stone. The air around him responded to his power, a heavy surge that pushed the boat away from the tangle of sharp rocks.

With a roar, Drake lowered the Flyer into calmer waters, splashing the already soaked crew. The boat settled in a mossy alcove a safe distance away from the thundering waterfall.

Drake landed on the prow, tipping the vessel deep in the mud.

“Dragon!” Cribby cried, terrified.

A quick hand signal from Adriane sent Dreamer leaping from the dragon’s back. The black mistwolf pinned Cribby to the deck, lips pulled back in a fearsome snarl.

“Clam almighty!”

“Emily!” Adriane slid off Drake and swept up her friend in a hug.

Zach leaped aboard the Flyer, red jewel blazing. “Don’t move!” he ordered Cribby.

“No, wait! He’s a friend.” Emily pulled the mistwolf away. “This is Captain Cribby.”

“Garg, he’s too bulky, man!” Cribby sprang up, trying to push the enormous dragon off the boat.

“And Prince Marlin.”

Adriane scowled at the merboy before turning to Emily. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I can’t believe you guys found me!” Emily was laughing and crying all at once.

Zach eased Marlin back. “You don’t look so good.”

“Yeah, thanks for the rescue,” the prince said, staring in awe at Drake.

Ozzie marched over, indignant. “About time you showed up!” he yelled at the big, red dragon.

“Now what’s going on?” Adriane asked.

Marlin, Emily, Indi, Cribby, and Ozzie started talking at once.

“We got swept away and—”

“All of a sudden we were on—”

“— beautiful unicorn.”

“—a big, dumb turtle!”

“—with bulwoggles and mermaids!”

“—hobnobbler!”

“One at a time!” Adriane yelled.

Dreamer sniffed Indi, catching the warrior’s eye.

“A unicorn,” Adriane exclaimed. “He’s so cute!”

“He ate my jewel.”

Dreamer growled.

“Fine!” Adriane threw up her hands. “Join the party.”

“Did somebody say ‘party’?”

Another winged shadow swept over the boat.

“Kara!” Emily waved as Nightwing landed next to Drake, pitching the Flyer forward.

“Good gob, man!” Cribby wailed. “Are ya batty?”

Emily ran to the blond girl, catching her as she dismounted. “I’m so glad to see you.”

“Ditto.” Kara brushed herself off, smiling as if she had just arrived at a school dance. “What a beautiful waterfall. Did you guys see that?”

“No,” Adriane said, straight-faced. “Which one are you talking about?”

“That one.” The blazing star pointed. “It’s ginormous!”

“We ended up over the jungles, and Nightwing tracked you here,” Lorren explained.

Indi pranced up to Kara, showing off his dazzling horn.

“Ooo, what a cute unic—”

“He ate Emily’s jewel,” Ozzie informed her, ferret arms crossed.

“Gross.”

“He’s bonded to me,” Emily said shyly.

“Stuck.”
Indi danced around proudly, coming nose-to-nose with Ozzie.

“All righty, then.” Kara clapped her hands. “Time to wrap this up and go home.”

“Kara,” Emily said, patting Indi’s head. “We think we know where the power crystal is. We can’t turn back now.”

“Girls.” Kara draped her arms around Adriane and Emily. “In case no one’s noticed, it’s half past our show-up-at-home-before-we-get-busted time.”

“Where’s Tasha?” Lorren asked worriedly. “She’s got the jewel locator, she should have been here first.”

“She’ll find us,” Kara said.

“Maybe she got thrown into another portal,” Zach suggested.

“We have to press on,” Marlin said. “Too many lives are at stake.”

“Listen, pal.” Lorren got in Marlin’s face. “I’m not leaving here without her!”

Emily caught a momentary flare of jealousy in Kara’s eyes.

“Okay.” Marlin backed off.

Lorren sighed. “Sorry. It’s just that Tasha and I… we’ve been friends since we were little. I promised her family I would look out for her when she entered the court.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about,” Kara said.

Lorren turned away to watch the river. “We don’t even know where we are.”

“We were led here,” Emily explained. “To find magic and heal the water.”

“Who would lead you over a waterfall?” Adriane exclaimed.

Cribby snorted. “I’d like to meet the soddy sea salt that would follow them orders.”

They all looked at the sea captain.

“Mermaids,” Marlin said.

“Mermaids?” Kara repeated.

Emily sighed. “There’s a lot to tell.”

“Fine, what have you got to eat around here?” Ozzie started rummaging through supplies and utensils strewn about the deck.

“We gots… ” The sea elf picked up a barrel that didn’t look broken. “Grainnubs and some bread.”

“Well, I suppose I could cook a nubwhich,” Ozzie mused. “Who’s hungry?”

Drake’s roar echoed up and down the river.

Adriane was at the dragon’s side in a flash, soothing her big baby boy. “Ozzie, make about fifty for Drake.”

“doh.”

“Okay, you!” Kara took Emily by the hand and sat her on the steps of the cabin. “Tell us everything. With details.”

Emily blushed.

“Just Emily.” Adriane turned the eager ferret around.

Soon smoke wafted from the galley as Ozzie whipped up snacks. Drake sat on the grassy bank, hovering over the group protectively as Emily explained the events that had led her to the Snake River. It was strange to have the other mages hanging on to her every word. Usually Emily was the one who listened to everyone else’s adventures.

“We’re supposed to find the Rainbow Veil that leads to the Crystal Caves,” she concluded.

“And now you have, like, magic X-ray vision?” Kara asked eagerly. “Quick, does my aura match my outfit?”

Adriane pushed to her feet. “Emily, when your magic hit us, it was really strong.”

Emily gently stroked Dreamer and Lyra. “I’m so sorry.”

Both animals leaned against the healer protectively.

“Indi eating your jewel explains Tasha’s reading,” Kara mused. “But then what happened?”

“I tried to heal all the animals. But I couldn’t control it,” Emily said quietly. “So many animals were caught in my magic. And…”

They waited for her to continue.

“I was hurting them.” Emily’s eyes watered.

Adriane and Kara exchanged a worried glance.

“But somehow Indi brought me out of it.”

“You can thank me later,” Ozzie called out.

“You woke him up?” Emily asked Ozzie.

“I connected with your jewel, and since he swallowed it, well, you do the math.”

Emily gave Ozzie a big kiss on his furry head.

“Or you can thank me now.”

“I think there’s a power crystal in the caves,” Emily continued. “And it’s poisoning the water magic—”

“Wait a minute,” Kara said to Emily. “I needed almost everyone’s help when I created my magic network of friends.”

“Yeah, how
did
you use so much power?” Ozzie asked Emily as he eyed Indi up and down. “Even if this—”

“Pretty unicorn.”

“Whatever—is bonded to you.”

They all looked at the healer.

She didn’t know how to explain the rest, so she said in a rush, “Okay, I think I met another mage.”

The group gasped.

“Rewind,” Adriane ordered.

Emily shook her head. It was as if pieces of her memory were just blanked out.

“Er, the merprince and meeself dun remember seein’ no mage,” Cribby chimed in.

“Obviously you were under some kind of spell.” Adriane turned to Marlin and Cribby accusingly.

“Darned dangled magic,” Cribby grumbled.

“This woman knew about us,” Emily continued. “She and her friends tried to open the Gates of Avalon.”

“There were other mages before us?” Adriane asked.

Emily shrugged. “She said the power crystals were hers.”

“Whoa, that’s crazy.” Kara shook her head. “Where’s the Fairimentals when we need them?”

“Marina is still missing,” Lorren reminded them.

“We have to heal the water magic without her. I think the answer’s in the Crystal Caves,” Emily insisted.

“So how do we find this veil?” Zach paced up and down the deck, hands clasped behind his back, deep in thought.

“It could be anywhere.” Kara leaned over the railing, absently swinging her unicorn jewel. “With magic, always expect the unexpected.”

“Tell me about it,” Marlin griped.

“You got a month?” Kara’s pink jewel sparkled as it caught the rays of the setting sun.

Emily’s eyes widened. “Look at that.”

“Huh? Oh yeah, my jewel is too cool.”

Emily jumped to her feet. “Do that again.”

“What?”

“With your jewel.”

Kara caught the sunlight again. Sparkles of light splashed across the waterfall as rainbow colors shimmered in the billowing mist.

Everyone rushed toward Kara.

“Oh, now I’m popular again,” she quipped.

“There it is!” Marlin grasped the railing, mouth agape.

Rainbow colors shimmered under the cloud of mist illuminating—

“The Rainbow Veil!” Emily exclaimed.

Kara played with the lights from her jewel. “It must be a secret door.”

“But how do we open it?” Adriane asked.

“Booty or no booty, the falls would smash me wee boot to pieces!” Cribby cried.

Emily cocked her head, studying the falls. She knew Cribby was right, but the mermaids said they had to go
behind
the Rainbow Veil.

“The sun and the moon will show you the way…” Emily repeated the line under her breath.

“Your jewel is catching the rays of the setting sun,” Adriane pointed out to Kara.

The red orange sphere melted over the western skies, sending beams through Kara’s jewel.

“Dee light!” Cribby shouted.

“Yes, it is very pretty,” Ozzie agreed.

“Dee light from dee moon!” Cribby pointed.

In the east, twin moons were rising, silver orbs hanging in the sky. In a few seconds both sun and moon would be in perfect balance across the heavens.

But Cribby was pointing now at Adriane’s jewel.

The wolf stone glowed bright silver.

Adriane angled her jewel to catch the moonlight. Deep silvery blue magic shimmered like a starry night sky across the waterfall.

“The sun and the moon will show you the way!” Emily exclaimed as understanding dawned.

Adriane glanced at Kara. For once, they were in synch. Powered by the sun and moon, their jewels glowed bright silver and pink. Water sprayed everywhere as the power of night and day collided in the center of the falls, crackling like fireworks.

But the veil did not open.

They needed something to balance them, to make them work together—or, in this case, apart.

The healer stepped forward, Indi by her side, and took her familiar position between the others. Adriane and Dreamer stood to her left, Kara and Lyra to her right. Emily felt balanced, Indi’s magic steadying her.

Reaching out, she raised her hands, one facing the light and one the dark. A tiny rainbow shimmered in the center of the veil, expanding as Emily drew on Kara and Adriane’s magic. The rainbow widened, parting the waterfall like a curtain.

“You did it!” Kara exclaimed.

“Even without your jewel,” Adriane observed, impressed.

“With Indi.” Emily smiled as her bonded pranced beside her.

“Clamdoodle!” Cribby skipped like a rugrat.

“We have to hurry.” Kara’s jewel had lost some of its brilliance as the sun and moon shifted in the skies. The curtain was beginning to close.

“Let’s go!” Marlin yelled as the others scurried into motion.

“What about Tasha?” Lorren asked.

“We can’t wait, Lorren,” Emily said.

“She’ll find us,” Kara said, her voice strained but steady. “She has the locator.”

Zach stepped in, patting the dragon’s side. “Drake, we need you to wait here for Tasha.”

Adriane planted a kiss on the dragon’s wide nose. “Love you.”

“Be careful, Mama.”

“I will.”

With a nudge from Drake’s head, the Flyer slid from its muddy berth.