Heart of Avalon (Avalon: Web of Magic #10): (13 page)

Then—in a heartbeat—the pain stopped. The hydra convulsed and fell apart, splattering to the floor.

Emily scanned the cave, dazed. Without the hydra to fight for her, The Dark Sorceress had vanished.

“We did it!” Ozzie shouted, raising his paws.

“That was amazing!” Marlin agreed, high-fiving the ferret.

Emily struggled to focus as she reached for Indi. What she saw made her gasp. The unicorn’s aura pulsed bloodred. He had absorbed the full brunt of the water virus, not only from Marina, but from every creature in her vast web.

“No, Indi!”

Shifting patterns of red spiked like fire, refusing to match his shape. At first she thought it was the virus twisting his magic. But when she looked closer, his magical aura didn’t fit the pattern of a unicorn. The unicorn
wasn’t
his true form after all—but what was?

“Unbelievable!” Tasha exclaimed, gripping her glowing magic meter.

“We are so rad,” Kara bragged.

“Very cool,” Lorren grinned.

“Yes, but I’ve isolated another jewel frequency,” Tasha said. “Whoa.”

“What is it?” Zach asked.

Tasha looked up. “Power crystal.”

Emily’s heart skipped a beat.

“Where?” Adriane asked.

“It’s… right there.”

All eyes turned to where Tasha pointed.

“Indi?” The truth hit Emily with stunning clarity. “A power crystal.”

She watched in horror as the virus attacked her bonded, tearing his magic apart. Indi desperately struggled to hold his form. But he had given everything he had to save her.

“I did good, Emily.”
Indi’s beautiful unicorn body melted away like wax.

“Wait!” she cried, reaching out for him. “Please, don’t go!”

The creature that was Indi slipped from her grasp, leaving a faint whisper of profound longing and gratitude—the last, lonely cry of a living, magical animal.

G
ENTLE WAVES LAPPED
over white sands. Emily whirled around, taking in the turquoise ocean and swaying palms. Near the treeline, blackened driftwood lay scattered in the ashes of a campfire. She’d been transported back to the island where they’d started. But how? Why?

Behind her, leaves shook faintly.

“Indi?” In the dense tropical foliage, Indi’s magical aura flared chaotically, shifting from gold to blue, green, pink, and purple.

“What’s happened to you?”

Waves of distress radiated from the bushes.

“I know you’re here.” Emily took a step closer. “Please come out.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“
I ugly blob.”

“I don’t care what you look like.”

The spiky colors calmed with her words. Fronds rustled, and a shadowy shape hesitantly emerged.

Emily’s breath caught.

The thing before her was horribly misshapen. Indi’s unicorn shape had melted into a lumpy gray mass. Patches of purple crystal rippled in irregular patterns over his body. Fuzzy ears stuck out at weird angles, and a long tail dragged behind him as he hobbled across the sand on stubby legs. Only a pair of pained indigo eyes told Emily she was looking at her bonded.

The healer gently placed her hands on Indi’s lumpy form, trying to calm him. “Why did you bring us back here?”

“
I
brought you here,” a gentle voice said.

Mist rose from the water’s edge. Emily could hardly believe her eyes as a form began to take shape from the water itself—the figure of a woman rising from the ocean. Long hair flowed in soft waves down her back, framing a delicate face. A crystalline aura dazzled around her like a diamond cloak.

“Marina?” Emily asked, even though she knew it was not the Fairimental.

Clear azure eyes met Emily’s gaze. “I am a water sylph, Neerie.” Her voice was light and melodic, like a mountain stream.

Emily stood awkwardly, unsure what to do. Sylphs were powerful creatures of elemental magic.

“I’m Emily,” she blurted out.

“I know who you are, young healer.” The sylph glided across the water like a shimmering angel. “I have been waiting for the heart.”

“The heart?”

“The Heart of Avalon.” She gestured to the shivering mass beside Emily. “The most powerful of the nine crystals.”

“I’m a magic animal,”
Indi protested weakly.

“Why do you resist your true form?” the sylph asked, eyes shining.

“I want to be pretty unicorn,”
Indi’s voice trembled.
“For Emily.”

Crystalline facets began to spread over his molten torso but still he struggled to keep whatever unicorn shape he could.

“A power crystal wanted to become a real animal for me?” Emily said shyly, then frowned at Neerie. “Why didn’t you just take him when we first got here?”

“The Heart of Avalon needed to be charged with the purest of magic. Only by becoming a true bonded could he transform.”

“Why can’t he stay a unicorn?” Emily asked.

“That is impossible. He is a power crystal designed to strengthen all the magic of Avalon.”

And suddenly, Emily got it. Power crystals were drawn to magic. But Indi had been drawn to Emily because, inside, he needed pure magic to survive. And the purest magic came from the bond between humans and animals. Bonding with her had helped him learn the most important lesson: true magic could not be taken, but must be given freely. Indi had sacrificed himself to save her from the virus and now, Emily realized, each would have to make the most painful sacrifice of all.

The sylph reached a gleaming hand toward Indi. “It is time to come home.”

Indi moved toward Emily.
“Stay with me, Emily.”

“I wish I could.” Emily’s throat tightened with tears.

Indi shivered, clinging with lumpy paws.
“I’m your bonded.”

“I know.” Kneeling, she gazed into Indi’s deep blue eyes. Instantly, she felt the amazing magic inside. But it was tinged with deep loneliness. All he wanted was to be a real animal and stay with her.

“Indi, you must go back.” Emily hugged the creature, rocking him gently. No matter what he was, their connection was real. “You have to be who you really are.”

“You are in my heart, forever.”

Emily could feel the sorrow pouring from him as Indi finally resigned himself to his fate. With a shuddering sigh, all the color washed away as the creature that was Indi began to shrink, folding in on itself, shapeshifting for the last time. In her outstretched hands, Emily held a plain gray, heart-shaped rock.

With a loud crack, the stone split down the middle.

“Indi!” Emily sank to her knees, aghast.

Two halves fell to the sand like tears, two pieces of a broken heart.

Emily frantically searched for Indi’s bright aura. “I can’t see his magic!”

“The heart is gone.” Neerie bowed her head. Water streamed from her body as if every part of her cried.

Emily gazed up at Neerie. No shining lights appeared around the water sylph, either. Without Indi, she couldn’t see magic anymore! It was as if she were right back where she’d started. And this time she had no jewel to help her. Worst of all, she had lost her bonded.

“How do I heal him?” she pleaded.

“All that he has become is still there, if you look into your own heart,” counseled Neerie.

Emily pictured Indi, a beautiful unicorn prancing proudly about the deck of the Fearless Flyer. A tear slipped down her cheek as she remembered the pure joy he had felt being her magical animal.

Gazing at her empty silver bracelet, she had to make a choice. She could live her life trapped with pain and fear, or she could transform, like Indi, and let her heart guide her.

Closing her eyes, she reached for Indi’s magic. A familiar flicker of blue light tickled at her senses—her jewel. Her magic was a part of him now, sustaining him.

Gathering her courage, she picked up the two halves of Indi’s broken heart and gazed deep into the gray rock. A little purple aura sparked faintly, like a tiny flame.

“I’m here.” She gently weaved the cool blues and greens of her own magic around his.

She opened her heart, prepared to accept the pain, but what shone through was what they both needed to heal: love.

“You never have to be lonely again.”

With the full force of her magic, she brought the two halves together.

The two auras swirled into one glittering rainbow, a perfect match, like two pieces of a puzzle. In a bright flash, crystalline facets sparkled around the dull gray rock, transforming it into a dazzling heart-shaped crystal.

It was the most beautiful jewel she had ever seen.

“My magic healed him,” Emily cried happily.

The vibrant power crystal floated into Neerie’s outstretched hands. “The strength of your love healed the heart.”

From inside the crystal, Indi’s reflection looked at Emily with bright indigo eyes. She could see Indi’s magic glowing stronger than ever. But this time, his aura fit his shape. This was who he truly was. A power crystal—the Heart of Avalon.

“I’ll miss you.” Emily smiled, steeling herself against the pain of losing her bonded. “You are everything that I wanted.” Hands covering her face, the healer wept.

Light blazed from the heart’s center as the power crystal released its true magic. Swirling like crystal rain, Indi’s bright aura cascaded over her, washing away the pain. Emily opened her eyes in wonder as the twinkling magic merged into the shape of a large, four-legged creature.

“Indi!” Emily exclaimed.

As the light faded, Indi stood in front of her. He was no longer a colt, but a full-grown unicorn stallion.

Surprised, Indi looked himself over, stamping glittering magic from long, muscled legs. His hide swirled in deep purples, and his crystal horn gleamed with all the colors of the rainbow. Deep indigo eyes fixed on his bonded.

“Stuck.”

The sylph’s eyes twinkled. “He has bonded with you in the only way he could. He has chosen to be your paladin, if you will accept him.”

“I do.” Emily threw her arms around the unicorn’s neck. Her paladin. She was a Level Two mage. “I love you, Indi.”

Indi stepped back and knelt before her.
“For you.”

The sylph smiled sweetly. “A unicorn can give its magic to whomever he chooses.”

In a brilliant flash, a gem appeared in Emily’s open hand. But it was not the familiar flower shaped healing stone that shone forth. Dancing patterns of purple, gold, blue, silver, all the colors of the rainbow filled her transformed jewel. It was a heart.

“Thank you.” Emily beamed as she fastened it onto her silver bracelet. “I thought I might never bond with an animal.”

“Healer, you are not meant to bond with an animal,” Neerie told her.

Emily’s heart sank. It always seemed to come to this moment. She would get so close with an animal only to be left alone in the end.

“Your gift is to bond with
all
animals.”

Gazing at her paladin, the healer finally understood. It didn’t matter what kind of animal she was working with; she had always been able to heal them, to make magic with every new friend she met. And they were all with her, the colors of their auras swirling brightly in her rainbow jewel.

Neerie smiled. “Let your magic flow and make the bond between all humans and animals as strong as your bond with Indi.”

Realization hit Emily like a bolt of lightning. The dragon eggs! They were the hope of Aldenmor’s water magic. Suddenly she knew what she needed to do—what she was meant to do.

“This is your destiny, healer.” Neerie smiled at her. “Make the magic new again.”

Emily wanted to jump up and down in excitement. Her jewel had evolved. She had reached Level Two and she had her paladin to help her when she needed him. Forever.

“What about the heart?” Emily asked, gazing at the crystal shining in Neerie’s hands.

“When you have retrieved all the crystals, you must bring them back here.”

Emily gazed up and down the shoreline. “The Gates of Avalon have been here the whole time?”

“The Heart of Avalon will remain to show you the way.”

Emily climbed onto Indi’s back, sitting proudly atop her paladin. “We need to get back to our friends.”

The unicorn shook his magnificent head and long purple mane. Whirling around, his hooves kicked up glittering stardust. Magic swirled from his horn, opening a dazzling rainbow portal. Rearing up on his hind legs, Indi prepared to jump.

Holding the heart high above her head, Neerie began to melt back into the crystal clear waters.

“Wait.” Emily turned to the sylph. “Where
is
Avalon?”

Sweet as summer rain, the sylph spoke. “Avalon is where your heart is.”