Heart of Avalon (Avalon: Web of Magic #10): (15 page)

“B
E CAREFUL WITH
those!” the Dark Sorceress yelled as she strode through the courtyard behind her new keep.

Oxen stamped and snorted, terrified, as several orcs edged giant cages off a metal cart.

One of the cages dropped hard, releasing a bloodcurdling shriek.

The sorceress peered through the glowing bars. The cage seemed empty, but she knew better.

Magic eaters, especially vicious ones at that, shadow creatures were very hard to trap. But the healer’s web had attracted all kinds of animals.

“Easy, my pets.” The sorceress smiled, then turned to the orcs. “Put them with the others.”

“Yes, mistress.” Yellow tusks grazed the ground as the orc groveled.

She continued through the teeming courtyard where imps, goblins, and trolls worked by torchlight, erecting a spiked barrier encircling the stone towers of the keep. While the Fairimentals planted daisies in the ruins of her former lair, she was creating an impenetrable stronghold.

All was going according to plan.

The Dark Sorceress flung open a set of heavy wooden doors and swept into her new lair, red lips curved in a satisfied smile. The workers she had found in Port Tuga had done well, quickly constructing this magnificent keep hidden in the Black Woods. A group of lizard-like servants froze as she passed by, then hurriedly continued laying the black marble floors. The entire chamber gleamed, setting off her ornate silver throne. A fitting place from which to rule the magic web.

She turned down a long hallway, relishing the spacious chambers opening on either side. A definite improvement over her lair in the Shadowlands, and far superior to the Spider Witch’s moldering castle.

Cold fire flared inside her. The Spider Witch was moving fast. Soon, her former ally would be one step closer to reweaving the magic web. The sorceress could not let that happen.

She ascended the winding staircase to the very top of her tower.

The mages believed they had defeated her in the Crystal Caves, as she had intended. Let them think she was weak—that would only work to her advantage. Securing the magic of the dragon eggs would have been nice, but it would
all
be hers soon enough. Until then, the magic she had tricked the healer into acquiring would do quite nicely.

She had accomplished what she had set out to do: help the healer become a Level Two mage. Each mage had to be Level Two; it was required for what was about to happen. The remaining crystals were incredibly powerful, made even more so by the twisted dark forces unleashed on that fateful day so long ago.

She laughed, vampire teeth glinting.

The mages knew nothing of the true nature of the prophecy. The Fairimentals would never risk telling them.

With a sweep of her arm, she opened the heavy door at the end of the hallway, almost giddy with excitement.

Which one would it be? The blazing star’s appetite for magic was nearly as strong as her own. But the warrior’s anger could easily twist into hate. She had tested the redheaded healer’s abilities with astounding results, but emotions made her weak.

It could be any of them. But one thing she knew for certain.

One mage would betray her friends at the Gates of Avalon.

That was the real prophecy.

Striding into the dark chamber, the air seemed to shimmer with color. She smiled at the one who would serve her—help her enter Avalon and complete what she had started.

Sprawled across the bed, Henry Gardener awoke with a start, eyes blazing red. Every joint in his body ached from his spellbound slumber.

“It is time to complete our quest, old friend.” The Dark Sorceress’s cold voice sliced through stagnant air. “The dark mage must arise.”

Ferocious predators with shark bodies and wolf-like heads, sea wolves have razor teeth and eyes black as night. Some of the fastest creatures in the ocean, they travel in packs and swarm in the warmer waters off the southern coasts of Aldenmor.

A huge monster with multiple snake-like heads, the hydra can be found in swamps and bogs. Elemental hydras are especially terrifying. When one head is chopped off, two heads sprout in its place, making it a fearsome opponent in battle.

This rare creature is half lion, half scorpion. When threatened, the chimera’s deadly tail whips over its head to strike attackers. Naturally solitary, it lives in the high desert, hunting at night and seeking shelter in cool caves during the day.

Ancient inhabitants of the sea, mermaids live near underwater portals and concentrations of water magic. Secretive and fiercely protective of their magic, they lure ships who get too close with a hypnotic siren spellsong, causing the unfortunate sailors to shipwreck. Mermaids are ancestors of the merpeople of Aquatania.