Song of the Unicorns (Avalon: Web of Magic #7) (9 page)

H
IGH-PITCHED SQUEALS
split the air like a strangled trombone as Adriane and Emily barreled through the cabin door.

“Kara, are you all right?” Emily called out breathlessly.

“Hi.”

Electra, Daphne, Phoebe, Kalinda, Ruby, Dulcinea, Sibby, Zoey, and Celia were lolling about on the beds, pillows, and rugs, looking dazzling in shades of mint greens, ocean blues, lilac lavenders, and sunset reds. Their crystal horns twinkled with magic.

“Oh!” Emily stared.

“What’s the emergency?” Adriane asked.

“We need those extra towels,” Kara mumbled from the bathroom.

“What did she say?”

“I think she means these.” Emily lifted the pile of towels set on the dresser and opened the bathroom door—into a storm of bubbles. Violet and Clio were in the tub, splashing about in a bubble bath. Snowflake and Mailai were preening in front of the mirror.

Kara sat on the edge of the tub, comb in her mouth, styling Calliope’s mane and tail. The room was littered with plastic bottles of conditioner, shampoo, mousse, and hair gel. A blow dryer hung over the sink. Unicorn hair was piled on the floor.

“Cool, set them down over there.” Kara ran the comb through Calliope’s mane, carefully trimming the silky hair.

Emily gasped. “Calliope, you’re…” The unicorn’s hide had turned an incredible shade of pastel green, iridescent and absolutely gorgeous.

“Green!” Adriane finished.

“And
so
beautiful!” Emily added.

Calliope beamed. Her crystal horn swirled from her forehead, pulsing with bright pistachio sparkles.

“Stay still!” Kara ordered. The blazing star’s jeans and tank top were covered in shampoo, bubbles, and brightly colored unicorn hair.

Violet and Clio barreled out of the tub and started primping next to Snowflake and Mailai.

“Your horns!” Emily exclaimed, examining the unicorns’ foreheads. “They’ve all grown! And look at you!”

True to her name, Violet had turned a beautiful shade of lavender, her crystal horn glowing upon her forehead. Snowflake had become a dazzling snow white, Clio an aqua blue, Mailai a sunburst orange. The rest of the female unicorns crowded in the bathroom door, proudly showing their sparkling horns to Emily and Adriane.

“You’re all so beautiful!” Emily exclaimed. “But what’s all this?” she swept her hand over the mess that started in the bathroom and now spilled all over the cabin.

“They can’t show up at the academy without looking their best,” Kara said, smiling.

“Kara would never let us jump across the web all dirty!”
Electra declared.

“First impressions are very important.” Kara held Calliope’s head to inspect her handiwork.

“Abso
toot
ly!”
Calliope agreed, nodding.

“Oh Emily, we’re so excited!”
Snowflake exclaimed.
“We’re going to make magic!”

“We’re really going to run the web!”
Mailai squeaked.

Kara sniffled. “I’m so proud of my little girls, all grown up so fast.”

“FloooB!”

Clio’s horn burst with sapphire light as her magic sent a swarm of bath bubbles circling the room.

“Well, don’t just stand there,” Kara said to the other mages. “This is a par-
tay
! We’re styling!”

Adriane and Emily couldn’t help themselves. They got into the spirit and joined right in. Each took towels and started drying and brushing the shampooed and conditioned unicorns.

Laughing and giggling, the unicorns and three mages took over the entire cabin. Each unicorn was strikingly beautiful, their horns blinking like Christmas lights.

Suddenly, Kara put her hand up. “Wait!” Stroking her chin in deep thought, the blazing star surveyed the group. “There’s something missing.”

“
What?”
The unicorns checked themselves over.

“I know!” Kara leaped to the dresser and began rifling through her clothes. She pulled out several silk blouses. “These will do.” Holding up the scissors, she closed her eyes tight.

Emily and Adriane were shocked.

As they watched, Kara cut up her prized possessions into long strips.

“Now I’ve seen everything,” Adriane said, laughing. “Her jewel has driven her completely over the edge!”

“Didn’t hurt a bit,” Kara said, tying silk ribbons and bows in the unicorns’ hair.

“Kara!” Emily howled, rolling on the bed and doubled over in laughter. Violet, Dulcinea, Clio, Electra, and Phoebe fell over the healer, squealing in delight.

A knock at the door brought the group up sharp.

“Who’s there?” Emily asked, giggling.

“gah.”

“Come in, Ozzie.”

The door burst open—but the ferret was not alone. Fifteen boy unicorns tumbled over him, hooting and hollering.

“Hey!”
Clio yelled.
“Girls only!”

“Wow, Clio,”
Dante said.
“You look… nice!”

Clio blushed.
“Really?”

“It was a mutiny!” Ozzie stood up and kicked Ralfie.

“It’s okay, Ozzie,” Emily said, breaking up in laughter again.

“Check it out, ladies!”
Ralfie pranced about, proudly displaying his deep green hide with bright brass-colored spots.

“Ooo, Ralfie!”
Daphne, Zoey, Mailai, and Dulcinea crowded around, admiring his gleaming spots and new, shimmering horn.

“Well, don’t you all look just incredible!” Emily said, walking about the room, inspecting the new horns. She caught movement out the window. “Where’s Riannan?” she asked, looking about the group.

“
She won’t come in,”
Clio huffed.

“Party pooper!”
Spruce blew a raspberry noise.

“Say, you could use a little trim.” Kara ran her hand though Pollo’s silvery blue scruffy forelock.

“I want a mullet!”
Ralfie tooted.

Emily nodded to her friends. “I’ll be right back.”

“Right this way to Kara’s unicorn beauty parlor!” The blazing stylist motioned to the bathroom. Ralfie and Dante took a flying leap right into the tub, splashing water everywhere.

“Boys!”
Clio huffed.

Emily walked out into the cool night and breathed in deeply. The air smelled fresh and clean. Stars winked across the sky like diamonds. Luckily their cabin was set apart from the others, so no one could hear the party going on inside.

A unicorn peered around the cabin, head lowered, mane and forelock covering her face.

“Riannan?” Emily called softly. “Don’t you want to join us inside? We’re having a lot of fun.”

The unicorn turned her hornless head away.
“No!”

“Then is it okay if I sit here for a while?” Emily asked.

“I guess…”

Emily sat on the front step. “What’s wrong, Riannan?”

“Everything!”
The unicorn sobbed, dark eyes glimmering
. “What if my magic isn’t good enough?”

“When you get your horn, I’m sure you’ll sound beautiful,” Emily reassured her.

“You don’t understand…”
Riannan swished her nearly golden tail.
“Everyone thinks I’m going to be the princess.”

“Princess?”

“One unicorn in each generation is a prince or princess,”
Riannan explained.

Emily was startled into silence for a moment. She’d never heard of unicorns having princes and princesses. “You don’t know if it’s you or not?”

“Nobody knows until our horns are tuned.”
Riannan flopped down next to Emily. “
What if I’m not really special? I’m scared, Emily.”

The healer looked into Riannan’s deep, liquid eyes. Gently petting the unicorn’s neck, she began, “Not long ago, I found myself in a whole new place, with no friends. I was scared. More scared than I’ve ever been in my whole life.”

Riannan regarded Emily closely.

The healer smiled, then continued. “Then I met Adriane, and Ozzie, and Dreamer, and Lyra, and Kara. Through their friendship, I found strength I thought I never had. I love them so much, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for them.”

Riannan leaned closer to Emily.

“And you know what I’m scared of most?”

“What?”

“I’m scared I’ll let them down,” Emily’s voice was almost a whisper.

Riannan hung her head.

Emily gently raised the unicorn’s chin. “But I also know they love me, no matter what I do or what mistakes I make. So I just keep trying to be the best healer I can be.

“It’s okay to be scared,” Emily continued. “But you’ll never know how good you are if you don’t try.”

Riannan nodded and pawed the ground.

“Princess or not, it doesn’t matter.” Emily hugged the unicorn. “We all love you just for who you are.”

Riannan thought for a moment, then stood and faced the cabin.

“I won’t let you down, Emily,”
Riannan said softly.

Emily smiled. “Now, come on. Let’s get inside before Kara shampoos the entire ranch.”

Opening the door, they faced a tooting, bleating, cacophonous mess.

“Watch this!”
Spruce yelled. “
BeeHoobaWaaHaah!”

Pillows flew across the cabin, raining feathers everywhere.

“Laa LAAA!”
others joined in.
“SqEEONK! BleeeaH!”

“That sounds awful!”
Riannan shouted.

Everyone stopped and stared at the unicorn.

“If we’re going to tune our horns, we have to work together,”
she said.

Emily walked between the unicorns. “Riannan’s right.” She held up her rainbow gem and closed her eyes. The jewel sparkled, ringing with a clear musical sound. “Girls?” she nodded toward Adriane and Kara.

The mages each held up their jewels. Adriane’s wolf stone glowed bright as she hummed the note.

“Nice, Adriane.” Emily turned to the unicorns. “Now you try.”

“
TOOOOT!”

“BeeeBOP!”

“DOoWaaa!”

Magic shimmered and flowed up and down the unicorns’ horns.

“Very good!” Emily praised. “But technique is only one part of playing music. You have to
feel
the music from here.” She touched Riannan’s chest, over the unicorn’s heart.

“What you guys need is your own song,” Kara suggested. “One you can all sing together to focus your magic.”

“Hey, yeah!”
Spruce blared a line of bouncing bass notes.

Dante and Clio added a flurry of syncopated toots.

Adriane pounded out the rhythm on Kara’s suitcases as she sang the first verse.

The unicorns cheered as Kara took the next verse.

Emily stepped in and sang the third verse.

The unicorns all tooted and hooted, Emily conducting as everyone sang together.

“Work it, girls!” Kara shouted. She raised her arms and shimmied as Clio, Electra, Dulcinea, Snowflake, and Violet danced alongside her, shaking tails and manes.

“Okay, now the boys!” Emily called out.

Dante, Ralfie, Pollo, and Spruce slid across the wooden floor, spinning and jumping, stomping and hooting.

The cabin was filled with the magic of music and laughter.

Notes wavered and settled into perfect harmony. For a split second all of the unicorns’ horns lit at once, perfectly in sync, voices all in tune. A rainbow arc of magic swirled above them, twinkling like stardust.

“Bravo!” The mages clapped.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

The cabin door rattled as the magic faded.

“Who could that be?” Adriane asked, getting up to open the door. She looked outside and shrugged.

“Hey! Down here!” a voice called.

Adriane looked at the ground. “Tweek!” The stick figure marched over her hiking boot and into the cabin.

“I can’t believe this is happening!” Tweek’s arms flailed in despair, dislodging some sage brush. “I was out there floating in the astral planes trying to coalesce my earthly elemental particles into material matter—”

“English, Tweek,” Kara ordered.

“The web is in worse shape than we thought,” the E.F. wailed. “There’s wild magic, like, flowing all over the place. Who could have done such a stupid—!?” Tweek looked at the mages. “By the great tree! Don’t tell me you did that, too?”

“We were
supposed
to release magic,” Emily told him.