Spellsinger (Avalon: Web of Magic #5) (17 page)

“I know.” Kara half smiled. “Thanks. But you broke your spell. I couldn’t.”

“Because of this.” Adriane held up her wrist. Her wolf stone sparkled with amber light. A stern look from Emily made the warrior quickly cover her jewel.

“It’s okay, you can say it. We all know I don’t have a jewel.”

“And that’s why Johnny—whatever it was—was able to control you for so long,” Emily said. “That locket acted like a magic jewel, focusing your magic.”

“Only it wasn’t
good
magic,” Kara stated. “Just like the last jewel I didn’t have.”

Emily continued gently, “And when you find your jewel, it will be totally amazing—”

“I’ll
never
find one!” Kara burst out.

“We don’t know that, Kara.”

Kara turned away as the others waited.

“We got the fairy map back,” Ronif offered. “That’s a major victory.”

“But I don’t even know what I did!” Kara cried, glancing at the glowing orb. “Did I open the path to Avalon or not? The Dark Sorceress could be there right now!”

She stared sadly out the window. “I should have known what the Fairimentals were trying to say to me.”

“What’s that?” Adriane asked.

“They said, ‘Spellsing as three.’ Not one, but three.”

“And that’s what we did,” Emily said. “We beat that monster by singing together, as three.”

“Both of you have done so much. All I do is ruin everything I touch.”

“
That’s not true, Kara.
” Lyra brushed against her. “
You helped me grow back my fur.
”

“That was a mistake,” Kara started. “I didn’t mean… oh, I didn’t know what I was doing!”

“We’re all learning as we go, Kara,” Ozzie said. “We’re bound to make mistakes.”

“Not like this one. And what about the next time? Am I going to turn against my friends when they need me? Or worse?” She hung her head, letting her long blond hair fall over her face.

“Kara, what are you saying?” Adriane asked.

“I… I’m just not good at magic and I hate being not good at anything! I’m not going to use magic any more. I’ll help out with the Town Council, but you’re going to have to find another mage.”

“Kara, you’re our friend, you can’t leave,” Emily pleaded.

“Emily, that’s exactly why I have to.” Kara faced the other girls and animals. “You guys
are
my friends… and I can’t keep getting you in trouble. I just want to go back to being normal.”

“Priority e-mail!” Ozzie called out.

The girls looked over the ferret’s head at a bright icon arcing across the browser. It looked like a small shooting star.

“What kind of icon is that?” Adriane asked.

Ozzie clicked on the star. It was a file folder containing a message.

Your concert was wonderful. We’re sorry we could not be there. Stand ready, mages. The portals have opened and now your trials have just begun. You must go forward, together as three, and alone as a healer, a warrior, and a blazing star. It is time to follow your path… and come home.

The magic is with you, now and forever.

B*Tween

“B*Tween!” Kara said, amazed. “They know about the magic?”

“It seems our journey is about to take a turn,” Emily said.

“Do we go forward as three?” Adriane asked.

“Four, actually,” Ozzie corrected her.

Emily, Adriane, and the others turned to Kara, waiting for her to make her decision.

Whatever she chose to do, Adriane, Emily, and Ozzie would have to deal with the situation whether they liked it or not. Maybe Kara just wasn’t cut out to be the blazing star. They would just have to wait and see.

T
HE DARK SORCERESS
stood in her lair, hidden beneath the sands of the burned out desert. With a claw-tipped finger, she swirled the waters of her scrying pool and the images appeared. The ruined land known as the Shadowlands—once one of the most beautiful forests in Aldenmor—fluttered in the crimson waters. Blackened husks and dust littered the ground where towering trees had grown only a few short years ago.

Sacrifices must be made, she thought. Magical energies swept through her long, silver hair as she raised her arms. With a sweep of her hands the image shifted, zooming out above the desert dunes where golden hues of the sky peeked through the dark cloud layer of Black Fire. The image zoomed farther until she saw the magic web itself, strands torn and frayed, old and weak.

Time was running out. Without an infusion of magic, the web would not last much longer. She was in a race with the Fairimentals to find Avalon, the only hope for saving the web. And this time, she would be the victor.

The swirling waters shimmered and settled. Peering into the inky void, she thought for a moment that her spell had failed. Then a bone chilling cold snaked from the image, emanating from the towering walls of black ice that dominated the Otherworlds. Along sheer, gleaming slabs, enormous frozen spider webs glittered with silent menace.

The echo of footsteps skittered across the polished floor. The sorceress recoiled as a misshapen shadow stretched across the ice. Eight legs moved beneath a wide robe. Faceted yellow insect eyes blinked coldly within a dark cowl. The one she sought was there, waiting for her.

Unlike the wretched Skultum, this being, that used to be her friend, could not change her form at a moment’s urging... though what she saw was so repulsive, she almost wished that it could.

“Well, well, Miranda. I thought you’d forgotten your old friends,” the Spider Witch’s voice grated with a cold, inhuman clicking.

The sorceress sneered. “It’s time.”

She didn’t look at the creature directly. The sight of it disgusted her, perhaps because the same fate could easily have befallen her—and still might if she was not careful. But the Spider Witch’s transformation had given her incredible power, and the sorceress needed her old friend—for now.

“You plan to open the Gates of Avalon again?” The Spider Witch clicked hard mandibles beneath her cowl. The sorceress realized the creature was laughing at her. “You have no key, remember?”

How could she forget? Building the key to Avalon had been her life’s work until—

“I have a plan. I will draw the magic I need into my crystals and make another key. Once I open the gates, I will use the magic of Avalon to open the Otherworlds. You will then be free to reweave the web.”

“A web woven with the magic of Avalon,” the Spider Witch clicked, relishing the idea.

“One we control.”

Antennae flicked beneath the witch’s cowl. “You were the one that got me locked in here in the first place. How do I know I can trust you?”

“The Fairimentals trapped you in the Otherworlds, not I!”

“Nonetheless…” The Spider Witch moved slowly, her legs clicking on the black ice. “What makes this time different? The Fairimentals have proven their ability to be… shall we say, lucky.”

“I have the fairy map that holds the path to Avalon.”

The sound of flickering wings buzzed from the Spider Witch. “And who shall open this fairy map? The blazing star is dead and I am reasonably sure the map was not given to you.”

The sorceress calmed herself. “Three new mages have been chosen to stand for the Fairimentals… including a young blazing star.”

“Interesting.” The witch stopped pacing. “Go on.”

“They are unschooled in magic. Only one is powerful enough to do what is required. The map was given to her. She does not possess a jewel so her magic is wild, untamed, and driven by emotion.”

“What makes you so sure this blazing star can open the map?”

“She already has.” A wicked smile crossed her red lips as the sorceress flicked a strand of lightning slashed hair from her face.

Several long minutes passed before the Spider Witch spoke again.

“Three mages, you say.”

“The blazing star, a warrior… and a healer.”

“A healer? Oh, now this is very interesting. Can she weave magic as well?”

“Of course not. These mages have no mentor.”

“Was not Henry Gardener supposed to train the new mages?”

“That old wizard will be no threat to us.”

The Spider Witch skittered forward and the Dark Sorceress gasped. It seemed close enough to touch her.

“If your plan succeeds, I will reweave the web and control half. Be content I do not take more.”

The Dark Sorceress trembled in anger, but held herself in check.

“I look forward to returning to my lair. Just like old times.” The Spider Witch bowed as the image swirled and faded away.

A bitter breeze caressed the pale flesh of the Dark Sorceress’s strained face. She grasped the stone pedestal as the magic sickness wracked her body. This had been a bold move, using so much of her precious magic. But the time had come for bold moves. She knew her old friend could not resist going after the magic of Avalon again—even if it was the same dark magic that had transformed her into a hideous creature. Her arrogance still made the sorceress rage inside.

Patience, she told herself, closing her eyes. At Mt. Hope, the Skultum was fast approaching his goal. The mistwolves would fall. Their magic would bring the Dark Sorceress one step closer toward securing her future... and her eternal existence.

The Skultum is a dark fairy creature. A master of tricks and illusions, the Skultum is a shapeshifter with potent transformational powers. It uses spellsinging to lull victims into a sleep state so it can replicate the victim’s form. Being fairy in nature, if you can get a Skultum to reveal its true name, you can absorb all its powers.