Dark Mage (Avalon: Web of Magic, Book 11) (7 page)

“T
HE GIRTH ON
the saddle should be snug, but not too tight. Otherwise Drake gets itchy,” Zach advised, his voice magically amplified via the little blue dragonfly, Fred.

“Okay.” The warrior adjusted her black boots in the stirrups, proud to be flying solo on Drake. The red dragon had imprinted on her when he’d hatched.

Adriane, Fred, Dreamer, and Drake had arrived in what Tasha labeled “uncharted territory.” As far as the goblin sorceress could tell, this was not a planet like Earth or Aldenmor, but one of many magical places along the web that ended in steep cliffs or thick mist, like the Fairy Realms.

Adriane kept Drake at a low altitude as a precaution. She had to assume there might be predatory flying creatures, and she also wanted to keep an eye out for any activity on the ground.

She scanned the jagged buttes surging from the rocky, red sand below. So far, these badlands had been nothing but a series of ridges and interconnecting canyons. Small cacti peppered the landscape and giant, bleached rib-bones stuck out in stark contrast to the red ground.

“And don’t feed him too much,” Zach continued. “You spoil him.”

“Me?” She reached forward and scratched Drake’s neck. The dragon hummed with pleasure.

“Only 200 pounds a day,” Zach warned.

“He must be on a diet,”
Dreamer snorted, leaning forward in his wicker basket secured to the back of the saddle.

“I packed Drake’s favorite wheat noodles, just like you told me.” Adriane patted the saddlebags hanging behind Dreamer’s basket.

“He likes them with extra Ak sauce.”

“I know.”

“And he drinks about twenty gallons of water a day.”

“We’ll be fine, Mr. Mom.”

The dragon huffed a puff of smoke, a dragonish chuckle.

Suddenly Dreamer perked up, nose high in the air. “
Over those rocks.”

The wolf had been having trouble tracking the power crystal. It seemed to be appearing and disappearing at random. But now he had locked onto the crystal’s magical scent moving northeast at a constant speed.

Fred hiccupped a loud burst of static into Adriane’s ear and the connection to Zach wavered.

“Why can’t we use our own jewels to communicate with each other?” Zach asked.

“Too risky. I’ve been tracked before from jewel transmissions. You got a problem with Barney?”

“He’s cool, just a little smaller than what I’m used to.”

There was a brief pause.

“What?” Adriane prompted.

“I’d rather talk to you in person.”

Adriane blushed, the wind prickling her hot cheeks. “You just hold down the fort.”

Sometimes she wished Zach lived on Earth instead of Aldenmor so she could see him every day. But Aldenmor was the only home he’d ever known. The teen had grown up with his mistwolf brothers and sisters, protecting their world. He had stayed behind at his new home, The Garden, to guard the vault that contained the power crystals the mages had already found.

“Check in every hour.”

“Promise.” Adriane grinned.

“Bye, Zach!”
Drake trumpeted happily to his bonded.

“Over there, warrior.”
Dreamer pointed his nose toward the ridgeline.

Adriane straightened her flying goggles, thankful she had taken Zach’s advice and packed them. She was warm enough in her black tank-top even though she had packed her jacket. Her body, lean and toned from years of running, sat comfortably in the saddle. She held the reins lightly, giving Drake enough room to keep his speed without jostling his riders.

“Take us in, Drake.”

Feeling the tap of her right boot, the dragon soared in a wide arc, picking up speed as his wings caught the dry updrafts rising from the cliffs below.

“We’re not the only ones here.” Adriane leaned forward as the mighty dragon cleared the ridgeline. Blackened campfires spread over the low-lying hills, their smoky remains a sure sign that someone—a lot of someones—had recently been here.

“Wolf Fire to Base,” Adriane spoke into Fred’s blue belly.

“Copy, Wolf Fire. Go,” Tasha’s voice responded.

“We’ve spotted the remains of several encampments,” the warrior reported as they flew into the canyon.

“This is so exciting!” Tweek’s voice cut in. “You’re in a whole new quadrant of the web! I’m extrapolating!”

Fred let out a few beeps and boops, the sound of Tasha adjusting her magic meter. “The power crystal is dead ahead, but I’m getting some very strange readings. Stay alert, Wolf Fire, you’re probably not the only ones after that crystal,” the goblin advised.

“Roger, Base.” Adriane paused. “What’s new from Star One and Doctor D?”

“So far, so good. They’re both on the trail of crystals.”

“Okay, Wolf Fire out.”

Drake soared over another canyon, the largest one Adriane had seen so far. Dust devils spun in the deep basin, obscuring the eerie landscape with shimmering reds and golds.

The mistwolf growled in sudden alarm.
“I’ve got something!”

“Where, I don’t—”

The sky exploded in fire.

Dreamer howled as Drake staggered in mid air. Adriane responded instantly, hauling the reins tight and forcing the dragon’s eyes away from the blast.

Something whizzed by Adriane’s head. An arrow, flaming with bright blue magic! A split second later, another arrow trailed vivid light across the sky. Several more detonated like fireworks, shooting across Drake’s wings.

The ground tilted crazily as the dragon fought for control, roaring in anger.

Another volley whistled dangerously close.

“Base! We’re under attack!” she yelled, then realized Fred had disappeared.

The warrior raised her right wrist, jewel blazing as she struggled to guide Drake through a maze of exploding magic.

“Dive! Dive! Dive!” she commanded.

Wings folded, the dragon plunged straight toward the ground.

“Hang on, Dreamer!” Adriane shouted. Silver fire streaked through the air, disintegrating dozens of arrows.

The mistwolf hunkered low in the basket, hackles raised.

“Now!” Adriane shouted.

At the last minute, Drake extended his wings, skimming the ground like a red rocket.

Groups of heavily armored lizard-like creatures swarmed into the canyon.

“Magic hunters,” Adriane spat.

Drake swept overhead, roaring fire and scorching the ground. In a flurry of screams, the hunters ran off in all directions.

“Easy.” Adriane pulled the reins left, sweeping Drake in a tight circle.

Whipping her arm, she flung rings of fire around the hunters.

They threw down their weapons as the silver magic crackled fiercely against the red sand. Her message was received loud and clear: Don’t mess with us!

“They’re after the power crystal,”
Dreamer said.

“Good luck, chumps!” Adriane waved at the hunters as Drake zoomed away, adding a powerful roar of agreement.

“Something smells.”
The mistwolf sniffed over Drake’s flank.

“I took a bath before leaving The Garden,”
Drake insisted.

“The power crystal?” Adriane asked.

“Yes, up ahead in the next valley,”
Dreamer confirmed.
“But there’s something else.”

The warrior’s wolf stone blazed deep red.

She gripped the reins tightly and leaned low against Drake’s neck. “Okay, let’s do it.”

The red dragon caught an updraft. With a powerful beat of wings, they crested the ridgeline and dove into the wide valley. Before them, thick coils of purple smoke whirled, glints of light sparkling inside.

“What is that?”

“
Power crystal!”
Dreamer howled.

The smoky coils thrashed as if alive, snaky threads twisting into a shape with venomous eyes and gleaming teeth.

This wasn’t just smoke. It was some kind of creature. Adriane raised her wolf stone as the monstrous apparition turned burning eyes to face her.

Fear ripped through her, deep and fierce. She was falling, caught in a vortex of shadow and smoke, the air knocked from her lungs, helpless. Sharp panic seized her heart. All she wanted to do was run away. She gasped, but didn’t have breath to scream as blackness engulfed her—she was a little girl lost and alone in the dark, no one was coming for her, no one would find her
.
Pure fear wrapped around her tighter and tighter, her throat constricting until she knew she would drown in absolute terror.

Then suddenly it stopped.

Adriane found herself on the ground, dust blowing over her sweat-soaked body, a wolf howl ringing in her head.

Beside her, Dreamer snarled, hackles raised, saliva frothing from his mouth.

Adriane scrambled to her packmate. Ignoring his snapping teeth, she cupped Dreamer’s head firmly. “It’s okay. You’re okay now.”

Dreamer calmed, hanging his head low.
“I was alone with no packmate.”

“That will never happen, you hear me?” She looked deeply into the wolf’s green eyes.

Drake’s huge head swung over Adriane’s shoulder protectively.

“Mama!”

Adriane stroked the dragon’s head, scratching just above the eye ridges.

“It’s okay, I’m here now.”

The dragon sat on the sandy ground with a thump, sending a cloud of dust skyward.

“What was that thing?” Adriane shuddered.

In a burst of twinkly blue, Fred appeared and dove into Adriane’s arms. “Adee!”

“Oh geez, Fred!” The warrior hugged the little dragon as Dreamer leaned in close. Drake’s wings folded over them, completing the group hug.

“Much better, Team Wolf.” She ran her hand over Drake’s flank, checking for wounds. It seemed his thick dragon hide had protected him.

“I was scared,”
Drake said.

“Yeah,” Fred squeaked.

“Me too.” Adriane anxiously scanned the landscape. Wind and sand had sculpted ancient rocks into strange, looming shapes. Cliff walls in the distance created narrow shadowy passages.

But the monster was gone. And it had taken the power crystal with it.

“Any scent on the crystal?” she asked Dreamer

He sniffed the air.
“No. It’s gone—”
the wolf abruptly snapped to attention, a growl buzzing in his throat.

From behind a jutting rock several hundred yards away, wide purple eyes stared at them in astonishment.

“I don’t believe it!” Adriane gasped. “It’s a—”

With a swift movement, a giant jet-black creature stepped into view. Its long neck, horse-like head and shimmering scales were unmistakable. Lifting its sleek head, the creature opened immense shimmering wings and roared.

“Dragon!”
Drake finished.

“W
E’RE NOT IN
Podunk anymore.”

Kara, Lyra, and Goldie walked along a wide blue and green pathway. Colorful highways of light looped and swirled around them as far as they could see, forming the intricate pattern of the magic web.

Kara stomped her boots, testing the solidness of the glittering path. Magic thrummed through her, moving beneath her feet to places she could only imagine—and some she couldn’t.

Looking closely at the strands, Kara frowned. The surface was torn and faded in spots, like fabric that had frayed. In the distance, sections had crumbled completely, leaving huge gaps. Pieces of web unraveled, strands drifting like loose threads.

She had been on the web several times before, the last time astride the white unicorn on a mad mission to save Aldenmor, but she had never seen the web in such bad shape.

“Wow, how can the web be so flooie this close to Dalriada?”

Her stomach fluttered with anxiety. It was the unicorns’ job to run the web, spreading magic. If the web was this bad here, then how bad off was it everywhere else?

There was no sign of the unicorns or their magic—but there was something else.

Sparkles flickered across Kara’s face as her unicorn jewel flashed bright red. She felt a familiar pull—unmistakably strong magic.

“Power crystal!” she whooped. “Over on one of those strands, I can feel it!”

Goldie buzzed to Kara’s ear, stopping the blazing star in her tracks.

Tasha’s staticky voice cried, “Base to Star One, come in Star One!”

“Hi, I’m on the web,” Kara replied.

“Incredifulous!” Tweek crackled excitedly.

“No biggie. We’re right outside Dalriada.”

“No, you’re not,” Tasha exclaimed. “You just jumped clear across the web from Dalriada!”

“We don’t know where the twig you are!” Tweek screamed joyfully.

Kara stopped short. “I thought you said the power crystal was near Dalriada.”

“It is… was…” Tasha said, confused.

“You’re probably picking up crystal residue from the portal we just used.” Kara scanned the web, her internal radar switching to danger mode.

“Brilliant energy flux theory,” Tweek approved. “I’m triangulating the portal shifts.”

“Got the PC, Star One,” Tasha broke in. “You’re practically right on top of it. It’s just sitting there.”

Suddenly a wave of magic rushed through Kara. Brilliant colors sparkled behind her eyes, as if she were connected to the crystal already. And its power was beyond glorious.

“Hey,” Kara suddenly realized. “I bet the power crystal lured the unicorns here!”

“Aren’t the unicorns at the academy?” Tasha asked.

“They’re all missing,”
Lyra reported.

Emily’s concerned voice popped in. “What do you mean missing?”

But Kara barely heard them. The magic of the power crystal tingled from her toes to her nose.

“Kara, you have to find the unicorns,” Emily insisted. “I have a feeling something terrible has happened.”

“Power crystal first, unicorns second. Comprende? We’re wasting time, Star One out!” Kara shouted.

She poked Goldie in the belly to hang up.

“Pfft!” the d-fly squeaked.

Kara huffed as she strode down the green-tinged pathway. There was a power crystal at stake here and she wasn’t going to let it slip through her fingers. This was her chance to prove to everyone she could do it right! And if the whole unicorn population really was in trouble, Kara was going to need some back-up magic anyway.

“Sorry, G-fly.” She scratched Goldie’s head as the mini settled on her shoulder.

Lyra trotted beside her. Kara could tell her bonded was disturbed. She hoped Lyra wouldn’t say anything.

“Emily has a special connection with unicorns,”
Lyra said gently.

“So do I.” Kara stopped, spreading her arms wide. “Do
you
see them anywhere?”

“No.”

“But the crystal is right here. Maybe it isn’t moving because someone else is about to grab it, huh, huh? Did anyone think about that?”

“Still, the unicorns could be in danger.”

“I bet the extra magic of a power crystal can help us find them,” Kara pointed out.

“That makes sense,”
Lyra agreed.

“Good.” Kara felt better until she looked down. She lifted her boot and gasped.

“Ewww!” Goldie winced. “Gummy boot.”

Green slime stuck to the polished heel of her tan leather boots.

“My new Renaldos!”

Lyra padded gingerly ahead, her paws sticking to a thin layer of green slime. “
It’s all over.”

Kara tiptoed along the strand, getting as little of her boots in the guck as possible. But the ooze was getting thicker, clinging like—

Kara bent down to examine the substance. “I know this ick!”

Vivid memories of escaping the Spider Witch’s lair with Lorren flew through her mind.

Lyra tensed.
“We’re on the Spider Witch’s web.”

Kara studied the web closer. Unlike the weaker strands of the old web, this section was tightly woven, green light pulsing ominously along a thick spidery pattern.

“Look!”
Goldie pointed her wingtip over the path’s edge.

Another strand gleamed a few feet below them. Stuck to its surface was a large green cocoon, dripping with slime. Something blue glowed inside.

Raising her arms, Kara sent tendrils of pink light snaking from her fingertips. As her magic reached through the webbing, she was rewarded with a charge of pure power. Her jewel lit up like a sparkler.

“You found it!” Kara exclaimed as Goldie somersaulted happily in the air.

Kara leaped over the edge and landed on the strand below, Lyra right behind her.

“I don’t like this.
” The cat growled low in her throat, shaking bits of goo from her fur. “
I smell trouble.”

“Don’t be a ’fraidy cat.” Kara pointed a finger at the cocoon, projecting a thin laser beam of twinkling red light. “Can you believe it? We’re the first ones to find a power crystal! How cool is that? I sure wish it’s the best, most beautiful crystal ever found by mage, cat, or D-unit!”

With a few deft slices of Kara-magic, the sticky green webbing began to fall away. Magic flared like wildfire, streaming from the center of the webbing. When the glow subsided, Kara gazed at her outstretched hands.

“Whoa.”

In her palms was the most amazing gem she had ever seen. It was an exact duplicate of the unicorn-horn shaped jewel that hung from her neck. Except it was three times the size.

“It looks like your unicorn jewel,”
Lyra observed, gazing warily at several strands of web slowly shifting toward them.

“But it’s bigger.” Kara smiled as pink, silver, red, gold, and diamond white swirled around the gem’s smooth surface with iridescent sparkles. All her favorite colors in one fantabulous jewel. “And better!”

Lyra studied the gem uneasily.
“We already found a unicorn power crystal in New Mexico.”

“Maybe there are two of them.” Kara clutched the radiant crystal ecstatically. Warm magic engulfed her, filling her with the most joyous feeling of accomplishment. “It’s the best power crystal ever!”

Lyra’s ears twitched nervously. “
Let’s call Tasha and Tweek. We need to take it back to The Garden.”

“I thought you wanted to find the unicorns,” Kara reminded the cat.

Suddenly they heard a faint hissing.

“What’s that?” Kara looked up sharply, her jewel pulsing with danger.

Lyra tensed, a deep growl rumbling in her throat. The hissing grew louder. It was all around them.

With a roar, Lyra slammed into the blazing star.

Kara tumbled aside just as a gigantic purple spider dropped from the web above. It missed her by inches. The hideous creature raised up on its back four legs, sharp mandibles snapping at the air with deadly force.

Goldie fluttered in the air, spitting tiny flames at the spider’s head.

Blazing magic lashed from her Kara’s fists as she sprang to her feet. In an explosion of light the spider was blown off the web and disappeared into the void.

More spiders advanced, swinging in on strands of green web, clicking and clattering in a sickening insect orchestra.

Snarling, Lyra crouched low, ready to defend her friends.

Kara clutched the power crystal tightly. Diamond white magic flowed from her hands, spreading out in waves. “Stay close.”

“Behind you!”
Lyra growled.

The blazing star spun as hundreds of spiders charged from every direction, red eyes glowing.

“Finders keepers!” Kara threw a fiery red shield around Lyra, Goldie, and herself.

The spiders swarmed onto the shield, clawing and spitting green ooze. Kara shuddered at the gruesome sight, but her magic shield held strong. The spiders were no matches for a Level Two blazing star armed with a power crystal.

That didn’t stop them from trying. Ear-splitting shrieks echoed inside the bubble as waves of spiders covered the dome in sticky green goop. All Kara could see was a mass of legs, oozing fanged mouths, and livid red eyes.

“I hate bugs!” Kara cried.

Lyra swished her tail.
“Well, now what?”

“Why is it,” Kara asked, as spiders continued to pile onto the shield, burying them in a revolting mass, “that
we
always end up somewhere gross?”

Goldie preened the ick from her delicate wings. “
Pukey.”

“Just once,” the blazing star continued, “I wish this quest would take us to the most wonderful place ever!”

In a flash of dazzling light, Kara, Lyra, and Goldie vanished.