All That Glitters (Avalon: Web of Magic #2) (15 page)

Kara’s blood turned to ice. She saw the animals shrinking away from the evil apparition.

The figure looked past Kara and regarded the banshees, who cowered on the ground in fear. “Persistent, I’ll give you that much,” she told them. She turned cold animal eyes to Kara. Her voice was soft as silk and sharp as a razor. “They’ve been after the jewel for some time. How interesting that you should find it, don’t you think?”

“Plesszze,” a hideous voice crackled. It was a banshee. It looked at Kara. “Help uszz.”

“Why don’t you just take it if that’s what you want?” Kara asked the sorceress.

“I can’t use it,” the sorceress said softly, hypnotic eyes locked on Kara’s. “It was meant for you.”

Kara hesitated.
Was
the jewel meant for her? It had to be! After everything that had happened, she still held it in her hand. And the power, the magic—it felt glorious!

“You know your magic is the strongest, your jewel the most powerful. Don’t deny what is yours. Use the magic and fulfill your destiny.”

“Kara, don’t listen to her,” Ozzie implored. “You heard the Fairimentals. The jewel is a trap!”

The sorceress eyed the ferret and laughed. “What a cruel joke the Fairimentals have played on you. An elf in the shape of a . . . puny rat. Do you even remember who you are anymore?”

Ozzie backed away uncertainly.

“Don’t use the jewel!” Adriane called out.

“I know what you want,” the sorceress urged softly. “With this magic, no one can stop you. No one can tell you what to do. Use the jewel and make it yours forever.”

Kara felt the words echo in her mind, taking hold.

“Kara, no!” Emily cried.

Adriane whipped her wrist and sent a bolt of magic arcing through the air. The Dark Sorceress raised her hand and the magic splintered into sparks, raining back over the girls and animals.

With a savage snarl, Stormbringer attacked. But the great wolf passed through the cloaked body as if the sorceress were a ghost. Storm danced away, snapping.

The sorceress glared at Adriane, eyes flashing with rage. “You bond with a mistwolf!” Her blood-red lips twisted with scorn. “Bonds can be broken.” She turned back to the terrified banshees. “Useless creatures.” She looked at Kara. “Now you may destroy them.”

Kara steeled herself. This was why she wanted to have magic. Now she wouldn’t have to worry about the banshees anymore. She could stop
anyone
who got in her way.

Kara raised the jewel, then stopped. “What do you want from me?”

“You must fulfill your destiny, as the banshees foretold.”

A destiny of
dark
magic, Kara realized.

“You want me to use my jewel to call the unicorn,” Kara said. “You want his magic.”

The sorceress smiled, revealing sharp fangs. “You know how it feels to want magic, don’t you?”

Kara faltered. The Dark Sorceress was right. Magic was everything she wanted.

“Prove yourself.” The sorceress’s eyes blazed with an inhuman glow as she pulled the final strings of the trap. “Call the unicorn,” she instructed calmly. “He cannot resist your magic.”

My magic.
Kara tightened her grip on the jewel.

What should she do?

A banshee reached forward, clawed hand outstretched, sadness burned forever in crying eyes. “You must not take hisss magic.”

Kara studied the ghastly face. But hideous as it was, the creature wept as if its heart was truly broken.

Some things are yours only for a short time.

Kara looked from the banshees to her friends, then at the beautiful glowing gem. “What if I never find another magic jewel? I want this to be mine!”

“Then you are truly like her!” wailed the banshee. “As it hasss been foretold.”

To your own heart be true.

There is always another chance to make a difference.

The sorceress smiled so cruelly it made Kara sick. This was not how magic was supposed to work. How could she keep the jewel when each time she used it, it would bring her closer to being something so evil? How could she face herself? How could she face her friends?

The truth burned through Kara as powerful as any magical force: even if she
never
found another one, this stone was not hers to keep. She was not the blazing star.

Kara lowered her hand. “You really think I’m like you?”

She felt for the clasp on her locket. The crystal hung quiet, cool, as she removed the stone—and gave it to the nearest banshee.

“No!” The sorceress’s face contorted with fury. “You stupid child!”

Backing away, the banshee hissed and wrapped her clawed hands around the glowing jewel.

Kara whirled on the sorceress. “You don’t know who I am.”

Brilliant light streamed up into the sky, raining down over the banshees. Kara watched in amazement as the creatures began to change, their horrible faces and dirty rags transforming. The vile green glow dissolved and flowed away, revealing beautiful wraith-maidens who shone with clean, pure magic. The same wraiths Kara had just seen in her vision.

The image of the Dark Sorceress shuddered and warped, becoming transparent.

“Your magic is nothing without me to guide you,” the sorceress hissed as she continued to fade. “Your precious animals will never be safe, here or on Aldenmor.”

The spectral image twisted into mist and vanished.

The wraiths swirled around the girls with a sound like bells.

“We are free.”

“Free of the evil spell.”

“How do we stop that thing from coming back?” Adriane asked.

“You must construct a web of protection before the portal closes.”

“How?” Emily asked.

Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!

Dozens of rainbow bubbles appeared, dragonflies popping out all over, each one trailing streams of something behind them.

“What are they holding?” Emily asked.

“My hair!” Kara exclaimed.

The dragonflies zipped into the field, long strands of Kara’s rainbow hair held in their mouths and paws. Fiona and Blaze darted past Kara with a dip and a wave, and Barney flapped by, glimmering lilac. The dragonflies lit the air with their shimmering eyes and an occasional tiny burst of fire. A little gold one buzzed in front of Kara’s face, trailing a long strand of rainbow hair. “Keekee!”

“Goldie!” she exclaimed. “Can you build a web?”

Goldie chattered with perfect assurance and then flittered straight up above Kara’s head, coughing out a fiery rallying cry. The busy little fliers tugged trailing streamers behind them like wisps of starlight, gossamer thin and glittering with raindrops. They flew off in different directions, warbling dragonfly calls and pulling the strands. Soon they had woven strands into a rainbow web.

“It’s working!” Kara shouted.

“Use your jewels to power the web,” the wraith said.

All around the girls, the animals gathered: quiffles, pegasi, brimbees, and jeeran. Emily and Adriane held up their jewels. The dragonflies fluttered in the air, holding the web in place over the portal.

Kara stood between her friends, arms outstretched. She reached out and touched Emily and Adriane’s hands. Even without a jewel of her own, sparkling diamond light raced through her body and into the other girls’ stones. This time, the magic felt right, made by a true heart and true friends.

As power poured into the strands, the dragonflies glowed more brightly, their jeweled eyes glistening like sequins. The rainbow colors of the web shimmered, and the droplets of water caught in its net sparkled like diamonds, reflecting the stars that twinkled behind in the darkness of the portal. The net stretched outward, then snapped tightly into place, perfectly woven with one hole in the center.

“Look at that!” Ozzie exclaimed.

“It looks like a—” Adriane started.

“—dreamcatcher,” Emily finished.

The dragonflies had woven the strands of Kara’s rainbow hair into a dreamcatcher.

“Only those who use good magic may pass through,” the wraith said.

The wraiths swirled into the portal, their delicate bodies shining. As their pure magic touched the dreamcatcher, its rainbow strands flashed, strengthening the protection spell.

The portal swirled and vanished, leaving a blanket of light rain falling upon the forest. The wraiths were gone and the field was quiet.

Kara started to walk to her friends. Everyone stared, awestruck, at something behind her.

“What?” she asked in alarm.

The unicorn stood in the field, white as the purest snow. He bowed his head, horn sparkling with colors.

Kara approached the beautiful creature. “She wanted you all along, didn’t she?”

“Yes.”

Yet despite the risk, he had come to her. She hugged his neck, crying softly into his lustrous, smooth hide.

“I wanted your magic, too,” she said, feeling an emptiness in her heart so vast, she felt she might cry forever.

“You have saved the fairy wraiths, and helped all these animals.”

“Now I have nothing,” Kara sniffled.

“It is time for the magic to be renewed,”
the unicorn said
. “You are the blazing star.”

Kara’s eyes widened. With a touch as soft as a kiss, the pain was gone. She lifted her head. “Will I see you again?”

“Yes. Go to your friends. They need you now.”

Diamond light flared from the unicorn’s horn. The magical creature reared back on his hind legs, magnificent and free. In a flash of light, he vanished.

Kara turned back to Emily, Adriane, and the animals. In the center of the group sat Lyra, green eyes flashing.

“Are you all right?” Kara ran over to the big cat.

“
Seems so.”
Lyra rubbed her head against Kara’s cheek.

Emily smiled. “She’s a little weak, but she’ll be just fine.”

“I was so scared.” Kara hugged Lyra tight. “I thought I’d lost you.”

“You saved the unicorn,”
Lyra said.
“The most powerful of all magical creatures.”

“Yeah, and I lost all my magic.”

“Not quite
.” The big cat gazed at Kara, waiting.

“Hey! I can still talk to you!” Kara exclaimed. “Even without the jewel!”

The cat looked at her, warmth and love in her eyes.
“Is that okay?”

“Yes, it’s okay!” Kara turned to her friends and shouted with joy. “I can still talk to her!”

Emily, Adriane, and the animals all smiled back.

“You did an amazing thing, Kara, giving your jewel to those fairy creatures,” Ozzie said.

But Kara knew how close she had come to taking the unicorn’s magic. The temptation to keep the jewel had nearly blinded her, but she had made her choice. She would choose to work with her friends and protect all magical creatures. Even without the jewel, she was the blazing star. Whatever magic she had was inside her, something no one could take away.

K
ARA SAT BACK
in the soft leather chair, her laptop open beside her, feet propped on an ornate footstool that stood on carved animal paws. She was in a pleasant sun-drenched sitting room overlooking the great lawn of Ravenswood Manor.

Kara shook out her restored blond hair. She was feeling better. For the first time in days nobody was trying to kill her. She had been frantic about not showing up at home Saturday after that incident at the mall. But no one noticed. Her parents had been at the country club all day. Kara was in the clear. No one yelled, and she wasn’t grounded. Another amazing magical moment. The only one upset was Kyle when he found out he’d missed all the action at the mall.

goodgollymolly:
u ditched us at the mall

kstar:
sry about that, I had to make sure the cat got back to ravenswood safely

credhead:
the whole mall shut down lol

Kara winced. The cat showing up at school was one thing, having it run around the mall being chased by police was totally different. Even if the gunshot was accidental, the town council was not going to be happy, especially Mrs. Windor, who would use this as more ammunition to try to close down the preserve. The website just
had
to work!

Emily and Adriane had spent the last two days detailing the site. Now that they had the old Ravenswood files as their base, the work went much faster. The data for the public access section of the site was finished and ready. They had an explanation of the RWPS, its mission to protect and educate about wildlife and endangered species, plus directions to Stonehill and Ravenswood. Emily was working on adding a section of pet tips and a list of animals on the tour.

Then there was the second, password-encoded level. They had begun to add a compilation of everything they had learned so far about magic. Combining that with files already on the system, it was quite a collection, from sketches of the duck-like quiffles that Adriane had drawn, to a catalog of magic jewels and animals, and pictures of beautiful dreamcatchers, like the one that now protected the portal.

goodgollymolly:
u don’t care about us anymore :(

beachbunny:
what do you see in them?