Song of the Unicorns (Avalon: Web of Magic #7) (2 page)

T
HE MISTWOLF’S HOWL
rang across the bright examination room of the Stonehill Animal Hospital. Dr. Carolyn Fletcher dodged the pup’s thrashing tail as she handed the syringe to her fourteen-year-old daughter, Emily. The wolf turned and snarled.

“Dreamer, watch your manners!” Adriane scolded. The dark-haired girl, Emily’s friend, was struggling to hold the squirming pup in place.

Adriane had a special bond with the young mistwolf; she was his packmate. The mistwolf locked his emerald gaze on Adriane’s dark eyes. The image of a long, sharp needle entered Adriane’s mind.

“I know, but it’s for your own good,” Adriane reassured the mistwolf pup.

“Good boy, you’re almost done.” Dr. Fletcher ran her hands over his lustrous fur, checking for abrasions or marks.

Dreamer wriggled under the vet’s touch, his front paws sliding off the examination table.

“Emily, help Adriane get him on the scale.”

Emily deposited the syringe in a disposal bin and put her arms around Dreamer’s midsection. “Easy, Dreamer, this won’t hurt. I promise.” Emily’s rainbow healing stone set in her silver bracelet pulsed soft blue as she sent waves of calm at the growling pup. She and Adriane wrangled him onto the scale.

“Stop being such a big baby,” Adriane said gently.

“Big is right,” Dr. Fletcher said, adjusting the weights.

“Thirty pounds already?” Emily’s hazel eyes widened. “He’s only three months old.”

“Hand me his chart, Doc.” Dr. Fletcher studied the scale.

A small, furry paw pushed the folder toward Carolyn’s outstretched hand.

Emily grabbed the chart and glared at the golden-brown ferret standing on a stool behind her mother.

“Just being helpful.”
Ozzie smiled. His paw rested proudly on a bright golden stone secured to a leather collar. Though most people believed he was just a remarkable ferret, Ozzie was actually an elf. He had been sent to Earth disguised in a ferret’s body by the Fairimentals, the guardians of his magical home world of Aldenmor. Since receiving the ferret stone from the Fairimentals for his bravery, he’d been using it nonstop to chatter telepathically with his friends who had their own magic jewels.

“With all that special puppy chow
someone’s
been ordering online,” Carolyn said, eyeing her daughter, “its no wonder Dreamer’s not full grown by now.”

“Online orders?” Emily gave Ozzie a glower.

“Er, they had a special on beef bits and liver snaps,”
Ozzie said.

“Dreamer will need another immunization in six months,” Dr. Fletcher told Adriane. “He’s perfectly healthy, and a magnificent animal.”

Adriane smiled. “Hear that?” she asked, attaching Dreamer’s collar, a black leather and turquoise band she had made to match the one around her wrist.

“He’s going to be well over one hundred pounds,” Dr. Fletcher continued, her brow furrowed in concern. “Black wolves are not native to Pennsylvania. And he’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before.”

Adriane swept long, dark hair from her face.

Dr. Fletcher was right—more than she realized. This was no ordinary wolf. Dreamer was a mistwolf, an animal native to the magical world of Aldenmor. No longer was he the scraggly, scared orphan he had been just a short time ago when Adriane, Emily, and their friend Kara had found him. Under Adriane’s care, his jet-black coat gleamed like velvet, rippling over streamlined muscles built to run. Green eyes that had been dark with fear now shone like twin emerald pools. A snow-white star gleamed on his chest, and each paw was banded in white, as if he ran on clouds.

“Adriane’s been working really hard training him,” Emily said.

“Even with the best of training, Dreamer is a wild animal, and at some point might need to be cared for by specialists, for his own safety as well as yours,” her mom advised them.

As if trying to prove her right, Dreamer made a break for it, nails screeching against the metal scale. Adriane grabbed and held him.

“You’ve both been doing a great job with Ravenswood, but it’s my job to monitor the animals for the town council. We still don’t know what’s become of Stormbringer,” Dr. Fletcher said.

Emily caught the quick flare from Adriane’s golden wolf stone along with a sharp wince of pain. Stormbringer had been a beautiful silver mistwolf bonded to Adriane. During the battle with the Dark Sorceress, the evil half-animal, half-human magic master, Storm had sacrificed herself to save all of Aldenmor’s mistwolves. The pain of losing her first packmate was still very fresh, and Emily worried constantly that Adriane was keeping too much inside.

“And you!” Carolyn swung around and grabbed Ozzie, plunking the startled ferret on the scale. “You’ve gained six whole ounces in less than a month!”

“Hee-hee.”

“I’m putting you on a strict diet!”

“Gah!” Ozzie exclaimed, and was about to protest when Emily quickly covered his mouth.

“Mom, it’s your fault for giving him lasagna.” Emily poked Ozzie’s round belly.

“Lasagna! I need that!”
the ferret squealed.

“From now on, it’s diet lasagna.” Dr. Fletcher smiled, patting the ferret’s head. “Who’s the best ferret in the world?”

Ozzie pointed to himself, cracking Carolyn up.

Emily sighed.

“Oh, and Emily,” Carolyn said seriously, “you really need to call your dad back and let him know what you’ve decided about winter break.”

“Yeah, I know,” Emily mumbled, her long curly hair falling over downturned eyes. Her dad had asked her to join him and his new wife on a vacation out west. She had tried not to think about it.

“Come on,” Adriane said, slipping into her vest. “We have some hungry animals that aren’t as lucky as the chubby ferret.”

“Hey!”
Ozzie said.
“I resemble that remark!”

P
ATCHES OF SNOW
glinted white in the noonday light, making Emily squint as she crunched down the frozen path through Owl Creek Bird Sanctuary, one of her favorite spots on the Ravenswood Preserve. She watched diamond flakes drifting to and fro between thick, towering trunks of maples and oak. Rows of pine, resplendent in their winter greens, lined the distant ice-crested shores of the Chitakaway River.

The comfort she normally took from this place had little effect today. She was upset with her dad for marrying a woman she didn’t even know. But there was more to what she was feeling. Emily and her two friends, Adriane and Kara, were mages, users of magic, but they were young and inexperienced, with profound responsibilities placed upon them. Emily was a healer, Adriane a warrior, and Kara a blazing star.

During their battle against the Dark Sorceress, the mages had released healing magic from Avalon, the hidden home of all magic. They hadn’t heard anything from any of their friends on Aldenmor in weeks. The portal in the Ravenswood field had just seemed to vanish, leaving only nagging questions.

What did it really mean to be a mage? How long could they keep the secret? What were they supposed to do now?

“Over here, slowpokes,” Adriane called out. She was hoisting a bag from a wooden shed, one of many feed stations set among the trails of the preserve. Already several cardinals, peacocks, and white-tailed deer had gathered, waiting for the young caretakers.

Emily marveled at Adriane’s strength and courage. A healer could only fix things after they were broken. She wished she could take action, be a warrior like her friend.

“You know, it’s seventy degrees in New Mexico today,” Ozzie said, snuggled in the deep front pocket of Emily’s parka.

“Maybe you’ll like her,” Adriane said, spreading the feed into several wide troughs.

“I hate her!” Emily blurted before she could think. “They eloped and didn’t even invite me to the wedding.”

“They probably didn’t want to make a big deal about getting married,” Adriane guessed.

“I already have a mom!” Emily swallowed, suppressing the hot ache in her throat. “I don’t need some
stepmom
telling me what to do.”

Before Adriane could answer, Dreamer sent a mental image of forest underbrush and a pair of big ears.

Adriane frowned at the interruption. “You’re a mistwolf, not a dog. You can talk if you want to tell me something.”

“Rabbit!”
Dreamer said impatiently.

“This is an animal preserve. You can’t eat rabbits!” Her dark eyes flashed with exasperation.

“Just have a little patience with him,” Emily said soothingly, instantly forgetting her own problems.

“I’ve tried! Your mom is right, Dreamer’s just getting wilder all the time. Storm never acted like this.”

Emily’s heart ached for her friend. Adriane’s bond with Stormbringer had been deeper than they could have ever imagined. That was the way with magical animals. Once bonded, it was a true friendship meant to last a lifetime.

In response to his packmate’s distress, Dreamer leaped onto the path, scattering the animals with a loud growl.

“Dreamer, no!” Adriane shouted. “They’re not hurting me.”

Emily tried to calm the frightened animals as Adriane settled Dreamer down.

The mistwolf sat and projected an image of the needle, as if its medicine could help Adriane.

“It’s not the same thing,” she tried to explain as she knelt to stroke the wolf. “Sometimes you just hurt inside.”

Dreamer gave her face a lick.

She smiled. “Thank you, yes, that’s better.” Adriane rose and faced Emily. “Sometimes I wish I could be a healer mage like you. Maybe I could have saved her.”

Emily took Adriane’s hands in hers. Cool blue light from the rainbow jewel mixed with sparks of golden fire from Adriane’s wolf stone, reinforcing the bond between healer and warrior.

“Hoooot!”

A white owl barreled from the sky right toward Emily’s head. The red-haired girl instantly stretched her arm out—and the bird made a perfect landing, wings shimmering with gold, turquoise, and lavender.

“What is it, Ariel?” Emily asked.

“Come quickly,”
the owl said.
“Blazing star out of control.”

“I left her in the library,” Ozzie said. “How much damage could she possibly do?”

“G
AH
!”

Ozzie ducked as a flying book smacked into the library wall. The Ravenswood Library was a whirlwind of motion as dozens of books careened in all directions at once. Adriane and Emily swung the door fully open, knocking the ferret onto another diving leather-bound tome. Ozzie was whisked high into the air.

Dreamer dashed inside and chomped a low-flying journal. Shaking it furiously, shredded pages fluttered around him like snow.

“Dreamer, no!” Adriane dodged a large bookend shaped like a dragon. She raised her arm, releasing a wave of gold from her jewel. She spun the light into a shield to protect herself and Emily from the myriad of flying objects.

Under the oak reading table, a large gold leopard-spotted cat, Lyra, huddled next to a pegasus called Balzathar. The cat had unfurled magical golden wings to cover Ronif and Rasha, two duck-like quiffles.

“
Mage gone wild,” Balthazar warned, swatting a book away with his tail.

“Thank goodness, we’re rescued!” Ronif popped out from under Lyra’s shimmering wing. His mate quickly caught the quiffle as he was lifted in the air by the magical forces.

“Kara?” Emily shouted, shielding her face as a screaming ferret whooshed by.

“Up here!” a voice called out.

Hunkered under Adriane’s golden shield, Emily made her way past the elaborate celestial mobile hanging from the domed ceiling. Suns, moons, and planets swung in concentric circles.

The spacious library occupied several top floors of Ravenswood Manor and was lined with shelves to store the wealth of books. High atop the tallest bookshelf sat a blond-haired girl with a crystalline jewel sparkling erratically from her silver necklace.

“How did you get up there?” Emily asked.

Kara pointed. The tall, rolling ladder was making its way around the far side of the library, barreling straight for the mages.

Adriane whipped the shield into a rope, ensnaring the ladder and pulling it to a stop next to Kara.

“Thanks, Indy.” Kara daintily climbed down, holding the book she had retrieved, oblivious to the chaos.

“Kara!”

“Yes?” She looked up, blinking her bright blue eyes.

Adriane and Emily each extended an arm, indicating the magical mess.

“Oh, that.” Kara closed her eyes and held up her unicorn jewel. The flying objects suddenly crashed to the floor in crumpled heaps. Dreamer yelped and dove under the table, scattering the other animals like bowling pins. Ozzie’s book skidded atop the table, sending the ferret flying into a furry heap on the couch.

“Fascinating.” Kara Davies’s blue eyes sparkled happily as she read from the book. “Did you know that amulets and talismans date back to cavemen?”

“A monkey couldn’t have made a bigger mess,” Adriane said angrily.

Kara rolled her eyes.

“I could use a protection amulet,”
Lyra complained, green eyes glinting as she stretched her lithe body.

Kara stuck her tongue out, turning it green for a split second. She had absorbed her new shape-shifting abilities from one of the Dark Sorceress’s minions, a Skultum, after defeating the fairy creature in a battle of wits.

“We’re supposed to practice together,” Adriane warned. “Every time you use magic, everything goes crazy!”

“Oh, this is nothing. I’ll fix it in a jiffy,” Kara said, raising her dazzling jewel.

“No!” everyone in the room yelled at once.

“Whatever.” Kara slumped in a chair and read from her book.

“Kara, you know you have to be careful with your jewel,” Emily lectured. “We have no idea what it’s capable of.”

“How am I supposed to find out if I don’t use it?” Kara pouted.

“It’s obviously very powerful, so we should all be together when you do—just in case, okay?” Emily reminded her.

“Okay, okay.”

Kara wasn’t the only one who had acquired a magic jewel recently. Ozzie scampered to a leather chair and used his new jewel to open a secret sliding bookcase. Hidden behind was the Ravenswood computer. The computer stored all sorts of magical information plus their website and blogs. Ozzie immediately began pounding away at the keyboard.

“So what’s with the long faces?” Kara asked, peering over the top of her book.

“Emily has to decide if she’s going to New Mexico,” Adriane answered.

“You can’t avoid meeting her forever, you know,” Kara said to Emily. “She’ll think you don’t care.”

“She obviously doesn’t care what I think,” Emily shot back. “I’m not dropping everything and going all the way across the country just to meet her.”

“Isn’t your dad going, too?” Kara asked, eyes twinkling.

“Funny!” Emily scoffed, then added, “Yeah, I really want to see him.”

“So, there you go.”

“It’s not that easy.”

“Yes it is. Three simple words: get over it,” Kara advised.

“That is
so
not helpful, Miss Overachiever,” Adriane said.

Kara extended her fingers into claws and morphed her face into a horrid image of a wizened banshee.

“Keep it up, Princess,” Adriane laughed. “Maybe your face will freeze like that.”

Kara’s eyes widened, and she quickly morphed back, checking her face in the wall mirror to make sure.

“Found it, Emily,” Ozzie called out. “The Four Winds Resort, located in sunny Carlsbad, New Mexico.”

Emily and Adriane walked to the computer and glanced over the ferret’s head.

“Wow, check out these desert pics!” Adriane exclaimed, hitting some of the links. “And right next door is the Happy Trails Horse Camp. It would be so awesome to ride horses for a whole week!”

“If you think it sounds so great, you go,” Emily muttered. She stopped short, her own words giving her an idea. “Hey, you
should
come with me.”

“I dunno,” Adriane responded. “How would I afford it?”

“I’ll ask my dad,” Emily said excitedly. “I’m sure he’ll cover it.”

“What about our chores here?”

“Balthazar, Ronif, and I can handle that,” Rasha quickly put in.

“Well, what about Dreamer?”

“He’s still small enough for a transport cage. Pleeeeeeze, Adriane!!! You’ve got to go. I’m not going unless you do,” Emily insisted.

Adriane thought for a minute, then turned to Kara. “What about you, Goldilocks?”

“Send me a postcard. As of today, there’s only two weeks left before the Valentine’s Day dance!” Kara began counting off on her pink-polished fingers. “I have to get the band, arrange for the decorations, find the perfect dress, get my hair done, a manicure, a pedicure, a—”

“Fine,” Emily said, hitting a link on the screen. “We’ll check out the spa without you.”

Kara’s eyes opened wide. “What spa?” Dropping her book, she leaped to her feet and crammed between Adriane and Emily, reading the computer screen.

“The Fours Winds is home to the world-famous health and beauty spa…” Kara read, suddenly radiating with enthusiasm. “Honey-infused facemasks, exotic kelp wraps, mud baths, complexion massages! I’m in.”

“What about your ball, Sleeping Beauty?” Adriane asked.

“After a week at the Four Winds, I’ll totally be the belle of the ball!”

“Nature hikes, desert tours, horseback riding—they have it all!” Adriane exclaimed.

“Girl, we are going to have so much fun!” Kara squealed.

“I’m shocked,” Adriane stated.

“What?” Kara checked her sweater for stains.

“This might be the first time we’ve agreed on anything.” Adriane laughed and gave Kara a high five.

Looking at her friends’ eager faces, doubt gnawed at Emily. “Guys, what about the… you know.” She held up her wrist, her rainbow jewel catching glints of light. “What if we’re needed on Aldenmor?”

“We don’t know what’s happening on Aldenmor!” Kara jumped away from the computer. “We did our job, so let the Fairimentals do theirs. It’s time for us to get back to our normal lives.” She wagged a long purple finger.

“Normal, huh?” Adriane arched an eyebrow.

“Oops.” Kara quickly changed her digit back. “Besides, the Fairimentals have a knack for finding us if there’s an emergency.”

Lyra rubbed against Emily’s side.
“I’ll hold down the fort.”

Emily realized her friends were right. With the Ravenswood portal closed, there was nothing they could do for the Fairimentals for the time being.

She’d have to meet her dad’s new wife sometime, and she’d rather have her friends by her side when it happened.

“All right,” Emily said. “I’ll let my dad know.”

“Wait a minute!” Ozzie shouted, nose plastered against the monitor. “New Mexico is ‘the Land of Enchantment.’ Are there wizards there?”

“That’s just the state motto, silly,” Emily laughed.

“The only thing you have to worry about are aliens,” Adriane said, pointing to the Roswell link.

“Aliens?” the ferret gulped.

“Those are just stories, Ozzie,” Kara said, “like dragons and trolls and, uh, okay, so we’ve actually
seen
those.”

Ozzie narrowed his eyes and looked at each of the girls in turn. “Somehow I get the feeling this is going to be quite an adventure.”