All's Fairy in Love and War (Avalon: Web of Magic #8) (14 page)

Starfire raced up an incline and skidded to an abrupt stop, fire spilling across the damp ground.

Kara’s heart sank.

It wasn’t a mirror she had seen reflecting the light.

Before them stretched an immense lake with deep blue waters as smooth as glass.

No way could the horse bound over it. It would be death for the fire stallion to jump into it. Kara swung Starfire around, but it was too late.

The creatures were fanning out on all sides, surrounding them, edging closer and closer.

The power crystal bobbed gently, floating on the mass of elemental magic behind her. She desperately tried to pull the crystal to her, but every second that went by, she felt the stallion fading away, and with it, her own magic.

Suddenly she heard the
thwack-thwack
of flapping wings overhead. A giant bat dove into the charging beasts. Glittering sword flashing, the masked rider shouted and screamed, fighting the monsters and pushing them back.

“Lorren!”

Kara jumped off Starfire, hit the ground, and slipped, the world spinning dizzyingly around her. She was so weak. But she grabbed the silver pack of talismans and struggled forward, each step a Herculean effort. Screaming, Kara reached out, desperately trying to pull the power crystal toward her.

“Over here! Throw it here!”

Suddenly, another bat and masked rider swooped from the skies. A second Forest Prince? What was going on?

“Princess, throw it to me!” the first boy yelled, struggling to block the magic-starved beasts from advancing.

Goldie fluttered wildly about Kara’s head, blocking the second masked rider’s grasping hands.

She blinked in disbelief. One of them was the real Lorren. The other, an imposter. She hesitated, not knowing which Lorren to trust.

“Princess, I’m the real me!” the first boy yelled as the beasts pushed past him, advancing on Kara. “Can’t you see what he’s trying to do?”

Goldie shot in front of Kara protectively.

“Don’t believe that imposter!” the other rider called.

“Hey, look! Magic!” the first masked rider yelled to the creatures. Pulling out a small, clam-shaped object, he flipped it open.

“Princess! You’re so pale!” the object exclaimed. “Do you need some blush?”

It was Mirabelle! Kara searched her pockets frantically. She must have dropped the small compact when she escaped from the Spider Witch’s lair.

“Ahhh!” The mirror screamed shut as the horde of beasts turned and grabbed for the enchanted object. Lorren took off, the mass of creatures giving chase.

“Lorren!” That had to be Lorren. But then who was the other—

The second rider angled his bat and swatted Goldie away. With a black-gloved hand, he reached out and wrested the bag of elemental talismans from Kara. She was too weak to resist.

The power crystal swerved away from Kara and flew to the rider.

“What are you doing?” she shouted.

“What I’m
trying
to do is remove that pimply pimpernel of a prince from ever irritating me again,” the masked rider cackled.

“Tangoo!” Kara exclaimed.

“Oh come now, don’t act so surprised. You think I could stand one more day listening to that constant bickering? Fairies complaining, goblins fighting, trolls bellowing, elves whining, do this, Tangoo, do that, Tangoo, save us, Tangoo, blah, blah, blah!” he groused. “I’m amazed I didn’t turn
myself
into quicksilver!”

Fear tore through Kara as realization struck home.

The sorcerer’s black eyes shone behind the dark mask. “The time has come for a new order in the Fairy Realms and the construction of a new web.”

“Lyra, what about Lyra?” Kara sobbed.

“Ah, yes. I know how strong the bond is between mages and their animals. How could you resist getting the crystal for me?” He laughed. “My quicksilver spells work much too well. Say bye-bye to your wretched kitty.”

It wasn’t Kara’s magic that hurt Lyra! This was all set up, carefully orchestrated by Tangoo. Now he was going to steal the power crystal and blame the whole thing on the Forest Prince. She had been wrong about Lorren from the start.

“Nice job collecting the magic, Princess, but I have a much better use for it.” Tangoo held up the bag of talismans in one hand and turned the power crystal toward the lake. Light flashed from the crystal, spilling over the waters. The surface glimmered with intense blue, then rippled to gray as the entire lake transformed into solid quicksilver.

“The lake is the last mirror!” Kara realized.

“Kara,”
Starfire was on his knees, breathing hard, fire streaming from his form. He struggled to stay whole, but Kara felt his Firemental magic breaking away. There wasn’t much time left until he dissolved into pure elemental energy.

“He needs the talismans!” Kara screamed to Tangoo.

“The Firemental has served his purpose beyond all my expectations,” Tangoo said, smiling evilly. “In fact, so have you, Princess.”

Kara felt the magic drain from her. She fell to the stallion’s side, hugging him fiercely, as if she could keep his life from slipping away.

“Please,” Kara pleaded. “He needs the elemental magic!”

“And I just happen to have an extra-special talisman, just for him.” Tangoo reached into his pocket and held up a sparkling dark blue flower.

“No!” Kara screamed, realizing what it was. The second Blue Rose.

But it was too late. Tangoo threw the deadly magic at the stallion. The talisman exploded into Starfire. Sparkling black energy raced over his body, eating away the last of the elemental spell.

Starfire’s eyes locked with Kara.

“Remember me,”
he said. The horse erupted into a final ball of flame and vanished.

Kara was hurled backward. She tumbled down the incline, sliding out across the slippery surface of the lake mirror.

“Time to say bye-bye, Princess,” the goblin sorcerer sneered.

Helpless and too weak to stop it, Kara’s unicorn jewel exploded with the last of her power. She was enveloped in light as a crackling beam shot from the lake and sizzled through the air. All of her magic was wrested from her, reflected into a blazing beacon reaching high in the sky.

Already weakened by constant lighting, the sky crackled and ripped, revealing a swirling mass of electric purple. Her breath caught in a silent scream. She was looking into the Otherworlds.

Kara felt the mirror drop away below her as she fell through—and landed with blinding lights shining in her face and the thunder of applause in her ears.

Kara blinked the light from her eyes, expecting to see fairies and elves and trolls in the Fairy Ring.

Instead, she saw her math teacher, her brother, and the entire student body of Stonehill Middle School on their feet, clapping.

The mirror had dropped her center stage, right in the middle of the school play.

K
ARA STOOD FROZEN
in shock, the last of her radiant magic drifting away like dying embers. Her jewel lay cold and lifeless against her heaving chest. Starfire was gone, and soon the Fairy Realms would follow. And Lyra. All because of her.

Eyes stinging with tears, she looked offstage, desperately searching for Emily.

“I will sing! Hee Honk!” A familiar sounding boy was standing next to her, wearing an amazingly realistic donkey costume. Even his long hairy ears were twitching. “That they shall hear I am not afraid.”

She then remembered the play,
A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Adam was reading the character of Nick Bottom, who gets turned into a donkey. He didn’t even notice she had just crashed the play.

A tall girl with long blond hair wearing a bright pink fairy princess costume hung on the donkey’s arm—was that Adriane?

“I pray thee gentle mortal, sing again,” Adriane read dramatically from the donkey’s book. “Mine ear is much enarmour’d of thy note.”

Kara gasped at hearing her own voice coming from the warrior’s mouth.

“Holy Gah!”

Offstage, Ozzie was hopping up and down, waving his gleaming ferret stone. He was trying to contain Barney, Fred, Blaze, and Fiona inside Emily’s backpack as they chattered with Goldie.

Thank goodness Goldie was okay.

Emily stood next to them, face scrunched in concentration, her rainbow jewel pulsing. But Kara couldn’t hear what the healer was trying to say.

Finally Emily just blurted out, “Kara! Can you hear me?”

“It’s gone!” Kara wailed. “It’s all gone.”

Tiffany, Heather, and Molly, their eyes twinkling under the spell of love, tackled Musso, sliding across the stage in a heap. Heather plopped French fries down the hobgoblin’s mouth. “Here you go, my dashing, handsome, lovebug!”

Molly held a plate piled high with chocolate treats. “Sweets for my gorgeous green cookie.”

“Splaff!”
Fries flew out of Musso’s mouth as the hobgoblin met Kara’s gaze. “Princess!” He scrambled to his feet, looking everywhere. “There must be a portal here somewhere!”

The three fairies chased after him as Kyle suddenly sprinted across the stage.

“Be gone, thou fawning, dizzy-eyed giglet!” he screamed.

Hot on his heels, Rae charged after him. “Come hither, thou cutiest patootiest!”

They plowed through the Fairy Ring, running circles around the actors.

Had the entire world gone nuts? Kara felt a nudging at her side. “Here,” the donkey whispered, shoving a book into her hands and pointing to lines.

She stared at the book—it was the scene where her character, Queen Titania, falls in love with the Nick Bottom donkey.

“Wow! Two fairy queens!” someone in the audience exclaimed, as others cheered.

“Cool outfit,” someone called out.

“Ride on, Titania!”

Startled, Kara blurted out her line, “What angel wakes me from my flower bed—” and burst into tears.

“She’s good.”

Zzzappp!

A beam of golden wolf magic prickled up Kara’s arm.

“Ouch!” Kara staggered back.

The audience, riveted now, clapped at the innovative special effects.

Adriane grabbed the donkey, gem blazing. “Nobody sweet-talks my hee-hunk!”

Someone wearing a paper-mache’ wall costume suddenly ran onstage, pushed past the three leaping fairies and hopping hobgoblin, and stood between the two queens. A rainbow gem glowed from the wall’s wrist, protruding from the costume’s side.

“Emily!” Kara cried. “Everything’s gone wrong! My magic is all gone, I lost Starfire, and Lyra’s almost melted, the goblin sorcerer betrayed everyone, he’s opening the Otherworlds, Lorren is being chased by monsters, the Fairy Realms are falling apart—”

“What page is that?” the donkey asked, scratching his head.

“I have to go back!” Kara exclaimed, holding up her jewel.

“Put the jewel down and step away from the donkey!” Adriane yelled, storming around the wall.

“What is with her?” Kara asked.

“They’re all under love spells,” Emily explained. “Courtesy of the d-flies.”

Kara gulped. So that was what Goldie had intercepted in Tangoo’s lab!

Musso barged over. “Where’s the portal?”

Heather, Tiffany, and Molly scrambled after the hobgoblin.

Adriane raised her glowing wolf stone.

Everyone onstage was crowding around Kara.

“Starfire!” she cried. “I need you!”

Whoosh
!

A fireball hurtled over the astonished audience and landed onstage.

The flames shimmered and took shape.

Kara’s breath caught in her throat.

Strong and proud, the magnificent fire stallion stood before her.

“Starfire!” Kara flung her arms around his neck, sobbing in disbelief.

Magic surged through her, filling her jewel with fire and her heart with joy.

The stallion looked down, and Kara followed his gaze. Set into his powerful flaming chest was a gleaming crystal, pulsing with magic.

“You got it!” Kara exclaimed.

“Our magic attracted a second power crystal,”
the stallion explained.

“Two crystals!” She turned to Emily and gasped. “We got two crystals!”

“It’s those Ravenswood girls with their wild animals!” Kara’s math teacher yelled disapprovingly.

“That is one amazing costume,” the drama teacher gaped. “It really looks like it’s on fire!”

“What kind of stunt is this?” the principal demanded.

Kara stammered.

Emily swept off the wall costume and smiled broadly to the audience. “We’d like to take this opportunity to announce the blazing-hot new tourist season at the Ravenswood Wildlife Preserve!” she cried out. “Everyone is invited to come on over and meet the animals! You won’t believe your eyes!”

Emily took a bow as the audience cheered the impressive publicity stunt.

Kara leaped onto the stallion’s back, her heart soaring as the magic rushed through her, fueled by the love of her bonded horse.

“Kara, give me a boost,” Emily said. “Let’s break these spells.”

Aided by Starfire’s strength, the blazing star reached out and grasped Emily’s hand. Instead of a flashy magic flare, Kara sent soft tendrils into Emily’s jewel.

The healer smiled, impressed by Kara’s elegant control. Her rainbow gem glowed bright blue, sending a spark of magic to the wolf stone on Adriane’s wrist.

The warrior blinked and shook her head, staring incredulously at the fire stallion. “Kara? What’s going on? Are you all right?”

“Yes!” she answered. And she was!

“Ewwww!” Heather shook her red hair and squealed, pulling herself away from Musso. “Where did you come from, Mars?”

Molly and Tiffany took one look at the hobgoblin and ran offstage, screaming.

“Back to normal,” Emily said, smiling.

Adam shook his now human head as if he were waking from a dream. Scratchy donkey hair floated in the air around him. “And yet, to say the truth, reason and love keep little company together nowadays,” he kept reading, oblivious of any change.

“I’m going back,” Kara said to Emily and Adriane.

“We’re coming with you!” Emily said adamantly.

“I’m the only one who can ride Starfire,” Kara said. “But I won’t be going alone.”

Goldie popped onto Starfire’s neck, in front of Kara, little fist raised.

“Let’s ride!” she squeaked.

The horse kicked up onto his rear legs with a dramatic flare and charged up the center aisle, rocketing past the hooting and clapping students and out the main double doors. The standing ovation reverberated throughout the auditorium as cooling trails of flames vanished into thin air.