Free Behind the Sorcerer's Cloak by Andrea Spalding

watched. He nudged Holly, pointed and mouthed, “He’s sending mindspeak to someone.”
    She nodded.
    The someone heard Myrddin. They were blasted.
    WELCOME.
    The stranger’s mindspeak was so loud everyone jumped. Along with the greeting flashed a fleeting vision of a white-haired man, arms outstretched, standing on the peak of a heather-covered mountain.
    The fog below the plane swirled and parted.
    The cousins cheered as they looked down through the gap in the clouds.
    A wide swath of sunshine swept across an emerald green island with a spine of purple mountains down the center. It was a pretty place, crisscrossed with stone-walled fields and dotted with white washed cottages. A blue sea frothed against rocky cliffs and headlands on one side of the plane, and, on the other, waves rippled into a wide sandy bay sheltered by a long harbor.
    The plane darted down through the gap in the fog.
    Chantel laughed. “The island was hiding.”
    The children pressed their faces against the plane windows.

    In the maze of passages below the ruins of Peel Castle, Zorianna woke at last and shifted her aching body. She did not know how long she had slept but could sense it was still daylight, though the darkness around her had not lifted.
    She lifted her head, checked her wrists and groaned. She’d hoped the staff’s magic would wear off. It hadn’t. She was still bound from head to foot with thin beams of light. She stared at them. Were the beams fainter?
    She tested their strength, jerking her wrists hard apart. The bonds held with the same firm grip.
    At least they gave out light. The only light in this terrible place.
    Or was it the only light? Zorianna peered into the darkness.
    Two sets of eyes glinted. What was staring at her?
    Zorianna stared back and made out the faint white shape of a cat.
    She curled her lip and dismissed the cat as harmless. She turned her eyes to the thick mass of darkness beside the cat.
    Red eyes blinked.
    Zorianna shivered, sensing magic and malice. She felt vulnerable, bound and helpless on the floor.
    Pressing her back against the dungeon wall, she struggled to stand.
    The Moddy Dhoo’s eyes blazed.
    Zorianna held her head high and glared back.
    The dark mass in front of her rose to its feet and growled.
    Zorianna forced herself not to flinch.
    The cat spoke. “Which do you choose, Light or Dark?”
    Relief flooded over her. Zorianna threw back her head and laughed. “Earth Magic is unbelievable! That’s it? So simple?”
    â€œYes, it is quite simple,” agreed the cat. “Which do you choose?”
    Zorianna chuckled craftily. “Aah…if I choose the Dark, the being I sense at your side will take me. But if I choose Light, you, a cat, will protect me?” She laughed again. “I think not.” She thought for a moment. “What if I choose not to make a choice?”
    â€œWe will wait,” said the cat. “You will choose in the end. You have three chances to choose light.”
    Zorianna chuckled.
    Growling softly, the Moddy Dhoo settled on the ground.
    Zorianna tried to stare it down.
    The sound of singing interrupted the stalemate.
    The song drifted through the castle. The sound was magical, wordless and haunting. Despite its beauty, the voice was filled with a great sadness. The notes sobbed and wailed through the mist and were scattered on the wind.
    The song cut through the cries of the restless birds that screamed and wheeled above the castle. It silenced and subdued them. One by one, the gulls returned to the walls where they turned around and around and scratted at their hollows before settling and hiding their heads under their wings.
    The eerie voice seeped through cracks in the rocks and echoed along the dark passages and dungeons below.
    The sound made Zorianna shiver, for the song held a magic that was not simple. This was Old Magic. Magic she had no wish to challenge.
    Zorianna thought about her situation.