Free Heart of Avalon (Avalon: Web of Magic #10): by Rachel Roberts

toes, sensing something beyond Indi’s physical appearance. She reached out, feeling the magic of her jewel emanating from the purple ball.
    Suddenly Indi began to pulse with rainbow lights, as if a switch had been turned on. The blues and greens of her healing gem seemed to come from inside out, swirling around him in a glittering halo. It mixed with Indi’s own purple magic. Something she’d always felt, but had never been able to see before.
    “I see it,” she breathed.
    “Every creature has a magical aura.” Miranda gently turned the girl toward the ocean. “Now look.”
    In a heartbeat, Emily felt the vastness of the ocean surround her. Brilliant flares gleamed beneath the surface, blinking to the horizon and beyond.
    Miranda smiled, eyes ablaze, drawing the healer alongside her. “ Open yourself to their magic.”
    Exquisite auras danced around her like threads of woven starlight. She was seeing the magic of all the animals in the ocean!
    “You are a healer. You can touch all animals.”
    Strands of light shone from each animal’s aura, blurring into a kaleidoscope of shifting magic, dissolving, re-forming. Reaching out in her mind, Emily grasped the strands.
    “Now weave the magic together into a new pattern, one of your own design.”
    Was it really so easy, as Miranda said, to take that magic and use it however she desired? Emily gathered the glowing strands and began weaving them into a new pattern—a web.
    “That’s it. Now use your web to find the strongest magic.”
    The healer reached deeper, following the strands to the web’s center. Brilliant magic swirled in blues, greens, and silver, dazzling her senses. Hundreds of objects gleamed in a place of liquid light—jewels! The stones pulsed and sparkled with magic beyond her wildest dreams!
    Raw magical energy surged along her web, drawn to the healer’s touch. Suddenly, the bright lights morphed to a deep red, seeping like blood as the frightening realization hit. It wasn’t just Meerka and the other sea dragons that were sick. It was every creature in the ocean!
    “Healer!”
    One voice sounded in her mind, then another, and another, growing into a deafening chorus.
    “Help us!”
    “See how they come to you,” Miranda’s voice rose excitedly.
    The rush of magic was overwhelming. Emily was so deeply connected, she couldn’t distinguish between her own feelings and those of the thousands of animals caught in her web of magic. There were so many lost and hurt, desperate for help. How could she heal them all?
    “Help us, healer!”
    Still, they came to her, giving their magic freely, trusting Emily, the healer.
    “What should I do?” Emily cried out.
    “You’ve already done it.”
    The woman’s smile curled into a vicious sneer.
    Pain struck like a sledgehammer as Miranda wrenched the magic from Emily.
    Panicked screams exploded in her head.
    “What are you doing to them?”
    And then, it hit her. Miranda wasn’t doing anything. It was Emily taking the magic of all these innocent creatures, draining their very life-force. And Miranda, in turn, was taking it from her. Using her.
    Like wildfire, the power grew as more and more animals became caught in the web of Emily’s awesome power.
    “It’s time you learned the truth.”
    The woman stood in front of her, arms spread wide as glowing strands swirled around her, rising into an inferno of power as she fed on the magic Emily had gathered.
    “Great magic comes through pain. This is your magic, healer!”
    Emily struggled to focus, but she was losing, drowning in the agony of the animals.
    “Help me!” Emily tried to scream.
    But there was no Emily.
    Only the nightmare of a girl out of control, using the full force of her magic to destroy all that she loved.



T REES, MOUNTAINS, AND lakes sped by in a blur of color as Drake, Nightwing, Gertie, and Lyra tumbled from the portal. The chain of magic streaked across the sky like a floating river of light, pulling them forward at