Free Dark Mage (Avalon: Web of Magic, Book 11) by Rachel Roberts Page A

“Well, now what?”
    “Why is it,” Kara asked, as spiders continued to pile onto the shield, burying them in a revolting mass, “that we always end up somewhere gross?”
    Goldie preened the ick from her delicate wings. “ Pukey.”
    “Just once,” the blazing star continued, “I wish this quest would take us to the most wonderful place ever!”
    In a flash of dazzling light, Kara, Lyra, and Goldie vanished.



M OSS-DRAPED TREES HUNG over snaking streams as Emily, Lorren, and Ozzie hiked through the marshy outback. All was quiet save for the wind rustling through reeds and the occasional birdcall or croaking frog. They were about a mile from the small town of Dawn’s Edge, where the Fairy Underground had dropped them off. There hadn’t been much to the outpost, just a stable, supply store, and a few grizzled spriggans who collected rare local herbs. It was the last trace of civilization before the Fairy Realms ended in a wall of thick, mysterious fog.
    “Lorren, do you really think there’s dark magic inside Avalon?” Emily followed the tall goblin prince along a meandering dirt path. Ozzie sat atop her backpack, chewing a slab of turkey jerky.
    “Olfert is just a doomsayer,” Lorren scoffed. He frowned as he saw the worry in Emily’s eyes. “What is it?”
    The healer shivered as moisture clung to her red curls. “It’s just that the Dark Sorceress told me she tried to open the Gates of Avalon. I mean, it makes sense that she’d want dark magic.”
    Lorren hesitated. “Most believe Avalon is good. There’s always a few who say it doesn’t even exist. Then there are those, like Olfert, who think Avalon holds dark magic.”
    Ozzie threw his paws in the air, sending his turkey jerky flying. “How many legends are there?”
    “Plenty.” Lorren whacked away thick berry vines. “Most are just stories every kid hears around the campfire.”
    The healer smiled. “Fairy tales.”
    Lorren arched an eyebrow. “Nobody can say for certain what’s hidden there, but everyone agrees on one thing. We need nine power crystals to find out.”
    They walked in silence, listening to a lone whippoorwill’s call.
    Lorren noticed Emily’s troubled expression. “What about your speech? I thought you believed in Avalon.”
    Emily shook her head, confused. “I do. But with magic, anything is possible.”
    Lorren glanced at Ozzie. “Didn’t the Fairimentals tell you about the legends of Avalon?”
    “No.” The ferret frowned, clearly disturbed.
    “They never said anything about opening the gates?”
    “No.”
    “What about anyone else who tried to open—”
    “Gah! The Fairimentals didn’t tell me anything about Avalon!” Ozzie burst out. “I was supposed to find three mages and go home, that’s all.”
    Emily sensed a sharp flare of pain from her friend. She had been so wrapped up in herself, she hadn’t stopped to consider what Ozzie was going through. This quest had literally transformed him, ripping him away from his life as an elf on Aldenmor. It occurred to her that for all her powers to see magic, she had never seen Ozzie as he truly was.
    As if reading her mind, Lorren said, “Dawn’s Edge was once a beautiful area the elves called home. That was way back when they actually practiced magic.”
    “I didn’t know that, Ozzie,” Emily said. The elves of Aldenmor didn’t use magic, unlike the elves that lived in the Fairy Realms.
    “Most of the elf population moved to Aldenmor and took up more practical lifestyles like farming, leather making, and dumpling rolling,” Ozzie told her.
    “Guess you’re the exception.” Lorren pointed to his ferret stone.
    “Yeah, a regular wizard of Ozzie,” the ferret groused. “I’m just a helper-mage who can talk loud and break wind. That comes in really handy when you’re trying to save the entire web.”
    Emily understood how frustrating it was to have magic and not know what to do with it. “The Fairimentals chose you for a reason,” she assured