Free Cry of the Wolf (Avalon: Web of Magic #3) by Rachel Roberts Page A

tears from his face.
    “We will weep with you,” the Fairimentals gently answered together, combining their voices into a melody that drifted into a breeze blowing across the Fairy Glen. The willows swayed, releasing hundreds of tiny flowers upon the crystal waters.
    “It was my fault,” Adriane said, looking down at her boots, dark hair falling over her face. “If he and Zach hadn’t rescued me, Windy would still be alive.”
    “Why did you send an elf to her planet?” Zach asked the Fairimentals, trying to make sense of what was happening.
    “For her,” Marina answered.
    “What’s so special about her?”
    “We need human magic users,” Gwigg rustled.
    “I’m human. I—” Zach kicked at the dirt. “I could learn magic, too!”
    Ambia hovered around the boy. Adriane could just make out her shimmering shape. With a soft breeze, the Air Fairimental dried the tears on Zach’s face.
    “There are many levels of magic,” Ambia said, her translucent shape glittering in the light.
    Marina’s sparkling eyes focused on Adriane. “She has the ability to become a powerful mage.”
    A mage? Ozzie had used that word. A mage was a human who used magic.
    “Only through the bond with a magical animal can magic be mastered completely,” Marina said.
    “And now my friend is gone.” Zach’s shoulders slumped.
    “You have brought us the drake,” Gwigg said, his strange shape of twigs and leaves reforming as he spoke.
    Adriane looked at the egg sitting silently by her feet. “The drake?”
    “If the sorceress had gotten the drake, the balance of power would have shifted.”
    “The sorceress must be stopped,” Marina’s watery voice chimed.
    “Aldenmor must be healed,” Ambia whispered.
    “What is… the drake?” Adriane asked.
    “A dragon,” Ambia breathed.
    “A red crystal dragon,” Marina added, magic sparkling through her watery shape. “They hatch once every thousand years.”
    “A dragon ?” The boy looked horrified. “Windy died to bring a dragon here? They are vicious and horrible creatures!”
    “The drake is a very powerful creature. When dragons hatch, they imprint, bond deeply, with the first person they see. The sorceress intended the hatchling to imprint on her, giving her magic of unimaginable power.” Gwigg shuddered, bits of sticks and dirt falling to the ground.
    “That’s why the sorceress wants magical animals?” Adriane asked.
    “Yes.”
    “The unicorn would have fallen if not for the blazing star.” Ambia swirled around Adriane.
    Adriane thought of Kara. She’d give anything to see that bright smile right now, even though, only a day ago, she would have been happier to wipe it off that smug face. She felt a sharp sting of homesickness. She missed her friends. “Can you send me home?” she asked the Fairimentals.
    “Yes.”
    Adriane’s heart leaped.
    “Your destiny is clear, Adriane,” Marina said.
    “How do you know me?”
    “You wear the wolf stone. You have made it yours.”
    “Wolf stone? That’s a wolf stone?” the boy asked.
    “My friend… that I’m looking for, is not exactly human,” Adriane said to him.
    “What is she?” he asked, his hands balled into fists.
    “A mistwolf.”
    Zach’s ruddy complexion reddened and his eyes blazed with anger. “A mistwolf!” he spat and stalked away.
    Adriane, confused and hurt, looked to the Fairimentals.
    “Zachariah was raised by mistwolves.” Ambia’s voice blew like cool wind.
    This time it was Adriane’s turn to feel shock. Moonshadow had said a human had been responsible for killing the pack mother.
    Adriane ran after the boy. The time had come for secrets to be revealed.



W ILDFLOWERS SWIRLED AROUND Adriane as she walked down the lush path in pursuit of Zach. Wide, lustrous leaves of purple, pink, and blue sprouted everywhere, lending the glade a gleam of rainbow brilliance. She wished she could explore this extraordinary place, and she had about a million questions for the Fairimentals. But she