Free Song of the Unicorns (Avalon: Web of Magic #7) by Rachel Roberts Page A

from Kara’s jewel, enough to make the amulet pulse radiant silver.
    “Look!” Tweek said. “It’s working.”
    “FLEeepBaaARrrG!” Spruce unleashed a blast of off-key noise.
    Dante and Pollo sang louder, each trying to outdo the other.
    Calliope tried to drown out the boys.
    Kara’s magic undulated strong and bright, threatening to burst free of her control. Emily and Adriane twined their magic around Kara’s, holding it steady by creating a braid of diamond, amber, and topaz.
    In a bright flash, the amulet projected a small, shimmering bubble hovering in the air.
    “Holy HORARFF!” Tweek exclaimed.
    Everyone watched as glowing lines appeared within a network of stars. A fiery pulse swept along a path of shining points.
    Tweek’s quartz spun in his bushy head. “You’ve unlocked a fairy map!”
    “We’ve seen plenty of those,” Kara said, making Tweek jumble. “Each one of those stars is a portal.”
    “That’s where we started from,” Pollo said, pointing a hoof at a blinking light at the edge of the map.
    “So then,” Emily said, following the bright line to a last blinking star, “there is where you have to go, Dalriada.”
    “Inconceivable!” Tweek blustered, twigs flying. “They can’t open a portal without their horns. Besides, we can’t trust this map to be accurate anymore. Who knows where you’ll end up?”
    “We’ll worry about that later. Right now we need to get the shield over the entire ranch,” Adriane said, guiding Kara between herself and Emily.
    Dreamer and Lyra stepped closer. The unicorns closed their eyes in concentration.
    Emily reached out with her magic. She could feel her power coursing through the map. “I add the protection of healing magic,” she called out.
    Adriane’s amber wolf magic pulsed bright. “I add the strength of a warrior!”
    Now it was up to Kara. She took a breath and lifted her jewel high. “I add the fire of the blazing star to bind it together!”
    The fairy map was replaced by a glittering dome hovering in the air.
    “That’s it!” Tweek yelled.
    The mages stepped back, allowing their magic to stretch the shield wider and wider. It floated to the ceiling in shimmering blue, gold, and white magic, passed through the roof, and vanished.
    “I can’t believe my quartz—you did it!” Tweek yelled, handing the amulet back to Kara.
    “How long’s it good for?” Adriane asked.
    “Few days, maybe,” Tweek said, pacing wildly.
    Emily plopped down in the hay, exhausted. Clio, Spruce, Violet, Pollo, and Snowflake piled over her, snuggling close.
    “We rock!” Ralphie brayed proudly.
    “What’s Dalriada?” Kara asked, carefully draping a blanket over the hay so she and Calliope could sit without getting dusty.
    “ That’s where the Unicorn Academy is,” Calliope responded, nudging the others away from the blazing star.
    “I’m going to run the web!” Dante snorted.
    “I’m going to run it faster!” Ralfie said.
    Dante and Ralfie began tussling, rolling over Ozzie.
    “GarG!”
    “I’m going to run with a blazing star.” Calliope eyed Kara lovingly.
    “We have to get these unicorns to Dalriada before their horns sprout!” Tweek stumbled over the mages to examine each of the unicorn’s foreheads closely.
    “What do you mean, Tweek?” Emily asked.
    “The first thing they’re trained to do is tune magic with their horns. Without proper supervision, it would be disastrous—O’ me twig!” Tweek’s quartz eyes began spinning wildly.
    “ Whoa.” Dante went cross-eyed as Tweek stood on the unicorn’s nose, brushing away his forelock.
    “This is awful, just terrible!” the E.F. wailed.
    “What’s wrong?” Emily asked.
    “Look!” Tweek shuddered uncontrollably, pointing a twig at Dante’s head. “His horn is about to sprout!”
    “That’s right, I’m bad!” Dante proudly displayed a small nub protruding from his forehead.
    “OOOOO!!” The unicorns all started concentrating, trying to make their horns