Cry of the Wolf (Avalon: Web of Magic #3) Read Free Page B

back to the main road. I’ll be there in a minute.”
    When her friends had moved out of earshot, Kara turned quickly to Lyra. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
    “Stormbringer is gone,” Lyra told her.
    “Oh, that wolf is always wandering around,” Kara laughed, picking leaves and twigs from Adriane’s hair. “She’ll probably be back in a few hours.”
    “No, the mistwolf is gone,” the cat repeated.
    Kara searched Adriane’s eyes. They were red and puffy, streaked with tears.
    “What do you mean, gone?” Kara asked.
    Adriane pressed the owl and the cat close to her. “She’s gone,” she stated simply.
    “Lyra,” Kara said to the cat, “take her to Emily. I’ll join you as fast as I can.”
    She gripped Adriane’s arms and looked in her eyes. “Adriane, go with Lyra and Ariel. Okay?”
    “Come on, Adriane, just hold on to me,” Lyra said, leading Adriane down the path to the manor house. Adriane stumbled after her, silently calling for Storm and hearing nothing.
    E MILY FLETCHER BLEW a loose auburn curl off her face and clicked on the icon to open the Ravenswood mailbox. She turned from her computer to a second workstation set up on a table next to her desk.
    “Mail call,” she announced. “It’s from Meilin.”
    Ozzie, a golden brown ferret, sat on three pillows pecking away on the keyboard. Ronif, a quiffle, sat behind him, as Balthazar, a pegasus, stood watching carefully. They were busy working on their secret database of magic and magical animals. After all, they actually had firsthand knowledge of these creatures being magical themselves. Although technically an elf, Ozzie was determined that just because he was stuck in a ferret body, it didn’t mean he had to act like one. At least not in front of his friends.
    “Don’t forget to include that they have bad breath,” Ronif commented, flapping his rubbery beak over Ozzie’s shoulder.
    “Pee-yew! Believe you me,” Ozzie remarked, “when there’s a kobold in the neighborhood, you know it!”
    Emily smiled proudly at her team. She turned back and opened the email.
    Meilin lived in Shanghai, China. She and Emily had become good friends in the past month, trading emails and info about animals and legends. Meilin’s father was an archeologist who used to tell her stories of great and powerful dragons. Meilin wanted to know whether Emily believed in dragons.
    “Well, team magic,” Emily asked her animal friends. “Dragons, real or myth?”
    “Real, of course. Why wouldn’t they be?” Balthazar answered.
    After all the magical animals they’d seen here at Ravenswood, a dragon wouldn’t be that far-fetched. Emily thought of Phelonius, a creature so magical, he couldn’t survive on Earth. He’d helped her find the courage to use her healing magic. He was the most amazing creature she had ever seen. And if she hadn’t seen him with her own two eyes, she never would’ve believed he was real. So why couldn’t dragons be real, too?
    “You’ve seen one then?” Emily asked.
    “ I haven’t, personally.” Ozzie gestured with his furry paws. “But Cousin Schmoot had this friend who knew this troll whose brother-in-law had this neighbor whose cousin was a warlock who used to go to school with this dwarf whose grandmother swore on her deathbed that one time when she was little she had seen a real, live dragon!”
    “I see … ” Emily laughed. “How could I ever have doubted it?”
    “Dragons are very rare and powerful magical creatures,” Balthazar said. “They have long been extinct on Aldenmor.” He looked up suddenly. “Lyra’s here.”
    “How’s Kara’s tour go—” Ronif started to ask.
    Lyra padded in, nudging Adriane along as if she were a rag doll.
    “Adriane! What happened?” Emily was across the room and by her friend’s side in an instant. “Ozzie! Get me some damp towels!”
    Ozzie dropped to the floor and scampered off as Emily led her friend to a leather couch and sat her down.
    Adriane was covered in