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

pockmarked the cliff walls like dark eyes watching.
    Emily stood beneath the mast, Indi by her side. She flushed as Marlin hovered protectively close. Swirling whirlpools shot geysers spiraling high in the air. The twisting waters cascaded over them, covering the Flyer with spray.
    “It ain’t all tweetybirds and pretty monkeys out there,” Cribby warned, hunching behind the wheel.
    “No?” Marlin asked.
    “Nohoho!” the elf grimaced. “There’s monsters bigger than yer house lurkin’. Lurkin’, I tell ya!”
    “Monsters?” Emily shivered.
    The sun sank behind thick clouds, sending shifting pools of inky shadows over the wooden deck. The wind was a constant sigh, like the whispering of angry spirits.
    “Great beasties with claws that could rrrrrrrrip ye to pieces!” Cribby continued.
    “And big teeth that could rrrrrrrrrr—”
    A loud noise clanked behind the cabin.
    Emily stopped short. Something was hiding in the darkness on the other side of the boat!
    Indi stepped in front of Emily, horn glowing with bright colors.
    Marlin’s hand slid to his knife hilt.
    A shadow grew across the foredeck, taking the shape of a huge figure, arms raised with long claws.
    “Unhand that mage!” a deep voice boomed.
    “What the—” Cribby stuttered, falling over his sandals.
    “Who’s there?” Marlin called out.
    “I be the dread pirate of—”
    A series of whispers followed.
    “What?”
    “The dread pirate of Dingly Dell!”
    “Oh, no!” Cribby gasped. “Who?”
    “Unhand the mage, or face the wrath of the great beast of—”
    Marlin and Emily looked at each other.
    Another shadow rose over the deck: a massive, four-legged creature, hunched and ready to spring.
    “The great beast with big teeth!” the voice called out.
    “The mage is unharmed.” Marlin raised his hands. “You are making a mistake.”
    “It is you who have made the mistake, sir!”
    With a shake of his head, Indi’s horn lit up like a spotlight, piercing the shadows. There on the deck stood a golden brown ferret and a large, spotted cat.
    “I laugh, I scoff, I—gah!” Ozzie jumped back into the shadows.
    “Ozzie!” Emily ran to the ferret. Scooping him up in her arms, she hugged him tight. “You’re okay!”
    “Can’t—breathe—!”
    “Lyra!” Emily embraced the cat, squashing the ferret against Lyra’s side.
    “Are you all right?” Lyra nuzzled tears off Emily’s face.
    “I’m fine,” the healer cried. “I’m just so glad to see you.”
    “—ferret—is—being—squeezed!”
    “Whoohoo—oop.” Indi pranced across the deck, bumping into Emily’s legs.
    “What’s going on here?” Ozzie scrambled from Emily’s arms, glaring at Cribby and Marlin. “Did you kidnap her?”
    “No!”
    “No!”
    “Honk!”
    “Oh, well. All right, then.” Ozzie petted the strange unicorn standing beside him. “And who’s this handsome creature?”
    “He ate my jewel,” Emily said.
    “GaH!” Ozzie kicked Indi’s foreleg.
    “How did you find me?” the healer asked.
    “You’re welcome.” Ozzie puffed up his chest.
    “Where are the others?
    “Um—somewhere between portals.”
    Emily was suddenly concerned again. “Are they all right?
    “They’re—” Ozzie looked around. “It’s a long story.”
    “We tried to contact you, but couldn’t get through.” Lyra examined Indi up and down.
    “I locked onto your jewel,” Ozzie explained. “We tried to follow it and we got caught in your magic. The others got tossed.”
    Emily met Ozzie’s concerned gaze, and looked away. She had hurt her friends, and now they were lost because of her. “I tried to cure the sea animals and it got out of control and—”
    “It’s okay,” Lyra purred.
    “Great beasts!” Cribby yelled, finally finding his voice. “A flying cat and a talking weasel!”
    “That’s Lyra, and this is Ozzie,” Emily introduced her friends.
    “Hey, it’s you again,” Marlin said.
    Ozzie marched up to the prince. “If you’ve touched