Full Circle (Avalon: Web of Magic #12) by Rachel Roberts Page A

off, but remained on guard.
    “Hi, brother Gwyx!” Drake trumpeted happily.
    “Don’t give me that brother doodoo!” The black dragon sat up and rubbed his horned head. “ You ruined everything!”
    “How did you find us?” the warrior asked. The last time she had seen the black dragon, he was returning to Dragon Home, triumphant with his supposed victory over the shadow dragon.
    “I’ve been tracking you for hours,” Gwyx grumbled.
    Although slightly smaller than Drake, the dragon was formidable. Giant muscles rippled along his sleek body.
    “We didn’t even notice you,” Adriane said, impressed.
    “Well.” Gwyx proudly stretched his immense, purple streaked wings. “I am very stealthy.”
    Kara eyed the unexpected guest. “What are you doing here?”
    “ You!” Gwyx wheeled on the blazing star, eyes sparking. “You ruined everything!”
    “You can thank me later.”
    “Why would I ever thank a human?”
    “She killed the shadow dragon,” Adriane told him.
    “She did?” the black dragon snorted.
    “The shadow creature possessed me.” Drake huffed a lick of flame. “It would have tried to kill all the dragons at Dragon Home.”
    “Ah harkle! So that is where the beast hid.” Gwyx nodded sagely . “Cleverer than he thought.”
    “Doodoo,” Buttercup added.
    “What is that thing?” Gwyx studied the bizarre creature sniffing his leg.
    “Buttercup,” Emily answered.
    “Oh.” Gwyx shooed him away and stomped over to Kara. “You stole my quest!”
    “You’re welcome.”
    “Now what do I do? I need a new warrior quest!”
    “How about storming the Dark Sorceress’s castle and fighting an army of lizard guards?” the blazing star offered.
    Gwyx looked startled. “Um, no, thank you. You must come to Dragon Home with me and explain everything so I can get my name back.”
    “Fine, but we have our own quest,” Adriane said. “You can wait here with Drake.”
    “Have some noodles,” Drake offered.
    “That’s disgusting.” The black dragon sniffed the bubbling noodles and spicy sauce, large nostrils flaring. “ Maybe one taste.”
    Kara opened Logan’s map and studied it. “This only tells us how to get here. What now?”
    “We sniff.” Magic tracking senses alert, Dreamer snuffled over the ground, ears twitching. He stopped just beyond the clearing. “This way.”
    Everyone crowded around to look at the mistwolf’s discovery: dozens of lizard-like footprints in the mossy earth.
    “Can you follow the trail?” Adriane asked.
    Dreamer nodded.
    “All right. Let’s move out.” The warrior zipped her jacket tight and adjusted the black and turquoise bracelet on her right wrist. “Drake, stand by. I’ll call if we need you.”
    Emily pulled her long curls back tight with a scrunchy. “Buttercup, you stay here with the dragons.”
    “Tuff!” Buttercup stood his ground, wide mouth set in a stubborn frown.
    “Doesn’t look like he knows how to stay,” Adriane observed.
    “Maybe he could help me.” Emily met the creature’s eyes. “You stick close, okay?”
    Buttercup nodded.
    “No magic unless I tell you.”
    Buttercup nodded again.
    “Good boy.” Emily patted his head. “Let’s go.”



R ED-TINGED MIST CURLED around them as the mages made their way through the Black Forest. Dreamer, on point, followed the lizard guards’ scent through the gnarled trees and thorny underbrush. Lyra brought up the rear, alert for trouble.
    In less than a mile the group stopped, staring in silence: They’d come upon an enormous fortress rising from the forest floor. Mighty trees had been magically welded together to form an impenetrable wall.
    The Dark Sorceress had not even bothered concealing her new lair with an invisibility shield. She’d counted on the Black Forest itself to scare off intruders.
    The bottom half of the lair was hidden behind the wall, but the mages could see a rocky tower angling up in the center of the structure. A faint yellow light flickered in its open