Disclaimer: I do not own the Avalon: Web of Magic/Quest for Magic series or the song "Die Alive", they belong to Rachel Roberts and Tarja Turunen respectively.
Open up the night, led by just a feeling
All around is light, everything is healing
Emily closed the gate to the last dog's kennel when she had finished pouring kibble into his bowl. She sat up and pulled the elastic from her hair, letting her ponytail fall free and her hair settle around her shoulders. It was eleven o'clock, an hour before she had to meet Adriane and Kara at Ravenswood. When she walked back to her house, she found her mother going over some files at the kitchen counter.
"Oh, hey Emily," Carolyn said distractedly.
"Hi Mom. I'm leaving in about half an hour--Are you sure you don't need me to anything else?"
"No, everything's been taken care of. I'll handle Mr. Handal when he comes to pick up his dog. It the Golden Retriever, Jessie, right?"
Emily nodded. "Thanks, Mom." She walked up the stairs into her room to change. Opening her closet, she started to reach for a loose t-shirt-- Then remembered that they were going to contact Aldenmor. Her thoughts turned to Marlin, and she blushed. She let go of the blue fabric and looked at her wardrobe. The redhaired healer picked out a white girlie top with the Stonehill Unicorns logo in black lettering (a gift from the student council) and her favorite pair of blue jeans-- dark wash, no holes, and rested on her hips comfortably-- and grabbed a black and chain belt from her dresser. She looked at herself in her full-length mirror after putting on her clothes and smiled.
No more fate and no more mystery
Even as time falls away, I live my days
Every moment and its memory
Not only to survive: To die alive
"Oh good, you're here," Adriane said to her friend when she opened the cottage door. "Kara just called. She's on her way."
"Do you know what this is about?" Emily asked.
The dark-haired girl shook her head. "Kara just said that Lorren contacted her and told her that something weird was happening on Aldenmor. You?"
"Same. Oh, here she comes."
A black Lexus pulled up at the front gates, and Kara jumped out of the passenger side. "Bye Dad!" She called as she charged through the gates and down the main path. Her father's car pulled away, and she greeted the other two mages with a dazzling smile. "Ready?" She asked them.
The Healer and Warrior nodded.
Overwhelming love, heaven's just a feeling
Singing in my blood, keeping me from kneeling
The mages stood in the portal field, dragonflies, bonded animals, and of course, Ozzie with them. The brightly colored dragonflies began to spin a web, working together to make the picture clearer. Lorren's pale green face looked out, recognizable even with the faint layer of static over the small portal.
"Kara?" He asked.
"Yep! The rest of the group too," She informed him. She grinned, then remembered why they were talking in the first place. "What do you think is going on over there?"
"I think you'd better just get over here," the Goblin Prince replied.
No more fate and no more mystery
Even as time falls away, I live my days
Every moment and its memory
Not only to survive: To die alive
Walking through a mirror-portal was always a strange sensation. Emily didn't think that she'd ever get used to it. It was like stepping through a cool, thick, silver-colored liquid for a split second, then leaving a kind of queasy feeling in your stomach afterward. The effect wore off after a few seconds, though, and Emily greeted Lorren, Tasha, and Queen Raelda with the rest of her friends.
"These frequencies are off," Tasha muttered to herself, pushing buttons on a mechanical device frantically.
Raelda regarded her. "Hello, mages, bondeds," she said. Her face betrayed no emotion, portraying only a queenly detachment. Her eyes, however, the Healer noted, were worried. "We have a serious problem."
Die alive
Everyone sat in the richly decorated parlor of the Goblin castle, listening to the King and Queen speak.
"We believe someone or something may be trying to undermine all the kingdoms of Aldenmor and the Fairy Realms. Creatures are being struck down with fatal illnesses. People are caught in 'freak' accidents. Magical wards block places of vital information, like Tasha's lab--"
"I can't even step foot in my own lab!" The Palace Sorceress cried angrily. "Everytime I try to go in, fires erupt right in front of me!"
The King glanced at her. "She's right. Some force is at work here. We're going to need the cooperation of everyone to fight off whatever new evil is lurking," he said gravely.
Emily flashed on her nightmare. Something was at work here. She clenched her jaw tightly as the meeting dispersed. This didn't feel like the Dark Sorceress's or the Spider Witch's doing. No, something else entirely was awake and hungry for power.
No more fate and no more mystery
Even as time falls away, I live my days
Every moment and its memory
Not only to survive: To die alive