Read Trial By Fire (Avalon: Web of Magic #6) for Free Online Page B

Lyra looked around for her missing friend.
    Kara danced by shimmying big-footed kobolds. She shook and hopped past cute little brownies and hooting hobgoblins. She bopped and boogied with five raucous long-bearded gnomes. Somewhere in the back of her mind a nagging thought told her she didn’t have time for this. She should be looking for someone, Kara thought. Some friends. They were supposed to be doing something important, only she couldn’t remember exactly what it was. And at the moment, it didn’t seem all that urgent. All she wanted to do was rock out.
    “Kara!” Lyra called, slinking through the silky, hypnotic rhythm of the music, paws firmly on the ground.
    Kara was in the center of the party with all kinds of creatures dancing around her.
    Pint-sized purple pixies perched on purled fronds. Fat big-eyed boggles tossed toadstools and drank from thimble-sized cups. Spriggles and sproggins huddled under tables gobbling strange-looking foods. Leprechauns wandered around knocking into one another belly first and laughing hysterically. And darting over all of them, perching on blooms and dancing in circles were vibrant, luminous beings, beautiful gossamer-winged fairies!
    Feel the magic
    Can you feel it
    Feel the magic
    Then she saw three performers on stage. They were totally kickin’ it. The band was human-sized, like her. The lead singer’s long raven hair flowed as she moved and twirled, scarves billowing around her like silky clouds.
    With hair of neon pink and flaming red, the drummer leaped and jumped, pounding out the rhythm on anything she could find—including the heads of two overzealous trolls.
    Golden-skinned with dark blue hair, the guitar player strummed a strange-looking instrument of burnished wood that flared and glowed under her amazingly talented fingers.
    “Woohoo! They totally rock!” Kara yelled, waving her arms, moving to the beat. The music was glorious, filling the garden with the most incredible magic. It was as if nothing else mattered, nothing else felt this good.
    Kara danced with a pointy-toed, top-hatted, purple spriggle. The fairy creature raised his feet and arms, dancing up a storm.
    “Hi. I’m Kara, what’s your name?” Kara giggled, giving the pint-sized spriggle her best smile.
    “Me name?!” the fairy creature exclaimed, abruptly coming to a stop. “Why, I’ll wark ye muckle tarrie!”
    “Okaaaay.” Kara danced away into a cloud of sparkling wings.
    “Ya poof git!” the angry spriggle yelled, waving his small fist at her.
    Beautiful silver-and-blue winged fairies converged about her, lifting her hair, tickling her arms and legs. A few beady-eyed hobgoblins dropped into the fray to inspect Kara’s backpack. Snickering and hooting, they opened the zipper, diving in and rifling through the treasures.
    One pulled out a granola bar. “Ah harg!”
    “Gimme, ya booty bogger!” another cried.
    They struggled over the treat, falling to the ground as another pulled out an orange sock, which he promptly put over his head.
    There was a loud commotion behind her.
    The fairy map—it floated out of the backpack! Sparkling stars winked and blinked inside the orb. A dozen spriggles had piled up on top of one another, trying to grab it, but the orb floated out of their reach. It rose into the air and hovered above the excited crowd.
    “Hey, that’s mine!” Kara said, easily grabbing the blue orb back into her arms.
    The music came to an abrupt halt.
    Everyone stopped dancing, frozen, staring at Kara with wide eyes and dropped jaws.
    “The magic is with you.”
    She spun around to face the stage. The band was staring at Kara.
    “What?” Kara checked her clothes. “Did I get any on me?”
    The flaming-haired drummer leaped from the stage, landing gracefully at Kara’s feet in a deep bow. “We’ve awaited your return, Princess.”
    The entire crowd fell to the ground, bowing profusely and groveling at Kara’s feet.
    “What gives? Who are you?” Kara asked the