(fanfiction archive) Various stories

The Tale of the Twin Riders
by Richard


Fallon, Gwen and Tamara were all in the Crystal Palace. Sunstar and Shadowsong were outside grazing in the fields of Avalon. The day was good, warm air and the sun shinging down over the land.

Gwen: "What are we going to do today?" She asked the othes, as she looked at maps.

Tamara: "I don't know. We do have one thing thogh."

Gwen: What's that?

Tamara: "The Friendship Ring, this time it's for Fallon."

Fallon looked at them both: "I just hope I'll find a friend." All her life all she has wanted is friend. Gwen has Sunstar. Tamara has Shadowsong, Cleo, Spike and Sugar.

Just then Anora walked in. "Hey why does everyone look so gloomy?" She asked. Anora was Fallon's best friend, they meet in a medow far from Avalon.

Fallon: "It's about the Friendship Ring."

Anora: "I've got a great idea. Let's go to the place we first met. What do you say, anyone else want to come? Just to get our minds off the ceremony."

Gwen: "What do you say Sunstar"
(Wherever you go, I go.) Her unicorn friend said.

Tamara: "Shadowsong, will you come as well?"
(Yes, I've been there before.) Her stripped Unicorn said.

They all meet outside the castle.

Gwen: "Let ride." She said as she mounted Sunstar Anora hopped on. Tamara got on Shadowsong followed by Fallon. They use the Travel Trees to get to the medow. Yet the it seemed different.

Tamara: "Something isn't right here." She said, holding her Heart Stone.

Anora: "Yes I can... feel..." Anora got dizzey and falls over.

Fallon: "Anora! Wake up!" She cries as she runs over to her.

Tamara: "Let me help." (She holds her Heart Stone to Anora): "Heart to heart, let the light of love heal what has been done." A pinkish light flows over Anora. Her eyes start to move.)

Anora: "What... What happened to me?" She asked as she got up.

Fallon: "I was hoping you'd tell us."

Anora: "I felt something, like someone calling me, a part of me. "

Gwen: "What? That dosen't make any sense." She says as she looks at her friends."

Anora: "I wish I could say more."

The sun was setting as the four left the medow.

They get back about 8 pm. The four girls get changed and head to their room. Shadowsong and Sunstar go to their rooms.

(Anora has a disturbing dream, she tosses and turns.)

Anora is walking threw a medow when she sees a figure in front of her): "Who are you?" she asked.

The figure turns around (the face is hidden) holding two stones.

Anora looks at the two stones, she begins to walk to the figure. Something is holding her back.

Suddenly, Lady Kale appears: "You will never get free of me!" She laughs, she has the person surrounded in wild magic, using her Dark Stone.

Person: "Yes I will! You can't hold me forever!"

Anora: "Let her go." She demands.

Kale: "You think you stop me?"

Anora is tossing and turning in her sleep as the morning light comes in through the window. She lets out a scream as she sits up in bed, having broken out in a cold sweat.

Gwen jumps up: "Anora what is it?"

Anora: "Someone... Stone... Kale... trapped." She is still half asleep.

Fallon and Tamara wake up as well.

Fallon: "Anora what is it?"

Anora: "A dream... no more like a nightmare."

Tamara: "Tell us."

Anora: "Kale was in my dream holding someone back, a girl holding two stones. It was like if this girl was calling for help."

Gwen: "A girl? But who?"

Fallon: "These stones could they be Enchanted Jewels?"

Anora: "I don't know. That dream was so real. The place was the meadow we were in yesterday."

Fallon: "That may be why you fainted."

Anora: "That is a possablity. We should go back there. I might be able to find some answers."

Gwen: "Good idea."

They got dressed. Gwen and Tamara grabbed their stones. They meet Shadowsong and Sunstar outside of the castle. Fallon and Anora joined them a few minutes later. They headed for the Travel Trees with the bright morning sun at there back side. The meadow had a mist covering it.

Tamara had her Heart Stone out in front of her: "I feel something here."

Anora: "Can you tell who or what?"

Tamara: "No there's to much wild magic." She said, trying to focus on her Heart Stone.

Anora: "I can feel something." She said as she walked off from the others. She walked threw some brush, until a vast river came to her): This is just like in my dream. "Could that person be here?" She asked herself. "Are you here?" She asked into the fog, not knwoing what would happen. A dark figure a appeared in the fog. Anora stopped.

Anora: Who?

Figure: "It is I, Princess Kale! I knew you would come." Kale said.

Anora: "Where is that girl?"

Kale: "Right here." Kale said, as she used her Dark Stone stone to drag her captive into the light. Anora was shocked as for the first time she got a look at the face.

Anora: "Your the one who was calling to me. Who are you?"

Person: "My name is Elaine. I'm... your... t... twin sister."

Anora: "WHAT?? My sister? How?"

Kale: "I stole her from your mother on the day you were born. I made her swear not to tell anyone."

Anora: "How can you be so heartless?" She asked with tears in her eyes.

Kale: "Heart?" It was all Kale said.

Anora: "Let my sister go! What has she done to you?"

Kale: "She has two Jewels that I want, one of them is tuned to her. The other I can't even touch, it's tuned to someone else. Yet she can't even use hers." Kale said staring at Elaine.

Elaine: "She is talking about these." She held two identical stones, out infront of her one sky blue and the other a ghost white.

Gwen, Fallon and Tamara noticed Anora was gone and they were searching for her.

Fallon: "Oh, were could she be? Tamara, can you find her?"

Tamara: There is to much Wild Magic. My Heart Stone won't be of any help.

Gwen: "Lets see if Sunstar and I can see them." Gwen hops on Sunstar as they take off: "I see them there just over the hill. Kale is here as well."

Kale: "Jewel Riders. How sickingly nice of you to show." She said looking at them.

Gwen: "What do you want?" She looked over and saw a girl that looked just lika Anora and she was holding two stones: "Those stones, are they Enchanted Jewels?"

Elaine: "Yes, I think they are. Yet they won't work for me. "

Gwen: "Anora, who is she?"

Anora: "She's my twin sister."

Tamara: "What??"

Gwen: "I need Jewel Power! We need to save her!"

Kale: "Not a chance."

Gwen: "By the magic of Sun Stone!"

Tamara: "By the magic of the Heart Stone!"

They both said as their Jewel armor appeared. Sunstar and Shadowsong also had their Jewel armor on.

Kayel threw a blast of wild magic at Tamara and Gwen. Gwen used her Sunstone to fight back.

Gwen: "You will not have her or the Jewels." She said as her Jewel grew stronger. Tamara helped with her Heart Stone.

Kale: "I... will... have those Jewels." She could feel her Jewel weakening: "What is going on?" She looked at Elaine: "How are you doing this?"

Elaine: "You will never have these Jewels." Kale's Dark Stone was being drained by the two Jewels Elaine was holding.

Kayle: "You little fool! You may have won this day, but I'll be back!" Kale said disapearing.

Anora: "You're free!" She said running up to Elaine.

Elaine: "I wish that were true. Kale still holds power over me. These stones help me, but I have to find some way to get them to work. That drain is only temporary. You need to put a stop to her once and for all."

Anora: "No, it can't be! We will free you, I promise!"

Gwen: "Lets get back to the Crystal Palace."

The others followed Shadowsong opened a door way into the Wild Magic. They appeared inside of the Crystal Palace. They went into the Jewel Keep, a room full of Inchanted Jewels. Gwen walked over and got a big book, in it had a pictures of Jewels that aren't found yet. Merlin knows all the Jewels, he put then a special book.

Fallon: "What are you looking for Gwen?"

Gwen: "I'm looking for those stones Elaine is holding. I think they might be in here."

Fallon: "Elaine how did you get those Enchanted Jewels?" She asked looking at her: "It might help us if you told us."

Elaine: "Well, I got them by helping two unicorns get away form Kale. She had plenty of other unicorns to find, but they each had a stone. Kale got a hold of one of the stones."

Fallon: "Oh no!"

Elaine: "Yes, I raced as fast as I could to stop her, but another unicorn came to my aid."

Fallon: "Another unicorn?"

Elaine: "Yes, this one was pale blue in color with a purple main and tail. With a moon shaped stone on her hind legs with four other stones with it, like a birth mark."

Fallon: "Oh my, I wish I could see this one."

Anora: "I'm glad the other one showed up, when it did." She said with a sigh.

Gwen was busy looking through the book. Merlin had a few pictures of Unicorns in the book and some had jewels beside the pictures): "Hey hold on, Elaine what did these two unicorns look like?"

Elaine looked up at her): "One had the color of the setting sun in it's coat. It's main and tail were the color of the rainbow. It had intense green eyes, it's horn was the color of the ocean. The other was truly beautiful, it's coat was the color of the night. It's mane and tail were the color of the silvery moon. It had soft blue eyes, with a white horn."

Gwen: "Do these look familar?" She said showing her a picture of two unicorns that fit the discription.

Elaine: "Yes! Yes! That's them! Those stones beside the picture..." She held them out and they mached as well.

Gwen: "Tell us more."

Elaine: "We'll, Kale had a hold of the ghost white stone. And one of the unicorns disappeared."

Anora: "What? Why? Who?"

Elaine: "I'm guessing it's because Kale is evil. The black unicorn disappeared. I was able to get the stone away form her before she got away."

Gwen read something in the book while the others were talking: "We need to find the other Unicorn. If we don't..."

Tamara looked at Gwen's expression, so did Elaine, Anora and Fallon.

Fallon: "What is it, Gwen?" Fallon asked starting to get worried.

Gwen: "That meadow will be lost to Wild Magic! If we don't find the other unicorn. The stones they held represent a different part of the meadow. The unicorns are conected to them. The pale blue unicorn must have been a friend of theirs trying to help."

Tamra: "Let's get going."

Gwen: "Right, we don't have much time."

The five of them walkd outside the Crystal Palace. Shadowsong and Sunstar were waiting for them.

Tamra: "Shadowsong, we need you to open a doorway to that meadow again."

Shadowsong: "I'll try." He used his horn as a red light shot out form it, a bright light shined infront of them. It was a Wild Magic doorway.

Gwen: "Let's move." She said as she mouted Sunstar. Tamara got on Shadowsong followd by Fallon. Elaine and Anora stood beside them.

In a matter of seconds they were back in the medow. Gwen, Fallon and Tamara dismounted.

Anora: "Elaine can you find the unicorn with the rainbow colored main and tail?"

Elaine: "I think so." She led them to a forest, the forest was filled with dozens of unicorns) "There is the one you seek." She said pointing over by a river bed.

Anora: "Oh wow, it's so beautiful."

Unicorn: "Yes, my beauty is admired by many."

Tamara: "Anora, it said it's beauty is..."

Anora: I heard her.

Tamara: "How? Anyone else hear her?" (he othes all shook there heads no, the others stood back as Tamara and Anora spoke to the Unicorn.

Anora: "I don't know? Unicorn, what is your name?"

Unicorn: "My name is Rainshower."

Anora: "Can you tell us the name of the other one? The one that disappeared?"

Rainshower: "His name was Silvermoon," she said lowing her head.

Tamara: "How can we help?"

Rainshower: "The two stones were once one stone, but that outlaw Kale broke them. If they are joined Sivermoon will return."

Fallon: "What about the other Unicorn?"

Anora: "Fallon wants to know about the other Unicorn the one that helped you and Silvermoon."

Rainshower: "She was injured, trying to help us. She is in a cave not to far from here."

Anora had tears in her eyes: "She was injured, She's in a cave not to far from here."

Fallon: "Oh no!" She races off to the cave. She runs threw the soft grass, as the cool wind on her face keeps her going. She reaches the cave. The cave is lit by a fire. Fallon walks up next to the unicorn.

Gwen: "Fallon!" Gwen called, but she is too far off in the distance to hear her...

A holiday play
by Lisa


"This is great!" exclaimed Lisa, the new owner of the White Rose Stone.

"Isn't it?" agreed Jen, who had walked into Lisa's room. Tkal

"Need help?" asked a loud voice. Lisa jumped.

"Oh, hi Fallon," she said, realizing who it was. "Thanks."

Meanwhile, Princess Gwenevere and Kirsten were about to go home, when a small cart caught their eyes. It was selling stars for the tree that were sparkling so much, they seemed to be glowing. Kirsten told Wintermane to stop the carriage.

"Ah, Princess," said a muffled voice. The women was wearing a scarf over her hair, nose, and mouth. "I was hoping you would come. I have the perfect star." Her eyes seemed excited as she showed a glowing star that shimmered rainbow colors.

"Wow," Kirsten breathed. I've never seen anything like it."

"I've seen things like it, but never as beautiful," admitted the princess. "How much?"

"Five sentures," answered the women, who suddenly looked very greedy. Gwen handed her five dull red coins. After they bought the star, Kirsten told Wintermane to go.

When the jewel riders were out of hearing distance, the women took off her scarves, revealing long black hair, a red helmet, and the Dark Stone. It was Kale. She laughed loudly.

Back at the palace, the other jewel riders stared at the star in amazement. Everything was ready. The girls' parents were coming over the next day for the holidays. The three young jewel riders went to bed after dinner, and the others talked to their unicorns until they couldn't keep their eyes open.

At midnight, Princess Gwenevere woke up with a start. Her eyes were glowing and she walked in a steady beat to the throne room. The star on the tree was glowing. It kept getting brighter, and brighter until everything went white.

Her eyes went back to normal, but it was to late. The princess screamed, and found herself traveling through a travel tree tunnel. Sunstar, being bonded with Gwen, could sense there was something wrong. She galloped into the throne room and saw something strange. The star had flown off the tree into the center of the room, projecting a porthole. Sunstar had just enough time to wake Tamara, through the Heart Stone, before she was sucked into the porthole.

Tamara changed out of her pajamas, to find that Fallon was also awake and dressed because of a sense of wild magic. The two girls saw the porthole, and ran to tell the others. The three young jewel riders were excited to be going on an adventure so late at night. Fallon, Tamara, Lisa, Kirsten, and Jen each called on their armor and were sucked into the porthole. Shadowsong and Moondance were joining them, but no one woke the babies since it was way past their bedtimes.

Gwen and Sunstar found themselves in the middle of a huge field of grass and flowers. "Where are we?" she asked Sunstar.

"Princess, are you all right?" was all the enchanted unicorn had to say.

"I'm fine," answered Gwen, "And it's a good thing I am, too. After all, I am the princess." She threw her hand over her mouth. "Why did I say that?"

"Because it is what you were thinking," said a mischievous voice.

"How did you know what I was think-." She stopped short. "Who are you?" Gwen asked.

"We're munchkins." And out came a group of short men and women.

"You can't hurt me!" exclaimed the princess, holding up her jewel. But instead of using it, she said "I'm better than everyone else, because I'm a jewel rider!" she cover her mouth again. "How are you doing that?"

Suddenly, a porthole burst open. "Princess, are you all right?" asked Fallon. Just then all the girls started saying "I hope she's all right," then they looked confused, wondering why they had just said what they were thinking.

Suddenly, a sparkle appeared, creating a large pink heart-shaped jewel with gold and silver rings linked together in the center of it.

"An enchanted jewel!" Kirsten exclaimed. Tamara grabbed it and handed it to Gwen, but Gwen's hands slipped right through it.

"Princess, what's wrong?" asked Sunstar.

"Your friends are not self-centered, how come you are?" asked a munchkin.

"What are you talking about?" Princess Gwenevere cried. And then she disappeared.

"What did you do with the princess?" Jen demanded.

"Oh, she'll be fine," said a giggling munchkin, showing the girls a crystal ball.

Gwen ended up in what looked like the mall. She immediately saw a clothing store and went inside. She then saw a small girl. "Please, Miss, help me. I have nowhere to go, nothing to eat, and nothing to keep cool with. Gwen turned around and saw her dream dress. It was a pink flowing gown with gold and silver ruffles. She was about to buy it when she saw the girl crying and had a feeling so strong, she couldn't waste her money on that dress.

Instead, she bought food and clothes for the girl. The girl looked so happy, Gwen felt better than if she'd bought the dress. Suddenly, the girl turned into a munchkin and handed Gwen the heart jewel.

"But Tamara was holding onto that jewel, and my hands go through it whenever I try to touch it," Gwen protested.

The munchkin giggled. "Your friends know I have this, they've been watching you through the crystal ball, and try touching it now."

Gwen carefully took the Jewel of Love, and she was able to hold it, without her hands going through it. It felt amazingly good. It was a wonderful warm feeling.

Gwen returned to the others, and they all applauded. Sunstar was especially happy. She knew her princess could do it.

"I'll take that jewel," said Kale who had just flown in with Grim.

"Why don't you try?" asked Princess Gwenevere, holding up the jewel.

"You've made a big mistake," said Kale, flying over to Gwen's open hand, but Kale's hands kept going right through the Jewel of Love. She tried with her Dark Stone. No luck. "Ugh," she said frustrated. "You've won this time, jewel riders, but next time, I'll be able to touch the jewels." She left through a porthole, while another porthole opened that led to the throne room. The jewel riders jumped before it closed.

Back in the throne room, the star had returned to the tree, and lost any power it had left. "Today's Christmas," Tamara remembered.

The girls loved their presents, and Gwen got a very peculiar one. It was signed "a friend". She opened it, and saw the dress that she didn't buy to help the munchkin that she thought was a girl. She gasped at the beauty of the dress, then giggled. "Being nice really does pay off," she said.

Jewel of the Sea
by Stormdance


"In the middle of the ocean?" Fallon asked in dismay, "Are you sure that's where the next wizard jewel is hidden?"

Trina leaned over the map table, her white-blonde hair falling in her face, to trace out the longitude line, "Yep, we rechecked a few times and that's where it is."

Tamara was standing next to Trina around the table, while Gwen and her mother checked the references that had led to this spot. They were on the other side of the map room, crowded around Anya's desk.

"Oh, this is interesting." Gwen said, coming to join her friends with a scroll in her hand, "One of the ancient wizards lived in the ocean, another was said to have dwelt as one of the common folk in a village, designing beautiful things with her Jewel of Illusion. Like your Moonstone, Fallon!"

Tamara straightened in surprise, "Speaking of design, have you guys forgotten the fashion show is coming next week?"

"What, already?" Gwen said, looking at the calendar hung on one wall.

"Fashion show?" Trina inquired.

"It's a big festival kind of thing, happens every year. All the hottest designers come and show off their totally dreamy dresses." Gwen said excitedly.

"We usually get to model-- and eat festival food. It's fun." Fallon added.

"We haven't had much time for partying lately, this is perfect."

Trina blinked, "Are we going to put off looking for wizard jewels so we can party?"

"If we had any good leads we wouldn't." Tamara told her seriously, "But this ocean idea will take time to set up, and we can use that time to do more research. It's only a week."

"OK good, I thought you people had totally lost it." Trina said, and glanced over at the princess. Gwen was telling Fallon about her plans for the week, featuring the word 'dreamy' a whole lot. Trina sighed.

_*_

That afternoon everyone seemed to have found something to do, except for Trina. Tamara was helping with music for the show, Fallon and Moondance were off somewhere, and Gwen was organizing. Trina wandered the gardens restlessly, unable to shake off a meaningless feeling of fear and wishing she was doing something. But not wishing it enough to overcome her sudden shyness and ask if she could help.

Trina saw Archie perched on a bench, a big scroll open in front of him. The owl was reading and taking notes, holding a pen with his wing feathers.

"Hi Archie, what're you doing?" Trina asked, going over to him.

"Oh, hello Trina. This scroll tells the powers of the ancient wizards. I'm trying to think of where their jewels might have ended up."

"Cool. There's Morgana's entry, Teradia, M'naan the sea wizard, dang this is hard to read."

"Well it was written two hundred years ago, just after Morgana was banished." Archie said, and pushed up his glasses.

"Were you alive then?" Trina asked suddenly, giving the owl a sideways look.

"Me? Heavens no, I may be a wizard's familiar and have long life, but I was only hatched in Gwenevere's grandparents' time."

"OK." Trina giggled, "I didn't think you were that old, but since Merlin is..."

Archie muttered something that was supposed to sound scolding but didn't make it, and went back to reading his list. "Here's an interesting one, the jewel of illusion used by the wizard Eskar to design buildings. The jewel could create images that acted like the real object so he could tell if a building was unstable. The Moonstone isn't that good!"

Trina knelt by the bench so she and Archie were on the same level, "But the Moonstone has other powers besides illusion, it's better for a Jewel Rider."

"You're right, I think you're right." Archie muttered, "Now where-- ah. Eskar was never banished, instead he repented his evil and Merlin let him stay in Avalon as a common builder. He helped design the crystal palace."

As one they turned and looked at the spires of the palace rising over the trees. Trina shrugged and turned back to the scroll, "What would have happened to his jewel then?"

"Who knows? He could have hidden it or left it to his children, sold it or even lost it. Could be anywhere by now."

"We'll have to find it sometime... The wizard Chierru-- where'd she get a name like that?-- whose enchanted jewel could call forth mighty warriors to do her bidding, banished by Merlin after her magic trampled two villages. Nasty one. The wizard Stellis, whose powers included transport to anywhere in Avalon, banished by Merlin. 'Nother nasty one. Why are all the ancient wizards nasty?"

Archie sighed and shook his head, "How much history did you learn?"

Trina laughed and turned so she could lean against the bench, "Some, but that was a long time ago."

"Well. In the beginning Merlin brought Good King Arthur and his court to Avalon to found a kingdom of peace. But Morgana learned how to come here, and she decided to take Avalon for herself. She gathered together her friends, six of the most powerful wizards in that world, and they came to Avalon and tried to take over."

"But they didn't, and Merlin dealt with them. I know that."

"Exactly. The wizards are nasty because they were Morgana's friends. But some of them weren't as mean as she thought so they turned to goodness."

"Like this one." Trina grabbed the scroll, "The wizard Teradia, friend of the shapeshifting folk. Her enchanted jewel had the ability to help and heal them, and temporarily grant another form to any thinking being." Trina blinked, "What did that say?"

"It could turn any intelligent creature into something else, but not for very long." Archie translated.

"Oh. OK. Teradia reformed and was allowed to return from banishment. She married and lives peacefully in the Forest of Arden."

"That's very poetic, but we already found her enchanted jewel. There should be one more wizard on the list."

"Yep. The wizard Reika. Youngest of the ancient wizards, her enchanted jewel let her communicate with the unicorns of Avalon, that's all it says. The Jewel of the Unicorns. She was my age in the stories, why would she hang out with Morgana?"

The owl shrugged his wings, "We'll never know I'm afraid. History. So much is lost."

_*_

Trina looked out at the vast ocean beyond the tip of the Bay of Storms. The gray water went on until it met the gray sky, dotted with a very few islands here and there. The wind was crisp, though it wasn't a cold day. Trina pulled her cape more tightly around her and buried her fingers in Silverwind's mane. "We have to search for a wizard jewel in that?" she asked, "How, by turning into fish?"

Next to her, Gwenevere shrugged, "Not fish, I eat fish." She said deadpan, then grinned. "We'll get a boat and search the islands for starters."

"I can talk to some of the sea creatures, the ones that breathe air." Tamara added.

Fallon had a scroll spread across the front of Moondance's saddle, "The wizard M'naan lived in the sea, with his star sapphire which enabled him to breathe under the water and swim like a dolphin." She read.

"I guess that was written before the merfolk came to Avalon, or they would've kicked him out of their waters." Gwen said absently, watching a seagull.

Trina turned to look at the others, "Mermaids? For real? Can we ask them what happened?"

"Not likely, Trina. They never let humans see them, it's their way. Even for the Jewel Riders they won't come out." Tamara replied.

"Why can't things like this ever be simple!" Trina grumbled.

"If they were simple somebody else would have done them already." Fallon replied, and they all sighed.

_*_

The Jewel Riders spent the rest of the day exploring up and down the coast from the inn. Trina and Gwen had the most fun, since their friends could fly them above the rocks where only Fallon could climb. There were plenty of interesting nooks and caves to look in, but nothing seemed to be hidden anywhere. Unless of course you counted the strange tide pool life.

By the end of the day they had given up on their task and decided to just enjoy it. The sun came out, it got warm, and they weren't finding anything anyway. Gwen and Tamara were discussing how sea creatures lived; Tamara had offered to call a whale, but taken the offer back because none of them were in the mood to get back to their quest just now.

Trina sat on top of a huge boulder, the highest one on the beach. She was doing her Starstone's 'find' spell, testing it out finding shells and starfish. The third time she tried, the Starstone made a shower of blue sparks instead of the straight beam of light. Trina gave the jewel a good thwap like Josh used on his gadgets when they weren't working, then sighed and hung the jewel back on her necklace.

Silverwind landed softly behind her partner, her kitelike wings catching the air; the rock was big enough for both of them. (It worked twice.) she observed.

"Yeah, but if I tried again it wouldn't. Morgana's spell should be wearing off faster than this!"

Silverwind had no answer, (At least nobody else saw the sparks. But if we get in a fight and they don't know your jewel armor doesn't always work...) the unicorn didn't have to finish the thought.

"I think that part of it works, it did when we were riding the Travel Trees here." Trina looked out over the ocean, her almost-white hair blowing back in the wind. "Y'know, we haven't seen another one of those travel-tunnel monsters. I thought Morgana made it, but why would she make only one?"

(I don't know. Maybe it was watching the part of the wild magic near her castle?) Silverwind guessed, (The king and queen are working with Merlin to learn about that and a lot of other things too, so we can concentrate on our job here.)

"Finding a wizard jewel somewhere out there..."

_*_

Selace looked up and followed the light. She came up in the blue-on-blue middle of nowhere and looked towards the rocks. There they were, the winged unicorn banking above the shore, the two girls sitting in a hollow, the girl and the prism-winged creature on the high rock looking like they might be blown off.

"Humans." Selace muttered, and shrugged. These were supposed to be the best of the humans, but why give any human a magic jewel?

_*_

The Jewel Riders rented a small boat to explore the islands. It was too little for the unicorns, who were not happy to be stranded on shore.

Trina leaned over the side and looked down. And down. "Whoa, there's a lot of... space down there. The water's clear all the way to the bottom."

Gwen was leaning out also, holding onto the mast with one arm. She was using the Sunstone's magic to make wind to move them. "Yeah... Can you see anything that looks like a jewel?"

"Not me." Trina answered, "Hey Tamara, can those animals find it for us?"

"No, they have to stay with their families. Anyway, they wouldn't know what to look for."

"Neither do we." Fallon pointed out from her seat in the front. She collapsed her telescope and stood up to stretch-- carefully so as not to tip over the boat. "We've looked in all the caves that are above water, and we can't get into the others. And,"

"It's probably in one of the others." Trina finished with her. They knew it was a long shot, coming here. The jewel probably was hidden underwater somewhere where they couldn't get at it. And Morgana did know where they were..." The odds here are not good."

"I know." The princess tilted her Sunstone and the wind changed direction a little. They held on while the boat turned against it's own wake. "Trina, did you try that finding trick?"

"I tried." Trina didn't look up. "It didn't do anything, but that might mean the wizard jewel's out of range, or shielded somehow, or disguised, or that my Starstone is just in a bad mood." She shrugged and twisted her pale hair back into a knot, which immediately blew undone.

"We need some kind of help." Tamara stated.

Just as she said that, Trina saw a flash of motion underneath the boat. It was only out of the corner of her eye, but Trina would have sworn to a flash of blue more intense than the water-blue. Then a face appeared, coming up right through Trina's reflection in the water. Trina "eep"ed and fell backwards into the boat. A good thing-- the face was followed by a hand that grabbed for her enchanted jewel!

"Hey!" everybody yelled at once.

The blue person reached for Trina's jewel again but she slapped its wrist with a lucky blow. Then the person sighed gustily, folded faintly blue arms on the side of the boat, and looked at the stunned Jewel Riders.

Tamara was first to recover her wits, "Um, excuse me for asking but-- what are you?"

"A mermaid." The blue person said readily. She sounded prissy.

Trina sat up and got a good look at their visitor. The mermaid had short, silky blue hair and faintly bluish skin. She had webbed fingers and crests on her elbows and ears-- which disturbed Trina no little. Trina stared, filing away every detail; curiosity almost overcame her annoyance at this person, but not quite, "What do you want with my jewel?" she demanded.

"That's raaaaather a long story. First, you are the Jewel Riders out of New Camelot?"

"Yes, we are. I'm princess Gwenevere of Avalon. What's your name?"

"Selace, a princess of the merfolk of the Bay of Storms." The mermaid nodded her head with the same effect as bowing.

Fallon ducked under the mast to look at Selace, "Did you want something with us?"

"Could I borrow an enchanted jewel or two?"

A round of polite but very firm 'no's answered her, but Gwen added, "We can't loan you our jewels but if you tell us why you want them we might be able to help."

Selace winced and looked resigned, like someone taking the very last possibility, "There's troubling magic in the Bay. My father's new... friend is a sorceress who has never been seen before, but I have seen her looking for the entrance to the cave of magic where nobody's supposed to go. She is a law unto herself and my father will not stop her."

"A sorceress." Gwen said.

"Any ideas on who that might be?" Fallon sounded sarcastic.

"Morgana does know where we are; bets it's Kale?" Trina asked in an undertone.

"No bet." Tamara replied, then turned to Selace, "We'd like to help you, but how? We can't breathe underwater."

The mermaid frowned, "Your jewels can't do even that? Huh! Come out tomorrow, I will have something so you can come under the water." She sounded a little breathless, and ducked under water. That was the last the Jewel Riders saw, besides a pair of fanlike tail fins flipping into the air and the vanishing.

"Well!" Gwenevere said.

"She thinks a lot of herself."

"Ssh, Fallon." Tamara said, "We have a chance to search underwater now."

Trina was leaning over the side of the boat trying to see where Selace had gone, "But Kale beat us to it." The boat dipped and Trina got a faceful of ocean and came up sputtering.

Gwen giggled and tossed her friend a towel, "We knew she would. But how can she breathe down there?"

That question stumped all of them.

_*_

Selace got down out of sight and let herself drift above the towers of the merfolk city. She was not pleased; she needed magic, not kids with magic! But if the Jewel Riders wanted to help, by all means let them throw themselves into the pot. It might tip a balance or two. She flicked her tail and dove into an upper door of the palace. There was a spiral swimming shaft to ground level, past Selace's own rooms and those of her family, past the other important rooms of the palace. What she wanted was below ground level, actually dug into the sea floor. The treasure room.

The treasure of the royal family was stored in the traditional way-- on the floor, a knee-high heap of pearls and gold. Selace dug through it until she unearthed a silver box gracefully carved with swirls of seaweed. It wasn't locked, but the room itself was (besides being guarded by electric eels) so thieves weren't much of a problem.

Inside the box were two belts made of pale green scales. Made, in fact, from two past kings who willed their magic to be made into such belts when they died. Selace felt funny about touching them, much less taking them, but she did both. Tucking the belts into her pockets, she reburied the silver box.

There were sounds in the hall, currents in the water that meant someone was coming. Selace ducked into a crevice in the wall, pulling herself farther in as she saw who it was. The king of the merfolk and his new friend.

Selace's father looked laughingly indulgent as the black-haired merwoman dug through the treasure, praising this piece and that one, but looking closely at all of the large jewels. What on earth was she looking for?

"This treasure is very... lovely, my king, but surely your realm holds greater treasure than this. A treasure of magic perhaps?"

The king looked secretive. "There is such a treasure, but not here. You can see it in the enchanted caves."

"Oh-ho, enchanted caves!" The lady said, and then turned back into a coquette as she tried on the jewels and flirted shamelessly with the king. Selace squirmed farther back into her hiding place and waited for them to leave.

_*_

"I wonder what Selace meant we'd be able to come under the water."

Trina giggled, "Fishbowls on our heads?"

The Jewel Riders were on the beach, cooking their dinner over a fire in a pit of sand. Fallon stuck her dagger into the fire and got out a potato. Tamara held out her plate while Gwen tried to scoop out a fish from the other side of the fire pit.

"Not fishbowls." Tamara said absently, "I think it's something magical."

"Maybe it'll be the wizard's jewel!"

Gwen smiled, "Somehow I don't think it'll be that easy, Fallon."

"It might be though." Trina stared into the fire. The shifting flames turned her pale hair orange. "It was that easy with the last jewel, it just showed up."

"That was a coincidence." Gwen told her, and passed around a bottle of juice.

Tamara balanced her plate on one hand and picked up the book she'd been reading, "Hey guys, listen to this. 'Wild Magic inevitably wears away the defenses of any person who stays in the magic for too long. The magic then wears away the person's body, leaving a spirit in a shell of wild magic. But invariably the nature of the person will be warped, towards either insanity or transcendence. Such warping can be seen slightly in anyone who stands defenseless in wild magic for even a short time.'"

"What's transcendence?" Trina asked. For some reason this reminded her of her riddle-dream.

"Being perfect and knowing everything." Fallon said, but Tamara said it meant becoming more spiritual in a big way.

Fallon nodded, "So Morgana and Kale are either getting spiritual or going crazy?"

"And with them it's probably crazy... ugh!" Trina exclaimed, "They were pretty bad before getting dumped into the magic, and it's probably been making them worse. That's bad..."

"Guys--" Gwen said, a strange tone in her voice, "How well is Merlin protected from the wild magic?"

"He'll be fine, Gwen!" Tamara reassured the princess, "Merlin hasn't been lost for long at all compared to Morgana. He can take care of himself."

_*_

It was the next day, a little after noon. The girls were out in their boat, just drifting around the bay sitting under their umbrellas on the boat. Waiting for Selace.

"Hey Fallon..." Trina began, after a long silence. The Moonstone Rider looked over and quirked her eyebrows so Trina continued, "Can you make illusions of other places with your jewel? Ones that shows what's really happening?"

"Sometimes. Want to see something?" Fallon offered.

"Um, yeah. Can you show me... my old house?"

"Well I'll try."

Trina scooted over next to her while Fallon whispered a rhyme to her Moonstone. The violet jewel glowed and an image appeared in the light.

"Wha-a-a-at?!" Trina screeched. The image showed the foundation of a small house-- blackened, with only a few scorched beams rising at the corners. Trina goggled at it. "It burned up. Someone BURNED UP my house!"

Fallon looked darkly at the image, "Someone did, too. Lightning would have taken out a larger area."

Before either of them could say more there was a splash and the mermaid's head appeared over the side of the boat. She blew a spray of water away from the boat, and took a breath of air so she could talk to them. "Here. Got them. Only two though."

"Two what?" Trina stared at the lengths of glittering scales Selace pitched into the boat.

The blue-haired mermaid looked at her like she was incredibly dim. "The belts that turn you into a mermaid. Now which two of you are coming? I want her and her." She pointed at Trina and Gwen, who looked at each other.

"Up for this, Tri?" Gwen asked.

Trina looked uncertain, then curiosity overcame her doubts, "Yeah! ...But are you sure Fallon or Tamara wouldn't be a better choice to have down there?"

The princess thought for a minute, and glanced over at Fallon.

"Go on, Trina. Tamara and I can keep searching up here. I don't really want to go underwater anyway." Fallon said, and Tamara backed her up.

"All right." Trina said, and turned back to the impatient Selace, "What do we do?"

"Get in the water, and put them on." Trina and Gwen shrugged, and dove into the water in their swimsuits.

The bay was cold, but not really cold. Trina kicked to stay up while she pulled the strange belt around her waist. There was no buckle, nothing to keep it on... she touched the two ends together.

Trina vanished in a tiny explosion of sapphire-blue magic. When it cleared, she gasped out, "That really hurt." And ducked under to get a breath of water. Her body was changed for breathing liquid instead of air, but her brain was still convinced she'd drown if she tried it. While she was getting up her nerve, Gwen made the change too.

"Wow!" Tamara said from the boat, "That's impressive magic!"

Trina looked up and grinned at her. "It's ok once you get used to it." She said, and realized the nobody in the air could hear her unless she had a lungful of air to talk with. That could get annoying very quickly...

Selace appeared next to her, "Can we go already?" she demanded haughtily.

Trina wasn't listening; instead she was looking down at herself. Her swimsuit seemed to have been cut off halfway, and a few inches below that her skin was replaced by a band of scales going down to a long tail with a fanlike fin at the end. "Wow..." A few yards away Gwen was trying out her tail. The princess came over to them, "I'm ready. But, uh, what happened to our suits?"

Selace giggled, "Gone by magic. Maybe they'll reappear when you turn back, maybe not."

Trina covered her mouth, torn between embarrassment, laughter, and the desire to bop Selace for being so nasty. "So where are we going?"

Selace twirled around in the water, and waved Fallon and Tamara to take the boat away. They did only after Trina and Gwen waved them off too. Then the mermaid turned back to her guests, "The sorceress is searching the enchanted caves today. Gwenevere, can you follow her?"

"I-- sure, but-"

"Trina, you will come with me."

Trina scowled, "Explain your orders!" She said, as she would when the king taught them war games. But Selace was not trying to teach and was not nearly as friendly as King Jared.

"I am a princess and you are not. Not here. So I order Trina to help me investigate in the palace."

Gwen sighed, "Go with her, I'll see if it's really Kale in those caves."

Outvoted, Trina shrugged and followed the blue fan of Selace's tail towards the palace while Gwen swam off in the direction of the enchanted caves.

_*_

Gwenevere found the cave entrance from above just as Selace had said she would. What she hadn't expected was to see a dark red mermaid with a cloud of black hair dive through the opening before she got there. Kale!

Gwen waited until her aunt had had time to get farther into the caves, then dove toward the entrance. Inside, there were two tunnels-- nothing to indicate which way Kale had gone. Between the two entrances was a plaque carved into the wall. Gwen read, "Whoever would find the secret of my magic, take the test before you." Gwen swished her tail in the water and thought, "Sounds like the trials the unicorns use. If I can get through it before Kale..!"

Choosing a tunnel at random, Gwen swam down it as quickly as she could.

_*_

Trina was not sure about this. Really really not sure about this. Especially about Selace. The mermaid struck her as a particularly nasty little person out for only herself. But unfortunately they had no other way of getting underwater. "Selace, are the enchanted caves dangerous?"

"No. A little scary but nobody gets hurt there. What powers does that enchanted jewel have?"

"Um, it opens things, sometimes. And it can find things, sometimes. It probably has some other powers but I haven't discovered them yet." That last wasn't strictly true; Trina knew most of her jewel's powers. But the biggest other power was hugely destructive and she didn't want Selace trying to get her to use it.

"Well, can it find traitors?" Selace inquired.

Trina was stumped on that one, "I never tried it for something like that."

"Can it show who's doing what?"

"Not this jewel. Fallon's could, maybe."

"Can it discover peoples' real motives?"

"No enchanted jewel can read minds! At least none we know of. What do you want to do? Tell me and we'll think of a way to do it!" They were facing off, high above the towers of the palace. Trina's silver hair and Selace's blue swirled in the water.

"I want to know who's in on the conspiracy to dethrone the royal family!"

Trina swished her tail, the mer-equivalent to stepping back in surprise. She had not expected to be handed a conspiracy! "What?!"

"Someone in the sea is trying to discredit the king's decisions in council. Someone blocked the channels to the open ocean so our traders lost half the year's profit." She still sounded prissy, but also very hard. Trina recognized the manner; Selace was a princess all right.

Trina had the strong suspicion that she was out of her depth, in more ways than one.

_*_

Gwen was swimming cautiously through a cave full of seaweed. The weed stood straight up, leaving only a few feet of open water above the forest. Every so often the leaves would ripple, and Gwen couldn't see if it was a current stirring them or the passage of some swimming thing. The princess of Avalon looked back at her mermaid tail, which was a sort of topaz color in the white luminescence. The light was provided by some kind of shell creatures like barnacles that lived in the rock ceiling; she guessed the mermaids had brought them from deeper water where glowing creatures normally lived.

The leafy forest stirred again, showing colors like oil on water where the leaf edges caught the light. The stir was moving, so it couldn't be a current. Something was definitely down there. Gwen kept her eye on it and reached for her Sunstone, wondering if the whatever-it-was was going to let itself be seen this time.

A head came up out of the weeds. Shaped like a cross between a snake and a fish, it was glowing blue. Really glowing, reminding Gwen irresistibly of the special effects traveling shows sometimes used. The eel hissed, revealing a forked tongue and rows of spines that must have passed for its teeth, and arced through the water towards Gwen.

"By the magic of the Sunstone!" she summoned a shield just as the eel lunged, just in time. The blue head hit the gold shield and-- disintegrated. Fell apart into blue sparks, which went out.

"Whaaaaat?"

Nothing was moving in the whole cave.

The eel dove up at her without warning. Gwen threw another shield at it, and the creature disintegrated again. A minute later it attacked again, and fell apart again.

Then nothing. A long minute later the eel drifted up slowly, its eyes unfocussed. It looked sick. Maybe hitting shields was finally getting to it. The princess considered blasting it with her magic, but decided not to; the creature had a purpose here. She flicked her tail and went on to the next room.

_*_

Gwenevere found herself facing a wizard. Not an actual wizard, but a mosaic cleverly worked in sapphires on the wall of this chamber. And it talked, too, in an echoing magically created voice that boomed through the water. "Why do you seek my secret?" Then in a much less grand tone the voice said, "It's trite but it works. Answer."

"I'm looking for wizard jewels to bring my teacher Merlin back to Avalon, and to stop Mogana from getting them." She tried to remember if M'naan had sided with Merlin or Morgana, but couldn't. "I don't know for sure what Morgana wants with the jewels, but it's nothing good! She's been trying to get rid of us. Among other nastyness."

The sapphire wizard couldn't move, but a wave of light flashed over the gems that made up its form. "Who are you?" The voice said.

"Princess Gwenevere of Avalon, wielder of the Sunstone."

"Truth. Pass then."

A door opened, and Gwen made a hasty exit. For some reason that talking wall frightened her. It had been created by wizard magic, and who knew what weird things wizard magic could do? As she left, Gwen thought she heard the voice say something about "...prove how much you want to see..."

The next cave was only a cave. Except that the entrance closed behind Gwen and the only exit was through a door set in the ceiling. A locked door. In one wall a narrow tunnel was cut, only wide enough for Gwen to get her arm into. The key was at the other end of the tunnel, well within reach. But the hole was lined with starfish; red furry starfish.

The princess reached for the key, and one of the stars dropped lightly onto her hand. It curled tightly around her wrist-- and the fur turned out to be spines. Gwen shrieked and shook the thing off. Her arm felt like it was burning; the pain creeping from her wrist to her shoulder. She bit her lip on another scream, one of pain and sheer terror that the poison might be deadly.

It didn't seem to be; after a too-long moment the burning feeling got less, and slowly faded away to a slight ache. Her head felt a little funny, but that was all. So that was part of the test, having the nerve to reach past the nasty things to get the key. She tried to lasso it with magic; no dice.

Gwen looked into the hole and cringed. There were a lot of the starfish. A lot. "Come on Gwenevere, you have to get that key! And fast, in case there's a chance to beat Aunt Kale to the jewel!"

On the last word, she stuck her whole arm into the hole, grouping frantically for the key. She grabbed it and pulled her hand out, just as about five starfish delivered their jolts of poison.

And then for a while Gwen did nothing at all, floating with one hand over her mouth to keep from screaming while tears of pain ran into the water.

Finally she could think enough to get the key into the lock and let herself out of here. She emerged into a long corridor decorated with gemstones and solemnly lit. Gwen's head felt fuzzy, and she realized those starfish were a lot more poisonous than they looked. Swaying, she saw another door open, and someone dressed in red swam in.

"Why Gwenevere." Said a too-familiar voice, "What on earth happened to you?"

"Some test, those things're..." Gwen said faintly, "...Aunt Kale?"

_*_

"Oh...what?" Gwen woke up in the gemstone corridor. Her Sunstone's sense for wild magic was going crazy, and showed Kale's purple-red power all through her body and the water around her. But... "I'm alive. Kale saved me? Too weird." She filed that one away to think about later-- to think about for a long time later-- and went to see the final chamber.

The final grotto in the enchanted caves was small, round with the floor heaped with gems and pearls. A natural stone pedestal supported an open book. Gwen didn't see anything that looked like a wizard jewel. She didn't even see a place for one. "Maybe there's a map in the book... I hope not; I want to get out of here."

She tried turning to the beginning, but the pages wouldn't move. The book might as well have been a statue there, with only one page open. At least she could read that.

A minute later Gwenevere sank to the grotto floor in shock. What she'd found was not a map, not anything that could help her find the jewel of the sea wizard. Instead it was the diagrams and instructions for a spell to shatter a very powerful enchanted jewel. A controlled shatter, so each piece would have a fraction of the power of the original. To create a new race.

Gwen sat in the treasure on the floor and thought this through. "He shattered his jewel. Dissolved it. So the merfolk could exist. There's no way Kale and Morgana can get it! ...But no way we can get it either. Merlin..."

They could not use the wizard jewels to bring Merlin home, and there might be no other way.

Gwen shook herself, "We'll find a way! But first... how on earth am I going to find Trina?"

_*_

"Selace! Selace, are you here?" Trina called softly into the shadowy interior of the garden pavilion. At least she hoped it was the pavilion.

A moment later two strong hands grabbed the front of her shirt and hauled her in. "I've been waiting for you!" Selace sounded mightily annoyed.

"Eesh, lemme go. I had something to do... And I have kind of a problem. About three dozen humans trapped in a cave. Will you help me?"

"Three dozen what? Where'd you find that many humans? And what about--"

"Wait!" Trina had had a blinding flash, "You need proof that Kale, that sorceress, is bad news right? These people know that, they were captives of Morgana, the one Kale works for, and most of them saw Kale while they were being taken! Your proof."

Selace looked like she was trying to find something wrong with that, but couldn't find it. "All right. You need to get them to the mainland? I'll provide boats if you can get them to the surface. Can that jewel of yours at least do that?"

"Yep." Trina said happily, "Fallon and I practiced that power."

Selace smirked, "Good. Come on then, I have to order out boats."

"What did half the council want?"

"They had to tell me my plan to reopen the trade routes was a great success."

Well that explained her good mood. "You can plan stuff as big as that? Wow, what'd you want us for then?"

"Your magic, of course. Even I know you fight magic with magic."

A flicker of gold appeared in their circle of vision, then they saw it was the princess of Avalon. "Gwen!" Trina shrilled, "What happened to you?!"

Gwenevere smiled tiredly, "A close call. If it hadn't been for Kale..."

"Kale helped you?" Trina and Selace demanded in unison.

"Where are you going? Let's exchange stories on the way."

Moving On
By Kulia Makani

Her long pink hair hung from her head, while she picked imaginary hair from her outfit. She stood tall, regal and proud, twirling in front of the long elaborate mirror. The former glamorous room was empty of all its treasures. The white wall stood in harsh contrast to the solid oak walls.
There were no rugs, clothing, pillows, or any objects covering the room or place neatly upon the dresser. She was brought into an empty room.
Tamara left the rooms as she first found it. The boxes were stacked neatly in the corner.

The room was once her refuge and a second home, but now it will be her past. No longer will she be a welcome visit in the steep halls of the castle, but a quiet observer. She had spent most of her youth, shut up in one of the many rooms learning about her jewel. Her first taste of adventure came and gone, when Merlin possessed the One Jewel. Everything began to take its normal course. The Jewel Riders slowly aged and once again the circle will turn.
"Tamara, Are you ready?" Fallon knocked before enter, walking to Tamara.
"Yeah, I'm just nerves," Tamara began press her jewel within the fabric of her dress, "I knew this time would come, but so soon."
Fallon pressed her right hand to her face. Her face slowly took on a worried expression as her brow pushed together and her mouth because small and tight.. She could deal with losing the jewel that had been apart of her as her hands were. It was losing her ability to talk to Moondance that scared her.
"It was something that we knew would happen sooner or later."
"Yes, I know." Tamara turned to her friend, "The circle must turn and with our passing of the jewels. New Jewel Riders will come to take our
place. What I'm most concern with is," She placed her hand on Fallon shoulder, " how will you take losing the jewel."
"What do you mean?" Fallon stature went rigid. Slowly backing away, Tamara hand was forced to fall to her side.
"I know how much Moondance means to you. Just remember. 'You and Moondance have a bond that no one can break. You even hear each
other thoughts without the Moonstone."
"I have no worries. Hurry up everyone is waiting for you." Fallon face relaxed visually before walking toward the door, "Do you need help with
the boxes?"
"No thanks, Dereck and the pack will come by later to move the boxes. Tell everyone I've will be out in a few minutes."

She looked back on her room before walking out and closing the door behind her. The three of them had shared the good times and the bad time
together. Now it was time to start a new chapter in her life with Shadowsong, Cleo and the rest of the former babies. She walked down
the halls knowing that it was for the last time. She will never live in the castle or see her room again. Her time as a Jewel Rider is over and her time as Tamara the musician to began.

Fallon and Tamara stood side by side as they said the words, which would forever separate them from their jewels and their life as a Jewel Rider. The magic sprung around them in a beautiful array of colors. Slowly their jewels moved from their hands and from their animal friends to form two jewels. They stood their staring into the sky trying to control the tears as the voices closed forever for them.

"Tamara! Fallon!" Queen Anya called their names from behind, "Avalon shall never forget what you have done for us. You shall always be welcome in the castle," She quickly exited, giving Gwen the time she desperately wanted.
"Guys….. I will miss you." She hugged them with all her strength, "You are my friends."

They said their good-byes then Fallon headed one direction and Tamara the other.