JRA Podcast – Episode 4, Circles in the Stream

Avalon: Web of Magic Book Club

Welcome back to the show! In episode four, Chris, Ronnie, and Jacquesworth cover their thoughts on the first book of the Jewel-Riders based “Avalon: Web of Magic” book series, Circles in the Stream.

| Page: 36
There it was: “The Rocking Stone.” A sacred monument called “Aluns,” a Lenni Lenape name which means “arrow.” Such stones were believed to be landmarks used to locate doorways to the spirit world …

| Page: 36
HEALER … ” “What—who are you?” She walked through silver-white fog. Faint outlines of trees shifted in the corners of her vision. She had an impression that animals were hiding in the swirling mist, watching her. A chorus of voices called to her. “Healer … help us … ” “I’m not a healer!” she cried in frustration. “I don’t know how to help you!”

| Page: 37
Somehow most of the crusty layers had vanished. The stone was shiny and faceted in places. The blue-green surface was shot with clear, sparkly veins of purple. She turned it over and over. How could she not have noticed how pretty it was when she found it? It felt … magical.

| Page: 43
“How can you hear her?” the other girl demanded angrily. “I don’t know,” Emily whispered. “I just can.”

| Page: 43
The dark-haired girl raised her hands in frustration. “What’s going on around here?”

| Page: 47
“I should have stayed in the Misty Moors … dumb Fairimental magic … ” the ferret complained as the girls walked on.

| Page: 50
“I have parents.” Adriane glared back at Emily. “They’re artists, they travel a lot.” She looked very uncomfortable.

| Page: 52
“I started hearing Storm when I found this.” Adriane rummaged in her pocket and pulled out a shiny stone. Shaped like a paw print, it was banded in gold, amber, and brown. “It’s a wolf stone.”

| Page: 56
“I’m an elf!” he insisted again. “My name is Ozymandias. You can call me Ozzie.” He smiled a ferret smile.

| Page: 58
“Does your world have a name?” she asked Ozzie. “Aldenmor,”

| Page: 61
My name is Nakoda, but you can call me Gran.”

| Page: 63
“Crystals and gemstones are often charged with energy. They may hold strong magic.”

| Page: 63
tiny pebble, thrown into a quiet pond, makes one ripple, then another, then a whole wave of ripples that spread in ever-growing circles.”

| Page: 65
“Our world is in danger,” he said. “There’s something called the Black Fire. It’s poisoning everything.”

| Page: 66
“They’re forces of nature and they protect the good magic of Aldenmor. I’m no expert but all magic is fueled by nature—air, water, earth, and fire.”

| Page: 75
Magic attracts magic—I know that much,” he replied.

| Page: 75
Adriane rolled up the map, stood, and slung her olive-green backpack over her shoulder. “Let’s move out!”

| Page: 75
Emily followed Adriane across the wide lawn in back of the manor. A garden of hedges and flowers lay just beyond the green; the hedges were planted in geometric patterns with pathways in between, like a maze. Near the entrance stood a large stone fountain in the shape of a mermaid. She held a beautiful carved urn over her head and water poured from it to splash off her up-curved tail into the round basin below.

| Page: 84
Emily reached down to peel Ozzie off the ground. “Are you all right?” “No! I’m all flattened out!” The ferret shook dust off himself and kicked the big creature. “What are you trying to do, squish me?”

| Page: 92
“Ariel likes you.” The duck-thing was standing there watching. “Thank you … I think. Her name is Ariel?”

| Page: 94
“I’m from Aldenmor, like you. I grew up in the village of Farthingdale, near the Moorgroves.”

| Page: 95
“They knew I was coming, don’t ask me how—who knows the ways of fairies? They told me Aldenmor was in great danger, that soon there would be no place safe.”

| Page: 95
“The Fairimentals are searching for an enchanted place, the source of all magic. They said they needed ‘humans’ to help. I was to find three mages. A healer—” He paused and looked directly at Emily. “A warrior—” He looked at Adriane. “And a blazing star.”

| Page: 96
“What is Black Fire?” Emily asked. Ronif turned to her. “It rains from the sky and seeps through the ground, burning all that it touches.”

| Page: 96
Another winged horse stepped forward. “We pegasi know of legends.” It looked directly at the two girls. “Old legends say that once, long ago, animals and humans worked together to make magic.”

| Page: 98
There on the ground before them, a word was etched in the dirt: Avalon.

| Page: 101
Emily lifted up her own gem. “Together,” she said. A spark flashed between the two stones—a connection forged between friends, a bond that would last forever.

| Page: 103
“Who wears pink sweaters and perfectly matched pink sandals? She’s such a Barbie!”

| Page: 111
“Here, looks like aventurine.” Kara pointed to the page. “Properties include protection and healing.”

| Page: 112
“We’re coming up to the topiary gardens. Over there.” She pointed to a garden of living sculptures. There was a lion, a giraffe, an elephant, even a dinosaur all carefully carved out of magnificent foliage. “The topiary gardens are of the most amazing gardens on the estate.”

| Page: 115
“Face it, Barbie,” Adriane said, “the magic doesn’t like you.”

| Page: 118
Phel spread his arms wide. The air seemed to swirl—and something formed between his huge paws. It looked like a circle in the air. Phel spread his paws apart, and the circle widened, revealing … stars. Pinpoints of light were strung out along what looked like a web—almost like a giant, three-dimensional dreamcatcher. “It’s a fairy map!”

| Page: 120
As Phel pulled his paws away, Emily blinked back the tears. Her gem had been transformed! It was now a polished, crystalline blossom glistening with rainbow sparkles. It looked exactly like one of Phel’s magic puff flowers.

| Page: 127
“Taking and giving completes our circle. It’s time to let go.”

| Page: 127
“Have faith, healer. The magic is with you, now and forever.”

| Page: 128
“What’s going on around here, anyway?” Emily asked. “Haven’t you heard? They caught the monster of Ravenswood.”

| Page: 134
“And you’ve heard Storm. I thought mistwolves were dangerous, but I was wrong. Storm carries memories of her kind that go back centuries. She knows the Fairimentals sent me to find three mages.”

| Page: 149
“Aluns,” she repeated. “It’s a Lenni-Lenape word meaning arrow. I found it on the Web. The Rocking Stone is supposed to point to a spirit door, a gateway—” “Or … a portal,” Ozzie said.

| Page: 157
“You have deceived yourself.” The red eyes were hypnotic, and Emily felt herself falling back into those familiar feelings of despair. “Magic cannot change what you really are. You are weak and helpless and doomed to failure.”

| Page: 168
But Emily realized she had also found something. She was a healer and healers found hope.