Return to the Isle of the Lost

by Melissa de la Cruz

  “Aha!” she said, reaching for it. But Mal had been expecting a green egg, like in the Dragon’s Eye scepter. Why was this one purple?

  Only when it hatches does it turn green, a voice answered, as if it could read her thoughts. The Dragon’s Egg does not birth a dragon, but a weapon.

  Okay, whatever, thought Mal, stuffing the egg in her jacket. At least that was done. She’d recovered her talisman just fine without anyone’s help. Maybe the professor was wrong about her quest; after all, the old guy didn’t know everything, right?

  She stood at the edge of the nest, ready to head down, when a vulture shrieked from above. She startled, losing her balance, and fell over the edge, just barely holding on to a branch at the very bottom of the nest. Her legs kicked wildly in the air.

  Great, she was about to fall off a cliff, and she’d gotten rid of the only people who could have helped her. Why did she always insist on doing everything alone?

  Her hands were starting to burn.

  She was an idiot, that’s why, and she couldn’t hold on much longer!

  You’ve held on this long, haven’t you?

  She had the blood of a dragon, just like her mother.

  Don’t you?

  Her fingers felt like they were starting to fall off.

  She was Mal, daughter of Maleficent. Her mom had given her only part of her name, saying she hadn’t earned the rest of it yet. But maybe she didn’t want her full name at all. Maybe she didn’t want to be Maleficent. Maybe she was completely fine with just being herself, being Mal.

  Aren’t you? Isn’t that the whole point?

  Who else are you supposed to be?

  One hand slipped off the branch, and dirt began falling into her eyes as the roots tore off from the cliff.

  Maleficent would never admit to needing or wanting anyone, and had been transformed into a lizard because she didn’t have enough love in her heart. But Mal was not her mother. While she was stubborn, and way too proud, she was very different from Maleficent. And right now she wasn’t ashamed to admit when she was wrong.

  Now she was only holding on by one hand. The branch was ripping out of the cliff face. She could be falling in moments.

  You’re wrong. You’ve never been more wrong—

  Evie, Jay, and Carlos needed to discover their own strength and so they had to face their quests for their talismans alone. Mal didn’t have to be tested that way, because she already knew that she was strong. But what she didn’t know until now, dangling over the edge, was that as strong as she was, she could always use a hand.

  Literally.

  Maybe that was my test after all—

  Strength didn’t have to mean facing danger alone. Strength came from trust, and friendship, and loyalty. Plus, Yen Sid was right, this wasn’t just her burden to bear, it was theirs too. She hoped her friends were still there.

  “You guys! Help!” she yelled. “I need help!”

  She kept screaming until she saw their faces peering down at her from the nest above. “Mal! We’re coming!” said Evie.

  Carlos held Evie’s feet as she was lowered down, with Jay as the anchor. Ever so slowly, and ever so carefully, they dragged Mal back to safety.

  Mal could barely catch her breath, and her throat still hurt from screaming. Her hands were cut and scratched.

  But she was alive.

  “Thanks, guys. For saving my life and everything.”

  “Did you find the egg?” said Carlos, when they were all back inside the nest again.

  Mal held up the purple oval that was hard as stone. “Yep.”

  “Why is it purple?”

  “It still has to hatch,” said Mal. “But let’s get out of here before this mountain completely collapses or something.”

  As if it heard her, the mountain began to rumble and shake, slowly disappearing back into nothingness now that its purpose had been served and its talisman taken.

  No new doorway appeared in the side of the mountain after Mal had retrieved the Dragon’s Egg. She was still a bit dazed from the near-death experience as they climbed back down the mountain.

  “How do we get out of here?” asked Evie nervously.

  “I think we have to go through that,” said Carlos, motioning to a cavern at the base of the mountain after consulting the map. “There’s no way back, so we’ll have to keep going forward.”

  “Great, another dark tunnel,” said Evie, who had just about had her fill of the underground catacombs.

  “But I think this one leads us back home, to Auradon,” said Carlos hopefully. “If the map is right…”

  “Let’s go,” said Mal, who’d found her voice. She held the small purple egg in her fist, unwilling to put it away in her pack just yet.

  “Flashlight’s dead, so we’ll have to feel our way in the dark,” said Jay, tossing the torch into a bubbling green puddle with a sigh.

  “Then we’ll do this the only way we can,” said Mal. “Together.” The four of them held hands and entered the foreboding cavern.

  They’d traveled for a while when the path before them began to shine, and when they rounded the corner, they saw abandoned wheelbarrows and uncut rocks with diamonds still embedded in their core.

  “Looks like a dwarf mine,” said Evie. She’d seen them in Doug’s ZapChats.

  “Abandoned,” said Jay, picking up one of the shiny rocks.

  “Wonder why?” said Carlos. “Looks like they left in a hurry.”

  “Who knows,” said Mal. “Let’s keep going.”

  They kept walking, until Mal suddenly stopped.

  “What?” asked Carlos.

  “I heard something…like footsteps. Can you hear it?” she asked.

  Jay listened, absentmindedly pocketing one of the gems on the floor. “Yeah.”

  “There’s someone else here,” said Mal.

  Evie looked over her shoulder. “Following us?”

  “Maybe,” said Mal. “Be ready.”

  “You don’t think it’s them…?” said Carlos, who really had no desire to see his mother right now.

  “Who else?” said Mal. “Yen Sid said they’re lost down here. Maybe they saw us and now they want to get their talismans back.”

  “Dad!” Jay called into the darkness behind them. “Are you there?” His voice echoed around the cavern. Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad.

  No answer, so they kept walking, but the feeling that someone or a group of someones was in the tunnel with them remained. And their hearts dropped when they noticed a few things in the mine—a tube of red lipstick, a fluff of black-and-white fur, and a discarded velvet money pouch. The villains were somewhere close by, and Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos were ready to hear Cruella de Vil’s sneer or smell Evil Queen’s perfume or feel Jafar tap them on the shoulder at any moment. They tried to pretend it didn’t bother them a bit, trying to act tough, even as they inadvertently huddled closer together.

  “Aieee!” Carlos cried as he bumped into Jay, who yelped as he collided with Evie, who screamed as she fell on Mal.

  “It’s just us!” said Mal. “Everyone calm down!”

  They kept moving, until they heard the footsteps again, louder this time, along with voices. But they must have been coming from the other way—ahead of them rather than behind.

  “Who’s there!” called Mal while the three others huddled behind her.

  “The mine starts down here,” they heard someone grumble. “Are we sure this is necessary?”

  “Let’s just see how deep it goes, and where it leads. It couldn’t hurt,” said another.

  A sudden beam of light flooded the mine shaft, and they blinked, blinded. But even without seeing who it was, Mal knew that voice immediately.

  “Ben!” she cried, running toward the group heading down the mine shaft.

  “Mal? Is that you?” asked Ben, shining his flashlight her way.

  “It is! It’s all of us!” she said, appearing out of the darkness.

  “You’re all right!” he said, beaming as he sc
ooped her up in his arms.

  Mal closed her eyes and hugged him back tightly. There was nothing like almost rescuing an entire kingdom—and almost plunging to your death along the way—to make a person appreciate a good hug.

  “What are you doing down here? Where did you come from?” she asked.

  “I’ll tell you everything,” he said, at the same time as she said, “I have so much to tell you!”

  They laughed as Carlos, Jay, and Evie joined them, a little dirty and smudged, but whole. Ben didn’t let go of Mal as he shook the boys’ hands and slapped them on the back before giving Evie a quick hug. The five of them grinned at each other.

  The old man behind Ben cleared his throat. “Uh, right,” Ben said, blushing as he backed away from Mal. “This is Merlin, and you know Grumpy.”

  The wizard nodded in greeting and the dwarf grunted. “Do you know my son, Gordon? He’s at Auradon Prep with you all,” said Grumpy.

  “We know Doug,” said Evie, smiling.

  Grumpy huffed. “Everyone knows Doug. Just like his father, too popular.”

  Evie had to giggle at that.

  Ben explained how the Neverland fairies had helped them track purple dragon scales to this deserted diamond mine. Mal’s group told them about their journey to recover the talismans.

  “So Yen Sid was right, the Catacombs go all the way to Auradon,” said Carlos.

  “We were just at Maleficent Mountain,” said Mal. “There was a dragon’s nest on the top of Doom Crag, but we didn’t see a dragon back there.”

  “We’re closer than we’ve ever been, then,” said Ben. “The creature must live here, and it’s been getting to Auradon through this tunnel.”

  Just as he spoke, a fine purple mist covered the cavern, and everyone froze.

  “It’s here,” said Merlin. “The creature is here. Show yourself!” The wizard held his wand high.

  “Come out, come out, wherever you are!” said Mal.

  “I am King Ben of Auradon and I command you to reveal yourself to us!” said Ben.

  The purple mist began to take shape…but instead of a fire-breathing dragon or a giant snake, there was only an old witch with purple hair standing in front of them when the mist cleared.

  “Madam Mim!” exclaimed Mal, completely shocked to see Mad Maddy’s grandmother, and yet something else about her was oddly familiar.

  “Hello, dearie!” said Madam Mim with a cheerful wave.

  “You know her?” asked Ben.

  “From the Isle of the Lost,” said Mal.

  “Well, I certainly know her. Hello, old friend,” said Merlin grimly. “I thought I might see you here, Mim. Up to your old tricks, are you? I’m sorry to say that your mischief ends now.”

  Madam Mim only laughed, and her cackle echoed throughout the dark cavern. “Oh, I don’t think so, you geezer, I’m having way too much fun!”

  As she laughed, Madam Mim turned into a large purple dragon. But unlike Maleficent’s fierce dragon form, Madam Mim’s looked almost comical. Her messy purple hair was still perched on top of her head, and her wings looked the size of a bird’s. How on earth did Ben ever mistake this dragon for Maleficent?

  “You thought this was my mother?” Mal asked him, rolling her eyes.

  Ben laughed nervously. “She was up in the sky, it was hard to see. I don’t know, blame magic?”

  Still, the group scrambled away as Merlin rolled up his blue wizard sleeves. He zapped his wand at her, launching sparks, but Mim was too fast. She turned into a fox and scuttled into the darkness. Merlin sent another spell from his wand, but he was too late. Mim turned once more, this time into a raging rhinoceros.

  “The boulders!” said Mal, pointing to the giant stones at the top of the mine shaft.

  Jay and Carlos ran in front of the animal, pushing the rocks right into the rampaging rhino’s path. But just as she was about to be crushed, Mim turned into a crafty hen and flew out of the way.

  “Where’d she go?” asked Ben.

  “Don’t know,” panted Mal. “But at least now we know that Camelot’s dragon wasn’t my mom.”

  “For sure,” said Ben.

  Mim must have discovered the entrance to the Catacombs, thought Mal, and she was using it to get her revenge on Merlin, who had bested her during their last battle by giving her the pox. The loony old witch was having fun wreaking havoc in Camelot and stealing food from Auradon. She must have told her granddaughter what she was doing. It’s a wonder Maddy hadn’t tried to escape to Auradon herself. Maybe she’d been too scared about getting lost down there; she knew the dangers from being in the Anti-Heroes club.

  “Mmm, you look tasty!” Mim cackled as she turned into a crocodile and opened her jaws wide.

  “GAH!” said Carlos as they ran away from her snapping teeth. Mim reared on her hind legs, her purple hair falling into her face.

  “It was you!” cried Mal. “That pink-and-purple thing we saw in the tunnels earlier!”

  “Cotton-candy tiger?” said Jay. “I take it back, she’s definitely scary!”

  They barely got away from her, but Merlin soon came to their rescue. “You’re surrounded, Mim!” said Merlin, waving his wand. “The only way out of this tunnel is through me. Your place is on the Isle of the Lost! Surrender!”

  “Never!” Mim shrieked, turning back into the fat purple dragon, fire spewing from her mouth. “I’ll never go back there! You can’t make me!” She shot a fireball at him, but Merlin transformed into a blue sparrow and flew away from her. But Mim deftly conjured a cage, trapping him.

  “Some powerful wizard!” scoffed Mal. “Can’t he turn into something…I don’t know…scarier?”

  “I read the history of Camelot,” said Carlos. “And when he battled Mim back when Arthur was a kid, Merlin did the same thing—Mim turned into ferocious creatures but Merlin fought her by turning into small and seemingly helpless animals like a rabbit and a turtle. Maybe it’s the way his magic works?”

  There was no time to discuss further, as Mim was headed their way, ready to spew another fireball.

  “No!” cried Ben, rushing forward, but Mim swatted him with her tail and he was thrown hard across the cavern, hitting the ground with a thump.

  “BEN!” cried Mal. She started to run toward him, but Mim stomped in front of her, blocking the way. Then the dragon pushed forward, pressing Mal, Jay, Evie, and Carlos against the wall.

  There was nowhere else to go.

  “What do we do?” cried Evie. “She’s going to roast us!”

  “Talismans?” said Jay. “If we use them to hurt someone, I have a feeling they’ll come to life again! I can use my cobra staff to hypnotize her!” he said, shaking his wooden stick.

  “Or my ring to make her do what we want,” said Carlos.

  “Poison is always good,” said Evie, removing the golden apple from her purse.

  “Mal, you’ve got the Dragon’s Egg,” said Carlos. “You could command all the forces of hell.”

  “Not until it hatches,” said Mal. “And the only way for it to hatch is if it sits under a dragon.”

  “You mean you have to put it under Maleficent?” asked Evie.

  “Maybe?” said Mal.

  “Weird,” said Jay.

  “But we have ours. Let’s use ours,” said Carlos, rather desperately, as Mim drew closer.

  “No!” said Mal. “We can’t use our talismans! Don’t you see that’s what the evil in them wants us to do? If we use them like this, it would only make their power stronger. We’d be drawn to the magic…and we’d turn into our parents.”

  “You’re right,” said Evie, putting away her talisman reluctantly as the boys agreed.

  “Then brace yourselves,” said Carlos, “and prepare to be roasted.”

  The four of them huddled together, seeking comfort in each other before the end, and the purple dragon reared back and opened its mouth. But before it could set them on fire, Ben appeared, holding a sword to the dragon’s heart.

  “Recogni
ze this?” he asked. “Artie loaned it to me; he thought I might need it.”

  “Excalibur!” cried Carlos, who recognized the sword from Auradon’s history books.

  “The one and only,” said Ben, still facing Madam Mim. “The most powerful sword in Auradon. You know what it can do.”

  “So I suggest you save yourself the pain, Mim,” said Merlin, who had gotten out of the cage by turning into a caterpillar and was now back to being a wizard.

  The purple dragon snorted as Ben pressed the blade against its chest. Finally, it turned into a fine purple mist, and Mim was a hag once again, her shoulders slumped. “I’ll miss Auradon so,” she said. “The sheep were tasty.”

  “But alas, Auradon is not the place for you,” said Merlin. With a wave of his wand, Madam Mim was sent back to the Isle of the Lost.

  “Say hi to Maddy for me!” said Mal.

  “We need to close this tunnel so that no one else can use it to escape into Auradon,” said Ben.

  “My thoughts exactly,” said Merlin, and with another wave of his wand, the passage behind them was closed forever with an impenetrable wall that no one and no magic would ever be able to breach. “There, it’s permanently sealed. No one from the Isle of the Lost will ever be able to use it again.”

  “Let’s go home,” said Ben, reaching for Mal’s hand.

  “Sounds like a good plan,” said Mal, squeezing Ben’s hand tightly. “You guys ready?”

  The other three nodded.

  “About time,” said Jay. “We’ve got class tomorrow.”

  “And homework tonight,” said Carlos.

  “I hope our feeds updated correctly,” said Evie. “Right now we’re all supposed to be in bed, sneezing from the flu.”

  “Did someone say Sneezy? I’m Grumpy,” said Grumpy.

  “Merlin?” asked Ben. “Do you mind giving us a lift? Just this once?”

  “If you could send me back to the Enchanted Wood,” said Grumpy, “it would save me a carriage ride.”

  “I’ll be heading back to Camelot myself,” said Merlin as he shook everyone’s hands.

  “You make a good king, Ben,” said Merlin. “And you were right in the end, we didn’t need magic to capture the dragon. Only diligence and courage, as you have shown.”