Escape from the Isle of the Lost

by Melissa de la Cruz

  “Remember when we first got here? How nervous we were?” said Mal.

  “Audrey was so mean to you!” said Evie, shaking her head.

  “All we wanted to do was wreck the place,” said Mal.

  “I’m so glad we didn’t,” said Evie.

  “Yeah, me too,” said Mal.

  The boys slid down from the roof and admired the mural. “Nice picture of Dude,” said Carlos happily.

  “Dude is definitely a senior,” said Mal.

  “Yeah, he’s graduating with us,” said Evie. “Even if you’re staying.”

  “You guys, it’s over,” said Carlos, his voice hoarse. “You’re leaving Auradon Prep. What are we going to do without you?”

  Mal felt tears come to her eyes. “We’ll always be friends,” she said, slinging an arm around Evie.

  “Always,” said Evie, embracing her back.

  “Always,” said Jay, putting an arm around both of them.

  “I’m not going anywhere,” said Carlos. “I have one more year!” Then he laughed and joined the group hug. “Always.”

  al couldn’t believe it was finally here: Graduation Day! The tents had been set up, and the parents and grandparents and friends and sidekicks had arrived. So many carriages had rolled up to Auradon Prep that morning, it had caused a bit of a traffic jam. Aladdin and Jasmine were there, looking proud of Aziz. Cinderella and Prince Charming were taking many pictures of Chad, who kept blinking in every photo. The whole Rose family came too: Queen Leah, Princess Aurora, Prince Philip, all fussing around Audrey, who looked radiant, while her cousin Ariana pouted next to her.

  Carlos stood at the entrance, looking handsome in his black-and-white morning suit, handing out programs. “Welcome to Auradon Prep.”

  The first strains of the baccalaureate song played: Auradon, fair and true…Auradon, gold and blue…Auradon, for me and you…

  The seniors walked in, led by Ben in his cap and gown, holding Mal’s hand. Evie was next, with Doug and Jay falling in step behind her.

  Carlos held up his camera. “Say hi to the Isle!”

  “The Isle?” asked Mal.

  “Yes! Surprise!” said Jane, holding up a microphone. “This is the surprise we were working on! Everyone on the Isle can watch you guys graduate!”

  “To inspire every little villain kid! We wanted them to be able to see that they can grow up to do amazing things one day, just like all of you have,” said Carlos.

  “That’s awesome!” said Mal. She turned to Ben. “Did you know about this?”

  He grinned. “I helped set up the streaming signal.”

  Mal waved to the camera. “Hi, everyone! Apply to Auradon Prep! We’d love to have you!”

  • • •

  The graduating seniors took their seats, and Fairy Godmother welcomed everyone. “Students, parents, princes and princesses, fairies and sultans, kings and queens. We are so proud of this class!” she said. “We have been through a lot together, and now we celebrate your accomplishments! This is a momentous day for you all. Now I’d like to introduce someone who makes us all proud to live in Auradon—King Ben!”

  A huge storm of applause rained down from the crowd as Ben came up to the podium. He smiled at his subjects. “Thank you, Fairy Godmother! I’m so proud to welcome you all here today, to our graduation. I’m not just your king—I’m also a new graduate. I’m proud to call you all my friends, and I’m even prouder to introduce the person who was voted this year’s class speaker. Mal, of the Isle of the Lost!”

  There was another roar of applause. Evie, Jay, Carlos, and Doug jumped to their feet and gave Mal a standing ovation as she walked to the stage.

  Mal stepped up to the microphone. “When I first arrived at Auradon Prep, I was definitely its worst student. I used my magic for selfish reasons. I even cast a spell on Ben because I wasn’t sure if he liked me.”

  Ben leaned over and whispered, “I always liked you.”

  Mal smiled. “That wasn’t all. My friends and I even tried to steal Fairy Godmother’s wand, so that we could free everyone on the Isle of the Lost, including our parents.”

  There was a slight titter from the crowd. Fairy Godmother shifted in her seat, but gave Mal an encouraging smile.

  Mal continued. “But being a student here at Auradon Prep, I learned that good is better than evil. I learned to make friends. I learned to love. I learned I don’t have to be a certain kind of person because I was born in a certain part of the world. I can be anyone I want to be. I can be strong, and I can be weird, and I can be myself. That’s what I learned in Auradon—that I can change for the better. We all can. Change is good. Because we are all in it together, and only together can we change the world and make it a better place. We are now alumni of Auradon Prep. Let’s go out there and make some magic!”

  This time, the entire audience gave Mal a standing ovation.

  “I’m so proud of Mal,” said Jane, wiping away tears. “I’m so proud of all of them!”

  “You did an amazing job planning the entire thing,” said Carlos. “Your birthday’s coming up, right?”

  “It was yesterday,” said Jane.

  Carlos paled. “It was?!”

  Jane laughed and gave him a hug. “I’m only kidding. Yes, it’s coming up soon.”

  Carlos sighed in relief. He had some planning of his own to do.

  t last, it was time for the main event. Fairy Godmother called up each student one by one to hand them their diploma. King Beast shook each graduate’s hand, and Queen Belle handed them a gold-embossed Auradon Prep pin in the shape of a book. Ally of Wonderland was first, then Arabella, King Triton’s granddaughter. The Rose girls were next: Ariana and Audrey, who wore matching pouts, followed by a cocky Aziz.

  “King Ben,” called Fairy Godmother with a proud smile.

  “Congratulations, son,” said his father, with a firm handshake.

  “We’re so thrilled,” whispered his mother, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

  Ben grinned and walked off the stage, showing his pin to Mal, who helped fasten it to his lapel.

  Doug was next. He waved his diploma up in the air and whistled as he walked back to his seat.

  “Evie,” called Fairy Godmother.

  Evie curtsied to the dignitaries before joining her friends back in the audience.

  Jay was next, and he raised his fist in victory upon receiving his diploma, and ran up the walls before jogging off the stage.

  “And now we present the commencement awards,” said Fairy Godmother. “For most improved student: Mal.”

  Mal blushed as she received her award. “Me?”

  “Who else?” said Fairy Godmother with a wink. The next award was for best athlete, which went to Jay, who did a backflip upon receiving it.

  “The award for diligence goes to none other than Evie,” said Fairy Godmother. Doug cheered the loudest when Evie walked up to receive it.

  The ceremony concluded, and the seniors filed out of the auditorium to a fireworks show.

  “What’s next?” wondered Jay, as they stopped to admire the fiery display that lit up the sky over Castle Beast.

  “Everything,” said Ben, with his arm slung around Mal. “Anything.”

  “Maybe we could travel Auradon together,” said Mal.

  “That could be arranged, my lady,” said Ben.

  “We still need to keep an eye out for Uma,” said Mal.

  “We will,” promised Ben. “We’ll keep Auradon safe, together.”

  Carlos and Jane walked up to join them. “What a big day!” he said.

  Evie sighed happily, hand in hand with Doug, but at Carlos’s words she straightened. “No! The big day is coming up soon!” said Evie.

  “What’s bigger than graduation?” asked Jay.

  “VK Day!” said Evie. “It’s going to be huge!”

  “That’s right,” said Ben. “Fairy Godmother said they’re inundated with applications from the Isle of the Lost.”

  Mal, Evie, Jay, and
Carlos turned to each other with gleeful smiles.

  “More villains, huh?” said Mal. “Are you sure Auradon can handle them?”

  “More than sure,” said Ben. “We’ve got you guys to show them the ropes!”

  “We’ve got to get ready to welcome them!” said Evie.

  “Don’t worry. We’ll make sure to roll out the purple carpet,” said Mal.

  Then together, they made their way to the graduation reception to celebrate their hard-earned accomplishments.

  Once upon a time, four villain kids from the Isle of the Lost came to Auradon with wicked intentions, but today, they were graduating as some of the kingdom’s bravest and best subjects.

  Mal squeezed Ben’s hand, thinking she was the luckiest girl in the world, especially when she looked over at her friends—sweet Evie, strong Jay, smart Carlos. She wouldn’t be where she was without them. They were all in this together. They had all grown up so much, and now they were ready for whatever else was in store.

  Rotten to the core? Maybe not so rotten anymore!

  he force that propelled Mal up and out of the waves had also pushed Uma away from the pirate ship, sending her crashing against the rocks. She couldn’t remember what had happened next, only that she had been rescued by her mother’s loyal pets, Flotsam and Jetsam, who nudged her awake.

  They swam away once they saw her eyes flutter open.

  But Uma was confused. Where was she? What was she doing?

  What just happened?

  She had come so close to winning something, but what? Why couldn’t she remember? Her head was throbbing.

  Then she heard it: loud, blaring rock music.

  Hades!

  Now she remembered: She and Hades had a deal. They were going to go after Mal. Bring her down, bring the barrier down, win their freedom, and escape from the Isle of the Lost once and for all!

  Uma swam up to the cave, looking for the fissures in the stone where she had slipped inside the tunnel. But everything was plugged up with a dense, solid material, dark and shining. It repelled her touch, sending her back into the water.

  “Hades!” Uma screamed. “Hades! Let me in!”

  But there was no answer.

  There was no way for Uma to shape-shift into a form that would allow her to slip through the cracks, because there were no cracks anymore.

  That washed-up rock god had double-crossed her! But why? Was he on Mal’s side now? What was that all about?

  “Hades!” Uma raged. “You’ll pay for this!”

  This was all Mal’s doing! She had won again. But one day, Uma vowed, she would have her revenge. She would show that purple-haired punk once and for all. Mal would never forget the name of the person who ruled the Isle of the Lost. The one who would bring Auradon to its knees.

  Uma!

  huge Auradon-style thank-you to my amazing editors, Hannah Allaman and Emily Meehan, for their faith and patience. Thank you to my family at Disney Publishing Worldwide, especially Guy Cunningham, Meredith Jones, Dan Kaufman, Seale “Eddy” Ballenger, Dina Sherman, MAZ!, Elena Blanco, Kim Knueppel, Elke Villa, Holly Nagel, and Andrew Sansone. Thank you to our Disney queen, Tonya Agurto.

  Thank you to our partners at Disney Channel, especially Gary Marsh, Jennifer Rogers-Doyle, and Miriam Ogawa. Thank you to the director and stars of Descendants 3: Kenny Ortega, Dove Cameron, Mitchell Hope, Sofia Carson, Cameron Boyce, Booboo Stewart, Brenna D’Amico, Zachary Gibson, Sarah Jeffery, and Jedidiah Goodacre.

  Thank you to my 3Arts family, Richard Abate and Rachel Kim.

  It’s been such a fun ride. Thank you to my two favorite people on the planet: my husband, Mike, and our daughter, Mattie, for putting up with the late nights and grumpy days. Thank you to my DLC family, especially my nephews Nicholas, Josey, and Seba, and my niece Marie. Thank you to all my dear friends, especially those who were so nice every time I had to cancel plans because I was on deadline.

  Thank you to all the amazing Descenders and the people who maintain the Descendants Isle of the Lost books Wiki. WOW! You guys were an amazing help every time I had to look up something in the earlier books!

  So much love, your loyal scribe,

  Melissa (Mel) de la Cruz • February 2019

  Los Angeles, CA

  MELISSA DE LA CRUZ (www.melissa-delacruz.com) is the author of the #1 New York Times best-selling Descendants series, as well as many other best-selling novels, including all the books in the Blue Bloods series: Blue Bloods, Masquerade, Revelations, The Van Alen Legacy, Keys to the Repository, Misguided Angel, Bloody Valentine, Lost in Time, and Gates of Paradise. She lives in Los Angeles, California, with her husband and daughter.