The Mysticons jumped onto their griffins and began a new attack from the air. Piper flew down and snatched up the Codex piece. She cracked it open, and orange energy rose up into the air as a giant phoenix. Then the energy swarmed around Piper’s wrist and turned into a bracer there. “Let’s celebrate!” Piper said, aiming the bracer at Tazma and Dreadbane. The two villains backed away, terrified.
Piper fired. An orange energy bird flew out of the bracer, spiraling toward Tazma and Dreadbane. It was Piper’s Phoenix avatar. It knocked them both down, then flew up into the sky, taking out a row of skeletons. The remaining skeletons retreated, but the Mysticons chased after them.
“Stay and fight!” Piper called, feeling the rush of her new power. “Stop being such scaredy-skeletons!”
The other Mysticons laughed as the skeleton army retreated into the distance.
“You did good, kid,” Zarya said to Piper. “I guess we can be Mysticons and also have fun.”
Piper smiled. Maybe she’d accidentally led Dreadbane’s army into the mall, and maybe she’d accidentally drawn their attention to the Codex piece, but the Mysticons had gotten it back, and no one was hurt. As the most impulsive Mysticon, she was always going to make a mistake here or there, but all the Mysticons could see that she’d done some things right, too. She was growing and learning.
And when Dreadbane came for them again, she’d be ready.
PART THREE
THE MISSING PIECE
NINE
EM AND ARKAYNA made their way through the tunnel, with Piper trailing along behind them. “If I remember the riddle right, the Codex piece should be down here,” Arkayna said. Her glowing staff cast long, menacing shadows across the cave walls.
They took another turn and finally found what they were looking for. On the side of the huge cavern was a carving of the Cosmoverse. It was engraved deep into the stone, with gems sparkling inside it.
“Whoa,” Em breathed. She’d never seen anything so beautiful. She only wished Zarya was there to see it for herself. Since they found the second Codex piece, it felt like everything had gone horribly wrong. The week before, Zarya had gotten a surprise visit from one of her first friends, a Sky Pirate named Kitty Boon. None of the other Mysticons had trusted Kitty, but Zarya had kept insisting they were being too hard on her. But Kitty had eventually tricked them all and stolen the Dragon Disk. She had traded it to Dreadbane for a treasure chest of gold.
It was devastating. The girls had tried not to blame Zarya because she blamed herself more than any of them did. But that morning they’d woken up to a note from her saying she’d run away. Zarya couldn’t stand the fact that Kitty had betrayed them, and she had let it happen. Zarya said she was quitting the Mysticons for good.
They were all upset, but Piper was taking it the hardest. She kept repeating to herself, “I am okay without Zarya. I am okay without Zarya.”
Now the three of them—Em, Piper, and Arkayna—had traveled to the Cavern of the Cosmos, trying to get to the third Codex piece before Dreadbane did. They were also hoping to ambush him and steal back the Dragon Disk.
“According to the riddle,” Arkayna said, trying to remember what they’d read before the Disk was stolen, “if we put the Dragon Disk in there—”
“It’ll unlock a secret compartment behind the Star of Gygax,” Em went on, tracing her finger along the carving to where a huge chunk was missing. “Huh? Where’s the Star of Gygax?”
“Someone beat us here,” Arkayna said. “They got the Codex piece.”
“No … these marks look familiar.” Em leaned in, studying the hole. She didn’t think Dreadbane had taken the piece out of the wall, not like that. This was the work of a Cave Crawler.
Just then they heard a familiar voice. “This way, General Tibion!”
“It’s Dreadbane!” Piper whispered. The girls dashed behind a stalagmite before the villain’s skeleton army could see them.
Dreadbane and his warriors assembled around the mural. General Tibion, a skeleton warrior who was Dreadbane’s second-in-command, inserted the Dragon Disk into the center. The entire carving glowed with bright light. But the process couldn’t finish without the missing piece of cave wall. The light dimmed, then shorted out.
“The Mysticons!” Tibion said, staring at the hole. “They tore the piece right out of the wall.”
“At least Dreadbane doesn’t have it…,” Arkayna whispered to the others. As soon as she said it, the cave started to rumble.
Em winced, hating that she was right. “Oh no. I think I know what does. Get down!”
Smash! A giant worm broke through the cave wall. It was the size of a train car, with huge, sharp teeth. Em and Arkayna ducked for cover, but Piper was frozen in fear. Arkayna wrestled her to the ground just in time.
“Retreat! On me! Retreat!” Dreadbane shouted, turning to run. His skeleton warriors followed him as the worm chased them down the tunnel.
“Quick! After them!” Arkayna said.
They were about to run when the worm smashed its tail against the side of the cave, sending a pile of rocks tumbling down. Em threw her hands up and created a force field, shielding the girls. When the dust finally settled, they emerged from the rubble.
“That was too close,” Arkayna said. “Everyone okay?”
“Just a few bumps and bruises, but I’m good,” Em said.
“What was that?” Piper asked.
“Every dwarven miner’s nightmare,” Em explained. “A Diamondback Cave Crawler. Good thing it was just a baby. They don’t usually travel this close to the surface. I’m guessing it got separated from its family.” She thought for a second. “The Cave Crawler must have eaten the Codex piece!”
“Let’s be careful, girls,” Arkayna said, climbing over the rock. Em led the way as they followed the worm’s trail through the tunnel. In a few minutes she was able to find where the skeleton tracks split from the worm trail.
“Dreadbane went that way,” Em said. Instead, they followed the worm’s trail to a large stone ledge overlooking a cavern. Sure enough, the worm was sleeping in the dirt below. “The good thing about it being a baby is that it needs a lot of sleep.”
“Piper, double back and guard the entrance,” Arkayna said. Piper turned to go, reluctantly. She still was feeling unsure without Zarya there, but she went off to keep watch.
Arkayna was too focused on the Cave Crawler to notice Piper’s concern. She asked Em, “Any idea how we get the Codex piece out of this thing?”
Em thought hard, then frowned. “Yeah,” she said, “I got nothing.”
Arkayna and Em tried to figure out the best way to get down without waking the sleeping Cave Crawler. They’d just decided to scale the cave wall when they heard something behind them.
“Piper?” Em asked.
Before anyone could respond, two skeleton warriors jumped out of the shadows and grabbed Arkayna’s and Em’s arms. They had no time to fight back. Dreadbane appeared, holding Piper. They were captured.
TEN
WITHIN MINUTES, THE Mysticons were tied to the cave wall with magic bonds. Dreadbane and his army threw chains over the worm, who kept twisting and struggling against them. They were determined to get the Codex piece out of the Cave Crawler, no matter what.
“I’m sorry, guys,” Piper said. Dreadbane had confronted her outside the tunnel entrance before she could react. “I was scared … and I let you down.”
“Being scared is nothing to be ashamed of,” Em said.
“The only one who should be scared is Dreadbane,” Arkayna said, glaring at him.
Dreadbane let out an evil laugh. “I’m shaking in my shin guards, Mage.”
“Retrieve the piece!” General Tibion called out. Two skeletons pulled on the chains that held down the Cave Crawler. Another two skeletons yanked open its mouth. The creature struggled and roared.
“Stop! You’re hurting her!” Piper cried.
A single terrified skeleton marched into the worm’s mouth, then came
out moments later holding the third Codex piece. But before he could get all the way out, the skeletons holding open the worm’s mouth slipped, and the worm’s jaws snapped shut. All that remained was the blue Codex piece, still in the eaten skeleton’s hands. Dreadbane grabbed it and held it high, an evil smile on his face.
“Now finish them,” he said, gesturing to the three Mysticons.
The skeletons and Tibion drew their giant swords and closed in on the Mysticons. But before they could strike, a flurry of energy arrows flew past their heads. The magic missiles blasted the captured girls free from their bonds.
Zarya jumped out of the shadows, her bow drawn tight. Malvaron was right behind her. They were both ready for battle. “Didja miss me?” she asked, smiling.
Piper looked at Zarya with tears in her eyes. “I’m so happy I could … explode!” she called, spinning into the air. She shot out glitter blasts in all directions, sending skeletons flying.
“Unleash the Dragon!” Arkayna cried. The powerful magic Dragon shot out of her bracer, soaring through a sea of skeletons and blasting them apart. As soon as Dreadbane saw it, he turned to run.
“We have what we came for!” he yelled.
“Move out!” Tibion called.
The skeletons retreated through the tunnel, but not before Dreadbane turned back. He shot out bone shards that sliced through the worm’s chains.
Piper threw up her arm, but she was standing too close to the freed Cave Crawler. She was about to fire up her power when the worm swallowed her whole. It snapped its remaining chains and thundered away down the tunnel.
“We have to save Piper!” Zarya said, panicked.
“We’ll deal with Dreadbane another day,” Malvaron said.
The worm roared through the tunnels, the girls racing behind it.
“Hang on, Piper! We’re coming!” Zarya called out.
Em powered up, putting a protective armor around her. She grabbed on to the worm’s tail and dug her heels into the cave floor. She tried to slow it down, but it just whipped its tail back and forth, sending her flying into the cave walls.
Zarya fired an energy cable at it. It landed in the worm’s back, and she surfed behind it, then flipped herself up onto the creature. She thought maybe she and Em would actually be able to stop it. But then she looked ahead at the glowing light in front of them.
“Lava pit!” she called. “Dead ahead.”
“Did I forget to mention these things live in lava pits?” Em asked.
The Cave Crawler barreled on. Arkayna fired a stream of magic from her staff, but nothing could slow the worm. It dove off a cliff, shaking off Em and Zarya. It did a little jump in the air. Then it splashed into the lava below. The girls stared down at it, their hearts sinking. Piper was inside the Cave Crawler. There was no way she could’ve survived.
“Piper!” Zarya called out, her eyes filled with tears. “Piper!”
Arkayna could barely speak. “I’m sorry” was all she could manage.
ELEVEN
THE MYSTICONS STOOD silent. Tears streamed down Zarya’s cheeks. Then they heard a voice somewhere over their heads.
“Hey!” Piper said. “Why’s everyone crying? Wormy found her sisters.” She was standing on a ledge above them. She pointed down at the lava pit, where the worm swam happily with three others.
The other Mysticons realized the little jump the worm had made must’ve been Piper blasting out of the worm’s mouth at the last second. They had been so busy trying to prevent the worm from diving into the lava, they hadn’t noticed when Piper freed herself.
“Piper, I’m sorry I left,” Zarya said, wiping her cheeks. “I don’t know what I’d do without you. Without all of you.”
The Mysticons hugged each other tightly, grateful Piper wasn’t hurt. They were all together again, and they were strongest that way, working as a team to defeat evil.
But now that Dreadbane had the Dragon Disk and the third Codex piece, everything seemed so much scarier. How were they supposed to get them back? And what would the Astromancers do when they realized the Mysticons had lost them?
*
“You call yourselves Mysticons?” Nova Terron boomed. The heroes stood beside Malvaron, their heads hung low. They’d come to the Star Chamber in the Astromancer Academy to tell Nova Terron what had happened. “You let Dreadbane get the Dragon Disk, surely bringing about the start of the apocalypse.”
Gandobi, another Astromancer, said, “It’s just a matter of time before it reveals the last Codex piece, making Dreadbane that much more powerful.”
“This is a disaster of apocalyptic proportions,” Nova Terron said.
“Obsess about the apocalypse much?” Zarya muttered.
Arkayna stood her ground. “I urge the High Council not to lose faith in us. By the Star of Gygax, we will fix this. Nothing will stop us. Not Dreadbane, not Tazma, not even Necrafa herself, if she were alive.”
Nova Terron said, “From what I’ve seen, I highly doubt you can save this realm from—”
“Apocalypse?” Piper asked.
“I was going to say doom,” Nova Terron replied. “But I like your version better. You may go.”
The Mysticons turned to leave, but Nova Terron reached out his hand. He cast an energy sphere around Malvaron, trapping him there.
“Wait, what’s going on?” Em asked.
“You weren’t the only ones who failed,” Gandobi said. “Your Solon failed as well.”
“He will be punished,” Nova Terron said.
The girls looked at Malvaron, who seemed just as shocked as the Mysticons. He’d wanted to stop Dreadbane just as much as they had.
But he was determined to be brave. “Go,” he said, his eyes meeting Arkayna’s. “I’ll be fine.”
“We’ll fix this—I promise,” she replied. None of the girls wanted to leave him there, but what choice did they have?
TWELVE
THE NIGHT WAS dark and cold. The Astromancer Academy was just a speck of light in the distance. Zarya, Em, and Piper flew their griffins toward it. Arkayna had come up with a plan to make a duplicate Dragon Disk that would reveal the next riddle. It was going to be difficult and might not work. But it was their only chance to find the fourth Codex piece before Dreadbane did. There was only one problem: Arkayna hadn’t shown up to meet the Mysticons for the mission.
“What do you mean she’s not coming?” Zarya asked, annoyed.
Em stared down at the text on her bracer. Arkayna had gotten a surprise visit from Nova Terron right when she was supposed to leave. He was determined to be their new Solon. Arkayna was trapped. She couldn’t exactly tell him she had to go because she had to break in to the Astromancer Academy tonight as part of the Mysticons’ secret plan.
“She’s stuck with Nova Terron,” Em said. “She’ll catch up when she can.”
“We can’t do this without her,” Piper said.
“Our window is closing,” Zarya said, knowing the Dragon Disk could guide Dreadbane to the last Codex piece at any moment. “We’re gonna have to wing it.”
As they approached the Academy, Em’s stomach flipped. She would never admit it, but she understood why Piper was nervous. The plan would be harder to pull off without all four of them. When they’d returned to the stronghold days before, they’d started making a fake Dragon Disk. They’d used magical ingredients like lava, jarred lighting, and a dragon lotus, and run them through Em’s 3-D printer to create an object that looked exactly like the original Disk, except for its color. The fake Disk was a dull gray and had no power.
To turn it into a true artifact, they’d have to sneak into the Astromancer Academy and use the Celestial Forge. The Celestial Forge was a magic furnace that the ancients used to make artifacts. But the forge was so powerful that if they made even the smallest mistake, they could tear open the Cosmoverse. Hopefully, Malvaron would know how to use it.…
Em kept her head down as they flew closer to the Academy. The guards out front were just changing shifts. Z
arya shot three arrows into the top of the building. The arrows were tied to ropes, and the girls jumped off their griffins and zipped up the ropes to the castle wall. They snuck down to the main floor until they reached the Light Bridge—a bridge to the Star Chamber that was made of light.
“Okay, we’re almost there,” Zarya said. She stepped out and nearly fell into a chasm below. Piper and Em held her back. “Where’d the Light Bridge go?” Piper asked.
“We need to activate it.” Em looked around. “But the controls are on the other side.”
“Time for a fozball special,” Zarya said. She reached up and grabbed Choko from her shoulder. He rolled into a ball, and Zarya pitched him across the canyon. He used his giant ears as wings and glided safely to the other side. He pressed the control pad, and the Light Bridge assembled before them, letting them run across.
They’d finally gotten to the door to the Star Chamber—the place Malvaron was being held.
“Okay, this is where it gets tricky,” Zarya said, staring at the red symbol on the door. “Only Arkayna can unlock this glyph.”
Em pulled out her sword and stepped in front of the other girls. Boom! She blasted through the door with her magic weapon. “Knock, knock,” she said, smirking through the hole she’d made at the Astromancers guarding Malvaron.
Piper flew past, tossing her Energy Hoops at the Astromancers and knocking them out. Zarya shot an arrow at the sphere holding Malvaron. It deactivated, sending him tumbling to the floor.
“Thank you,” he said. “And what in the realm is going on?”
“We need you to help us make a new Dragon Disk,” Em explained.
“With the Celestial Forge,” Piper added.
“The Celestial Forge?!” Malvaron repeated. “Whose brilliant plan was that?”
“Arkayna’s,” Em admitted.
Malvaron shook his head. “Did she tell you the part about—”
“Ripping a hole in the Cosmoverse?” Piper asked. “Yep. We’ll try to be careful.”
Zarya was already running toward the door. She gestured to the guards. “Let’s go before they wake up!”
Mysticons: Quest for the Codex Page 3
