by Liz Marsham
“Better than that wolf’s stompy feet,” she muttered to herself, and she allowed the laser blasts to push her until her back leg connected with the wall.
Abruptly, the unicorn’s horn stopped firing. Em took a breath, dropping her shield. But before she could look down the path for her friends, two hands made of stone erupted from the wall behind her, grabbing her and pinning her arms to her sides. She couldn’t move!
14
In Which Practice Makes Perfect, and Red, Blue, and Green Make White
Em looked to her right. Doug, Arkayna, Piper, and Zarya were safe at the end of the short path, staring up at the walls around them. Farther down the same wall as Em, a huge phoenix erupted from the stone, dangling one large green jewel from its beak and two more from its claws. Along the wall opposite her, a gargantuan stone tail snaked toward the end of the path, where it joined with a towering dragon. The dragon held its front legs stiffly out in front of it. Its eyes, tipped up to the sky, were two white gems.
“Little help here?” Em called to her friends.
With cries of alarm, everyone came rushing toward her. As they approached, the unicorn stomped the ground and lowered its glowing horn. Arkayna threw up a dome around the five of them just in time. Shattering the forcefield, the unicorn’s laser deflected into several smaller beams ricocheting in all directions. One beam hit the blue gem in the wolf’s mouth and bounced off, turning magenta as it blasted back down the path toward the ice statue of the original Mysticons.
“Ohhhhhh,” said Em, “I think I know what the gems are for.”
“Let’s worry about that in a minute, okay?” Arkayna said, throwing up another dome. “Everybody pull!”
While Arkayna renewed the shield around them after each laser blast, Zarya, Piper, and Doug pulled at the stone arms holding Em captive. But no matter how hard they strained and tugged, Em was held fast.
“Doug, do you have anything in your potion belt that’s acidic enough to melt stone?” asked Arkayna.
“Uh, I don’t think so,” replied Doug. He peered at his phone, scrolling through the list Malvaron had made him. “These are all for drinking, not melting. Oh, and for future reference, apparently True Aim tastes best poured over cereal. Huh.”
“Em, we can’t blast you out without hurting you,” Arkayna said, “and you can’t get your mech suit on while you’re stuck in there. I don’t know how we—”
“I do,” said Em. “You solve this one without me.”
“But you said we all needed to open the locks together,” protested Arkayna.
“That’s true,” Em said. “But whoever designed this puzzle didn’t know there would be five of us. Doug can take my place!”
“I can what now?” said Doug.
“Take your place doing what?” asked Zarya. “We don’t even know what this puzzle is about yet.”
“Yes, we do,” Em said. “We need to bounce the beam from the unicorn’s horn off all these gems. See how the one in the wolf’s mouth points back along the path? It needs to point over there instead.” She jerked her head toward the phoenix.
“Well, that’s easy enough,” said Zarya.
The next time Arkayna’s shield went down, Zarya fired an arrow at the gem in the wolf’s mouth. It was a perfect shot, glancing off the far right side of the faceted jewel. The blue gem creaked as it rotated to face the phoenix … and then kept rotating, all the way back to its original position.
“Hmmmm,” said Em. “So it’s a timing puzzle, too.”
Another blast hit Arkayna’s shield, and again a dozen reflected lasers bounced off the high chasm walls as the shield shattered. There were now hundreds of scorch marks up and down the pathway.
“Using this dome can’t be right,” Arkayna said. “I need to be more precise. I wonder if…” Instead of throwing another shield up, she stepped forward on the path and held her staff at the ready.
This time, when the laser came, Arkayna thrust the staff into the air so that its orb caught the blast. Arkayna’s arm was thrown backward from the force of the beam, and the laser reflected back directly at the unicorn, which bared its teeth in challenge.
“Ow!” Arkayna shook out her arms and reset her stance. “Okay, I can do better. Let me try again.”
When the next blast came, she swung the staff like a bat. This time, the orb caught the blast and deflected it up toward the wolf, sizzling into the space right between its eyes. The wolf wrinkled its muzzle and snarled angrily.
“I’m getting it.” Arkayna squared her shoulders in determination. “I’ll keep trying.”
“I found my job!” called Piper happily. Perched on the last loop of the dragon’s tail, she faced the phoenix across the path. “Lookie look!” She summoned three hoops into her hand and threw them all at once. The hoops arced through the air, hitting the phoenix’s three green gems and setting them spinning. As they turned, Em saw what she had missed at first glance: One side of each gem was scratched, pitted, and dull. Piper would have to time her throws exactly to make the laser bounce from gem to gem across the shiny sides.
“Okay,” Em muttered, “and then the beam goes to … where? The dragon’s eyes?”
“All the way at the top?” asked Doug, overhearing her. “That looks tough. Hold on, I’ll go look.” He jogged the length of the path, and as he approached the dragon he called back over his shoulder. “Nope! It’s the palms! There are clear gems in the palms!”
“Do they spin?” shouted Em.
“No, they’re just stuck in there,” Doug yelled back. He went to stand under one of the huge dragon’s forelegs, peering up at its downturned foot. “But if Piper gets the beam aimed at … well, at me, I could try to bounce it up. With … some … thing?”
Arkayna glanced back at Em after batting away another laser. “I bet this is where your shield would come in, Em.”
“Yeah, but we don’t have that,” Em said, “so let’s figure out what we do have. Hey, Doug! We need something sturdy and reflective; what have you got?”
“I am so glad you asked!” said Doug happily. He shrugged off his oversized backpack and began unpacking its contents on the ground in front of the gigantic dragon. “I have a pot.… It’s not very shiny, though. This silverware is shiny, but it’s so small.…”
As he continued rummaging, Arkayna deflected another laser with her staff. This one hit the wolf’s gem squarely in the center. “Yesssssss!” She celebrated with a quick fist pump. “Zarya, Piper, I’m ready here. How are you?”
“Born ready,” said Zarya. She nocked an arrow and aimed steadily at the wolf.
“Ready Freddie!” chirped Piper, summoning three more hoops to her hands.
“Doug?” called Arkayna.
From the end of the path, Doug heaved a small, defeated sigh.
“Doug? You okay?” Em asked.
“Yeah,” Doug replied. “I found something that will work.”
“That’s great!” said Arkayna. “Get it ready!”
“Well, I mean … okay.” Doug turned around and raised his hand. In it, he held the hard, sparkly figure of Glimmer Gust.
“Uh,” Zarya said after a pause, “is that gonna work?”
“It is made of limited-edition crystal,” said Em sadly. “Oh, Doug.”
“It’s okay,” Doug replied, one corner of his mouth pulling up in a smile. “There are a hundred and ninety-nine more of them, right?”
“Let’s get this done,” declared Arkayna.
When the next laser came, Arkayna swung her staff hard and deflected the red blast into the wolf’s mouth. As she did, Zarya loosed her arrow, and the blue gem caught the beam and fired it, magenta now, directly at the phoenix’s foot.
“Woo-hooooo!” shouted Piper, tossing her hoops. She set the phoenix’s jewels spinning with a series of clangs. As the phoenix’s stone feathers ruffled in an invisible breeze, the magenta beam bounced between the three green gems and emerged, now a white blast that was pointed directly at Doug.
Doug grimaced and held the Twinkly Mare out in front of him, angling it up toward the dragon’s foot and bracing it with his other hand. The white blast hit the toy and reflected off, shooting upward. The clear gem absorbed the beam, and Em saw the dragon’s eyes glitter briefly. But then … nothing.
The unicorn fired another blast, almost taking the stunned Arkayna by surprise. She managed to bat it away at the last possible moment, then turned to Em. “What are we missing?” she asked, wild-eyed.
Em shook her head. She had no idea.
15
In Which a Captor and a Captive Are Revealed
“This is so frustrating!” Em cried. “You’re all out there putting yourselves in the path of deadly lasers, and I’m stuck here in this thing.”
Piper came over and patted her consolingly on the head. “At least it’s a cute thing.”
“It’s a … it’s a what?” It had never occurred to Em that the arms holding her might be attached to a creature. She craned her neck back, but all she could see above her was some sort of chin and maybe … were those wings? “What’s got me?”
“Oh, just the most adorable little foz!” said Piper. “Well, it’s actually pretty huge, and it does have a kind of grumpy look on its face. But that just makes it cuter! I’d pinch its cheeks if they weren’t made of stone!”
“I’d shoot it right in the ear if it weren’t made of stone!” complained Zarya. “I might do it anyway. We need our Knight in the fight!”
“Ah, those are ears. Not wings. Wait.” Em looked at Arkayna, who was standing right next to her, continuing to bat lasers away as they came streaking out of the unicorn’s horn. “I know what we’re missing!”
“Please tell me,” said Arkayna. “My arms are starting to get tired.”
“We’re not thinking enough like the original Mysticons,” said Em. “First of all, the original Knight didn’t use a shield, he had a big old sword instead. Second, the original Dragon Mage would never, ever want to be where you are, Arkayna. She was afraid of foz.”
“So you’re saying…” Arkayna tried to think it through but was distracted by another blast from the unicorn.
“You and Doug need to switch places!” cried Em. “Doug can be here and swing the Twinkly Mare like the original Knight would have swung his sword. And you can go stand down there—far, far away from this foz—and split the beam into two parts with your staff! That way you hit both of the dragon gems at one time!”
“It’s worth a try,” said Arkayna. “Doug?”
“Coming!” Doug trotted up to stand next to Arkayna as Piper and Zarya took their places again. “Any tips for me?”
“Plant your feet,” Arkayna said. “It packs a wallop.”
“Okay.” He looked down at Glimmer Gust, now scorched black all along one side. Digging his back foot into the ground, Doug faced the unicorn and held the still-shiny side of the toy up toward the horn. “I hope this works,” he said, “because I think we only get one more shot.”
“You can do this, Doug!” Em cheered. “You’re one of us!”
Fwoom! The unicorn fired.
“Oof!” Doug let out his breath in a rush as the blast hit the Twinkly Mare. He pivoted, twisting his body to send the beam flying at the wolf.
Spang! Zarya’s arrow hit the blue gem at the same time as the beam, which changed color and ricocheted toward the phoenix.
Ting! Tang! Clang! Piper’s hoops found their marks, and the magenta beam found its way through the spinning green gems, turning white on the way, and headed for where Arkayna stood, under and between the dragon’s outstretched paws. She held up her staff.
Fzzzzzzzzt! The shining white blast hit the staff’s orb dead-on, crackling as it split in two and bounced up into the dragon’s clear gems.
This time, the dragon’s eyes glowed a brilliant white. Beams of pure energy shot out of both eyes, aimed at either side of the constellation overhead. The energy seemed to pour into the outermost stars and then shot to the nearby stars, connecting them in points, loops, and whorls all along the formation. As the giant foz released Em and retreated into the wall, the dragon’s eyes dimmed, and the beam went out, leaving all the stars connected to spell an unmistakable word.
“‘Rogue’?” wondered Arkayna.
“YESSSSSSSSSSS!” came the voice of the fifth Mysticon. “AT LAST!”
The stars and light began to swirl and twist, contracting on themselves and re-forming into a tiny humanoid outline. The outline sharpened, resolving from a white glow into hard edges. Then it began to grow.
“Wait, wasn’t this prison supposed to be holding the fifth Mysticon’s spirit?” asked Zarya.
“Yeeeees,” said Em, hesitating.
“Well, I’ve got news for you. That’s not a spirit. That’s a person. And it’s falling out of the sky!”
16
In Which Toes Are Stepped On, and a Heel Is Turned
Em grabbed at her hair in distress. “How do we catch her? Doug, grab that blanket from your pack. Maybe if we stretch it—”
“No need, Knight,” the voice hissed triumphantly. “No need at all.”
A moment later, the falling figure was close enough for Em to see that it was a dwarven girl in tattered clothes. A moment after that, the girl’s eyes flew open and flared gold, and she grinned.
Piper started to babble, “She’s gonna hit the horn she’s gonna hit the horn and the horn looks very very very stabby, she’s gonna—”
The second before the unicorn’s horn would have impaled her, the girl twisted in midair and tucked her legs underneath her. She pushed off the side of the horn at an angle, her momentum carrying her toward the wolf’s mouth. Reaching up to grab the ridge of its lower teeth, she swung underneath the wolf’s chin, sprung off the wall next to its neck, and somersaulted across the path over them to land neatly on the phoenix’s head. Then she used the ridge of the phoenix’s wing like a giant slide, skidding down its shoulder and catapulting off the upturned wingtip, before turning one more flip in midair and landing nimbly on the ground in front of them. Still grinning, she sketched a bow.
“You have my thanks, Mysticons.” Here she looked to Doug, standing slack-jawed, still clutching the scorched Twinkly Mare in his hands. She cocked an eyebrow. “And Doug, for reuniting my spirit and my long-imprisoned body.”
Doug realized he was staring and closed his mouth with an audible click, ducking his head in embarrassment. Arkayna stepped forward to cover his awkwardness. “You’re welcome. In return, it’s time for you to finally answer our questions. Let’s start with: Who are you?”
“I,” the girl announced, “am Mysticon Rogue!” As she spoke, a wave of power shimmered over her body and transformed her clothes. A gold headpiece stretched down either side of her face, its tendrils touching the corners of her eyes and curling around behind her ears. A black full-body suit with gold accents replaced her tattered shirt and pants, high black boots covered her bare feet, and gold daggers flickering with black flames appeared in her hands.
Zarya spoke up. “So, do we just call you ‘Rogue’?”
“That will do for now, yes,” replied the Rogue, sheathing her daggers. “There will be time for more stories once we’re out of this place. Come.” She strode up the path, back toward the ice sculpture. As the others followed, stammering questions, she continued. “For now it is enough to know that I am the master of stealth. I show up where my enemies least expect. I can disarm any trap, and I can get past any lock.”
Behind her, Em watched as Arkayna frowned, Doug tried for a polite smile that turned into a grimace, and Piper and Zarya rolled their eyes at each other. This fifth Mysticon was not making a great first impression. Piper said, “Not any lock. We had to come let you out!”
The Rogue stopped short and hissed in irritation. Then she seemed to catch herself and spun to face them. “But you came,” she replied. She rocked forward on her toes, leaning uncomfortably close to Piper. “Not all lockpicks are made of metal, little elf girl.”
“Whoa now,” said Zarya, her eyes widening in disbelief.
“Who’re you calling little?” demanded Piper, stretching up on tiptoes.
Em raised her voice as she stepped between Piper and the Rogue, arms out to keep them apart. “Okay!” She faced the Rogue. “Generally I go way out of my way to avoid being rude to people I have just met, but you are pushing it, and I have some questions for you! First of all, what’s with the ‘I’m nothing but a fading spirit’ line you sold me? Because that’s looking like a whole load of coal right about now! What about a new fifth Mysticon being called?” She reached out and pushed a finger against the Rogue’s very non-spirity, very solid shoulder as she continued. “What about Doug?”
The Rogue’s grin grew wider. “What about Doug?” she retorted. “What about any of you, in fact? Because you see, I just remembered something.” She poked Em’s shoulder, hard, in return. “You left the door open.” She spun on her heel and sprinted up the path, past the ice statues, heading for the first puzzle and, beyond it …
“The portal!” Arkayna shouted. “She’s going for the portal!”
The five of them raced through the ravine, across the huge triangular canyon, up and up the narrowing path toward the surface. They skidded and slid across the ice, scrambling up to the portal. But there was no one there. They were too late.
The Rogue was free.
17
In Which an Old Deal Becomes New News
Em tumbled through the portal into the Stronghold first, rolling to her feet and holding her shield ready to protect her friends as they came through behind her.
But there was no sign of the Rogue. She had definitely been here, though: Malvaron lay dazed on the floor at Em’s feet, and Choko hopped frantically up and down on his chest, patting his face to revive him.
“Oof!” Arkayna spilled out of the portal behind Em and crashed into her back.
“Ack!” Zarya followed a split second later.
“Careful, don’t step on Malvaron!” Em circled around him, still scanning the edges of the room for threats. Behind her, she heard Piper and Doug stumble through the portal.
“Oh no, Malvaron! Is he all right?” Arkayna asked Choko, kneeling down beside him.
