Mysticons--The Stolen Magic

by Liz Marsham

  Zarya nodded. “It’s not too late,” she said. “Let’s just—”

  “What’s going on out here?” Dreadbane demanded, striding onto the balcony, sword in hand.

  “Dreadbane,” said Ami, spinning to face him, “we can’t do this. I didn’t realize how many people I would hurt.” She held her chin up bravely. “I won’t go through with it.”

  “Oh, it’s far too late for that,” snickered Dreadbane.

  “But this won’t do what we wanted! It won’t prove to everyone that magic only causes trouble. In fact, it’ll probably do the opposite!”

  “You think I’m concerned what people think?” Dreadbane shook his head, amused. “Not at all. I only care what they do, and I tell you, I have been hurt by magic one too many times.” He shook his fist at the sky. “After this, I will finally be free of her magic, which has brought me nothing but pain!”

  Confused, Ami pointed at the Mysticons, mouthing, Does he mean one of you?

  The Mysticons all shook their heads in unison, and Arkayna mouthed back, Necrafa.

  Ami raised her eyebrows as the pieces clicked into place for her. “Ohhhh, he was hurt by Necrafa,” she breathed.

  Dreadbane growled in rage. “Don’t you dare speak her name!”

  He lunged for Ami, his eyes locked on the glass piece in her hand.

  22

  In Which a Chase Gets Chilly

  Before anyone could react, Dreadbane snatched the glass roughly away from Ami, then reared back to cut her down with his sword.

  WHOOM! A green energy dome slammed into place over Dreadbane, and the blow meant for Ami’s head was absorbed by the force field instead.

  “Let’s go, Amileth!” Arkayna yelled, lowering her arm. “That won’t hold him for long!”

  Zarya helped a slightly stunned Ami onto Archer’s back as Dreadbane smashed at the force field with his sword, screaming for backup.

  “You could have left me,” Ami told her.

  “Not a chance,” Zarya said, grinning. “We’re heroes, remember?”

  With the Mysticons and Ami safely on the griffins’ backs, they launched from the balcony just as the undead vulture flapped out onto it. A second later, Arkayna’s energy dome shattered with a crash. Dreadbane leapt atop the vulture and took off in pursuit of the Mysticons.

  “He’s coming!” called Em.

  “The device won’t work!” Ami called back. “But he doesn’t know that!”

  Arkayna urged Izzie on. “We need to get Ami away from him!”

  “The Undercity?” Zarya suggested.

  “I have a way more fun idea,” Piper giggled, pointing below them.

  If Wellsnight had been going to plan, the plaza would have been cleared out by this point, to make room for the dance party. But instead, with the guards pushing everyone back, some of the booths closest to the castle hadn’t been completely disassembled yet. Boxes of souvenirs and coolers full of snacks waited next to abandoned trucks. Zarya followed Piper’s finger and saw a wide-open truck, mostly full of cartons, with COMET CREAMSICLES written on the side.ss

  At that moment, the vulture chasing them gave out a blood-curdling shriek, and the watching crowd screamed and cowered.

  Zarya nodded. “Those folks could use some fun,” she said. “I say we go for it. Dragon Mage?”

  Arkayna laughed. “Definitely.” She patted her griffin. “Go, Izzie!”

  The Mysticons’ griffins swooped away from the plaza in a long, high arc, and Dreadbane followed on his vulture. Higher and higher they flew, as fast as they could, the vulture straining to keep up with them. Then, in a neat line, they banked around and dove steeply.

  Zarya heard Dreadbane’s startled “Come back here!” and turned her head to yell, “Catch us if you can, bonehead!”

  Infuriated, Dreadbane kicked his mount, who squawked in protest but ducked its head and dropped after them.

  Zarya felt Ami’s hands tighten on her waist as the plaza got closer and closer. “Hang on tight,” she told her. “You don’t have to look.”

  “You think I’d miss this?” Ami replied, the wind of their descent tearing the words out of her mouth. “Not a chance!”

  Just when it looked like all four griffins were going to face-plant into the stones of the plaza, they pulled up sharply, pumping their strong wings. Zarya could hear the claws on Archer’s feet scrape against the top of the open truck as they barely cleared it before peeling off into the sky again.

  Dreadbane’s vulture wasn’t so flexible. It tried hard to correct its course, but to no avail. It crashed into the back of the truck, and Dreadbane tumbled forward, splatting into a pile of cardboard and half-melted ice cream.

  As a cheer went up from the crowd, the Mysticons flew off into the city. When they were sure Dreadbane wasn’t following, they had the griffins land on the roof of a skyscraper, and everyone caught their breath.

  Ami spoke up after a minute. “He’s not done, you know.”

  Zarya nodded. “I know. So we’re going to leave you here while we go back to fight him.”

  “I—” began Ami, but Zarya cut her off.

  “This is my job, not yours. I may not have powers right now, but I’m still a Mysticon.”

  “But I—” Ami tried again, but now Zarya was turning to Arkayna with a half smile.

  “Unless you think I’d slow you down, Dragon Mage?” Zarya asked. Her heartbeat kicked up a notch.

  To Zarya’s relief, Arkayna shook her head. “Never crossed my mind,” she said. “I have no idea how we’d do this without you, powers or no powers.”

  Ami cleared her throat. “This moment is touching,” she said, “but not necessary.” Gingerly, she pulled the prism from her pocket. It was beautiful, perfectly faceted, and shimmering with the slightest motion of her hand. “See this?”

  Zarya nodded, confused.

  “This prism is the key to all my anti-magic lights,” Ami continued. “With this, and the device I just built, Zarya…” Ami stepped close to Zarya and took her hand, holding the sparkling crystal between them. “I think I can give you back your magic.”

  23

  In Which Amileth Performs for a Tough Crowd

  The griffins flew low along side streets, headed back to the castle. Ami, seated behind Zarya, had explained to the Mysticons how focused on the device Dreadbane was. He wouldn’t care about coming after them, as long as he thought he had a chance of completing it himself. So they all figured that Dreadbane was still at the castle. But it was only a matter of time before he turned on the device and found that it didn’t work, so they needed to move quickly.

  Their plan depended heavily on Ami, and she was not happy about that. She shifted on Archer’s back, trying to calm down.

  Zarya twisted around to look at her. “You’re gonna be great,” she said. “It’s all flash and misdirection, right? You do that all the time!”

  “My audience is not usually so angry,” Ami replied, “or so heavily armed.” She tried to breathe deeply, then shook her head. “I’m too scared. He’ll be able to tell.”

  “Think of it as stage fright,” Zarya said. “You get stage fright, right? How do you beat it?”

  Ami rolled her eyes a little wildly. “I remind myself how much I’ve practiced! Practice makes me comfortable! And I haven’t practiced this at all!”

  “Hey,” Zarya said, “I’ve been meaning to tell you something. You’re actually really good at thinking fast. It took you no time to figure out, like, a dozen things to do with my magic once you had it, and you were starting from scratch. Right?”

  Ami tipped her head to the side, considering. “That’s true.”

  “See? You’re better than you think. And besides, if you freeze, we’ll all be there. I’ll be there.” Zarya winked. “I’ve got your back.”

  Ami chuckled. “Now that makes me feel better.” She traced the edges of the prism in her pocket again, then nodded. “All right. I’m ready.”

  The Mysticons led her into the castle via
a back way, and Ami soon lost track of the twists and turns they took through the hallways. The tense royal guards they encountered were quickly soothed by a word from either the Dragon Mage or the Knight. Ami was impressed—the Mysticons were respected around here. Soon, they crept toward the bottom of a long, curved stairway. The room that opened onto the balcony was at the top of the stairs, and two fierce-looking spectres stood guard outside the door.

  “Okay, now remember,” Zarya said to Ami, “if you get in trouble, just yell, and we’ll be right there. Otherwise, we’ll wait for your cue.”

  “After we get those two, right?” whispered the Striker, pointing at the spectre guards. “Ooh, they are gonna get hooped!”

  Ami grinned. She did like the Striker’s spirit. “I’ll leave you to that, then,” she said, brushing off her pants and straightening her jacket. “It’s showtime.” With a confident stride, she approached the bottom of the stairs.

  The spectres recognized her immediately and screeched at her to halt. Obediently, Ami raised her hands. “Tell Dreadbane I have returned,” she commanded.

  One of the spectres stuck its head inside the room and shrieked; a few seconds later it motioned her inside. As Ami stepped through the doorway, she heard a clink from the bottom of the stairs. The two spectres on guard startled and began creeping cautiously toward the noise. Here comes the hooping, Ami thought, biting her lip to hide her smile.

  Pulling the door closed behind her, she found herself inches from the tip of Dreadbane’s cruel-looking sword as he pointed it at her face. “Well,” he sneered, “this is unexpected.”

  Ami forced herself to laugh. “Really? You know the Mysticons, surely. After five minutes in their company, I knew I’d made a mistake.” Through the closed door at her back, she heard a clatter, and she cleared her throat to cover it. “That device,” she continued, pointing out to the balcony, “is my greatest achievement. It would be folly to leave it behind without seeing what it can do. And without me, you’ll never make it work.”

  Dreadbane tipped his head to the side skeptically. “How did you get past the castle guards?”

  Ami focused the tension in her body into her eyes, and from Dreadbane’s reaction she knew they had begun to glow and spark blue. “I am very persuasive these days,” she replied.

  Chuckling, Dreadbane lowered his sword. “As long as you’re here, you might as well stay.” He made a motion, and two more spectres closed in behind Ami, blocking the door. “Don’t test my patience further.”

  She glanced around. The other two dozen spectres ringed the room, standing watchful but at ease. The skeletal vulture, still dripping with ice cream in spots, was back in its favorite corner by the couch. Calm. Stay calm, and put on the show, she told herself. She crossed the room and stepped out onto the balcony.

  “Now,” she said, turning back to Dreadbane, “this device may look complete, but it is not. A few important adjustments have yet to be made.”

  Dreadbane glanced pointedly at the sky, where the comet was now half as large as the moon and sparkling fiercely.

  “Happily, it will take just minutes,” she finished. “If you’ll allow me?”

  Dreadbane nodded. “I will be the one to turn it on, though,” he said. He moved to stand over the device’s plug, which was coiled at the end of a five-foot cord.

  “Agreed,” Amileth said with a wave. She opened the back of the device. “First let’s make sure that you installed the last piece correctly.”

  “Do you take me for a fool? Of course I did!” Dreadbane snarled.

  “Of course you did,” agreed Ami soothingly. “Still, it can’t hurt to check.” Turning her body to block Dreadbane’s view, she quickly popped the glass piece out of the slot, palmed it, and inserted the prism in its place. “Well done,” she told him, closing up the device again and moving to the front. “And now for the adjustments. I’ll of course have to make them from the inside.”

  She unscrewed and lifted off the giant lens in its frame, setting it aside. Then she reached forward with her left hand, as if fiddling with one of the cords inside the barrel. Keeping her eyes locked on the device and muttering nonsense instructions to herself to keep Dreadbane distracted, she concentrated and crooked her right hand. Feeling the invisible energy uncoiling from her fingers, she aimed—oh, this was much harder when she wasn’t looking directly at her target—and lashed out with her mind. There. She had definitely caught something with her magic whip.

  “Done!” she called, holding up her empty left hand with a flourish. She saw Dreadbane’s eyes follow her motion, chose her moment, and … now. She clenched her right hand and yanked.

  Inside the room, the chain holding up the chandelier suddenly shattered, and the huge crystal structure crashed to the ground. Dreadbane spun to look, and all the spectres in the room jumped. In the next instant, the doors were thrown open, and the Mysticons charged in.

  Dreadbane roared in anger and turned toward Ami, but the Dragon Mage demanded his full attention, lobbing green energy blasts one after another at his head. While he parried and dodged, the Striker and the Knight took on the spectres. The Striker bobbed and weaved, throwing her hoops at one and jumping up to kick the head of another, which made it stumble directly into the path of a third. The Knight, energy shield up, methodically carved her way through another knot of spectres with her flame-shaped sword. And Zarya …

  Ami watched with admiration as Zarya darted in last, nimbly finding her way over and through the knots of fighters, swiftly moving around the perimeter of the room toward her.

  Which reminded Ami—she had another job. Tipping the long barrel of her device down so she was looking directly into it, Ami concentrated again and reached out with the blue energy coil. This time she let the whip be visible as it snaked out and wrapped around the device’s power cord.

  She looked up, locking eyes with Zarya. “Now?” she asked.

  “Now!” Zarya yelled.

  Ami chopped her hand down, and the plug sank directly into the outlet in the balcony floor. WhrrrrrrmmMMMMMMM. The device powered up, and its light caught her full in the chest. Immediately, the whip dissolved, and Ami felt a strange tugging sensation. There it goes, she thought with a mixture of sadness and relief.

  She looked up to see Zarya on the balcony. Dreadbane took a swipe at her as she came close, but Zarya ducked inside his attack, grabbed his shoulder, and used his momentum to spin herself, vaulting away from him and landing next to Ami.

  Ami wanted to applaud, but instead she dropped and rolled, leaving Zarya alone in the light. Ami kicked out with her foot and knocked the power cord away from its socket.

  Vvvvrrrrrrmmmmm. The device wound itself down again, and as it did Zarya’s whole body hummed. She tipped her head back and grinned with delight as a wave of blue magic swept over her from head to toe. Her face paint and homemade costume were replaced with a sleek blue-and-white outfit, and a glowing bow appeared in her hand. She opened her eyes and locked her gaze on Amileth.

  Ami smiled and dipped her head in greeting. “Mysticon Ranger, I presume?”

  24

  In Which One Team Comes Together and Another Falls Apart

  Dreadbane looked from Ami to Zarya, confused. “What just happened?” Then he focused on the device. “Never mind. My revenge is ready!”

  Standing, Ami cleared her throat and smirked. “Not anymore,” she said, holding up her hand. In it, she held the glass piece.

  “How did you—Give it to me!” Dreadbane snarled. He stepped menacingly toward her.

  “Catch!” Ami yelled as she flipped the piece to Zarya, who caught it easily.

  Zarya held up the glass and waggled it tauntingly. She stepped backward, jumped up on the balcony railing, and stepped off into the air … landing right on Archer’s back where he waited below. In seconds, the other Mysticons had disengaged from the spectres and leapt onto their own waiting griffins.

  “Not again!” Dreadbane howled, climbing onto his slightly sticky vulture.
“This time,” he told it, “catch them!”

  The vulture squawked and took off.

  “Follow and attack!” Dreadbane ordered the spectres as he flew in pursuit. “Get that piece!”

  Soon, Ami was alone on the balcony. She watched as the battle began in the air overhead. She had no magic, and no way to help. Now what? she thought.

  * * *

  Zarya, flying along on Archer, laughed as the spectres descended toward her. She nocked arrow after arrow, shooting them out perfectly on target. She even managed to pin one spectre’s wing to that of its neighbor, sending them both plummeting as they frantically tried to untangle themselves. “I’m back!” she crowed.

  “You’re back, you’re back, you’re back!” Piper sang next to her. “Best night ever!”

  “Focus, girls,” said Arkayna, but she was laughing, too. “We haven’t won yet.”

  Zarya looked over her shoulder to see Dreadbane bearing down on them. He gestured, and a hail of bone shards flew out of his hand. “Look out!” she cried.

  The griffins dropped as one, and the shards flew over their heads. They banked around and doubled back, heading underneath Dreadbane’s vulture and back over the palace.

  Em pulled an orb from her pouch and tossed it overhand. It caught on the vulture’s foot and exploded, sending bits of bone raining down on the balcony where Ami still stood. When the smoke cleared, the vulture was missing a foot, but it didn’t seem bothered in the slightest.

  Em sighed. “I thought that would be more dramatic,” she admitted.

  * * *

  Ami covered her head as bone showered down around her. She reached up to ruffle her pouf, and bone dust sifted out of her hair. She tightened her lips in disgust. Then she froze, one hand still in her hair. She looked from the device to her powdery hand, and then up to where the comet glittered in the sky.

  She had an idea.

  * * *