Tazma grabbed the dragon’s egg from its crystal perch. “Tibion, finish them,” she snarled.
Tibion’s hand glowed crimson red. He hovered in the air in front of Nova Terron, bringing his magic down just inches from Nova’s face. Just as Tibion was about to end him, a pixie blast hit him from the side.
Arkayna glanced up to see her friends (well, her friends and Proxima) perched on a ledge high above. Zarya expertly shot arrows at Nova Terron, freeing him from the black tendrils that tied him up without so much as nicking him.
“Awww, what a cute dragon egg,” Piper said, glaring at Tazma.
“It won’t be so cute once it spawns,” Tibion spat.
“Not gonna happen,” Em snapped.
Arkayna climbed back up onto the crystal ledge. “You’re outnumbered. There’s nothing you can do.”
The Mysticons aimed their weapons at Tazma, ready to fight.
“Think again, Mysticons,” Tazma said.
Before Arkayna could do anything, Tazma blasted dark magic into the roof of the cave, shattering a hole in it. The explosion rocked the crystal islands, sending shards raining down on the girls. Em threw up her shield to protect Zarya, Piper, and Proxima, but Arkayna was left exposed. A rock hit her and she flew off the island, plummeting toward the ground, far below.
“Hang on, I gotcha!” Zarya fired a cable arrow straight down, the cord catching around Arkayna’s ankle. Em and Piper rushed in behind her, grabbing the end of the cord and yanking with all their might. When they finally pulled it taut, Arkayna was hanging in midair, her head mere inches from the floor. She looked up just in time to see Tibion and Tazma escape through the hole in the cave’s roof, the dragon’s egg clutched tightly in Tazma’s hands.
Nova Terron didn’t waste any time. He shot out of the roof, following Tazma and Tibion, with Mysticons and Proxima in his telekinetic grip. As soon as they were in the sky he released everyone right above their griffins. One by one, the Mysticons fell onto the giant creatures, with Nova Terron taking a seat behind Arkayna. Proxima joined Em on her griffin.
Tazma was still in their sights.
“Stop the Shadow Mage at all costs!” Nova Terron yelled.
But Tibion and his army of spectres had already closed ranks around Tazma to protect her. They descended in a barrage of dark magic, trying to knock the Mysticons off their griffins.
“Out of my way!” Arkayna cried, holding up her bracer. Her Dragon avatar emerged from her bracer and spread its giant green wings, blasting through a row of spectres. Em, Piper, and Zarya all followed, letting their avatars explode into the sky. The Wolf, the Battle Unicorn, and the Phoenix all charged toward Tibion, while Arkayna remained focused on the fleeing Tazma.
“The Dragon Mage will never stop her,” Tibion laughed. Then he turned to his army of spectres, ordering them to fight. “Finish them, finish them all!”
FIVE
ARKAYNA TOOK OFF in front, Nova Terron sitting behind her on her griffin, Izzie. They flew after Tazma, chasing her out across the city. Arkayna shot fireballs at her, and Nova Terron blasted her with magic missiles, but they always seemed to just miss her. She shot back dark, swirling black tendrils, which they ducked and swerved to avoid.
“Excellent, Dragon Mage,” Nova Terron said. “We’re closing the distance.”
Tazma must’ve realized the same thing, because she was staring up at a crane far above them. Hanging down from it was a bundle of metal beams held together by a chain. Before Arkayna could figure out what she was doing, Tazma blasted the chain apart, sending the beams raining down on them.
“Hang on!” Arkayna yelled. She dipped and swerved, trying to dodge all of the metal beams. As hard as she tried, there were just too many. Within seconds one knocked Nova Terron off Izzie. He went spiraling toward the street below.
“So long, Dragon Mage!” Tazma laughed an evil laugh.
Arkayna watched as Tazma zoomed away. She had no choice. She swooped down, racing toward Nova Terron. She blasted the metal beam away from him with a fireball. Then she pulled him back onto Izzie. They landed in an alley below.
He opened his eyes and looked around. “Tazma? Where is she?”
“She escaped,” Arkayna said.
“You should have left me!” Nova Terron cried.
“Believe me, I wanted to.” It was the truth. Arkayna could feel the tears coming back, stinging her eyes. “How could you do what you did?”
“Because it had to be done,” Nova Terron said. “Why are you taking this so personally?”
“Because this is as personal as it gets,” Arkayna shot back. “She was my sister.”
Arkayna turned toward him and dispelled her Mysticon Dragon Mage mask. Finally, Nova Terron could see her true identity. She was Princess Arkayna, the other twin. The one who was left behind.
“Why did you do it?” she asked again, the tears coming fast. “Why?”
“I’m sorry, Your Highness,” Nova Terron said softly. “Alpha Galaga ordered me to.”
Nova Terron went on, telling Arkayna about the night he went to retrieve her sister. He’d gone into Drake City Tower and cast a spell on her mother, so she would only remember one child, not two. He was supposed to take the baby to Alpha Galaga, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Instead he brought her to a kind lady named Mrs. Sparklebottom. The last time he saw the child, she was being carried away by light pixies. Do not fear, little one, he’d said. You’ll be safe here.
“I put the whole realm in jeopardy,” Nova Terron said sadly.
Arkayna hugged him, her sadness lifting. Her sister was alive. He had saved her, even though he wasn’t supposed to. “No—you did the right thing,” she said.
“Dragon Mage!” a familiar voice called out.
Green magic flew around Arkayna as she resumed her disguise as the Mysticon Dragon Mage. Moments later, Em swooped down on her griffin with Proxima beside her, and Piper and Zarya following close behind. “Are you okay?” Em asked.
Piper put her arm around Nova Terron, trying to comfort him. “There, there, big Nova,” she said, “don’t cry.”
“The twin is alive,” Arkayna told the others. As soon as she said it, she felt her spirit rise. “We have to find her.”
“Don’t worry, girl,” Zarya said. “We will.”
“Wherever she might be,” Em agreed.
Arkayna wiped the tears from her eyes. Now that Tazma and Necrafa had the dragon’s egg, there was so little time. She had to find her sister. The whole realm depended on it.
SIX
“PLEASE,” NOVA TERRON said, glancing around the Star Chamber. “I would urge calm.”
“Calm!” Gandobi cried. “You separated the twins! And you kept this knowledge from the council. From me?”
“When Tazma probed your mind to learn the secret of the prophecy—” Proxima started.
“She no doubt uncovered this secret,” Gandobi said. “Of the princess and her twin!”
“That is why we need to find the twin before Necrafa does,” Arkayna said. They had been discussing the twins all morning. The rest of the Astromancers felt betrayed that Nova Terron hadn’t told them what had happened all those years before.
“How in the heavens do we do that? No one knows anything about her!” Gandobi said.
“One person does,” Nova Terron corrected him. “Hortensia Q. Sparklebottom.”
Piper’s high-pitched giggle split the air. “Sparklebottom?”
Nova Terron ignored her. “She is the matron of the orphanage I sent the girl to. She keeps records of each child she takes in.”
“Find the file, find the twin!” Em said hopefully.
“Yes, but no one cares for children as fiercely as Mrs. Sparklebottom,” Nova Terron said. Again Piper laughed, and again Nova Terron ignored her. “She will protect that information with her life.”
“And I’d risk my life to get it,” Arkayna said.
“Just tell us where to find this”—Zarya paused, glancing sideways at P
iper—“Mrs. S.”
“The location of her sanctuary is cloaked by fairy magic,” Nova Terron explained. “This spell will guide you there.” He lit up Arkayna’s Dragon Staff with magical energy. “The fate of the realm lies in your hands, Dragon Mage.”
The Mysticons were just about to leave when Proxima stepped in front of them. “Hold on just a parsec,” she said. “What about the princess?”
“Necrafa could come for her!” Gandobi cried.
Arkayna froze. She tried to keep her expression calm. No one besides the Mysticons and Nova Terron knew her real identity. It was safer that way.
“The princess can take care of herself,” Arkayna said. “Trust me.”
“With all due respect, why should we trust you?” Proxima insisted. “There’s only one sure way to prevent the prophecy—by keeping the princess under lock and key.”
Arkayna was about to argue with her, but the other Astromancers murmured their agreement. She looked to Nova Terron, hoping he’d say something in her defense, but he didn’t. “Very well,” he finally agreed. “By order of the council, Princess Arkayna will be kept under guard in these hallowed halls … indefinitely.”
Arkayna smiled, trying not to let her panic show. How could she find her twin if she was trapped inside the Astromancer Academy?
While the rest of the Mysticons prepared for their mission, Arkayna followed Nova Terron into the hallway. As soon as they were out of sight of the rest of the Astromancers, she pleaded with him. “The others can’t find the orphanage without me!”
Choko, who’d been listening to the whole conversation, jumped onto Arkayna’s shoulder. He seemed as annoyed at Nova Terron as she was. He let out an angry chirp.
“But you can’t accompany them and be here as well,” Nova Terron said. “Unless…”
They both looked at Choko.
“I can be in two places at once,” Arkayna said, realizing what Nova Terron meant. She tossed some foz snacks onto the ground, distracting Choko. He chewed happily on the Jackalope Jerky as Nova Terron moved in on him, casting a spell. “By the power of the skies, let this creature be disguised.…”
In an instant, Choko was transformed into a spitting image of Princess Arkayna. He had two big strips of Jackalope Jerky coming out of his mouth, and he didn’t speak English, but it was still very convincing.
“Oh my goblin!” Arkayna smiled. “He—she’s perfect.”
Princess Arkayna was perched on the ground like an animal. She lifted her foot up and used it to scratch behind her ear.
“Almost perfect,” Arkayna corrected.
“Come along, Princess,” Nova Terron said, helping Choko to his back feet. “I must protect you.”
SEVEN
DAY HAD BROKEN as Arkayna led the Mysticons through the dense forest, casting aside fallen trees and branches. She kept her eyes on the end of her Dragon Staff, letting Nova Terron’s spell lead the way.
“Faster, girls!” she yelled. “Give it all you’ve got!”
They were getting close, so close. Arkayna stopped in front of a giant bush, double-checking they were in the right place. “We’re here,” she said. “Mrs. Sparklebottom’s sanctuary.”
“So how do we get in?” Zarya asked.
Arkayna stared at the scene in front of her. It didn’t look like anything special. It was just a giant tree trunk with a lotus flower in front of it. But then the lotus flower opened, revealing a tiny pixie sitting behind a tiny desk.
“Lateensia?” Arkayna said, recognizing the pixie answering the phone. It was her stepbrother Gawayne’s on-again-off-again girlfriend. “You work here?”
“I’m a volunteer,” Lateensia sighed.
“We need to speak to Mrs. Sparklebottom,” Arkayna said.
“Yeah, I’d like to, but no,” Lateensia said flatly.
“We’re the Mysticons and we’re on an important quest,” Em tried.
“Sorry, not sorry!” Lateensia said in a sing-sing voice. “But the only things allowed inside are pixies and drooling little germ bags.”
The Mysticons stared at the tree trunk. All of a sudden the door slid back, revealing a swirling blue portal. A siren blared. A big fuzzy baby with several eyes sucked on a pacifier as it floated out. Before the baby could get even a foot beyond the door, tiny pixies swarmed it and brought it back inside. Arkayna looked to the other Mysticons, wondering if they were thinking what she was thinking.
“Fine,” she said. “We’ll leave, right … now!”
But instead of leaving they all ran straight for the portal, trying to get inside before it closed.
But Lateensia was too fast. She hit a button and the portal shut. All four Mysticons slammed into it.
“Mrs. Sparklebottom’s Sanctuary, a safe haven for special children,” Lateensia said, answering the phone.
Arkayna, Em, Piper, and Zarya picked themselves up and stomped off into the woods, ignoring a smiling Lateensia.
“She makes me so mad!” Piper growled. She scrunched her nose and did her best Lateensia impression: “Only pixies and babies get in.…”
“That’s it!” Arkayna said, getting an idea. She pulled up a recipe on her bracer. “Okay, I need youthroot, beetlebark, and primrose petals, stat!”
Piper disappeared into the woods, coming back a few minutes later with a handful of different ingredients. Arkayna telekinetically hovered them in front of her face, then combined them with magic. In an instant, she’d turned them into two separate vials of purple liquid.
“Drink this,” she said, handing one to Zarya. “It’s not dangerous.”
“That’s your pitch?” Zarya said, furrowing her brows.
“It’s the only way we’re going to find my sister,” Arkayna said. “Please, Z?”
“The things I do for you,” Zarya said, rolling her eyes. She gulped down the liquid in one shot. Then … Poof! She shrunk down to a tiny, toddler-size version of herself, complete with pigtails and a magic orb rattle.
“WHAT DID YOU DO?!” she shrieked, looking down at her new body.
“Only pixies and babies are allowed in,” Arkayna explained.
“So turn me into a pixie, genius!” Zarya yelled.
“Huh … I guess that was an option.” Arkayna smiled. But wasn’t this much more fun? At least for everyone but Zarya?
“Un-baby me!” Zarya demanded.
“You can un-baby yourself,” Arkayna said, giving her the second vial of liquid—the antidote. “After you get in. Now, cry.”
She yanked the orb rattle out of Zarya’s hand and set her down in front of the bush, rushing behind it to hide. Zarya’s lower lip trembled and suddenly she burst into tears, her wails echoing through the forest.
It didn’t take long for a flock of pixies to emerge from the orphanage. They swaddled baby Zarya in a blanket and floated her through the portal, the wood door sliding shut behind them.
EIGHT
ARKAYNA STOOD BEHIND the bush with Em and Piper, waiting and watching. They kept thinking it would only be a few minutes before Zarya opened the portal for them. But a few minutes passed, and a few more, and there was still no sign of her.
“What’s taking her so long?” Arkayna asked.
“Don’t worry,” Piper said. “Zarya always comes through. She’ll open the portal.”
“Sure, but how do we get past her?” Em asked, pointing at Lateensia.
They all stared at the tiny doorkeeper. There was no way she was going to let them simply walk right into the orphanage.
“We just need a little distraction.…” Arkayna said. She dialed a number on her bangle-phone, then watched as Lateensia’s phone rang. Arkayna pinched her nose and did her best Gawayne impersonation. “It’s, like, totally Gawayne.”
“Oh my goblinnnn,” Lateensia cooed. “You’ve called me, like, five times today already.”
“Ew, he did?!?” Arkayna asked, forgetting herself for a moment. Then she went right back to Gawayne’s voice: “I mean—ew, I did! But I totally had to c
all again.”
“Why?” Lateensia asked.
“Because I … I wanted to hear about your day?” Arkayna asked, not sure if that was the right answer.
“Gawaaaaayne!” Lateensia whined. “You never ask me that! That’s totes adorbs! So, like, first I saw a flower or whatever and that was supes amazing.…”
She went on and on, eventually talking about some crazy dream she’d had. Arkayna stood there, her eyes on the portal, waiting. She could barely listen to Lateensia’s babble.
“Oh man, I can smell my brain burning,” Em muttered. “Hurry up, Zarya. Please.”
But ten more minutes passed. What was Zarya doing in there? Had she gotten caught? All she had to do was go inside and—
Just when Arkayna thought she couldn’t stand hearing another word, the portal swirled open. Lateensia had spun around in her chair while she talked on the phone, so her back was to the tree.
“Go! Go! Go!” Arkayna said, urging Em and Piper out of the woods.
The girls ran as fast as they could toward the portal, diving through just before it closed. Before Arkayna could even stand up, Zarya hurled a pacifier at her head. “You,” she snapped. “Fix this.”
The girls all sat there, staring at her. She was still two feet tall, a little baby version of herself.
“The potion didn’t work?” Em asked.
“I wouldn’t know,” Zarya grumbled. “This floating freak broke it.”
The same baby who’d tried to escape earlier was now floating right in front of them. It was furry and pink, with four green eyes that stared back at them. It was sucking on a pacifier.
“Awwww, he’s adorable!” Piper cried. “I’m going to call you … Blinky!”
“Focus, people! And … weird eyeball thingy,” Arkayna said, poking the furry pink creature with her finger. “We need to find that file.”
“I’m guessing it’s up there.” Em pointed to the top of the tree. There was a small, circular window with a balcony just outside it up top. That had to be where Mrs. Sparklebottom was.
Mysticons--Prophecy of Evil Page 2
