Mysticons--Prophecy of Evil Read online

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  ONE

  THE MYSTICONS STOOD next to the Celestial Forge, a great ancient furnace in the Astromancer Academy. The bubbling metal at its core lit the room with a fiery glow, and the noise of its bellows sounded like an angry wind.

  The Mysticons were four girls gifted with incredible, ancient powers. And right now, they were wondering if their latest plan was really going to work.

  They stared up at the Dragon Disk they’d made just days before, after the real one had been stolen from them. It floated in the air, the same size and shape as the original artifact, but a dull gray color. They looked to it to tell them the prophecy they’d heard so much about. But would their duplicate Disk work?

  Nova Terron, leader of the Astromancers, stood frowning in the corner. The decision to copy the Dragon Disk had been made without him, and he was clearly doubtful about it. Arkayna, leader of the Mysticons, didn’t want to think about how he’d act if their plan was a failure.

  High above, the full moon shone through the skylight in the great, cavernous room. As the amber glow hit the Disk, it projected runes in midair. The Mysticons’ plan had succeeded! They stared at the message, transfixed.

  When twin stars unite, the spectral

  beast will take flight.

  Its roars will herald a new dark age, and the realm

  will be purged by the dragon’s rage.

  Choko, the little foz who followed the Mysticons everywhere—even to places not always friendly to small furry animals—was so terrified he dove behind Piper, his tail shaking in fear.

  “Spectral beast? A new dark age?” Em said, panic in her voice.

  “You’re the expert,” Zarya said to Nova Terron. “What’s it all mean?” The Astromancers were an ancient order of mages dedicated to helping the Mysticons in their fight against evil, so Zarya figured if anyone could decode the message, it was the leader of the Astromancers.

  Nova Terron felt very worried about what it meant. “Doom, Mysticon Ranger…” he told her. His deep voice sounded even deeper than normal as he repeated, “Doom.”

  He could barely look at them. His face was tense with worry. “Gandobi, assemble the Astromancers,” he said into his phone.

  “But, Star Master,” Gandobi, one of the Astromancers, said from the other end, “it’s Card Night—”

  “It may be your last if you do not meet us at the Caves of the Fang immediately!” Nova shot back. Then he turned on his heel, heading deeper into the Academy.

  Arkayna followed him out the door, determined to find out more, and the other Mysticons trailed behind her. She was the princess of Gemina and the daughter of Queen Goodfey. For as long as she could remember, her mother had taught her to defend the Dragon Disk, an ancient artifact that was kept in the castle treasury. Just weeks before, the Disk had started glowing again, and soon bestowed powers on a new group of Mysticons. Arkayna had been transformed into the fierce, fireball-shooting Mysticon Dragon Mage. Like the other Mysticons, when Arkayna was in her guise as the Dragon Mage, few knew her true identity as Princess Arkayna. Even the Astromancers knew her only as the Mysticon Dragon Mage.

  Emerald “Em” Goldenbraid had been Arkayna’s griffin wrangler at the castle. Em had become the Mysticon Knight, with an energy shield and a powerful sword. They were joined by two street kids, a savvy human orphan named Zarya Moonwolf and a naïve elf named Piper Willowbrook. Zarya had been transformed into the Mysticon Ranger, with a bow and magic arrows, and Piper had become the Mysticon Striker, with hoops made of pure energy—perfect for tossing at bad guys.

  Together the new Mysticons had unified all four pieces of the Codex—an ancient book of Mysticon magic—and found the Dragon Disk, but both had been stolen and used to summon a queen of evil, Necrafa. She was now using her minion Tazma to try to destroy the entire realm.

  Key to that plan was stealing a hidden prophecy from the Astromancers, which Tazma and Necrafa had pulled off just a few days before. But now the Mysticons had the prophecy. They had all the same clues Necrafa did, and Arkayna was just beginning to realize what they meant.

  “So we’re hunting a dragon?” Arkayna asked.

  “Thousands of years ago, a spectral drake rose from the caves and wreaked havoc and destruction,” Nova Terron explained. “It nearly destroyed Gemina. If there is a new dragon about to rise—”

  “That’s where we’ll find it,” Malvaron added. “The Caves of the Fang.”

  “But the prophecy says the twin stars have to unite,” Arkayna said.

  “Focus on the quest at hand, Dragon Mage,” Nova Terron snapped. “Necrafa and Tazma are no doubt trying to find the Spectral Dragon even as we speak.”

  Arkayna fell back, stung. Why was Nova Terron being so short with her? Why wouldn’t he explain the rest of the prophecy? Since when was it a bad idea to decipher every line, or to think too much about a riddle’s meaning?

  She lagged behind the rest of the group, repeating the prophecy in her head. There was definitely more to it than Nova Terron was telling her.…

  TWO

  ARKAYNA SWOOPED DOWN, landing her griffin outside the Caves of the Fang. Nova Terron had brought Gandobi, Proxima, and many of the other Astromancers along with them. Gandobi had been an Astromancer for a long time, but Proxima was among the youngest in the order.

  As the group assembled outside the gaping entrance to the caves, Proxima muttered, “It’s about time. Tazma’s already inside.”

  “Step aside, please, heroes coming through.” Arkayna waved at her fellow Mysticons to follow her. She’d always been annoyed by Proxima, who acted like a know-it-all. “Looks like a classic dungeon crawl. Come on, girls, we’ve got this.”

  “I’ll tell you what you’ve got,” Proxima snapped. “You’ve gotten us into a heap of trouble.”

  “Says the armchair Astromancer,” Zarya shot back.

  “Yeah, you should try being on the front lines sometime,” Arkayna said, glaring at Proxima. It was easy to have opinions when you weren’t the one dodging Tazma’s swirling dark magic. Maybe Arkayna had made some mistakes, but every day she was fighting back. Every day she was trying.

  “Come along, Proxima,” Nova Terron said as he walked out in front.

  Arkayna couldn’t believe her ears. “What? She’s coming with us?”

  “As am I,” Nova Terron said. “The Spectral Dragon is a near-unstoppable force of evil. You will need all the help you can get.”

  “What about me?” Malvaron asked.

  “What about you?” Nova Terron said. “Proxima did an in-depth study of the caves.”

  “You’re on guard duty with us,” Gandobi said, yanking Malvaron back by the ear.

  “Let’s go, girls,” Proxima said, pushing Arkayna aside as she entered the mouth to the caves. “It’s magic hour.”

  “Hey! That’s my line,” Arkayna shrieked. “My line!”


  Proxima started walking into the darkness, calling behind her, “These caves run for miles under Drake City, and their center is the cavern that spawns these monsters.”

  Arkayna hated that they were following Proxima, listening to her give directions. It was enough to drive any mage crazy.

  They turned right, then left, winding through the maze of tunnels. Until suddenly, Proxima stopped in place. She stared at the dead end ahead, then pulled out her parchment map.

  “It doesn’t make sense,” she said. “This tunnel should come to a branch. Maybe there’s a clue in the prophecy.… How does it go?”

  “When twin stars unite,” Zarya recited.

  “The spectral beast will take flight,” Piper added.

  Proxima furrowed her brows. “When twin stars unite? Does that mean the twin stars of Samara?”

  “That’s what I thought,” Arkayna said, “but their orbits don’t cross for another…”

  Em closed her eyes, doing the math in her head. “Twelve years, four hours, and six minutes.”

  “Please stop this jabber about stars!” Nova Terron grumbled. “We need to focus on finding the dragon.”

  When Zarya looked at him, he wouldn’t meet her gaze. “That’s what we’re doing. Hey, you know something, don’t you? What are you hiding?”

  “Nothing! Nothing! See, this is my hiding-nothing face.” Nova Terron whistled a quick tune and smiled.

  “The prophecy’s not talking about stars, is it?” Arkayna asked.

  For a moment everyone was silent. “No,” Nova Terron finally admitted. “It speaks of the royal twins.”

  “But there haven’t been any twins born to the royal family,” Arkayna said, studying his expression. Why was Nova Terron acting so weird? What was he even talking about? Royal twins?

  “So, we don’t have to worry about the dragon, right?” Piper said hopefully.

  “Wrong,” Nova Terron replied. “There are twins. They were born fifteen years ago. To Queen Goodfey.”

  Arkayna could only stare at him. My mother had twins? she thought.

  THREE

  ARKAYNA FELT LIKE she was falling through the sky. She was breathless, terrified, looking for something—anything—to hold on to. If what Nova Terron said was true, she … no, they …

  Arkayna remembered that she was disguised as the Mysticon Dragon Mage. She had to word her question carefully. “Princess Arkayna has a twin sister?” she asked. She could barely get the words out.

  “I’ve said too much,” Nova Terron added. “We must focus on finding the dragon.” He turned around and started back out of the tunnel, but Zarya blocked his path.

  “Where is she?” Arkayna demanded.

  “Hers is a tragic story,” Nova Terron said. “She was taken at birth.”

  “What?” Arkayna said, feeling a lump rise in the back of her throat. Em put a hand on Arkayna’s shoulder to steady her, but she couldn’t help herself: “Whoever did this needs to be brought to justice! Who took her?”

  But again, Nova Terron was silent. He seemed scared, uncertain. They waited for him to explain, but he didn’t.

  “You took the twin?” Em finally asked.

  “Yes, I took her,” he admitted. “But you have to understand—”

  Arkayna lost control. Before he could say another word, she unleashed a fireball at Nova Terron, sending him tumbling across the ground. Arkayna brought her staff up over her shoulder. She could feel her friends behind her, trying to pull her away, but she resisted.

  “Get away from him!” Proxima yelled.

  “How could you?” Arkayna demanded. Fire surged through her body as her friends dragged her back, away from Nova Terron. “How could you?”

  Another blast of powerful magic charged through her veins, sending her flying toward Nova Terron. The other Mysticons were thrown backward.

  There was a strange hum, then a beeping sound. Arkayna looked across the tunnel at a line of runes in the sand. Her friends had hit a booby trap. Any second, the runes would explode.

  “Take cover!” Zarya yelled.

  Within seconds, the tunnel rumbled. There was an explosion of light and heat, and rocks rained down from the cave ceiling. Arkayna could barely see anything through the dust and smoke. She heard Zarya shout for them to follow her, but Arkayna couldn’t figure out where.

  As she ran forward, dodging rocks and debris, she spotted Nova Terron in front of her. He ran a few feet before some rocks fell onto him.

  “Go on! Go without me!” he yelled, waving Arkayna off.

  She glanced up, seeing it all in slow motion. A boulder above him—now shaken free from the cave’s roof—was already falling. She reached her hand out, blasting it with another fireball. It exploded into hundreds of pieces.

  “You and I aren’t done!” she called out.

  She could feel the tunnel coming apart. Every inch of it was shaking, its roof about to fall in. She dove toward Nova Terron, bringing him with her to the other end of the tunnel. They rolled to safety just as a huge section of the ceiling caved in. Dozens of boulders fell, separating them from the others.

  When the dust finally settled, Arkayna just sat there, trying to catch her breath.

  “Dragon Mage?” Nova Terron asked in a small voice as he rubbed his eyes. “Dragon Mage, are you okay?”

  “I’m fine, Star Master,” Arkayna said, levitating him with her magic. “You’re the one who should be worried.”

  Arkayna pushed him back into the cave wall. He stayed there, staring at her in disbelief.

  “You put the quest in jeopardy so you could threaten me?” he said, an edge to his voice.

  “So I could get answers!” Arkayna yelled as she sent a torrent of rocks flying toward him. “What did you do with the twin?”

  “The twins had to be separated,” Nova Terron said. “In order to protect the realm. To protect millions of innocent lives.”

  “Where did you take her?” Arkayna asked.

  “Alpha Galaga, my Star Master, left specific instructions. I was to open a portal to the astral plane and”—he paused, as if it was hard for him to even say it—“may Gygax have mercy on me … What have I done?”

  He fell to his knees, tears welling in his eyes. He hid his face in his hands, but Arkayna could tell he was crying. She’d never seen him so broken, but she still couldn’t bring herself to feel sorry for him. He’d stolen an infant—her twin sister—away from her mother just because someone had told him to. Just because he was following some stupid order.

  “You’re worse than the monsters we fight,” she said. “When this quest is over, so are you and I.”

  FOUR

  ARKAYNA STARTED DOWN a dark tunnel. Fire still surged through her hands. With each step she grew angrier with Nova Terron. What did he mean, “to protect the realm”? How could a newborn baby do anything wrong? Hadn’t her sister deserved a chance to grow up with Arkayna, to have a real family? To be loved?

  She turned down another tunnel. She could hear him following along behind her, but she didn’t bother to turn around. She kept going, and as they got closer to the dragon’s lair, the tunnel became littered with broken weapons. There were skeletons and piles of dusty treasure. She picked up a sword and it turned to dust.

  “Fallen dragon hunters and thieves from a bygone era,” Nova Terron said.

  Arkayna pointed at the glowing green light at the end of the tunnel. “The dragon’s lair…” she said, starting toward it. “I’m going in.”

  “I’m coming with you,” Nova Terron said. “We must fight as one if we wish to survive.”

  Arkayna just stared at him. “I’ll fight ‘as one’ to save the realm. But for your survival? Not a chance.”

  She started back down the tunnel, getting closer to the lair. There was a small ledge above the opening and she walked up to it to survey the scene. Dozens of green crystals floated near the ceiling, like little islands. An egg was perched on the center one, held up by shards of green rock.

&
nbsp; “It appears we’re not hunting a dragon,” Nova Terron said, “but rather its egg.”

  “The twins need to be united for the egg to spawn the dragon,” Arkayna realized.

  “Yes,” Nova Terron said, arching an eyebrow. “but if we destroy the egg—”

  Arkayna had a vision of the baby dragon that could hatch from that egg, and she was angry all over again. “Maybe that’s how you operate,” Arkayna snapped. “But not me. We take the egg and keep it safe from Necrafa.”

  “No, it must be destroyed,” Nova Terron argued. “It is the only way to prevent—”

  An evil laugh split the air. Arkayna and Nova Terron looked up to see Tazma and General Tibion, the leader of Necrafa’s spectres. When Necrafa returned to life, she transformed Tibion and his army of skeleton warriors into spectres—horrible winged monsters. With Tazma and Tibion perched on one of the crystal formations high above, the army of spectres couldn’t be far behind. “You can’t stop fate,” Tazma called out. “The end of days is inevitable!”

  Tazma shot a bolt of dark magic at Arkayna and Nova Terron, knocking them off their feet. Then Tazma flew up to retrieve the egg. Arkayna blasted her with a green fireball from her Dragon Staff, then tossed another bolt around Tazma’s ankle, throwing her off-course. As soon as she had a chance, she grabbed Nova Terron and rocketed him along with her to a crystal island high above.

  But Tibion was closing in on the egg. Nova Terron hit him with a blast of his full power, giving Arkayna an opening. She flew to the egg. It was so close … she could almost reach it.…

  Before she could grab it, Tibion shot his own blast of dark magic, sending her hurtling over the side of the crystal. Arkayna tried to climb back up, using all her might, but the rock was too slick.

  Nova Terron leapt up to get the egg, but Tazma shot dark shadow tendrils at him, tying him up. She raised him into the air in front of her and smiled. “Your time has come, ‘Star Master.’ And you, Dragon Mage,” she said, turning to Arkayna, “you’re a fool to think you can stop the Queen of the Undead.”