“WHEN THE TWIN stars unite, the spectral beast will take flight!” Necrafa said, repeating lines from the prophecy. She waited for the dragon’s egg to hatch, but after a few minutes the magic fizzled out. Proxima and Arkayna just stayed there, tied to the stone pillars, with the egg in between them.
“What … what happened?” Necrafa asked, staring down at her hands.
Proxima smiled. “It appears the evil lich hit a glitch.”
“Ouch! Dragon buuuurrrrrn,” Arkayna said.
“Watch your tongues!” Tazma hissed. Before Tazma could go on, Necrafa caught her in a web of red magic. The queen’s servant was tied up and helpless. “Please … I don’t know what happened,” Tazma said. “The prophecy said—”
“You will come with me,” Necrafa ordered Tazma. She flew down the tunnel, dragging Tazma behind her. She turned to General Tibion as she left. “You—guard them.”
Arkayna and Proxima watched as Necrafa and Tazma disappeared down the tunnel. More spectres came in to join Tibion. Arkayna struggled to break free of her bonds, but they were too tight. It was starting to feel hopeless.
After a long while, Proxima turned to her. “You were a Mysticon this whole time?”
“I wanted to tell you, I really did,” Arkayna said.
“Well, you should have!” Proxima said.
Arkayna wanted to defend herself. They’d barely had any time together before Proxima was kidnapped. When was she supposed to have explained her secret identity? What was she supposed to say? Yeah, by the way, I’m also the Dragon Mage … and that Princess Arkayna you spent the day with while I was at the orphanage? That was actually Choko. Sorry if he peed on anything.
Suddenly Arkayna realized Proxima was staring at something down the tunnel. Arkayna followed her gaze and saw that Piper and Em were hiding behind some rocks, ready to strike.
Proxima gave Arkayna a look that said, Play along. Then she said, “I trusted you, but you didn’t feel like you could trust me.”
“Give her a break, Proxima,” Zarya said from the floor, where she was still tied up. “It ain’t easy being a Mysticon.”
“Oh, shut it, Mysticon Ranger,” Proxima snapped.
“Don’t talk to her like that!” Arkayna said.
“And this was your plan?” Proxima continued. “Coming to rescue me, thereby putting the whole realm in jeopardy?”
“Meow, cat fight!” Tibion said. “Settle in, boys, this is going to be good.…”
Arkayna couldn’t help but smile. “Yes, it is.”
“Why are you smiling?” Tibion asked. “The only reason … would be if this whole argument was … a distraction!”
Just then one of Em’s magic orbs hit him in the head, knocking him out. Piper rushed in and threw her Energy Hoops at the other spectres. They went flying into the wall. Em cut Zarya free, and Zarya used her arrows to break the bonds that held Proxima and Arkayna. They both fell to the ground.
Arkayna stood up and tried to steady herself. Even though she was free of Necrafa’s magic, she still felt very strange. Energy pulsed through her, and she didn’t feel like she could step away from the stone pillar.
“Are you okay?” Em asked.
“I’ll be fine…” Arkayna said. She turned to Proxima. Zarya had caught her before she hit the ground. “Nice acting, sis.”
“Did I sound believable?” Proxima asked. “I was so nervous.”
“You were worried about your acting?” Zarya leaned against the pillar. “You were captured by Necrafa!”
Zarya went to step forward, but she couldn’t. The green, swirling energy returned, tying her to the stone column. Arkayna was frozen, too. The energy surged through her and up the pillar. She squeezed her eyes shut, unable to move.
The rest of the Mysticons were blown back by the sudden force of the dragon’s egg. Arkayna screamed. She couldn’t see or hear anything anymore. The energy was so strong it had completely taken her over.
High above them, the egg trembled. Energy swirled around it. The top of it cracked, and the dragon emerged. The force finally released Zarya and Arkayna. They were thrown forward, off the two pillars, and hit the ground hard.
When Arkayna raised her head, she couldn’t believe what she was looking at. Standing in front of them was a two-headed dragon, three times bigger than they were, breathing green fire out of its mouth.
“The Spectral Dragon!” she said, her eyes wide with fear.