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.”