THE MYSTICONS STOOD silent. Tears streamed down Zarya’s cheeks. Then they heard a voice somewhere over their heads.
“Hey!” Piper said. “Why’s everyone crying? Wormy found her sisters.” She was standing on a ledge above them. She pointed down at the lava pit, where the worm swam happily with three others.
The other Mysticons realized the little jump the worm had made must’ve been Piper blasting out of the worm’s mouth at the last second. They had been so busy trying to prevent the worm from diving into the lava, they hadn’t noticed when Piper freed herself.
“Piper, I’m sorry I left,” Zarya said, wiping her cheeks. “I don’t know what I’d do without you. Without all of you.”
The Mysticons hugged each other tightly, grateful Piper wasn’t hurt. They were all together again, and they were strongest that way, working as a team to defeat evil.
But now that Dreadbane had the Dragon Disk and the third Codex piece, everything seemed so much scarier. How were they supposed to get them back? And what would the Astromancers do when they realized the Mysticons had lost them?
* * *
“You call yourselves Mysticons?” Nova Terron boomed. The heroes stood beside Malvaron, their heads hung low. They’d come to the Star Chamber in the Astromancer Academy to tell Nova Terron what had happened. “You let Dreadbane get the Dragon Disk, surely bringing about the start of the apocalypse.”
Gandobi, another Astromancer, said, “It’s just a matter of time before it reveals the last Codex piece, making Dreadbane that much more powerful.”
“This is a disaster of apocalyptic proportions,” Nova Terron said.
“Obsess about the apocalypse much?” Zarya muttered.
Arkayna stood her ground. “I urge the High Council not to lose faith in us. By the Star of Gygax, we will fix this. Nothing will stop us. Not Dreadbane, not Tazma, not even Necrafa herself, if she were alive.”
Nova Terron said, “From what I’ve seen, I highly doubt you can save this realm from—”
“Apocalypse?” Piper asked.
“I was going to say doom,” Nova Terron replied. “But I like your version better. You may go.”
The Mysticons turned to leave, but Nova Terron reached out his hand. He cast an energy sphere around Malvaron, trapping him there.
“Wait, what’s going on?” Em asked.
“You weren’t the only ones who failed,” Gandobi said. “Your Solon failed as well.”
“He will be punished,” Nova Terron said.
The girls looked at Malvaron, who seemed just as shocked as the Mysticons. He’d wanted to stop Dreadbane just as much as they had.
But he was determined to be brave. “Go,” he said, his eyes meeting Arkayna’s. “I’ll be fine.”
“We’ll fix this—I promise,” she replied. None of the girls wanted to leave him there, but what choice did they have?