THEY RAN DOWN a hallway, then another hallway, and finally stopped at a door Malvaron recognized. He was sure it was the one that led to the Celestial Forge. But there was no keyhole, just a facial-recognition lock. There was no way any of them would be cleared for access.
“It’s set to only recognize top-level Astromancers,” Malvaron said.
“Like that one?” Piper asked. There was an Astromancer turning down the hall toward them. The Mysticons hid behind their corner and studied her. She was wearing the same long, hooded cloak that Nova Terron wore. Zarya, Em, and Piper got ready to pounce. If they just knocked the Astromancer out, they could use her face to activate the system.
They jumped out right as she rounded the corner and tackled her.
“Hey! It’s me!” Arkayna pulled off her hood.
“Yay! You made it!” Piper said.
“How’d you get past Nova Terron?” Em asked.
“I distracted him. Got him hooked on this stupid video game,” she said.
“Wait, that’s it!” Zarya said, remembering the video game Doug had been playing nonstop. It was called Avatars of the Apocalypse. She projected an online player list from her bracer and started scrolling through it. “That stupid video game is going to get us through that door. I’m looking for Nova Terron’s profile, which will have his picture.… Got it. BrovaTerron1796.”
She stopped on a pic of Nova Terron and projected it in front of the facial-recognition lock. It scanned the picture, and the door swung open. The Mysticons rushed in and stared at the huge furnace covered in ancient runes.
“The Celestial Forge,” Em said in awe.
“Okay,” Malvaron said, moving quickly. “Put the Dragon Disk in the forge and let’s fire her up.”
Arkayna used an iron clamp to set the fake Dragon Disk into a vat of boiling gold. She and Malvaron stood above it as Em and the girls pumped the machinery to drive up the heat.
“Star of Gygax, now is the hour,” Malvaron said, pressing his hands against Arkayna’s and raising them to the ceiling.
“Imbue this Dragon Disk…,” Arkayna said.
“With your cosmic power!” they recited together.
A blast of starlight shot down through an opening in the ceiling and hit the Disk. The Disk hovered in the air, glowing with a brilliant light. “It’s working…,” Piper whispered.
Just then the doors burst open. Gandobi and Quasarla, two high-level Astromancers, ran in. Their faces were full of fear. “You fools!” Gandobi cried. “You’ve doomed us all!”
Startled, Arkayna and Malvaron turned to see what was happening. The energy they were generating shifted, and a thunderous sound filled the air. The Disk fell, splashing back into the liquid gold.
A huge rift opened in the sky above. It was swirling with a strange green light. Vicious stone gargoyles swarmed out of it, flying directly at the Star Chamber.
“By the Hammer of Harmon…,” Em muttered, watching the monsters in horror.
“Any idea how we seal this rift?” Arkayna called out.
“We will seal the rift,” Quasarla said. “You’ve done enough.”
“Astromancers, light up the sky!” Gandobi yelled. Several mages came into the room and lined up alongside Gandobi and Quasarla. Malvaron came down from the furnace and held his hands up with them. The Astromancers shot magic out of their palms, aiming all their energy up at the rift.
“You and Em protect the city,” Arkayna said to Zarya. “Piper and I will protect the Astromancers.”
Em called their griffins, Topaz and Archer, down from the sky. In a moment, she and Zarya took off toward Drake City.
Arkayna and Piper faced down the monsters pouring from the rift. Arkayna shot bolts from her staff and shattered a few, while Piper threw three hoops, one after the other. They broke a pack of gargoyles in two.
“It’s not working!” Malvaron yelled. The Astromancers were using all the power they had, and the rift hadn’t closed even an inch.