THE SHADOW MAGES were already on the train. There were six of them now, all making their way toward the Codex piece—ahead of the Mysticons. Arkayna kept her eyes on the Codex and struggled to hang on as the train sped on wires high above the city.
“I’ve got this,” Arkayna said as she launched a fire bolt at one of the Shadow Mages. She’d aimed well, but then the train changed directions, and the fire bolt zoomed past the mages. Arkayna struggled to keep her balance.
“You sure?” Zarya challenged. She launched arrows, blasting two mages off the train. “That’s one you owe me, Dragon Mage.”
Before Arkayna could reply, the four remaining mages turned on the Mysticons, ready for battle.
“How did these guys know the Codex piece was in the statue?” Em asked as she brought her sword down again and again, fighting off the mages.
“Yeah, fishy…” Piper flipped backward, avoiding a blast of dark energy. Then she crouched low and kicked at a mage. “Very fishy.”
“Can we please focus on getting the Codex back?” Arkayna said, fighting off her own mage.
One of the Shadow Mages dove for the Codex piece, and Zarya blasted the mage back. But the energy was so strong that both the mage and the Codex piece went flying off the train, down to a passing train below. Arkayna didn’t hesitate. She jumped through the air and just barely caught the other train. She clung to the back of it as it barreled off in another direction, leaving her without her team.
“Arkayna!” Em shouted after her. “Why does she keep doing that?”
Using all her strength, Arkayna pulled herself onto the top of the train. She grabbed the Codex piece and held it high in the air. “I got it!” she called out. “I got the first piece!”
She turned back to show the others, but a Shadow Mage was right behind her. Its long, sharp claws reached out for her. It pulled its arm back, about to slice her in two, when poof! It disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
Arkayna looked up at Tazma, who was floating above the speeding train. Arkayna had never been so grateful to see someone in her entire life. “Tazma,” she said. “Thank you.”
The other three Mysticons landed on the top of the train with their griffins, whom they’d summoned once they’d realized Arkayna was in danger. They were happy to see Tazma, too. It finally seemed like the battle had turned in their favor.
“No,” Tazma said. “Thank you, Dragon Mage. You have been … my greatest student.”
She threw her head back and let out an evil laugh. Then she snatched the Codex piece out of Arkayna’s hands. Long, dark tendrils rose up around the Mysticons, wrapping them and their griffins in Tazma’s dark magic. Arkayna struggled to get free, but she couldn’t. “What’s … what’s going on? Tazma?” she asked helplessly.
Black smoke and dark energy swirled around Tazma as she transformed into an evil mage. “Tazma Grimm,” she said, introducing herself. “Mistress of the Shadows.”
“This was all just a game for you?” Arkayna asked. “You helped me so you could betray me?”
“Nothing personal, Dragon Mage,” Tazma said. “But I toiled for years under the Astromancers. Slaved away for nothing. Now I have the power. And I’ll destroy them before the very eyes of their sacred heroes.”
Piper raised one eyebrow. “You can’t tell, but I’m making a rude elfin hand gesture right now.”
Tazma waved her hand, casting a spell that sent the train in another direction. “It was a pleasure being your Solon,” she said. And then she leapt into the shadows below.
Arkayna looked up in horror, realizing what was happening. Another train was now barreling toward them, and Malvaron, Tazma’s brother, was chained to the front of it. If they didn’t do something fast, they all were toast.
“We’ve got to rescue Malvaron,” Arkayna said.
Zarya stared down at the dark coils that were tied tight around them. “These make it kind of difficult.…”
“I’ve got this,” Arkayna said. She summoned her Dragon Staff so that it appeared under the tendrils, cutting her free. She quickly used it to free the other Mysticons.
“Now we owe you one,” Zarya said.
But their train was still speeding toward certain doom. Zarya jumped up, firing an arrow at Malvaron’s chains. They broke, and he began to plummet to the street far below.
His train was still coming for them, though. The Mysticons watched in horror as it sped closer and closer.