THE TWO GIRLS searched underneath the leg of a knight statue, seeing if there was anything there. Piper was about to search another statue when they saw a small army approaching in the distance.
“Get down!” Em shouted. She pulled Piper behind the statue’s shield.
Dreadbane and Tazma led their army to the carousel. The skeleton warriors were close behind, and Zarya, Arkayna, and Choko were their hostages. “The Codex piece is close…,” Tazma announced.
Piper wasn’t sure just how it had happened, but Tazma and Dreadbane must’ve realized they were looking for the Codex piece at the mall, and then stormed the place and captured the other Mysticons. What were she and Em supposed to do now? Could they really defeat Dreadbane’s army on their own?
The skeleton warriors tied Zarya, Choko, and Arkayna to a different statue, near the one Piper and Em were hiding behind. Meanwhile, Tazma repeated the riddle. “I stand alone within fiery bloom.”
“Perhaps if we set the room on fire, the Codex will reveal itself?” Dreadbane asked.
“What is it with you and setting things on fire?” Tazma asked. Then she paused, studying a statue across the way. “The statue with the flame brand…”
Tazma and Dreadbane started toward the statue, which was on the other side of the carousel. A group of skeleton warriors spread out, securing the perimeter. Zarya, Choko, and Arkayna were still tied up. There was another group of skeleton warriors surrounding them.
“We have to save them,” Em said.
Piper pointed to a manhole cover nearby. “I’ve got a perfect plan-y-poo.” There were a few similar manhole covers around the carousel.
Em smiled. “I like how you think, elf.” Just then her bracer chirped. It was Doug, Malvaron’s best friend. Being a Cyclops, he only had one eye. His main traits were his kind and gentle nature and his goofy sense of humor. He’d followed them to the mall to pick up a Twinkly Mare, a kid’s toy he claimed he was buying for a friend.
Em tried to silence Doug’s call, but it was too late—the skeleton warriors had already heard the bracer’s distinctive ring. “Not the best time, Doug!” Em muttered.
“What’s going on? Where are you?” Doug’s voice filled the air.
“I don’t have time to explain,” Em whispered. “But meet us at the carousel, now!”
Piper and Em dropped into the sewers before the skeleton warriors had time to see where the noise had come from. The two Mysticons sprinted through the maze of tunnels. Piper had figured out the captured Mysticons’ exact location—they were just a few feet above them. She tossed a sewer lid aside, and she and Em sprang up into the middle of a crowd of skeletons.
Before the skeletons could react, Em generated a force dome with her shield, locking Piper, herself, and the skeletons inside. Piper pulled out her hoops, ready for battle. The skeletons were trapped.
“You’re in trouble,” she said, smirking.
As the skeletons raised their swords, Em sliced at them with her Star Sword. A skeleton shattered and fell to the ground in a pile of bones. Piper jumped up in the air and split-kicked another two in the chest, sending them flying. Within moments, the skeletons had been defeated.
The force dome melted away around them, and Piper and Em rushed to the other two Mysticons. As Em cut them free with her sword, Zarya said, “Nice work.”
“Nice work?” Piper snapped. “Nice work, she says! If you had listened to me from the beginning, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”
“What do you want me to say? Sorry?” Zarya replied. “Your tantrum allowed an army of evil to storm the mall.”
“Guys, keep it down,” Arkayna said, glancing across the carousel, where Tazma and Dreadbane were standing by a statue. They were still trying to solve the riddle.
“Wait, that’s it!” Piper said, suddenly putting it together. She hugged Zarya. “I love you. You and your angry-wangry cheeks.” She pointed to the top of the carousel, which was decorated with a carved dragon lotus. “I stand alone within fiery bloom.”
“They built the carousel around the temple’s last remaining column,” Em said.
Piper somersaulted toward the carousel and leapt on top of it in one graceful motion. The stone dragon lotus was right in the center. She felt around its petals, seeing if she could find the Codex piece there. One of the petals was loose, so she tugged on it, and the whole flower rose up in front of her. It bloomed, and the second Codex piece lifted from inside it.
“It’s beautiful,” Piper said. She did a little victory dance. “I found it! I found the Codex piece!”
Tazma and Dreadbane spun around. All the skeleton warriors along the perimeter turned, too, staring at the Codex piece.
“Ooopsy…,” Piper mumbled.