The black cat glared at them from outside the force field.

Azari whispered to Emily. “How are we going to get out of here?”

Emily didn’t know. This was worse than the nightmare that brought her to Elvendale. Her head hurt and she felt like she was going to cry. They couldn’t let the elf witch win. There had to be a way …

Emily’s mind started to clear. “Aira’s here. We can do something!” A plan began to form. “Let’s combine everyone’s magic again! There’s more of us now. Here—hold hands.”

“Emily’s right—let’s kick some witch butt together!” Farran said. He took Aira’s hand, and they all formed a chain, facing the witch.

“On three,” Azari said, and counted down. They raised their hands together.

The air sparked with magic. A powerful beam of white light shot from them … and pierced the force field.

“Yes!” Emily cried, relieved. They leapt through one by one.

Unfortunately, the force field only stayed open long enough for Emily and the elves to rush through—the dragons, the Sky Captain, and the trainer were still trapped. But Emily felt the power shifting. She followed Azari toward the elf witch.

The witch blasted them with a bolt of magical lightning. “You fools! Just surrender now, and stop wasting my time.”

With their powers combined, the elves managed to deflect the blast. But Emily knew they couldn’t go on like this.

“The medallion,” the Dragon Trainer shouted to her from beyond the force field. She recalled what he’d said to her at the school. “You have a very important role in reuniting elves and dragons …”

Energized, Emily stepped out in front of the others.

“Stop!” Aira cried.

But Emily didn’t turn back. She walked straight at the witch, her medallion glowing turquoise and gold.

When the witch blasted magic right at her, she didn’t flinch. She thought about her mom, her dad, Grandmother, her friends, the dragons … the love she had for them made her strong and brave. She fiercely wanted to protect the dragons and her friends, and do what was needed to keep them all safe. She stepped closer and closer to the elf witch.

This time, the witch looked truly afraid. Emily held the medallion high above her head. The dragon queen roared, and magic burst through Emily’s medallion.

The elves began cautiously approaching as it was clear the witch was losing strength. Emily glanced up and saw the chandelier directly above her and the witch. It swayed and glowed an eerie light. Then Emily spotted a chain leading down from the fixture to the wall.

Now was her chance to trap the witch! She ran to where the chain was attached and gave it a huge kick.

“Aaaaaaaaiiieiieeee!” the witch’s voice resonated through the entire castle as the chandelier fell, trapping her in her own force field.

“Emily, look out!” the Sky Captain shouted as the chandelier exploded. The cat scampered to safety, but the witch shrieked as she turned into a cloud of sparkling green dust. The dust cloud was clearly trying to escape, and zoomed around the room—everyone stood frozen in place, afraid to interfere. Finally, the dust zipped out through an open window.

The witch’s magic dissolved with a hiss of smoke. All the force fields disappeared, and the dragon queen’s chain burst open. Everyone was free!

As the babies rushed to their mother, Emily and the elves ran toward the dragons, hugging their enormous legs with joy.

They’d done it!