“Where’d she go?” asked Ben.
“Don’t know,” panted Mal. “But at least now we know that Camelot’s dragon wasn’t my mom.”
“For sure,” said Ben.
Mim must have discovered the entrance to the Catacombs, thought Mal, and she was using it to get her revenge on Merlin, who had bested her during their last battle by giving her the pox. The loony old witch was having fun wreaking havoc in Camelot and stealing food from Auradon. She must have told her granddaughter what she was doing. It’s a wonder Maddy hadn’t tried to escape to Auradon herself. Maybe she’d been too scared about getting lost down there; she knew the dangers from being in the Anti-Heroes club.
“Mmm, you look tasty!” Mim cackled as she turned into a crocodile and opened her jaws wide.
“GAH!” said Carlos as they ran away from her snapping teeth. Mim reared on her hind legs, her purple hair falling into her face.
“It was you!” cried Mal. “That pink-and-purple thing we saw in the tunnels earlier!”
“Cotton-candy tiger?” said Jay. “I take it back, she’s definitely scary!”
They barely got away from her, but Merlin soon came to their rescue. “You’re surrounded, Mim!” said Merlin, waving his wand. “The only way out of this tunnel is through me. Your place is on the Isle of the Lost! Surrender!”
“Never!” Mim shrieked, turning back into the fat purple dragon, fire spewing from her mouth. “I’ll never go back there! You can’t make me!” She shot a fireball at him, but Merlin transformed into a blue sparrow and flew away from her. But Mim deftly conjured a cage, trapping him.
“Some powerful wizard!” scoffed Mal. “Can’t he turn into something…I don’t know…scarier?”
“I read the history of Camelot,” said Carlos. “And when he battled Mim back when Arthur was a kid, Merlin did the same thing—Mim turned into ferocious creatures but Merlin fought her by turning into small and seemingly helpless animals like a rabbit and a turtle. Maybe it’s the way his magic works?”
There was no time to discuss further, as Mim was headed their way, ready to spew another fireball.
“No!” cried Ben, rushing forward, but Mim swatted him with her tail and he was thrown hard across the cavern, hitting the ground with a thump.
“BEN!” cried Mal. She started to run toward him, but Mim stomped in front of her, blocking the way. Then the dragon pushed forward, pressing Mal, Jay, Evie, and Carlos against the wall.
There was nowhere else to go.
“What do we do?” cried Evie. “She’s going to roast us!”
“Talismans?” said Jay. “If we use them to hurt someone, I have a feeling they’ll come to life again! I can use my cobra staff to hypnotize her!” he said, shaking his wooden stick.
“Or my ring to make her do what we want,” said Carlos.
“Poison is always good,” said Evie, removing the golden apple from her purse.
“Mal, you’ve got the Dragon’s Egg,” said Carlos. “You could command all the forces of hell.”
“Not until it hatches,” said Mal. “And the only way for it to hatch is if it sits under a dragon.”
“You mean you have to put it under Maleficent?” asked Evie.
“Maybe?” said Mal.
“Weird,” said Jay.
“But we have ours. Let’s use ours,” said Carlos, rather desperately, as Mim drew closer.
“No!” said Mal. “We can’t use our talismans! Don’t you see that’s what the evil in them wants us to do? If we use them like this, it would only make their power stronger. We’d be drawn to the magic…and we’d turn into our parents.”
“You’re right,” said Evie, putting away her talisman reluctantly as the boys agreed.
“Then brace yourselves,” said Carlos, “and prepare to be roasted.”
The four of them huddled together, seeking comfort in each other before the end, and the purple dragon reared back and opened its mouth. But before it could set them on fire, Ben appeared, holding a sword to the dragon’s heart.