Uma sneered and drew herself up again, her tentacles reaching out for Mal, but Mal flew back, using her wings to push herself through the water and narrowly avoiding being caught in Uma’s grasp.
Uma spun, transformed back into her human form, and lurched away from Mal. Mal swam, chasing Uma, but Uma kept disappearing, changing from a squid to an octopus to a girl, darting into coral reefs and then transforming back into a humongous sea creature. She’s trying to lead me somewhere, thought Mal. But where? And why?
Then Uma was back on the deck of the pirate ship, appearing suddenly in her human form and wielding a sword. Mal transformed back as well and landed on the ship. There on the ground was a discarded sword, and Mal lunged for it and grasped it in her hands. She faced Uma, her blade raised.
“So, we’re doing this?” asked Mal.
“Oh, it’s on,” vowed Uma.
They battled up and down the deck, steel against steel.
“Just give me the key,” said Uma. “And I’ll let you go.”
“You’re not holding me anywhere,” said Mal.
“One word and you’ll drown,” threatened Uma.
“Say it then!” said Mal. “Do it!”
Uma backed away as Mal relentlessly pushed forward, slashing and fighting so strongly that she forced Uma to drop her weapon.
Mal brought her sword under Uma’s chin. “Are we done now?” she growled. But Uma suddenly disappeared, and her image appeared in a golden mirror that materialized on the deck.
Uma laughed at Mal’s confusion.
Then Mal was back on the deck of the sunken pirate ship, standing in front of a door with a brass handle.
“UMA! FACE ME!” Mal demanded, reaching for the handle as the ocean reverberated with Uma’s laughter.
t was impossible to imagine that Evil Queen’s castle could appear scarier and more foreboding than it already was, but somehow, it had managed to pull off this feat. It loomed above the crag, its dark tower rising to the skies. Evie remembered her lonely childhood spent inside its confines, her only company a mother obsessed with outward appearances. Evie knew every cosmetic trick, every fashion tip, but had been bereft of true support and affection. But this was no time for bad memories or a pity party. Mal was lost under the ocean, trapped by some evil force, and they had to help her.
The VKs made their way toward the castle, fighting through a row of hedges and vines that surrounded its walls. “Ouch,” said Jay, as he pulled a particularly large barb from his leg.
“Sorry,” said Evie. “Mom prefers thorns and cuts off the roses.”
“Of course,” said Carlos. “Why are we here again?”
“If there’s wicked magic on the Isle, then we need to fight it with similarly strong magic. And there’s no magic stronger than in my mom’s Magic Mirror.”
“Isn’t it broken?” asked Carlos.
“The glass is broken, and I have a tiny shard of it in my compact. But the frame still stands, and something tells me the glass was mostly for display. It’s made of magic. And if there’s magic on the Isle, it’ll work.”
They reached the drawbridge, passed over the moat, and stood in front of the main door. Evie felt in her pockets for the key and realized she’d left it back in her room on Auradon. She hadn’t planned on visiting home.
“Guys, I have bad news,” she told them. “I didn’t bring the key.”
“What now?” asked Carlos.
“Break in? Can’t be that hard,” said Jay with a shrug.
Evie shook her head. “Mom has massive security on this thing. Remember? This isn’t Auradon. If we pick the lock and open the door without the right key, a steel trap will spring, and we’ll all fall into a basement full of hungry alligators.” It was the Evil Queen’s castle, after all.
“Okay, so let’s not do that,” Carlos said with a shudder.
“Mom keeps a spare key in the vultures’ nest, over there,” Evie said, motioning to a ledge high in the air where they could just make out a shadow of a large bird’s nest.
“Easy enough to climb,” said Jay, starting to find a foothold in the castle walls.