Return to the Isle of the Lost (25 page)

His head screamed at him to run….

But his heart…His heart told him to stay and fight, that even if he was deathly afraid, he had to find a way to get the ring away from her. He had to prove to himself that he was brave enough, and that he
was
enough.

“Still here? Go and tell your friends to leave this place forever,” ordered Cruella.

“No,” said Carlos. “Not without that ring.”

Gathering the last of his courage, he tackled his mother and struggled for the ring, finally pulling it off her finger and placing it on his own.

He felt the rush of power from the talisman shoot through him.

Cruella cackled with glee. “Go ahead, then, use it on me. Destroy me. With that ring you can obliterate me forever. Tell me to throw myself off this roof and I’ll do it. Isn’t that what you want? Isn’t that what you have always wanted?”

Carlos felt the ring throb in his hands. He could destroy his mother, rid the world of another villain, and stop having nightmares once and for all.

“Do it!” Cruella cackled. “Do it, boy!”

He raised his hand, pointing the ring right at her. Then he dropped his arm down with a sigh. “No, I can’t. I’m better than that,” Carlos said, turning on his heel and heading for the elevator.
I’m better than you, Mother. No matter what you’ve always told me.

Suddenly he was standing outside the House of Horrors, and Jay, Mal, and Evie were looking at him, concerned.

“What happened?” he asked.

“You came out of the building in a trance,” said Mal.

“The ring…” Carlos muttered. He opened his fist. The jewel had turned a dull green, its power abated for now. “It wanted me to destroy her,” he said. “But she wasn’t actually there. It was just a vision, just the ring trying to scare me, to make me mad.”

“Yep, sounds about right,” said Jay. “These talismans must get more power that way.”

Carlos nodded and put the ring away in his pocket. Three down. One Dragon’s Egg to go.

They looked around for a hidden doorway, but found none. “We could try this,” said Carlos, motioning to the revolving door that led back to the House of Horrors. “It’s the only door around here that’s open. It might be the only way out of here. And from the looks of it, the city is melting!” He yelped as the sidewalk beneath them began to crack.

“Let’s go!” yelled Mal. She rushed through the revolving door, and the rest of them hurriedly did the same.

W
hen she pushed through the door, Mal wasn’t in the House of Horrors. She wasn’t even in a city anymore. Instead, a dark, foreboding mountain loomed in the distance. Lightning crackled in the sky and vultures circled above.

“Maleficent Mountain,” she said, when the rest of the team arrived. “Over there.” According to the map, Doom Crag lay at the very top of the mountain, where a dragon had made its nest.

“Ouch, that looks like a climb,” said Jay.

“You guys know the drill. Only I have to go,” said Mal. “Don’t worry.”

“No,” said Carlos. “We’ll all go. Remember what the professor said? You don’t have to do this alone.”

“But this is my talisman,” said Mal. “And all of you had to get yours alone.”

“We’re going with you,” said Evie. “At least until the talisman stops us. No arguments.”

“You’re not getting rid of us,” said Jay. “That’s how this whole ‘having friends’ thing works, remember?”

“Fine,” said Mal. “Let’s go, then.”

They trudged through the dead land, air thick with smoke. Sizzling green slime bubbled through cracks in the dirt, and they helped each other over the acrid puddles. Mal soldiered on as Evie groaned and complained that her head still hurt from the poison, and Jay was subdued, probably thinking of the riches he’d rejected. Carlos was definitely still shell-shocked from seeing his mother; real or not, that woman was terrifying.

They were united in their silence. The Dragon’s Egg was the greatest of all the talismans and its mistress would have the forces of hell at her command.

“You know, the Dragon’s Eye in the scepter isn’t an actual eye. It just looks like one. It’s really a dragon’s egg,” said Mal.

“Why isn’t it called the Dragon’s Egg scepter, then?” asked Carlos.

“Duh, because Dragon’s Eye sounds way cooler,” said Jay.

“Yeah, I guess so,” said Carlos.

“So is there a dragon here?” asked Evie, looking around fearfully.

“Let’s hope not,” Carlos said.

“You guys can wait here,” said Mal. “The mountain won’t let you any closer than this.”

She began to climb, reaching for a foothold and pulling herself up.

But when Jay put a hand on the mountainside, it didn’t push him away, and it didn’t reject Carlos or Evie either. When Mal looked down, she was slightly disappointed to find they were climbing right behind her.

Is it because the talisman thinks I’m weak? she wondered.

With that disconcerting thought, she kept climbing, her friends right behind her.

W
hen they reached the top of Doom Crag, they discovered the dragon’s nest was the size of a small boat. Its burned and blackened branches were twisted and packed tightly, and there was no sign of an egg anywhere. Mal began to search, getting down on her knees, and the rest of the team did the same, combing through every inch of the foul space.

“It’s not here,” said Mal, frustrated.

“It has to be,” said Evie.

“Maybe they got here before us and found it. Cruella, Jafar, and Evil Queen, I mean,” said Jay. “They are supposed to be wandering around down here in the Catacombs, right?”

“Maybe that’s why we were all able to climb the mountain,” said Mal. She’d scratched her palm on the way up, and she pinched it, trying to stop the blood. “Because the talisman’s gone.”

“No!” said Carlos. “It has to be here. If they’d found it, this mountain wouldn’t be here. Remember what happened in the other places? They started to disintegrate once we recovered the talismans. Keep looking.”

Mal searched again, but bumped into Evie, who fell back on Carlos, who tripped over Jay. “There’s not enough space for all four of us,” Mal complained. “You guys need to leave. You’re not helping. Maybe it won’t show itself to me because you’re all here,” she said crossly.

“Are you sure?” said Evie.

“I’m sure,” said Mal.

“Fine,” said Jay. “If she doesn’t want us here, we don’t need to be here. And this place gives me the creeps.”

“But the professor said…” Carlos began.

“He’s not here now, is he? He’s not the one who had to climb this mountain and look for this egg. Get out of here!” Mal shouted.

Carlos, Evie, and Jay exchanged looks with each other. Mal glared at them until, one by one, they climbed out of the nest and began to make their way down the mountain.

Mal didn’t need anyone, she never had. Okay, maybe the four of them had stood together when Maleficent was defeated, but come on, in the end, everyone knew that it was Mal’s will that had broken her mother’s and reduced the dragon to the size of a lizard.

Although Mal’s heart felt small right then, thinking of her friends descending the mountain without her, she couldn’t let it stop her. She covered every inch of the nest, and on the third time through the muck, she saw something out of the corner of her eye. Something small and purple.

“Aha!” she said, reaching for it. But Mal had been expecting a green egg, like in the Dragon’s Eye scepter. Why was this one purple?

Only when it hatches does it turn green,
a voice answered, as if it could read her thoughts.
The Dragon’s Egg does not birth a dragon, but a weapon.

Okay, whatever, thought Mal, stuffing the egg in her jacket. At least that was done. She’d recovered her talisman just fine without anyone’s help. Maybe the professor was wrong about her quest; after all, the old guy didn’t know everything, right?

She stood at the edge of the nest, ready to head down, when a vulture shrieked from above. She startled, losing her balance, and fell over the edge, just barely holding on to a branch at the very bottom of the nest. Her legs kicked wildly in the air.

Great, she was about to fall off a cliff, and she’d gotten rid of the only people who could have helped her. Why did she always insist on doing everything alone?

Her hands were starting to burn.

She was an idiot, that’s why, and she couldn’t hold on much longer!

You’ve held on this long, haven’t you?

She had the blood of a dragon, just like her mother.

Don’t you?

Her fingers felt like they were starting to fall off.

She was Mal, daughter of Maleficent. Her mom had given her only part of her name, saying she hadn’t earned the rest of it yet. But maybe she didn’t want her full name at all. Maybe she didn’t want to be Maleficent. Maybe she was completely fine with just being herself, being Mal.

Aren’t you? Isn’t that the whole point?

Who else are you supposed to be?

One hand slipped off the branch, and dirt began falling into her eyes as the roots tore off from the cliff.

Maleficent would never admit to needing or wanting anyone, and had been transformed into a lizard because she didn’t have enough love in her heart. But Mal was not her mother. While she was stubborn, and way too proud, she was very different from Maleficent. And right now she wasn’t ashamed to admit when she was wrong.

Now she was only holding on by one hand. The branch was ripping out of the cliff face. She could be falling in moments.

You’re wrong. You’ve never been more wrong—

Evie, Jay, and Carlos needed to discover their own strength and so they had to face their quests for their talismans alone. Mal didn’t have to be tested that way, because she already knew that she was strong. But what she didn’t know until now, dangling over the edge, was that as strong as she was, she could always use a hand.

Literally.

Maybe that was my test after all—

Strength didn’t have to mean facing danger alone. Strength came from trust, and friendship, and loyalty. Plus, Yen Sid was right, this wasn’t just her burden to bear, it was theirs too. She hoped her friends were still there.

“You guys! Help!” she yelled. “I need help!”

She kept screaming until she saw their faces peering down at her from the nest above. “Mal! We’re coming!” said Evie.

Carlos held Evie’s feet as she was lowered down, with Jay as the anchor. Ever so slowly, and ever so carefully, they dragged Mal back to safety.

Mal could barely catch her breath, and her throat still hurt from screaming. Her hands were cut and scratched.

But she was alive.

“Thanks, guys. For saving my life and everything.”

“Did you find the egg?” said Carlos, when they were all back inside the nest again.

Mal held up the purple oval that was hard as stone. “Yep.”

“Why is it purple?”

“It still has to hatch,” said Mal. “But let’s get out of here before this mountain completely collapses or something.”

As if it heard her, the mountain began to rumble and shake, slowly disappearing back into nothingness now that its purpose had been served and its talisman taken.

N
o new doorway appeared in the side of the mountain after Mal had retrieved the Dragon’s Egg. She was still a bit dazed from the near-death experience as they climbed back down the mountain.