Mysticons: The Secret of the Fifth Mysticon Read online

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  In a time of darkness and blight, Mysticons will rise.…

  1

  In Which Mares Are Saved, Orcs Are Bashed, a Choice Is Made, and a Voice Is Heard

  As the Mysticons piled into the Stronghold, tired and elated and all talking at once, the first thing Em noticed was Doug. He and Malvaron, the Mysticons’ Astromancer mentor, were sprawled on the couch. Malvaron was watching Doug play Remembered Realms V: Rite of the Blood Queen on the Hex-Box. On Malvaron’s other side, Choko, Zarya’s pet foz, was snoozing peacefully.

  “Good shot, man, but you should be using your fire arrows, and aim for the beak,” Malvaron was saying. “That’s a frost roc, so you get double damage when—” Breaking off mid-sentence as he heard the four girls come in, he jumped up and whirled toward them. “How was Mare-Con? Tell me everything!” he instructed.

  Em saw Doug look over with a mixture of eagerness and regret, and right away she felt a tightness in her chest. “Doug,” she said, “I just want to say how much we appreciate you giving up your tickets to the Twinkly Mare convention so we all could get in. We know you were really looking forward to it, and—”

  “Oh my goblin,” Arkayna cut in. As she hurried over to Malvaron, the Mysticon magic surrounding her faded. Her staff dissolved into thin air, and her green-and-white Dragon Mage outfit transformed into her street clothes, revealing her as Princess Goodfey of Drake City. “You were right, Malvaron. Kymraw was totally ready to destroy the whole convention, not to mention hurt thousands of fans, just to get her hands on all two hundred of the limited-release Super-Sparkle Crystal Pegacorns.”

  Malvaron nodded in satisfaction. “I will never understand why that biker troll loves Twinkly Mares so much, but I knew she wouldn’t be able to resist.”

  “Yeah, and we were ready for her!” Piper chimed in, jumping up on the table and striking an action pose, her magical golden hoops held high over her head. “And we kicked her—” Suddenly she pulled up short and seemed to deflate. Her Mysticon Striker outfit shifted into her everyday clothes as she lowered her arms and plopped down to a cross-legged position. Even her pointed elf ears seemed to droop. “Well, first we had to wait for Kymraw to show up. That part was less fun, ’cause we were supposed to be all quiet and blending in and not touching all the toys.…”

  “You were having less fun?” Zarya snorted. “You weren’t disguised as the back half of a unicorn!”

  “Aw, come on, big Z,” said Piper. “You know you and Arkayna were the only ones tall enough for that costume. It’s human-size!”

  “And I would have taken the back and let you have the head,” Arkayna added. “But you did say that you didn’t care about seeing the convention.”

  “That is not what I meant!” Zarya flung her bow to the side, dismissing the magic that made her the Mysticon Ranger. Shoving her hands in the pockets of her newly revealed hoodie, she stomped over to the couch and flopped down between Doug and the still-sleeping Choko. The foz woke up with a squeak of protest. “Whoops, sorry,” she said, patting him. “I had a tough day.”

  Choko climbed onto her shoulder and chittered, wrapping his tail around her neck. He pointed to the screen, and Zarya immediately perked up. “Heeeey, Remembered Realms! This is just what I need! Doug, load up my save!”

  Doug’s single eye blinked in surprise. “Oh, uh … sure, Zarya.” He handed over the Hex-Box controller. “Here you go. But, uh—”

  “Sweet!” Zarya grabbed the controller, Choko jumped up onto her head, and they both leaned forward, immediately immersed.

  “As I was saying,” said Em pointedly, “Doug.” The big cyclops looked over at her. “We know how much you wanted to see the convention, and we all—” She looked at Zarya and Choko, deep in concentration on the game, then at Arkayna, relaying the highlights from the battle as Piper acted them out and Malvaron laughed. Em sighed and pressed on, reaching into her belt pouch. “We all wanted you to have this.” She fished around in the pouch, fingers skating past various magical orbs and dwarven tools. Finally she pulled out a horse figurine with wings and a twisted horn. The colors of its crystalline body seemed to change and shimmer in the light.

  Doug’s eye got huge. “Is … is that…?” He sprung off the couch and bounded over to Em. “Is that Glimmer Gust, the limited-release Super-Sparkle Crystal Pegacorn?!?”

  Em nodded, letting the pouch fade away with the rest of her Mysticon Knight outfit. She handed the horse toy to Doug, who accepted it reverently.

  “Wait!” Piper shouted, freezing in the middle of miming how one of Kymraw’s orcs got hopelessly tangled in a convention banner. “We got a Glimmer Gust? That’s fab-tacular! When did that happen?” She vaulted off the table and ran over to Doug. “Can I see it? Huh?”

  “Piper!” scolded Em. “It’s a present for Doug, since he had to miss the convention. And I just gave it to him.”

  “Oh! Right.” Piper backed off sheepishly. “Sorry, Doug.”

  Doug smiled down at her. “It’s okay. I’m just glad you all had fun and saved the day.”

  “Did we ever!” chirped Piper over her shoulder, already headed back to finish the story for Malvaron.

  “And we couldn’t have done it without you,” said Em.

  Doug shrugged awkwardly. “Aw, you would have figured something out. You always do.” He ducked his head, fiddling with the toy in his hands. “You’re the heroes, after all.”

  “No, really!” insisted Em. On impulse, she reached up to put her small dwarven hands over his large ones. “We only stopped Kymraw and her gang because of you. You gave us the tickets and described the whole layout of the convention so we knew exactly where to wait. You’re a hero, too.”

  Doug shrugged again, forcing a smile. “Thanks for saying that.” He held up the Pegacorn, and his grin became more genuine. “And thanks for this. So much. I’m gonna go find a place of honor for it.”

  Thoughtfully, Em watched him lumber off toward his room. Then she glanced at her bangle-phone and snapped to attention. “By the Hammer of Harmon, look how late it is!” she said.

  “Yeah,” chuckled Zarya from the couch. “Time flies when you’re bashing orcs.”

  “You’re on night patrol tonight, right, Em?” called Arkayna, her hands raised over her head as she acted out whacking Kymraw with her staff.

  “Yeah, I got it.” Em concentrated, and the magic washed over her once more. A pink mask appeared on her face, and her clothes transformed into the pink-and-purple armor of the Mysticon Knight. She gestured, and a large sword with a flame-shaped purple blade appeared in her hand. “See you all later.”

  Zarya gave a half-hearted wave from the couch, then swore as an enemy in the game surprised her. Choko chirped and shook his little paw at the screen, taunting the enemy on Zarya’s behalf. Arkayna had reached the end of her tale and was bowing elaborately while Malvaron clap
ped. None of them seemed to hear Em’s farewell. Piper, though, raised her head from her prone position on the floor, where she was playing the part of the freshly defeated Kymraw. “Bye-eeeeee!” she sang out.

  *

  A few hours later, Em was still flying over Drake City on her griffin, scanning for trouble. The lights of Magi Mall glowed beneath them, the stars twinkled above them, danger could lurk in any shadow … and Em couldn’t stop thinking about her conversation with Doug.

  “I mean, I know everyone likes Doug,” she mused to the griffin. “You like him, right, Topaz?”

  Topaz squawked noncommittally.

  “Well, okay, but you don’t not like him,” continued Em. “You just haven’t spent that much time with him. And that’s the point! We like him a lot, but we never try to make him a real part of the team. He just ends up hanging out in the Stronghold, helping Malvaron with stuff and making us snacks.”

  Topaz clacked her beak at the mention of food.

  “They’re great snacks, don’t get me wrong! And I know that we have our Mysticon powers, and Malvaron has his magic, and Doug … doesn’t have … any of those things. But, still! What do you think?” Em took a deep breath of the night air, then shook her head. “Wait, why am I asking you?” She patted the brown feathers on Topaz’s flank fondly. “I guess I just know what it’s like to feel like you’re a sidekick in someone else’s adventure. I hate to see him feeling left out.”

  “OUUUUUUUUT!” cried a girl’s voice that seemed to come from the sky. Em startled, almost tumbling off of Topaz’s back. The voice echoed and wavered strangely as it came again, louder than before. “LET ME OUUUUUUUUUUT!”

  2

  In Which Em Is Told Many Old Things and Jumps to a New Conclusion

  “Great goblins!” yelped Em. She grabbed for Topaz’s harness to steady herself, looking around wildly. Topaz craned her head around and stared at her rider.

  “Why are you giving me that look?” Em asked.

  The griffin snorted.

  “Didn’t you hear her?”

  Topaz shook her head, settling her feathers back into place.

  “But I—”

  “MYSTICON KNIGHT!” The voice seemed even closer now.

  “AAAAH!” Em shouted. She glared at Topaz. “I know you heard that.”

  Topaz twitched her shoulders in what Em could have sworn was a shrug.

  “MYSTICON KNIGHT!” shouted the voice, seeming to pierce directly into Em’s brain. “HALT AND ATTEND TO ME! I AM IN NEED OF YOUR AID!”

  “Gaaaaah!” Em covered her ears with her hands. “I’m attending, I’m attending! Do you have to need my aid so loudly?” She pulled on Topaz’s reins, and the confused griffin reluctantly slowed and hovered in place.

  “My apologies, Knight,” the voice said in a much more conversational tone, making Em sigh with relief. “It has been centuries since anyone was able to hear me, and since I spoke to anyone save myself.”

  “Oh, that’s sad, I’m sorry, you must—wait, centuries?” asked Em. “You sound like a girl. How old are you? And who are you? And where are you? Are you invisible? And why can’t my griffin hear you?” She glanced up and around, wincing. “That’s a lot of questions, sorry. I don’t mean to be rude. We don’t get a lot of shouty disembodied voices around here.”

  “Your curiosity is understandable, Knight. It is unsurprising that you do not know of me. That unfamiliarity is part of my sad tale. I will answer your questions in reverse order.”

  “Reverse order?” Em said, impressed. “Huh, I don’t even remember the last question I asked.”

  “Ahem. Your griffin cannot hear me for a simple reason: Your griffin is not a Mysticon. Also, I am not invisible. I am projecting my voice to you from worlds away, from my prison in the stars. A thousand years ago, a wicked curse befell the Mysticons. One of their own was taken from them, and all memory of her was magically erased. You asked who I am. I am that Mysticon, the one who was taken. I am the fifth Mysticon.”

  Em gasped. “What?!? The fifth? That’s … that’s a thing? How is that a thing?”

  “I realize this must be a shock to you. But I can prove what I say. Imani Firewing, the Mysticon Dragon Mage, is a very brave warrior.” The voice halted, then resumed more softly. “Was. She … was … very brave. I am sorry. I forget sometimes that a thousand years have passed, and all I knew is gone.” She continued, more briskly. “Regardless. Imani had a secret. She was deathly afraid … of foz.”

  Em had not been expecting that. “F-foz? The original Dragon Mage, leader of the Mysticons and wielder of the Star Dragon, had foz fear?”

  “Yes. She was deeply ashamed, and revealed her phobia only to her fellow Mysticons. We guarded this secret closely, as our enemies could easily have used it against us. The sole record of it is in the Codex. And even there it is disguised, saying that Imani prefers quiet, solitary contemplation during foz season. When you leave here, check the Codex, and you will see that what I say is true.”

  “Hey, I actually read that! I remember because it seemed so unlike her. So that’s why she didn’t like to go out during foz season! Huh!” Em took a deep breath as the implications hit her. “Oh my goblin. There are five Mysticons? There are five Mysticons! But that means … I don’t even know what that means! It means something for sure, though! Arkayna and Malvaron will know. We’ve gotta—” Then she caught herself, realizing something else. “You’ve been trapped for … so, so long. That’s awful. Why didn’t you call to us before? We could have helped you!”

  “My prison is held shut with a series of arcane puzzle-locks. No one in the realm is more expert with locks than I, and yet in a thousand years I was able to open only one. That loosened my bonds enough that I was able to call out to you tonight. My long study of the other locks leads me to believe that they can be opened by only the other four Mysticons working together. And you must hurry.”

  “Of course, we’ll free you as soon as we can! But … why are you so worried about time?” asked Em. “It’s already been a thousand years, like you said.”

  “And now we come to your very first question: How old am I? When I was imprisoned here, I was not much older than you are now, Knight. The prison separated my spirit from my body at that point. And while my spirit has endured, my body has long since faded. After so long, I can feel the rest of me beginning to fade as well. I would not end my time as a helpless prisoner, Mysticon Knight. I beg you, release me so that I may rest in peace, a free soul at last.”

  “Oh no,” Em murmured. “That’s so sad.…”

  “It will be a relief,” the voice said reassuringly. “And there is a boon in it for you as well. When I am released and pass on, the Mysticon magic bound to me will also be released. A new fifth Mysticon will be called to join you and your companions. Perhaps you already know the person who will be called.”

  “What? What do you mean?”

  “Do you know anyone who operates quietly, from the shadows?” The voice grew more proud, remembering her past accomplishments. “Someone who scouts ahead, so that you and the rest of your team always know exactly where to go? Who—”

  Em clapped her hands together, cutting the voice off. “Yes! DOUG! Doug is always helping us in the background, which is … shadowlike, right?”

  “Well…” replied the voice skeptically.

  Em charged over the voice’s hesitation. “And he never expects anything in return, which you could definitely say is quiet. He’s a quiet operator, for sure.”

  The voice hmmed doubtfully.

  But Em was on a roll. “Oh, and he told us all about Mare-Con, so we knew what to expect, just like a scout!” She put her hand to her brow as the revelation sunk in. “This is perfect. Doug could be the fifth Mysticon!”

  3

  In Which Much (but Not All) Is Found, and Most (but Not All) Are Convinced

  Em burst into the Stronghold to find Arkayna, Zarya, Piper, Malvaron, Doug, and Choko waiting for her in front of the monitor. “Good,” s
he panted, “you’re here.”

  “Of course we’re here!” said Piper, looking up from where she and Choko were playing with some toys on the floor. “You used your most-extra-serious voice when you called.”

  Em looked down at her. “Piper, why are Doug’s Gnomez 2 Men collectible action figures riding on Glimmer Gust’s back?”

  “They’re … going on an adventure together?” Piper swept the Twinkly Mare behind her with a guilty look. Taking the cue, Choko flopped down in front of the Gnomez 2 Men toys and spread his ears wide to hide them, blinking in fake innocence.

  “I said she could, Em,” Doug spoke up. “It’s cool.”

  Em sighed. “Doug, that was your pres—never mind. Never mind! There’s so much going on! A voice came from the sky, and she’s the spirit of the fifth Mysticon, and she knows stuff that only the original Mysticons would know, and a curse trapped her in the stars and made everyone forget about her, and we have to free her fast by opening a bunch of puzzle-locks, all the Mysticons together! And at the end”—Em paused, a little out of breath—“she told me we need to search the Codex for a spell to take us to someplace called ‘the Chillwaste.’ That’s where the locks are. So! Uh…”—she looked at her friends, who sat frozen, staring back at her with expressions that ranged from shock to incredulity—“what … do you think?”

  Zarya was the first to speak. “The Chillwaste, huh?”

  Choko squeaked dubiously, miming a shiver.

  “It’s an ice dimension,” said Em. “That’s all I know about it so far.”

  “It’s an ice dimension with puzzles!” Piper said. “I’m in!”

  “Hold on,” said Arkayna. “‘In’? No one is ‘in’ anything yet. I have a lot of questions.”

  “So do I,” agreed Malvaron.

  “Okay,” Em said, “we can ask her when we get there! Let’s find that spell!”

  “I think I’d rather ask her first,” Arkayna said. “Where were you when you heard the voice?”

  “Flying over Magi Mall, but—”

  “Arkayna’s right,” Malvaron said. “We need to know more before we go jumping around to ice dimensions.”

  “Well, uh, you won’t be able to hear the voice anyway,” Em explained. “Only Mysticons can hear her. Sorry.”