“I haven’t seen a vision this spellbinding since I last checked my hair. Speaking of which—” He reached in his bag and pulled out one of his hand mirrors to check his reflection. His bag flopped open, and another mirror tilted out. “Just as I suspected—still perfect!” He flipped back his bangs and put his mirror down on the bench.
Faybelle held back a grin as she took his fake mirror and traded it for Snow White’s Booking Glass. “Excuse me, Daring. Gotta go. The, uh…” She looked him over and said, “The glare from your smile is blinding my view.” She had Snow White’s mirror and was off!
“I’m so handsome it’s almost a curse,” Daring said, waving as she stood to go. Just then, Snow White and the Evil Queen buzzed over the crowd. The backdraft knocked Faybelle over. She stumbled and dropped the mirror.
Daring helped her up. His foot bumped his bag and a third, identical mirror fell onto the ground. The real Booking Glass slid under the seats.
Daring picked up the fake mirror and handed it to Faybelle, saying, “You dropped this! Nice taste in mirrors, by the way.” He smiled, then stopped, curling his lips over his teeth. “Sorry, are you blinded?”
Faybelle shook her head, then grabbed the mirror and hurried away. Daring went to zip his backpack and found the other mirror beneath the seats. He spun it in his hands, but it looked exactly like the others. “Or was this her mirror?” he muttered. “Oh well, I have plenty! No matter…” He took a look at his reflection. “It’s what’s in it that counts!”
The Evil Queen paused in midair. She looked around and found Faybelle signaling her with glints of light reflected by the mirror. The Evil Queen nodded, reined in Nevermore, and, with a fancy flourish, landed by the podium. The crowd went wild!
Nevermore finally shook off Faybelle’s spell and shrank to dog size. She flew fast and furious, away from the Evil Queen and to Raven in the front row of the bleachers.
Daring sat down beside her. “Raven, I hate to say it, but your mom is kind of wicked amazing.”
Raven hugged Nevermore. “You’re half right.”
Snow landed her dragon directly on the sculpture of the light dragon. She gave Legend a little treat and then let her go off on her own.
“The teams will now take the field!” She rotated the giant hourglass above the dugout of her team.
The gates to the two dragon corrals opened, and the players marched out, leading the baby dragons on leashes. Some came along nicely, but others tugged back and had to be almost dragged along.
Sparrow Hood looked at the babies and, after the amazing show they’d just seen, shouted, “Boring! More queens!”
His voice was drowned out when the golden ball was fired into the air and holographic gems rose again. This time, the entire setup was merely a few inches above the ground.
Apple bounded forward, leading her baby dragon. Hers was the only light dragon on the Dark Team and was the best behaved of them all.
The ball rolled across the field. Apple’s dragon picked up the golden ball and looked up at her expectantly.
Sparrow changed his mind, saying, “Okay, this is adorable! Oooooooooh!”
“Do we get hextra points if our dragons are hextra cute?” Holly asked as the golden ball rolled in front of her. Her dragon jumped behind her leg, afraid of the ball.
Raven shook her head. This was one big, terrible day. She carried Nevermore out of the stands and down the stone steps into the corral, where there was a tunnel that went to the stables.
“Come on, Nevermore,” Raven said. “Let’s get you taken care of.”
The Evil Queen noticed Raven leaving and gestured for Faybelle to follow.
In the dragon stables, Raven tugged on a rope that opened a chute in the ceiling. Dragon chow flowed down into a communal dragon feeding trough.
“I don’t get you, Raven Queen.… If my mom were as wicked cool as yours,” Faybelle said, entering the stable, “I would do anything to be ruling at her side.”
Raven replied, “That’s how we’re different, Faybelle. I won’t do anything to please her. Especially not if it means my friends could get hurt.”
The two girls walked through the stables, the long food trough like a barrier between them. Faybelle secretly sprinkled a magic powder in the trough, coating the dragon’s food.
Nevermore finished eating, and Raven settled her dragon into her stall.
Faybelle looked at the food trough. The powder glittered with evil magic on the nuggets of chow. She smiled. Nevermore hadn’t eaten the charmed food, but the others surely would.
CHAPTER 13
Above the stables at the arena, the last grains of sand poured into the bottom of an hourglass. A buzzer sounded.
Over the whoops from the stands, Snow announced, “That’s it for the first half! Dragon riders, please take your beasts to the stables for refreshment.”
The players led their baby dragons down through the corrals and into the tunnels beneath the central bleachers. The baby dragons poked their heads into the food trough and started gobbling their meal.
Faybelle watched nearby. She called the Evil Queen on her MirrorPhone.
“The eagle has landed.…” Faybelle said when the queen picked up.
The queen had no clue what that meant. “Eagle? What eagle? What about the dragons? Did you feed them the growth formula?”
Faybelle peeked over her shoulder to see that the baby dragons were, in fact, growing! Oddly, not all their parts were growing at the same rate.… The girls in the stables gasped as some dragons suddenly had very long necks. Others, long legs. One got a very, very long tail.
Faybelle started to explain, “It was code—I—” Then she said, “Never mind. Yes.”
The formula worked!
“Hexcellent,” the Evil Queen said with a chuckle. “Then it is going to be a wild and wicked second half of the game.”
Snow stood at the top of the arena stairs between the corrals. “Time for round two!” she declared. “My subjects, trust your queen—if you think Dragon Games are exciting when the dragons are just babies, just you wait until they are big and—” The cheers of the crowd cut her off.
From the tunnels, full-sized dragons emerged with their riders on their backs! They moved past Snow White and onto the playing field.
Snow flipped around to look at the Evil Queen.
“What?” The Evil Queen looked back at her blankly. “Don’t look at me! I was right here the whole time!”
The students shouted, “Woo! Look at the size of them!”
“Magic rocks!”
“Whoever did this, we love you!”
“Mega dragon party!”
Snow looked nervous. Her two bodyguard dwarves came in for instructions.
As she leaned in to talk to them, the Evil Queen leaned in to listen.
“This is the work of powerful magic. We have to stop the game. These riders won’t be able to handle full-sized dragons.…” Snow started.
The Evil Queen stepped forward and threw Snow’s original words back at her. “What happened to ‘give the people what they want’?”
Snow listened to the crowd’s thunderous applause. Finally, she gave in. Taking the microphone from a dwarf, she announced, “You want Dragon Games? Here comes the second half of the game—bigger, better…”
Under her breath, the Evil Queen added, “And badder…”
Snow White instead said, “. . . and about to begin!”
The Evil Queen reached up to flip over the timekeeping hourglass. The buzzer sounded to mark the beginning of the second half.
The now-larger dragons began flapping their wings. There was a collective roar, and they lifted off, climbing higher and higher into the air.
Snow White brought her riders in for a huddle. The dragons loomed six feet above the ground in a circle around her.
“Have fun,” she told them.
The riders cheered.
On the other side of the arena, the Evil Queen was in her huddle, framed by
the gates of their corral. Faybelle stood beside her while Apple, Ashlynn, Maddie, and Melody hovered on dragonback.
“This isn’t just a game. You are to win by any means necessary,” the Evil Queen instructed her team.
“Huh?” Ashlynn replied.
The Evil Queen ignored her. “Victory is all that matters. Take your positions!”
The Light and Dark Teams hovered high over the field, facing each other. Two dragons were at the midfield line; one held back at the goal area. Apple’s dragon was snapping at Darling’s dragon.
Fairies on the scoreboard loaded zero cards for each side.
At the buzzer, the golden ball was launched into the air, and holographic jewels rose up from the ground, creating gemstone barriers at various places around the field.
The golden ball began to fall, when Melody zoomed ahead of Lizzie to grab it. She whispered into her dragon’s ear, and the dragon soared toward the midline, where Apple swooped in to receive the pass!
“Great catch!” Melody said. “Go for the ruby!”
Apple moved quickly and tagged it against the ruby, rubifying the ball. She dodged Darling’s dragon and—wham—Apple scored a goal!
The crowd cheered for the Dark Team!
More jewels shot up like a beaded curtain. One of the glittering jewels was blood-red. As Apple directed her dragon through it, the golden ball changed to a deep red.
“That’s worth ten points if I can get it in the goal!” she told herself.
Game on!
Glowing with the red ball’s light, Apple took off toward the Light Team’s hoop. She was about to score a goal when Darling sneaked up and grabbed the ball from her.
“Go, Darling!” Raven shouted from the stands.
Ashlynn and Melody closed in around Darling, trying to stop her. Lizzie broke in from behind. Darling tossed her the ball, and Lizzie touched it to a blue gem.
Darling took back the ball and was heading straight for the Dark Team’s goal. Apple glanced down and caught the Evil Queen’s eye. The queen nodded. Her expression told Apple to do anything to get that ball. Apple frowned but then rammed her dragon into Darling’s.
“Whoaaa!” Darling’s dragon spun upside down, knocking off Darling. She was close to the ground but fell hard and skidded across the grass.
“Oooh!” The crowd watched her go.
When Darling finally stopped, she held her ankle and waved for a medic. Coach Gingerbreadman whistled. “Time out!”
The medics took Darling off the field on a stretcher. Apple swooped down and hovered near the dark dragon sculpture, where the Evil Queen was waiting for her.
“People are getting hurt! My friends!” Apple said, bringing her dragon in close enough for the conversation to be private.
“A necessary evil,” the queen said simply. “Remember, we must get Raven to take the field for the plan to work!”
“You mean I get my Happily Ever After? You promised!” Apple reminded.
“What?” She seemed to have forgotten all about that, but then she said, “Oh yes.”
Apple accepted that and flew back to the game, ready to play.
Snow White and the school nurse leaned over Darling.
“I’m good, Coach. Put me back in.”
The nurse refused to consider her request. “No.”
“No?” Snow pressed her lips together. “We don’t have enough players. It’s over. We must forfeit the game to the Dark Team.”
The nurse put an ice pack on Darling’s ankle while Snow waved the rest of her team to a landing.
“What’s happening?” Raven asked Maddie, who was in the stands instead of in the game.
“Snow White is surrendering. Your mom will win.… The narrators told me so,” Maddie said, licking cotton candy off her fingers.
“She always wins! How does she always get her way? Someone’s got to be able to stop her!” Raven was mad.
“Yay! Ooh, ohh! I know this one… .” Maddie thought it was a quiz. She answered, “You.”
Back on the field, Snow approached the Evil Queen. “Because we do not have enough players to take the field, we surrender.”
Raven arrived just then, saying, “Light will have to play with a new rider!”
She was on Nevermore, dressed and ready.
“All according to plan.” The Evil Queen snickered.
CHAPTER 14
Daring was sitting comfortably in the stands, gazing into the Booking Glass. Next to him was his afternoon snack of cotton candy, popcorn, soda, and a hot dog. He pulled out a napkin from his backpack, and as he wrapped it around his neck, he noticed that the jewels on the mirror’s handle really shone in the light. “Oooh, these faux gems look so real,” he said. “They could use a polish, though.”
He took the napkin and began rubbing the gems, accidentally hitting the pattern that opened Mirrie and unlocked the mirror’s power. Not noticing the start-up chimes, he put the mirror down by his food and rubbed his hands together in hungry anticipation.
“Rapture! A delicious meal,” Daring said, licking his lips.
The mirror flashed magic, which struck the meal next to him as he leaned over to get another napkin out of his backpack.
“Capturing delicious meal.” Mirrie beeped.
Daring didn’t hear it. When he turned around, he exclaimed, “Oh, come on! Who took my cotton candy?”
His snack had been sent to the mirror prison.
The golden ball shot over the field. Raven grabbed it first, but Apple stole it. The ball went back and forth a few times through the floating, glowing jewels, which changed the color and point potential of the ball.
“Apple, it’s just us,” Raven said when they were alone.
“It’s our destiny, you against me,” Apple said. “Doesn’t this feel right?”
“Right? My mom is free, and Darling is hurt, Apple,” Raven said.
Apple had to agree. “I know. That wasn’t supposed to happen. For real. But don’t you want vengeance? Doesn’t your heart desire victory over me? Aren’t you angry?”
Raven gritted her teeth and clenched her fist. “Am I angry? Yeah, I am angry, Apple!”
“Good, follow your destiny!” Apple encouraged.
“I am angry that you don’t listen. I am angry that you say you’re my friend but are so… selfish. It’s all about what you want. What kind of friend refuses to listen?” Raven asked.
Apple felt teary. “I… I… just want our Happily Ever After.”
Raven passed Apple the ball. “Have it, be a winner, but I’m out. I am not playing any games anymore. All yours.” With a swift tug on Nevermore’s reins, she headed down to the corral.
“At least my mom will be proud of me!” Apple shouted to Raven before she charged to the goal and scored.
The crowd went crazy while the scorekeeper fairies loaded a thousand points on the Dark Team’s side of the board.
Apple flew straight to the Evil Queen. “It won’t work! Raven won’t turn evil!”
“She doesn’t have to. You see, that is the beauty. It is enough that others think she has. Head back in. I got this.”
When no one was looking, the Evil Queen cast a spell on Nevermore. “A smoldering pyre to a dragon flier, I summon forth uncontrollable fire!”
Raven flew Nevermore toward the school tower. “What has my mom done to Apple? How can she think—whoa!” Raven was concerned as Nevermore burped a rocket-engine blast of blue flame. When the dragon burped again, there was another shot of fire.
“Look! It’s Raven. Since she’s such a sore loser, she’s taking revenge by burning down the school!” Faybelle shouted, pointing.
With a big belch, Nevermore accidentally ignited the ivy on the outer wall of the school. Flames began to billow.
“Nevermore! No!” Raven took the dragon down toward the arena, where another wild burp set the roof of the stables on fire.
“You!” Snow White accused the Evil Queen. “You are up to your wicked ways again!”
&
nbsp; “Me? She’s on your team! I’ve learned that she is the one who made the dragons grow so big! Was that irresponsible act on your orders, too?” The Evil Queen shook her head in horror.
Snow was done! She whipped the magic mirror out of her purse and hit the jewels in the secret order. “Wake up, Mirrie! Capture the Evil Queen!”
Nothing.
Snow White smacked it against her hand. The cheap imitation mirror broke apart.
“Oh, were you looking for this?” The Evil Queen tapped the jewels on her own mirror. It also broke apart.
Daring saw the queens with their mirrors and said to himself, “Hey, I have one of those, too. Only mine is shinier. It captures my best side.” He rubbed the handle with his sleeve, accidentally pressing the jewels in the correct order and activating the mirror again. He gazed at himself in the glass, transfixed as usual. “Perhaps I should have my portrait done.… It would take quite the artiste to capture Daring Charming.”
“Capturing Daring Charming,” Mirrie said with a few beeps.
A second later, Daring vanished. The mirror fell to the ground.
“Cool!” Daring said from inside the glass. “A world of mirrors! Hey…” He looked all around. “Why can’t I see myself? I’m on the flipside of the mirrors? Nooooo.” But then he saw something that made him happy. “Oooh! My cotton candy!”
“The games are over. Take her,” the Evil Queen instructed her fake animal faculty to apprehend Snow White.
Raven watched her mother from the smoldering tower. “She did it! She took control of the entire school! What’s next?”
CHAPTER 15
Dragon Games Page 5