“Merlin?” asked Ben. “Do you mind giving us a lift? Just this once?”

“If you could send me back to the Enchanted Wood,” said Grumpy, “it would save me a carriage ride.”

“I’ll be heading back to Camelot myself,” said Merlin as he shook everyone’s hands.

“You make a good king, Ben,” said Merlin. “And you were right in the end, we didn’t need magic to capture the dragon. Only diligence and courage, as you have shown.”

“Thank you,” said Ben. “That means a lot, coming from you. Although we did need magic to send her back to the Isle of the Lost, and to close that passage. And to go home.”

“Details, details,” said Merlin with a smile. “Who reads the fine print these days?”

“Will you give this back to Artie for me?” asked Ben, handing Merlin the sword.

“With pleasure,” said the old wizard with a smile.

“Bye, Merlin,” said Mal, and the rest of the group waved.

“Can we get going already?” asked Grumpy.

Merlin rolled up his sleeves. “Return everyone here to where they need to be,” said the wizard. Raising his wand for the last time, he sent them all back to where they belonged.

It was Sunday afternoon when they returned to school; the practice fields were quiet and empty, and students were taking advantage of their free time to read under the trees or lazily throw Frisbees across the lawn. Mal blinked at the sudden brightness and serenity, a stark contrast to the dark mine they’d just left. She was still holding the Dragon’s Egg tightly in her hand. She was about to put it away when she noticed something—at the edge of the purple was just a hint of green.

The Dragon’s Egg births a weapon. The most powerful talisman. Mal shuddered and stuffed the egg back in her pocket for now.

“Home safe,” said Ben. He thanked Mal, Jay, Carlos, and Evie for all their help, but he had to go back and meet with his councillors to update them on everything that happened.

“See you in a bit,” he said, giving Mal’s arm a squeeze.

“Not if I see you first,” said Mal, returning his smile.

Ben headed over to Beast Castle as they made their way back to the residence halls. It was almost impossible to believe they had been gone for less than a day, and the weekend wasn’t even over yet. It felt like they’d been in the Catacombs of Doom for a lifetime.

“Well,” said Carlos. “I guess that’s it for now.”

“Not quite,” said Mal. “We still need to figure out how we’re supposed to get rid of these talismans.”

Jay nodded. “Tomorrow.”

“I need a nap.” Evie yawned.

As they strolled back to the residence halls, they saw Audrey and Chad having a picnic under a tree while Jordan and Jane lounged on towels nearby. The Auradon kids waved when they saw them, and they stopped to say hello.

“Hey, Jay,” said Chad. “Sorry about…um…what happened with your eye the other day. And good game yesterday.”

“No worries, man,” said Jay. The two shook hands and Mal was just a tiny bit disappointed that Jay didn’t jump at the opportunity to steal Chad’s rather shiny wristwatch.

“Are you feeling better?” Jane asked Carlos worriedly. “You looked so sick at the dance last night.”

“Much better,” said Carlos, blushing. “Thanks.”

“Oh, Jordan,” said Jay. “About what happened in your lamp the other day, with the limousine keys. Sorry about that. I returned them to Ben, though.”

“It’s all right,” said Jordan. “I figured you must have needed them badly enough if you had to wish for them.”

“See you guys later,” said Mal. Evie looked like she was going to fall asleep standing up, and gave a limp wave with her fingers.

“I’m going to stay a bit,” said Carlos, taking a seat on a towel next to Jane.

“Me too,” said Jay, who was already lounging next to Jordan’s towel.

Mal and Evie exchanged meaningful smiles, but didn’t tease the boys. They’d save that for later. When they arrived in their room, both of them collapsed on their beds and slept until the alarm woke them up for school the next morning.

Before Mal headed to her classes, she had one more thing to do. She skipped breakfast and went straight to the room at the back of the library. The guards at the door didn’t recognize her, and there were a lot more of them this time.

“I need to get in there to see my mother!” she demanded.

“Sorry, King Ben said absolutely no visitors.”

“But I will make an exception this time,” said Ben, who had heard the ruckus and walked over to see what was happening.

“You’re up early,” said Mal.

“Tourney practice. Playoffs are next week,” said Ben. “What’s up? You wanted to see your mom?”

“Yeah,” said Mal.

“Let her through,” said Ben.

The two of them went inside, and Mal couldn’t help running ahead. She skidded to a stop in front of the domed pedestal.

Maleficent was missing.

The lizard was gone.

And there were only three people who could have taken her.

She gasped. Somehow, the villains had gotten past the guards! “What are we going to do?”

But Ben didn’t look alarmed. Instead, he looked sheepish and a bit embarrassed. “Mal, I have to show you something,” he said. He brought up a screen on his phone, which showed a lizard in a similar domed pedestal. “That’s a live feed.”

She looked at it. “But how? But that’s…”

“Maleficent. When I returned from Camelot, I had her moved from the library to the museum just in case someone tried to do something funny. She’s been there the whole time. She hasn’t changed or transformed at all, and she’s safe.”

“But all the guards?”

He looked abashed. “They’re there for show, but there’s nothing to guard.”

“And mother’s still just a lizard,” Mal said with a laugh.

“Just a lizard.” Ben smiled.

Later that day, Ben asked the four villain kids to meet with him to discuss the problem of the talismans. “Obviously, we can’t have them around,” he said.