Jaiden drew her dagger and backed up. Her blade clashed with Adira's high in the air. The woman pushed her down, forcing her to her knees.
Then, she suddenly released Jaiden and whirled around. Jaiden looked to see her dad backing away, completely unarmed. He walked right into the amber and pressed against it as Adira came toward him, her sword raised high…
"Dad!" Jaiden shouted. As soon as he glanced at her, she threw the dagger up into the air. She held her breath as it sailed over Adira's head, nearing her dad as he reached up to grab it.
He snatched it out of the air and brought it down in time to meet the sword. Jaiden watched, spellbound, as the two blades clashed again and again, filling the room with their metallic sound.
Jaiden shook herself out of a sort of trance. She wasn't helping anybody just kneeling here paralyzed. She pushed herself to her feet and glanced frantically around the room for something, anything she could use as a weapon. She saw nothing.
She did notice a bag hanging from Adira's shoulder. She recognized it as Varian's bag. As she watched, the strap broke, and it fell to the ground.
She tried to run toward it, thinking there might be something in there she could use, but before she could move, her father was in front of her, pressing her back and away from Adira. She drew her breath in as her back hit a corner. She pressed against the two walls, her dad standing in front of her, using her dagger.
Then Adira struck his arm. The dagger flew out of his hand and went skittering across the room.
Arnwaldo glanced up at Adira and spread his arms protectively in front of Jaiden. Adira raised her sword above them.
Then something hit the back of her head, and she fell over unconscious.
Jaiden looked up to see Varian standing there, a red chemical ball in his hand and a confident smile on his face.
Rapunzel heard Eugene sigh for the twenty-third time (she was actually keeping track). To be honest, she didn't blame him. She had been sitting like this for she guessed half an hour, trying and failing to think of an escape plan. She was still waiting for that burst of inspiration when Eugene sighed for the twenty-fourth time and then said, "You got any ideas yet, Sunshine? Because I still got nothing."
Now it was her turn to sigh. "No," she said simply. "What about you, Pascal?" there was no answer from the little chameleon. "Pascal?"
She glanced over. Then her eyes widened. The cage door was hanging open, and Pascal was nowhere to be seen.
"He escaped!" she exclaimed to Eugene.
Then they heard a squeaking sound above their heads. They glanced up and grinned.
Pascal was shoving the cork back into the vial of green liquid. He looked down and gave them a thumbs-up.
"Nice going, Frog!" Eugene called out.
Pascal finally got the cork in.
"We can move now!" Rapunzel said happily. She struggled to her feet. The vial tipped but didn't spill. Eugene followed her.
"Okay, Blondie," Eugene said. "Now how do we get out of these ropes?"
Pascal squeaked again, jumping onto Rapunzel's shoulder. He scrambled down and painstakingly untied the knot.
Rapunzel sighed in relief as the ropes fell away. "Thank you, Pascal," she said, pulling the chameleon close to her face. "How did you get out of the cage?"
He held up his tail. It was scratched red and raw, but he seemed proud. Rapunzel didn't know what to make of his actions until Eugene spoke up, "He picked the lock with the end of his tail."
Rapunzel had nearly forgotten Eugene was still tied up. She gave Pascal a hug, then put him on her shoulder and began to untie Eugene.
Once he was free, he shrugged away the ropes and said to Pascal, "You're the real hero here, Frog."
Pascal shrugged modestly.
"Okay," Rapunzel said, as Eugene crossed the room to retrieve their weapons, which were in the corner. "Now what are we going to do?"
"Get out of here," Eugene replied, handing her her frying pan, "and find the others."
He put his hand on the doorknob and pulled. Then he muttered something angrily under his breath.
"It's locked."
"Oh, come on!" Rapunzel exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. "Can you pick locks or not?"
"Well, the thing is, my lockpick fell out of my pocket a while back," he said hesitantly.
"So now what are we gonna-"
Rapunzel broke off, staring at the door handle. Eugene followed her gaze and his eyes widened.
The handle was shaking slightly, as if it were being tugged at from the outside. The two of them slowly backed away. Eugene raised his sword and Rapunzel hefted her frying pan.
The door swung open, revealing Lance standing there with a hairpin in his hand.
"Lance!" Eugene exclaimed.
"Hey, Eugene," Lance said casually. "Long time no see."
"What are you doing here?" Rapunzel asked.
"Rescuing you," a different voice piped up. Jaiden stepped out from behind her dad and smiled.
"Jaiden!" Rapunzel grinned.
"And I'm not the only one," Jaiden said as someone else stepped into view.
"Varian!" They both gasped.
He tipped an imaginary hat, only to find himself with a faceful of blonde hair. He grinned and hugged Rapunzel back.
"Cass told us you were encased in amber," Eugene said.
"Yeah, well, I was," Varian said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"But how-"
"Jaiden," Varian cut Rapunzel off. "She used the decay incantation and freed me."
All eyes turned to Jaiden who shrugged and laughed an embarrassed little laugh. "Guilty."
A sound down the hall made them all turn. Another crash, and a door along the corridor burst open. Four fully armed Brotherhood members charged through and down the hall.
"Of course," Eugene muttered, rolling his eyes as they dashed through a nearby doorway.