Malvaron glared at Tazma. "Reverse this," he said. "Now."
Tazma laughed. "Now what would I do that?" Tazma asked.
Tears formed in Piper's eyes. "What do you have to gain from it?"
Tamza thought for a moment, then smirked. "If news gets out that I am more of a threat to the Mysticons then Necrafa herself, people will do anything to stay on my side. I will become more powerful than you could imagine."
Arkayna looked Malvaron, Doug, Piper, and Em. "Em, you and Malvaron keep doing research. Piper and Doug, you're with me."
Piper nodded and summoned her hoop as she left the book. Em repositioned the book, allowing herself to get a better look at the pages now that she was the sole person reading it. Arkayna readied her staff as well. Kitty pulled out her whip, and Kasey grabbed his swords.
"I don't know who you are," Queen Goodfey said as she left the couch, and prepared to fight. "But if you think for one second that I would let take advantage of my daughter's condition, you have another thing coming."
King Darius said nothing, but pulled out his rapier and pointed it at Tazma. Arkayna looked at Gawayne, wondering if he would also join the fight. She couldn't help but roll her eyes as her stepbrother ran out of the stronghold.
Arkayna turned her attention back on Tazma. "Do you really think you're a match for us?"
Tazma smirked as her left wrist moved slightly. Out of the corner of her eye, Arkayna saw a shadow creature disappear and emerge from behind Kasey. Before Arkayna could utter out a warning, the shadow creature knocked Kasey to the ground, his sword making a clang as it hit the floor.
"Kasey!" Kitty cried out.
"I'm fine," Kasey said as he slowly got up. Tazma lunged for the sword, but so did Kasey. Both of them grabbed the sword's handle at the same time, and immediately started trying to pry the sword out of the other person's hands. Doug leaped out of the way just as the sword would have hit his abdomen, and Arkayna saw Kasey's grip loosen as he looked at the cyclopses. A golden hoop flow through the sky, hitting Tazma right in the head. This made Tazma loosen her grip on the sword, giving Kasey the perfect opportunity to kick Tazma before pulling his sword away from her.
"Nice work," Kasey said.
"You fools," Tazma said. "That was just a taste of my powers."
"Be careful," Queen Goodfey warned. "Her shadow creatures could pop up anywhere."
Arkayna glared at Tazma. It didn't matter what tricks the blonde haired mage pulled. There was no way that Tazma was going to ruin their chance to save Zarya,
Arkayna used her staff to blast an energy bolt at Tazma. The blast hit Tazma just as Tazma fired an energy blast at Piper. Arkayna knocked Tazma back a far bit, but not before Tazma's energy blast hit Piper, sending the elf straight into the wall with a loud thud.
"Piper!" Em cried out.
"Look at the pretty griffins," Piper said as she wobbled. She shook her head as she regained her balance. She shook her head as she regained her balance. "Don't worry about me." Piper said to Em.
Em gave one more look at Piper before turning back to her research. Arkayna frowned. She knew the dwarf wanted to help with the fight, using her shield to protect herself and others like she always does. However, she also seemed to know that her role was to help find a way to save Zarya, and that she had to trust the others could handle themselves.
"Arkayna!" Queen Goodfey called out, snapping Arkayna out of her thoughts. She then felt something scratch her, and jumped forward. She turned around, only to find a shadow creature standing there, preparing another attack. Just as the shadow creature raised his hand in order to scratch Arkayna again, Arkayna used her staff to blast an energy beam at the creature, making it vanish.
Arkayna saw Proxima look into the living room, her eyes wide as she saw the fight.
"We'll take care of this," King Darius called out. "Just focus on the potion."
Proxima nodded and continue her work. Tazma smirked as she levitated to the study. Out of the corner of her eye, Arkayna saw Kitty jump from the back of the couch, cracking her whip towards Tazma. The whip wrapped around Tazma's ankle just as she was about to reach the study. Kitty landed on the floor, making Tazma hit the floor hard as she landed near Kitty.
King Darius tried to pierce through a spectre with his rapier, only to the shadow to change shape as soon as the rapier would come in contact with the creature's chest. "It's no use," King Darius said. "Non-magical weapons have no effect on these things."
"Arkayna, you and Piper handle the shadow creatures," Queen Goodfey said. "We'll handle Tazma."
Arkayna nodded, turning away in order to hide her frown. The shadow creatures, while capable of vanishing, were still easier than Tazma. She wanted the people trained to fight to go after the shadow mage. But as those with non-magical weapons couldn't hit the spectres, it was up to Arkayna and Em to do do.
Piper hit two spectres with her pixie blast before the third one in front of the elf disappeared. "Where did it go?" Piper asked.
Arkayna saw a shadow creature going to the study and shot an energy beam at it. After a few hits, the creature disappeared. She felt something behind her, and felt turned around, Another spectre was right there, and Arkayna instinctively raised her staff to block the creature's attack. While the staff did manage to block the majority of the attack, the spectre did manage to knock the staff out of Arkayna's hands, sending it just slightly out of her reach,
Arkayna saw Em raise the book she was holding, and smiled. She knew that it was Em's quiet way to saw that she found something to help Zarya. Her smile disappeared when she saw a smile form on Tazma's face, and Tazma moving her wrists slightly.
Arkayna tuned back to look at Em and Malvaron. The one remaining shadow creature formed right in front of Em, who was rushing towards Zarya.
Knowing she didn't have any time to retrieve her staff, Arkayna summoned her bracer and pointed it at the spectre. "Unleash the dragon!" Arkayna called out. A green dragon emerged from the bracer, destroying the spectre. Em dropped the spellbook, startled.
Malvaron picked up the book, and looked at the page Em was on. "Help someone out of live and energy." He read. "Let this spell restore vitality."
Zarya slowly opened her eyes, but the dark lines remained. "What's going on?" She asked.
Arkayna hurried to Zarya, Queen Goodfey right behind. As she got closer, she realized how small of an impact the spell had. While it did help revive her a bit, Zarya seemed to be ready to slip back into unconsciousness at any second.
Piper looked at Zarya, and then at Tazma. The young elf had a look of rage on her face as she raised her hand and an orange bracer appeared on her wrist.
"Fly, Phoenix, fly!" Piper said. An orange Phoenix emerged from the bracer, hitting Tazma and sending her flying across the room.
As soon as Tazma stood up, Doug grabbed the shadow mage. Her arms were held tightly to her sides.
"I'll get the royal guards," King Darius said, With that, he left.
Malvaron's hands glowed with power as he approached Tazma. "You think that people will fear you because of this, and that will give you power, but you're wrong. No matter what happens to Zarya, you will never win, and the citizens will know." Tazma didn't say anything, so Malvaron continued. "I almost feel bad for you. You could have had friends and support, but now you're alone."
"Even if I wanted to reverse it, there's a chance it wouldn't work," Tazma said. "The curse is behaving differently, so it may not recognize me as the original caster."
Arkayna frowned, trying to decide whether or not Tazma is telling the truth. She looked at Em, trusting the dwarf's judgement about other people. Em just looked between Tazma and Malvaron, clearly unsure of Tazma's intentions as well.
Just then, Proxima, Nova Terron, and Aunt Yaga entered the stronghold. Aunt Yaga was holding a vial of green liquid. "We have the potion," Proxima said.