“Clever,” said Yen Sid. “I’m sure your talents at thievery were helpful in that area.”

Jay beamed. “I guess so.”

“Although we ran into Prince Ben and he let us take the car anyway,” reminded Mal, rolling her eyes at Jay for taking all the credit.

“Yes, Ben was always a progressive thinker,” agreed Yen Sid. “And you are all well, I take it? Enjoying life on Auradon?”

“Yes, sir,” said Evie. “Very much so.”

The professor stroked his long gray beard. “Excellent, excellent. Do give Fairy Godmother my regards when you see her next.”

Evie promised to do so. “By the way, Professor, does my mother know you’re here in our basement? Is she part of this?”

Yen Sid chuckled. “Everything will be explained in time.”

Mal was fidgeting and looked impatient, and Carlos knew she was eager to put an end to this chitchat, but Yen Sid seemed determined to keep the conversation light.

“How are the Knights doing this season?” he asked the boys.

“So far we’re five and one,” said Jay. “We’ve won all our games except a loss to a strong team from the Imperial Academy. Li Shang doesn’t mess around.”

“In my day, the Olympus team was the force to be reckoned with—always difficult to beat the gods,” Yen Sid said, looking nostalgic at the memory.

“They still have a strong lineup, but a lot of the god kids enroll at Auradon Prep now, so maybe that’s why,” said Jay.

Carlos finished his cake and was bursting with curiosity. He couldn’t keep it inside anymore. “So, Professor, come on, tell us, what is this whole Anti-Heroes thing all about?”

“I can certainly explain,” Yen Sid exclaimed jovially. “After all, I founded it.”

In the past, the only way to get to Neverland was to fly. Just like the Isle of the Lost, there had been no usable bridge connecting the tiny island to the mainland, so the fairy court used to leave a bottle of fairy dust at the dock. Then visitors would sprinkle it on themselves while thinking happy thoughts, lifting into the air and floating to Neverland. When Ben was little, he had loved to travel by fairy dust, but when King Beast and Fairy Godmother decided that even this magic was against Auradon policy, a proper bridge was built.

Even so, Ben couldn’t help feeling a bit disappointed that he wouldn’t be flying anywhere that day.

He dropped Chad off at school and was in Neverland by midafternoon, driving across the bridge and onto the winding, curvy roads of the hilly island. He thought he was following the map correctly, but it looked like he’d taken a wrong turn somewhere, and instead of arriving at the fairy homestead, he found himself parked next to a group of tepees.

Ben left the car to ask for directions. There weren’t that many other people around, and Tiger Peony, Tiger Lily’s daughter, was the first person he encountered.

“Hey, Ben,” she said, when she saw him. “Come to gloat?”

“Excuse me?” he asked, before realizing she meant the tourney game that Neverland’s team had lost the day before. “Yeah, sorry about that. Lost Boys played hard.”

“Everyone’s bummed,” she said. “Mom’s already sworn to train a bunch of new recruits. What are you doing here?”

“I’m headed to Fairy Vale,” Ben said, “and I got lost. Can you show me the right way?”

“Sure,” she said. “Are you here about the dragon?”

Ben stopped. “How do you know?”

“Everyone knows. It’s Maleficent, isn’t it?”

“Actually we don’t know for sure,” he said. “That’s why I’m here.”

Tiger Peony seemed to think that was a reasonable answer, and didn’t ask anything more. She pointed back down to the forest. “You just make a left at the waterfall instead of a right, and the road should take you straight to the Great Oak in the vale. They’ll be waiting for you.”

The fairies lived in a thousand-year-old oak tree that was as large and roomy inside as any royal palace in the kingdom. They flitted about, their wings buzzing, excited to greet Ben, their laughter like the sound of tiny little bells ringing. Faylinn Chime, a tiny fairy who had golden hair and translucent wings, greeted Ben with a smile.

“What can we do for you, Ben?” she asked.

“The three good fairies sent me. They said you might be able to help me with a problem we’re having,” he said, taking a seat at a large oak table that was carved right from the tree.

“We heard about Camelot’s dragon,” she said, her voice grave. “Is the creature still at large?”

Ben nodded. “And if I’m right, it was just in Charmington this morning.” He removed his handkerchief and showed them the purple scale from the chicken coop. “Do you know what this could be from?” He handed it over as gently as possible.

Faylinn picked up the scale and showed it to the other fairies. “Looks like a serpent of some sort,” she said.

He held her gaze. “I need to know if it’s from Maleficent.”

She considered his request. “We can check the archives. We fairies have cataloged every kind of creature across every kingdom in Auradon, so if it’s from Maleficent, we’ll be able to tell you for sure,” she said, putting the scale back in the handkerchief and motioning to the fairy next to her. “Take this to Lexi Rose, and have her run a few tests to see if it matches anything we have in our database.”

“Thank you,” said Ben.

“I’m glad you’re here,” said Faylinn, “because we were just discussing whether to come to you with what we’ve found.”

“Oh, what’s up?”

“Ben, I don’t know if the three good fairies or Merlin have told you, but here in Neverland, we fairies are very sensitive to fluctuations in the atmosphere and the world around us. I’ve heard that in Auradon, you have been experiencing a series of earthquakes, is that right?”

“Yes, and aftershocks too.”

“We’ve been having terrible weather, storms from the coast out of season, as well as giant waves crashing on our shores.”

“Yes, all around Auradon, the weather’s been acting strangely. I just heard it snowed in Northern Wei, and hailed in Goodly Point,” he said. “Scientists hope it just means winter’s coming early.”