"Dooouuuggg," sang Evie as she stalked down the corridor toward his hiding spot. "Wheeerrreee areee yooouuuu? Come out of hiding, you little coward, and let's talk!"
Doug had his eyes squeezed shut in pain as he felt frantically for something to stop the bleeding. His back was on fire and he could feel the blood trickling between his fingers. He knew he had only moments before Evie found him and he'd have no way of warding her off. Not even mentioning Morgana who had to have almost caught up by now. How was he supposed to stop two villains alone? Where are the others when I need them?
"You thought I loved you?" Evie hissed in a voice very unlike her. "Me. The daughter of Evil Queen. In love with a pathetic dwarf like you?" She laughed wickedly. There was a flash of orange and a large chunk of rock near his head was blown away. "Who could love you? You're not rich, or handsome, or a prince! You are a nobody. Always have been. Always will be."
Doug held his breath, grimacing as the clack of Evie's boots drew nearer and nearer. He scanned the darkness surrounding him, hoping desperately to find something to use as a weapon. Nothing! There has to be something! There has to be! His mind was spinning, trying to come up with a plan of attack. But all he could think were the words being carved into his brain. Pathetic. Useless. Nobody. "You're not the real Evie!" he yelled back into the darkness. "The real Evie loves me! And I love her! She'd never say the things you are!"
Another blast. Inches away now. This was followed by a merciless laugh. Doug slid back, gasping with every movement. He had to escape. Escape or fight. And the second option was out of the question entirely. He could go further into the mines. Would that help? His screaming claustrophobic brain said no. His instincts said yes. He had to do something. And fast. Evie was almost to him.
"I never gave a grain of salt about you," Evie went on in the same tone. "You were just an easy way to hide my true self. Oh, let Mal and the others be good if they want. Evil is the only way to win. I thought you'd know that by now. Heroism has no place in this world, neither do insignificant dwarfs who want to play make-believe!" She reached his corner at last and, as though knowing his location the entire time, she whipped around and fired another orange ball of magic.
Doug had no time to dodge. The magic struck him in the chest and he went tumbling across the cold stone floor. His nerves felt like fire but still, he struggled to stand up and face down the taller girl. "Evie," he gasped, holding out a shaking but defensive hand. "Please...please..."
Evie cackled as she raised a glowing hand to her face thoughtfully. "Hmmm, now why does that sound familiar? Oh!" she snapped her fingers. "I know! My mother when your father chased her over that cliff! Dopey didn't give my mother any mercy. Why should I show any to you?"
"Because you're my true love," Doug breathed softly. Evie hadn't moved to attack him yet. That was good. A little bit of an improvement. But Evie was far from convinced. She looked...amused...more than anything else. "Because you love Auradon. You don't want to destroy it. And our friends. If you rule Auradon, what will happen to the others?"
Something flickered in Evie's expressionless eyes. Was he actually getting through to her? "Evie?" he whispered, pulling himself into a sitting position and gazing into her eyes hopefully. "Evie, are you in there? Evie?"
Evie blinked and lurched back with a cry of agony. Doug moved quickly to catch her. "Evie!"
She groaned, slowly opening her eyes and looking up at him. "Do...ug?"
He smiled in relief. "Evie." He pulled her into a tight hug. " I thought I'd lost you...that Morgana's magic was too strong. But I should have known better. There is too much good in you to let a villain make you do anything."
Evie took a short, raspy breath. "Doug..."
"Yes, Evie?"
"I'm not good."
He never saw it coming. One minute he was holding her close, the next, he was blown backward by a tremendous eruption of power. His head collided with the ceiling and the world started to swirl into darkness before his body even hit the floor. His muscles were reacting in slow motion as he struggled to stand back up. What is she doing? Is Morgana controlling her? Is this a spell?
Or is she right and this just her true self surfacing after all this time?
There was a clatter as Evie drew her sword and charged at him. Thinking fast, he brought a hand up and concentrated on summoning his magic. A faint green shield flickered to life around his arm. The sword came swinging down on his wrist and, instead of dismembering him, it simply bounced off of his arm as though hitting metal.
"What?" Evie screamed, whipping the sword around once more. Doug rolled to the side and held up his arm again, countering the attack. "You fool! You've barely scratched the surface of your powers! You think a few of Merlin's little magic tricks can protect you? I've had years of practice."
"Morgana..." Doug breathed. She didn't turn! It's Morgana! She's controlling her!
Evie spread her arms dramatically. "Of course! Who else? You see, I thought Queenie might try to betray me. So, I led her to the Dragon Ring. And she brought it to you. Funny how that worked out, huh? Too bad the girl had to be so grabby. Oh well, I still win. And, this way, I can make sure there are no mistakes!" She brought the sword swinging down again.
Doug yelled, dropping to one knee and throwing his arms over his head quickly. He felt his magic shaking. He hadn't learned how to hold on to his powers for long periods of time. The shield spell was all he knew...and even that wouldn't protect him forever. The blade crashed against his shield and he felt the jar rush through his entire body as he was driven down into his other knee, the strength behind the blow staggering. This wasn't Evie's strength. She was strong...but nothing like this. He wasn't strong enough to defeat her, not like this. There was only one way he could get out of this alive...and that was the spelled bluenette before him.
"Evie!" he gasped. "Evie, please! If you're in there somewhere, fight her! I can't do this on my own!"
The weight of the sword suddenly lessened. Doug chanced a glance up and stared at what he saw. Evie fell back with a grunt, nearly collapsing, her eyes wide and full of fear. "Doug..." she gasped as she grabbed a crevice to sturdy herself. "Help...me..."
She opened her mouth to say more but Morgana seemed to take control of her once more. A chilling laugh flooded the caverns, and black smoke filed in through the corridors. Doug scrambled backward in terror, knowing what was about to follow.
Sure enough, the red-headed witch appeared from the smoke, her eyes flashing dangerously as she sized up Doug who was busy getting to his feet and preparing to run for it. "Not so fast," she hissed, holding out a hand. The earth gave a mighty shake and boulders tumbled down into the corridor, filling in Doug's escape route and leaving him trapped with the two villains who were both intent on ending him. "Hello, NeoMerlin."
"Hi," Doug whispered, his gaze darting around frantically for some way to escape, even though his mind was screaming that there was no way out. "Look," he began desperately . "Isn't there a way we could...talk about this? I'm not really big on fighting. Ask anyone. More of a words kinda guy, you know?"
Morgana stared at him dangerously. She was clearly not interested in anything he had to say. But he had to do something, didn't he? He couldn't just let Evie remain Morgana's prisoner forever. So, he did something incredibly stupid, something Evie would probably kill him for.
"Let Evie go," he demanded, pointing at the bluenette. "Let her go...and take me instead." He heard his own trembling voice and felt his knees knocking as he slowly looked over his lenses at the witch. "It's me you want, isn't it? Me and my powers?" He held up the Dragon Ring and handed it to a motionless Evie. "This is the only key I have to my past," he told her. "Please. When you are normal again, find my mother. Tell her that I still love her."
Morgana sneered. "Very well. The girl is yours." She waved a ghostly hand before Evie's face. The girl gasped and blinked, the life coming back to her eyes.
" Doug... " she coughed. "What have you done?"
He only looked at her sadly. "What I had to. The world needs you, Evie. You can make a difference out there, for so many people. But I'm not like you. I'm only the dopey sidekick who gets in the way."
" No... " Evie breathed, shaking her head, horrified. "Doug, no..." She tried to step toward him but Morgana stopped her.
"A deal is a deal," she hissed. "A soul for a soul." Her eyes were firmly fixed on Doug 's lowered gaze and the dark magic began to pulse around her.
Doug cried out as the pain raged through his brain and he stumbled, clutching his head and falling to the ground. Morgana's cruel laugh flooded through his mind as he hit the floor. Dark thoughts echoed in his heart and the last thing he heard was Evie's frantic screams.
Then, the darkness consumed him and he surrendered to the evil.
***
"Is everybody okay?" Mal roared as the others appeared, one by one, from the rubble. Ben and Jay were supporting a stunned Carlos and Queenie was shielding the younger VKs. Mal dropped to the ground, ignoring the pain in her side from where the spell had hit as she quickly transformed back and ran to join the others. Squeaky and Squirmy immediately latched on to her, while Celia pretended not to care, and Dizzy began searching frantically.
"Evie? Where's Evie?"
The others looked around at this. "Evie?" Carlos called warily.
"Evie! " Ben roared.
"Guys, she's out there somewhere!" Carlos exclaimed. "And Doug's missing too! We have to go after them! They might need our help!" He immediately set off toward the trees.
"Carlos! Wait!" Jay suddenly grabbed Carlos' arm. "I see someone...it's Evie!"
"What?" Mal wheeled around, following his gaze. Sure enough, there was the girl, running at them at a breakneck pace. By her tear-stained face, it was evident something was wrong. And then, Mal realized, Doug wasn't with her. Oh no.
"Evie!" everyone cried, running to meet her. Dizzy was the first to reach her and threw her arms around Evil Queen's daughter.
"Hey, Diz," Evie whispered, her voice breaking.
"Evie, what happened? Where's Doug?" Mal demanded.
Her best friend could hardly contain her tears as she held up her hand. On it was Doug's Dragon Ring. "He sacrificed himself," she choked out. "Morgana spelled me. Doug traded himself to save me."
"Evie, I'm glad you're okay, of course," Ben spoke up. He glanced toward Mal. "But if Morgana has Doug... "
"Then she also has his powers and we could be looking at a disaster of Armageddon proportions," Mal finished.
Even as she spoke, the darkened skies grew even blacker as the distant thunder grew louder. Mal sighed. "Come on," she told the others, beginning to pick her way out of the debris and rubble. "Let's go."
"What's the plan?" Carlos questioned as he raced to catch up.
"Well, there are only two places nearby Morgana could take Doug. She'll need to perform a spell before she gets his magic. She needs a big open area...a field or a meadow...something like that."
"Well, there's always the courtyard at Ben's," Jay suggested.
"No...I don't think so. Somewhere bigger. Morgana always was a bit of a show-off."
"Fairy Meadow, " Ben said. "It's the biggest place around."
Mal nodded. "All right. That's gotta be it. Let's get moving, everyone. We have a dwarf to save."