"I still can't believe nobody saw you guys sneaking out of the Cave earlier," Darb said.
Zann and his friends were sitting at the campsite, a little apart from the adults.
Dinner had ended an hour ago, and people were beginning to crawl into their tents for the night.
Gliss nodded. "You're lucky you escaped in time.
Why'd you pull such a risky stunt, anyway?"
Zann shot her a look. "I wanted to see my parents any way I could, since somebody stopped me from searching for them through the wormhole."
Gliss turned away, stung by Zann's remark.
"Zann, that was mean!" Perda whispered. Darb just frowned.
Zann felt a twinge of guilt, though he didn't say anything.
He knew Gliss was right. He, Perda, and Zing had barely made it out of range before the Sealing spell had blocked off that section of the Cave.
"I didn't expect Venna to give in so quickly," Perda said.
"I thought we'd have more time in the Cave."
Darb shrugged. "What could she do? She got outvoted."
Zann didn't pay much attention as the others continued to discuss the matter.
Venna had turned over the relics she'd collected to Tok.
He was supposed to take them deep into an unsealed section of the Cave tonight.
Then that section would be sealed off in the morning.
Seeing his parents' message had left Zann feeling restless.
Could the reference to World X, whatever that was, be a clue?
His parents had sounded eager to find the place.
Would they have tried to find their way there, knowing they might not make it back to Magica?
Zann was still surprised that his parents had known Wyssa.
Why hadn't Wyssa told him that? Maybe Teplo was right—maybe Zann couldn't trust anything she said.
"It doesn't matter," he thought. "I can't search for my parents way out here in the middle of nowhere.
And we'll probably head right back to Swamp Bottom once the Cave is sealed."
He sighed with frustration and then stood up.
"I'm tired," he told his friends. "I'm going to sleep."
Zann woke abruptly from a confusing dream about his parents.
All he could remember was swirling magic and a strong sense of danger.
He sat up and looked around. The camp was dark and still. He'd been asleep for hours.
At first Zann assumed the dream had awakened him.
Then he heard a rustle in the scrubby trees at the edge of the camp.
"Zing?" he whispered. "Leave the crawlers alone!"
He heard a soft snore from his other side.
Glancing that way, he saw Zing sound asleep, cuddled against Darb's side.
The crawlers were also asleep, perched on the highest branches of the trees.
The rustle came again, and was followed by the sound of voices.
Curious, Zann got up and tiptoed toward the sound.
Parting the tree branches, he saw Venna and Tok walking away from the campsite together.
Their voices were low and urgent. Zann strained his ears to hear.
". . . so I've come up with a new plan," Venna was saying.
"I know how to get those relics back to First City after all."
Tok stopped and turned to face Venna.
Zann crouched lower behind the trees, hoping the adults wouldn't spot him.
"You do?" Tok said. "How? If you try to smuggle them aboard the Dragon Wagon, the furies will go crazy."
Zann could barely believe his ears. Venna hadn't given in after all.
And apparently Tok was working with her.
"That's not my plan," Venna told Tok.
"You'll be taking the relics into the Cave, as everyone expects.
But you won't be leaving them there."
"What?" Tok sounded confused.
"You'll be taking those relics straight back to the capital—through the wormhole I discovered today!" Venna explained quickly.
"It's deep within the western arm of the Cave.
It must be a new one—I don't think anyone else in Magica knows about it."
Zann was stunned. There was a wormhole in the Cave?
"You're crazy!" Tok exclaimed. "Take some of the most powerful relics in Magica through a wormhole?
That's much more dangerous than what I signed up for!"
"I never expected you to lose your nerve," Venna snapped.
"After all, this isn't your first time through a wormhole!"
"True," Tok said. "But the other wormholes weren't inside the Cave of the Unknown!
Wormholes, especially new ones, are unstable enough without adding the Cave's unpredictable energy."
"We have to do this, Tok," said Venna.
"The very future of Magica might depend on it!"
She clenched her fists. "Those old fools think they're doing the right thing here.
But what if another villain like Morb appears one day?
What if a wormhole opens up right in the middle of the palace square and lets something even worse through? Magica would be helpless!"
Tok didn't seem convinced. "We have plenty of magic at our disposal even without those relics.
Boz and the others don't think it's worth the risk of having such unpredictable energy around.
Let alone the risk of trying to take relics through a wormhole."
He shook his head. "I'm sorry, Venna.
I know you believe you're doing the right thing for Magica.
But you'll have to do it without me. I'm out."
He turned and strode back toward camp.
Zann ducked aside just in time to avoid being seen.
"Aargh!" Venna cried. She stormed off into the darkness in the opposite direction.
Still in shock, Zann sat where he was for a moment.
After seeing his parents' message—and the clue about World X—he was more eager than ever to go looking for them.
And now he knew there was a wormhole somewhere in the Cave!