Zann pried a rock loose with his shovel. "I assumed they'd let me stop working when they saw that big piece of crumblestone," he thought tiredly. Instead Krub and the goon had told him to keep digging. Now they were lounging nearby, sipping from their flasks. Finally Krub came over to see what Zann was doing.
"There's no more crumblestone here," Krub said. "Crawl through to the next chamber and dig there for a while. We'll check on you soon, so don't slack off."
Zann had to get on his hands and knees to fit through the tunnel. But he didn't mind. At least he'd get a break from the two men.
The next chamber was long, with a low ceiling. A short, wiry man was chipping away at the wall.
"Hello." Zann greeted him. "Do you mind if I dig too?"
"Be my guest." The man peered at him. "Hey, you're the kid I saw doing magic earlier. You pulled a whole chunk of stone out of thin air!"
"What?" Zann was alarmed. He didn't think anyone had seen him create the crumblestone.
"Don't worry, I won't tell your bosses." The man leaned closer and lowered his voice. "Especially if you tell me how you did it."
Zann was relieved. "Of course. Magic should be for everyone. I'm happy to teach you."
Zann showed the man how to create friction by rubbing his hands together. "That's basically all you need to do. Then you can create anything, even food. Use a focusing word to start with. Cookie!"
A wiggle root cookie appeared in Zann's hand.
The man stared in awe. "Amazing!"
"Now you try it," Zann said with a smile. "Just think of your favorite food as you create friction."
The man successfully created a sandwich. Then he made himself new boots. Finally Zann showed him how to zap from one place to another.
"You're doing great," Zann said as the man zapped from the far end of the cavern back to where Zann was waiting. "Keep practicing, and soon you'll be doing all kinds of magic."
"Okay," the man said. "Now show me how I can punish my enemy."
"What?" Zann said, surprised.
The man's expression darkened. "Another miner poached a valuable vein of glowstone from me last week. But he's twice my size, so I couldn't fight him for it. I want to punish him! How can I do that with magic?"
Zann was alarmed. "That's not how magic is supposed to be used! The main law in my world is 'do no harm to others.'"
The man rolled his eyes. "Your world sounds boring, kid. That guy harmed me by stealing my vein. Why shouldn't I harm him back? He deserves it!"
Zann shook his head. "I'm sorry. I can't help you."
"Can't, or won't?" The man glared at him. "If you won't teach me what I want to know, maybe I won't keep quiet about the magic you've been doing. I'm sure your bosses would love to hear about it."
Zann gulped, not sure what to do. Luckily, at that moment, two other miners entered the chamber. Still, Zann knew he had to do something to stop the first man from talking to Krub.
"Um, okay," he whispered. "Meet me in the woods by the crooked tree at midnight, and I'll teach you what you need to know."
For the rest of the day, he couldn't stop thinking about the encounter. What was he going to do?
"That man will be looking for me at midnight," Zann thought. "And I'll be at the camp, shackled! Maybe Perda and Mellis will arrive before then. Then we can escape together."
But as night fell, there was still no sign of his friends. Krub and the goon camped in the clearing. They invited some other miners to share their smelly beverage. As the evening passed, the men drifted off to sleep. Krub forgot to shackle Zann.
"What luck!" Zann thought with relief. He thought about zapping back to Vilkor's village. Then he remembered Perda's words again: "Look for other wormholes!"
He glanced into the dark woods. The crooked tree wasn't far away. Was that a wormhole he'd seen earlier? He decided to find out.
"If the others do show up here, we can escape back to Magica," he thought as he sneaked away. "My parents and Boz can help us figure out what to do after that."
Soon he spotted the crooked tree looming ahead in the darkness. Seeing it reminded him of his arrangement with the miner. How long did he have until midnight? And what would he do if the man showed up early? The thought made him nervous.
"Just focus on checking for that wormhole," he told himself.
He stepped past the crooked tree into the small clearing beyond. Zann stepped closer to the shimmer, and a wormhole swirled open!
He stared into the swirling depths with amazement. All he had to do was step closer, and the wormhole would pull him into the vortex.
"Maybe I should go now, on my own," he thought. "That way I won't have to worry about the miner or anything else. I can find my way back to Magica and ask the adults to help save Perda and the others."
He took another step.
Then he stopped. He couldn't abandon Zing or his friends, especially Perda. Besides, she had mentioned that Terrica wasn't in any of his parents' books. What if he couldn't find his way back here?
The wormhole continued to swirl, almost hypnotizing Zann. He snapped out of it when someone cleared his throat nearby.
It was the miner. "Hello, kid," he said with a nasty smile. "I'm ready for my lesson now."