Zann gulped. "What should I do now?" he thought.
The miner stared at him, his expression eager and cruel. "You promised to teach me how to get my revenge. Let's get started."
Zann didn't know what to say. Sure, he could teach the man how to do a basic Immobilization spell. Most kids in Magica learned that one in case they were ever attacked by a dragon or other dangerous creature. But Zann couldn't imagine using it on any human or animal that wasn't threatening his life. It wouldn't be right.
There were other spells the man would probably like too. Nasty, dark spells that nobody in Magica ever used for anything. Back in the Old Times, such spells were common, or so Zann had heard. But he would never use that type of magic either.
"I'm sorry," he said, shaking his head. "I don't believe in using magic to hurt people. I won't teach you to do it."
The man rolled his eyes. "Grow up, kid. The world is a nasty place. I'm just trying to protect myself. You'll do the same if you know what's good for you."
Was that a threat? Zann wasn't sure, but he didn't like the look in the man's eyes.
"I've made up my mind. I'm sorry. I'd better get back to camp now." He tried to step past the miner.
The man stopped him with a hand on his chest. "You're not going anywhere," he said. "Not until you give me what I want."
Zann stepped back. "No," he said as firmly as he could. "I won't do it."
The miner scowled. "Fine. Then I'm going back right now to wake up your bosses and tell them exactly what you've been doing."
"No!" Zann cried in alarm. "Please don't do that."
The man smirked. "Oh, are you afraid they'll punish you? Maybe you'd prefer I punish you myself, huh?"
Before Zann could figure out what he meant, the man ran at him with his fists raised.
"Hey!" Zann yelped, leaping out of the way just in time to avoid being punched.
"Hold still, kid," the miner growled, trying to grab him.
Zann darted away. He was shaking with fear. Nobody had ever attacked him physically before!
"Well, except for Zing," he thought, with a stab of worry for his dragon friend. "But that's just playing, at least most of the time."
The man was already coming at him again. Zann jumped out of the way, which also reminded him of Zing. Sometimes the easiest way to avoid the little dragon's attacks was just to jump out of the way.
"Zing hates when I do that though," he thought as he barely dodged another blow. "If I don't get out of here soon, this guy is likely to get even angrier if he can't catch me. And if he does manage to grab me . . ."
Not wanting to think about that, Zann rubbed his hands together to create enough friction to zap away.
As magic energy sparked from his hands, he was forced to leap aside to avoid another punch. That brought him close to the wormhole, which swirled open in response to the friction he was creating.
The miner stopped short, his eyes going wide. "What's that?"
Zann stopped to catch his breath, being careful to stay out of reach. "It's a wormhole," he said. "It leads into the vortex, which connects all the known worlds." He glanced around at the Terrican landscape. "And some unknown ones too."
The man stared into the swirling wormhole, seeming mesmerized. "Other worlds? What do you mean?"
Zann shrugged. "If you promise to stop attacking me, I promise to tell you all about it."
The man turned and sneered at him. "Oh, another promise from you? Is this one a lie too? Because it sounds like a tall tale to me. Magic is one thing. But there's definitely no such thing as a portal to another world!"
He charged toward Zann, fists raised. Zann didn't have time to completely dodge the attack this time. Instead he ducked, letting the man's fists pass over his head. Then he slammed his shoulder into his attacker's torso, hoping to push him away.
He did push him away—straight into the wormhole!
"Ahh!" The miner disappeared into the vortex.
"Oh no!" Zann rushed forward. But the wormhole was already swirling shut. It opened again when Zann came closer, and he stared into its glowing depths, feeling guilty. What had he done?
"That man was a jerk," he thought. "But he won't have any idea what to do in the vortex. He might not even survive!"
Before he could figure out what to do, there was a buzz of magic energy behind him. He turned. Perda was standing there.
"Zann!" she exclaimed.
"Perda!" He rushed toward her, and then stopped and stared into her eyes. Was it really her? "How . . . where?"
Perda laughed. "I found you by using a Uniting spell. It wasn't easy to create enough friction to get here with these things on." She held up her shackled wrists. Zann looked down and saw that her legs were shackled too. "But I did it!" she said proudly.
"A Uniting spell," Zann echoed. "That only works if the person wants to be found." He smiled at her. "And of course I wanted you to find me."
"I know. I wanted to find you too. A lot. That made it easier." As she smiled back, Zann thought she'd never looked prettier. Suddenly he wasn't sure what to do next. He wanted to hug her, but he wasn't sure she'd like that.
So instead he just stood there, gazing into her beautiful brown eyes.