"Uh-oh," Zann thought. "Maybe I was right, and Mellis is angry that we abandoned her!"
But Perda was gesturing for Mellis to come with them. Without hesitation, Mellis tossed aside her bedding and crawled out of the tent. The kids all ran for the woods with Zing flying overhead.
Once they were out of sight of the camp, Mellis gestured wildly with her hands.
"Oops," Zann said. "I forgot she can't speak."
"Hold on," Perda told Mellis. "I'll see if I can undo the spell Zira put on you. I've been thinking about it, and I bet it's something called a Muting spell. I read about it recently. It was used a lot during the Old Times in Magica."
Zann was impressed. He hadn't even thought about how they were going to release Mellis from the spell. He helped Perda create friction, and then she touched Mellis' lips with her finger. It took a couple of tries, but finally Mellis let out a gasp.
"Oh, thank you!" she exclaimed softly. "But I didn't want you to come back here. I was hoping you were safe at home in Magica by now! I tried to help distract Zira and the others by screaming so you could get away."
"So Perda was right, as usual," Zann thought with a smile.
"Thank you," Perda said. "We did get away. But while we were in the vortex, we heard something you need to know." As they walked deeper into the woods, she quickly told Mellis about the oogberry bushes at Zira's house.
"Wow." Mellis looked worried. "Zira already has too much power. And my uncle doesn't seem to realize that she's only using him! He's happy to go along with whatever she suggests, since he loves the attention he gets as the so-called supreme ruler. But what will happen once Terrica is fully under her control, and she and Krub don't need him anymore? I'm afraid for him—and for Terrica."
Zann grabbed Zing to stop him from eating a spiky caterpillar. "I'm not that worried about Vilkor," he thought. "He's pretty annoying, and most of the problems are at least partly his fault. But it would be terrible if Terrica fell under the power of Zira and Krub!"
"We have to do something," he said as he hopped over a fallen tree trunk.
"I know." Mellis sighed. "But what can a few kids do against adults who will do anything to gain power?"
Zann grinned. "You might be surprised. We told you what happened back in Magica, right?"
Mellis nodded. "You mean when you guys defeated that guy Morb? I almost forgot about that." She smiled back at Zann. "Maybe there is hope after all! Especially with you two helping."
"We need a plan," Perda said. "Let's—hey, what was that?"
Zann had heard the same sound. Loud growling and grunting sounds were coming from somewhere in the dark woods.
Mellis' eyes widened with alarm. "Look!" she whispered, pointing through a break in the trees. "Rock trompers!"
Zann saw them now too. Several of the huge creatures were chasing after some smaller creatures. At first he couldn't see what they were. But when they moved closer, he recognized them.
"Chupos!" he exclaimed.
One of the rock trompers heard him. It looked at the kids, grunted at the others, and then charged toward them.
"They see us!" Mellis cried. "Run! We have to warn my uncle and the others!" She ran back toward camp.
"Do a Shield spell!" Perda called after her. "Just like we taught you, remember?"
Zann glanced back and saw that the rock trompers and the chupos were both chasing them now. "Uh-oh," he thought. "They're fast!"
"We'd better zap to camp!" he yelled, grabbing Zing. "Otherwise we'll never make it. Zap!"
He landed in the clearing. A split second later, the two girls appeared.
"Join friction!" Perda cried.
"It's okay—I've got it," Mellis said. She snapped her fingers, and a glowing purple shield appeared over the entire camp.
Vilkor awakened and sat up, looking dazed. "What's going on?" he grumbled. "I'm trying to sleep!"
"Let's get out of here before he sees us," Zann whispered.
Perda nodded. "We'll be in touch," she whispered to Mellis. Then she grabbed Zann and Zing. "Zap!"
They landed in the forest. Zann could still hear the rock trompers grunting. The chupos started howling. Zann guessed the creatures were frustrated because Mellis' shield had stopped them.
Perda was listening too. "Let's make our own shield," she said. "Hold on to Zing for a second so he stays put."
Zann grabbed the dragon. Perda quickly created a smaller blue bubble over the three of them.
"There," she said. "Now we can get some sleep. We'll need to be well rested so we can follow Vilkor wherever he goes tomorrow."
"Right." Zann released Zing and stretched out on the ground, gazing up at the stars that twinkled overhead. He sneaked a peek at Perda as she settled down beside him.
"The stars look so familiar, don't they?" she said. "Looking up, you can almost believe we're back home in Magica."
"Uh-huh." Zann wasn't sure what else to say.
Suddenly he couldn't stop thinking about Darb and Gliss holding hands. "What if I reached over and held Perda's hand right now?" he thought. "What would she think?"
Just then Zing crawled over him and settled down between him and Perda. Seconds later the little dragon was sound asleep, snoring out smoky breath into Zann's face.
"Good night, Zann," Perda whispered.
"Good night," Zann said. Then he turned over on his side, away from Zing, and did his best to forget about holding hands as he fell asleep.