Zann's heart pounded as more nomads stepped into view. They didn't look friendly. "Whatever she did, we're sorry," he said. He assumed they were talking about Wyssa.
"Silence!" an older nomad said.
"What could she have done that was so terrible, anyway?" Perda cried. "Magic barely works here."
Zann nodded. "And she only arrived an hour ago!"
"An hour?" The first nomad frowned. "Telling lies will not help you."
Another nomad stepped forward. "Your friend has been troubling us for days with his magic."
His magic? Zann was confused. "Wait," he said. "The only friends we have here are an old woman and a Red girl around our age. Who are you talking about?"
A nomad woman scowled. "Don't try to trick us," she snapped. "Your friend Morb tried that already."
Perda gasped. "Morb?"
"Morb definitely isn't our friend!" Zann cried.
Darb nodded. "We came here to stop him."
The nomads exchanged a skeptical look. "What would make a bunch of kids think they could stop Morb?" one asked.
"Because we've done it before," Perda retorted.
"That's right," Zann said. "We stopped him when he tried to take over Magica. And when he tried to destroy it after that."
A nomad stepped forward and peered carefully at Zann. Then she moved over to examine Perda and Darb too. Finally she nodded.
"They're right," she said. "These are three of the young heroes from First City. I recognize them now!"
"Untie them at once," the older nomad ordered the others.
Soon Zann and his friends were on their feet. Now Zann could see the hoof beasts they'd been riding. They were grazing on some plants a little farther down the trail.
Zann rubbed a spot on his wrist where the rope had bitten into his skin. He was tempted to magically heal it, but he decided that using magic right now probably wasn't a good idea.
"Please." The older nomad, who appeared to be the leader, gestured toward a cave nearby. "Come inside and rest."
Another nomad glanced around. "You shouldn't be out in the open where Morb might spot you," she said. "He is a dangerous man."
"We know," Perda said. "That's why we can't rest. Our friends are still out there!"
A nomad put a hand on her arm. "Perhaps we can send out a search party. Why don’t you tell us about them."
Zann and the others followed the man into a surprisingly spacious cave. One nomad lit some candles while others brought out some food and drink.
Zann and his friends told the nomads about Gliss and Wyssa. Half a dozen nomads stood up. They promised not to rest until they’d found the pair.
"How will they find them?" Zann asked after the search party had left. "I thought it was hard to use magic here."
"It is," the nomad leader said. "But we have learned to compensate for our home's unpredictable and weak magic."
"What do you mean?" Darb asked.
A woman stepped forward. "We know how to read the wind and the sound waves," she said. "And how to communicate with the creatures of the desert, who see and hear even more than we can."
"Really?" Darb looked impressed. "Wow."
Zann was confused. He'd seen for himself that magic could be unpredictable here in the Far Frontier, just like it was near the Cave of the Unknown. But why had the nomad called it weak? If the Source was here, shouldn't magic be stronger than normal?
He opened his mouth to ask the nomads about the Source, but Perda spoke before he could.
"You said Morb was causing your tribe lots of trouble," she said. "What did he do?"
"He's been using magic carelessly," the leader said with a frown. "He has no concern for how the stray energy affects others."
Another nomad spoke up. "Yes, and he destroyed an ancient tree that was important to the history of a neighboring tribe."
"Don't forget the Seeing Stone," a woman said. She looked at the kids. "Morb appears to be building something on a plateau that we use for seeing long distances."
"What is he building?" Zann asked. He thought about the terrible magical contraptions Morb had built before.
"And why would he be building it way out here?" Darb added.
"Maybe he's trying to build a device that will help him find the Source," Perda said.
"Or to control it," Zann said.
"The Source?" a nomad said. "What do you mean?"
"The Source of all magic," Perda explained. "That's where the legends say all of Magica—"
"We know what the Source of all magic is," a woman interrupted with a chuckle. "But if it actually exists, I can assure you it's nowhere in the Far Frontier!"
Most of the other nomads were smiling or chuckling now too.
Zann frowned. "How can you be so sure?"
"There's no strong magic power here at all," the leader explained. "That's why this part of Magica was never heavily populated."
Another nomad nodded. "We can barely muster enough magic energy to stay fed and clothed," she said. "We must rely on our own feet, and those of the hoof beasts, for transportation. We can't even create trees for shade!"
"Trust us," the leader said. "We know better than anyone that there isn't a whole lot of magic nearby."
Zann was pretty sure that the nomads were telling the truth. But he felt more perplexed than ever.
"If Morb isn't looking for the Source, then what's he doing here?" he said.
Before anyone could respond, a breathless nomad burst in. "I came as fast as I could," he exclaimed. "We think we've found your friend!"