Zann heard the horror in his father's voice and realized the book must be very important. He leaped toward it, hoping to grab it before Zing charred it.
But Perda was closer—and faster too. She yanked the book away a split second before Zing's fiery breath set the wooden surface of the table aflame.
"Bad boy, Zing," Asta scolded, snapping her fingers and magically dousing the fire. "Thanks, Perda. That's the only known copy of that book. It would have been tricky to restore it, even using magic."
Zann was relieved that the book was safe. The last time Zing had burned something important, Zann had been grounded for a whole week. And even though Magicians could do a lot of things with magic, they couldn't do everything. That book looked really old, which meant it was possible that nobody still living had read the entire thing. If that was the case, even the most powerful Restore spell couldn't bring it back if it was destroyed.
"We should probably get out of here," Zann said, snapping his fingers to create a dragon harness. He grabbed Zing, who struggled and spit flames at him. But Zann ignored the burns and strapped on the harness. When it was secure, he quickly healed his burns with magic.
"Okay, let's go," Darb said, and Gliss nodded.
But Perda seemed to be totally focused on the book she was holding. "Hey, what is this?" she asked, peering down at the open page. "It looks like a poem or something."
"We think it's a riddle," Zann's mother replied. "Those words used to be carved into the trunk of the Wormwood tree. Bark grew over the words long ago. But before that happened, a historian copied it into that book about the history of Wormwood."
"That's cool," Zann said. "What does the riddle say?"
"I'll read it out loud," Perda said. She cleared her throat and then began:
"Bygone days lost to time's haze
Yet visible to careful gaze
Rooted in the depths of time
Touch and see—no need to climb."
"What in the worlds does that mean?" Gliss asked, furrowing her brow in confusion.
"We're not sure yet," Nax said. "Zann's mother just found that book buried in an old trunk in the basement of the university library."
Asta nodded. "I was beginning our research into the Wormwood tree."
That was enough of an explanation for Zann. He wanted to have fun with the last few hours of his friends' visit. He didn't want to hear about another of his parents' work projects.
"So where do you want to go?" he asked his friends. "Maybe we should check out the new other-worlds exhibit at the zoo."
"Hold on." Perda was still peering at the book. "May I take a blink image of the riddle? It would be fun to try to puzzle it out."
"Sure, go ahead," Nax said with a smile. "Let us know if you have any ideas!"
Perda held the book up to her face. "Blink," she murmured as she blinked her eyes. A second later a sheet of paper appeared. She grabbed it, folded it, and put it in her pocket.
Then the kids said good-bye and headed outside. The rainstorm that had left puddles in the street earlier had cleared away, and it was a warm, beautiful day.
"So are we going to the zoo?" Darb asked eagerly.
"We could," Gliss said. "But we should probably go to the palace first. Venna invited us to visit the next time we came to First City, remember?"
Venna had been elected queen of Magica a few months earlier. Zann and his friends had helped her stop a plot to take over the government. Because of that, they were welcome at the palace anytime.
Just then a large spotted rat raced past. Zing whistled and dashed after it. Zann was taken by surprise and ended up being dragged by the little dragon.
Zann's friends laughed and chased both of them.
"Zing, leave that poor rat alone!" Darb cried.
Zann finally managed to yank his pet to a stop. "Now do you see why you weren't allowed to come with us today?" he said with a grin. "Who knows how many new creatures you would have decided to chase in Mistafar!"
"Zing could use some exercise," Darb said. "Maybe we should take him to the park."
Zann nodded. Wandering through one of the city's lovely parks with his friends sounded like a nice way to spend the afternoon. Gliss and Darb would probably hold hands and walk off by themselves. That would leave Zann with Perda, which sounded even nicer.
But when he looked at Perda, she was shaking her head. "I have a better idea," she said. "Let's go to Wormwood."
"Wormwood?" Gliss wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Ugh, why?"
"I want to take a look at the tree." Perda pulled the blink image out of her pocket. "Maybe we can figure out what this riddle means. Wouldn't that be cool?"
Zann traded a dubious look with Darb. Staring at the Wormwood tree didn't sound like a very good way to spend the last few hours of his friends' visit.
"Well, Perda is the birthday girl," Darb said slowly.
Gliss sighed. "That's true. She should get to choose what we do." She glanced at Perda. "Are you sure you really want to go to Wormwood?"
"Absolutely." Perda smiled. "Thanks, you guys. I'll see you there! Zap."
With a snap of her fingers, she disappeared. Zann shrugged. "Okay, let's go," he said to the others. "Maybe she'll get bored soon and we can spend the rest of the day at the zoo or the park."
He made sure he was holding on tightly to Zing's leash. Then he snapped his fingers and zapped away.