"The wormhole is dangerous!" Gliss cried. "There must be another way into Wormwood."
"No, Zann is right," Perda said.
"We can't waste time. Morb is already taking over Magica!"
"How will we reach a wormhole?" Darb asked.
"There's one in the palace, but there's no way we can sneak in there."
"There's one in Edgewood," Perda said. "Wyssa brought us there once."
"Perfect," Zann said. "Let's zap there now."
A moment later they stood in front of the Edgewood wormhole.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Gliss asked.
"We don't have the guidelink anymore. How are we going to navigate through the vortex?"
Perda frowned. "Good question. It could take a long time to find our way to the Wormwood wormhole."
"If we can find it at all," Darb said.
Zann shrugged. "Do you have a better plan?
We're wasting time arguing about this."
"We'll waste even more time if we get lost in the vortex," Gliss said.
"I think we should—Wyssa!"
The old woman had just zapped into sight nearby.
"There you are!" Wyssa exclaimed.
Surprisingly, she seemed glad to see everyone.
"What are you doing here?" Zann asked.
"Are you trying to escape through the wormhole?"
"No, I was looking for you, actually," Wyssa said.
"I have something important to tell all of you—especially you."
She jabbed a finger toward Zann.
"Okay, what is it?" he asked.
Wyssa opened her mouth to reply.
But just then Gliss let out a scream. "Trolls!" she cried.
Zann spun around. Half a dozen trolls were charging toward them.
"Let's get out of here!" Wyssa shouted.
She grabbed Zann with one hand and Darb with the other.
Zann had just enough time to grab Zing's tail before the whole group dived into the wormhole.
They weren't in the vortex for long.
Before Zann could catch his breath, Wyssa tugged them toward another wormhole.
Seconds later they emerged in Wormwood.
"Whew!" Gliss exclaimed. "That was quick."
Zann looked around. "Uh-oh," he said. "More trolls are coming!"
Several trolls had been lounging in the shade of the Wormwood tree.
Now they hurried toward Zann and the others.
Zing flew up and whistled his distinctive song.
The trolls slowed down and craned their necks toward the little dragon.
"Hurry!" Perda whispered. "Let's hide while Zing distracts them."
She led the way into a large hut nearby.
A moment later the trolls seemed to lose interest in Zing.
They blinked, looked around, and then wandered off and disappeared into a different hut.
"They're so stupid that they forgot what they were doing," Zann whispered.
"Never mind that." Perda was peering out the door. "There's the contraption!"
Zann couldn't believe he hadn't noticed it right away.
It was near the gnarled old tree, just to one side of the wormhole.
"It looks so evil!" Gliss whispered with a shiver.
Darb nodded. "It doesn't look much different than it did when we saw it in the Far Frontier."
"Yes." Wyssa sounded relieved.
"It's still not finished. Otherwise we would be too late to stop Morb."
"How do you know it's not finished?" Perda asked.
"That's what I started to tell you." Wyssa glanced at Zann.
"I'm pretty certain that Morb plans to place the Mask of Zanta in the empty space on top.
That's the most powerful relic there is. If we don't stop him, the results will be—"
"Don't give away the surprise, Wyssa," a voice interrupted.
Zann spun around. "Morb!" he exclaimed.
The villain had just stepped out of the shadows at the back of the hut.
Zann turned again, planning to run.
But several trolls now blocked the hut's one opening.
"Don't even think about trying to zap away," Morb warned.
"The spell I've placed over Wormwood won't allow that."
He pointed a finger toward Zing, who was already whistling again.
The little dragon dropped like a rock.
"Hey!" Darb cried. "Immobilization spells are illegal!"
"Haven't you caught on yet?" Morb sounded amused.
"The old rules don't apply anymore.
I'm in charge now, and that means that I make the rules!"
He reached into his robe and pulled out the Mask of Zanta.
Wyssa gasped. "You can't!"
"Silence, old woman." Morb held up the Mask, studying it.
"It's beautiful, isn't it? Terrifying, but beautiful."
"It's beautiful," Wyssa snapped. "But it's wasted on that thing out there."
"My contraption?" Morb raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"I thought you would try to take over Magica again," Wyssa said.
"But there's no way you can do that with a travel contraption."
"A travel contraption?" Perda echoed. "Is that what it is?"
Morb chuckled. "Yes, the crazy old woman is correct," he said.
"But don't fret. I doubt anyone will be disappointed by what I have planned.
Horrified, yes, but not disappointed.
The only thing that contraption has to do is get me safely through the wormhole."
He pointed one bony finger toward the tree.
"And then pull the Wormwood tree in after me."
"No!" Wyssa blurted out.
Zann was confused by Wyssa's panic.
Did it really matter if Morb took the Wormwood tree through the wormhole?
Morb laughed. "So you finally figured it out, hmm?" He taunted her.
"It sure took you a long time, Wyssa."
"What is it?" Gliss asked. "What did you figure out?"
Wyssa looked grim. "That tree. It's the Source."
"Huh?" Zann said. "The source . . . You mean the Source of all magic?"
"The Source is real?" Perda said.
"Oh, yes, it's real." Morb sounded pleased with himself.
"That tree pulls all of Magica's energy from the vortex."
"But that means . . ." Zann began slowly.
"It means," Wyssa said, "that removing it would leave Magica with no magic energy at all!"