Zann tiptoed through a small cavern and into another tunnel.
"I think the intersection is just ahead," he whispered to Zing.
Zing breathed out a small flame, allowing Zann to see a little farther than the crawler's feeble glow permitted.
There was no intersection—just a blank stone wall.
"Drat," Zann muttered.
He retraced his steps and tried a different tunnel.
Why hadn't he paid more attention when Tok was leading them out earlier?
"Never mind," Zann whispered. At least he'd managed to sneak away undetected.
Or had he? Zann froze as he heard a soft scraping sound behind him.
It echoed down the tunnel, barely louder than a heartbeat.
"Did you hear that?" he whispered to Zing.
But apparently Zing hadn't heard the sound.
The dragon was staring at Zann's crawler hungrily.
Zann sighed. Being in the creepy cave was making him jumpy.
The sound had probably been nothing more than a cave creature or a stray burst of magic energy.
Zann kept moving, watching for anything that looked familiar.
Clink!
Zann froze. Was that a footstep?
"Quiet!" he hissed, dragging Zing into a crevasse in the wall.
He pressed both hands over his crawler, trying to block its light.
Zing's breath felt hot on Zann's leg, but Zann didn't dare move.
The footsteps came closer. Soon Zann could hear the sound of breathing.
He pressed himself back against the stone and watched.
A figure passed, lit only by the soft glow of the crawler perched on its shoulder.
"Perda!" Zann blurted out.
Perda jumped in surprise and spun to face him. "Zann! I was afraid I'd lost you."
Zann frowned. "You were following me?"
"Of course." Perda laughed. "You didn't think you could sneak off and have another adventure without me, did you?"
"But I was sure nobody saw me leave," said Zann.
"You're right. I didn't notice you were gone for a few minutes.
I used my crawler to track you."
Perda pointed to her crawler, which was keeping a wary eye on Zing.
"I'd already noticed it gets more and more nervous the closer we are to Zing.
All I had to do was pay attention to how deeply its claws were digging into my shoulder to guess how close you were."
Zann rolled his eyes. At the same time, he had to admire Perda's cleverness.
"You have to go back," he told her. "It's too risky.
Besides, maybe you can figure out a way to delay the Sealing spell until I'm finished."
"Don't worry about that," Perda said. "The adults will be arguing for a while yet.
Venna showed up right after you disappeared.
She admitted to taking the relics. Most of them anyway."
Zann was stunned. "Venna took the relics? Why?"
"She doesn't think it's right to seal off the Cave and all the powerful magic in the relics.
She thinks we should take some of the relics back to First City.
That way the Red Council can use them in case a threat like Morb ever comes along again."
"Wow." Zann knew how persuasive Venna could be. "Does anyone agree with her?"
"A few people." Perda shrugged. "Not Boz and Teplo, though.
They'll all be arguing about it for a long time."
"Good," Zann said. "That will give me enough time to find the message chamber."
"You mean it'll give us enough time," Perda said.
"If you don't let me come, you'll never get there.
You've been going the wrong way for the past ten minutes.
Fortunately I remember how to get there.
It's back this way." Perda quickly headed down the tunnel.
Zann hurried to keep up with her. He was still annoyed that she'd followed him.
But another part of him was glad to have her help.
Half an hour later, they stepped into the message chamber.
"Hurry," Perda urged. "Who knows how long we have until they start the Sealing spell.
Then we'll be trapped in here forever."
Zann’s stone was still burning hot. He took a deep breath and plugged it into the wall.
"Oh!" he gasped as two figures appeared before him.
"Is that your parents?" Perda whispered.
Zann just nodded, taking in the sight.
"Greetings, Wyssa," his father's familiar voice said. "We received your last message."
"We accept your terms," Zann's mother added. "We're very eager to locate World X.
If you're sure you can lead us there, we'll pay your fee."
Zann's father nodded. "We've just returned from the Cave of the Unknown and have one more short trip to make. We'll contact you when we return."
Zann was so overwhelmed he could barely move.
His parents' holograms flickered out and then reappeared.
"Greetings, Wyssa . . . " the message began again.
"Wow," Perda said. "I—ouch!" She poked her crawler. It was trembling.
Zann realized his own crawler was digging its claws into his shoulder.
"What's the matter with the crawlers?" he mumbled, still watching his parents.
"They seem nervous," said Perda. "And Zing isn't even trying to eat them right now."
The entire chamber shuddered. The message stone popped out of the wall, cutting off the hologram.
"Uh-oh," Perda said. "Did you feel that?
The Magic Masters must be starting the Sealing spell. We have to get out of here!"
Zann didn't want to leave. He wanted to plug the stone back in and watch his parents' message again and again.
There was another rumble. Zing let out a squeak. Zann's crawler moaned with fear.
"Okay, let's go," Zann said.
With Zing flying ahead of her, Perda ran for the exit.
Zann started to follow. Suddenly he paused.
Turning, he raced over and grabbed the message stone off the floor.
Then he sprinted after Zing and Perda.