"We're in a world with no magic?" Perda exclaimed. "You must be kidding!"
"Not at all." said Wyssa. "Such places do exist."
Feeling worried, Zann gulped. He and Perda had been unable to use their magic on other occasions.
Like when Morb was tracking them, or when they were in the Cave of the Unknown. But this situation was much worse.
Zann felt completely helpless knowing that he couldn't use magic, even in an emergency.
"This must be what it feels like to be a Void," Perda said, her voice shaking.
"Or under a Dousing spell," Zann added, thinking briefly of Venna.
"Don't get distracted," Wyssa ordered. "The signal that brought us here was strong and recent.
If your friends are here, we need to find them quickly.
And it won't be easy, since we can't use magic."
Zann took a deep breath. "Okay. If they came through the same wormhole, they should still be nearby, right?
After all, they wouldn't be able to zap anywhere else."
"Good thinking, boy." Wyssa sounded almost impressed.
"Speaking of the wormhole, I guess we can't use magic to find it again," Perda pointed out.
"We'd better make sure we remember where it is."
Zann nodded. The wormhole had closed as soon as they stepped away.
But he remembered where it was. He stepped toward the spot, waiting for the wormhole to open again.
But nothing happened. "Are you sure it was there?" Perda asked.
"Maybe it was a little more to the left."
Zann took a step to the left. The wormhole still didn't appear.
"Use your heads, you two," Wyssa said harshly.
"You need magic to open a wormhole. Everyone knows that!"
She turned and hurried off, leaving Zann and Perda staring at each other.
"But . . . if there's no magic here—" Zann began.
". . . we have no way of opening the wormhole!" Perda swallowed hard.
"So how are we ever supposed to leave this world?"
Wyssa had almost disappeared into the crowds.
"We'll have to worry about that later, I guess," Zann said. "First, let's find the others."
He and Perda followed Wyssa, which wasn't easy.
This world was much more crowded than anywhere in Magica, even First City.
"How are we going to find our friends among all these people?"
Perda wondered as she and Zann finally caught up with Wyssa.
Wyssa stared around uncertainly. "I'm not sure," she admitted.
"I suppose we'll just have to start looking."
A toddler passed by, clinging to her mother's hand.
The little girl babbled curiously, pointing at Zann's head.
"I think she was staring at my hair," Zann said as the mother pulled the toddler away.
Glancing around, he noticed something. "Look, almost everyone here has dark hair.
That should make it easier to spot Darb and Gliss."
"You're right!" Perda exclaimed. "Gliss has bright red hair like yours. And Darb's is light.
Both of them should stand out in this crowd."
Wyssa looked relieved. "Yes, that's true. Come, let's ask the natives if they've seen them."
Zann stopped a man who was passing by. "Pardon me," Zann said.
"Have you seen a girl around here with hair like mine?"
The man paused and stared at Zann. "No, I'm sorry," he said.
"Is she lost? Perhaps you should notify the police."
"The police?" Perda said as the man moved on. "What's that?"
"I have no idea," said Wyssa. "Let's check in here."
She led the way into a marketplace. It was even more crowded than the street outside.
"Look at all this stuff," Zann said. "Do you think it's food?"
"Yes—look!" Perda pointed. "Here's a whole bin full of turnips.
Teplo was right. They do come from another world!"
"If turnips originally came from this world, that means somebody traveled from here to Magica," Zann said.
"So there must be a way to open the wormhole without magic!"
"True." Perda picked up a turnip. "How do you think the people here create their food without magic?"
Just then a woman came over. "May I help you?" she asked.
"We're looking for our friends," Zann said. "A red-haired girl, a light-haired boy, and a small dragon."
"A dragon, huh?" The woman laughed, even though Zann hadn't said anything funny.
"The only dragon I've seen lately is right over there."
She pointed at a banner with a picture of a fierce golden dragon on it.
"No, Zing is much smaller, and—" Zann began.
But the woman was already talking to another customer.
After that Zann, Perda, and Wyssa asked more people if they'd seen Darb, Gliss, or Zing.
However, as soon as Zann described Zing, people either laughed at him or got angry and hurried off.
"I'm serious!" Zann insisted as yet another woman chuckled and shook her head.
"He's about this big, with reddish-colored scales . . ."
"Very funny, young man." The woman smiled. "Excuse me, I'm late for work."
As the woman hurried off, Perda sighed with frustration.
"This place is weird. It's like nobody here has ever seen a real dragon before!" she exclaimed.
Zann felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning, he saw a young man.
"Excuse me," the man said. "You're looking for a dragon? A real one?"
"Yes!" Zann suddenly felt hopeful. "His name is Zing. Have you seen him?"
The man indicated for them to follow.
He led the way out of the market, across the street, and into a shop.
The shop was crammed with knick-knacks, including a whole shelf full of fake dragons.
For a moment Zann was afraid that the man had misunderstood him.
"This way," the young man said, stepping into a dimly lit back room.
Zann entered and gasped. "Zing!" he cried, spotting his dragon cowering behind the bars of a small metal cage.