Zann's heart pounded with terror. What was Morb doing here?
He was supposed to be lost in the vortex!
Zann listened as Morb continued to speak. ". . . and I require a few key ingredients before my new masterpiece is complete."
His face twisted into an evil grin.
"Zann?" Perda's voice sounded very loud as she came up behind him. "Did you find the—?"
"Shh," said Zann. He braced himself, waiting for Morb to turn and spot them.
But Morb kept facing the same direction.
Perda had spotted Morb by now too. "Whoa!" she whispered. Then she frowned. "Wait—he's glowing."
Zann stared at the figure. He realized Perda was right.
Morb was glowing from within, just like their cave crawlers.
Gliss, Darb, and Zing appeared. "What's going on?" Darb asked.
"It's a hologram, I think." Zann picked up a pebble and tossed it at Morb. It passed right through the villain.
The Morb hologram was still talking. ". . . and then Magica shall be mine!" he cried. "See that you don't fail me."
The image blinked out of sight. A second later it blinked back on.
"Good day," Morb began. "I have need of your services once again . . ."
"It must be a message for someone," Perda guessed. "Maybe Wyssa?"
Zann nodded. "An old message. It's probably been playing over and over again for months."
Gliss shuddered. "Creepy."
"Yeah." Zann took a step closer. Even though he knew the image wasn't real, it made him nervous.
His foot hit something that skittered across the stone floor. "What was that?" Darb asked.
Zann bent to see. "A stone. It looks just like mine!"
"Look." Gliss pointed. "There are lots more!"
The glow of the crawlers showed dozens of identical stones scattered across the chamber floor.
Then Zann noticed something glowing and vibrating in the wall nearby.
"Hey, there's one stuck in the wall."
He touched the stone, which felt warm.
When he tugged on it, it popped out. The hologram instantly vanished.
"Oh!" Perda said. "The stone must contain the message!"
Gliss' eyes widened. "Maybe that's why we landed here," she said.
"Zann's stone might have led us to this spot when the relic zapped us away."
Zann couldn't speak for a second. What if the stone Wyssa had given him held a message from his parents?
He stuck his hand in his pocket and gasped.
His stone was so hot it almost burned his hand.
"Let's try plugging mine into that hole," he said, his voice shaking.
He stepped toward the hole in the wall.
But he hesitated when he heard the clatter of footsteps.
A second later Tok burst into the chamber.
"There you are!" the pilot said breathlessly.
"We felt a huge disruption in energy a few minutes ago, and we were worried about you. What happened?"
"Nothing," Darb said quickly. "We just, uh, tripped over a relic."
Zann shot a look at Gliss, who looked guilty. But Tok didn't seem to notice.
"You must be careful," Tok said with a frown. "The Cave is a dangerous place.
Anyway, you kids need to come back with me.
We're planning to seal off this section of the Cave shortly."
"What?" Zann blurted out. "But I need to—"
Tok didn't let him finish. "No arguments," he said briskly.
"Everyone needs to get out of the Cave before the Magic Masters get to work."
"What do we do now?" Perda wondered, staring at the cave entrance.
Zann didn't answer. He was still angry that Tok had dragged the kids outside.
It wasn't fair! What if that stone held a message from Zann's parents?
"We have to get back in there," he muttered.
Darb glanced over. "How? Tok's guarding the entrance."
Zann spotted Teplo nearby. "I'll be right back."
He hurried over to the Magic Master, checking to be sure that Boz wasn't around.
When Zann described what had happened, Teplo looked guilty.
"You're right, Zann," Teplo said. "It's a message stone. I recognized it right away."
"Why didn't Boz let you tell me that?" Zann asked.
Teplo hesitated and then said, "He's trying to protect you.
Besides, I doubt that stone has anything to do with you or your parents."
"But Wyssa said—"
"You can't trust anything that otherworldly old woman says," Teplo said.
Before Zann could respond, Boz let out a shout and appeared near the cave entrance.
"Oh dear, he doesn't look happy," Teplo muttered, hurrying off.
Zann saw little choice but to follow.
"What's going on?" he asked his friends, who were at the edge of the group gathering around Boz.
"I'm not sure," Gliss whispered. "It sounds like some of the relics are missing."
"Are you sure about this, Boz?" someone called out.
"It's possible that Morb stole some relics that we don't know about."
Boz's nose quivered with dismay. "Yes, that's possible.
But I saw the Mask of Zanta myself an hour ago.
When I went back a few minutes ago, it was gone!"
"The Dragontamer's Charm is missing too," said Uncle Gar.
"I cataloged it earlier. Some minor relics from the same cavern have disappeared as well."
"We'll have to postpone the Sealing spell," Teplo said with a frown.
"We need to get everyone else back here and make sure the relics weren't moved by one of us."
"I'll get Venna," Tok said. "I think she's in the airship."
Zann backed away. Zing followed, though Zann's friends were watching the adults and didn't notice his and Zing's departure.
"Good," thought Zann. He didn't want to get his friends in trouble for what he was about to do.
This could be his only chance to play the message on his stone.
"Quiet, Zing," he whispered. "We're going back in."