Zann's mind whirled as he finally got up to follow Venna.
For a moment he thought he'd lost her—he couldn't hear or see her anywhere.
Then he heard the soft clang of the airship door opening.
As he neared the airship, Zann saw that the door was standing open.
He crept closer and peered in. Venna was inside with her back to him.
She was pulling things out of a box. The relics!
Zann watched as Venna gathered them into a large sack.
He recognized a few of the relics—the Horn of the Otherworld, a scary-looking skull mask he guessed was the Mask of Zanta,
and several others he'd studied in school.
"Wow," he whispered. His teachers said the Horn alone held enough power to control all of Magica!
Venna slung the sack over her shoulder and then hurried toward the Cave.
Zann wasn't sure what to do. It seemed Venna was planning to take the relics through the wormhole herself.
If Zann followed her, she'd lead him to the wormhole.
He could hide until she went through it and then jump through.
He'd be on his way to search for his parents within minutes.
But if he did that, he wouldn't have time to leave a message for Boz or his friends about Venna's plan.
And what if Tok was right? What if the wormhole was too unstable to handle all those powerful relics passing through it?
What if Venna accidentally blew up the entire cave and everyone nearby?
"Oh, man," Zann muttered.
He had to warn Boz and the others. It was the only responsible thing to do.
Zann turned and sprinted toward camp.
"Are we there yet?" Perda wondered breathlessly.
Zann and his friends were racing through a narrow tunnel behind Boz, Teplo, and several others.
Magic energy was bouncing off the walls all around them.
Despite the risks, the Magic Masters were using magic to lead them to Venna.
Otherwise they were afraid they'd be too late to stop her.
"Venna!" Uncle Gar shouted. "Where are you?"
There was no answer. "This way," Boz said grimly, taking off down another tunnel.
Zann's crawler squeaked a warning, and Zann ducked just in time to avoid a burst of energy.
"Close one," Gliss exclaimed behind him.
Zann nodded and kept going.
They ran through one tunnel after another.
Finally they all burst into a huge chamber dripping with stalactites. In the center stood Venna.
"Stop!" Boz cried. "Venna, this is madness!"
Venna glanced over her shoulder, looking surprised.
"I don't care how risky it is," she cried. "I'm doing this for Magica!"
Zann watched as Venna stepped forward and the wormhole swirled open.
The edges flashed with silvery bursts of energy.
"Douse!" Boz cried, rubbing his hands.
"No!" Venna froze as the spell hit her.
Without magic she couldn't go into the wormhole.
She needed magic to navigate through the vortex.
"This is an outrage!" Venna ranted. "You can't douse me!"
"We'll remove the spell after you've listened to us," Teplo said.
"I swear it. The final decision on what to do is yours."
Venna scowled. "Fine. Say your piece. My mind is made up."
"I don't think you comprehend the true risks," Boz said.
"Those relics contain a stupendous amount of energy.
Trying to take even one of them through this particular wormhole is a dangerous proposition. Taking them all—"
"You could blow us to bits!" Uncle Gar finished.
Venna blinked. "I . . . I never thought about that.
But I can't let you seal off these relics forever.
Magica must be able to defend itself. I'm doing this for all of us."
Teplo held out a hand to her.
"If you feel that strongly, perhaps we can reopen the discussion.
I won't speak for the others, but I'll listen to your arguments."
"Me too," Boz said. The others nodded.
Venna peered at them all suspiciously. Finally her expression softened.
"All right. You have a deal." She handed the sack to Teplo.
"Thank you." Teplo smiled at her and then pulled out the Horn of the Otherworld.
"Magnificent," he murmured. He glanced at Boz.
"Don't forget to remove the Dousing spell. Carefully."
"Oh, yes." Boz rubbed his fingers together.
At that moment all the crawlers let out a loud chirp.
"Careful!" Perda blurted out.
Friction sparked around Boz's fingers. A bolt of energy shot straight at the Horn of the Otherworld.
The relic glowed and shuddered in Teplo's hand.
"Duck!" Teplo shouted.
Zann pressed himself against the wall as sparks shot from the horn.
The wormhole glowed more brightly, and a tentacle of energy shot out.
Venna screamed as the energy surrounded her.
A second later the wormhole pulled her in, her scream still echoing off the chamber's walls.
"Venna!" Boz cried, but it was too late.
"Oh no!" Perda's face was white. "She was still under the Dousing spell!"
There was an ominous rumble. Chunks of stone rained down, and the entire chamber shook.
Tok gulped. "I think we just destabilized the Cave. Everybody run!"
"Too late!" Teplo dropped the sack of relics and grabbed Perda's hand. "Join hands—quickly!"
A small stalactite dropped and shattered at Zann's feet.
"Hurry!" he shouted, grabbing Darb and Zing.
Soon the entire group was holding hands.
"Zap!" shouted all the Magic Masters in unison.
Zann landed near the camp with the others just in time to see the entire cave collapse into a heap of rubble.
He ducked as a stray bolt of energy shot over them.
At first all he felt was relief.
Then his heart sank as he realized what this meant.
He'd just lost another chance to search for his parents.