Once again Zann found himself plummeting through a shadowy kaleidoscope of colors and shapes.
This time, though, Wyssa wasn't there to steady or guide him.
As he felt Perda's hand slipping from his arm, he panicked.
Then he realized the magical shackles were still in place, binding him and Perda together.
"Is everyone still here?" he shouted, struggling to look back.
The movement sent him flying in a new direction.
But he could see his friends strung out behind him.
Perda and Gliss were clinging to each other, while Darb hung onto Gliss' legs.
Zing was clutching Zann's backpack with his claws. Everyone looked terrified.
Zann tried to gather his thoughts. It wasn't easy.
His trip through the vortex with Wyssa had been overwhelming enough. This was much, much worse.
Countless wormholes slid past, offering glimpses into other worlds.
How had Wyssa pulled them through one of them? Zann struggled to remember.
"Zann!" Darb's voice sounded faint and frightened. "What do we do now?"
Zann lunged for the next wormhole they passed. His friends were counting on him.
"Oof!" His fingers grasped only empty air.
The effort sent the entire group spinning. Gliss let out a shriek.
"Hold on!" Darb shouted.
"Is everyone okay?" Zann yelled. He could feel Perda's arm shackled to his, and Zing's hot breath on his neck.
Were the other two still with them?
"We're okay!" Gliss sounded breathless. "I—I don't know how much longer we can hold on though!"
Zann gulped. He had to get them out of here!
More worlds slid by, but Zann was unable to reach any of them.
It was a struggle merely staying conscious and alert; with every passing moment, he could feel more energy draining from him.
Soon he felt as if even a simple Door-opening spell would be more than he could manage.
Would he and his friends end up spinning through the vortex forever?
Like Morb, like poor Venna under the Dousing spell, like Zann's parents?
"We have to do something!" Perda cried.
"I know." Even pushing out the words took almost more energy than Zann had left. "I just don't—"
Suddenly Zing whistled eagerly in his ear.
Another wormhole was sliding past; this one revealed a large fish leaping out of the water.
Zing lunged, stretching out with his front claws while keeping his hind claws in Zann's backpack.
"Zing!" Darb cried. "This is no time to think about food!"
But somehow Zing was clawing at the edge of the wormhole.
Zann felt a strong sucking sensation, as if his entire body were being compressed.
"Wait!" Gliss cried. "I'm losing hold of Perda—"
Splash!
Zann plunged into a gray sea. Its waves grabbed him, flipping him head over heels.
It was almost as disorienting as being in the vortex.
Zann was so tired that he wasn't sure he could fight the angry water.
He was tempted to give up, let himself sink beneath the waves forever . . .
Then he felt a yank on his arm.
A moment later his head popped above the surface and he gulped in cool, moist air.
Perda was bobbing beside him, panting with exhaustion.
"Where's everyone else?" she asked.
Wind-driven rain made it hard to see. Zann blinked away the moisture.
Zing was floating nearby, flapping his wings and looking disgusted.
Zann almost smiled. The dragon wasn't a fan of swimming.
One of Zann's favorite tricks was to dunk him in the river.
Zann tried to focus; he realized his weary mind was wandering.
Treading water, he turned and spotted Gliss and Darb bobbing nearby.
"There you are!" he called.
He struck out toward them but realized his arm was still attached to Perda's.
For a moment he was annoyed. Then he realized that the shackles were what had saved him.
She must have pulled him to the surface.
By now Darb and Gliss had spotted them and were swimming over. "Everyone okay?" Darb panted.
"I think so." Zann squeezed his eyes shut as a larger wave washed over them.
He was relieved to feel his magic energy already coming back.
He glanced at Zing, who had finally shaken off enough water to fly.
"Go higher, boy!" Zann called. "Find land!" He glanced at the others.
"Try to rest. Then when Zing shows us which direction to go, we can zap to land."
"Yeah," Gliss said. "If our magic works in this world."
Zann gulped. He hadn't thought of that.
"I'll test my magic." Perda touched the shackles. "Release!"
The shackles disappeared. "Looks like it still works," Zann said.
"It's weird here," Gliss said, her voice shaking.
"The rain—it's not any color at all! Just clear!"
"Never mind that," Perda said. "I'm getting tired. Let's make a boat or something."
She linked hands with Zann and Gliss.
Even combined, their energy was weak. All they could manage was a small wooden raft.
When it was finished, Zann felt drained once again.
Still, the raft was big enough to hold them all.
"What's taking him so long?" Gliss squinted up at Zing, who was circling rapidly overhead. The dragon's whistle sounded uneasy.
Suddenly Zing squawked loudly and dived toward them. Zann frowned.
"What's he doing?" he wondered.
At that moment something jolted the raft from below, flipping it up and over.
Zann barely had time to gasp before he felt himself falling into the sea.
He fought his way back to the surface just in time to see their raft being swallowed by a creature like none he'd ever seen before.
It was a huge, jelly-like beast the size of the largest dragons—like an enormous jellyfish with a gaping, hungry mouth.
And several more were surfacing nearby!