"Now what?" Zann said.
He and his friends were huddled beneath some trees, hidden from the dragons flying overhead.
"This is bad," Perda said. "We're lost, and we don't have any way to contact Arrano and the others."
Just then a loud squawk came from directly above them.
"It's the dragons!" Gliss cried. "They found us!"
"No, wait." Darb peered up at the branches. "That didn't sound like a dragon."
Zann looked up too. A large bird was perched on an upper branch.
"That looks a lot like Teplo's sniffer goose," Darb said.
"Only smaller and with a shorter neck."
Perda sighed. "This is no time for identifying native species, Darb.
Besides, that goose doesn't look very friendly.
Let’s get moving." She grabbed Darb's arm and started to drag him away.
"Quiet!" Gliss warned. "Here comes a dragon."
Zann hid behind a tree as a medium-sized dragon walked past.
With every step thick orange smoke puffed out of its nostrils.
"This is crazy," Zann said once the dragon was out of sight.
"We can't just wander around looking for that wormhole."
"Yeah," Perda agreed. "Besides, we'll have to use magic to levitate over the boiling lake anyway.
Let's just save time and zap there."
"We can't," Gliss said. "We're lost, remember?"
"I can try a Seeking spell," Perda offered.
"That's how I found the wormhole back in Swamp Bottom."
"Good idea," Zann said. "Join friction."
Perda, Gliss, and Zann rubbed their hands together. "Seek," Perda said.
"It's working!" Zann could feel the magic energy tugging at him.
The Seeking spell led them through the valley below the trees.
Zann was climbing over some large rocks when he heard a rustling sound overhead.
He looked up and saw a large dragon flying straight at them.
"Everyone get down!" he shouted.
Zann threw himself behind a boulder. A blast of fiery air hit the spot where he'd just been standing.
"I think that's a flame fury!" Darb said.
"Like the ones that powered the Dragon Wagon. They must come from this world!"
"Great," Gliss said grimly. "All the more reason to get out of here!"
"We'd better zap away," Zann said. "Zap!"
He felt a twinge, but nothing happened.
"Oh no!" Perda cried. "That Seeking spell used up our magic energy!"
The fury was circling toward them again.
Flames were already curling out of its snout. Darb stood up.
"Darb!" Gliss cried. "Get down!"
Cupping both hands around his mouth, Darb took a deep breath and let out a loud honking sound.
"What are you—" Zann began.
Suddenly an answering honk came from the direction of the trees!
A second later the goose flapped into sight and spit a blob of goo directly at the dragon.
The fury howled, falling to the ground with an earth-shaking thump.
It pawed frantically at its face, trying to rub away the thick goose spit.
"What are we waiting for?" Perda cried. "Run!"
Zann took off with the girls at his heels and Zing flying overhead.
Darb paused just long enough to give a honk of thanks and then followed.
They'd only been running for a few minutes when they almost stumbled over a wormhole.
"The Seeking spell found a different wormhole!" Gliss exclaimed.
"Good," Perda said, panting. "We might not have enough energy left to levitate.
And I definitely didn't feel like swimming in that lake again!"
Darb cast a nervous glance over his shoulder.
"I think I hear that dragon coming. Hurry!"
Zann grabbed Perda's hand. Perda held out her hand to Gliss, who was holding Darb's hand. They all dived into the wormhole.
Soon the friends were hurtling through the vortex.
"Hold tight, everyone," Gliss said. "It makes me nervous to be here without our Shackle spell."
"Hey, Darb," said Zann. "How did you know that goose would help us?"
"I remembered the fake snuffer goose from the Dragon Wagon," Darb explained.
"When I realized we were in the furies' home world, I guessed that goose we saw must have been a snuffer."
"But how did you know how to call it?" Perda asked.
"Because of Teplo’s pet sniffer goose," Darb said.
"I picked up a few words of its language while we were staying with Teplo.
Since sniffer and snuffer geese look similar, I guessed their languages might be related." He shrugged. "Luckily, I was right."
"Wow." Zann was impressed. He never would have thought of any of that!
"You saved us from being roasted, Darb."
"Yeah." Gliss shuddered. "Roasted and eaten."
"Hey, Zann," Perda said. "Your purple marks are glowing again."
Zann grabbed at the next wormhole and tumbled through it.
Jumping to his feet, he was prepared to fight or run, but he quickly relaxed.
This world didn't look scary at all.
"Where are we?" Gliss wondered, climbing to her feet.
Perda shrugged. "Wherever it is, it looks boring."
"Yeah." Zann stepped away from the wormhole, which swirled shut and disappeared, leaving almost no color anywhere.
Everything—the sky, the ground, the trees and shrubs—was dull shades of beige and gray.
"At least there aren't any scary creatures attacking us," Gliss said.
Darb nodded. "I don't see any signs of people either. How are we going to figure out if Wyssa's here?"
"Zing!" Perda scolded. "Don't eat that. We don't know if it's safe."
The dragon was nibbling on a leaf. "He must be hungry," Zann said.
"I am too. Let's conjure some food while we figure out what to do."
"I'll do it." Gliss rubbed her hands together, but nothing happened. She frowned. "It's not working."
"Uh-oh." Zann gulped. "What if we're stuck in another world without magic?"