As everyone crowded near the door to the tower, Zann glanced back.
Mouth wide open, the Beast thrust its giant head toward them.
Crash!
The Beast howled with pain and frustration as it hit an invisible barrier.
"I knew it!" Zann exclaimed. "It's a Shield spell!"
"What?" Perda sounded confused. "But we passed straight through it."
"The Shield must have been designed to only keep out the Beast," said Venna.
"Nice thinking, boy," Wyssa added.
"But how did you know the Shield was there?" Darb asked Zann.
"I figured Morb wouldn't build his lair here if he didn't have a way to keep the Beast out," Zann explained.
"But the mibbit . . ." Perda gestured toward Darb.
"I know," Zann said. "I figured, or at least I hoped, that Morb had a backup plan, just in case the mibbit couldn't hold back the Beast."
"That makes sense." Darb stroked the mibbit.
"If I had a monster like that outside my front door, I'd have a backup plan too!"
The Beast let out another howl of fury. Gliss shot it a nervous look.
"What do we do now?" she asked.
"We go in," said Wyssa. "Carefully." Touching the lock on the door, she muttered a few words. The door opened with a pop.
With Wyssa in the lead, the group stepped quietly into the tower.
The entryway inside was long and narrow, lit by a procession of flickering wall torches.
"Weird." Perda peered ahead. "This place looks a lot bigger on the inside than it did from the outside."
"No kidding," Zann said, glancing through an arched doorway.
Beyond was a room so enormous that he couldn't see the far wall.
Gliss was staring through another arch. "How are we going to find Morb in this place?"
"Or my parents." Zann looked at Wyssa.
"Are there any spells we could use?"
"Hundreds," she replied. "But I'm sure Morb has magic sensors in place.
It's better if he doesn't know we're here until we find him."
Suddenly Darb gasped. "Look out!"
Something burst out of a nearby doorway.
"Uh-oh, it's one of those blob monsters," Zann exclaimed.
"Like the one Morb had guarding the palace back in First City!"
"A sweller from Ductilan." Wyssa nodded. "They make crude but effective guards. Fortunately they aren't very smart."
She pulled a handful of stones out of her pocket and tossed them down a side hallway. The sweller blobbed after them.
"This way," Wyssa said, heading down a different hall.
Zann peered into each room they passed. No two looked the same.
"This place is strange," Perda commented as she and Zann paused in the doorway of a room that appeared to be made entirely out of fish scales.
"Yeah," Zann said. "Just like the guy who built it."
"Look out!" Venna cried.
Several large trolls lumbered toward them.
"Zing, quick!" Darb urged. "Do your thing!"
Whistling his song, Zing flew forward. The trolls stopped, staring at the dragon.
"Hurry! If we get out of sight, they might forget we were ever here. "Venna darted around a corner.
By the time the group rounded the next corner, Zing had caught up.
Zann didn't hear any sound of pursuit.
"I think we lost them," he said. "Thanks, little buddy!"
Zing chirped and led the way into a large courtyard filled with trees and shrubs.
"Wow," Perda said. "This place is definitely bigger on the inside than the outside!"
"Perhaps." Wyssa looked worried. "There might be a Bewilderment spell on the whole place.
That would explain why we never pass the same room twice."
"A Bewilderment spell?" Gliss said. "I've never heard of—aah!"
Zann spun around. One of the trees had grabbed Gliss!
"It's a tentacle tree!" Perda cried. "Like in Fardark!"
Wyssa stepped forward. A long, curved knife appeared in her hand.
With one swift movement, she slashed the tentacle in two.
"Get away from it," she ordered. "Hurry!"
The whole group dashed through another door.
"This is awful!" Venna looked petrified. "It's like Morb brought every scary creature from every world to guard this place!"
There was a sudden flurry of wings. Dozens of large birds burst into the room.
"Snuffer geese!" Gliss exclaimed. "Or sniffer geese? I can't tell the difference."
"Doesn't matter," Wyssa said. "Both breeds are nasty when they're annoyed."
Darb took a deep breath. "Honk! Honk!"
"What's your Void friend doing?" Venna hissed at Zann. "He'll only upset them more!"
"Shh!" Zann watched as Darb honked a few more times.
One of the geese honked back. Then the whole flock waddled off!
"Amazing!" Gliss cried.
They all looked at Darb.
He shrugged. "I just told them we didn't mean them any harm.
At least I think that's what I said!"
Venna looked impressed.
"Let's move on," said Wyssa. She led the way into the next room. It was large and dimly lit.
As Zann entered the room, he thought he saw a shadowy shape moving along one wall.
He paused and peered into the dimness.
"Guys?" said Zann. "I think there's something in here."
Just then the shadowy creature stepped into the light.
The creature was orange with black stripes.
Perda gasped. "It's one of those striped monsters.
Like the one Morb sent after that sneaky guy, Slib, back at the palace!"
"How do we fight this creature?" Gliss asked.
Venna shrugged. "Run!"
Zann was in the lead as they raced around a corner and straight into a flock of tiny, buzzing creatures.
"Flizzes!" he shouted, steeling himself for the little dragons' painful stings.
But it didn't happen. The flizzes immediately buzzed away.
"Wow," Perda said. "We're lucky they didn't attack us."
"Maybe not." Wyssa sounded grim. "They're probably flying straight to Morb to tell him that we're here."