"Uh-oh." Zann stared after the flizzes. "What now?"
"Should we use magic to find our way?" Venna suggested.
"We might as well," Gliss said. "Wyssa used magic to create that knife just now."
She rubbed her neck where the tree had grabbed her.
"That was minor magic," Wyssa said. "Any kind of searching or mapping spell would be—oh, hello."
A Roodian servant was rushing toward them.
"The prince sent me to help you," he said in a hushed, urgent tone.
"He realized you'd never find the queen and the other prisoners.
Morb has put a Bewilderment spell over this whole place."
"I knew it!" Wyssa muttered.
"But we servants need to be able to find our way around to do our jobs."
The Roodian cast a nervous look around as he showed them a small object.
"That's why Morb gave each of us one of these."
Perda gasped. "A talisman! Just like the one Morb used to control the trolls!"
The Roodian handed the talisman to Wyssa.
"It blocks the effects of the Bewilderment spell.
Now you'll be able to find the prisoners' cell."
He quickly told them the way and then scurried off.
With Wyssa in the lead, Zann and the others followed the Roodian's directions.
Soon they reached a large, dimly lit chamber.
A haze of odorless smoke made it impossible to see more than a few steps ahead.
"This should be the cell." Zann peered in. "Do you guys see anything?"
"I can't see a thing through all this misty stuff," Gliss complained.
Zann took a few careful steps forward, waving a hand to clear the haze. "I think I see something . . ."
Zann's voice trailed off; his eyes widened in horror.
A scatter beast was stepping out of the mist!
Zann's heart raced. His head filled with memories of his last scatter beast encounter.
He tried to speak, to warn his friends.
But his voice seemed frozen in his throat.
"Was that Roodian servant working for Morb?" he thought with a shudder.
"Did he send us straight into a trap?"
The scatter beast paused, its tentacle waving lazily as it shambled closer.
"No!" Venna shouted. But Zann barely noticed; all he could do was stare at the horrifying creature moving toward him.
Suddenly there was a loud squawk. Zing flew around Zann and the others, spitting fire and whistling urgently.
"Zing, what are you doing?" Zann mumbled, barely feeling the burn of Zing's flames. "Save yourself."
Zing let out a chirp of irritation and flew out of sight.
For a moment Zann thought the dragon had taken his advice and escaped the way they'd come in.
Then Zann heard another whistle. A second later something thumped into his back—hard.
"Hey!" Zann blurted out as he stumbled forward.
He was about to fall right on top of the scatter beast! "No—oof!"
He landed hard on the stone floor of the chamber.
"Huh?" Zann muttered. He couldn't see the scatter beast anymore.
Zann leaped to his feet and backed up a few steps.
Suddenly the scatter beast was there again, in the same spot where Zann had just fallen!
Zing landed beside the scatter beast. The beast didn't seem to notice the dragon at all.
Zann's wild heartbeat slowed. For the first time, he realized he wasn't feeling the pain and other crazy magical effects he'd felt in Fardark.
The only thing immobilizing him was his fear.
Taking a cautious step forward, Zann reached for the scatter beast. His hand passed right through it!
"It's an illusion!" Zann shouted with relief. "The scatter beast isn't real!"
He glanced around. Everyone else, except Zing, was staring straight ahead, looking terrified.
"S-scatter beast?" Perda's eyes never left the blank spot right in front of her.
"I'd be happy to see a scatter beast right now.
Maybe it would scare away that huge swarm of tickle bugs!"
"Tickle bugs?" Zann wrinkled his nose. Tickle bugs had ten legs and whirligig wings and liked to land on people.
They were annoying, but they weren't scary. Well, except to Perda.
Suddenly Zann remembered that Perda was terrified of the goofy insects. He'd once scared her with one.
"I get it," he muttered. "Guys, none of this is real!" he said loudly.
"Whatever you're seeing—tickle bugs, scatter beasts—they're just another one of Morb's spells.
Somehow he's making us each see whatever scares us the most."
Venna still didn't move. "Maybe you're right.
But that cave hisser sure looks real to me.
And everyone knows they don't like sudden movements."
Zann sighed and then glanced at Zing. "Come on, little buddy. Let's show them."
The two of them jumped in front of each person, revealing that whatever each was seeing wasn't real.
"Thank goodness!" Gliss stumbled backward. "I was sure that thunder charger was going to eat me!"
Darb nodded. "I thought I was about to fall into a deep, dark hole."
"What did you see?" Perda asked Wyssa.
Zann waited for Wyssa's answer. What could possibly terrify someone like her?
"It's not important." Wyssa frowned, peering farther into the misty room.
"This type of spell is very complex and difficult to cast.
With so many real creatures roaming his lair, Morb would only bother to use a spell like this to protect something very important."
She muttered a few words under her breath. Then she waved a hand.
"Reveal!" she intoned.
The chamber seemed to melt away, revealing that it had all been an illusion.
Zann and the others found themselves standing in an icy cave.
A tiny woman was frozen in a block of ice.
She was motionless, except for her eyes, which darted pleadingly from one person to the next.