"You can't destroy Magica!" Perda cried to Morb.
She turned to Wyssa. "You have to stop him!"
Wyssa said nothing. She was staring at the contraption in horror.
"It's too late," Morb sneered. "No one can stop me now!"
Zann stared at his parents. Their bodies twitched as the memory mice scampered over them.
"Are the mice really sucking out my parents' memories?" he asked.
"That's right, boy," Morb said. "But don't worry.
Once their memories are emptied, I'll have no further use for your parents. You can have them back."
Zann shuddered. He'd never imagined there could be anything worse than being separated from his parents.
Now he wasn't so sure. He couldn't stand the thought of finding them just in time to watch them forget everything.
Would they remember their old home in First City?
Or that family vacation they'd all taken to the Flower Forest?
Would they even remember him?
Morb turned to the Roodian queen. "I'm glad you're here to witness this," he taunted.
"Without you, it never could have happened."
Still thinking about the past, Zann stared at his parents.
Then he noticed a couple of memory mice sniffing curiously in his direction.
He looked over at Wyssa. "How do people invite the mice to eat their memories?" he whispered.
She appeared confused. "Simply by opening their minds to them."
"Good." Zann glanced at his friends and Venna.
"Start thinking about Magica," he whispered.
"Any memories you can come up with.
And invite the mice to come to you."
"What?" Perda looked alarmed. "You mean ask those things to eat our memories?"
Zann nodded. "There are five of us, and only two of my parents," he said.
"Maybe we can draw the mice away!"
Morb glanced over. "What are you whispering about over there?" he snapped.
"You should be grateful that you're here to see this.
Otherwise you'd have only moments to live." He smirked.
"Of course, I can't guarantee you have much longer than that.
The Beast of the Otherworld is always hungry."
Zann ignored Morb and focused his thoughts on home.
As more and more memories flooded his mind, Zann tried to send them toward the mice, inviting them to share.
One mouse wiggled its nose. Then it jumped down from Zann's father and took a step toward Zann.
A second mouse followed, and then a third.
Soon all the mice were scampering across the room, headed for Zann and his friends.
"N-now what?" Gliss asked nervously, backing away as far as the troll restraining her would let her.
Once again Morb had turned away to taunt the Roodian queen.
When he finally noticed the memory mice moving away from his machine, he let out a howl of fury.
"To me!" Wyssa intoned at the same time.
Zann held his breath as Wyssa's spell grabbed his parents and dragged them over to join the others.
A split second later, the trolls were flung against the walls, and a Shield spell appeared around the rest of the group.
"No!" Morb flung a bolt of energy at Wyssa.
But it bounced off the glowing shield and ricocheted around the room.
Zann hardly noticed. His parents looked dazed and weak.
They stared at him blankly, and for a moment he was afraid it was too late.
Then his mother's eyes brightened. "Zann?" she whispered, reaching out to touch his face. "Is it really you?"
Zann's father smiled feebly. "We've missed you so much, son."
"They remember you!" Perda exclaimed.
"Of course we do," Zann's mother said. "But my head feels so fuzzy . . ."
"You're lucky. The mice probably didn't focus on any particular memory," Wyssa told Zann's parents.
"They just nibbled away here and there.
You two will be weak for a while, but your memories should come back."
Zann finally looked out through the shield.
Morb was gnashing his teeth and stalking back and forth, occasionally blasting a troll.
"It's not enough!" he cried. "I still don't have enough power!"
"He's right. Look!" Perda pointed to the tube.
The glowing energy stopped just short of the top.
Morb snarled and then climbed into the machine!
"Even a Void has memories," he hissed.
"I suppose mine will work just as well as any.
I have a few childhood memories I wouldn't mind getting rid of!"
Venna gasped. "We have to do something!"
"Stand back," Wyssa said grimly.
She waved a hand, and the shield disappeared.
Wyssa sent a huge Blast spell flying toward the contraption. But it stopped short, fizzling away.
"It's not working!" Gliss cried.
"I can see that, girl," Wyssa snapped.
"The power of the Horns is blocking all magic."
"Maybe I can still get through." Darb handed the mibbit to Gliss and then rushed toward the machine.
But some unseen force bounced him back.
He landed on the stone floor with a grunt.
Venna paled. "There's no way to stop him! Magica is doomed!"
Morb cackled as the mice continued to feed.
His body slumped weakly, but his eyes glittered with triumph.
"How do you like that?" he spat.
"It took a Void to figure out how to focus enough magic energy to destroy Magica." He grinned nastily.
"Then again, who else but a Void could really appreciate the true power of magic energy? Others take it for granted.
But I could see how something that's harmless when used for small spells can be devastating when used for large ones!"
"What are we going to do?" Perda cried.
Zann didn't answer. All he could do was watch as the tube filled to the top.
Morb brushed the mice off himself and got out of the machine.
His mouth curled into an evil smile as he flung the hatch open.