It was a beautiful day in First City, and the streets buzzed with energy.
At the edge of Treeview Park, the king and queen of Magica were speaking to a large gathering.
Angry people held banners and signs. Some signs were magical, with flashing messages that changed words or colors.
Others were plain signs written by hand.
There had been many protests lately, and now the king and queen were trying to calm down the crowd.
A square-jawed man watched from a balcony overlooking the park.
His big hands rested on a railing, and a door behind him was open to an opulent apartment.
"Void rights," he muttered. "What a concept. Seems popular though."
Suddenly he gasped, his knees buckling as his head exploded with pain.
Pressing his hands to his head, he staggered through the door and collapsed onto a sofa.
A moment later the pain faded, and his eyes opened wide with surprise.
"Who is this?" he exclaimed. "How are you—?"
He paused, listening to a voice only he could hear. Then he nodded.
"Yes, of course I remember you. Who could forget?"
He barked out a short, humorless laugh. "But I thought you were dead!
That crazy old woman told the palace that she was going to . . ."
His words trailed off and he cocked his head, listening again.
"Yes, I see," he said. "Well, I'm glad.
I've missed your business. But where are you now?"
A loud cheer rose from the gathering below, but the man hardly heard it.
The voice in his head was speaking again.
"Who? Oh," the man said. "Yes, I can do that."
This time when he listened, he frowned.
He rose to his feet and began pacing.
"I never fail!" he snapped. "Never! Besides, I know the perfect person to help us."
Another brief pause followed. "Of course I know who is trustworthy.
If you doubt my judgment, perhaps you should find someone else!"
He listened again, his mouth curving into a slight smile. Finally he nodded.
"Yes, I'm glad you see that." He wandered back onto the balcony and glanced at the scene below.
"It's a deal. We shall make them all pay!"
He laughed along with the voice in his head. "I'll begin immediately."
"See you tomorrow, Zann," someone called.
Zann waved without looking to see who'd spoken, and then stepped outside.
After two months at First City Academy, he knew most of the kids' names.
But he still didn't feel as if he had true friends.
"Not like back home in Swamp Bottom," he thought.
Zann grimaced, reminding himself that Swamp Bottom wasn't "home" anymore.
Rubbing his fingers together, he stepped away from the building and muttered, "Zap!"
Splash!
Zann looked around. He was standing in a neighbor's decorative fountain.
"Drat," Zann said.
The neighbor was picking flutter flowers nearby.
"Sorry," Zann said to her.
She looked irritated for a second before her expression changed.
"Oh, it's young Zann, the hero!" she exclaimed.
"How are you? And how are those worlds-traveling parents of yours?"
"Fine, thanks," Zann said politely. "Excuse me, I have to go."
It still felt strange when people treated him like a celebrity.
Months had passed, but it still happened all the time.
He hurried over to his house. When he opened the front door, Zing flew out.
The dragon chattered and spat flames.
"Sorry I'm late," Zann told Zing. "I had to stay after school for an assembly about Void rights.
The headmaster said that we're all supposed to work at getting along—Reds, Voids, dragons . . ."
Zann hadn't been paying much attention to the Void rights protests.
But the assembly had made him think about Darb.
And that made him homesick for Swamp Bottom again.
He hadn't seen Darb for more than two months—nor their friends Perda and Gliss.
Zing started zipping around overhead, sending flames everywhere. Zann conjured some dragon treats.
"It's okay, boy," he called, tossing Zing the treats.
"I know you've been stuck in the house all day.
But now we can go to Palace Park and play.
I just have to stop by the lab first to tell Mom and Dad where we're going."
Zann considered sending his parents a message moth.
Luckily, they'd stopped monitoring his every move.
But for a month or so after Morb had been banished from Magica, Zann had had to check in with his parents all the time.
Zann tried to grab Zing to zap them both to the lab.
But the little dragon wouldn't hold still long enough.
"Okay, I guess we'll walk," Zann said with a shrug.
He headed down the street, whistling for Zing to follow.
Zing sped past him, diving to shoot flames at a passing flip fly.
"Hey!" A man cried, jumping aside as the flames missed the fly and almost hit him.
"Oops," Zann called and grabbed Zing by the wing.
"Come on, little buddy, let's take the quick way."
Zap!
They landed across the street from the lab where Zann's parents worked.
Zing yanked free immediately, diving down to attack a wiggle weed growing out of a crack in the sidewalk.
Zann hardly noticed. He stared at a group of about a dozen people.
They were marching around in front of him holding a Void rights banner.
Several people stood nearby and watched the marchers.
"Not another protest!" Zann muttered, shaking his head.
He forgot about that when he saw a message moth fluttering toward him. Zing saw it too.
"Zing, stop!" Zann grabbed the moth before the dragon could incinerate it.
Zann smiled when he spotted several names scrawled on one wing.
The moth had come from his friends in Swamp Bottom!
Before he could read their message, he heard a shout of anger.
"Give that back, you fire-breathing thief!"