Laddno frowned as a female member of the Red Council droned on about election details.
The businessman had wandered to the back of the room ten minutes earlier.
He glanced toward the group. Boz was sitting up front with his non-Red daughter and her husband.
All three were listening carefully to what the Red Council member was saying.
Laddno glared at Boz, but the old Magic Master didn't even look his way.
Laddno began pacing. He didn't like being ignored, especially by a bunch of snooty Reds and their cronies.
But that would all change soon. Once he was elected king, Laddno planned to make some big changes.
He'd start by hanging an enormous portrait of himself in the palace.
Then no one could ignore him—or his power!
He was thinking about what color to paint the throne room when the familiar pain filled his head again.
He held his head and staggered out of the room.
He collapsed against the wall, panting as the pain subsided slightly.
The voice in his head spoke.
"What?" Laddno replied. "How soon?"
He paused and listened again. Then he frowned.
"Are you sure they're really coming?" Laddno asked. "What if they can't do it?"
Once again he fell silent as the voice raged on. Finally Laddno nodded.
"All right," he said resolutely. "I'll begin immediately."
"Hold still," a Niffian said as he dabbed purple goo on Zann's fingers.
Perda stared at her own fingers, which were already coated with the stuff.
"How does this work again?" she asked.
"This oogberry paste will work with your magical friction," the Niffian explained.
"All you need to do is think of the place you wish to visit.
When the paste glows, it means you're near your destination."
"That sounds sort of like the guidelink."
Gliss glanced at the device sticking out of Zann's pocket.
"With that, we need to think about a certain type of magic."
The Niffian smiled. "With the paste, you just need to think of a person or place."
"That will make things easier," Zann said.
He looked at his hands. "Okay, I think we're ready."
He was grateful to the Niffians for helping them.
But he was eager to get away from their stinky world as soon as possible. Besides, he was worried about Ello.
Soon Zann and his friends were back in the vortex.
"Think about Skellia, everyone!" Perda called.
Within seconds the paste began to glow.
Zann spotted an approaching wormhole. "That must be Skellia up ahead!" he shouted.
Moments later they plunged through the wormhole and into cold water.
The water was so rough, Zann was glad that the Shackle spell was holding them all together.
Suddenly something large glided past beneath them.
"A gulper!" Perda yelled. "Quick, inflate the boat!"
Darb spit out a mouthful of water.
Then he pulled down the boat, which had been draped over his shoulders, and yanked the little tab.
Soon the boat was bobbing on the waves. By now the gulper had moved away.
Zann was relieved. Since they hadn't used magic, the creature hadn't been interested in them.
When they were all on the boat, Zann collapsed and caught his breath. "We did it," he said.
"Thanks to the Niffians." Perda looked at her hand. "My oogberry paste washed off."
"Mine too," Gliss said.
Zann saw that his fingers had also returned to their normal color.
"Oh well. Hopefully the guidelink will help us find our way back to Magica."
"First we have to find Ello," Darb said.
Zann sat up and looked around. From horizon to horizon, all he could see were churning gray waves.
There was no sign of land anywhere.
Gliss peered at her hand. "Maybe there's some oogberry paste stuck under our fingernails."
"I have a better idea," Perda said. "Let's use the guidelink.
Since it tracks magic, we might be able to find Ello with it.
We just need to focus on whatever type of magic Ello is using to communicate with Zann."
Gliss frowned. "But we don't know what type that is."
"It's worth a try," Zann said.
He rubbed the guidelink and focused on Ello.
He thought about the magic that Ello had used during their last visit to Skellia.
At first nothing happened. So Perda and Gliss put their hands on the guidelink too and added their own thoughts to Zann's.
Finally something tugged on the boat.
"I think it's working!" Perda cried.
The boat floated along, pulled by the guidelink's magic.
Suddenly a gulper rose out of the water!
"Oh, no!" Gliss wailed. "The guidelink attracted a gulper!"
"Everyone, stop using magic," Darb called out.
"Let's just sit here until the gulper swims away."
When the gulper was gone, they tried again.
Two more gulpers appeared, drawn by the energy of the guidelink.
"What are we going to do?" Gliss said. "This isn't working!"
"Let's try once more," Perda suggested. "This time, don't focus on Ello. Just think about finding the strongest magic source around."
She looked at Zann. "Your parents said it could do that, right?"
"I think so," Zann said. "Let's try it."
This time the guidelink responded almost immediately. The boat sped over the waves.
"Whoa!" Perda cried.
"Wow," Darb said. "The guidelink must have found a really strong power source!"
"Yeah," Zann said slowly. "That's weird though. I thought Skellia didn't have much native magic."
"Look!" Perda shouted. "It's another boat."
Zann peered through the sea spray. Something was bobbing on the waves up ahead.
When they got closer, he laughed with relief.
It was a rickety houseboat with a small figure waving to them from the deck.
"It's Ello!" he cried. "We found him!"