"I'm coming, Ello!" Perda cried. She dived into the water.
Zann plunged into the chilly sea too.
He dived down into the murky water and spotted Perda just below him.
When he reached her, she had Ello by the arm.
Zann grabbed Ello's other arm and helped Perda drag him back to the surface. Ello coughed and spit out water.
"Over here!" Gliss called.
She and Darb reached out to pull Ello aboard.
Then they helped Zann and Perda as well.
"Whew! That was close," Perda said breathlessly.
"What happened?" Darb asked Ello. "Can't you swim?"
"Of course I can." Ello was shaking.
"I suppose I must be weak from my long solitude.
Let's find a wormhole and get out of here."
"Okay." Zann pulled out the guidelink and handed it to Perda. "How should we do this?"
Perda rubbed the device. "Think about wormholes, everyone," she said.
"Or the vortex. Either one might work."
Several gulpers surfaced nearby. Then there was a tug on the guidelink.
"This way," Perda said. She held on tightly as the device pulled the boat along. The gulpers followed.
Darb eyed the gulpers. "I hope the guidelink helps us get to the wormhole first.
Otherwise all it's doing is helping those things find a snack."
"Maybe we should all hold the guidelink," Gliss suggested.
Everyone put a hand on the device. Zann glanced at Ello's hand.
"Ello, it might work better if you take off your gloves," he said.
Before Ello could respond, the boat rocketed forward.
The guidelink vibrated under their hands. The gulpers were soon far behind.
Perda pointed ahead. "There's a wormhole!"
Zann nodded. "Get ready to jump, everyone!"
"What about the boat?" Darb said.
"We'll have to leave it behind." Zann glanced over his shoulder and saw that the gulpers were gaining on them. "There's no time to deflate it."
Darb nodded, but he looked uneasy.
Perda performed a Shackle spell. With everyone shackled together, Zann got ready for the leap into the wormhole.
"Now!" Zann cried.
Everyone jumped. Whoosh! A moment later they were spinning through the vortex again.
"We did it!" Gliss exclaimed. "I've never been so happy to be in this crazy place."
Perda laughed. "I know what you mean."
She glanced at Ello, who was shackled between her and Zann. "Welcome to the vortex, Ello."
"What?" Ello looked around. "Oh, right. This is my first time in the vortex."
"That's weird," Zann thought. Ello sounded flat and unimpressed.
Usually people were freaked out during their first time in the vortex.
"Let's see if we can find your people," Zann said.
"Did Wyssa tell you anything about the world where she was bringing them?
If we know what type of magic it has, maybe we can use the guidelink to find it."
"I have no idea," Ello said. "Wyssa didn't tell us anything.
Maybe I should just come back to Magica with you. I've always wanted to visit."
Gliss raised an eyebrow. "Don't you want to find your family?"
"I'm sure you know some powerful people in Magica who can help me get home," Ello said.
Zann was surprised. When his parents were lost in the vortex, Zann wanted more than anything to be reunited with them.
But Ello didn't seem to be in much of a hurry to find his own family.
Perda gave Ello a suspicious look. "Why wouldn't Wyssa tell your people where she was taking them?"
"She might have been distracted by Morb," Gliss suggested before Ello could respond.
"Maybe she was still trying to figure out what to do with Morb."
"That's it!" Ello said quickly. "She did seem distracted. And Morb kept trying to escape.
That's probably why she didn't tell us anything."
"She brought Morb with her to Skellia?" Zann was surprised again. "Why would she do that?"
"And didn't your people ask any questions?" Perda persisted. "Your mother or Rellu weren't curious?"
"Who?" Ello said.
Zann stared at him. "Rellu," he repeated. "The elder from your village."
"Oh, him." Ello cleared his throat. "Of course. I, uh, didn't hear you."
Zann couldn't ignore his uneasy feelings anymore. Something about Ello was odd.
And judging by the suspicious look on her face, Perda felt the same way.
Perda gestured to an approaching wormhole. "Let's exit here. I think we need to have a talk."
Zann grabbed the edge of the wormhole, peeking through to make sure it didn't look like Fardark or any other unpleasant world.
The landscape was covered in ice and snow, but otherwise didn't seem dangerous.
When they'd landed in the soft snow, Perda dissolved the shackles.
"Brr!" Gliss said. She snapped her fingers to conjure a warm coat.
"Hey, our magic seems to work here."
Perda was staring at Ello. "So, Ello, tell us again exactly how you got left behind."
"And where that houseboat came from," Zann added.
Ello frowned. "Why are you interrogating me?" he whined.
"I just want to get back to the safety of Magica."
"But you've never even been to Magica," Perda said.
"Why don't you want to find your family instead?"
"Yeah," Gliss said. "That does seem weird."
Ello scowled. "Fine," he said. "You want answers? Here you go!" He snapped his fingers.
Ello's familiar face began to change appearance.
Zann watched with confusion. Then he gasped. Ello's face was gone.
In its place was a different, even more familiar one.
"Morb!" Zann cried.
Perda's eyes widened. "You used a Masking spell!"
"Clever girl." Morb glared at the kids.
"All of you really are too clever for your own good."
Before the kids could react, he plucked the guidelink out of Perda's hand.
With a triumphant cackle, he disappeared through the wormhole.