"We're going to the Far Frontier now?" Gliss sounded nervous.
Wyssa nodded.
"But how?" Perda asked. "We can't just zap there."
"Why not?" Zann asked.
"Why do you think it's called the Far Frontier?"
Perda rolled her eyes. "It's really far away!"
"She's right, Zann," Darb said.
"Your parents wrote about the Far Frontier in their book.
The place is much farther from First City than the Cave of the Unknown, or the Misty Marshes, or anywhere else you've ever heard of."
Perda nodded. "It was really hard for them to get there—that's why they only went once.
Didn't you read your parents' own book, Zann?"
Zann shrugged.
He'd flipped through the book about the Far Frontier, but mostly just to look at the pictures.
His parents' journey there had happened long before he was born.
It wasn't that exciting to him.
He'd always been more intrigued by their travels through the vortex.
"So how did they get there?" he asked.
"We don't have time for this," Wyssa muttered.
Perda ignored her. "Your parents zapped as far as they could," she told Zann.
"They zapped dragons with them and rode them for the next part of the journey."
"But the dragons refused to go past a certain point," Darb said.
"Your parents think it's because there wasn't enough steady magic for them."
"So your parents released the dragons and walked the rest of the way," Perda added.
"It took them more than a week to reach the edge of the Far Frontier."
Gliss wrinkled her nose. "Do we have to do all that?"
"No," Wyssa barked. "Now be quiet so I can focus."
Zann saw that she'd pulled out a small contraption made of twigs and pebbles and various other things.
"What's that?" he asked.
Wyssa didn't answer.
She leaned over the contraption, carefully pouring the dragon scales she'd gathered into the top.
"Will that contraption zap us all to the Far Frontier?" Gliss asked.
Wyssa ignored the question.
"You'll have to be careful about what magic you do while we're in the Far Frontier."
Wyssa brushed a few stray scales off her hands.
"It's probably better if you check with me before doing any magic at all, actually."
"But—," Perda began.
She fell silent as Wyssa started muttering under her breath and waving her hands over the contraption.
A moment later a puff of purple smoke emerged from the top.
"Join hands." Wyssa grabbed Zann's hand.
"Then close your eyes and breathe in."
Zann grabbed Perda with his free hand and closed his eyes.
He felt light-headed—almost as if his mind had left his body.
He could hardly feel Perda's hand in his.
That made him panic. What if he'd lost hold of his friends?
He opened his eyes and screamed in terror.
He was hurtling through the air so fast he could barely see a thing!
It was even more terrifying than being in the vortex.
"Close your eyes, boy!" Wyssa snapped.
She gave his hand a sharp squeeze.
Zann obeyed, though his heart was pounding.
What kind of spell had Wyssa created?
A moment later he felt his feet hit the ground hard.
He staggered forward, almost losing his balance as the ground shifted below him.
"Oof!" He grunted as he fell onto his hands and knees.
The ground was soft—and hot! Zann snatched his hands away immediately.
He opened his eyes. He was in a sun-scorched desert.
An endless expanse of sand stretched in every direction.
His friends were sprawled nearby. They looked confused.
Wyssa gazed into the distance, one hand shielding her eyes from the bright sun.
"What are you waiting for?" she said when she noticed Zann looking at her.
"Let's get moving."
Zann stood, his legs shaky. "Is this the . . . Far Frontier?"
"Of course." Wyssa nudged Perda with her foot.
"Up!" the old woman ordered.
Perda groaned and pushed herself upright.
"Wow," she said. "This place is even weirder than it looks in the book."
Zann had to agree.
The Far Frontier appeared to be nothing but sand dunes, with only a few distant rocky areas dotting the horizon.
The sun seemed closer and hotter than elsewhere in Magica.
Zann glanced up and saw a dragon soaring lazily far overhead.
Gliss spotted it too. "I thought you said dragons couldn't fly here."
"Regular ones can't," Wyssa replied impatiently.
"I suppose some local species must have developed here."
"That makes sense." Darb peered upward with interest.
"Different types of animals can adapt to different environments."
"Enough chitchat," Wyssa said sharply.
"We need to hurry."
"Why?" Gliss said.
"I mean, it only took us like five minutes to get here."
"Wrong." Wyssa glared at her. "Our journey took almost two days."
"What?" Perda exclaimed. "What kind of spell was that, anyway?"
Wyssa didn't respond.
She stepped forward, squinting into the distance.
"We must locate Morb."
"Okay." Zann brushed sand off his legs.
"How are we going to do that?"
"With almost no magic," Gliss added.
Zann waited for Wyssa to answer, or maybe to pull out another mysterious powder or contraption.
But she merely shrugged and took a few steps forward.
"It's hard to walk on this soft sand," she muttered.
Zann noticed that she sounded surprised.
"Wait," he said. "You have been to the Far Frontier before, haven't you?"
"What gave you that idea, boy?" Wyssa snapped.
Perda gasped. "You've never been here before?"
"Of course not." Wyssa scowled at the kids.
"Now be quiet so I can figure out what to do."