Zann looked at the nomads, who seemed just as perplexed as the kids were.
"What kind of insects are those?" he asked the nomads.
"Are they dangerous?"
"I've never seen such creatures before," one nomad responded.
"They aren't native to the Far Frontier."
"Hey!" Darb pointed. "They all just disappeared!"
"That's weird." Zann felt uneasy.
"What if those beetles are some kind of strange off-world creatures that Morb is using to guard his contraption?
They might be more dangerous than they look."
"Dangerous enough to scare off Wyssa?" Perda sounded skeptical.
"She's not even scared of a scatter beast!"
"Let's climb up there and see what happens," Darb said.
"Maybe we can break the contraption apart without magic."
"We'll stand guard and alert you if Morb is approaching," one of the nomads said.
"Okay." Zann could tell that the nomads wanted to stay far away from that contraption.
He didn't blame them. Morb was awfully scary, and so were his contraptions.
But Zann knew that this could be their best chance to stop the evil villain's plans.
Zann, Perda, and Darb climbed up to the top of the plateau.
Zann walked toward the contraption.
But after just a few steps, he found his path blocked by an invisible wall of energy.
"There's a Shield spell here," he said.
Perda nodded. "We should have known that Morb wouldn't leave his contraption unguarded."
Darb glanced around.
"There's no sign of those beetles. Why would he need them if he has a Shield spell?"
Perda shrugged and poked at the invisible shield.
"Should we try to break through this?"
"How?" Zann said.
"Our magic barely works here. Besides, I'm sure Morb used a strong spell."
"I bet that fireball would have broken through." Perda frowned.
"I wonder what made Wyssa zap off like that."
"Who knows?" Darb started walking toward the edge of the plateau.
"But come on, we should get out of here before Morb comes back."
Zann had to agree with that.
They climbed back down and told the nomads about the Shield spell.
"Is your friend coming back?" one of the nomads asked.
"You mean Wyssa?" Zann shook his head. "I don't know.
Maybe we should try to contact her.
Are there message moths out here?"
"No," a nomad replied. "But we can send her a message."
"How?" Darb asked.
"A sound message," another nomad said.
"We send sound waves through the air and the ground to form thoughts and feelings."
Zann wasn't sure that Wyssa would understand that kind of message.
But he didn't have any better ideas, so he stood back and watched while the nomads sent their message.
They stomped their feet and danced in a circle, waving their arms and rubbing their hands together to form spurts of magic energy.
Even the hoof beasts stopped grazing and watched the nomads with interest.
"That magic is cool," Darb whispered. "I can feel it!"
Zann could feel the nomads' magic message too.
The nomads were saying, "Where are you? We wish you were here with us."
"I hope Wyssa feels it and comes back soon," Perda said after the nomads finished sending the message.
"We need her help to find Gliss."
"Maybe we should split up and keep searching for both of them," Darb suggested.
"We could cover more ground that way."
"No, you might get lost," a nomad said.
"In any case, people from our tribe are still searching for your friend Gliss.
They will send a message when they find her."
The hoof beasts had gone back to grazing after the message had been sent.
But suddenly one of them let out a sharp whistle.
The other hoof beasts abruptly raised their heads.
Their ears swiveled around, and their nostrils flared.
Then they all took off at a gallop.
"Hey! Where are they going?" a nomad exclaimed.
Another nomad whistled sharply.
But the hoof beasts ignored the sound.
They soon disappeared over the horizon.
"That was strange." One nomad frowned. "What frightened them?"
"Look!" Darb pointed. "Here comes Wyssa!"
"Oh, good!" Zann said.
"Maybe she startled the hoof beasts," Perda said.
Zann opened his mouth to respond.
Instead he gasped as a Red Share struck him so strongly that he staggered and almost fell.
It was from Gliss, and she was still terrified!
The others didn't notice his reaction.
They were hurrying to meet Wyssa.
Zann staggered after them, his head throbbing with the Share.
"Why did you zap off like that?" Perda asked Wyssa.
"You were about to destroy Morb's contraption!"
"Was it the insects?" Darb asked. "They looked harmless, but maybe—"
"They are harmless," Wyssa said with a short laugh.
"I apologize for being such a coward earlier.
After all, what kind of fool is afraid of a few silly blank bugs?
I must have been losing my mind!"
"Blank bugs?" Darb said with interest.
The Share was still distracting Zann, but he also couldn't help noticing that Wyssa was acting oddly.
She wasn't the type of person to apologize for anything or to call herself a coward.
"Are you okay?" he asked, doing his best to ignore Gliss' terror for the moment.
"Good question," Wyssa said with a smirk.
"Actually, I'm better than ever. Much better."
Perda blinked. "What do you mean?"
Wyssa let out a wild cackle.
Suddenly there was an evil glimmer in her eye.
"I thought you children were supposed to be clever!
And yet you're always so easy to trick!"
Before Zann could figure out what that meant, Wyssa snapped her fingers.
Her face and body shimmered and started to change.
A shiver ran down Zann's spine as a new face took shape. Zann gasped. "Morb!"