Splash!
Zann, Darb, and Zing landed in a fountain across the street from Venna's campaign headquarters.
Perda and Gliss appeared nearby a second later.
Immediately several trolls ran out of the headquarters.
"Run!" Zann cried.
The kids quickly outran the trolls and hid in some bushes.
"Should we go back to Teplo's house?" Gliss said, panting.
Darb nodded. "I don't think we should zap though.
If there are more trolls out there, we don't want to accidentally zap into them."
"And with Morb back in town, I'm betting there are plenty of trolls wandering around," Perda said grimly.
"When we saw the trolls at the palace, we should have known that Laddno was plotting with Morb," Zann said.
"Really? I never would have guessed that," Gliss said. "It's crazy."
"Shh." Perda took a step out of the bushes to check for trolls.
"Come on, let's go."
When the kids got to Teplo's house, trolls were patrolling the street.
Next the kids tried to go to Zann's parents' lab.
But they had to stop behind another building near the lab.
More trolls were lurking in front of the lab.
"Now where should we go?" Gliss whispered.
"This can't be a coincidence," Perda said.
"Morb probably sent those trolls out to look for us. Or for Zann, at least."
Zann gulped. Was that true?
"We need a place to hide and figure out what to do," he said.
"Follow me. I think I know a place."
He led the way down one street after another.
"Where are we going?" Darb asked.
"You'll see." Zann led his friends into a large park with a playground in the middle.
"I used to play hide-and-seek here all the time when I was little.
And I was always the last one to be found."
He glanced around to make sure no trolls were nearby.
Then he ducked into a large playhouse shaped like a small version of the palace.
"No way, Zann!" Perda said. "If a troll looks in here, we'll be trapped!"
"No, we won't." Zann grinned and ran his hands over the back wall.
Soon he found the secret door he remembered.
Beyond was a small room with a few buckets and rakes.
"Wow." Gliss looked around.
"I never would have guessed this was here!"
"Neither will the trolls." Zann closed the hidden door behind them.
"We should be safe in here while we figure out what to do."
His smile faded as he realized he had no ideas.
How were they going to stop Morb this time?
"We need to find Wyssa," Perda said. "She might be our only hope."
Darb nodded. "But how can we find her if she doesn't want to be found?"
Perda sighed. "Good question.
I can try my Uniting spell again, but I doubt it will work any better."
"What if she already left Magica?" Gliss said.
Zann hadn't thought of that. "I don't think she'd leave," he said slowly.
"She seems to feel responsible for helping Morb reach this level of power."
"True," Gliss said. "She seemed pretty determined to stop him too."
She frowned. "At least when those weird beetles in the Far Frontier weren't around.
We never did ask her what those were."
"Never mind that," Darb said.
"If Wyssa is still in Magica, she's probably looking for that new contraption."
"Do you think Morb brought it to First City already?" Gliss wondered.
"Probably," Zann said. "I'll bet that's what's giving him so much power."
"If we find that contraption, we might also find Wyssa," Darb said.
"Or at least we could try to destroy the contraption ourselves," Perda said.
"Okay, so where do we look for the contraption? The palace?"
"Maybe." Gliss shrugged. "I wish we had the Remote Eye with us."
"Or the guidelink," Perda added.
"That might be able to guide us to a strong source of power like the contraption."
"Forget all that," Zann said.
"How are we going to search without being caught by Morb's trolls?"
They were all silent for a moment, thinking.
Darb was the first to speak.
"Why not the Directory?" he said.
"Huh?" Zann blinked at him. "The Directory?"
Darb nodded. "Morb is pretty busy right now with taking over Magica and everything.
He might not think to block or alter his Directory entry."
Perda gasped. "The Directory automatically updates everyone's information!" she exclaimed.
"It'll have Morb's current address!"
Zann grinned and clapped Darb on the shoulder.
"I'm sure that's where Morb keeps his stuff, including that contraption!"
"It's worth a try!" Gliss snapped her fingers.
The Directory appeared, glowing brightly in the dim little storage room.
"Morb," Zann said, and the Directory zeroed in on a particular entry.
At the top was a picture of a sneering Morb, along with his name.
"Current occupation: Tyrant and usurper," Darb read as Zann scrolled down the page.
"Current residence: the palace in First City.
Previous residence: Number 11 Twisted Branch Avenue, Wormwood."
Perda gasped. "Of course! That explains the invisible shield over Wormwood.
It must be there to protect Morb's contraption!"
"I wonder how he got it there from the Far Frontier," Darb said.
"And why would he bring it to Wormwood instead of to the palace?"
Perda shrugged, not seeming too worried about that.
"Maybe he brought it in through the wormhole or something, so it was easier just to leave it there," she said.
Gliss frowned. "But there are no wormholes in the Far Frontier."
"Never mind that," Perda said.
"How are we going to get into Wormwood, past that weird, sticky Shield spell?"
Zann grinned. "You just answered your own question," he told her.
"We can go in through the wormhole!"