Without warning, Fifer stumbled on a vine and plunged forward. Kitten and the 3-D drawing went flying, and Fifer face-planted on the jungle floor. “Oof,” she muttered. She caught her breath, then pushed herself up, arms shaking again. “Are you okay, Kitten?” she asked, wiping the leaves and dirt off her clothes.

“Mewmewmew,” said Kitten sweetly, and ran up Fifer’s leg to get back to her spot.

Fifer picked up the 3-D door, cringing as she examined it. The dirt shook off easily enough, but there was a small ripple and a tear in the paper. After everything the scroll had been through today, this was how it got wrecked? “Not good,” Fifer said, smoothing the ripple but unable to do anything about the tear. “I hope we can fix it.”

There was nothing more she or Kitten could do right now. A door with a little rip in it was better than no door at all. She continued on, finally making it to the clearing and the jungle tube where Florence, Sky, and Ava and Lukas waited, looking anxious after so much time had passed.

When they saw Fifer coming, they ran to greet her. “What happened?” Florence demanded. “Where’s everyone else? Why didn’t you come back through the tube?”

“Where’s our mom?” asked Lukas.

“And dad?” asked Ava.

“Are you okay?” asked Sky.

“I’m okay,” Fifer confirmed. Keeping the children in mind, she explained everything from the time her team left the secret hallway: Conducting their surprise attack, getting trapped on the staircase, and everyone dropping faster than Fifer could perform release spells on them. She told them how she’d escaped, and how she’d watched from the hammock as the dissenters sent everyone to the library and lounge and then destroyed the only remaining main tube that actually worked. “We were lucky Frieda wasn’t present for most of it. When she showed up, she tried to, um…” She glanced at Ava and Lukas, then continued. “Tried to take me out permanently with three heart attack components.” She paused. “Only two of them hit.”

Florence was quiet. Her face fell with every detail. “I didn’t expect this level of severity. Or this much organization,” she said, beginning to pace. “How did you get trapped like that? You are all seasoned fighters. How many times…?” She frowned and mercifully trailed off.

“We… made a mistake. We didn’t think anyone was in the hallways on the second floor,” Fifer explained, feeling the shame rise in her neck and face. “I guess we thought that since Frieda had recently been holding a meeting in the entryway, everyone would still be down there. So we were planning to do some damage and then retreat. But… that didn’t go as planned. Everybody wanted to be fighting, not looking out.”

Florence let out a deep sigh and shook her head. “Did I not teach you stubborn alpha mages anything?”

“But,” Fifer said with a glimmer of hope in her voice, “I managed to steal the 3-D theater door. Unfortunately,” she added, “it sustained a small tear.” Fifer chose not to mention that the rip happened due to her tripping over her own feet. She and the others were already looking incompetent enough in Florence’s eyes at the moment.