The fat wizard—Klem—blinked rapidly, then asked, “What are you doing here with the game pieces?”

“Game pieces?” Jorick exclaimed. Letting go of Bet’s arm, he unsheathed his sword and shoved past Evin. With a cry, he brought the flat edge of the blade down against the wizard’s shiny head.

The wizard’s eyes rolled back and he collapsed.

Colton raised his staff and began muttering a spell. The spidery words twisted from his lips so fast they seemed like one word. “Ahnquaenteesev—”

As magic began to glow around the staff, Evin reached out with both hands and grabbed the small man by the wrists. He tugged with all his strength and threw the man to the ground, where he landed with an “oof!” against the carpet.

Evin pulled Bet onto the stairs, then kneeled down. Before Colton could recover, Evin grabbed the edge of the carpet and folded it over him, then tightly rolled the man as if he were bundling a bedroll.

The wizard lay there, his face covered from the mouth down by carpet, his voice muffled as he kicked his legs uselessly.

“Sorry, Colton!” Bet called out as Jorick grabbed her by the arm.

They leaped down the steps two at a time, rounding down a spiral that seemed an even longer distance than the first set of stairs had taken them. Finally, they burst into a vast open chamber.

Jorick skidded to a stop and Evin barreled into his back. The chamber was some sort of great hall. Immediately in front of them was a long wooden table with high-backed plush chairs set across its northern side. The table was adorned with plates of roast bird, bowls of fruit, and goblets of wine, along with messes of parchment scribbled with all sorts of numbers.

Something hummed and glowed to Evin’s right, in the northern half of the great room. There, the dome’s clear wall bisected the room. A giant metal globe was embedded in the transparent bricks. Strips of metal with runic figures encircled the globe. Green magic shimmered through it. The strips of metal slowly moved, making the humming sound.

The chimera’s roar echoed, and Evin looked to his left to discover that the chairs at the great table faced the wide balcony he’d seen from outside. Two tapestries hung on the walls on either side of the balcony. One was a sort of topographic map of a swath of land surrounded by a white circle. The other was a woven image that depicted two boys and a girl—Evin, Jorick, and Bet. Evin jumped back, and on the tapestry the image of a pale-haired boy that represented him did the same.

“I was wondering when you three would finally get here,” a voice said from the balcony.