Angelina Nightengale buckled her seatbelt. She was an American woman flying on an airplane from Miami, Florida, to Boston, Massachusetts. First, she had worked at a fast-food restaurant. Then, she owned a magic shop, which made her go bankrupt. She was now flying on a plane from Miami to Boston to live with her parents until she could find another job.

There was one thing that was her true passion, and that was performing magic tricks for an audience, but that did not pay the bills because there weren't very many people who wanted to hire a magician for their child's birthday party. Her mother was a politician from Boston, and Angelina tried to distance herself from that city as much as possible.

Angelina was terrified of heights, and she played with the ring on her finger nervously as the plane took off from the runway. The ring had belonged to an ancestor who, according to family legend, had come from another universe. Angelina wore the ring a lot, pretending that the legend was true. It had also made for good conversation when she owned her magic shop.

The ring, according to her father, was a ring that her ancestor, Queen Zadelia of the Ethermoorian Fairies, had taken from an evil sorcerer named Tareth, who she had imprisoned. He had used it to travel to different worlds. No one in Angelina's family had ever been able to make it work, and Angelina thought it was just a fun story that was passed down through the family.

About half an hour into the flight, she felt the plane hit an air pocket, which terrified her, but she brushed it off as being nothing. Then, the plane began shaking up and down, and Angelina knew the shaking couldn't be normal. She looked out the window and saw a bright light about the size of the sun on the horizon. Angelina knew it was not the sun because she saw the sun through a window on the other side of the plane.

What is that? Angelina wondered. The plane began shaking harder and harder, and the light grew bigger and brighter. The person sitting next to her was snoring. The other passengers appeared to be unaware of what was happening. The fasten seatbelt sign didn't even turn on.

The light engulfed the cabin, and there was a massive jolt. As soon as the light disappeared, Angelina noticed that she was suddenly alone in the cabin. The other passengers had vanished.

She looked out the window and saw a green forest-covered mountain range that had suddenly just appeared out of nowhere. The plane had been flying out over the Atlantic Ocean. What the heck is going on?

She unbuckled her seatbelt and walked into the cockpit. To her horror, the pilot and copilot had disappeared too! Angelina ran back to her seat and grabbed her carry-on bag. She felt the plane losing altitude, which meant that it could crash at any moment. Angelina did not have a parachute, but she decided that there was a small chance that she would make it out of the crash alive if she jumped out of the emergency exit.

She pried open the exit door and was sucked out into the air by the speed of the plane. She braced for impact on the ground, but instead, she felt herself plunge below the surface of the ice-cold river. She kicked to the surface and struggled to swim to the other side of the river. Exhausted, she pulled herself onto the riverbank and hauled her carry-on bag with her. She sat there for a few seconds, trying to catch her breath and process what had just happened to her.

Angelina heard an explosion and saw a plume of fire rise above the treetops. The plane had crashed. A wave of relief washed over her as she realized that she had jumped out just in time to save her own life. How, and why, did everyone on that plane disappear? How did this gigantic landmass suddenly appear in the ocean?

Angelina began walking through the forest. She took her cell phone out of her purse, hoping beyond hope that it was not damaged when she plunged below the surface of the water. She tried to turn it on, but it would not turn on.

Liquid damage. I'm screwed. Here I am, stranded on an island with no way to call for help, Angelina thought as she slipped her phone back in her bag.

She heard voices talking, but did not see anyone. The voices sounded like squirrels chattering, but Angelina could understand every word they were saying. Was a ghost talking to her? She heard the talking again, but this time, she could hear where it came from—somewhere down in the grass. "It's a human!" the voice said. She heard something running in the grass and saw two squirrels run up a tree trunk.

It can't be! Squirrels can't talk! Angelina thought. One ran out onto a branch and stared at her.

"Hey, everyone! Hide! There's a human here!" the squirrel chattered. It flipped its bushy tail at her.

"Um, I'm not going to hurt you!" Angelina said, shocked that she could understand what the squirrel was saying.

"You can talk to us?" the second squirrel asked.

"I-I guess?" Angelina replied, completely surprised at her newfound ability to talk to animals.

"How can you talk to us?" the squirrel who was sitting on the branch asked.

"I-I don't know," Angelina said. "Hey, do you know where there's a town or city?"

"What's that?" the squirrel sitting on the branch replied.

"A place where humans live."

"There's a dirt thing they walk on not very far from here."

"Can you take me to it?"

"Follow me," the squirrel on the branch said. It crawled down the tree trunk. Angelina and the squirrel walked for what Angelina estimated to be around one city block. "Are you a woodland fairy?"

"What?" Angelina laughed.

"A fairy! Humans can't talk to us. We squirrels believe fairies used to live in these woods. Our ancestors knew fairies!" the squirrel replied.

"No. I am just an ordinary human," Angelina said. She remembered the Nightengale family legend about their ancestors having been fairies exiled from a country called Ethermoor many years ago.

"What is the name of the country I am in?" Angelina asked.

"We squirrels call it Woodlandia," the squirrel replied.

"INTRUDER!" Angelina heard a voice scream. She felt something peck her head. Angelina looked up and saw a mockingbird fly to a branch.

"Go away!" another voice yelled. Angelina felt a gust of air by her ear and ducked as another mockingbird dived at her.

"I'm not going to hurt you!" Angelina said.

Even they can talk! she thought.

"Is it talking to us?" one mockingbird asked the other.

"Yes, I am talking to you," Angelina said. She couldn't even believe that she was talking to a mockingbird. What kind of experience did she have on that plane? First, all the passengers disappeared, then the plane crashed, and now she can talk to animals?

"You must be a woodland fairy if you can talk to us!" one of the mockingbirds said.

Angelina turned to the squirrel and asked, "Can you talk to birds?"

"No, but a fairy can talk to all animals. You are making the same squawks as them. Maybe they know where the humans live. We squirrels only know the way to the dirt thing they walk on," the squirrel replied.

Angelina turned to the mockingbirds and asked, "Do you know where humans live?"

"There is a human flock that lives not too far from here," one of the mockingbirds replied.

"Can you take me there?"

"You take her there and get her away from the nest!" the other mockingbird squawked.

"Yes, I will take you there," the mockingbird said.

"Thank you so very much!"

The mockingbird flew off the branch. "Follow me." He flew ahead of Angelina, and she followed him through the forest. The squirrel ran back through the woods.

"Do you have a name?" Angelina asked the mockingbird.

"Yes. We mockingbirds all have names. Mine is Astor. What's yours?"

"Mine is Angelina Nightengale."

"Are you sure you aren't a woodland fairy? There is a legend among us mockingbirds that fairies used to live in this wood. They looked like humans but could talk to animals."

Angelina thought for a moment. "My family has a story that we are descendants of the fairy queen Zadelia of Ethermoor and her husband, King Jasper," she said.

The mockingbird's eyes widened. "Really? No one has seen them in these woods in five hundred years!" Astor gasped.

"They became mortal when they moved to my world, and died in a country called Norway in 1730. Which was 290 years ago," Angelina said. "What do you know about her?"

Astor replied, "Not much, only that she was the queen of all the woods."

Which matches up exactly with the family stories about her that I grew up hearing, Angelina thought.

They came to a dirt road. "Humans travel down this path several times a day. The flock lives this way," Astor said. Angelina followed him. She estimated that they must have walked at least an hour before they came to a small town. There was a sign on the road that read, "Town of Hallowdorn. Population 5,796."

"This is where we must part ways. If the human government catches someone talking to animals or working any magic, the police will arrest them."

Great, they probably burn witches here too, Angelina thought.

"Good luck, descendant of Queen Zadelia and King Jasper," Astor said.

"Thank you, Astor," Angelina said. Astor flew away through the forest. Angelina walked into the town and was amazed at how rustic the place was. It resembled a medieval village, with its stone houses and horse-drawn carts. The women wore long, flowing dresses.

Gosh, I hope people take baths here, Angelina thought. She wondered if she had also been sent back in time.

Angelina walked around, reading the signs that hung above the shops. People stared and pointed at her. She assumed it was because they probably had never seen a person wearing a tank top and jeans before. She saw a sign that said "A World of Books" hanging over one of the shop doors.

Maybe they have a map or an atlas of this place.

She walked inside. Angelina didn't want to make a fool of herself by asking what country she was in, but decided that she would have to ask someone for the name of the country sooner or later. She walked up to the cash register in the front of the store. "Excuse me, what country am I in?"

The cashier looked at her as if she had ten heads. "You are in Ethermoor. To be more specific, you are in the state of Kalnoreth in the country of Ethermoor."

A chill ran down Angelina's spine. Ethermoor! It's real! she thought.

"Are you all right?" the cashier asked. Angelina leaned in and whispered, "Have you heard of the United States of America?"

"No," the woman replied.

"Do you have atlases or maps?"

The woman pointed to the back of the store. "The atlases are on the last aisle."

"Thank you," Angelina said.

She walked to the aisle in the back of the store. She scanned the books and saw one that had the words "World Atlas" written on the spine. She pulled it off the shelf and flipped through its pages.

Angelina was surprised to find that none of the world's continents looked anything like the ones she had seen on maps back in the United States. After several minutes, she found a map of the state of Kalnoreth, and saw the word Hallowdorn written next to a small dot.

She then looked up and saw a rack of fold-out maps. Angelina saw one for the state of Kalnoreth, pulled it off the shelf, opened it up, and saw that it was a much more detailed map than the one in the atlas. Streets and landmarks were drawn on it. Angelina found another map that was of the entire country of Ethermoor. She folded up the map of Kalnoreth and took the two maps up to the counter.

The cashier said, "That will be one Galladorn."

Angelina rummaged round in her purse and pulled out two American twenty-dollar bills.

"I only have this money," she said as she put the money on the desk.

"Paper?" The clerk laughed. Apparently they did not use paper currency in Ethermoor. Angelina turned pink and suddenly really hoped that there were some pennies in the bottom of her purse. Perhaps those would work for money in Ethermoor. She grabbed about twenty pennies and put them on the desk. The clerk's eyes grew as wide as saucers.

"Is that real copper?"

"Um, yes," Angelina said, stunned by the woman's reaction.

The cashier leaned in and hissed, "What are you doing, piling it up like that for everyone to see?"

"Uh," Angelina uttered, shocked. She leaned in and whispered, "I am not from around here. Is copper worth a lot of money?"

"Worth a lot? It's the most expensive substance in the world!" She then smiled and said, "You know what? I don't want you to give up your copper to have these maps! They're yours!" She handed the maps to Angelina.

Angelina didn't know what to say. "Well, thank you!" she said.

The clerk replied, "I can't help you, but perhaps someone in the capital of Ethermoor, Ethermoor City, can. It's a huge city. Here, open that map up." Angelina did as instructed and opened the map of Ethermoor on the counter. The clerk placed her finger on the Hallowdorn dot.

"See, we are here. It's about a two-day walk to the capital." She traced her finger from Hallowdorn to Ethermoor City. "If you go down this road, the Centrarius Way, you should get there in two days."

Angelina dug a pen out of her purse and drew a line from Hallowdorn to Ethermoor City. She was thankful the pen did not get damaged by the river water. "Thank you so much for helping me!" Angelina said to the clerk.

She picked up her map and walked out the door. Angelina giggled at the idea of pennies being priceless in Ethermoor.

She did not realize that someone had followed her out of the bookshop . . .

As Angelina was walking down the street, someone suddenly wrapped their arms around her. She felt a cold blade pressing up against her throat. Angelina saw the sun reflect off a knife under her chin.

"Give me your copper, woman!" a man's voice screamed into her ear. Angelina felt her heart leap into her throat, and she heard the horrified screams of several bystanders.

"Let me go!" Angelina screamed with every ounce of her being.

Suddenly, she felt a strange surge of energy shoot out of her body. A large vine shot through the cobblestone street and wrapped itself around her attacker. Then, it shot high into the air. Angelina suddenly became aware that she was in total control of the strange vine. The man screamed as the vine held him around thirty feet in the air, but Angelina felt no pity for him. People ran out of the shops to see what was happening on the street.

Slam him on the ground! Angelina thought.

The vine slammed the man on the ground with a tremendous force that shattered nearly every bone in his body. The man went limp, and Angelina made the vine retreat into the ground. Applause erupted from the crowd of onlookers.

The stamping of horses' hooves echoed through the street. People screamed and ran into the shops. Angelina saw men wearing uniforms turn down the street and ride their horses toward them. She remembered what Astor had told her about magic being illegal. Two waitresses from one of the restaurants ran up to her, grabbed her shoulders, and whispered, "Come with us. We know of somewhere that you will be safe."

Angelina and the waitresses ran through a restaurant and into the kitchen. The waitresses locked Angelina inside a supply closet where there was a mop, a bucket full of filthy water, and a broom. Angelina stared at the door. I wonder if I can make a vine that will grow across this door and give me more protection from the police, she thought. Vines began sprouting around the door frame and made a wooden wall.

The man who had attacked her slowly began regaining consciousness. "We heard all kinds of commotion down here. What happened?" one police officer asked him.

The man mumbled, "A sorceress attacked me! She went inside The Broken Wagon."

Four of the officers ran inside the restaurant. Angelina held her breath as she heard two women screaming outside the door. Then, she heard footsteps in the kitchen. She heard the sound of someone chopping wood. Her heart throbbed with terror as she realized that someone was chopping down the door.

"What's this?" a man's voice asked when he saw the strange vine that had grown across the doorway.

I wish I could easily get out of here! Angelina thought. She felt herself shrink down very, very small, which she thought was odd. As she did, she saw an axe blade chop through the vine wall she had made.

When she moved her arms, she felt her body lift off the ground! The man chopping through the vine pulled his axe out of the hole he'd made just long enough for her to fly through the hole. She flew through the small hole and out into the restaurant. "Get that bird! It could be the sorceress!" a policeman screamed. Angelina saw black powder raining down all around her. She felt herself suddenly transform back into a human.

Angelina felt herself go limp and fall to the ground. She could not move and was vaguely aware of someone putting handcuffs around her wrists. The metal in the handcuffs made her feel even weaker.

What's happening to me? Angelina wondered.

"Let her go! She was only acting in self-defense!" Angelina heard one of the waitresses scream.

"Ma'am, she is being arrested for battery and using magic," one of the soldiers said.

Angelina felt a needle pierce her skin. Then, suddenly, she felt as if her newfound magical abilities were draining from her. She tried to shoot a vine out of her hand and discovered she could not. Angelina felt someone stick a needle in her right arm, and everything went dark.

Two days later, Willow arrived at Hallowdorn. She pulled her hood down over her face as she walked into the city, only lifting it up to see where she was going every once in a while. As she walked through the streets, she saw posters that said:

WANTED!

WILLOW NIGHTSHADE

ASSASSINATED KING BANDERON

REWARD!!!

1,000,000 GALDORIANS

WANTED ALIVE!

A drawing of her was under the writing. Great. There are pictures of me on wanted posters all over this town. she thought. She pulled her hood even further down over her face and prayed that no one recognized her eyes. The first thing she did was go to the police station. She walked through the door and walked up to the person sitting at the front desk. "Excuse me, is there a Riordan Firedorn who works here?" Willow asked the woman.

"He will arrive in town this evening," the woman replied.

"Could you tell him that his friend from Fernhollow is here and she wants to speak with him? Tell him to meet me at The Broken Wagon." The Broken Wagon was the restaurant nearest to the police station.

"I will tell him that. What is your name, dear?" the woman asked.

"Sheila Smith," Willow lied. She knew that if she gave away her first name, the police would arrest her immediately. "Tell him that I was visiting his grandparents. They told me that he was coming here. I was just walking through town on my way back home, and I want to see him."

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Willow hoped that Riordan would realize that it was her coming to see him since he knew she had been staying with his grandparents.

"All right," the woman said.

Willow walked out of the building and went to the restaurant. She sat on a bench outside and waited for Riordan, hoping he would come find her.

Riordan walked into the police station. He flashed his badge at the woman at the front desk. "I'm Riordan Firedorn, and I'm here to question the woman accused of sorcery," he said.

"A guard told me that she is just now waking up from the iron drug they gave her. Oh, and I am supposed to tell you that a friend from Fernhollow is here to see you, and she wants you to meet her at The Broken Wagon," the woman said.

That's strange. Who do I know who lives in Fernhollow? Riordan thought. He was acquainted with men in the police force, but no women served in it. He had only been to Fernhollow twice in his life.

"Did she say what her name was?" Riordan asked.

"Sheila Smith. The hood of her cloak covered her face, so I can't tell you what she looked like. She said that she was visiting your grandparents and wanted to see you while she was traveling home," the woman replied.

Someone from Fernhollow was visiting my grandparents. Willow! Riordan thought. His heart leapt in his chest when he realized who Sheila really was. Plus, going to see Willow would give the sleeping potion he planned to drug the guards with plenty of time to work.

He walked into the mess hall. He had mixed the sleeping potion in a fluffy white cream so that no one would suspect him of poisoning anyone when he put it into the food.

He took out the potion and put a spoonful of it in the tomato soup. Then he put it in the applesauce, and then the pudding.

"What are you doing?" a voice behind him asked. Riordan was startled. He turned and saw one of the jail guards standing behind him, smiling.

After all, perhaps it did look rather strange to put the same white substance that could be either sour cream or whipped cream in both the tomato soup and the pudding.

"It's . . . uh." His truth-sensing abilities began to make him feel sick. "It's a cream I made from a special recipe!" he said, which was true.

"A special recipe? A whipped cream that tastes good in tomato soup and pudding?" The man laughed.

"You will . . . LOVE it!" Riordan forced out of his mouth. After all, everyone loves to sleep, right?

"Excuse me," Riordan said. He knew he needed to get out of the mess hall as soon as possible. He ducked past the officer and walked out the door.

Willow had sat on the bench for several hours. "Are you Sheila Smith?" a man's voice asked.

Willow lifted her hood just enough for her to see out from under it. A wave of relief washed over her when she saw Riordan standing in front of her, smiling. "Yes."

"What are you doing here?" Riordan asked.

"I saw the letter you sent to your grandmother, and I wanted to help you out." She handed him a small, folded-up piece of paper. He unfolded it.

The note read,

There is another warrant for my arrest, and my name was in the Ethermoor City Times. Call me Sheila to keep my real identity a secret.

Riordan folded up the paper and put it in his pocket. He smiled and said, "All right, Sheila."

"I want to go with you to the jail," Willow said.

Riordan put his hands in front of him and said, "No, you stay here. I need to go there by myself. Wait here for us." He jumped as if he suddenly remembered something important. "I take that back. Come with me. There is something you can do."

They walked inside The Broken Wagon. Riordan walked up to the hostess and asked, "Excuse me, can I have a cup of water?"

The hostess asked, "Why don't you sit down, and I will get a waitress to take your order?"

"May we have an outdoor table?"

"Sure. Follow me," the hostess said as she took them outside. They sat down at a table. A waitress walked up and placed menus in front of them. "I'll be back to take your drink order."

"Oh, we just want two glasses of water," Riordan said.

"Water? Okay," the waitress said as she walked away.

Riordan whispered to Willow, "Now you be on the lookout for a Blue Morpho butterfly. I'm going to make sugar water to attract it to you," he said.

The waitress appeared moments later, carrying two glasses of water. Riordan took the lid off the sugar bowl and scooped the sugar into the glasses. He mixed the water and sugar and handed the glasses to Willow.

"Are we going to eat here?" Willow asked.

"I have to get back to the city jail. We will eat on the way out of Hallowdorn." Riordan said. "Would you be willing to watch two horses for me? I stopped at my father's parents' house on my way here, and they lent me one of their horses for the other woman."

"Yes," Willow replied.

Willow smiled at him as he turned and walked away. Riordan returned moments later, holding the reins of two brown horses. He tied them to the post next to her table.

Riordan walked back to the jail and walked inside. There was a large man with a thick black mustache standing in the entryway. The woman who worked behind the front desk stood next to him. "Riordan Firedorn, this is Chief Bollinger of the Hallowdorn Police Force," the woman said, gesturing to the large man.

"Pleasure to meet you!" Chief Bollinger said, smiling.

I did not plan for this! Riordan thought.

"Come with me. I want to show you some of the things we found with the young sorceress yesterday," the police chief said. Riordan followed him down a hallway.

"We here in Hallowdorn saw a cylindrical-shaped object fall from the sky yesterday right before she was discovered! I don't believe she's from around here! Just wait until you see the strange things she brought with her!" Riordan followed him into an office. A large bag and a smaller bag were sitting on a desk. "The small bag had even stranger things in it than the big bag. I have sent a letter to King Halvor regarding its contents, but he has not responded to me yet." The chief reached inside the small bag and pulled out a wrinkled, folded-up piece of paper.

A picture of a cylindrical-shaped object with wings flying through the sky was on it. The words "Thank you for flying with Manatee Airlines!" were written on it.

"This is the thing we saw in the sky yesterday!" the chief said, pointing to the winged object. He handed the paper to Riordan. Riordan knew that there were records in the Pyraxia Library of such objects appearing in Ethermoor. The fairy Tristan, who guarded the vault, had said that he arrived in Ethermoor in such a craft.

Then, the chief pulled out an odd, small, sleek, cylindrical-shaped object. "Look at this!" the chief said as he pressed a button on one end of it.

A small pointed thing shot through a small hole on the other end of it. Chief Bollinger took a piece of parchment out of his pocket and placed it on the desk. He put the tip of the object on the parchment. As he waved it around on the parchment, a black ink scribble appeared on it. "Look! A pen that you don't have to dip in an inkwell!" He pulled out a small leather pouch. He opened the pouch, put his fingers inside, and pulled out a card with a woman's picture on it.

The name Angelina Nightengale was on it. "Where she's from, you have to have a little card with your picture on it to drive things. Imagine if we had to give these things to people driving carts here!" Chief Bollinger said.

Riordan saw the words "Florida Driver's License" written on the card, and it surprised him. Florida was the word that was used to melt the snow off the doors to the Pyraxia Library and the Pyraxia Vault. All Knowledge Sorcerers knew the word to open the doors, but only they knew what it was.

"This is how we figured out the woman's name," Chief Bollinger said as he pointed to the name written on the card. He put the card back in the leather pouch. "Then, there's this thing." He dug around in the bag and pulled out a small, black, rectangular-shaped object. "What do you suppose this is?" He handed it to Riordan.

"I-I don't know," Riordan said.

He pressed a button at the bottom of it, and suddenly the front of it lit up brightly. He panicked and dropped it on the floor. A clear piece of glass suddenly popped off upon hitting the stones and broke into ten different pieces. "Well, there went that," Riordan mumbled.

"Now we'll never know what that was! It could have been anything!" Chief Bollinger whimpered, panicking.

Riordan reached in the large bag and pulled out a thick book with a strange title. Its pages were wrinkled up, and it was evident that it had soaked in water.

"Oh, boy, I sure am tired. It's been a long day," the chief said, yawning. He sat down in his chair.

Riordan reached in the bag and pulled out a strange garment that had long sleeves and strange metal teeth along both sides of it. What's this? he wondered as he looked at the metal thing that hung on the bottom of it. "This looks like a kind of garment," Riordan observed. He shoved it back in the bag.

The chief yawned and said, "Well, I think I'd better take a nap."

Good, the potion is working. Riordan thought. He just hoped that the guards on Angelina's cell block had also eaten the sleeping potion. Riordan walked to the cell block where Angelina was. He saw the young woman from the driver's license picture bound to the bars of a cell with a pair of iron handcuffs. The guards who're supposed to be watching the inmates on that cellblock were lying on the ground, sleeping soundly. One was snoring so loud that Riordan thought there was no way anyone could sleep through the noise unless they were drugged.

"Excuse me, but are you Angelina Nightengale?" Riordan whispered.

"Who wants to know?" the woman grumbled, obviously irritated by her situation.

"I'm here to help. My name is Riordan Firedorn," Riordan replied.

"Yeah, you would say that, wouldn't you? Even though you are wearing the uniform of those who want to kill me?" The woman eyed him with suspicion.

Riordan smiled and said, "Well, I'll prove it to you." He pulled the bottle of Blue Morpho powder out of his pants pocket. "Go fly to a restaurant called The Broken Wagon. A young woman wearing a hooded cloak is sitting by herself at one of the outdoor tables. Look for her. Two glasses of sugar water are the sign that she is the one you are to look for. She will keep you safe."

Angelina's eyes widened. "Fly?" she asked.

He smiled and said, "Yeah, well, I've heard that you can."

"I could for a few minutes, but ever since I've been in here, I'm back to my old magic-less self."

"They probably drugged you with iron."

"Iron?" Angelina's face scrunched up in disbelief.

"I'll explain later."

Riordan unscrewed the cap to the bottle of powder and dumped it on Angelina. He watched her turn into a beautiful blue butterfly and fly out the window. I hope she finds Willow.

As he was walking out of the building, he stopped by the chief's office. Chief Bollinger was sleeping at his desk. Riordan picked up Angelina's bags and walked back to The Broken Wagon.

Willow sat and waited for a very long time for Riordan to return. She was relieved when she saw a bright blue butterfly flying through the air. The butterfly landed on the edge of one of the glasses and stuck its proboscis into the sugar water.

"You must be Angelina!" Willow said.

The butterfly did not answer. Willow remembered that she could not speak to anyone when she was a butterfly. She wondered if she looked silly, talking to a butterfly. "If you are Angelina, would you sit on my shoulder when you finish eating?" Willow asked. If it really was Angelina, and she could still understand Willow in her butterfly form, perhaps she would do as Willow asked. When the butterfly finished eating, it flew up to Willow's shoulder and landed on it. "Thank you!"

A few minutes later, she saw Riordan walking down the street, carrying a large brown bag and a paper bag. "I got us sandwiches for supper," Riordan said, holding up the paper bag. He looked at the butterfly and said, "I see you found Sheila." He looked at Willow. "We need to get out of the village. She has forty-five minutes before she turns back."

Willow stood up from her chair. Riordan untied the two horses from the post. Willow saddled Starfire, and Riordan saddled his horse. He led the other horse by the reins.

Angelina rode on Willow's shoulder as they headed out of the village. When they were out of earshot, Willow pulled her hood off her head. She turned to Riordan and said, "I want to thank you for saving my mom and me."

Riordan smiled. "You're welcome."

"Unfortunately, my mother did not survive. The police found us later that evening, and they killed her."

Riordan's face fell. "I'm so sorry!"

"So, will they eventually figure out that you are behind the disappearances of inmates?"

Riordan shrugged. "Maybe at some point." He took a deep breath and said, "Right now, my priority is watching over you and Angelina and getting the two of you to safety. I'm sorry I took so long. I had to get us something to eat for supper and buy a bag to put her things in so that no one would grow suspicious."

Willow could feel the small butterfly on her shoulder growing heavier. A shapeless mass fell to the ground and began growing and transforming.

Man, I hope I didn't look like that when I was changing back into a human! Willow thought.

The shapeless mass eventually formed the shape of a beautiful woman with long, wavy light-brown hair. She was wearing odd clothing, the likes of which Willow had never seen before. Angelina stood up and dusted off her clothes. She grinned, looked up at Riordan, and said, "Thank you for saving me!"

"You're welcome," Riordan replied. He pointed at Willow. "Angelina, this is Willow."

"You said her name was Sheila," Angelina replied.

"Her name is Willow. She doesn't want to use her real name when we are in villages because she, too, is wanted by the police for using magic."

"Hi, Angelina!" Willow said, smiling.

"I have so many questions."

"I'll bet you do!" Willow laughed.

"Questions like how did I get here, and what was that black dust that made me so weak?" Angelina asked.

Riordan said, "You probably got here through an inter-dimensional crack. Five hundred years ago, magic was banished from Ethermoor. All of the fairies and sorcerers were sent to other realms. This was done to stop the spread of the influence of the evil warlock Tareth. The fairy queen Zadelia placed a spell on the realm so that Tareth couldn't return. In the centuries after the banishment, cracks started to form. Some believe a single cataclysmic event happened at some point, and cracks started forming in the spell afterward, allowing fairies and magic to return to Ethermoor to some extent. A friend of mine came from Florida as well."

"Really?" Angelina gasped. "Wait, how did you know that I'm from Florida?"

"The Hallowdorn Chief of Police went through your bag. He found a little card with your picture on it. Your name was next to your picture, and that's how we figured out what your name was. The words 'Florida Driver's License' were written next to it. My friend told me about having lived in Florida."

"What's your friend's name?" Angelina asked.

"His name is Tristan. He crossed over a long time ago. I can take you to him. He might be able to help you in some way. He is a full fairy, and a very powerful one."

"Oh, thank you! I want to get back home!" Angelina said, relieved.

This story was identical to the one passed down through Angelina's father's family. She didn't really believe it before, but upon seeing that Ethermoor was a real place, she couldn't deny that there was truth to it.

Angelina struggled to wrap her mind around what she was hearing. There was a family legend that her ring could enable someone to travel to different worlds, but the ring didn't work. She held out her left hand and pointed to the ring. "This is a family heirloom of mine. The story that my family has passed down was that my ancestor was Queen Zadelia of the Ethermoorian Fairies. It had belonged to an evil sorcerer named Tareth, and she took it with her during the banishment. It helped him travel to different worlds."

Riordan's eyes widened as he stared at the ring. "Wow! That is . . . definitely something! These are the fairy runes that stand for the different realms." He pointed to each of the odd symbols on the ring.

"I honestly didn't believe the story until today," Angelina said. "What was that odd powder they used to weaken me?"

Willow said, "That was iron powder. They use it to weaken fairies and sorcerers. My mom and I were injected with it when they arrested us."

Angelina raised her eyebrow. "Iron powder? Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"Does Ethermoorian iron hurt magical people? Iron didn't bother me in America."

Riordan said, "Magic doesn't exist in your realm. Therefore, iron didn't hurt you there. Tristan told me that he could touch iron there. You really should wear gloves if you have any."

Angelina noticed that Willow and Riordan were both wearing gloves.

Riordan reached into the new bag and pulled out both of Angelina's bags. "Here are your bags."

Angelina smiled, took her bags from him, and said, "Thank you!"

"You're welcome!" Riordan said.

She rummaged through her purse and carry-on bag. Everything she had brought with her was there. Her phone, however, was completely shattered.

"What was that odd little black box that lit up by pressing a button?" Riordan asked.

"Are you talking about my cell phone?" Angelina responded.

"I have no idea what that is."

"It's something that we have in my world that we use to communicate with people who are far away."

Riordan's eyes widened. "How does it do that?"

"Well, it's hard to explain. I would show it to you, but something shattered it."

Riordan sighed and said, "Well, that 'something' was me. The police chief wanted me to examine your things. When I pressed a button on the box, a light went on. It scared me so badly that I dropped it."

Angelina burst out laughing at the thought of a cell phone screen terrifying someone. Her phone must have started working after it had dried out inside.

"That was just it turning on! The screen lights up!" she cackled.

"Well, I'm sorry," Riordan said, smiling weakly.

She pulled her jacket out of her carry-on bag, unzipped a pocket, took her gloves out, and put them on.

"What is that garment?" Riordan asked.

"It's called a jacket. You wear it when it's cold outside. It's a good thing that I always keep a pair of gloves in the pocket!" Angelina said.

She looked inside her purse and opened the compartment she had placed the copper pennies in to see if they were still there. They were not, and she started to panic, thinking the police had stolen her copper. Then, she heard the sound of metal clinking coming from inside the lining at the bottom of her purse. Angelina looked in the compartment again and saw a hole had torn in the fabric. She took all her things out of her purse and put them in her carry-on bag.

As Angelina emptied her purse, Willow saw an unusual pamphlet with a picture of the same flying object that Victor said had abducted them when she was doing the memory wipes with Desdemona and Ambrosia!

"What is that?" Willow asked as she pointed at the pamphlet.

Angelina eyed her quizzically. "What? The pamphlet from the airplane I was riding?"

"A picture of that thing was in a book about unidentified flying objects that Victor had!" Willow gasped.

"Weird. Perhaps people from my world have already come here?" Angelina asked. She remembered what Riordan had said about Tristan. "When I crossed from my world into Ethermoor, all of the other passengers on the plane just disappeared. I was the only one who came."

"I don't know. There are accounts of sorcerers crossing into the realms in such objects, and they usually say the other people inside them disappear," Riordan said.

Angelina shook her purse, and all ten of her pennies fell out of the hole in the liner and onto the ground. "Thank goodness my money is still here!" she said, picking her pennies up off the ground. Willow's and Riordan's eyes looked as if they were going to pop out of their sockets.

"That's . . . that's copper!" Riordan stammered as he pointed at the coins.

"Where did you get those?" Willow gasped.

Angelina chuckled. "Funny, this is the lowest form of currency we have in my country. We get these coins at banks!" Angelina said.

"What country are you from?" Willow asked.

"I am from the United States of America."

"That's where my great-great-grandmother came from!"

"Yes, I am trying to get back there," Angelina said.

"That country is in another universe, a universe where magic doesn't exist," Riordan said.

"Do you call it the Kalmovar Universe? That is what my family told me the name of my universe was."

Rordan's eyes widened. "You know the names of the universes?" he asked, apparently surprised at how much she knew.

"Yes. There are eight known universes. Morvogoth, Mandaria, Danvorian, Halvaroth, Janiria, Zanzomina, Yanrith, and Kalmovar."

"What else do you know about sorcery and Ethermoor?" Riordan asked.

Angelina thought for a moment. She had told them all of the information about Ethermoor that her family had passed down through the centuries. "That's all I know."

She was hungry, and she smelled a sweet aroma coming from a white paper bag. "What's in there?" she asked.

"Oh, that's our supper. Are you hungry?" Riordan asked.

"I'm starving," Angelina said.

The three of them walked over to a fallen log and sat down. "I brought a horse with me for you to ride so that you don't have to walk. Her name is Sugarplum," Riordan said.

"I have a confession to make," Angelina said."I have never ridden a horse in my life."

"What? How?" Riordan gasped.

"We have these things called cars that we use to go from one place to another where I am from. They're made of metal and you ride inside of them."

Riordan crinkled his nose and said, "Well, that sounds weird."

"It's not! You two are just going to have to come see Kalmovar if I find out how to get back there! There are all kinds of things that are different there than they apparently are here! You'll get to see how cell phones work!" Angelina said, giggling. Willow and Riordan smiled at her comment.

Riordan pulled sandwiches out of the paper bag.

"Those look amazing!" Willow said.

"Venison sandwiches," Riordan said as he passed the sandwiches to Angelina and Willow.

"You still haven't told me why you are helping me," Angelina said as she bit into her sandwich.

"We're both sorcerers, same as you. We sorcerers watch out for each other here. I am a Knowledge Sorcerer and a descendant of Wisdom Fairies. My skin feels like it's on fire when I hear someone telling a lie," Riordan said.

Willow said, "I am a descendant of a Rain Fairy. Her name was Raven Rosenthorn. I can throw lightning bolts from my fingertips, turn into a cloud, and conjure a rainstorm. I came to help you because the police jailed my parents and me for practicing magic. The police killed my parents when we tried to run from them.Then, I was backstabbed by a sorcerer named Victor, who claimed he wanted to help me kill King Banderon to get revenge for their deaths and restore magic to Ethermoor. When I did that, he had me arrested for killing the king. It turns out that he just wanted to be king and wanted to pin the king's death on a magical person." Willow sighed.

She took a bite out of her sandwich and continued. "Riordan's grandparents happened to be working at the palace and helped me escape after the palace guards drugged me with iron. I found out about you when he sent a letter to his grandmother, and I read it. I don't want the same things that happened to me to happen to someone else."

Angelina said, "That sounds awful! We choose our leaders in my country."

"You . . . pick your leaders?" Riordan said with audible disbelief in his voice.

Willow took another bite of her sandwich. "Tell me, is Abraham Lincoln still president?"

Angelina burst out laughing. "He died 150 years ago!And yes, we vote for our leaders in my world," Angelina said.

"Can you help us do something like that here?" Riordan asked, enraptured by the idea. He stared at Angelina with his mouth open in disbelief.

Oh, man, I've gotten into it now, Angelina thought. Her mother was a state representative for her district in Massachusetts, and Angelina had made every attempt possible to avoid getting involved in politics. Of course, there was no possibility she could ever help a country set up a new government, was there?

"Look, my mother was a state representative in the state of Massachusetts, but I have no idea how to set up a government," Angelina said.

"Well, you can at least give us some ideas here!" Willow said.

"Look, I think you're asking the wrong person about something like this."

"But you said that your system was better than the system we have here."

Oh, no. Here I go, Angelina thought.

They finished eating supper, and Angelina explained to them how the American governing system worked. Which bored her to death but seemed to enthrall Willow and Riordan.

When they finished, they decided to ride a little further until sundown. Angelina, however, had never ridden a horse. Riordan handed Sugarplum's reins to Angelina. Willow led Starfire beside where Sugarplum and Angelina stood. "You lift yourself onto the saddle and swing your right leg over," she said to Angelina. Sugarplum was much taller than Angelina.

She hoped that she would regain her ability to talk to animals again so that she could ask the horse to squat down so she could get on it. "Here, put your foot in the stirrups, like this," Willow said as she put her left foot in one of Starfire's stirrups. "Now you do it."

Angelina's heart throbbed as she put her left foot in the stirrup. She was terrified of falling off the horse. "Then you put your leg over the other side like this," Willow said as she jumped up, put her right leg over the saddle and sat on the horse.

Okay, here I go, Angelina thought. She hoisted herself off the ground with her left leg, threw her right leg over the saddle, and sat on the horse.

"There! You did it!" Willow shouted happily.

Angelina started to relax. "Now, how do I get it to start walking?"

"Just kick the horse like this," Willow said.

She kicked her horse in the side, and it started trotting forward. Angelina hoped her horse would not decide to buck her off. Willow kicked her horse in the side, and it started trotting forward too.

They rode until sundown. Willow showed Angelina how to dismount her horse. Angelina dismounted Sugarplum, and the three of them tied their horses to a tree.

Angelina pulled out a blanket she had taken with her on the flight. Willow made a bed out of the blankets she had packed from Marian's house. Riordan pulled out a sleeping bag. He was the only one prepared for sleeping outdoors because his job required so much travel. Riordan took a necklace out of his pocket and put it around his neck.

"Angelina, I forgot to tell you something. You need to keep that ring visible tonight. Don't put your hand under the covers. If it is what you say it is, it can help ward off Faeblood Wraiths should they decide to attack," Riordan said.

"What are those?" Angelina asked.

"They are sorcerers and sorceresses who had their magic stolen by Tareth. People have been seeing them in this country lately. When a wraith is created, the soul detaches itself from their body, and it drains magic from sorcerers to try to replenish the magic that was stolen. Then, the victim becomes a wraith, as well. Showing them an object that belonged to Tareth is said to scare them away because they act on his commands." He handed a small bracelet to Willow. "This was found among his things 500 years ago." She put it on her wrist.

Angelina lay awake for a long time, trying to process the events of the day. She eventually fell asleep.

The sound of an owl hooting suddenly awakened her. In her sleep-induced state, she slowly became aware of what the owl was saying. "We're safe from them!" the owl said. Angelina discovered that she could now see as well at night as she could in the daylight. Perhaps the iron injection had finally worn off, and seeing at night was one of her new animal abilities.

She looked around and was aware that she did not see either Willow or Riordan anywhere! "Did you see where my friends went?" Angelina asked the owl.

"They followed the white shadows," the owl said.

"Could you take me to them?" Angelina asked.

"Follow me." The owl flew off the branch. She followed the owl through the forest. She saw some odd glowing white figures gliding amongst the trees.

"This is as close as I'll get," the owl said. It perched on a branch.

Fear shot down Angelina's spine. What are those strange creatures? she wondered. Her heart started throbbing fearfully, but she pressed forward anyway. As she walked closer, she saw that two of the creatures were sucking a strange blue mist out of Willow and Riordan.

At that moment, she realized that either she could be afraid of what the creatures might do to her, or she could attempt to chase them away from her friends. Angelina ran forward and waved her hands high into the air. She ran into the crowd of specters and yelled, "Go away! Let them go!" The creatures looked at her and suddenly took off flying through the forest.

The mist around Willow and Riordan disappeared, and they both dropped to the ground. The three of them were alone in the forest. Willow looked weak and was barely able to stand up. Riordan gasped for his breath and stumbled to his feet. Willow was aware that someone had hypnotized her in some strange fashion.

She looked up and saw Angelina. "How did you . . . how did you do that?" She gasped.

"I . . . I don't know. I just waved my hands, and they flew away."

"I had my necklace on." Riordan felt his neck and discovered that the bottle pendant was hanging under his shirt. "Clearly they didn't see it," he grumbled as he pulled the pendant out.

"My hand must have been under the covers!" Willow said.

"That ring of yours, it must really be Tareth's World Turner ring since it was able to scare them off," Riordan said, pointing to Angelina's ring.

"How do I get it to work? How do I get it to help me travel to different worlds?" Angelina asked.

Riordan shrugged and said, "Don't know. Perhaps it got broken at some point. It still saved our lives."

"Maybe we would be safer if we slept in the daytime and traveled at night?" Angelina asked.

"No. Wraiths attack people regardless of if it is nighttime or daytime," Riordan replied.

They all struggled to go back to sleep that night. Angelina could not believe it. She knew that she would have to tell her father about the experience. Faeblood Wraiths, the creatures that he used to tell her stories about as a child to keep her from going outside at night by herself, were real.