The next morning, Riordan, Willow, and Angelina sat and ate a breakfast of berries they had picked out of the forest, and some bread that Riordan had bought before leaving Hallowdorn. As they were walking down the Centrarius Way toward Ethermoor City, they heard the low thunder of horses' hooves walking down the road behind them. Willow pulled her cloak hood down over her face. The three of them ran and hid behind a large tree trunk

A line of ten carriages passed by. Riordan said, "I forgot that this week Princess Christabel of Kalnoreth, the daughter of Princess Hannah and Prince Maurice of Kalnoreth, is traveling to Oloredian to marry Prince Gregory of Oloredian."

"Let's attack them!" Willow hissed. Her terrible experience with Halvor had not dampened her hatred of the nobility.

"You will do no such thing!" Riordan growled. Willow saw a man wearing a suit of armor poke his head from behind a tree trunk. "Now!" a man's voice screamed. All of a sudden, at least twenty men wearing suits of armor ran from behind the trees and attacked the soldiers guarding the most ornate carriage in the entourage.

Angelina growled, "We can't just stand back and not do anything!"

"Fine. You go get yourself caught doing magic," Willow spat.

Riordan pulled out his sword. "This family is very respected among the people of Kalnoreth." He charged at the band of thieves.

One of the bandits pulled the door of the carriage open and yanked the princess out onto the ground. She shrieked as a pile of light-pink and white fabric that was the skirt of her dress engulfed her, and even Willow could no longer stand to watch the scene. She yanked her hood off so that she could see what she was doing, pulled her sword out of her belt, and cut the horses loose from their carriage. They took off running through the forest. A bandit held his sword high into the air, preparing to stab her. One of the horses from the carriage galloped over and reared up on its hind legs, knocking him to the ground.

Angelina pointed at a vine that hung high in the treetops. It untwisted itself from the branch, shot out of the tree, wrapped itself around the attacker, and yanked him off the ground. It dropped him on his head, killing him instantly.

Rosaria, or Princess Ambrosia, couldn't do anything like that! Willow thought, amazed at Angelina's ability. Princess Christabel stood up, picked up a log, and swung it at the bandits, who were now running off into the forest in fear of Angelina's abilities.

Christabel turned and looked at Angelina, smiled, and asked, "How will I ever thank you?"

"By not turning us into the police!" Willow spat.

Christabel's eyes widened, and she said, "Oh, I will never do that! You saved my life." She turned around and looked at the bodies of her soldiers strewn everywhere, lying in pools of their own blood. No one but Christabel survived the attack. "Oh, this is awful!" she sobbed.

Riordan walked up to her and whispered, "I'm sorry." He kneeled next to one of the bandits, and a look of grave concern came across his face. "These are Prince Gregory's soldiers."

"Are you certain?" Christabel asked. "The bandits could have stolen their uniforms."

"Yes. I am absolutely certain. I worked with these men while trying to solve the mystery of the strange deaths in the country," Riordan said.

"They were going to be meeting my parents and me at the edge of Oloredian and joining the wedding processional into Oloredian. Why did they attack me?" Christabel wailed.

"I don't know. They're gone now, and you're safe with us," Riordan said.

The large black horse that had reared up on his hind legs at Christabel's attacker let out a huff of air. "By the way, his name is Jinx Lightning. He told me," Angelina said, pointing at the horse.

"He told you?" Willow asked.

"Yeah, I can talk to animals."

"Jinx lightning! What a cool name!" Christabel said as she stroked the horse's nose.

"You can talk to animals?" Willow asked Angelina.

"I guess. It's an ability I gained upon coming to Ethermoor," she replied.

"Wasn't Queen Zadelia a woodland fairy?" Willow asked.

"That's what my family told me."

Willow remembered what Tareth had said to Ambrosia about her not being able to do anything but revive some dead plants, and contrasted the statement with the kind of magic she just saw Angelina perform. Angelina was clearly a more powerful sorcerer than Ambrosia was able to fake.

Then, they heard the sound of another team of horses and soldiers coming down the path. "That's my mother! I have to hide!" Christabel shrieked.

Willow was totally confused. "Don't you want her to know that you're okay?"

Christabel had already darted off into the forest. Confused, the others followed her.

In the distance, they heard a woman scream at the sight of the carnage. "Do you want your mother to think you are dead?" Riordan asked.

"She's going to force me into marriage to Prince Gregory, whom I've never met!" Christabel hissed, voice trembling in terror. Willow was sincerely glad that she was not born into nobility.

Riordan sighed and said, "All right. We won't tell your mother that you're alive."

"That creepy alchemist guy is going to be king now. I swear he's going to be an even worse king than Banderon," Christabel wailed.

"What do you mean?" Willow asked, intrigued by her statement.

Christabel leaned in and said, "I've only met him a couple times. I know that Banderon didn't hire strangers to work for him. That guy came in, and all of a sudden, he had King Banderon wrapped around his little finger! I swear that he was digging into the treasury or something."

She narrowed her eyes at Willow and asked, "Hey, aren't you that woman who killed King Banderon? Posters with your face on them are, like, everywhere!"

Willow pulled the handkerchief off of her face. "Yes! And if you are going to travel with us, you must promise that you will not leave us for any reason! I can't have you going off somewhere and telling everyone about what you saw Angelina do back there!"

Christabel's eyes widened, and she said, "Oh, I promise that I will not leave you!" She put her hands on her hips. "Why did you kill him and then leave? I would have taken the throne if I were you!"

Willow thought this was a bizarre statement for a noblewoman to make. "Well, I thought Victor, well, you know him as Halvor, was my friend. He taught me magic and told me that Rosaria, and Lillithia, and I were going to rule Ethermoor together. Well, turns out Rosaria and Lillithia were fake names also! Rosaria was Princess Ambrosia Wyvorn, and Lillithia was Princess Desdemona Thiregan!"

Christabel broke into wild laughter. "You thought that Ambrosia Wyvorn and Desdemona Thiregan were your friends?"

"I'm sorry! I am from Aralin, and I had never gone outside the principality and had never seen what those princesses looked like before. Desdemona told me she was a hairdresser, and Ambrosia told me she taught botany at a school!" Willow protested.

Christabel smiled and said, "Well, I will repay my debt to you all for saving my life by using my excellent fencing skills to protect you!"

"Fencing skills?" Willow asked, surprised that a princess would know anything about weaponry.

"Oh, yes! When I get a sword, I will repay my debt to you! My own sword is back home. My mother forbade I bring it to Prince Gregory's palace because she said fencing wasn't an activity for a true lady." Christabel rolled her eyes. She stared right into Riordan's eyes and asked, "I want to know if I truly am safe with the three of you."

He thought her actions were rather odd. "Well, yes, you are," he replied.

Christabel grinned widely and said, "Good!" She turned around and began walking away from him. She turned her head and said, "I know you can't lie without experiencing excruciating pain. You're a Knowledge Sorcerer. I saw your quill pendant."

Riordan shoved his pendant down into his shirt. He knew the people of Kalnoreth loved the family, but he wondered how she knew what the quill symbol meant.

"Do any of you happen to have an extra change of clothes? Maybe I would remain hidden better if I wasn't wearing something that makes me stick out so much."

"I have a dress that I wore yesterday," Willow said. She took her books out of her bag and handed her bag to Christabel. Christabel grabbed the bag and ran off behind a boulder to change her clothes.

"Can we really trust her?" Willow whispered to Riordan.

"Yes. I have not sensed her telling any lies. Everything she has said was the truth." he replied.

Christabel skipped out from behind the boulder. She was not carrying her dress, and Willow's dress fit her perfectly. "Oh, this dress is so much more comfortable than the dresses they gave me back home!" Christabel squealed. She handed Willow's bag back to her. "I'm going to ride Jinx Lightning here!" She saddled the black horse. They took off walking through the forest.

"Wait, what about your dress?" Angelina asked.

"I am not going to be wearing it again, so I left it behind the boulder," Christabel said.

As they walked, Christabel was careful to avoid being seen by passersby. Willow noticed that Starfire and Jinx Lightning trotted right next to each other. Christabel ducked behind a tree or a rock every time they heard horses or people coming down the path.

Willow looked at Christabel and Angelina and said, "Well, we have to get both of you some new clothes."

Christabel turned to Angelina and asked, "So what village are you from where people wear clothes like that?"

"I am from the city of Boston, Massachusetts. I was living Miami, Florida. My country is called the United States of America."

"Well, I have never heard of that country," Christabel said.

"Supposedly my ancestor was the ruler of all the fairies in this country at one point," Angelina said.

"Queen Zadelia?" Christabel chimed.

Riordan was curious as to how a noblewoman knew so much about fairies. "What else do you know about the fairies?" Riordan asked.

"Well . . ." Christabel sighed. Her eyes darted around as if to see if anyone was watching her. "Strange things have been happening to me lately, and I have been doing some research on why they might be happening."

"What kind of strange things have been happening to you?"

Christabel swallowed. "Okay, lunacy runs in the family. At least, that's what they call the people who do strange ramblings during the full moon, right? Many of us wind up in a mental hospital during our episodes. No one knows that about my family. Well, after that horrendous bang that rocked the country a few months back, my dreams that I had during the time of the full moon started to make sense. So did my father's. I had a vision one night that the king's old alchemist would die and a new one who was a truly evil man would take his place. That happened. Then, my father had a vision that this alchemist was going to hunt down and kill all the apothecaries in the land. That also happened, so father ordered all the apothecary shops to close to protect the shop owners."

Riordan said, "That's a strange coincidence."

Christabel's eyes widened. "It's no coincidence! Our psychiatrist told us that some of his lunacy patients were having similar experiences! One of the servants, who was also a lunacy patient, told my father that Princess Desdemona was going to try to invade Kalnoreth and kill our family. That's why my family decided to move my wedding up to this week, to get me away from him."

"Why not just fire the servant?" Willow asked. A look of extreme sadness crossed over Christabel's face. "Because he was my boyfriend, and my father thought that if he married me off to Prince Gregory, he could keep me away from him."

Boy, I'm glad I'm not nobility, Willow thought.

"I found out about the fairies while doing my research on why some people might suddenly have rapturous visions on the night of the full moon," Christabel said.

Riordan remembered the reports of the lunacy patients who were attacked by Faeblood Wraiths. He wondered if there was some way they could possess magic and not know it. It made sense to him now. There were historical accounts of Luna Fairies who could deliver predictions on the night of the full moon, although there was no evidence of such a fairy or any of their descendants, the Dream Sorcerers, appearing back in Ethermoor. Maybe their magic had confused their descendants since magic had not fully returned to Ethermoor yet? Perhaps Christabel was a descendant of such a fairy.

As they were walking back toward Ethermoor City, Riordan pulled a stray hair off Christabel's back. He made a mental note to test the hair in the magic detection potion when they settled down for the night.

"Um, are we going to go into Ethermoor City for the night? I don't want anyone to see my face. I'm afraid that people there might recognize me," Christabel said.

"No, we are going to stay at my grandparents' house. They live just outside the city," Riordan said.

That evening, they arrived back at Marian's house. Riordan knocked on the door. The door opened, and Marian's face popped out. "Well, it looks like all three of the most wanted people in all Ethermoor are standing on my doorstep. She furrowed her brow and asked, "What's Princess Christabel doing here?"

Christabel replied, "Ma'am, I won't be a problem! Willow, Angelina, and Riordan saved me from Gregory's soldiers who attacked my carriage!"

"All right, well, come on in!" Marian said, opening the door for them all. The four of them walked inside.

"This is a lovely home you have!" Christabel commented.

"Why, thank you!" Marian said, her cheeks turning pink.

When dinner was ready, Angelina scarfed down all the food on her plate. She had not eaten a real meal since Riordan gave them sandwiches the day before.

When Riordan turned in for the night, he decided to try to find out if Christabel had magic. He put his gloves on, took out Victor's magic detection liquid, unscrewed the cap, and dipped the hair inside. He was utterly astonished when the whole vial glowed brightly. Could Dream Sorcerers and Sorceresses have completely escaped the notice of everyone? Were they mistaken for mentally ill patients when they returned to Ethermoor? Riordan pulled the hair out, screwed the cap back on, and put the hair and the vial back in his satchel.

He spent the night wondering how in the world to approach the matter with Christabel.

Willow began pondering if there might be a safe way to enter the castle that night and try to find out what Victor's next move might be. Perhaps turning into a cloud and trying to find her way to Victor's study might be the best way. She lay in bed that evening, pondering how she would go spy on him.

Willow decided she could turn herself into a cloud and seep in through the locks. She could not use the transporter spell since the wood in her wand had died. She snuck out the hallway and tiptoed toward the door.

"Hey, what are you doing?" she heard a woman's voice ask. Willow turned and saw Angelina standing behind her.

"I am going to Victor's castle to try to find out what his next move might be," Willow said.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"After what happened last night, I'm not letting you go there alone," Angelina insisted.

Willow felt warmed by her new friend's loyalty. "I have to go alone," she said.

"I am going with you. I can turn myself into a bird, and perhaps I can turn into something smaller," Angelina said.

"All right, come on," Willow said. They walked out the door, and Willow locked it.

Angelina imagined herself turning into a firefly so that Willow could see her in the night. She shrank down so small that the grains of dirt looked like huge rocks and the blades of grass looked like massive trees.

"Angelina?" Willow called, wondering why her friend had just disappeared. A little firefly flew out of the grass and landed on her nose. "A firefly?" Willow giggled.

Angelina flew back down into the grass and transformed back into her human form.

"Now, do you realize that where I'm about to go, they might kill us if they see us?" Willow asked.

"In the previous three days, I have jumped out of a crashing plane, been jailed, fought off supernatural entities, and rescued a woman from soldiers who were working for her fiancée," Angelina said.

Willow giggled at her statement. "All right, you can come with me."

She turned into a cloud, but remained dense enough so that Angelina could see her. Angelina turned herself back into a firefly. The two of them took off flying through the air and soared high above the city streets. Willow and Angelina flew to the castle, and Willow guided Angelina to the tower where Victor's study was.

They both flew in through the window. Willow turned into her human form. She held her left hand up and lit up her hand so that she could see. She saw that Victor had moved all his books from the island to the castle. Angelina also transformed back into a human.

Both listened carefully for footsteps that would indicate someone coming up the staircase. Willow saw several books that only had year numbers on the spine. In Willow's light, Angelina could see her mouth gaping, and her eyes widened in an expression of apparent excitement. Willow gasped.

"What is it?" Angelina asked.

"He keeps daily diaries! Everything about his plans and what he is up to might be right here!" Willow hissed. She pulled out one book and flipped through the pages with excitement.

"What's that number written on the side of it?" Angelina asked.

"This is the year. Don't you have year numbers in your world?" Willow replied.

"Yeah, but they don't look anything like that."

"This is the year 5530, and this is this year's journal!" Willow said.

She flipped through the journal, reading for any information on what Victor's plans were.

Willow grabbed another book on the shelf. She opened it up and began flipping through the pages. A massive grin spread across her face when she stopped and read one of the pages.

"What book is that?" Angelina asked.

"I'll tell you when we get back to Marian's house," Willow replied. She excitedly stuffed the books in her bag. "I think this is all we need for right now. Now, let's go back to Marian's house." She turned into a cloud, and Angelina turned into a firefly. They flew back to Marian's house.

They flew through an open window and resumed their human forms once they were inside. "First, Victor reveals in his journal that he is Tareth, the evil warlock who destroyed this country years ago. Second, he wrote here that he is going to make Desdemona and Ambrosia immortal using the same potion that made him immortal. There's an entry here that says what book he got the potion out of. I found the book, and when I looked in it, I also found information on how an immortal can be killed!" Willow whispered so as not to wake up anyone in the house.

"And how is that?" Angelina asked.

"By exposing them to their greatest weaknesses," Willow said, grinning widely.

"Do you know what his is?" Angelina asked.

Willow was suddenly deflated. She had lived with Tareth for two months but had absolutely no idea what his weaknesses were. "No. I don't know," Willow said. "However, we have information on what they are currently up to."

"Let's go to sleep for now and show the journal and the book to everyone else in the morning," Angelina said.

She walked back into her bedroom, fell into the bed, and went to sleep. Willow was exhausted, but clues on how to defeat her enemies lay right in her hands, and she read the books until she fell asleep.

The next morning, they all walked out to the table to eat breakfast. Willow walked out with a huge grin stretched across her face. "Good news! I found out that Victor kept diaries, and I have one right here," Willow squealed as she waved the journal in the air.

"How did you get that?" Christabel asked.

"Angelina turned into a firefly, and I turned into a cloud. We flew to the castle to see if we could find any information on his plans for Ethermoor, and boy, did we find them! We found this journal in the things that he brought from the island!" Willow beamed.

She sat down at the table. "By the way, he really is the warlock Tareth. When magic started to return to Ethermoor, he was freed from his prison on the island of Valroth and moved to Enchantica, which was the former home of the Godmother fairies. Plus, I read that he, Desdemona, and Ambrosia left two days ago to go to the Pyraxia Library and the Pyraxia Vault. Tareth is going to try to take Tristan's power for himself like he did to the people he turned into Faeblood Wraiths. He wants to use his Wisdom Fairy powers to subjugate the people of Ethermoor to his power."

Riordan sat bolt upright in his chair. "So we have to get going as soon as we finish breakfast so that we can try to catch up to them. It takes a week to get there from here," he said.

Willow replied, "They have a traveling spell that he taught us, and are probably at the vault right now. Unfortunately, it doesn't work for me without my wand, which is currently dead."

"Where is your wand now?" Angelina asked.

"It's in my bag,"

"Go get it for me. Perhaps my woodland magic can revive it."

Willow stood up from the table, walked into her room, and got the wand out of her bag. She handed it to Angelina, and as soon as Angelina touched it, the wand's wood began to come back to life! Willow watched as the dead wood suddenly turned back into the beautiful silver-and-gold object it had been on Enchantica Island.

"How did you do that?" Willow gasped. Angelina grinned widely. "Magic!" She handed the wand back to Willow.

Willow threw her arms around Angelina and gave her a huge hug. "Thank you!" she squealed.

"You're welcome," Angelina replied, hugging Willow back.

Willow sat back down in her chair. "I have the transporter spell memorized," she said.

"What about my clothes? I need other clothes so that I won't stick out so much." Angelina said. The question caught Willow off guard.

"And I need a sword!" Christabel chimed.

"We are just going to the vault. No one will see you," Riordan said.

"I got several sizes of dresses for Willow since I didn't know what size she wore. Why don't you try those on first?" Marian asked.

"I'll do that. Where are they?" Christabel asked.

"They're in the closet in Willow's room."

Angelina and Christabel walked into Willow's room. They took some of the dresses into their own rooms and tried them on.

Willow flipped through the journal. There's so much valuable information written here. She read all about how Tareth planned to trick a sorcerer or sorceress into taking part in his plot to assassinate King Banderon.

There was so much information written in the journal about how magic had returned to Ethermoor. Her head was whirling with all the information she discovered, especially from the entries that were from the last four months, starting in the month of Octaria.

Octaria 3:

A massive beam of light shot across the sky today, and I saw the shield over my island come down. A massive blast shook my island. I have discovered that my magic has returned to me, and now I can perform my spells and rituals again. I must find out how this was able to happen.

Octaria 13:

I used my desperation spell to locate whoever might have caused the magic to come back. An archaeology professor at the University of Aralin, who apparently has spent many years learning how to decipher fairy runes, found the castle of Zadelia and summoned a fairy helper named Aslin. I found this man, a man named Edward Smith, and I killed him. I thought that once a fairy's summoner had died, the fairy went to the next most competent magician, but this fairy disappeared."

Good for her, Willow thought as she read the entry.

Octaria 15:

I cast the desperation spell yet again to find students who might be interested in magic. I discovered that two noblewomen, Princess Ambrosia and Princess Desdemona, have been studying dark magic on their own without the knowledge of King Banderon. They are especially interested in helping me return to power in Ethermoor.

She read the entry from the day she accidentally transported herself to the mountain. According to the entry, he remembered her mother's note and decided to go to Mount Pyraxia to look for her. Then, she read an entry where Tareth wrote that he snuck into her room one night and took hair out of her brush.

Marian walked into the room. "Would you like some tea, Willow?" she asked.

"Oh, yes! Please!" Willow replied.

Marian disappeared and returned holding a steaming cup of tea. Willow sipped it as she read the rest of the journal entries.

The thought of someone coming into her room and taking her hair out of her brush made her more than slightly nauseated. Angelina walked into the room, wearing one of the dresses Marian had bought. Christabel came out of her room also.

"This dress fits me perfectly!" Christabel said, twirling around in her dress.

"My dress fits me too," Angelina chimed.

Good. Now we can get going on our quest and not have to go dress shopping in addition to weapon shopping, Willow thought.

"I still need a sword," Christabel said.

"Yes, you do." Willow sighed.

"There is a weapons store in the city. I'm sure they have one," Riordan said.

"Yes, and you probably need to buy me one too," Angelina said.

Riordan looked her in the eye and said, "I know you're lying. You don't need anyone to buy any weapons for you."

"I don't want to get attacked again just because my nearly worthless currency in my world is priceless in yours. Plus, I don't want to get arrested for using magic should I need to defend myself again," Angelina said. Riordan laughed.

"What kind of currency is it?" Christabel asked.

"The lowest form of currency in my country is the penny, and it is made of copper," Angelina said. Christabel and Marian gasped loudly in shock.

"Copper is cheap in your world?" Christabel shrieked.

"I'm assuming so, I don't know. I just know that the lowest form of currency in my country is made from it. I took some pennies out of my purse when I was in a bookshop, and it provoked someone to attack me," Angelina replied.

"Is there anything here to hide my face when I am in the city? I don't want anyone to recognize me," Christabel asked.

"I only got one for Willow a few days ago when she arrived here. I have one in my closet," Marian replied.

"May I borrow it?"

"Certainly. I will go get it."

Marian walked out of the room and returned holding a grey coat. Christabel put it on. "You'll also need one of these," Marian said as she walked out of the room. She returned seconds later with a handkerchief. "Use this to hide your face." Christabel tied it around her face, leaving just her eyes visible.

Christabel, Angelina, Riordan, and Willow walked into the city to go to the weapons shop. Angelina had no idea how to start looking for a sword. She looked around at all the swords in glass cases and wondered how in the world she would be able to swing such an object should an attacker approach her. Christabel, however, looked excitedly at all the weapons.

A handsome young man was standing behind the counter. He smiled at Christabel and asked, "May I help you, ma'am?"

Christabel batted her eyes flirtatiously and said, "I'd like to see . . . that one!" She pointed at a sword that had a golden hilt with gemstones embedded in it. "Do you see one that you like, Angelina?"

"Well, I've never even held a sword before," Angelina replied.

"That one would be good for you," Christabel said. She pointed to one in the back of the cabinet. It was a beautiful sword with a golden hilt and a leather handle. The man took the sword and handed it to Angelina. She picked the sword up and was surprised at how light it was. She waved it around, careful not to hit anyone with it.

"Is that the one you want?" Willow asked.

"I believe so," Angelina replied. She placed her sword on the counter.

Christabel pulled out a drawstring pouch. "Don't worry about paying for it. I have some money with me that I brought from home." The man took her money and placed the swords in boxes.

"Why, thank you!" Angelina said graciously.

"Well, you saved me yesterday!" Christabel said, smiling.

They thanked the young man and walked out of the store. When they got back to Marian's house, Willow said, "According to the journal, only someone with fairy ancestry can open the door to Tristan's vault."

"That means Desdemona and Ambrosia can't get into it," Christabel said.

"Yes, they can, actually. According to this journal, Tareth snuck into my room at night and took hair out of my hairbrush. He is going to use it to trick the magic into sensing that he is a sorcerer."

Christabel cringed and said, "Eew! That's disgusting! I knew Halvor was weird, but that's just . . . ew!"

Angelina burst into laughter at the thought of someone sneaking into a room at night to take hair out of a hairbrush. Willow saw the humor in the situation and laughed along with Angelina and Christabel. She felt so much better about their situation after finding something funny about it. Willow calmed down and said, "All right, we need to get going here." The four of them said goodbye to Marian and walked outside.

Willow said, "Okay, here's how the spell works. We all stand in a line and hold hands. I stand on the end so that I can wave my wand. We all imagine that we are standing on the side of Mount Pyraxia. Then, I will recite the spell and wave my wand." They saddled their horses and stood them all in a line.

"You all be careful now!" Marian hollered from the kitchen window.

"We will!" Riordan yelled back.

They all stood in a line. Willow said, "We imagine we are standing by the door to the Pyraxia Library. Now time and space shall make it so!" She waved her wand over her head.

They were suddenly standing in a snow-covered mountain range. Willow recognized the area as the place she had accidentally sent herself to when they were practicing the transporter spell.

Riordan dismounted his horse, walked up to the side of the mountain, stuck his hand in the snow, and said, "Florida!" The snow melted away, revealing the ornately carved door underneath. Then, he said, "Please."

The door opened, and they all scrambled inside to get out of the freezing cold, wet, windy weather. Riordan shut the door. "The ability to hide the doors under a huge blanket of snow is precisely why the Knowledge Sorcerers picked this mountain to hide our library in," he said. Willow was very thankful to discover that the inside of the vault was much warmer than the outside.

"How come it's so much warmer in here?" she asked.

"There is a river of lava flowing twenty miles under the surface of the mountain. Every ten thousand years, the volcano erupts. Dragons tend the fire."

"Dragons?" Angelina yelled fearfully.

"Ah, don't worry. They are friendly. Tristan brought them here to guard the vault." He smiled at Angelina.

Willow lit her hand up to light the way. The cavern inside was tremendous.

"Hello!" Angelina yelled. She heard her voice echo off the walls of the cave for a solid minute. They rode their horses through the cave.

"Stop. Don't take another step. This place is booby-trapped." He walked up to a large rock that was jutting out of the side of the cave. He pulled on the rock, and the floor opened up right in front of them. Angelina was incredibly thankful Riordan told them not to take another step.

He walked up the edge of the hole and looked down. "Safire!" he yelled. There was no answer. "Safire! It's Riordan!" Again, there was no answer. "Angelina, we need your magic."

"My magic?" Angelina asked, curious as to what her magic could do to help them.

"Yes, make a vine or something that we can crawl down. Safire isn't answering us, which is odd. We need to look for her," Riordan instructed.

"Well, okay. I haven't done very much magic, but I'll try."

Angelina dismounted her horse, walked up to the edge of the hole, and looked down. She saw a huge mountain of golden objects sitting on the floor of the cave, and estimated that the tip of the mountain was at least one hundred feet below them. A light source at the bottom of the pit illuminated it.

Angelina pictured in her mind a spiral staircase made out of vines that were strong enough to hold human weight growing out of the floor of the cave. She held her hand out and felt the strange power source that she had felt both times before while working her magic flow out of her hands. She heard the stones breaking apart, and opened her eyes. Several huge vines grew out of the floor of the cave. They wrapped around each other and created a spiral staircase that led down into the hole.

Riordan leaned toward her and whispered, "Show off!" A grin spread across his face.

"Well, this is much better and safer than a vine!" Christabel said. All of them tied their horses' reins to the railing of the staircase.

Angelina thought her first purposeful creation was lacking something. She stuck her right hand out again, and the vines suddenly were covered in beautiful flowers of every color. "Well, I just wanted to give us something nice to look at while we are here."

"It's beautiful!" Christabel said. She hopped on the first step of the staircase. Everyone else followed behind her.

They emerged out of the hole, and Angelina saw that gold covered the walls of the cave. Torches hanging on the walls illuminated the cavern. The staircase ended where the tip of the pile of gold was.

"Safire!" Riordan yelled. There was no answer. They walked around and called for her, but none of them saw any sign of a dragon. Riordan had a terrible feeling that something was wrong. They searched all the caverns for her, but found nothing. "We need to continue to Tristan's vault."

They walked back up the spiral staircase, untied their horses from the railing, and saddled them. Willow walked alongside Riordan and lit the way through the cavern. They walked for around a day and camped out to sleep for the night.

The next morning, they came upon a huge door with strange runes carved into it. "This is it, the door to the innermost vault where Tristan lives," Riordan said.

Willow looked at the runes on the door and asked, "What does 'And the Fae Will Rise' mean?" Willow asked. As she did, the runes on the door glowed and the door slowly opened.

"Well, that was easy," Angelina commented.

"It means that the fairies and their descendants will be allowed to practice magic in Ethermoor once again," Riordan said.

He jumped as if he suddenly remembered something important.

"Wait! There are traps in here too, and only Tristan knows how to disarm them. I do know where they are and can tell you where not to step. So please, walk behind me."

They came to the spot where the bees had attacked Ambrosia and Desdemona. "Don't step there! This red beam is a trap trigger!" Riordan yelled as he pointed to a red beam. Don't let your dresses get caught in it. The women lifted their dresses and stepped over the beam.

They walked through a door into another room. Willow saw spots of red liquid splattered on the floor, leading to the fountain. The water in the fountain was bright red with blood. "Blood. From someone who didn't know how not to set off the trap," Riordan said.

They walked into another room where a horrific sight met their eyes. A giant blue dragon lay on the floor, wailing loudly with grief. There were three bodies of Knowledge Sorcerers lying slashed to pieces on the floor, covered in pools of their own blood. Riordan collapsed on the floor in disbelief and grief.

"I don't know who did it! I killed the intruders when they fell into my cave!" the dragon sobbed.

Willow knelt next to Riordan and whispered, "I'm sorry."

"Thank you," Riordan replied through his sobs.

Christabel said, "The blood is fresh. That means they were just here. If we hurry, perhaps we can get back to Ethermoor City before they are able to hurt more people.

Riordan stood up, wiped his tears, and said, "You're right. We need to get back to the palace before they can hurt more people."

Christabel screamed and pointed at something lying on the other side of the large wooden table in the center of the room. Riordan ran around the table and froze when he saw what she was pointing at. A heap lay on the ground. Willow saw an arm sticking out from under it, and she realized that the heap was the body of a man.

She saw his face, and her blood ran cold. It was the most horrifying facial expression that she had ever seen. His face was shriveled, his mouth gaped, and his eyes bulged out of his head. Willow let out a piercing shriek at the sight of it.

"Faeblood Wraiths! That's the expression all of their victims have on their faces," Riordan said, cringing. He recognized the man as Tristan, or what was left of him, anyway.

"Gosh, Tareth really sucked the magic out of him, didn't he?" Willow mumbled to herself.

Riordan walked up to a door and placed his hand on the handle. "Behind this door is the most terrifying trap. The trap where you have to confront your greatest weakness," Riordan said.

"Goody, Tareth should be dead behind that door!" Willow said. She hoped that wasn't just wishful thinking.

Riordan walked inside, but nothing happened. This was another trap that Riordan had no idea how to disarm. They walked inside, and absolutely nothing happened to them.

There were no bodies in the room, which to him was a sign that perhaps Tareth had figured out how to disarm the trap. Then, a thought occurred to him. If he got Tristan's magic before he got to this trap, and it was apparent that he did, he probably would have known how to disarm it, which is probably why the trap did not spring.

They walked to the other door on the opposite end of the room. "Looks like he might have disarmed this trap once he got Tristan's magical abilities. Now, when we get in the next room, stand facing the wall and feel your way to the other side of the room. This trap is the poison dart trap, and if you look into the little red beam, deadly poison darts will shoot at you," Riordan said.

"Allow me," Angelina said. She cracked open the door and stuck her hand inside. In her mind, she commanded a huge leaf to cover the light source of the beam.

When she felt that her magic had done as she wished, she peeked inside. Sure enough, a huge leaf covered the top of the roof, blocking the beam. They crossed over to the other side of the room. "Now, this last room is where the rings are," Riordan said as he opened the door. He looked inside the room and saw the two pedestals sitting in the center of it. A red pillow sat on top of each of them. To his horror, the pillows were empty. The rings were supposed to be sitting on each of them. But they were empty. Someone had stolen them.