Someone—he didn’t know who—helped him sit up. Groggy and dazed, he waited a few seconds before opening his eyes. The light had faded considerably, the orange glow of sunset settling somewhere to the west beyond the trees. The others were sitting around him on the edge of the forest; they could see the long fields of grass, littered with rubble and debris, that led to the utter ruin of what had once been the mighty castle of Mistress Jane. He could just barely see the slowly spinning mass of gray mist that still churned within it. He looked away. He didn’t want to look at it or think about it.
He couldn’t believe all the people sitting around him. It was like a reunion too good to be true. Mothball, with her scraggly hair and her clothes hanging off her skin-and-bones body, her face lit up by a smile that seemed almost out of place in the gloom of their situation. Rutger, his round body nestled next to her like a fat penguin. Master George, dressed up as always, though his suit was wrinkled and dirty, with a Barrier Wand laid across his lap. Sally, sitting cross-legged in his plaid shirt and overalls like a lumberjack waiting for an order to start cutting down the trees around them.
And then Tick’s three best friends, sitting in a row, staring at him like they expected him to give a speech. Sato. Sofia. Paul. They were dressed as if they’d just gotten home from school, but worry etched lines on their faces. Tick didn’t know if it was the fading light, but they looked older. They definitely looked older.
And then an emptiness hit him again, hard. It was like he was looking at a portrait of his life, and a big chunk had been ripped out. His family.
A wave of despair almost made him pass out again. “My mom and sister,” he said, hearing the panic in his own voice. “I told Mordell to take them somewhere safe. Any idea what happened to them?”
Everyone in the group looked at one another; they didn’t need to say anything.
“We have to go look for them,” Tick said, starting to get up.
Master George reached out and put a hand on Tick’s shoulder, gently making him sit back down. “Atticus, none of us even know what happened. The castle is completely destroyed, and Sato’s army is just now recovering and counting up their losses. Before we can help you or find your family, we need to know what we’re dealing with. A few minutes more won’t change their plight. In fact, the more informed we are, the more we can help them. Do you understand?”
Tick didn’t. For some reason, he was angry. “I’ll go sift through every one of those stones by myself if I have to.”
“You mean they were inside the building when it collapsed?” Master George’s face paled.
Tick stood up. “Yes, they were inside. And if you haven’t noticed, there’s a big tornado right in the middle of all that mess. Maybe growing closer to my mom and sister right now.”
“Which is exactly why we need—”
“No!” Tick yelled. “No.”
He was lost and confused by the worry that ate away inside of him, but he didn’t care. He got to his feet and started marching toward the ruined castle, ignoring the pain that lanced through his body from his skull to the bottoms of his feet.
Lisa didn’t like what Jane had gone on to say about the Fourth Dimension and the all-consuming Void it had unleashed. She assumed that it would consume her too. But Mistress Jane had said little else—including whether or not Tick was safe. Instead she had rested for a time, eyes closed, until she was ready. Then she started using her fancy powers to move and shift more of the rubble so they could get out of the destroyed castle. Lisa watched, fascinated.
The woman’s robe was a mess, caked with grime and dust, ripped in countless places. Her hood hung off her head like a discarded flag, revealing a scarred mass where her hair should’ve been, the skin red and raw. Lisa knew she was supposed to hate Mistress Jane—the crazy lady who’d killed people and done evil, evil things—but how could you not feel sorry for someone who looked so miserable and probably felt even worse?
But nothing seemed to faze Jane. She held up her wounded hands like Moses parting the Red Sea, and sparkles of orange flew from her body in sprays of bright mist. Grinding sounds filled the air as rock and stone moved at her will, shifting and flying and breaking apart. Dust clogged the air, but she used her power to whisk that away as well, obviously needing to see what she was doing.
After several minutes of this show, Lisa was expecting to see daylight spill into the room, but it never happened. She had no clue what time it was, and her heart dropped a little to think it might be in the middle of the night. She’d never wanted to see sunshine so desperately, and she was dying to get out there and see if her brother was okay. To see if he’d survived whatever force was trying to “eat this world,” as Jane had put it.
Her mom reached out and squeezed her hand as if she’d sensed the thought. “I’m sure he’s okay. He has to be. If this witchy woman made it through, I’m sure our boy did too. Don’t you worry.”
Lisa looked at her mom and forced a smile. “Yeah, I’m sure you’re not worrying one bit. Are you?”