The passage went into Mount Terra.

  It made sense when I thought about it. The shops and houses were all built into the spiral mountain. It was natural that there would be passageways through the mountain.

  “Is it safe?” I asked. If the passage was well known, then I’d rather take my chances in the lobby instead of the tight restrictions of the tunnels.

  “Girl,” Johnnie grinned, “these tunnels are members only.” He motioned for us to enter, “And their guests.”

  “Guests?” Michael asked.

  “Yes, guests.” Johnnie replied. “Look, Old Man Merlin has to give you permission to use these.” He raised his eyebrows. “How many other mages have you seen around?”

  He had a point. Mount Terra didn’t attract many players. The easy resources to gather had been collected long ago. The scenery was dangerous; lightning storms plagued the mountain range. It wasn’t even on the way to another zone. There was almost no reason to be here.

  That was why we had first come to the mountain. It was a good hiding place. One that we ruined with our dragon hunt.

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  I ducked into the tunnel, “Sounds good to me.”

  Michael followed behind me, but with his bow drawn. I wasn’t sure what he planned to use it on. The passageway wasn’t big enough for two people to walk. If he shot from behind me, he’d probably hit me in the back.

  Johnnie waved his glowing pendant over the opening. The wall rematerialized, masking our escape route. Without the light from the hall, our only illumination came from the mage’s pendant.

  He squeezed past us to the front and held the pendant up to light our way. The shadows danced out of our way as we walked. I didn’t know I fit was my imagination or an enchantment. I decided I really didn’t want to know the answer.

  We walked for a few minutes before Johnnie found our exit. I didn’t see anything special about the wall, but if you had asked me, I would’ve sworn we had been walking in circles.

  The wall melted under the light of his pendant, revealing the magic shop where the Mage’s Guild was housed.

  Merlin was sitting behind the counter in front of us, puffing on his pipe. He didn’t stir as we walked around him into the shop.

  Johnnie lifted his pendant to close the passage, but it rematerialized with a snap of Merlin’s fingers.

  Johnnie gave a short bow, “It’s been fun Merlin, but we’ve got to jet.” He urged us towards the door, “I’ll see you around.”

  Merlin grunted. It wasn’t much, but it was his way of saying bye.

  The sky outside was clear. It felt good to be outside again, but there wasn’t time for sightseeing. The noise of fighting rang from the base of the mountain.

  “Now what?” I asked.

  Johnnie flashed me a grin. “We slide.”

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