Patience was not one of Emmit's strong points. His master had told him as much, all those years ago. "The true path to knowledge is long and arduous. It requires the deepest commitment and patience…."

"Patience," he'd quipped. "And how long will that take to learn?" At the time, the master had been sorely lacking a sense of humor and Emmit learned the meaning of frustration when he waited an entire year before he would teach Emmit anything new.

Emmit's face twisted into a sneer as he remembered what he'd learned, on his own, during that year. There were other roads to knowledge, much easier and much more…rewarding. And the master had never taken on any other apprentices.

Until now.

And if that blundering wizard asks me one more question, he thought as Presto pulled off his hat and started whispering into it (giving him sidelong glances as if seeking approval), I'll make him eat that hat!

Presto gave a yelp and dropped his hat as a flock of ravens came winging from it. "Opps….that's not what I had in mind…" Then he had to chase one bold bird, who had seized the opportunity to grab the hat and make off with it. The others laughed at Eric's snide remark, and charged off to help Presto catch his wayward weapon.

Emmit seized the opportunity to ditch the kids for a moment and go over his plan. He concentrated briefly, his magic gathering invisibly around the group of children who had cornered the raven in a tree. The bird shrieked jeers and hopped about, terribly pleased with itself. He commanded it to keep distracting the kids while he enchanted them.

The shards they all sought were powerful, as they represented pure emotions. The children would not be able to handle their power without protection- should one of them touch the shard hatred, they would turn on the next person they saw. Should one of them touch envy, they would rival Venger himself in their attempts to possess the weapons of power. While it would be amusing to watch them destroy each other, it would be much more effective if they never even knew what kind of power they held.

A sudden thought struck him. Why would Dungeonmaster have risked the children if …

Emmit suffered a brief moment of doubt. Dungeonmaster knew. He always knew. It was enough to drive anyone mad!

His spell went off silently and invisibly, and so far only the bleating unicorn had noticed anything amis. There, it is done. Only one person left to protect- myself!

Emmit turned to see how the children fared, and saw with a start that the thief was standing beside him, watching him curiously. "Whatcha doing, Emmit?" she asked.

"Practicing," he replied, wondering furiously whether she'd been within range of his spell.

"Are you sure you can't give poor Presto any pointers?" she said teasingly, with only a hint of wistfulness. "It would be nice if his hat worked even three percent of the time…I know, you made that vow, not to reveal any secrets. And you've been really good about keeping it. You must be really devoted to your master. Who was he, again? Jareth? Does Venger know about him? Aren't you afraid that Venger will try to defeat him, like Kelek?"

Don't you ever shut up? "My master has kept himself hidden," he replied shortly.

"I wish we could've. Kept ourselves hidden, I mean. But no, we're Dungeonmaster's champions," she said gaily, again with that hint of wistfulness. "Battling evil and saving the world and all that stuff. But as soon as we find that broken whatzit, we're going home. Finally!"

This piqued his interest a bit. "Will you take the weapons with you?"

She looked troubled. "I don't know. I kinda hoped Dungeonmaster would show up to claim them when we leave. But every other time we've found a portal, he never did. And Eric said we had to leave them here, along with Uni, back when he got to be Dungeonmaster. Did you know that? Eric got to be Dungeonmaster for a day! Who would've guessed he'd actually be good at it? And even though…."

When I finally get that amulet reassembled, he thought, I'm going to steal her voice and keep it locked in a seashell!

"…and the minute we get the amulet," she continued prattling, oblivious to his deepening scowl, "you know that Venger will be breathing down our necks to get his nasty blue hands on it. And of course, Dungeonmaster disappeared before we could ask him how to actually use it! But maybe you know how!" she said thoughtfully.

Emmit smiled tolerantly. "I think I could learn," he said. "Then I could send you home myself! And with the amulet I'd have enough power to keep Venger from getting the weapons long enough to return them to Dungeonmaster."

The thief's face lit up with delight. "What a wonderful idea!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around him in an enthusiastic hug. "This is gonna be a great day, I can tell! I'll go tell Hank! Oh, are they still chasing that blasted crow?"

Emmit watched her run off, wondering if he'd kept the revulsion off his face. He forced a chuckle, thinking of what her face would look like when he revealed himself. This will be a great day, for all of us. Once I get that amulet, I'll do better than simply punish them- after I've seized the shard and the weapons, I'll send them right out of this Realm! Won't Dungeonmaster be surprised when I have the amulet and his little champions are nowhere to be found?

He paused, and his smile grew even crueler. I'll send them out of this world….but not necessarily home…