"My feather, yes, yes," Wadsworth interrupted impatiently. "The Feather of Eternal Discord. First trial of the prophecy, key to unlocking your potential, blah blah blah."
"So you'll give it to us?" I looked at the weirdo goose hopefully.
The goose let out a sound that might have been laughter. "Certainly not. At least, not without something in return."
"What do you want?" I narrowed my eyes warily.
Wadsworth fixed those cosmic eyes on me. "Entertainment."
"I'm sorry?"
"Do you have any idea how boring eternity is?" The goose complained. "Especially in this place. Yesterday's excitement was tapioca pudding in the dining hall."
"So if we entertain you, you'll give us the feather?" I clarified.
"Perhaps," Wadsworth tilted his head. "But it must be genuinely amusing. I've seen the rise and fall of empires, the birth and death of stars. I'm not easily impressed."
I exchanged a glance with Zane before facing the goose again. "What did you have in mind?"
The goose's beak curved in what could only be described as a smirk. "There's a hedge maze behind the east wing. If you and your friends can make it to the center before sundown, I might consider parting with one of my feathers."
"A hedge maze?" I frowned. "That doesn't sound too difficult."
Wadsworth's cosmic eyes gleamed. "Oh, but this isn't an ordinary maze. It changes. And I'll be watching and participating."
Before I could ask what that meant, the goose spread its wings and took off, flying toward the eastern part of the grounds.
"Well," Zane sighed, "I guess we're doing a magical maze run."
"Is that really the best plan?" We hurried to gather the others. "I mean, couldn't we just explain that the fate of reality might depend on this feather?"
"Trust me," Zane shook his head, "beings like Wadsworth don't care about the fate of reality. They've seen too many apocalypses come and go. To them, it's all just cosmic entertainment."
We found Fenric lecturing a group of elderly magical beings about proper filing procedures for enchanted documents. The audience looked ready to turn him into something unpleasant.
Maybe we should wait for that to happen first.
"…and that's why color-coding your grimoire pages can increase spell efficiency by up to twelve percent," Fenric was gesturing as we approached.
"Fenric," I interrupted, "we need to go. Now."
He looked annoyed at the interruption but excused himself. "What happened?"
"We found Wadsworth," Zane explained. "He wants us to complete his hedge maze challenge to earn the feather."
"A challenge?" Fenric pulled out his tablet. "I'll need to file a Form 62-C for Prophecy Trial Engagement."
"Later," I grabbed his arm. "We need to find Rook and Milo first."
We located Milo in the recreation room, where he was enthusiastically leading a group of ancient beings in what appeared to be a séance.
"If we focus our energy, we might be able to contact your former bridge partner," he was talking to a brownie as we walked in.
"Milo," I hissed, "what happened to 'distract the staff'?"
He looked up with a bright smile. "Oh, I did that first! Then Mrs. Winterbottom here mentioned she missed her friend Gladys, who passed last century, and I thought…"
"We need to go," Zane cut in. "Hedge maze challenge. Now."
