Calling on Dragons (7 page)

“Not
a
dragon, you idiot,” said Scorn. “That's Kazul, the
King
of the Dragons.”

Killer edged away. “Does he eat rabbits? Or donkeys?”

“
She
prefers cherries jubilee,” Jasper said.

“She?” Killer looked thoroughly confused, as well as alarmed. “But—the ‘King of the Dragons'?”

“‘King of the Dragons' is the name of a job,” Jasper said. “It has nothing to do with gender.”

“Dragons are very sensible about things like that,” Fiddlesticks put in, nodding. “Almost as sensible as me. But they don't like fish.”

“I'd be happier if they didn't like donkeys.”

“Don't worry about King Kazul,” Morwen said to Killer. “She doesn't eat friends of friends.”

“Not even if she's hungry?” Killer's ears pricked forward nervously. “She looks hungry to me.”

Before Morwen could respond, the castle door creaked open. From the dark hallway inside, a voice called, “Madame Morwen! Magician Telemain! Welcome to the castle.”

A
S EVERYONE TURNED TO LOOK
, a three-foot elf wearing a gold lace collar and a crisp white shirt under a green velvet coat with gold buttons, white silk hose, and green shoes with chunky gold heels stepped into view in the doorway of the castle. “Welcome, all of you,” he added, bowing low.

“Hello, Willin,” Morwen said. “We need to see King Mendanbar and Queen Cimorene right away.”

“In regard to what?” the elf asked.

“Technical difficulties,” Telemain said. “We have discovered a possible disruption in the obstructive enchantment fabricated by King Mendanbar and myself, and—”

“Er, yes, of course,” said Willin. “I'll tell the King immediately. You needn't give me the details.”

Telemain caught Morwen's eye and winked. Morwen suppressed a smile and said, “And while we're waiting, Killer's hungry.” She nodded at the donkey. “If your kitchen could put something together that would suit him . . .”

“Certainly,” Willin said. “Just trot around back, er, Killer, and the cook will take care of you.” He waved toward the left, where Kazul was sleeping.

“I'm not
that
hungry!” Killer said.

“Go around the other way, then,” Morwen told him. “It doesn't really matter. Just
go.
”

“I'll show him!” Fiddlesticks bounded across to Killer. “The kitchen is this way. They have cream, and butter, and fish, and . . .” His voice faded as they rounded the crooked tower by the stone bridge.

Scorn stood up and stretched. “What a pair of idiots.” She looked at Jasper. “Maybe we should go after them and make sure they don't get into trouble.”

“An excellent idea,” Jasper agreed. With an air of determined casualness, the two cats strolled off, following the donkey.

Willin looked after them with a worried frown. “Did I offend them?”

“Not at all,” Morwen assured him. When his expression did not clear, she added, “They're hoping the cook will give them some cream. Now, we'll just go have a word with Kazul while you let Cimorene know we're here. Oh, and would you put this bucket somewhere? I've enough to carry without it.”

“Very good, ma'am,” Willin said stiffly. He accepted the bucket and vanished into the castle, closing the door carefully behind him.

“Morwen, Mendanbar's the one we really need to see,” Telemain said softly. “King Kazul—”

“Has good reason to be just as interested in the doings of wizards as the rest of us,” Morwen said. “Besides, it wouldn't be polite to go in without at least saying hello.”

“I suppose not,” Telemain said, and the two walked across the courtyard to talk to the dragon. Up close, Kazul was an even more impressive dragon than she looked from a distance. Standing, she was at least six times Morwen's height, even without her wings, and every inch was muscle and armor scales. The sleepy, contented expression on her face vanished as Morwen and Telemain drew nearer, and by the time they were close enough to talk, the dragon was wide awake and ready for them.

“Hello, Morwen, Telemain,” Kazul said. “Wizards again?” She flicked a claw in the direction of the staff Morwen held.

“Hello, Kazul,” Morwen said. “It's
a
wizard, at least.”

“I thought you'd shut them out of the forest,” Kazul said to Telemain.

“What one magician can do, another can find a way around,” Telemain said with a shrug. “Unless the quantity of energy involved reaches a magnitude that renders—”

Kazul cleared her throat pointedly. Telemain stopped. “Unless
what?
” asked the dragon.

“Um. Unless you . . . put so much power into a spell that nobody can, er, examine it closely enough to, um, figure out how to break it without getting fried by the backlash,” Telemain said carefully.

“Ah. Well, I suppose nothing's perfect.”

A bell chimed, and all three turned to look at the castle. The door swung open, and Willin marched out. “Their Majesties King Mendanbar and Queen Cimorene of the Enchanted Forest,” he announced, and bowed low.

“Hello, Morwen, Telemain. We were just trying to get you on the magic mirror.” The speaker was a tall young woman in a loose cream-colored shirt and a pair of baggy gray pants tucked into short leather boots. Her black braids were wound around and around her head like a crown, and her face was both lovely and intelligent.

As she came down the steps and into the courtyard, a man emerged from the door behind her. He was equally tall and dark-haired, and he wore a plain gold circlet that he had pushed back off his forehead. It gave him a rakish look.

“Yes, the gargoyle said something about wizards,” the man said, coming forward. “Is it urgent?”

“Important, certainly,” Morwen said. “Urgent, possibly. I don't think it's an emergency. Not yet. Hello, Cim­orene, Mendanbar.”

There was a brief round of greeting, and then Mendanbar said, “I thought something was wrong in the forest. It's been niggling at me ever since we got home.”

Cimorene frowned. “You didn't say anything.”

“I didn't want to worry you.”

Cimorene rolled her eyes. “Mendanbar, I haven't suddenly turned to glass just because I'm going to have a baby.”

“Well, but—”

“I believe that can wait,” Morwen interrupted tactfully. “The wizards shouldn't.”

“Yes, now that we're all here, tell us where you came across
that.
” Kazul waved at the wizard's staff in Morwen's right hand.

Morwen nodded and launched into a summary of the events following Killer's appearance in her back garden. Cimorene, Mendanbar, and Kazul listened without interrupting, though their expressions grew more and more serious. When she finished, Mendanbar turned to Telemain.

“These dead spots. I thought the spell we worked out prevented them.”

“It should have,” Telemain said, nodding. “And since the spell has worked perfectly well for over a year, it seems unlikely that the breakdown is due to an inherent flaw; nonetheless, I think the initial phase of our investigation should involve an examination and analysis of the primary linkages.”

Cimorene blinked and looked at Mendanbar.

“He doesn't think there should be anything wrong with the spell, but he wants to check and make sure,” Mendanbar translated. “In that case, we'll need the sword, won't we? I'll go get it.” He snapped his fingers, and a small gold key materialized out of the air in front of him and dropped into his hand. An instant later, Mendanbar and the key vanished. A quiet huff of air rushed in to fill the space he had vacated.

“Now
that
is a transportation spell that has everything,” Telemain said with a touch of envy. “Power, elegance, and economy of style. I wish I could determine exactly how he does it.”

“
I
wish he could get it to work properly outside the Enchanted Forest,” said Cimorene. “It would make visiting Kazul much easier.”

“A little walking in the mountains is good for you,” Kazul said.

Cimorene looked at the dragon with fond exasperation. “It may be a little walk to
you,
but it takes a good deal longer for
us.
And as I recall, you usually fly most of the way. You shouldn't give advice you don't follow.”

“When I was your age, I did follow it.”

“When you were Cimorene's age, you were a rambunctious dragonet barely out of the egg,” Morwen said. “None of which has anything to do with our present problems.”

Air puffed outward as Mendanbar reappeared. His face was set in grim lines and his hands were empty. “It's gone,” he said. “The lock on the chest has been melted to a puddle, the lid is up, and the sword is gone. And there are tangles of wizard magic all over the armory. It'll take me a week to straighten them out.”

There was a moment of stunned silence. Then Kazul made a low growling sound and a small flame flickered around her jaws. Cimorene's eyes went wide and she stepped quickly in front of Mendanbar, muttering something under her breath as she moved.

Probably the fire-proofing spell she discovered when she was Kazul's princess,
Morwen thought.
I hope it still works.
Dropping the wizard's staff, Morwen grabbed Telemain's arm and hauled him forward.

“Morwen, what are you—”

Kazul sat back on her haunches, snapped open her wings, and roared, sending bright streams of fire shooting across the courtyard. The flames missed Telemain's head by inches, and the near edge engulfed Cimorene and Mendanbar.

“Kazul, stop that immediately!” Cimorene cried from the center of the fire. She didn't sound as if she were in pain, so the fire-proofing spell must be working.

“Yes, you don't want to finish those wizards' work for them,” Morwen said as loudly as she could. “And I'm sure they'd be delighted if you roasted the King and Queen of the Enchanted Forest for them.”

The roaring and the flames did not stop, but Kazul tilted her head so that the stream of fire shot harmlessly up into the air. As the flames lifted away from Cimorene and Mendanbar, Morwen breathed a sigh of relief. Cim­orene's creamy shirt was now closer in color to toast, and the ends of Mendanbar's hair had crinkled visibly from the heat, but they both seemed unhurt. They ran forward to join Morwen and Telemain next to Kazul's right shoulder. Windows were flying open and closed all over the castle as people looked out to find out what all the noise was and then quickly ducked back inside.

“I've never seen her like this before, not even when the wizards kidnapped her!” Cimorene shouted over the roaring.

“I hope I never see her like this again!” Mendanbar shouted back. “I'd have been roasted if it hadn't been for that fire-proofing spell of yours. It's a good thing you're so tall.”

“Fire-proofing spell?” Telemain lowered his hands from his ears and leaned forward. “What fire-proofing spell? Why hasn't anyone mentioned this before?”

“Later, Telemain,” Morwen yelled.

Finally, Kazul paused for breath. In the sudden silence, Cimorene yelled, “Kazul! For goodness' sake, calm down!”

“I will not calm down!” Kazul said, but at least now she was shouting and not breathing fire indiscriminately. “This time the Society of Wizards has gone too far, and I'm not settling for throwing them out of the Enchanted Forest or limiting their power.
This
time I'm going to see the end of them, I swear I am, even if it takes two centuries. By my fire, I swear it!”

“Ah, Kazul.” Mendanbar tapped one of the dragon's shoulder scales. “It's
my
sword they've stolen.”

“Yes,” Cimorene said, “and the first thing we have to do is get it back. The Enchanted Forest needs it.”

“Very well,” said Kazul. “You may help me exterminate the Society of Wizards.” Slowly, she settled back to the ground, scales rattling faintly as she let her wings close.

“First things first,” Morwen said. “Cimorene's right; we have to get the sword back, and quickly. Otherwise, the Society of Wizards can walk into the Enchanted Forest and soak up pieces of it until there's nothing left.”

“That's probably why they took it,” Cimorene said.

“No, no,” Telemain put in. “The sword is only
one
of the primary foci. Its physical removal does not invalidate . . .” He paused, glanced at Kazul, and cleared his throat. “Ah, that is, the King's sword just helps maintain the spell. Taking the sword out of the forest doesn't destroy the whole spell. It just weakens it. That's why the dead spots Morwen showed me didn't fill in right away. But the spell is still strong enough to keep the wizards from gobbling up large chunks of the forest.”

“Does that mean that if we recover the sword, the forest will be fully protected again?” Mendanbar asked.

Telemain nodded.

“Good. Give me a minute or two to explain to Willin, and I'll be ready to go.”

“Go?” Telemain blinked. “But—”

With a huff of air, Mendanbar vanished.

“But what?” asked Cimorene.

“Mendanbar shouldn't go anywhere right now,” Morwen said. “It's bad enough that the sword's missing, but no one will know about that for a while unless we tell them. But if the King of the Enchanted Forest goes tearing off on a quest while mysterious things are happening in the forest, people are bound to notice.”

“There's more to it than that,” Telemain said. “Mendanbar
can't
go after the sword, not if he wants to keep what's left of the antiwizard spell working. He's the other main focus.”

“Oh, dear.” Cimorene looked back toward the castle, and her lips twitched. “He's not going to like that at all.”