Talking To Dragons Read online

  Talking to Dragons

  Book 4 of the Enchanted Forest Chronicles

  Patricia C. Wrede

  CONTENTS

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  8

  9

  10

  11

  12

  13

  14

  15

  16

  17

  18

  19

  20

  21

  22

  1

  MOTHER TAUGHT ME to be polite to dragons. Particularly polite, I mean; she taught me to be ordinary polite to everyone. Well, it makes sense. With all the enchanted Princesses and disguised wizards and transformed Kings and so on wandering around, you never know whom you might be talking to. But dragons are a special case.

  Not that I ever actually talked to one until after I left home. Even around the edge of the Enchanted Forest, dragons aren’t exactly common. It’s the principle that matters, though; always be polite to a dragon. It’s more difficult than it sounds; dragon etiquette is incredibly complicated, and if you make a mistake, the dragon eats you. But I was well trained.

  Dragon etiquette wasn’t the only thing Mother taught me. Reading and writing are unusual skills for a poor boy, but I learned them. Music, too, and fighting. Don’t ask me where Mother learned to use a sword; she wouldn’t tell me. Until I was thirteen, I didn’t even know we had one in the house. I even learned a little magic. Mother wasn’t exactly pleased, but growing up on the edge of the Enchanted Forest I had to know some things.

  Mother was tall and slender, and very impressive when she wanted to be. Most of the time she wore her hair in two black braids wound around and around her head, but when she really wanted to impress someone she let it hang straight to her feet. A lot of the disguised Princes who stopped at our cottage on their way into the Enchanted Forest thought Mother was a sorceress or something. You can’t really blame them. Who else would want to live right at the edge of a place like that?

  Sometimes I thought they were right. Mother always knew exactly what kind of directions to give them, even if they didn’t tell her what they were looking for. I never saw Mother do any real magic, though, so I never thought about it much. Until the day the wizard found us.

  I knew right away he was a wizard. He had the same sort of feel of magic that the unicorns and griffins have, when you catch a glimpse of them farther on in the forest. I was a little surprised; we didn’t get too many wizards. Most of them preferred to go into the forest through the Gates of Mist and Pear lat the top of the Crystal Falls, or through the Caves of Fire and Night. The few that bothered to walk would never think of stopping at our cottage. But this one was unusual.

  He turned off the road and walked right past me without saying anything; I thought that was a little strange. He went straight to the door of our cottage and banged the head of his staff against it. The door splintered and fell apart. I decided that I didn’t like him much.

  Mother was cooking rabbit stew in the big black pot over the chimney fire. She didn’t even look up when the door fell in. The wizard stood there for a minute, and I sneaked a little closer so I could see better. He was frowning; somehow I got the impression he wasn’t used to being ignored. Mother kept stirring the stew.

  “Well, Cimorene, I have found you,” the wizard said at last.

  “It took you long enough,” Mother said without turning. “You’re getting slow.”

  “You know why I am here.”

  Mother shrugged. “You won’t get what you want; you’re sixteen years too late. I told you, you’re getting slow.”

  “Hah! I can take the sword now, and the boy as well. There is nothing you can do to stop me this time,” the wizard said. I could tell he was trying to sound menacing, but he didn’t do a very good job.

  Mother finally turned around. I took one look at her face and backed up a couple of steps. She looked at the wizard for a minute and started to smile. “Nothing, Antorell? Are you sure?”

  The wizard laughed and raised his staff. I backed up another couple of steps. I mean, I wanted to see what was going on, but I’m not stupid. He paused a moment—for effect, I think—and Mother pointed at him.

  He screamed and started to collapse in on himself. “No! Not again!” He shrank pretty quickly, all but his head. He was shouting nearly the whole time. “I’ll get you, Cimorene! I’ll be back! You can’t stop me! I’ll—” Then his head collapsed and there was nothing left but a little puddle of brown goo and his staff.

  I stared at the puddle. All I could think was, I never knew Mother could do that. Mother let me stand there for a while before she told me to clean it up. “Be sure you don’t touch the staff,” she reminded me. “And don’t forget to wash your hands before you come to dinner.” I went to get a bucket; when I came back, the staff was gone and Mother was stirring the stew as if nothing had happened. She didn’t mention the wizard again until the next morning.

  I was out by the remains of our door, trying to find some way of fixing it. I didn’t think my chances were very good. I was trying to nail a couple of pieces together when I looked up and saw Mother walking out of the Enchanted Forest. I was so surprised I dropped the hammer and nearly smashed my foot. Mother never went into the Enchanted Forest. Never. Then I saw the sword she was carrying, and if I’d still been holding the hammer, I’d have dropped it again.

  Even from a distance, I could tell it wasn’t an ordinary sword like the one I usually practiced with. This one was about the same size and shape as mine, but it shone a little too brightly and looked a little too sharp to be ordinary. Mother carried it carefully; she wasn’t wearing a sheath, so there wasn’t anything else she could do with it. She brought it over to me and set it down on top of the boards I’d been working on. “Don’t touch it,” she said, and went on into the house.

  I had a hard time following Mother’s instructions. The more I looked at the sword, the more I wanted to pick it up and try a few of the passes Mother had taught me. It was such a beautiful weapon! Just thinking about it made me shiver. But Mother always had good reasons for the things she told me to do, so I waited.

  I didn’t have to wait long; Mother came back almost immediately. She had a swordbelt and a sheath with her that I’d never seen before. They were old—so old the brown leather was turning grey—and very, very plain. I was a little disappointed; I’d expected something a little more impressive.

  Mother went straight to the sword and put it in the sheath. She seemed to relax a little then, as if she’d been worried about something. I started wondering just what that weapon did. Mother almost never worried. I didn’t have much time to think about it, though; as soon as she had sheathed the sword, Mother turned and gave me her you’re-not-much-but-you’ll-have-to-do look. I started to worry.

  Mother picked up the swordbelt. “This is for you, Daystar.” I reached for it, but she shook her head. “No, I’ll do it this time. Hold still.” She bent down and buckled the belt around my waist, then hung the sheathed sword on the belt. I felt a little strange letting her do it, and my elbows kept getting in the way. Finally she straightened up.

  “Now, Day star, I have a few things to tell you before you leave.”

  “Leave?” I was shocked. Mother had never mentioned leaving before. It occurred to me that she’d said “you,” not “we.” I swallowed hard. “By myself?”

  “Of course. You’re sixteen; it’s time you left, and I’m certainly not coming with you. Now pay attention.” She gave me one of her sharp looks. I shut up and paid attention.

  “You have a sword, and you know nearly as much as I can safely tea
ch you. I don’t want to see you back here again until you can explain to me why you had to leave. Do you understand?” I nodded. Mother went on, “You should probably start with the Enchanted Forest; one way or another, things will happen more quickly there. Don’t lose your sword, and don’t take it out unless you need to use it. Oh, and watch out for Antorell. He may try to make trouble again, but it’ll be a couple of days before you have to worry about that. It’ll take that long for him to get himself back together and find out where I put his staff. All right?”

  “But you haven’t explained anything!” I blurted. “Why did that wizard come here yesterday, anyway? Why should he want to make trouble for me? And if he’s so dangerous, why are you sending me—”

  “Daystar!” I stopped in mid-sentence. Mother glared at me. “What happened to the manners I’ve tried to teach you?”

  “I—I’m sorry. Mother,” I said. “I was upset.”

  “Being upset is no excuse for rudeness,” Mother said sternly. “If you’re going to be rude, do it for a reason and get something from it.” I nodded. Mother smiled. “I know it’s hard, and it’s rather short notice. This will probably be the best chance we get, though, and I can’t waste it just to give you time to get used to the idea of leaving home.”

  I was more confused than ever, but I could see Mother wasn’t going to tell me anything more. She looked at me for another moment, then turned and walked toward the cottage. At the door. Mother stopped and looked back. “Good luck, Daystar. And stop wasting time. You don’t have much of it.” Before I could say anything, she disappeared inside.

  I started off toward the Enchanted Forest. Mother’s advice was always good; besides, I was afraid she’d melt me or something if I hung around very long. I didn’t bother to follow the road; I just headed for the forest. The road isn’t particularly useful, anyway. It disappears as soon as you get past the outer edge of the forest, or at least, it usually does. At any rate, I wanted to stick to the part of the Enchanted Forest I knew, to start with.

  The Enchanted Forest comes in two parts, the Outer Forest and the Deep Woods. Most people don’t know that. I’d gone herb gathering in the Outer Forest; it’s relatively safe, if you know what you’re doing. I’d never been much more than an hour’s walk from our cottage, but I had to start somewhere.

  I felt the little tingle on my skin that marked the border between the ordinary woods, where our cottage was, and the outer part of the Enchanted Forest. Some people have trouble getting in and out of the Enchanted Forest, but I never had. I was feeling excited and adventurous, and maybe a little scared. I mean, for years I’d watched all those Princes and heroes and so on go into the forest, and now it was my turn. I looked back over my shoulder to see if Mother was watching. The cottage was gone.

  That shook me. You just don’t expect the place you’ve lived in for sixteen years to vanish like that. I looked around. None of the woods looked familiar, either. The trees were huge, much larger than the ones by our cottage. I couldn’t reach more than a quarter of the way around the trunk of the smallest one. The ground was covered with deep green moss, which ran right up to the bases of the trees and stopped short. I could see a couple of bushes, one that had three different colors of flowers on it. Everything felt very dark and green and alive.

  I shivered. This wasn’t the Outer Forest. This was the Deep Woods.

  I stood and waited for a couple of minutes, but nothing much happened. Somehow, I wasn’t reassured. Being lost in the Enchanted Forest is not conducive to peace of mind. There wasn’t really anything I could do about it, though. After a while I started walking, feeling considerably less adventurous and considerably more scared.

  I walked for a long time. After a while I quit being scared, at least mostly. Finally I started looking for a place to rest; my feet hurt and I was getting very tired. I was careful, though; I didn’t want to sit on a flower that used to be somebody important or anything like that. After about fifteen minutes I found a spot that looked all right, and I started to sit down. Unfortunately, I’d forgotten I was wearing the sword; it got tangled up in my legs and I sort of fell over.

  Somebody giggled. I looked around and didn’t see anyone, so I decided to get untangled first. I straightened my legs out and sat up, making sure the swordbelt was out of the way this time. Then I took a second look around. I still didn’t see anyone, but the same somebody giggled again.

  “Sir or madam or—” I stopped. What was the proper honorific for something that wasn’t male or female? I was pretty sure there was one, but I couldn’t remember it.

  “Oh, don’t bother,” said a high squeaking voice. “I never cared much for all that fancy stuff.”

  I still didn’t see anyone. “Forgive my stupidity, but I can’t seem to find where you are,” I said.

  The giggle came again. “Down here, silly.”

  I looked down and jumped. A little gold lizard was sitting right next to my hand. He was about twice as long as my middle finger, and half of that was tail. “Hey, watch it!” he said. “You might hurt someone if you keep jumping around like that. Me, for instance. You big people are so careless.”

  “I’m very sorry,” I said politely.

  The lizard lifted his head. “You are? Yes, you are! How amazing. Who are you, anyway?”

  “My name is Daystar,” I said, bowing slightly. It was a little awkward from a sitting position, but I managed. Being polite to a lizard felt peculiar, but there are only two rules of behavior in the Enchanted Forest: Don’t take anything for granted, and be polite to everyone. That’s if you don’t live there; the inhabitants have their own codes, which it’s better not to ask about.

  “You’re Daystar?” The lizard did something very tangled very quickly and ended up balanced on his tail. “So you are! Well, my goodness. I hadn’t expected to see you around here for a while yet.”

  “You were expecting me?”

  “Of course.” The lizard looked smug. “I know everything that goes on in the Enchanted Forest. Absolutely everything! I know you from your little forays in the Outer Forest; it was only a matter of time before you got this far. I thought it would take longer, though. I’m Suz, by the way.”

  “Pleased to meet you,” I said.

  “You are?” The lizard leaned forward and almost lost his balance. “Yes, you really are! How positively extraordinary. Whatever are you doing in the Enchanted Forest?”

  “I don’t know,” I said.

  “You don’t know!” The lizard did a backflip and scurried up onto a fat tree root, where he would have a better view. He balanced on his tail again and looked at me thoughtfully. “If you don’t know what you’re doing, why are you here?”

  I thought for a moment. “Do you really know everything that happens in this forest?”

  “Of course I do.” Suz looked offended. An offended lizard is an interesting sight.

  “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings or anything,” I said hastily. “I just wondered if you could tell me where this came from.” I touched the sword Mother had given me.

  The lizard squinted in my general direction. “What? It’s on the wrong side of you, silly; bring it over where I can see it. If it came from the Enchanted Forest, I can tell you about it.”

  I lifted the sword, sheath and all, and twisted around so the sword was on the same side of me as Suz. The lizard promptly fell over backward.

  “Oh dear me my gracious goodness my oh,” he squeaked. “Do you know what this is?”

  “I wouldn’t have asked you if I knew,” I said. “It’s a sword; I think it’s magic.”

  “It’s a sword! He thinks it’s magic!” Suz ran around twice in a small circle, then did the tail-balancing trick again. “Where did you get it?” the little lizard demanded.

  “My mother gave it to me; she got it out of the Enchanted Forest somewhere,” I said. I was getting a little tired of this. “Are you going to answer my question?”

  “Your mother gave it to you. The Sword of the S
leeping King, that everyone in the world has been looking for for fifteen or twenty years, and your mother gave it to you.” The lizard got so agitated he fell over again. “That isn’t right. That isn’t reasonable. My dear boy, that simply isn’t done! Even in the Enchanted Forest there is a proper order for these things! Someone will have to notify Kazul immediately. Oh, dear, what a stir this will cause!”

  “I’m sorry; I didn’t know. What’s the Sword of the Sleeping King?” I’d never heard of it before, which rather surprised me. After Mother made me memorize all those pages of names and titles and peculiar weapons, I’d thought I knew the name of every magic sword in the world. It surprised Suz, too.

  “You don’t know?” The lizard froze in the middle of getting back up on his tail. He looked like a golden pretzel. “No, you don’t! Oh, my. You’d better go to the castle at once. Kazul will know what to do with you. I’d better go there myself, right away.” Suz untwisted and darted off into the undergrowth.

  “Wait!” I shouted. “What castle? Who is Kazul? And why—”

  The lizard looked back. “I don’t have time for that! And even if I did, I couldn’t tell you. You have to find out yourself; magic swords always work that way. Don’t you know anything?”

  “Do you want me to recite the names of the Four Hundred Minor Swords of Korred the Spellsmith? I know lots of things; I just don’t know about this. How do I find out?”

  “Follow the sword, silly,” Suz said, and disappeared among the leaves.

  2

  I DIDN’T TRY to chase the lizard. For one thing, there wasn’t much point in it; Suz was small enough to hide practically anywhere. For another, I didn’t want to go running through the Enchanted Forest. People get killed that way, or enchanted, or other unpleasant things. And besides, I wanted to think.

  I settled back against the tree and looked down at the sword, a little unhappily. “Follow the sword,” Suz had said. But Mother had told me not to take it out unless I meant to use it, and I didn’t flunk “following” it was the kind of use she meant. Besides, I wasn’t sure I wanted to draw a magic sword in the middle of the Enchanted Forest, especially one I didn’t know anything about. I decided to try something else.