Talking To Dragons Read online

  Kazul looked as if she agreed with Shiara. “Wizards get most of their magic from the Enchanted Forest, but if they absorb too much magic in any one place, things die.”

  “The moss!” I said. “That’s why it turns brown when a wizard’s staff touches it.”

  “Yes,” said Kazul. “The Kings of the Enchanted Forest had a way of reversing the process, taking magic out of a wizard’s staff and putting it back in the forest, so wizards weren’t too much of a problem until about seventeen or eighteen years ago, when one of the wizards managed to steal some rather important items from the King’s castle. One of them in particular was critical to the King’s control of the wizards.” Kazul paused and looked at me expectantly.

  “The sword?” I said. “Telemain said it was supposed to be used on wizards.”

  “Telemain talks too much,” Kazul said a little sourly. “The wizard who stole the sword didn’t know exactly what he had, at first, but he knew enough to convince the rest of the wizards to attack the castle. They were trying to kill the King and take his place, but before they succeeded, the sword was stolen again. A few wizards managed to get inside the castle, but without the sword they didn’t have enough power to actually kill the King. The best they could do was find a way of keeping him out of action while they hunted for the sword.”

  “They put the King to sleep?” I said doubtfully. It sounded a bit unlikely. Sleeping spells are very effective on guards and Princesses, and even a kingdom now and then, but they can’t usually do much against a good magician, and whatever else he was, I was sure the King of the Enchanted Forest had to be a master magician.

  “We don’t know exactly what they did,” Kazul admitted. “We know the King isn’t dead, because the Enchanted Forest reacts very strongly when a King dies. We know they did something, though, because the seal they have around the castle wouldn’t hold the King in by itself.”

  “You mean those shimmerings around the castle?” I said.

  “The outer one is ours,” Kazul said with a grim smile. “The wizards put up a spell to keep everyone but themselves out of the castle, so we put one to keep the wizards out. Without the sword, there wasn’t anything more we could do.”

  “Then how did Daystar’s mother get hold of the sword?” Shiara asked.

  Kazul smiled again. “Cimorene was the one who stole it back from the wizards in the first place. They’ve been trying to get hold of it again ever since. They’ll show up as soon as we break through their barrier tomorrow, but by then we should be ready for them.”

  “Uh, you expect Shiara and me to help you fight the wizards?” I said.

  “Of course not,” Kazul replied. “You’re going to get into the castle and break whatever spell the wizards put on the King seventeen years ago.”

  19

  THAT TOOK SOME explanation. What Kazul meant was, the dragons would lower the barrier they had put up around the castle. Then I would draw the Sword of the Sleeping King and put it into the wizards’ barrier, which, according to Kazul, would break their spell. The wizards would know immediately that something was happening, and they would start trying to get to the castle. The dragons and their various allies would hold off the wizards and whomever they brought to help them, while I ran into the castle, found the King, and broke the spell.

  I didn’t like the sound of it at all, but I couldn’t say much. Mother had given me the sword, and I was pretty sure this was what she’d wanted me to do with it. Besides, Kazul seemed to think I was the only one who could use the sword to break the spell, and how do you tell the King of the Dragons that you won’t do something she wants you to do?

  Shiara, on the other hand, had a lot to say. She thought it would be stupid for me to go into the castle by myself. Kazul asked if she was volunteering, and Shiara said that she wasn’t going to be left out just when things were getting interesting. Kazul pointed out that Shiara’s arm was broken, and Shiara told her that being inside the castle with me sounded safer than being outside with a lot of wizards and dragons fighting each other.

  Finally, Kazul said Shiara could go with me if she wanted to. Shiara said good, and were the dragons going to be able to keep all of the wizards out of the castle, or were some of them going to sneak in after us? They kept on like that for quite a while. I was very glad when a middle-sized dragon arrived with dinner and interrupted. I couldn’t see why Kazul was being so patient with Shiara, and I was getting worried that it wouldn’t last much longer.

  Dinner was excellent. Kazul didn’t eat with us; she spent most of the meal lying on the floor and watching us inscrutably. Dragons are very good at being inscrutable. I found it a bit unsettling, but it didn’t seem to bother Shiara or Nightwitch much.

  After dinner we talked some more. Kazul told us about the castle and what the floor plan was. She also told us about a lot of things to watch out for; most of them were magical items that would only be dangerous if we accidentally did something to them, but there were a few traps, too.

  “This castle sounds awfully big,” Shiara said after a while. “How are we supposed to find this King, anyway?”

  “You look for him,” Kazul said. “I’m afraid I can’t tell you exactly where. The only people who knew where the King was were the wizards who went in and put the spell on him, and as far as I know they’re all dead.”

  “As far as you know?” I said.

  “Some of them didn’t come out of the castle,” Kazul said.

  “But you’re sure that the ones who did come out are dead?” I said.

  “Positive,” said Kazul.

  “So what?” said Shiara. Kazul and I looked at her. “I don’t care about the wizards who came out,” she said defensively. “I’m worried about the ones who might still be in there.”

  “They have to be either dead or enchanted,” Kazul said. “Even a wizard can’t live seventeen years without food.”

  “I suppose so,” Shiara said. “Well, what does this King look like?”

  “You’ll know him when you see him,” Kazul said. “Besides, he’s the only other person in there.”

  “Oh, great,” said Shiara. “We have to hunt through an empty castle for someone we don’t even know, while a bunch of wizards are trying to get in and stop us.”

  “It shouldn’t be that bad,” Kazul said. “The sword and the key should both help considerably.”

  “The key?” I said.

  “Of course the key!” Kazul said impatiently. “For one thing, it’ll make it a lot easier for you to get into the castle; you could have done it with the sword alone, but it will be much faster with the key as well.”

  “Are you saying I just picked up the key to the castle by accident?” I said.

  “Accidents like that happen all the time in the Caves of Chance,” Kazul said dryly. “Where do you think they got their name?”

  “How do you know it’s the right key?” Shiara demanded. “The quozzel said some wizard put it there.”

  “It was one of the things that were stolen along with the sword,” Kazul replied. “But if it will make you more comfortable, I can look at it.”

  I dug the key out of my pocket and held it out to Kazul. Kazul glanced at it and started to nod, then stopped suddenly and stared at the key very intently.

  “That wizard’s done something to it,” she said after a moment. She sounded outraged.

  “Wonderful,” said Shiara disgustedly. “All we need is another wizard to get mixed up in this.”

  “He isn’t another wizard,” Kazul said. “He’s the same one who stole the key in the first place, and he’s dead.”

  “You’re sure he’s not one of the wizards who didn’t come out?” Shiara said. Kazul nodded, and Shiara frowned. “Can you tell what he did?”

  Kazul didn’t answer. She stared at the key instead, and her eyes started glowing again. The key began getting warmer and warmer in my hands. Just before it got too hot for me to hold, the key jerked in the direction of the castle outside; a second later, I
dropped it. I stood shaking my fingers, while Kazul and Shiara stared down at the key, and Nightwitch walked over and sniffed at it.

  “Nightwitch!” said Shiara. “Stop that; you’ll get enchanted or something.” She bent over and grabbed awkwardly for Nightwitch with her left hand. The kitten jumped away, and Shiara’s fingers brushed the key. A look of surprise came over her face, and she picked the key up. “It feels like fire,” she said.

  “I know,” I said. “It burned my fingers.”

  “No, I don’t mean it’s hot,” Shiara said. “It just feels like fire.”

  “It shouldn’t,” Kazul said, sounding interested. “Bring it over here.”

  Shiara took the key to Kazul, who looked at it for a few minutes and handed it back. “I thought so. It’s part of what that wizard did.”

  “But what’s it for?” Shiara said.

  “I don’t know,” Kazul admitted. “The spell is connected to something inside the castle, but I can’t tell what with the barriers around the outside. He may have set a trap with it; he was one of the wizards who got inside during the battle, you know.”

  “No, I didn’t,” Shiara said. “And how could he use the key inside the castle if it was sitting down in the Caves of Chance the whole time?”

  “He couldn’t have,” Kazul said calmly. “He probably left the key there after he got out of the castle; he was the last one of the wizards we caught, and he had plenty of time to do it.”

  “May I have my key back, please?” I said. Kazul and Shiara both looked at me, and Shiara handed me the key. “Thank you,” I said, and put it in my pocket. I wasn’t quite sure why I wanted it; I only knew that it felt right, somehow.

  “Is there anything else we ought to know about right now?” I asked after a minute. “I mean, we’ve walked a long way today, and been in a cave-in, and Shiara has a broken arm, and if we’re going to do all of these things tomorrow, I would sort of like to get some rest.”

  “Mrrrroww!” said Nightwitch emphatically.

  Kazul chuckled. “It seems you aren’t the only one who would like rest. Very well. Marchak!”

  The middle-sized dragon who had brought us dinner appeared, and Kazul had him show us to our rooms. They turned out to be normal, human-sized rooms, and quite comfortable. I was surprised until it occurred to me that the King of the Dragons would probably have occasional human visitors, who would need a place to stay. I wondered how many human magicians kept a special place for visiting dragons in their castles and towers and things, and right in the middle of wondering, I fell asleep.

  A loud pounding noise woke me; someone, probably a dragon, was knocking on the door of my room. “Just a minute, please,” I called, and the pounding stopped.

  I got out of the bed, which I couldn’t remember having gotten into, and picked up my swordbelt. I checked my pockets to make sure I had the key, started for the door, and stopped suddenly in the middle of the room. If the dragons expected me to do things with the Sword of the Sleeping King. I wasn’t going to carry it under my arm like a bag of laundry. I put the swordbelt on and opened the door.

  “It’s about time,” said the little dragon in the hall. Shiara and Nightwitch were already there.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t know you were in a hurry.”

  The dragon snorted and started off down the hall. “Come on.”

  We went after it. It didn’t seem to be in a particularly good mood, and I didn’t understand why until Shiara told me that it wanted to come into the castle with us, but Kazul wouldn’t let it. I couldn’t see why it wanted to come; there weren’t supposed to be any wizards inside the castle, and I thought the little dragon wanted to fight wizards. I didn’t say anything, though. Arguing with a grouchy dragon isn’t safe, even if it’s a small dragon.

  The dragon brought us back to the cave where we’d talked to Kazul the previous night. Kazul wasn’t there, but breakfast was, and we sat down right away. We were almost done with it when Kazul arrived.

  “Go on, finish,” she said when she saw we were still eating.

  “Urn, that’s all right,” Shiara said hastily. “I don’t want any more.”

  “I’ve had plenty, too,” I said. “It’s very good.”

  Kazul nodded absently. “Well, if you’re finished, let us begin.”

  I stood up from the table, wishing suddenly that I hadn’t eaten quite so much. My stomach felt as if it were full of lead, and my head was very light. “How do we start?” I said.

  “Follow me.” Kazul slid out of the cave without looking back at us. Shiara and I followed, and Nightwitch and the little dragon came behind us.

  Kazul led us back across the hard, brown ground toward the castle. All around us, dragons were polishing their teeth and sharpening their claws; some of them were muttering spells under their breath. A couple of times, I saw elves hurrying through the crowd, and once I saw a group of intense-looking red-haired people who had to be fire-witches. Everyone was very serious and grim.

  None of us said anything until we got to the castle. Kazul led us around the outside of the shimmerings until we were at the front of the castle; if I concentrated on looking through the barriers, I could see a flat wooden bridge across the moat and a large door with steps leading up to it. Kazul stopped and turned to the little dragon. “You’d better go find your place now,” she said.

  “But I want to—”

  “Go!”

  The little dragon went. Shiara and I looked at each other, and then at Kazul. Kazul smiled. “Are you ready?”

  I nodded jerkily. Shiara bent and picked up Nightwitch. Kazul’s smile widened. “When I tell you ‘now,’ draw your sword and run for the castle. Don’t look back, and don’t stop for anything.”

  I nodded again, because I didn’t trust my voice just then. Kazul turned to the crowd of dragons, and suddenly everything was completely silent. A shiver ran down my back, and I put my hand on the hilt of the Sword of the Sleeping King.

  I felt the bee-in-the-jar buzz that was Shiara’s magic, and a strong humming from all the dragons, but the strongest feeling of all was the purring I’d felt from the first time the sword made my arm tingle. It was coming from the castle. Not from the shimmerings around the castle; they just got in the way. What I was feeling was the magic of the castle itself.

  I took a tighter grip on the hilt of the sword. The tingling from the dragons got stronger and more positive, and abruptly Kazul turned and shouted, “Now!” As she spoke, the silver-and-green shimmering around the castle vanished.

  I yanked the Sword of the Sleeping King out of its sheath and swung it at the golden glow that was still left between me and the castle. I felt a shock like a lightning bolt as the sword hit, and then the shimmering vanished in an explosion of golden light. I shook my head and heard Kazul shout, “Run!”

  I took two steps and almost lost my balance. The ground wasn’t hard and bare anymore; it was covered with slippery green fuzz. Shiara grabbed my arm just as I heard a series of explosions from behind us.

  We ran. I could feel the jangling from the sword that meant there were wizards around somewhere, but I didn’t stop to look for them. I was too busy trying to keep up with Shiara, hang on to the sword, and dig the key out of my pocket, all at the same time. It didn’t work very well.

  Shiara was standing in front of the door, panting, when I got up to it with the key. I didn’t see a keyhole, but as soon as my foot touched the top step of the stairs, the door swung open.

  “Daystar,” Shiara said, “are you sure—”

  Something hit the stone of the castle next to the door and exploded, showering us with little chips of rock. Shiara and I dove through the door and landed on the floor inside with Nightwitch on top of us. I sat up just as the door closed silently behind us.

  “Hey!” Shiara said. “Watch what you’re doing with that sword!”

  “I’m sorry,” I said. I stood up, stuck the key in my pocket again, and held out a hand to help Shiara up. “Is your
arm all right?”

  “I think so,” she said absently. “At least, it doesn’t hurt any more than it did already. Now which way do we go?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. The door shook as something hit it, and a moment later there was a muffled explosion. “I think we should get out of here, though.”

  “Aren’t you going to put that stupid sword away first?”

  “No,” I said. “I’d rather have it in my hand, in case some of the wizards do get into the castle.”

  Shiara scowled, but she didn’t object again, and we started hunting through the castle.

  The castle was even more confusing on the inside than it was on the outside. Rooms opened into more rooms and then suddenly into a hallway or a flight of stairs. All of them were full of chairs and tables and books and suits of armor, and everything was dusty. The wizards’ spell seemed to have kept spiderwebs and cobwebs out of the castle, but it hadn’t done anything at all about the dust. Nightwitch didn’t like it at all; she kept sneezing. Finally, Shiara picked her up and carried her, which helped a little.

  It took a lot longer to figure out where we were going than I’d expected. I could feel the sword pulling me toward the center of the castle, but it was very hard to just go in that direction. In spite of Kazul’s instructions, Shiara and I kept getting into hallways that curved the wrong way and chains of rooms that ended with nowhere else to go. It was very discouraging.

  Finally, we came to a large door at the end of a long hall. It was about three times as wide as a normal door and much taller, and it was made of gold with designs on it in relief. There was a staff lying on the floor in front of it; I could tell from the jangling of the sword that it was a wizard’s staff. When I stopped to look at it, the sword jerked impatiently toward the door. “I think this is the place we’ve been looking for,” I said.

  Shiara tried the door. “It’s locked. Where’s that key?”

  “Just a minute,” I said, and dug for it. “Hey!” I said.

  As soon as I touched it, I felt the key pulling at me, the same way the sword was.