difficult as this beginning.
'Maybe we would have been better off charging at the main entrance,' he muttered to himself.
After what seemed a very long time, but was probably only a few minutes, the runnel widened. The piles of shattered rock became fewer, then ceased altogether. Mendanbar heaved a sigh of relief and stopped to let the others catch up.
Morwen was the first. 'Good,' she said as she clambered over the last of the rock piles, balancing carefully to avoid spilling her bucket.
'I was beginning to think that rocky stuff was never going to end. Any sign of my cats?'
'It would be more reasonable to ask whether there is any sign of the wizards,' Telemain said, following Morwen into the wider part of the tunnel.
There was a large wet spot down one side of his many-pocketed vest; apparently he had not been as careful with his buckets as Morwen.
'I haven't seen a trace of the wizards,' Mendanbar said, 'but the cats have been by here.' He pointed at two small trails of footprints leading down the tunnel.
'Thank goodness that's over,' Cimorene said as she emerged from the narrow section of the tunnel to join them. 'Why are you all just standing here? The Cave of Stone Icicles is a lot farther on.'
As this was undeniably true, they set off again. There was still not room for all four of them to stand in a line, but at least now they could walk two by two without difficulty. Somehow, Cimorene ended up walking with Mendanbar in the front. Mendanbar was not sure whether to be glad or sorry. He enjoyed walking with Cimorene, even if they did not dare to talk much; the wizards might have someone listening for odd noises. On the other hand, being in front meant that he and Cimorene were the ones the wizards would attack first. Mendanbar did not like the idea of anyone attacking Cimorene, although he knew she could take care of herself.
He had some time to consider this, for the tunnel was long and winding, but he found it hard to concentrate with Cimorene walking so close beside him. He discovered that he wanted to put his arm around her as they walked-the one carrying the bucket of water, not the lantern-but somehow that didn't seem like the right thing to do when they were supposed to be watching out for wizards. He had never met a princess like Cimorene before.
He had never met anyone like Cimorene before. She was smart and brave and kind and loyal, and he liked her. In fact, he liked her a great deal.
In fact Suddenly, the light around Mendanbar dimmed. He stopped and glanced over his shoulder. The little globe that had been hovering over Telemain's head had gone out.
'Telemain?' Mendanbar whispered.
'I didn't turn it off,' Telemain whispered back. 'We must be getting near the wizards.'
Mendanbar nodded without surprise-the atmosphere in the tunnel felt dry and magicless, and though they were still within the Enchanted Forest, he could no longer sense threads of power floating invisibly in the air. He swallowed, hoping he would not have to do any spells in a hurry.
'Keep close,' he whispered to Telemain and Morwen, and slowly started forward once more.
The tunnel bent sharply to the left, then right, and without further warning opened out into a forest of stone pillars. A glimmer of light showed between the stones, and they could hear a mumble of voices in the distance.
Hastily, Mendanbar covered the lantern with a corner of his cloak, so that it only lit the area just in front of his feet. Cimorene dropped back. After a moment, she put her hand on his shoulder, and Mendanbar wondered briefly what she had done with the bucket. She gave his shoulder a brief squeeze to indicate that Morwen and Telemain had taken their places. Then he heard her pick the bucket up again.
Carefully, Mendanbar edged through the pillars toward the light and voices.
As they drew nearer, Mendanbar began to understand what the voices were saying.
'I don't like this,' grumbled one. 'We've wasted too much time already.
We should just take her outside, dose her with dragonsbane, and leave her for someone to find.'
'Stop complaining, Dizenel,' replied a smooth voice, and Mendanbar frowned as he recognized Zemenar's fluid tones. 'I have told you a hundred times how foolish that would be,' Zemenar went on. 'I am not going to tell you for the hundred and first.'
'He's right, though,' another voice said. 'Someone is going to notice us pretty soon, and then where will all our planning be?'
'Someone already has,' a fourth voice rasped. 'What about those two this morning?'
'A couple of adventurers,' Zemenar said dismissively. 'They don't matter.'
'They got away, didn't they? If they tell someone what they saw-' 'They won't,' Zemenar said.
'How can you be sure of that?'
Zemenar gave a snort. 'Because of who they are. Can't you recognize a Wicked Uncle when you see one? He was probably here to drop the boy somewhere in the Enchanted Forest . He isn't going to tell anyone about us.
And even if he does, what of it? Everyone knows odd things happen in the Enchanted Forest. His story will only be one more.'
Mendanbar was at the end of the stone columns, close enough to see the wizards if he peeked around a pillar. There were ten of them, grouped about a small table at one side of an enormous cavern. Zemenar and two others were seated; the rest leaned against the wall of the cave or stood in clumps close by. High above the wizards, hundreds of long, cone-shaped columns hung like stone icicles from the ceiling. Four torches dangled from iron brackets on the wall and a lamp stood in the center of the table, throwing shadows like dark fangs from the hanging rocks.
Partway across the cavern, a pale golden glow cut across the shadows like a drawn curtain. On the other side of the glow was a dragon, her wings folded along her back, her eyes narrowed to slits. Mendanbar recognized her at once, even without Cimorene's hiss. She was the same dragon they had seen in the magic window at the dwarfs house-Kazul, the King of the Dragons.
16
In Which Mendanbar Cleans Up
Mendanbar blew out the lantern and set it on the floor. They didn't need it anymore anyway. They were near enough to see by the light of the wizards' torches, even in the shadows. Carrying their buckets, Cimorene, Morwen, and Telemain slipped behind nearby pillars as another wizard came around the corner from the far end of the cave.
'Most gracious and powerful Head Wizard,' he said, bowing to Zemenar.
'We've checked everything at least twice. There's no one outside and no sign of anyone coming. That spell Xinamon felt before must have been some sort of normal variation.'
Behind the pillars, Mendanbar winced. The wizards had noticed the locating spell he had sent out earlier. Cimorene frowned and shook her head at him, but he wasn't sure what she meant by that. Morwen scowled at them both and put her finger to her lips.
'Possibly,' Zemenar replied. 'I don't want to take any chance, though.
The King of the Enchanted Forest has a certain amount of magic, and we don't fully understand it. Call in a few more wizards, just to make sure.'
'If you don't want to take chances, we ought to use up the dragon now and get out of here,' Dizenel said.
'I'm with you,' the most recent arrival agreed. 'Dragons make me nervous. Are you sure she can't get out?'
'If she could, she'd have done so right away,' Zemenar said. 'Don't worry about it. We've put the power of at least an acre of the Enchanted Forest into building that shield, and no one can lower it except us.'
'Are you sure?' the wizard persisted.
'Take a closer look, if you're not satisfied,' Zemenar said, waving at the glow.
