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 higgling 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 fireproofing 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 a bright stream 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
