I woke up because something small and warm and rough was rubbing my chin. I opened my eyes. Night- witch was sitting on the ground in front of me, licking my face. I was lying face down on the moss. I could feel the Sword of the Sleeping King underneath me. It was very uncomfortable, but I didn't feel like moving. I closed my eyes again.
Nightwitch hissed and dug her claws into my shoulder. Kittens have surprisingly sharp claws, and I opened my eyes again very quickly. The dragon was staring at me from beside Nightwitch. At least, its head was beside Nightwitch. The rest of it wouldn't fit. It blinked at me.
'Are you dead?' it asked.
'No,' I said. I thought about saying something else, but I didn't have the energy.
'Oh.' The dragon sounded almost disappointed for a minute. Then it brightened. 'I think that fire-witch is.'
'That's nice.' I had the feeling I should remember something, but I didn't want to think hard enough to figure out what.
Nightwitch hissed and dug her claws into me again.
'Stop that!' I said, and I rolled onto my back.
'What?' said the dragon.
'Nightwitch,' I said. Rolling over had taken all the energy I had, and I didn't want to talk anymore. I didn't even want to think anymore. I wanted the dragon to just leave me alone, but I couldn't say so without being rude, so I closed my eyes and started drifting off to sleep instead. Then Nightwitch jumped onto my chest and dug her claws in hard.
I yelled and sat up. Nightwitch jumped down to the ground and ran off.
I tried to see where she'd gone and saw Morwen's bundle instead.
Suddenly I realized that I was very hungry. I started to reach for the bundle, then remembered that I was still holding the sword. I also remembered the boiling lead, and I was almost afraid to look at my hands. I was sure that this time I'd burned both of them worse than when I'd picked up the wizard's staff.I looked down. There wasn't anything wrong with me-at least, not that I could see. I let go of the sword with one hand. It didn't hurt. I heaved a sigh of relief and put the sword back in its sheath, then got out some of Morwen's gingerbread and started eating. It was a good thing the food was right on top of the bundle, because I didn't have the strength to hunt for it.
The dragon watched me for a few minutes with a puzzled expression.
'You're a very good magician,' it said finally. 'Where did you learn that spell?'
'Spell?' I was having a little trouble remembering the details of the fight. I wasn't sure whether it was because it had hurt so badly or because I was too busy eating.
'The one you shouted right before the witch went up in smoke,' the dragon said, 'You said, Power of water, wind, and earth, Turn the spell back to its birth.'' 'Oh, that,' I said, feeling a little silly. 'It's just part of a rhyme Mother taught me when I was little. I don't know why I said it.'
'Your mother taught you? But that's a dragon spell! Your mother couldn't teach you dragon spells!'
'You don't know my mother,' I said. I'd eaten most of the gingerbread, and I was feeling much better. 'She taught me two more lines to the rhyme,' I offered. 'They go, Raise the fire to free the lord By the power of wood and sword.'' The dragon looked at me suspiciously.
'Where did your mother learn dragon spells?'
'She didn't tell me,' I said. I finished the gingerbread and looked around. 'Where did Shiara…' My voice died in mid-sentence as I remembered exactly where Shiara had been when I saw her last. I didn't want to look, but I had to. I took a deep breath and turned my head.
Sometimes, when witches or wizards die, all of their spells die with them. If the witch or wizard is skillful, sometimes the spells last.
The fire-witch had been skillful. Shiara was still a statue.
11
In Which a Lizard Suggests a Solution
I sat there for a minute, staring at the statue and wondering what to do.
Finally I looked at the dragon. 'Do you know anything about magic?'
'Of course I do!' the dragon said. 'Everyone who lives near the Enchanted Forest knows something about magic.'
I sighed. 'I mean, do you know anything about turning statues that used to be people back into people again? Because I don't, and we have to figure out some way to fix Shiara.'
'Oh.' The dragon looked doubtfully at the statue of Shiara. 'We could take her to the Living Spring and drop her in,' it suggested. 'That would bring her back to life.'
'You know where the Living Spring is?' I said in surprise.
'No,' said the dragon. 'But I bet if we found it, it would work.'
I shook my head. 'I don't think we have time. There are wizards looking for us, remember?'
'Oh, that's right. I keep forgetting. I don't like to think about wizards.'
The dragon blinked. 'What about your sword? You could say that spell again.'
I nodded. I walked over to Shiara and pulled the Sword of the Sleeping King out of its sheath. I felt a little uncomfortable, partly because I hadn't thought of using the sword and partly because the dragon spell was still just one of Mother's nursery rhymes to me. The idea of standing in the middle of the Enchanted Forest holding a magic sword and reciting a nursery rhyme made me feel very silly. I looked at the statue of Shiara again and decided I'd try it anyway. Slowly, I lowered the point so that it touched the statue's shoulder, and I said, 'Power of water, wind, and earth, Turn the spell back to its birth.
Raise the fire to free the lord By the power of wood and sword.'
For a minute I thought nothing had happened, but then three or four little tingles ran up my arm from the sword. I hadn't even realized they were missing until they started again. When I finally did notice, I was relieved.
Mother wouldn't have been at all happy with me if I'd ruined the Sword of the Sleeping King.
Unfortunately, Shiara was still a statue. 'I suppose we're going to have to look for the Living Spring,' I said. 'Unless you have some other ideas.'
'No,' the dragon said. 'I've never been on an adventure before. How are we going to find the Spring?'
'I don't know,' I said. Half of the heroes who stopped at our cottage had been looking for the Living Spring, but I'd never heard of anyone finding it. I tried to think of someone who might know where the spring was. 'Suz!' I said suddenly.
'What?' the dragon said.
'Suz is sort of a friend of mine,' I explained. 'He says he knows everything that goes on in the Enchanted Forest, so he ought to know where the Living Spring is. I wish he were here.'
'You do?' said a squeaky voice by my right foot. 'Yes, you really do! How intriguing. Why do you?'
'Suz!' I said. I looked around until I saw him, then carefully sat down on the ground. 'I'm awfully glad to see you. Do you know where the Living Spring is?'
'The Living Spring?' Suz said. 'Dear me! Why do you want to know?'
'What's that?' asked the dragon, who had finally managed to find the source of the squeaky voice. 'It looks like a little dragon.'
'Oh, I'm sorry. This is Suz. I was just telling you about him. He's not a dragon, he's a lizard.'
'A lizard of extremely good family.' Suz frowned at the dragon, but the dragon didn't seem to notice. Suz gave up and looked back at me.
'Now, why do you want to know about the Living Spring?'
'Because Shiara got turned into a statue by the fire-witch who lived in the invisible castle,' I said.
'She did?' The lizard peered around until he saw the statue, then scurried over. He cocked his head briefly and stared upward, then ran up the gray stone in a spiral until he was sitting on one of the statue's shoulders.
