this.'
'Why are you worried?' Shiara said. 'You're not the one who got turned into a statue.'
'Well, if you think banging into something you can't see is fun, you go first,' said the dragon.
I put my hand on the hilt of my sword and felt a nice, strong rumble, like a cart full of bricks on a bumpy road. There was definitely a lot of magic in the clearing, or at least close by. I said so.
'If it's invisible, I don't want anything to do with it,' Shiara said decidedly. 'Can't we just go around?'
'No,' said the dragon grumpily. 'I want to know who's putting all these invisible things in my shortcut. If there's another one here, I'm going to find out about it.' It stalked cautiously out into the clearing, heading straight through the middle.
Nothing happened. The dragon walked all the way across, then turned and looked at us. 'Are you sure there's something here? I can't find anything.'
I touched the sword again. 'It feels like there is,' I said. I looked at Shiara. She looked dubiously across the clearing. 'Hurry up,' said the dragon.
I sighed and started forward. I kept one hand on the hilt of my sword, just in case, and I walked across the same part of the clearing the dragon had. Shiara shook her head and started around the edge of the clearing.
I got about five steps. Then there was a whooshirg noise and a wall of flames shot up around me, very hot and bright. I yelled, because I couldn't see where I was going, and I yanked at my sword. I think I had some vague idea that the sword might keep me from burning to death; I certainly couldn't see to fight anything.
Something hit me in the middle of my back just as the sword came out of its sheath. I felt a wave of anticipation from the sword followed very closely by a surge of disappointment. I was so surprised I nearly dropped it.
Then I realized that it wouldn't matter if I did drop it, because I was lying on the ground. I was also much cooler than I had been a minute ago, and someone was pounding on me.
'Stop it!' I said.
The someone sat back, and I saw that it was Shiara. 'Are you all right?' she asked.
'I think so,' I said. 'Why were you pounding on me?'
'Your clothes were on fire,' Shiara said. 'I was trying to put them out.
If I'd known you were going to fuss about it, I'd have let them burn.'
I apologized and thanked her, then looked around. Shiara and I were sitting on the ground, just inside a ring of fire. In the center of the ring was a short, round building with a pointed roof. It wasn't quite tall enough to call a tower, but it wasn't short enough to call a house, either. I moved away from the flames, which were uncomfortably warm, and looked at Shiara.
'What happened?'
'How should I know? One second you were walking across the clearing, and the next second there was all this fire and you were yelling,' Shiara said. 'And when I tried to shove you out of it, we both got in here instead, and that thing was sitting there.' She waved at the not-quite-tower.
'At least it isn't invisible,' I offered. Shiara gave me a disgusted look, but she didn't say anything.
'Hello?' called the dragon's voice from the other side of the wall of fire. 'Are you there?'
'We're here,' I called back. 'Both of us.'
'How did you do that?' the dragon shouted.
'I don't know,' I said. 'And I don't want to stay here to find out.'
I picked myself up off the ground and put the sword back in its sheath.
'I think maybe we'd better go,' I said to Shiara. 'Before something comes out of that house.'
'It isn't a house,' Shiara said. 'But for once I agree with you.'
'Achoo!' said the dragon from the other side of the fire.
'Just a minute, there!' a voice said behind me.
I turned around. A medium-sized man was standing about ten feet away, leaning on a staff that was about three feet taller than he was. He had black hair and three rings on each hand, and he was frowning irritably at Shiara and me.
'Oh, rats,' said Shiara disgustedly. 'Another wizard!'
'You,' said the man, ignoring her statement completely, 'are trespassing.
I don't know how you got in here, but it was a great mistake for you to do so.'
'We didn't exactly do it on purpose,' I said. 'We were just trying to get across the clearing.'
'Young man, I surround my home with a wall of fire for a reason,' the wizard said. 'And the reason is that I do not like to be disturbed. I wish to know how you penetrated it, or I would not be wasting my time talking with you.'
'I'm a fire-witch, that's how!' Shiara said. 'And if you don't want to be disturbed, you ought to be more careful with your stupid wall.
We would have gone right by if it hadn't jumped up all over Daystar when he tried to cross the clearing!'
'A fire-witch?' the man said. He gave Shiara an extremely odd look.
'You haven't mislaid an invisible castle recently, have you?'
'No!' said Shiara. 'It isn't mine!'
The wizard looked even angrier. 'You know of it!'
'Well, sort of,' I said. 'It isn't ours, but we ran into it this morning.'
'Did you,' said the wizard. He sounded skeptical and very dangerous.
I decided I didn't want to talk about the castle anymore.
'I think we ought to be going now,' I said. 'We're really very sorry to have bothered you.'
'I'm not!' Shiara said.
'Shiara!'
'Well, I'm not,' Shiara said. 'He ought to apologize to us, not the other way around. And anyway, I'm not apologizing to any wizard, especially not one that messes around with invisible castles!'
The man with the staff frowned, but this time he looked more thoughtful than angry. 'What is your complaint against wizards?'
'Ha!' said Shiara. 'You should know.'
'No,' said the man, 'I should not. I am not a wizard.'
'Achoo!' came the dragon's voice, and the wall of fire bulged inward on that side.
'Excuse me, but if you're not a wizard, why are you carrying a staff?'
I asked. 'And why is the dragon sneezing?'
The man looked startled. 'Dragon? You travel with a dragon?'
'No, it travels with us,' I said. 'Does it make a difference?'
'Perhaps,' the man said. He looked at the wall of fire and made a pass with his staff. The flames began to die, and a moment later we could see the clearing again.
13
In Which They Learn the Difference Between a Wizard and a Magician
The dragon was still sneezing in medium-sized puffs of flame. The man with the staff examined it and shook his head. 'That certainly is a dragon.'
He made another pass with his staff.
The staff vanished, and the dragon stopped sneezing abruptly. It sniffed a couple of times in an experimental way, looking surprised, as if it expected to start sneezing again any minute. I was surprised, too. I mean, wizards never let go of their staffs-not willingly, anyway.
The man bowed politely to the dragon. 'I apologize for inconveniencing you,' he said. 'I offer you greetings and welcome to my home, and I wish you good fortune when you leave.'
