Silvery light sprang up all around us. I squinted, and then I blinked.
The inside of the pile of rocks looked a lot like a cave. I looked for the source of the light and realized that the light was coming from the rocks.
That shook me. Dragons don't usually do magic casually. In particular, the King of the Dragons wouldn't normally work a spell just for a visitor's convenience. I looked at Kazul, wondering exactly what was going on.
'Sit down,' said Kazul, nodding toward a row of rocks. We did. The little dragon sat down by the entrance, looking half-sulky and half-defiant.
Kazul ignored it.
'I think you had better tell me your story first,' she said, looking at me intently. 'Start at the beginning, when Cimorene gave you the sword.'
'I'm sorry,' I said. 'I'll start with the sword if you want me to, but I think the beginning is the wizard.'
'Wizard?'
'His name's Antorell, and he came to our cottage the day before Mother gave me the sword. Mother melted him.'
'Oh, him.' Kazul shook her head. 'Sounds like he hasn't learned anything since the last time he tangled with Cimorene. Yes, start with him, by all means.'
So I told Kazul everything that had happened to me since Antorell had walked up to our cottage and knocked the door in. It took a long time-especially the part after Shiara and I met the little dragon, because then the dragon kept adding things. Finally, Kazul told it to either be quiet or go away. It looked terribly offended, but it quit talking.
Kazul didn't ask any questions at all. Once, when I mentioned finding the key in the Caves of Chance, she made a noise that sounded like an astonished snort, but she apologized for interrupting and told me to go on. I did, once I got over the shock of having the King of the Dragons apologize to me.
When I finished, there was silence for a minute or two. Then Kazul stirred. 'So. You have accomplished a great deal in a short time, Daystar.'
'It doesn't seem like much to me,' I said.
'A great deal,' Kazul repeated. She sounded as if she were talking to herself.
Shiara shifted restlessly. 'Are you going to explain about Daystar's sword?'
'Shiara!' I said, horrified. Nobody talks to the King of the Dragons in that tone of voice.
Except Shiara. 'No,' said Kazul. 'Or at least, I'm not going to tell you as much as you want to know. The Society of Wizards has more than a hundred spells hunting for that sword right now, and all of them depend on finding someone who knows what he's carrying. Fortunately, wizards' magic can't detect the sword itself. If Daystar finds out too much about that sword, we'll be up to our wings in wizards in no time.
I don't want that to happen yet.'
'I don't like wizards,' the little dragon said suddenly. 'They make me sneeze.'
Kazul's head turned and she eyed the little dragon for a minute. 'I think it is time you made yourself useful,' she said at last. 'Go find Marchak and tell him to bring us dinner. Then go back to your teacher and apologize for running off, and after that you can start getting ready for tomorrow.'
'What happens tomorrow?' the little dragon said suspiciously.
'We have a war,' Kazul said. 'Which you might live through, if you're ready for it. So go!'
'Yes, ma'am!' The little dragon disappeared out the door of the cave.
Kazul looked after it for a minute, then shook her head. 'That is undoubtedly the most irritating grandchild I have.'
'Who are you going to be-Grandchild?'
'said Shiara.
'Yes, of course.' Kazul looked mildly surprised. 'It's an annoying youngster, but precocious children frequently are. I'm hoping it will grow out of it.'
'Oh.' Shiara stared out the entrance thoughtfully.
'I enjoyed its company, most of the time,' I said honestly.
'I'm glad,' Kazul said.
After another minute, I went on, 'Um, if you wouldn't mind telling us, I'm sort of curious about whom you expect to be fighting tomorrow.' I was also wondering whether Kazul thought Shiara and I were going to be included in this. I wasn't particularly anxious to get involved in a war between dragons.
Kazul smiled; I got the feeling she knew what I was thinking.
'Wizards,' she said. 'There will be a few elves, of course, and maybe some ogres and trolls, but mostly we'll be fighting wizards.'
'Oh. Of course.' I was even less interested in getting involved in a war between dragons and wizards. Dragons alone might overlook Shiara and Nightwitch and me, but wizards certainly wouldn't.
'I'm afraid you already are involved,' Kazul said.
'Because of the sword?' Shiara asked while I tried to remember whether I'd said anything out loud about not wanting to get involved.
'Yes,' said Kazul. 'The sword and other things. It's a long story. I hope you're comfortable.'
We both nodded, and Kazul smiled again. 'Well, then. There are two types of magic in the world: the kind you're born with, and the kind you get from something else. Dragons'-Kazul looked smug-'elves, unicorns, and fire-witches are born with magic. Ordinary witches and magicians get their magic from objects or from rituals involving things that have magic, which works quite well and doesn't upset things.
'Wizards, on the other hand, get their magic from everything around them that happens to have magic. Those staffs of theirs absorb little bits of it constantly, and the suction gets worse every time a wizard stores a new spell in his staff. That, by the way, is why dragons are allergic to wizards. Whenever those staffs get near us, they start trying to soak up some of our magic and we start sneezing.'
'Telemain said something like that,' I said.
Kazul nodded. 'Wizards' staffs create other problems, too.'
'You mean those stupid wizards have been grabbing my magic every time they come near me?' Shiara said indignantly.
'Not yours,' Kazul said. 'Wizards can't use fire-witches' magic; it's too different. Their staffs explode if they try.'
'Good?' Shiara's face grew thoughtful. 'I wonder if I could learn to do that on purpose?'
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 King 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 seven teen years ago. The fellow who was Head Wizard then decided he was tired of stealing magic in bits, so he stole the tool that the King used to keep wizards from swiping magic in large chunks.'
'The sword?' I said. 'Telemain said it was supposed to be used on wizards.'
'Telemain talks too much,' Kazul said a little sourly. 'Almost as soon as they had the sword, the wizards attacked the castle. They thought that without the sword the King would be easy to take care of. They forgot that the King of the Enchanted Forest has friends.' She smiled fiercely. I felt almost sorry for the wizards.
'They wound up in a full-fledged battle, and while we were all fighting, the sword got stolen again. A few wizards managed to get inside the castle, but without the sword they couldn't actually kill the King. So they found some 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, 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.
