Calling on Dragons ef-3 Read online

  "Hello, Willin," Morwen said. "We need to see King Mendanbar and Queen Cimorene right away."

  "In regard to what?" the elf asked.

  "Technical difficulties," Telemain said. "We have discovered a possible disruption in the obstructive enchantment fabricated by King Mendanbar and myself, and-" "Er, yes, of course," said Willin. "I'll tell the King immediately. You needn't give me the details."

  Telemain caught Morwen's eye and winked. Morwen suppressed a smile and said, "And while we're waiting, Killer's hungry." She nodded at the donkey. "If your kitchen could put something together that would suit him."

  "Certainly," Willin said. 'Just trot around backer, Killer, and the cook will take care of you." He waved toward the left, where Kazul was sleeping.

  "I'm not hungry!" Killer said.

  "Go around the other way, then," Morwen told him. "It doesn't really matter. Just go."

  "I'll show him!" Fiddlesticks bounded across to Killer. "The kitchen is this way. They have cream, and butter, and fish, and…" His voice faded as they rounded the crooked tower by the stone bridge.

  Scorn stood up and stretched. "What a pair of idiots." She looked at Jasper. "Maybe we should go after them and make sure they don't get into trouble."

  "An excellent idea," Jasper agreed. With an air of determined casualness, the two cats strolled off, following the donkey.

  Willin looked after them with a worried frown. "Did I offend them?"

  "Not at all," Morwen assured him. When his expression did not clear, she added, "They're hoping the cook will give them some cream. Now, we'll just go have a word with Kazul while you let Cimorene know we're here. Oh, and would you put this bucket somewhere? I've enough to carry without it."

  "Very good, ma'am," Willin said stiffly. He accepted the bucket and vanished into the castle, closing the door carefully behind him.

  "Morwen, Mendanbar's the one we really need to see," Telemain said softly. "King Kazul-" "Has good reason to be just as interested in the doings of wizards as the rest of us," Morwen said. "Besides, it wouldn't be polite to go in without at least saying hello."

  "I suppose not," Telemain said, and the two walked across the courtyard to talk to the dragon. Up close, Kazul was an even more impressive dragon than she looked from a distance. Standing, she was at least six times Morwen's height, even without her wings, and every inch was muscle and armor scales. The sleepy, contented expression on her face vanished as Morwen and Telemain drew nearer, and by the time they were close enough to talk, the dragon was wide awake and ready for them.

  "Hello, Morwen, Telemain," Kazul said. "Wizards again?" She flicked a claw in the direction of the staff 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 tho
se 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 left."

  "That's probably why they took it," Cimorene said.

  "No, no," Telemain put in. "The sword is only one of the primary loci.

  Its physical removal does not invalidate…" He paused, glanced at Kazul, and cleared his throat. "Ah, that is, the King's sword just helps maintain the spell. Taking the sword out of the forest doesn't destroy the whole spell. It just weakens it. That's why the dead spots Morwen showed me didn't fill in right away. But the spell is still strong enough to keep the wizards from gobbling up large chunks of the forest."

  "Does that mean that if we recover the sword, the forest will be fully protected again?" Mendanbar asked.

  Telemain nodded.

  "Good. Give me a minute or two to explain to Willin, and I'll be ready to go."

  "Go?" Telemain blinked. "But-" With a huff of air, Mendanbar vanished.

  "But what?" asked Cimorene.

  "Mendanbar shouldn't go anywhere right now," Morwen said. "It's bad enough that the sword's missing, but no one will know about that for a while unless we tell them. But if the King of the Enchanted Forest goes tearing off on a quest while mysterious things are happening in the forest, people are bound to notice."

  "There's more to it than that," Telemain said. "Mendanbar can't go after the sword, not if he wants to keep what's left of the antiwizard spell working. He's the other main focus."

  "Oh, dear." Cimorene looked back toward the castle, and her lips twitched. "He's not going to like that at all."

  "I'm certain that Morwen, Telemain, and I will be able to handle it," Kazul said.

  Cimorene frowned. "Don't you start fussing at me, Kazul. I'm perfectly capable of-" "I'm sure you are," Morwen said. "But the Queen of the Enchanted Forest shouldn't go tearing off any more than the King should. You have responsibilities."

  "Bother my responsibilities!"

  "If I thought you meant that, I'd be worried."

  "Retrieving the sword is much more important than anything else I have to do right now. Thank goodness it won't be hard to find."

  Morwen frowned, puzzled. "Why do you say that?"

  "Well, the wizards have taken it out of the forest, haven't they? Otherwise Telemain's antiwizard spell would still be working."

  Cimorene smiled briefly at Telemain. "The last time that sword was outside the forest, it started leaking magic the minute it crossed the border."

  "Leaking magic?"

  Cimorene shrugged. "I don't know what else to call it. And it gets worse and worse the longer the sword is outside the forest. By the end of the week, anyone with any magical ability at all will be able to find that sword with his eyes closed."

  "I don't think we can afford to wait that long," Telemain said slowly.

  "What? Why not?" Cimorene looked at the magician in alarm. "You don't think the Society of Wizards will try to destroy it, do you?"

  "It's not that." Telemain began to pace up and down beside Kazul.

  "It's the magic leakage. I'd forgotten about it, and of course it didn't matter as long as the sword was inside the forest, but now-" "Now the wizards have it," Morwen said. "And wizards' staffs absorb magic. If they absorb all the magic the sword leaks, and the leak keeps growing, it won't be long before they're more than we can handle."

  "That, too," Telemain said, nodding. "But the real problem is the source of the magic the sword leaks."

  "The source-oh. Oh, dear." Morwen looked at Telemain. "You mean the Enchanted Forest itself?"

  Slowly, Telemain nodded again. "I'm afraid so. Mendanbar and I linked the sword directly to the heart of the forest's magic. The defensive enchantment will inhibit the, er, leakage for a while, but after a few days-" "-the pressure will build up and the sword will start leaking.

  And all the magic of the Enchanted Forest will drain out of the sword," Morwen finished.

  "But that will kill the forest? Cimorene said. "We have to get that sword back right away."

  "Not quite," Kazul said. A thread of smoke continued to trickle angrily out of the corner of her mouth, but otherwise she seemed to be in complete control of herself again. "From what Telemain said, it will take another day or two for the sword to start leaking. Right?"

  Telemain nodded. "As near as I can tell."

  "Then we don't have to learn to fly by jumping off a cliff. There are still a few things I want to know before we go chasing off."

  "Such as?" Morwen asked.

  "How the Society of Wizards got inside the castle to steal the sword without anyone noticing, whether they're likely to be back soon, and what we can do about it if they are."

  Morwen, Telemain, and Cimorene looked at each other. Then Telemain looked at Kazul. "Commendably methodical. And now that you mention it, I'd better teach all of you the wizard-liquefying spell before we leave."

  "You mean you've come up with a better way of melting wizards than soapy water with lemon juice in it?" Cimorene's smile was only a little forced. "Wonderful!"

  "I don't know that it's better,"Telemain said. "However, it appears to have the same effect, requires far less preparation, and is considerably more portable."

  "He melted Antorell with it," Morwen said.

  Kazul shook herself and stood up. "Enjoy the lesson. I'm going to ask your cook to pack us something for dinner."

  "Don't you want to know how to melt wizards?" Cimorene said.

  "No." Kazul smiled fiercely, showing all her sharp, silver teeth. "If I run into any wizards, I'm going to eat them."

  "Then why are you bothering about dinner?" Telemain asked, frowning.

  Kazul's smile broadened. "That's for the rest of you," she said, and glided off.

  7

  In Which
Killer Rises in the World

  Mendanbar returned just as Telemain began his explanation of the wizard-melting spell. "You'll want to know this, too, Mendanbar," Telemain said, and went right on with his lecture. The enchantment was typical of the magician's spare spells: it required a lot of preparation and a complicated ritual to set it up, but once that had been done, you could use it several times simply by pointing and saying a trigger word. According to Telemain, you didn't even have to say the trigger word aloud.

  "Theoretically, a mental recitation would be just as effective," Telemain said. "This theory, however, remains unverified, as no opportunity for experimentation has-" "Telemain, if you don't stop babbling gobbledygook, I'm going to bring Kazul back to listen," Morwen said. "Mendanbar and I know what you're saying, but Cimorene hasn't the slightest idea what you're talking about."

  "Yes, and I'd appreciate it if somebody would translate that last bit," Cimorene said. "It sounded important."

  'Just thinking the trigger word ought to be as good as saying it," Mendanbar explained. "But he doesn't know for sure because he hasn't had a chance to test it on a wizard yet."

  "Well, you'll probably get one soon," Cimorene said. "Have we got all the ingredients you need for the ritual? Because I think everyone ought to be prepared to melt wizards before anyone goes sword hunting.

  It's all very well for Kazul to say she'll eat them, but if they have any dragons-bane…"

  "Good idea," Mendanbar said. "What will we need?"

  "I brought the rarer components with me," Telemain said. "If you have seven lemons, a book that's missing half its cover, and three pints of unicorn water, I can start working on it at once."

  Mendanbar pursed his lips. "I don't think we have any unicorn water."

  "Yes, we do," said Cimorene. "It's in the cupboard by the buckets, in a jug marked 'Magic-Mirror Cleaner." Don't look at me like that. It was the safest place I could think of. Ever since we put the gargoyle in charge of answering the mirror, nobody but me dares to clean it."

  Mendanbar laughed. "I don't blame them."

  "Why don't you and Telemain check the library and start setting up in the Grand Hall?" Cimorene suggested. "Morwen and I will get the other ingredients and meet you there."