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"She sounds cranky," Fiddlesticks said to Jasmine. "Do you think she'll turn him into a toad after all?"
Before anyone could answer, there was a loud thwump from the other side of the house. Fiddlesticks
fell off the window ledge, and all of the rest of the cats except Jasmine jumped. The moment he landed,
Trouble leapt for the back door with an angry growl, Chaos and Murgatroyd close behind.
"Wait for me!" Fiddlesticks yelled, scrambling to his feet. "Wait-" "Morwen!"The shout came from the
front yard as Morwen rose unhurriedly to her feet.
"That sounds like Kazul," Scorn said.
I suspect it is," Morwen said. "Come along, Scorn. It's time to leave."
9
In Which the Expedition Leaves the Enchanted Forest at Last
The rest of the cats, even Jasmine, followed Morwen and Scorn through the house and out onto the
front porch. Kazul was standing in the center of the yard, along with Telemain and Killer. The donkey
was still floating a good six inches above the ground, and he looked extremely uncomfortable.
Standing beside him was Mendanbar, who was frowning ferociously, and Cimorene, who seemed to
be trying to suppress a satisfied smile. With some dismay, Morwen noted that Cimorene now had a small
pack slung over one shoulder and a slim sword belted to her waist.
The cats flowed across the yard and converged on Kazul. Making little noises of satisfaction, all nine of
the cats scrambled up the dragon's sides.
Their claws rasped against Kazul's scales, making Cimorene wince, but neither they nor the dragon
seemed to notice.
Morwen looked at Telemain while the cats draped themselves contentedly all over Kazul. "I thought
you were going to explain to him why he couldn't come along," she said, nodding sideways at
Mendanbar.
"I did," Telemain said grumpily.
"Then what is he doing here?"
"Making trouble?" Scorn suggested from a comfortable perch on Kazul's left shoulder.
"He'd better not be," Trouble said. "That's my job." He stretched himself full length along the lower part
of Kazul's neck, beside her spinal ridges, his tail and one front paw dangling lazily.
"I'm taking you to the edge of the Enchanted Forest," Mendanbar said.
"I can do that much, at least, even if I can't come with you. My magic will get you there faster than
anything else, and you'll be safe from most of the things that live in the forest if you're with me."
"I see." That explained Telemain's bad mood: he hated having to admit that anyone's magic was better
than his, even the King's. Morwen looked at Cimorene. "What about you?"
"I'm coming with you," Cimorene said. Mendanbar scowled fiercely as if he wanted to object, but
before he could, Cimorene hurried on, "I have to.
Otherwise you'll have as much difficulty with the sword as I hope those blasted wizards are having right
now."
Kazul snorted angrily, sending out a large ball of smoke, which made everyone in front of her cough. "If
they aren't having trouble now, they will soon."
Morwen gave Kazul a stern look over the tops of her glasses. "We are going on this expedition to
recover Mendanbar's sword, Kazul. We aren't trying to destroy the entire Society of Wizards."
"Yet," said Trouble.
"You be quiet, or I'll leave you at home," Morwen said. "Now, would someone explain to me just why
Cimorene has to come along?"
"Resonance and half-hard deflection mechanisms," Telemain said.
"Which are-" "-as clear as mud," Kazul put in.
Telemain looked annoyed. "I wasn't talking to you. Morwen understands what I mean."
"Most of the time," Morwen said.
"I think he means that Mendanbar's sword is painful to touch, unless you happen to belong to the
King's family," Cimorene said. "And the longer it stays outside the forest, the harder it is to handle."
"The deflection increases exponentially," Telemain said. "Rather like the magic leakage we discussed
earlier, only the defense spells won't slow down the deflection. By this time, it is undoubtedly past the
transfer-resonance point."
"So the Society of Wizards can't use the sword against us." Morwen smiled grimly. "Good. I'd been
wondering about that."
"Unfortunately, you can't use it, either," Cimorene said. "If Telemain is right about the timing-" "And I
am."
"-then in a day or two nobody but a member of the Royal Family will be able to pick up the sword at
all, much less carry it back to the Enchanted Forest. So since Mendanbar and I are the only members of
the Royal Family right now, and since Mendanbar has to stay in the forest-" "-you have to come with us
to retrieve the sword," Morwen finished, raising an eyebrow. "I see."
Cimorene grinned. "Telemain explained it at least three times at the castle, and by the time he and
Mendanbar finished arguing, I had a pretty good idea what he meant, even if he never did say it straight
out."
"I did, too!" Telemain said indignantly. "Several times."
"Not so I understood."
"That is unfortunately not very surprising," Morwen said.
"Mendanbar, your sword is very inconveniently designed."
"Don't blame me, "Mendanbar said. "The blasted thing came with the kingdom."
"Hmph." Morwen glanced around. "What about Killer? Why is he here?"
Killer's ears twitched anxiously forward. "They told me I was supposed to come. Is it all right?"
"Once we're away from the interference patterns of the Enchanted Forest, we should be able to trace
the residual energy in the morphological field trap," Telemain said. "At that point, a standard locus
delimiter should-" "Telemain," Kazul said in a warning tone.
Morwen rolled her eyes. "He thinks we can use what's left of the size-changing spell on Killer to find
the wizards. But are you sure there's enough, Telemain?"
"I can't tell until we're out of the forest," Telemain said. "The interference-" He glanced at Kazul and
stopped.
"I understand," Morwen said. "But remember: bringing him along was your idea, so you're responsible
for keeping him out of trouble." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]