Wrede, Patricia C - Enchanted Forest 03 by Calling on Dragons

Author:Calling on Dragons [Dragons, Calling on]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

13

In Which They Make a New Acquaintance

Gingerly, Morwen moved forward to take a look at whatever Killer had found. The acrid scent of burned chokevines made her stomach feel queasy again, but the mud turned out to be cool enough to wade through without discomfort. Where Killer stood, it was almost dry enough to be solid ground, and the warmth that remained to filter through her shoes was very welcome.

"Now, where-ah, I see." Dimly visible in the foggy dark, a white tower stood among the trees ahead of them.

"Yes, that looks promising. Let's go." Morwen started forward, and the others followed.

Less than five minutes later, they stood at the foot of the tower. It was at least four stories high, and made of something smooth and pale that did not feel like stone. Ten feet from the base of the tower, the mud changed to hard, bare ground. This gave Morwen and Cimorene a comfortably wide area on which to stand, though Kazul was a little cramped.

"There's no door," Cimorene announced after circling the tower. "No stairs on the outside, either, but there are four windows at the top.

One of them is showing a light, so somebody's home."

"But how could anybody get in?" Killer asked.

"Through the windows," Morwen said. "What a pity I didn't bring my broomstick."

"Maybe whoever lives here has some other way of getting inside," Cimorene said.

"There's one way to find out," said Kazul. With Morwen, Cimorene, and Killer in line after her, the dragon edged around the tower until she stood below the single lighted window. Then she sat back and stretched her neck upward, until her head was halfway up the side of the tower.

"Here we go again," said Trouble, wrapping all four paws tightly around one of Kazul's back spines.

"Hello, the tower!" Kazul bellowed. "Who's home? Come out and meet your visitors!"

The window flew open with a force that ought to have shattered the glass. "Go away!" shouted someone inside the tower. "She doesn't live here anymore, and if you keep pestering me, I'll burn you to cinders!"

Cimorene's eyes narrowed and she muttered something Morwen could not hear. Then she motioned Morwen and Killer to move back. After a moment's consideration, Morwen stayed where she was. If there were any real danger of being burned, her cats would not still be cringing to Kazul's spikes; their instinct about such things was very good.

"Come out and talk!" Kazul roared again.

A man's head appeared at the window, silhouetted against the light. "I don't want-Good lord, a dragon."

"Don't go away!" Cimorene shouted. "We need to talk to you."

"I wasn't going away," the man yelled down. "Not yet, anyway. What is a dragon doing in the middle of the Smoking Swamp?"

"So that's where we are," Trouble said.

"We missed our way," Morwen called. "And we have an injured companion who needs to rest in a warm, dry place. We were hoping you could help."

"Another one?" The man leaned precariously out, peering into the gloom. "How many of you are there?"

"Three humans, a donkey, two cats, and a dragon," Cimorene said.

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