Calling on Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede Page B

very . . . appetizing.”
    â€œIt’s worse than it sounds,” Telemain told him. “The Brown Forest is actually a corner of the Great Southern Desert.”
    Frowning, Cimorene looked at Telemain. “I always thought the Brown Forest was a dead woods. Are you sure it’s really a desert?”
    Telemain nodded. “I’ve been there.”
    â€œYou have?” Kazul said. “Why?”
    â€œI wanted to learn wizardry, and the school the Society of Wizards runs is the only—”
    â€œYou wanted to be a
wizard?
” Kazul said, outraged.
    â€œNo,” Telemain said in the too-patient tone of someone who has had to give the same explanation far too many times. “I didn’t want to
be
a wizard. I wanted to
study
them. Their magical methods are unique, and magicians have been attempting to figure them out for a long, long time.”
    â€œAnd you thought they would tell you if you asked politely?” Cimorene said.
    Telemain shrugged. “It was worth a try. Anyway, I’ve been to the Brown Forest in the Great Southern Desert. I can probably even find the area where the central office of the Society of Wizards was when I was there.”
    â€œThe area where it
was?
” Kazul said.
    â€œThey move the building every couple of months,” Telemain explained. “I don’t know whether they do it to stay hard to find or whether they take turns practicing the relocation spell.”
    â€œNo wonder they keep trying to steal other people’s magic,” Kazul muttered. “They waste what they’ve got moving buildings around.”
    â€œSouth, then?” Mendanbar said, glancing around. “Very well.” He raised a hand, then paused. “Morwen, are you taking
all
your cats along on this expedition?”
    â€œPhooey,” said Murgatroyd. “I was hoping no one would think of that.”
    â€œJust Trouble and Scorn,” Morwen said, giving the cats a stern look. “The rest of you should get down now.”
    Cats flowed along Kazul’s back and off her shoulders, until only Trouble and Scorn remained. When the whole crowd had reached the porch, Morwen nodded to Mendanbar. An instant later, gray mist rose, thickened to hide the house and forest, then faded to reveal a grove of slender young trees, none of which were much taller than Kazul. They looked odd and spindly, and it was a moment before Morwen realized that they only seemed scraggly by comparison to the giant oaks that surrounded her house.
    â€œThis is as far as I can take you,” Mendanbar said unhappily. “The edge of the Enchanted Forest is over there.”
    â€œWhat about getting back in, once we leave?” Telemain asked.
    â€œIf we recover the sword, getting into the forest won’t be a problem,” Cimorene said. “If we don’t—”
    â€œI’ll keep an eye on the border,” Mendanbar said. “As soon as I see you, I’ll come out to meet you.”
    â€œDon’t worry about watching for us,” Morwen said. “Worry about the wizards. We’ll call on the magic mirror when we’re ready to come back.”
    â€œAnd a couple of times before then, just to say hi,” Cimorene put in.
    Mendanbar looked at Cimorene for a long minute, then turned to Telemain. “Are you
sure
I can’t leave the Enchanted Forest?”
    â€œNot without destroying the energy loop that prevents the Society of Wizards from primary absorption inside the forest,” Telemain said.
    â€œThen can’t you transfer the spell’s focus from me to Cimorene?”
    â€œHey!” said Cimorene, frowning. “Who says I want to be a focus?”
    â€œNo,” Telemain said to Mendanbar. “The top links connect directly to the central—”
    â€œâ€˜No’ is quite enough,” Morwen said. “Didn’t you go over all this at the castle?”
    â€œYes,” Cimorene said.