Alianora came to see her a few days later, looking very cheerful.
"It worked!" she announced as she came into the library where Cimorene was going over her notes. "Keredwel's gone. Therandil rescued her, just the way you said he would."
"Good," Cimorene said. "I'm glad something is going right."
"What's the problem?" Alianora asked, seating herself on the other side of the table from Cimorene.
"This," Cimorene said, waving at the paper-covered table. "Kazul is sure that the key to what the wizards are after is somewhere in that dratted book she borrowed from Morwen. I copied out everything that looked interesting, but none of it seems like anything a wizard would care about."
"How do you know that?" Alianora asked curiously.
"I don't," Cimorene said. "I'm just guessing. That's the problem."
"Oh." Alianora picked up the sheet of paper nearest her and frowned at it. "What on earth does this mean?"
Cimorene looked at the page Alianora was holding. "'Thus these Caves of Fire and Night are, in some sense, indivisible, whereas the Caves of Chance are, by contrast, individual, though it is preposterous to claim that these descriptions are true of either group of caves in their entirety…" That's one of the bits I copied word for word; the whole book is like that. I think it means that if you have a piece of something magical from the Caves of Fire and Night, you can use it in a spell as if it were the whole thing."
"I can see why you wouldn't be sure," Alianora said. "Do you think it would help you figure things out if you stopped for a while?"
"I have stopped," Cimorene pointed out. "Or did you have something more specific in mind?"
"I'm almost out of feverfew," Alianora said, looking down at the table.
"I was hoping you'd come with me to pick some more."
"You're almost out?" Cimorene said in surprise. "How did that happen?"
Alianora shifted uncomfortably. "I've been working that fireproofing spell every hour or so for the past two days," she admitted. "Woraug has been getting more and more unpredictable, and I don't feel comfortable otherwise. Hallanna was visiting yesterday when he came in-in the middle of the afternoon!-and he was roaring and dripping little bits of flame when he breathed. She was terrified, and I don't blame her. If it weren't for the spell, I'd be scared to death."
"What's the matter with him?"
"I don't know. He doesn't tell me anything about dragon politics or wizards or what he's been getting so worked up about. He's not like Kazul."
Cimorene frowned, considering. "Maybe Kazul will have some idea what's bothering him. I'll ask her this evening. In the meantime, let's go get that feverfew. You're right to say that I could use a break."
"Oh, good," said Alianora in tones of considerable relief. "I've never picked herbs before, and I'm not sure what feverfew looks like. I don't know what I'd have done if you'd said you wouldn't come."
Cimorene put her notes away and got two wicker baskets and a small knife from one of the storage rooms. "Up or down?" Alianora asked as they left the cave.
"Up," Cimorene said. "The other way is the ledge I told you about, and I wouldn't be surprised if bits of it are still invisible."
The path through the Pass of Silver Ice twisted and turned past the openings of other dragons' caves. Most of the rocks around the caves had scorch marks, and Cimorene and Alianora didn't see much growing among them.
"At this rate, we'll have to go nearly all the way to the Enchanted Forest to find any grass, much less herbs!" Alianora complained.
"Wait a minute!" Cimorene said. "Look over there, through that crack in the rocks. Doesn't that look like something green?"
Alianora's eyes followed Cimorene's pointing finger. "Yes," she said without enthusiasm. "It looks green."
The rock Cimorene had indicated was a large boulder at the bottom of a steep slope. The slope was covered with gravel and looked as if it would be impossible to climb down without skinning a knee or an elbow at the very least. The boulder itself was in two pieces, with just enough space between them for someone to squeeze through, provided the someone was not very large.
"Come on, let's get a better look," said Cimorene. She walked to the edge of the slope and wrapped her skirts tightly around her legs. Then she sat down with her basket in her lap and slid down the slope, raising an enormous cloud of dust and sounding like an avalanche in process. She reached the bottom in safety and stood up, brushing at her skirt. The dust was so thick that she could hardly see, and when she tried to call to Alianora, she coughed so hard that she could barely speak.
"Cimorene! Are you all right?"
"It's just the dust," Cimorene said in a muffled voice. She had taken out her handkerchief and put it over her mouth and nose to keep the dust out. It wasn't perfect, but it helped a great deal. "Come on, it's your turn."
"Are you sure we shouldn't just go around?"
"Stop stalling. It's not that bad."
"That's what you say," Alianora muttered, but she wrapped her skirts around her, clutched her basket, and slid down the slope. She made even more noise than Cimorene had. When she got to the bottom, she was coughing and choking. Cimorene handed her the handkerchief, and they waited for a moment while the dust settled.
Crawling through the split boulder was easier than they expected. The crevice was wider than it had looked from the path, and the bottom of the crack was so full of dust and gravel and dead leaves that it was almost flat.
Cimorene and Alianora had to walk single file, and there were one or two spots where they had to turn sideways in order to get through, but it was not really difficult.
On the other side of the boulder, the two girls found a lush, green valley. It was bowl-shaped and not very large, but flowers and grasses stood waist-high between the random clumps of bushes that dotted the valley floor. A squirrel, which had been sunning itself on a ledge near the entrance, leaped for a small tree as Cimorene and Alianora appeared.
"My goodness!" Alianora said, looking around with wide eyes. "This place looks as if no one but us has ever been here before. There aren't even any scorch marks on the rocks."
Cimorene blinked. Alianora was right. Lichens covered the weathered gray rocks that rose above the valley, and small plants grew in cracks and crevices that showed no sign of the touch of dragon fire.
"That's odd," Cimorene commented.
"Why?" Alianora asked.
"Those mountains aren't tall enough to keep dragons from flying over, and they're right in the middle of the dragons territory. So why haven't the dragons been here? They usually keep a close eye on everything that belongs to them."
"Maybe they have been here, but they never found anything to breathe fire at," Alianora said.
"Well, I'm going to ask Kazul about it when I get back," Cimorene said as she waded into the grass. "Why don't you take that side, and I'll look over here? We will cover more ground that way."
"First you'd better show me what I'm looking for," Alianora said apologetically.
"I'm afraid I couldn't tell feverfew from carrots if there was a dragon chasing me and my life depended on it."
Cimorene nodded, and they started off. They had not gone far when she saw a patch of the white button-shaped flowers she was looking for.
"Here," she said, showing them to Alianora. "This is feverfew. The younger plants are the best, the ones that haven't blossomed yet."
Alianora studied the leaves and flowers with care. "I think I'll recognize it now."
They cut some of the plants, leaving those that were blooming.