"How do you know it's the right key?" Shiara demanded. "The quozzel said some wizard put it there."
Kazul shrugged. "That's what makes it likely that it's the Key to the Castle. We caught one of the wizards coming out of the caves near the end of the battle, and he'd been inside the castle more than long enough to take the key. But if it will make you more comfortable, I can look at it."
I dug the key out of my pocket and held it out to Kazul. Kazul glanced at it and started to nod, then stopped suddenly and stared at the key very intently .
"It's the Key to the Castle, all right, but that wizard's done something to it." She sounded outraged.
"Wonderful," said Shiara disgustedly. "All we need is another wizard to get mixed up in this."
"He isn't another wizard," Kazul said. "He's the same one who stole the sword in the first place. And he's dead."
"You're sure he's not one of the wizards who didn't come out of the castle?" Shiara asked.
"I ate him myself."
"Oh." Shiara frowned. "Can you tell what he did?"
Kazul didn't answer. She stared at the key instead, and her eyes started glowing. The key began getting warmer and warmer in my hands.
Just before it got too hot for me to hold, the key jerked in the direction of the castle outside. A second later, I dropped it. I stood shaking my fingers, while Kazul and Shiara stared down at the key, and Nightwitch walked over and sniffed at it.
"Nightwitch!" said Shiara. "Stop that. You'll get enchanted or something."
She bent over and grabbed awkwardly for Nightwitch with her left hand.
The kitten jumped away, and Shiara's fingers brushed the key. A look of surprise came over her face, and she picked the key up. "It feels like fire," she said.
"I know," I said. "It burned my fingers."
"No, I don't mean it's hot," Shiara said. "It just feels like fire."
"It shouldn't," Kazul said, sounding interested. "Bring it over here."
Shiara took the key to Kazul, who looked at it for a few minutes and handed it back. "I thought so. It's part of what that wizard did."
"But what's it for?" Shiara said.
"I don't know," Kazul admitted. "The fire spell is connected to something inside the castle, but I can't tell what with the barriers around the outside. He may have set a trap with it."
"May I have my key back, please?" I said. Kazul and Shiara both looked at me, and Shiara handed me the key. "Thank you," I said, and put it in my pocket. I wasn't quite sure why I wanted it; I only knew that keeping it felt right, somehow.
"Is there anything else we need to know?" I asked. "I mean, we've walked a long way today and we've been in a cave-in, and Shiara has a broken arm, and if we're going to do all these things tomorrow, I would sort of like to get some rest."
"Mrrrroww!" said Nightwitch emphatically.
Kazul chuckled. "It seems you aren't the only one who would like rest.
Very well. Marchak!"
The middle-sized dragon who had brought us dinner appeared, and Kazul had him show us to our rooms. They turned out to be normal, human-sized rooms and quite comfortable. I was surprised until it occurred to me that the King of the Dragons would probably have occasional human visitors who would need a place to stay. Then I wondered how many human magicians kept special places for visiting dragons in their castles and towers and things, and right in the middle of wondering, I fell asleep.
A loud pounding noise woke me. Someone, probably a dragon, was knocking on the door of my room. "Just a minute, please," I called, and the pounding stopped.
I got out of the bed, which I couldn't remember having gotten into, and picked up my sword belt. I checked my pockets to make sure I had the key, started for the door, and stopped suddenly in the middle of the room. If the dragons expected me to do things with the Sword of the Sleeping King, I wasn't going to carry it under my arm like a bag of laundry. I put the sword belt on and opened the door.
"It's about time," said the little dragon in the hall. Shiara and Nightwitch were already there.
"I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't know you were in a hurry."
The dragon snorted and started off down the hall. We went after it.
It didn't seem to be in a particularly good mood. Shiara explained that it wanted to come into the castle with us, but Kazul wouldn't let it. I couldn't see why it wanted to come. There weren't supposed to be any wizards inside the castle, and I thought the little dragon wanted to fight wizards. I didn't say anything, though. Arguing with a grouchy dragon isn't safe, even if it's only a small dragon.
The dragon brought us back to the cave where we'd talked to Kazul the previous night. Kazul wasn't there, but breakfast was, and we sat down right away. We were just finishing when Kazul arrived to take us out to the castle.
Kazul led us out of the caves and across the hard brown ground. All around us, dragons were polishing their teeth and sharpening their claws, and some of them were muttering spells under their breath. A couple of times, I saw elves hurrying through the crowd, and once I saw a group of intense-looking, red-haired people who had to be fire-witches.
Everyone was very serious and grim.
None of us said anything until we got to the castle. Kazul led us around the outside of the shimmerings until we were at the front of the castle. If I concentrated on looking through the barriers, I could see a flat wooden bridge across the moat and a large door with steps leading up to it.
Kazul stopped and turned to the little dragon. "You'd better go find your place now," she said.
"But I want to-" The little dragon went. Shiara and I looked at each other, and then at Kazul. Kazul smiled. "Are you ready?"
I nodded jerkily. Shiara bent and picked up Nightwitch. Kazul's smile widened. "When I say 'Now,' draw your sword and run for the castle.
Don't look back, and don't stop for anything."
I nodded again because I didn't trust my voice just then. Kazul turned to the crowd of dragons, and suddenly everything was completely silent.
A shiver ran down my back, and I put my hand on the hilt of the Sword of the Sleeping King.
I felt the bee-in-the-jar buzz that was Shiara's magic, and a strong humming from all the dragons, but the strongest feeling of all was the purring I'd felt from the first time the sword made my arm tingle. It came from the castle. Not from the shimmerings around the castle; they just got in the way.
What I was feeling was the magic of the castle itself.
I took a tighter grip on the hilt of the sword. The tingling from the dragons got stronger and more positive, and abruptly Kazul turned and shouted, "Now!" As she spoke, the silver-and-green shimmering around the castle vanished.
I yanked the Sword of the Sleeping King out of its sheath and swung it at the golden glow that was still left between me and the castle. I felt an enormous shock as the sword hit, and then the shimmering vanished in an explosion of golden light.
I shook my head and heard Kazul shout, "Run!"
I took two steps and almost lost my balance. The ground wasn't hard and bare anymore; it was covered with slippery green fuzz. Shiara grabbed my arm just as I heard a series of explosions from behind us.
We ran. I could feel the jangling from the sword that meant there were wizards around somewhere, but I didn't stop to look for them. I was too busy trying to keep up with Shiara, hang on to the sword, and dig the key out of my pocket, all at the same time.
Shiara was standing in front of the door, panting, when I got up to it with the key. I didn't see a keyhole, but as soon as my foot touched the top step of the stairs, the door swung open.
"Daystar," Shiara said, "are you sure-" Something hit the stone of the castle next to the door and exploded, showering us with little chips of rock. Shiara and I dove through the door and landed on the floor inside with Nightwitch on top of us. I sat up just as the door closed silently behind us.