Dragon's Breath (4 page)

"No, wait!" shouted Eadric. "Think about what you're saying! You're still a girl, just not a human girl. Try again ... something that doesn't involve gender. The last thing I want to do is turn into a girl."

"Okay," I said. "Then how about this?"

Frog isn't what
I want to be.
Please turn me in
To my old me.

I could feel myself changing, although it wasn't at all like the other times. I grew bigger and taller, but I also felt weaker. I felt pains in my joints and my vision blurred. When I looked at my hands, they were human, but they were wrinkled and had brown spots on the back. I turned to look at Eadric and saw an old man with a potbelly and straggly white hair sitting in the ash.

"Here they are!" shouted a familiar voice, and Haywood came sliding on his stomach through the dust. "I found the old witches ... but there's only two. And one looks like an old man."

"One
is
an old man," grumbled Eadric, his voice as creaky as rusty armor. "An old man who should be a young one. What's wrong with you, Emma? Can't you get anything right?"

"I told you I didn't have a spell ready, Eadric," I said, my own voice sounding shrill in my ears. "But you insisted that I—"

"Emma, Eadric, is that you?" Grassina stepped lightly through the ash. "Good gracious! What happened?" she said, glancing from Eadric to me.

Eadric scowled. "We were frogs, so Emma tried to use her magic to make us human again."

"I said I wanted to be turned into my old me. I guess I shouldn't have said
old."

"No," said Grassina, "but at least this is one spell that's easily reversed." Taking a burnt piece of wood from the fire pit, Grassina scribbled something on a scrap of parchment she dug from her pouch, then handed it to me, saying, "Read this out loud, Emma."

I had to squint to read it, as my vision wasn't very good, but she'd printed the letters large enough that it wasn't too hard.

From old to young,
Return us to
Our rightful age,
To each be true.

I sighed with relief when the aches and pains melted away. My scalp prickled when my hair turned from white to its normal auburn; my skin tingled as it grew firmer and the wrinkles disappeared. My eyesight improved as well, and everything that had been blurry came into focus. Although it didn't happen all at once, it was fast enough to be disorienting, and I had to grab Grassina's hand to keep my balance.

"Oh, my!" I said, closing my eyes until the world stopped spinning. "I'm glad that's over."

"Suddenly I feel sorry for the old witches," Eadric said. "Being old is terribly uncomfortable."

"How did it happen, Emma?" asked Grassina.

"Oh!" I said, glancing at the ground by my feet. "A mouse showed me a parchment. I picked it up and the dust made me sneeze. Here it is."

Careful to hold my breath, I retrieved the parchment from the ash and shook it clean. It was beautiful. Done in the style of the best illuminated manuscripts, a small picture depicted a dark and gloomy swamp where trees stood on stilted roots above a winding river. Toothy reptiles propelled themselves through the water with their long, ridged tails, while slender, beady-eyed snakes twined around branches. The text was handwritten in black ink with gold accents and looked very fancy.

Tired of retirement? Forget all your troubles and begin life anew in the Forgotten Swamp.

Eadric examined the creatures in the picture. "Look at the size of those things! Do you suppose they're real?"

"Maybe, but if they are, I wouldn't want to be a frog in that swamp!" I said.

Grassina, however, seemed even more impressed when I repeated what the mouse had told me. "Wonderful!" she said. "Now we have a good chance of finding the old witches."

Five

Grassina stuck two fingers in her mouth and whistled three distinct notes. She had scarcely finished when the magic carpet appeared over the tops of the trees. I tried to be careful stepping onto the carpet, but the ash I stirred up made my eyes water. Squeezing them shut, I wiped my eyelids with my handkerchief and held my nose so I wouldn't sneeze. When I could see again, I noticed that Grassina had taken her black dragon's scale out of the pouch on her belt.

"Is everyone ready?" she asked, settling her skirts around her.

Eadric took my hand and I glanced at his face. He was pale and his lips were pressed in a tight line. Realizing that he might be nervous about flying, I smiled at him in what I hoped was a reassuring manner and gave his hand a squeeze. "You don't have to go. We can drop you off at your parents' castle."

Eadric shook his head. "I'm going if you are. You need me to keep you safe."

"I'll be fine—" I began, but from the set of his jaw, I knew he wasn't about to change his mind. "We're as ready as we'll ever be," I told Grassina.

Clutching the small bag of sand and the parchment in one hand, Grassina held the scale in the other and said,

Witches who around here sat
Suddenly decided that
They had someplace new to go,
As this picture seems to show.

Use these things to help us find them.
Let no one in secret bind them.
Be it near or be it far,
Show us where these witches are.

I peered over my aunt's shoulder to see the scale. A gift to Grassina from a dragon friend, the scale was an excellent direction finder, with sparks of light flashing red for hot when aimed in the right direction, and blue for cold when aimed the wrong way. My legs were beginning to cramp by the time the light flashed. It was blue at first, but my aunt tilted her head and the rug lifted a few inches off the ground, rotating slowly until the light changed to red.

Grassina muttered something under her breath and the rug rose into the air, its movement smoother than when we had left the castle. Rising above the treetops, the rug swayed in the air currents, settling down only after Grassina used a calming spell.

The lights sparking through the scale were faint, a good indication that we had far to travel. Before long, we were moving so fast that we had to squint against the wind. Although I tried to look at the scenery, I soon gave up and closed my eyes, clinging to Eadric's hand as the wind buffeted the carpet. I opened my eyes once and we had passed the Purple Mountains. I opened them again and we were flying over a vast plain where an army marched below us, so far away that they looked smaller than ants.

When daylight faded into night and the stars came out one by one, I closed my eyes and leaned against Eadric. I must have slept, for the next thing I knew it was daylight and we were flying over a body of water that seemed to go on forever. At one point, a group of enormous fishlike creatures passed below us, clearly visible despite the great distance that separated us. I wanted to share the sight with Eadric, but when I glanced at him, his face was pale, the skin around his mouth slightly green.

"Are you all right?" I asked.

Eadric moaned and shook his head, his lips pursed shut as if speaking would take too much effort. I squeezed his hand. A moment later, he leaned toward the edge of the rug and emptied his stomach to the water below. I felt sorry for him when he finally sat up, pale and shaking, although I was grateful that the wind carried the smell away.

Most of our trip had been made in good weather, but as the hours passed, the sky grew cloudy and whitecaps topped the waves. Eadric moaned more often now, and his hand felt cold and damp.
We need to set down soon,
I thought, and leaned forward to check the scale again. The lights were brighter, the red sparks flashing with such frenzy that I knew we were approaching our destination.

"Do you know where we are?" I asked, leaning close to my aunt's ear.

"I have a good idea. There's an island straight ahead. It's where we're headed if I'm not mistaken. Sit back and hold on tight. Our ride is about to get rough."

Despite the spell my aunt had used to keep us steady, the magic carpet jerked and shuddered as the wind increased. Now Grassina took us higher still. The clouds appeared dark and menacing, and I dreaded going through them. When we entered the first cloud, a chill enveloped us that made my breath catch in my throat. I shivered as the cold seeped into my bones. Eadric was only a vague shape beside me, though he was so close our hips touched.

The wind grew stronger, lashing us with rain. Looking up as lightning flashed, I saw the otter slipping toward the edge of the rug. "Haywood!" Grassina screamed, and lunged for him, grabbing his furry paw as he was about to go over. The otter scrabbled with his hind paws, dragging himself back onto the rug until he was huddled by my aunt, her arm pressing him to her side.

My stomach lurched when the carpet dropped and then shot up again just as quickly. Clutching the carpet's edge on one side and Eadric's hand on the other, I was truly frightened for the first time since our journey began. My heart thudded as the rug bucked and swooped. Damp and shivering, I bit my lip, trying not to cry out when I felt the tickling begin. Alarmed, I pressed my nose against my shoulder, but it wasn't enough. The tickling became unbearable, and I squeezed Eadric's hand in warning.

Of course I sneezed. The transformation was almost instantaneous. No longer a gradual tingling, it felt more like a shock that started in my fingers and toes, then coursed through my body until it reached my head, making it feel fizzy and light. When I glanced down, I saw smooth green legs jutting out before me. Looking up, I saw Eadric's froggy mouth hanging open in dismay.

Unable to hold on to the rug with our small fingers, we were helpless against the rushing wind. The next powerful gust blew us off the rug and we fell, tumbling through the air, our intertwined fingers all that kept us together.

I screamed, the sound carried away by the wind as we plummeted through the cloud, head over heels, twisting and turning until I wasn't sure which way was up. When I saw the terror on Eadric's face, I realized that I was the only one who could save us. With all the wind and rain, my aunt probably didn't even know that we had fallen.

The wind tried to tear us apart, but we held on, gripping each other's hand as hard as we could. Flipping over again, I found myself looking down at the water as it rushed up to meet us. My eyes were streaming from the wind, but even so, the waves looked far too close to me.

I forced myself to concentrate. There had to be something ... I tried to remember all the spells I'd read, but none of them seemed appropriate. I had to come up with a spell of my own. What if some kind of creature could meet us partway and take us to the island? A bird, perhaps. I shouted the spell as I thought of it, although I doubt volume makes much difference when it comes to magic.

Winged creature flying near,
Save us from the death we fear.
Catch us now before we Land
On the water or the sand!

I turned my head this way and that, hoping to spot a seabird braving the winds to rescue us. When nothing came, I closed my eyes and squeezed Eadric's hand, sorry that I'd gotten him into such a mess. Tumbling through the air, I expected to splat against the water at any moment, so I didn't know what to think when I hit something tough and leathery that gave beneath my body. I became even more confused when I opened my eyes. We had fallen onto a broad, black back, hurtling just above an enormous wave.

"Hang on!" shouted a voice, but there was nothing to hold on to except the rippling, leathery edge of the creature. Eadric and I grabbed hold just as the creature hit the water and plunged under the surface. I felt the pressure change when the wave roared over our heads.

What kind of bird is this?
I wondered, peering through the churning water. We went deeper, gliding beneath the waves where the water was dark and murky. I studied the creature as best I could, but it didn't make any sense. It had neither feathers nor wings, yet it flapped like a bird. Its great, wedge-shaped body was smooth and black with a pair of curled horns, yet it had no head that I could see. There was no animal on dry land to compare it to, so I didn't know if we should be relieved at our rescue or terrified that this creature had found us.

"How are you doing?" the creature asked in a bubbly sort of voice. As I couldn't locate its face, I didn't know what part of the creature I should address.

"Who are you?" I asked, my own voice sounding strange underwater.

"They call me Manta. So, what are you two? I've never seen fish like you before, and you don't have fur like seals."

Eadric laughed. "We're not fish. We're frogs, or at least we are now."

"Frogs, huh?" Manta said. "Never heard of frogs before. You must be rare."

"As rare as enchanted royalty," Eadric said, puffing himself up.

"That's not rare. I wish I had a mouthful of plankton for every enchanted prince I've met. Speaking of plankton, do you mind if I have a snack?" Manta rose toward the surface while unfurling his horns, which I realized weren't really horns at all, but a way to funnel cloudy water into what had to be his mouth.

"You don't suppose he eats frogs, do you?" I whispered into Eadric's eardrum.

Eadric peered ahead to where the cloudy water was disappearing at an amazing speed. "I doubt it. From the looks of things, I think he prefers soup."

Another wave curled over our heads. I grabbed hold of the creature's smooth-skinned edge, gasping as he plunged into the heart of the wave. Flying beneath the violence of the surface, Manta's body rose and fell as his triangular wings propelled us through the water. His rhythmic movements were soothing and much more comfortable than the flying carpet. It would have been peaceful if it weren't for the muffled roar of the storm and the strange booms and wails that grew clearer as Manta dove.

"What's that sound?" I asked.

"Just the whales talking," Manta gurgled. "They say the storm is ending."

After a while, the voices of the whales died away, replaced by a series of high-pitched chirps and whistles. "Is that another whale?" I asked.

"That's a porpoise. Those guys are such comedians. They're always coming up with new jokes. Hey, have you heard this one? Why did the porpoise cross the ocean?"

"How would we know?" said Eadric. "We've never even met a porpoise!"

"You don't have to meet one. It's a joke! Come on, let's try it again. Why did the porpoise cross the ocean?"

"I don't know," I said. "Why?"

"To get to the other tide."

Eadric grunted and made a face.

"I'm sorry we don't understand your joke, Manta, but we're not familiar with the ocean. We've come a long way to find my grandmother," I said. "She's on an island near here and needs our help."

Manta dipped a wing and turned abruptly. "There's only one island around this part of the sea. I'll have you there in three shakes of a mermaid's tail. Hold tight, I'm going up to look around."

Flapping his wings in long, powerful strokes, Manta sped to the surface, shooting straight into the air, and twisting before he fell. The sun had come out, and the clouds were disappearing on the horizon. Although the waves were still high, they were nothing like they'd been only a short time before.

An island stood off to our right. It was a beautiful place, with strange, frond-topped trees and a pure white shore. I caught a quick glimpse of huts and people in brightly colored clothes, but Manta flopped back into the water before I could see much more.

Circling the island, Manta brought us close to shore at a lonely spot well past the huts. I plopped into the shallows beside Eadric, who scrambled out of the water as quickly as he could. Holding on to Manta so that the waves wouldn't carry me away, I said, "Thank you for helping us. Most creatures wouldn't have bothered."

"It was my pleasure," he replied, his edges rippling. "I love meeting strange creatures, and you two are some of the strangest I've ever met!"