Dragon's Breath (17 page)

Twenty-three

Grassina gestured, and more witches' lights began to glow, the light soft and diffuse. Eadric's stomach rumbled, and a crimson fog floated around the room. He blushed, his face turning nearly the same color as the fog.

"Eadric ate the seeds inside the magic beans," I said, certain that that was all the explanation my aunt needed.

Grassina shook her head sadly, although a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "You shouldn't have eaten those seeds, Eadric. Those were old magic beans whose magic gets stronger with age. Every month for the rest of your life your problem will return when the moon is full."

My grandfather was known as Aldrid the Wise, my father was Limelyn the Courageous, yet the man I might marry one day could be called Eadric the Flatulent. Eadric groaned when his stomach grumbled, and I couldn't keep from smiling. What a time to realize that I really
wanted
to marry him!

"I think I'll go down to the kitchen," Eadric said, heading for the door. "It's been a while since we ate last. Emma, are you coming?"

"No, I need to stay and help Aunt Grassina." I settled into my usual chair in front of the fireplace. Grassina joined me in the other chair, and we waited until Eadric had closed the door behind him. When my aunt sighed, I knew that something was wrong.

"Father will be all right, won't he?" I asked.

"Oh, yes. This has nothing to do with your father. It's just that I'm not sure I'm doing the right thing about Haywood."

"What are you saying? Don't you want to get him back the way he was?"

"Yes, of course I do, or at least I think I do. But what if we've changed so much that we don't like each other anymore? Or what if we discover that we've fallen out of love? I'm no longer the young girl who fell in love with the romantic young wizard in training. I've had a lot of time to think about this. It took me much longer than I thought it would to find Haywood. Then when I did, Mother had made him forget that he was ever human, just as she said she would. He was happy as an otter, happier than most men ever are. What right did I have to bring him back here to life as a human?"

"He was happy as an otter because of Grandmother's spell, you know that. But he'll be happier with you. I saw the way he looked at you when you found him the other day. He'd even carved your name in the bark of an old oak, although it must have been terribly difficult for an otter. He loves you, Aunt Grassina, and if he was in his right mind, he'd tell you so."

Grassina held up her hand, showing me the wrapping stained with blood. "He bit me, Emma! When I finally found him, he bit me like a wild animal!"

"It was Grandmother's spell. I know the real Haywood loves you!"

Grassina sighed again. "Perhaps you're right, Emma. I know so little about affairs of the heart. It's been so long." She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples as if in pain, but when she looked at me again, she seemed a little more cheery. "If we're going through with this, we'd better get busy. Dawn will be here before we know it."

While Grassina started toward her room to fetch the items from the silver chest, I reached into my pouch for the bottle of dragon's breath. I was about to take it out when I heard a rustling by the window. I gasped when Grandmother shot through the opening. Hopping off her broom, she pointed a finger at Grassina. "There you are! Did you find him?"

Grassina turned her head and glared. "What are you doing here?"

"I've come to keep you from making a terrible mistake!"

"The only mistake I've made was letting you near Haywood again," said Grassina. "I should have known better than to ask you for help."

"Is that any way to talk to your mother?"

"In your case, yes. Now please leave."

Grandmother muttered something as she squinted, her tiny eyes nearly disappearing in a mass of wrinkles. Grassina must have guessed what her mother was up to, because she put her hand in front of her face and recited something very fast. With a high-pitched whistle, Grandmother's spell bounced off Grassina and attached itself to its creator. Furious, Grandmother clawed at her lips, tearing away strands of something thick and white that seemed to writhe in her hands.

"Why, you little pipsqueak!" shrilled my grandmother once she'd uncovered her mouth. "You restore Henry and your life will change forever!"

"I hope so, Mother, and his name is
Haywood!"

"This is for your own good, daughter!" screamed Grandmother as she hurled a ball of the tangled white strands at Grassina.

My aunt ducked, and the ball splattered against the wall behind her. "Mother, I'm warning you, you aren't going to change my mind."

"Let's bring Howard here and we'll see what he thinks." Grandmother muttered something and made clockwise circles with her hand. A puff of orange smoke clouded the corner of the room, and when it cleared, Haywood stood blinking at the light. Grandmother spoke again, and a dozen wasps buzzed through the window, heading straight for the otter. If I hadn't known the strength of my spell, I might have been convinced.

"Haywood!" screamed Grassina as he snapped and batted at the wasps. Without thought for her own safety, my aunt rushed to help him. The moment Grassina turned her back, Grandmother pointed at her and muttered. It must have been a binding spell, for my aunt froze in midstep. Her body trembled as she fought to break the spell.

"Harvey isn't worth the breath it takes to say his name," my grandmother shrilled. "I don't know why you're being so thickheaded!"

"Because she loves him!" I said, surprising even myself. I couldn't bear it any longer. My grandmother had done everything she could to stand in the way of true love, and even that hadn't been enough for her. "You may have fooled Grassina, but I know that's not Haywood. He's still right where I put him, and that's where he'll stay until we're ready. Your tricks aren't going to work with me, so you might as well stop now."

Grandmother grumbled and waved her arm. The false images of the otter and the wasps began to fade.

"What you're doing is wrong, Grandmother!" I continued. "Can't you see that they should be together?"

My grandmother's eyes flashed. "I see. You've learned a little magic, so you think you can interfere. Well, this is none of your business. This is between my daughter and me." With a flick of her fingers, silver sparks shot from their tips, sizzling as if they burned the air.

Keep it simple,
I thought, and a spell formed in my mind almost effortlessly.

The wind must blow,
It can't be slow.
Put out each spark
And leave no mark.

A sudden gust of wind shook the tapestries on the walls, whipped my hair about my head, blew the loose parchments off Grassina's desk and turned the sparks into fizzling dust that fell harmlessly to the floor when the wind died down.

"Very nice!" exclaimed Grandmother, and suddenly I had the impression that she was pleased. "Now how about this?" I was surprised to see her vanish, but even more surprised that I could still sense her presence in the room.

"I know you're here, Grandmother. Hasn't this gone on long enough?" When she didn't answer. I said, "Fine. If that's the way you're going to act, let's try this."

Let each life here
Give off a glow,
To help me learn
What I must know.

My skin tingled, and the air around me began to shimmer while a golden aura formed around my aunt and Li'l. I blinked, and when I looked again I saw a glowing light roughly my grandmother's size and shape. The light moved, and I heard my grandmother laugh. "Very good! Maybe we'll make a witch of you yet."

Somehow, what had started as a fight between my aunt and my grandmother had ended up feeling like a test for me. From the tone of my grandmother's voice, it seemed that I had passed.

A blue mist floated through the door, and my grandfather materialized in the middle of the room. "Back so soon, Olivene? You stay away for years, and now you visit twice in one week?"

Grandmother reappeared with a small pop. "Mind your own business, you old fool," she said, her bristling eyebrows drawn together in a V. "This is between me and my granddaughter."

"She's my granddaughter, too. Leave her alone, Olivene. She doesn't need you interfering in her life."

"And I don't need your advice, Aldrid. I was leaving anyway. I've already said what I wanted to say and learned what I wanted to learn." Grandmother smiled at me, then turned to waggle her fingers at Grassina. My aunt's foot hit the floor with a thump, and she staggered a step or two.

"Then why are you still here?" asked Grandfather.

"I'm not," Grandmother said. Hopping onto her waiting broom, she flew around the room, cackling like an old hen and making us duck to avoid her. When she flew out the window, a full moon framed her silhouette.

Grandfather shook his head. "That woman gets crazier every time I see her."

"I heard that!" Grandmother shouted over her shoulder, her voice fading with distance.

"Thanks for stopping by, Father, although I could have handled it myself," said Grassina. "I was running through the standard releases for binding spells. I would have broken it soon, and then I would have taken care of Mother."

"I know, but I wanted to see her, even if it was just for a minute. She has the personality of a crazed she-bear, but I miss her just the same. Nice or nasty, your grandmother has always been the most exciting woman I've ever known. It wasn't her fault that she turned mean. Good night, ladies. Come visit me when you can."

Grassina waited until Grandfather had dematerialized, then raised her eyebrows and turned to me. "So what have you been doing? Your magic has improved more than I would have thought possible in such a short time."

"It was the magic miasma at the Dragon Olympics," I said. "It seems that when you do magic—"

"Never mind," she said, shaking her head and smiling. "It sounds like a long story, and I want you to tell me all about it when we have time. Right now, we'd better see to Haywood. The sun will be up before we know it."

I followed my aunt to her workbench. Taking out a small clay bowl, Grassina dropped in one of Surely's feathers, Nastia Nautica's gossamer hair and the husk of a magic bean. Li'l watched every move, her head swiveling back and forth. I handed Grassina the bottle of dragon's breath. She shook it, then said,

Solids become liquids,
Liquids turn to gas.
Reverse the process
With my next pass.

Make this gas a Liquid
For an hour or two.
Return it to its present form
When its work is through.

When she waved the bottle over the bowl once more, the contents sparkled, becoming so bright that I had to look away.

"I find that liquids are much easier to use in some circumstances, gases in others. In this case," she said, holding up the bottle so I could see the blue-green fluid inside, "a liquid is handier. Now watch."

Slowly tilting the bottle, Grassina poured in three drops, waited a moment, then poured in another three. My heart beat one, two, three times, then the liquid dragon's breath grew hot, bubbling like the lava in the dragon's pool, and the feather, the hair and the bean husk curled into tight little balls before dissolving. The liquid, now a creamy blue, was light and frothy with bubbles rising and falling.

"Good," said Grassina, setting a lid on the bowl. "Now we're all set." Recapping the bottle, she handed it to me before picking up the potion. "Keep that bottle safe. There's no telling when you might need it next, and it was probably very difficult to get."

You have no idea,
I thought, but when I saw her secret little smile, I decided that maybe she did after all.

Twenty-Four

Dressed in heavy cloaks against the early morning chill, Grassina, Eadric and I hurried along the path to the swamp, lighting our way with torches. The sky was already growing brighter when we reached the pond. It wasn't a terribly large pond, but it had always been my favorite. I loved the stand of cattails at the far end, the willows trailing their lance-shaped leaves in the water, and the wash of gravel where I had often stood to survey my own, small kingdom. Haywood was floating on his back in the morning mist, seeming as if he didn't have a care in the world.

Grassina wasn't about to wait any longer. Holding out her hands, she called,

Come to me, my darling.
Come to me, my friend.
When you have sipped
The drink I hold,
Your feral life will end.

As if in a trance, Haywood rolled over onto his belly and swam toward Grassina, his liquid brown eyes never leaving her face. Uncovering the bowl, Grassina crouched by the water's edge. When Haywood's paws touched the mud of the bank, she tilted the bowl, pouring its contents into his open mouth.

Haywood blinked up at Grassina. Gradually, more mist rose from the water around him, and his edges began to blur. The dark, furry form that was Haywood grew longer, his head and body larger, his tail disappearing altogether.

I glanced at Grassina. Although her eyes had been troubled just moments before, they were now lit with the purest joy I had ever seen. She gazed into Haywood's eyes; her face softened. As the mist dissolved, I could see that Haywood was human again. A middle-aged man, he was dressed in clothes twenty years out of style. His sandy brown hair was tinged with gray, his brown eyes warm and friendly. From the way he looked at Grassina, it was plain that his memory had returned and that he still adored my aunt.

They reached toward each other with trembling hands. Their faces seemed to glow with happiness, and I felt my throat tighten when they leaned toward each other and kissed. I was still watching them when a breeze sprang up, chasing away the last of the mist and bringing with it a shower of rose petals, pink, red, purple and every shade in between. They drifted around us in a gentle blanket, filling the air with their sweet scent.

I was brushing a few clinging petals from my face when I felt something hard rub against my cheek. I glanced at my hand and was startled to find Grassina's green leaf ring on my finger. "Why is this—" I began, and then I heard someone gasp. I turned back to Grassina and Haywood. The breeze had died, leaving them covered with petals. Jerking his hands away from Grassina, Haywood struggled to back up, but his feet slid out from under him and he landed in deeper water with a splash.

I wondered what could have caused the look of horror on his face, and then Grassina turned around, the petals fell away, and I knew. No longer the beautiful woman I had known my entire life, she had become just like my grandmother. The curse we'd all feared, the curse the fairy had put on my ancestor, Hazel, had taken its toll, turning Grassina's glorious auburn hair stringy and black, her well-shaped nose so long that it almost reached her jutting chin. She had more hairy warts on her face than I had toes on my feet, and her fingers were bent and gnarled.

It was the rose petals,
I thought.
Grandmother must have added that to the spell she cast on Haywood. She's had her way after all.

"What are you pea brains gawking at?" Grassina asked, her voice as scratchy as a rusty knife.

"You've changed," I squeaked.

"Of course I've changed, fly breath. I've gotten a whole lot smarter. The wedding's off. I wouldn't marry fur-boy if he was the last wizard in the swamp. Now go away and stop bothering me. I've got to get out of these disgusting clothes and into something more suitable."

Grassina stormed off in the direction of the castle. Dumbstruck, we watched her stomp away, then turned and looked at each other.

"What just happened?" asked Haywood, water drib-bling from his clothes as he slogged his way out of the pond. "Where's my Grassina? I thought that was Grassina, but then that hag ... Did that woman do something to her? Is she in danger?"

"No, I don't think so," I said, and gave him a brief description of the curse. His expression changed from horrified to woeful as I explained what must have happened. "That woman was your Grassina, at least until the curse took hold. I don't think she's anyone's Grassina now."

"There must be something we can do about it! You're training to be a witch, and I was studying wizardry before Olivene changed me. Between the two of us, we should be able to think of something. What did the curse say, exactly?"

"That's just it. The only one who would know is the fairy who said it, but we don't even know who that was. It's hopeless." The enormity of what had happened finally began to sink in. The woman who had been the kindest, most caring person in my life was gone, replaced by a horrible crone. Fighting back tears, I could feel my throat close up, making it hard to speak. "I'm sorry that this happened. If I hadn't insisted that we see my grandmother—"

"I'd still be an otter and Grassina and I would have spent the rest of our lives trying to find a solution. And as soon as we did, Grassina would have turned nasty anyway." Haywood grimaced and rubbed the back of his neck, turning his head from side to side.

"You'll be stiff for a while," I said, "but it won't be long before you're back to normal."

"Normal, eh? For twenty-three years normal was being an otter. It wasn't a bad life, either. The only thing I really missed was Grassina."

"I know. We never thought that my grandmother would go to such lengths."

"Olivene must have hated me even more than I realized, although I don't know why. If I could get my hands on her now, though, I'd give her plenty of reason."

"That would only make things worse. Why don't you go to the castle? Cook will give you something to eat, and I'll talk to my parents. I'm sure we can find a place for you to stay until you decide what you want to do."

Haywood took a step, his legs shaking beneath him. "Thanks," he said. "This is going to take some getting used to."

While I probably should have helped Haywood get to the castle, I couldn't make myself go back just yet. I was angry at my grandmother for her spell and at Grassina for succumbing to it, but mostly I was angry at myself. Turning back to the pond, I glared at Eadric, although I knew that none of it was his fault. "I can't believe this!" I said. "Why did I have to be such an interfering busybody who couldn't stay out of other people's business? If only I hadn't been so convincing when Grassina wanted to give up. If only I hadn't encouraged her to ask my grandmother for help. If only I hadn't brought them back together in the first place. I should have known my grandmother would do something like this!"

"What about your father?" asked Eadric, a puzzled expression on his face. "Isn't Grassina going to help him?"

"Oh, no!" I said. "She was supposed to go now, wasn't she? What are we going to do?"

"What do you mean? Just because she looks different, it doesn't mean that she's lost her ability to—"

"That's true!" I said, and began to run. "I'm sure she's just forgotten." When I saw my aunt up ahead, using a stick to whack the heads off daisies while she walked, I shouted, "Grassina! Wait for me!" Instead of waiting, my aunt began to walk faster.

I jerked my hem from the grasp of clutching brambles and hurried after Grassina, finally catching up with her on the path that led into one of the kitchen gardens. "What do you want?" she asked, glaring down the length of her long nose at me.

"My father!" I gasped, out of breath from running. "You have to go help him!"

Grassina sniffed loudly. "No, I don't. It's no longer my responsibility. I don't have to do anything I don't want to."

"But the Green Witch—"

"That's right. It's up to the Green Witch, and that's you now. See this ring?" she asked, grabbing my wrist and twisting it to get a better look at my hand. "It means that you have to protect the kingdom." Her eyes glittered when she shoved my hand away and started up the path.

"But I don't know what to do!" I wailed.

Without stopping or turning around, she shouted, "You'll figure it out!"

Eadric caught up with me while I stood openmouthed, watching Grassina stomp off. "Is she going to help your father?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No. She says that I'm the Green Witch now, so it's up to me." I held out my hand and showed him the ring.

Eadric's jaw dropped. "You're the Green Witch? You've got to be kidding!"

The dumbfounded look on his face was almost insulting. "It's not that hard to believe! I'm sure I can do it. I just have to figure out how."

"You mean she didn't tell you?"

"No," I said, "and I don't think the job comes with a list of instructions. Just give me a moment to think!"

"Sure." Eadric stepped back a pace and raised both hands in the air as if surrendering. "Go right ahead."

I didn't know what I should do. Because of me, my father had been left without any magical defense. I was sure that Grassina would have known exactly what steps to take before she'd changed, but even if she still knew, she wasn't about to tell me. And what about my grandmother? She had seemed awfully pleased with my improved magical abilities. Maybe she really had been testing me. Maybe she was trying to see if I was good enough to be the next Green Witch. She had to have known what would happen when Grassina kissed Haywood, so maybe Grandmother wanted to see what I was capable of doing before letting her daughter have her way. I don't know what would have happened if I hadn't been good enough, yet the fact that the ring had ended up on my finger meant a great deal to me. Even so, just because I was the new Green Witch didn't mean that I knew how to help my father.
If only I had some help,
I thought, and suddenly I knew what to do. I smiled, glad that I hadn't had time to clean out my pouch.

"He said to call on him if I ever needed to," I said, reaching into the cloth bag.

Eadric frowned. "Who said that?"

Taking the broken fragment of dragon claw in my left hand, I yelled, "Grumble Belly!"

"You didn't have to shout," said Eadric. "It was just a simple question."

"I wasn't shouting at you; I was calling him. I hope it doesn't take him long to get here."

I tried to wait patiently, but Eadric kept muttering things like "stupid idea" and "waste of time." "Listen," he said finaily, "why don't I get Bright Country? The sooner we start—"

There was a clap like thunder, and Grumble Belly dropped out of the sky, his shadow gliding across the pond. His leathery wings made a rustling sound as he landed beside us. "When I said you could call on me, I didn't mean right away. Dragons need to sleep sometime, you know."

"I didn't think I'd have to call you this soon, but everything has changed." I explained that I'd become the Green Witch and that my father was counting on me. "And you were the only one I could think of to ask for help."

"What am I, the invisible prince?" muttered Eadric. "You could have asked me."

The dragon sighed. "I'll do what I can. Is he coming, too?" lising a blunted claw, Grumble Belly rapped Eadric on the chest, nearly knocking him to the ground.

"Of course," I said, climbing up onto the dragon's scaly shoulder. "I always need Eadric."