"At least it isn't invisible," I offered. Shiara gave me a disgusted look, but she didn't say anything.
"Hello?" called the dragon's voice from the other side of the wall of fire. "Are you there?"
"We're here," I called back. "Both of us."
"How did you do that?" the dragon shouted.
"I don't know," I said. "And I don't want to stay here to find out."
I picked myself up off the ground and put the sword back in its sheath.
"I think maybe we'd better go," I said to Shiara. "Before something comes out of that house."
"It isn't a house," Shiara said. "But for once I agree with you."
"Achoo!" said the dragon from the other side of the fire.
'Just a minute, there!" a voice said behind me.
I turned around. A medium-sized man was standing about ten feet away, leaning on a staff that was about three feet taller than he was. He had black hair and three rings on each hand, and he was frowning irritably at Shiara and me.
"Oh, rats," said Shiara disgustedly. "Another wizard!"
"You," said the man, ignoring her statement completely, "are trespassing.
I don't know how you got in here, but it was a great mistake for you to do so."
"We didn't exactly do it on purpose," I said. "We were just trying to get across the clearing."
"Young man, I surround my home with a wall of fire for a reason," the wizard said. "And the reason is that I do not like to be disturbed. I wish to know how you penetrated it, or I would not be wasting my time talking with you."
"I'm a fire-witch, that's how!" Shiara said. "And if you don't want to be disturbed, you ought to be more careful with your stupid wall.
We would have gone right by if it hadn't jumped up all over Daystar when he tried to cross the clearing!"
"A fire-witch?" the man said. He gave Shiara an extremely odd look.
"You haven't mislaid an invisible castle recently, have you?"
"No!" said Shiara. "It isn't mine!"
The wizard looked even angrier. "You know of it!"
"Well, sort of," I said. "It isn't ours, but we ran into it this morning."
"Did you," said the wizard. He sounded skeptical and very dangerous.
I decided I didn't want to talk about the castle anymore.
"I think we ought to be going now," I said. "We're really very sorry to have bothered you."
"I'm not!" Shiara said.
"Shiara!"
"Well, I'm not," Shiara said. "He ought to apologize to us, not the other way around. And anyway, I'm not apologizing to any wizard, especially not one that messes around with invisible castles!"
The man with the staff frowned, but this time he looked more thoughtful than angry. "What is your complaint against wizards?"
"Ha!" said Shiara. "You should know."
"No," said the man, "I should not. I am not a wizard."
"Achoo!" came the dragon's voice, and the wall of fire bulged inward on that side.
"Excuse me, but if you're not a wizard, why are you carrying a staff?"
I asked. "And why is the dragon sneezing?"
The man looked startled. "Dragon? You travel with a dragon?"
"No, it travels with us," I said. "Does it make a difference?"
"Perhaps," the man said. He looked at the wall of fire and made a pass with his staff. The flames began to die, and a moment later we could see the clearing again.
13
In Which They Learn the Difference Between a Wizard and a Magician
The dragon was still sneezing in medium-sized puffs of flame. The man with the staff examined it and shook his head. "That certainly is a dragon."
He made another pass with his staff.
The staff vanished, and the dragon stopped sneezing abruptly. It sniffed a couple of times in an experimental way, looking surprised, as if it expected to start sneezing again any minute. I was surprised, too. I mean, wizards never let go of their staffs-not willingly, anyway.
The man bowed politely to the dragon. "I apologize for inconveniencing you," he said. "I offer you greetings and welcome to my home, and I wish you good fortune when you leave."
"What?" said the dragon.
The man looked a little startled and peered at the dragon more closely.
"Oh, I see," he said after a moment. "Well, you're welcome. Come and make yourself comfortable."
Shiara scowled at him and bent to pick up Nightwitch, who had come running toward her as soon as the flames had died. The dragon looked suspiciously at the man.
"I don't like wizards," it said. "And I don't like people who put invisible things in the middle of my shortcut."
"I am not a wizard," the man said with a sigh. "And my tower has been here for years, and it isn't invisible. Now, come in and talk.
There hasn't been a dragon by for a long time, and I'm a bit behind on the news."
"If you're not a wizard, what are you?" Shiara said, petting Nightwitch and glaring at the man.
"I'm a magician," the man said. "And my name is Telemain."
"Pleased to meet you," I said.
"Mrrow," said Nightwitch, and started purring loudly.
Telemain looked at the kitten, and suddenly he began to laugh. He had a nice laugh, sort of deep and friendly. I started thinking that I might be able to like him after all, even if his fire wall had nearly burned me to a cinder.
"I don't believe I have ever seen a group quite like this one," Telemain said when he finished laughing. "Please, tell me who you all are."
I introduced everyone, and Telemain nodded courteously to each of us.
He gave me a sharp look when I told him my name. "I thought that was what your friend called you," he said. "Welcome to my home."
"Some welcome!" Shiara said. "You nearly got Daystar killed, and you started the dragon sneezing again. And how come the dragon was allergic to you if you aren't a wizard?"
"Dragons aren't allergic to wizards," Telemain said, sounding surprised.
"What gave you that idea?"
"I did? the dragon said. It came forward and sat down emphatically, right next to me. "All dragons are allergic to wizards. I should know: I sneeze every time I get near one." It eyed Telemain belligerently.
"Oh, I don't doubt that at all," Telemain said. "But the hypersensitive reaction results from the indiscriminate absorption of magical energy through the enchantments fixed in their staffs."
"What?" said the dragon.
Telemain sighed. "It's not wizards you're allergic to, it's their staffs. You stopped sneezing as soon as I got rid of mine, didn't you?"
The dragon looked startled. "I did, didn't I?" it said after a minute.
"If you aren't a wizard, what are you doing with a wizard's staff?"
Shiara asked.
Telemain raised his eyebrows. "Why do you ask?"
"We've been having some trouble with wizards," I said before Shiara could answer. I didn't want her to make him angry. We had enough people mad at us already.
"Really." Telemain looked as if he were going to laugh again. "All of you?"
"Well, mainly just Shiara and me," I said. "We've been sort of worried about them. Most of them are after Shiara," I added.
"What would the Society of Wizards want with a fire-witch?" Telemain said. "I can see that I shall have to invite you in, if only to hear your tale."
"How do you know about the Society?" Shiara said angrily. "And why should we trust a wizard, anyway?"
"Anyone who knows much about magic can tell you're a fire-witch, and the only reason I can think of for a fire-witch to have several wizards after her is if she has done something to offend the Society of Wizards," Telemain said. He still sounded amused. "And for the third time, at least, I am a magician, not a wizard."