Talking to Dragons

The dragon didn't have nearly as much difficulty as I did, even though it was a little too large for the ledge. It just dug its claws into the rock and kept coming.

When we finally made it to the other side, Shiara and I were covered with black rock dust. We took turns brushing each other off while Nightwitch sat far enough back to avoid getting any of it on her and the dragon looked superior. Evidently rock dust doesn't cling to dragon scales, which was very nice for the dragon but didn't do much to improve Shiara's temper.

"How much farther is it?" Shiara asked as we started off.

"I don't know," I said. "But it shouldn't take much longer."

"I hope not," said the dragon. "I don't like this tu

"Why not?" Shiara asked.

"It isn't finished," the dragon said.

I looked around. The tu

"It does look sort of incomplete," I said. "I think somebody-" "Daystar, look out? Shiara yelled. A large rock fell out of the ceiling, just missing my head. Along with the rock came a shower of pebbles that didn't miss.

I heard a creaking noise and felt more pebbles.

"Get back!" I shouted. I dropped Morwen's bundle and shoved Shiara.

Shiara stumbled backward. Nightwitch yowled and made a tremendous leap right onto the dragon's nose. The dragon jerked in surprise, and Nightwitch made another jump and vanished into the darkness behind it.

I heard more rumblings, and I shoved Shiara again, just as the roof came down on top of us.

When I woke up, it was very dark and I was lying face down on the tu

No one answered. They couldn't all have gotten caught in the cave-in.

I'd been closest to the falling rocks, and only my legs were pi

I slammed back into the floor and almost lost consciousness again. The thing on my back bubbled, "The k-k-key! Let go, drop it, gug-give it to me!"

Instinctively, I shoved my right hand farther under my chest, groping for the sword.

My fingers touched the hilt, and the key started to glow. It wasn't quite as good as the lamp, but at least I could see. I heard a muffled shriek, and the weight left my back very suddenly. An instant later, I saw the quozzel bending over my hand, and I tightened my grip on the key.

The quozzel bounced angrily. "You're still alive! I don't want you alive.

I want that k-k-key. That's why I fixed the rocks."

I shook my head to clear it. "You made the tu

"Of c-c-c-course!" the quozzel spluttered. "I'm supposed to take c-care of it. I'll get it, too. All I need is m-m-more rocks."

The quozzel wobbled backward, toward the caved-in part of the tu

I rolled onto one elbow and looked back over my shoulder, trying to see what it was doing.

A medium-sized rock came crashing down beside me. The quozzel made an angry whistling noise. "H-hold still"

"So you can drop rocks on me?" Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a long pile of something that seemed to end in a tangle of red hair.

Shiara hadn't been buried under the rocks, then. Unfortunately, she didn't look like she would be able to help me with the quozzel anytime soon, and I still didn't know where Nightwitch or the dragon was. I twisted sideways, moving off the sword as much as I could with my legs pi

There was a sizzling noise from somewhere behind me, and a dozen or so rocks of assorted sizes came rolling down on top of me. Some of them hit places that had already been battered by the cave-in, and I yelled.

The quozzel bubbled happily, and a few more rocks went by on one side.

I shoved myself up on my hands as far as I could and yanked the sword the rest of the way out of the sheath and out from under me at the same time. I twisted around, just as two more large rocks came rolling down.

Awkwardly, I swung at the rocks with the flat of the sword, trying to deflect them a little. There was a bright flash as the sword hit them, and the rocks went flying toward the far wall of the tu

This time I didn't hear any voice, but the rumbling got louder and louder, and suddenly I realized that my legs were free. I curled them up under me, so I wouldn't be trapped again if the quozzel started another cave-in or something. The rumbling began to die down, and I heard faint shouts mixed in with it, and the bubbling noise that the quozzel made, and someone groaning. Then the rumbling stopped, and I could see again.

Carefully, because my legs felt kind of rubbery, I stood up and looked around. I could still hear the shouting; it sounded faint and far away, and after a moment it faded completely. Shiara was the person who had groaned. As I looked at her, she moved a little, and suddenly I felt a lot better about things generally. Then I heard squishing noises from in back of me, and I whirled.

Behind me, the tu

It was wobbling hastily toward the tu

"Just a minute, you!" I said. "You have some questions to answer."

"I d-d-d-didn't know," said the quozzel. "I still don't. K-k-keep the k-key. Nice to m-m-meet you. Gug-gug-good-bye."

"Oh, no, you don't." I stepped in front of it, so that if it wobbled forward any more it would get stuck on my sword.

"I'm gug-gug-gug-going," said the quozzel. It seemed to be stammering a lot more than it had before. I found myself hoping it was even more nervous than it looked.

"You aren't going anywhere until you explain why you want this key so badly," I said. "And maybe not then. I don't think I ought to leave something as sneaky and treacherous as you ru

After what it had tried to do, I thought it deserved to worry a little.

"Daystar?" Shiara's voice distracted me from the quozzel, which was bubbling and popping worriedly to itself. "Daystar, what happened?"

"The quozzel made the tu