Talking to Dragons Read Online Free

the sword. It just sat there. I reached out again, this time for the sheath.
    As soon as I touched it, the sheath slid out of the ground. The belt was still wrapped around it, and no dirt clung to either of them. I touched the hilt again. My arm tingled, but this time I was ready for it, and I shoved the sword back into the sheath. Then I stuffed the sword belt under my arm and started walking. I was sure
somebody
must have noticed what had just happened, and I didn’t want to be around when they came to find out what was going on.
    Â 
    I didn’t stop again until midafternoon. By then I was hungry as well as tired. I hadn’t brought any food with me, and even if I’d known how to get home it was much too late to go back for some. I sighed and sat down under another tree to rest and think, but I didn’t get much thinking done. Mostly, I stared at the sword.
    Finally, I gave up. Sitting under a tree wasn’t going to teach me anything. I stood up and buckled on the sword belt. As I adjusted it, my hand touched the hilt of the sword again.
Three
little tingles ran up my arm before I pulled my hand away. I looked at the sword for a moment, then shrugged and reached for the hilt with my right hand, as if I were going to draw it.
    As soon as my hand touched the hilt, I felt the tingling. This time, instead of letting go, I concentrated on the way it felt. I got three distinct impressions. One was a low sort of background vibration, like a kitten purring in its sleep; one was a deep rumble; and one was a bright buzz, like a bee in a jar. Almost as soon as I figured them out, they started to fade. In another minute they were completely gone, and they didn’t come back.
    I took my hand off the sword’s hilt, then put it back. I didn’t feel anything. I tried a couple more times, but whatever it was had stopped. Finally I gave up and started walking again. I wasn’t getting anywhere trying to figure out the sword, and I had to find somewhere to spend the night.
    At least I didn’t have to worry about giants; they live farther east, in the Mountains of Morning. It occurred to me suddenly that I didn’t know where I was. I might
be
in the Mountains of Morning. It wasn’t a particularly cheerful thought. I started walking more quietly.
    I’d been walking for nearly half an hour when I realized that I knew where I was going. Unfortunately, I didn’t know where I’d be when I got there. It was very odd, and I was a little uneasy until I realized that I didn’t
have
to go that direction. I could have turned around and walked the other way, or gone sideways. In fact, I did go sideways for a while, just to prove I could.
    After that I felt better, so I stopped avoiding whatever it was and started walking toward it again. I wasn’t going to get anywhere if I kept avoiding things, and I might miss something important. Besides, there isn’t any way you can avoid
everything
in the Enchanted Forest. This way, at least I knew something was coming.
    I was still walking very quietly when I heard somebody crying. I headed toward the sound, wondering what I was getting myself into. You can’t just ignore things like that, especially in the Enchanted Forest. On the other hand . . .
    I stopped, staring at a thick, prickly hedge. It was taller than my head and impossible to see through, much less to shove through. The crying was coming from the other side.
    I bent over. The bushes were much too close together for me to crawl through them. I could make out sunlight and long red hair and a brown tunic on the other side, but not much else. I stood up and walked to one side, looking for a thin spot in the hedge. It wasn’t long before I realized I was going in a circle.
Terrific,
I thought.
I bet it goes all the way around without breaking.
I kept walking anyway, just in case.
    It didn’t take long to make the full circle. I bent over and peered through the bushes