Searching for Dragons

Ballimore shook her head, set her bundle down on a chair, and went off to deal with her erring husband. Mendanbar looked at Cimorene, and they both burst out laughing at the same time.
"Oh, dear," said Cimorene when she got her breath back. "I hope they didn't hear."
"Are they always like this?" Mendanbar asked.
"I don't know," Cimorene admitted. "This is the first time I've been here. Kazul has always been the one who comes to talk or borrow things."
The thought wiped the smile from her face. "I hope she's safe."
"You'd know if she wasn't," Mendanbar said, hoping he was right.
"Being King of the Dragons is a little like being King of the Enchanted Forest; if anything really drastic happens to you, everybody knows."
"I suppose so," Cimorene said. "And I know perfectly well that she can take care of herself, but I'll still feel a lot better when we find out where she is."
There wasn't much Mendanbar could say to that. They ate in silence for a few minutes and were just finishing up when Ballimore and Dobbilan returned. Dobbilan was carrying several sheets of white paper and a pen made of a feather as long as Mendanbar's arm. Ballimore held an inkwell the size of a sink. The giantess cleared the dishes away from the far end of the table and set the inkwell gently in place, then steered her husband to the chair. When she had him settled, she picked up the bundle she had brought in earlier.
"I'll just take this outside and shake the dust out," she told Cimorene.
"You and your young man can come along as soon as you've finished eating. Don't rush."
"How do you spell 'resignation'?" Dobbilan asked, nibbling on the end of his feather pen.
Mendanbar spelled it for him as Ballimore bustled out the door. He and Cimorene finished their breakfasts with only an occasional interruption from Dobbilan. Leaving the giant mumbling over his letter and chewing on the tattered end of his pen, they went out to see what Ballimore had found.
"There you are," Ballimore said as they came into the courtyard. "I've gotten most of the dust out, and it's ready to go. What do you think?"
She stepped back and Mendanbar got his first good look at the carpet.
It was enormous, with a three-foot fringe on all four sides. In places it looked rather worn, and there was a hole the size of a teacup in one corner.
The background was a rich cream color, dotted with teddy bears a foot long. Pink teddy bears. Bright pink.
"It's certainly large enough," Mendanbar said at last.
"Are you sure it will fly?" Cimorene asked, looking dubiously at the hole.
"Oh, yes," Ballimore reassured her. "It's the very best quality, but we haven't used it in years because of the pattern." She gestured at the teddy bears. "Dobbilan thought they just didn't look right in a giant's castle."
"I think I agree with him," Mendanbar said under his breath, eyeing the pink teddy bears with dislike. "No wonder that Jack fellow didn't take it.
"As long as it flies, I don't care what it looks like," Cimorene declared.
"Thank you so much, Ballimore. I'll make sure you get it back as soon as we're through with it."
"There's no rush," Ballimore said. "It'll just go back in the attic."
"How does it work?" Mendanbar asked.
"I couldn't find the instruction manual, but it's perfectly simple," Ballimore told him. "All magic carpets are the same. You sit in the middle and say, 'Up, up, up and away' to make it take off, and you steer by leaning in the direction you want to go."
"What about stopping?"
Ballimore frowned in concentration. "I believe you're supposed to say 'Whoa,' but 'Cut it out, carpet' works just as well. I'm sorry I can't be more definite. It's been a long time."
"Right." Mendanbar looked at Cimorene. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
Cimorene hesitated, then nodded firmly. "We'll manage. If I could think of some other way of getting to the north end of the mountains quickly, I would. Come on." She stepped onto the carpet, and plopped down in the center.
With some misgiving, Mendanbar sat next to her.
"Oh, heavens, I nearly forgot!" Ballimore said suddenly. "Stay right there, Cimorene dear. I'll be back in a flash."
"Now what?" Mendanbar asked as the giantess hurried into the castle.
"Maybe she remembered where the instruction manual is," Cimorene said.
"Somehow I doubt it," Mendanbar said.
A moment later, Ballimore came hurrying out again, carrying a large bag. "I packed you a bit of lunch," she explained, handing Cimorene the package. "Goodness knows what you'll find out there in the mountains."
Cimorene thanked Ballimore again and set the bag between herself and Mendanbar, then said, "All right, carpet: up, up, up and away!"
The carpet shuddered, shifted and rose slowly into the air. Smiling broadly, Cimorene waved at Ballimore, then leaned forward. The carpet shivered again and began to move. It sailed up out of the castle and into the sky over the mountains, gathering speed as it went.
 
9
In Which They Discover the Perils of Borrowed Equipment
At first, the magic carpet ride was thoroughly enjoyable. The air was crisp and cool, and there was no noise at all except their own voices.
The view was amazing, even better than looking down from a mountain.
The Mountains of Morning stood in crooked, gray-blue rows below, each crack and boulder outlined in sharp black shadow. Tiny figures moved across the rocks and through the strips of greenery at the bottoms of the mountains: sheep and mountain goats and adventurous knights. Every now and then Mendanbar caught a glimpse of the lush trees of the Enchanted Forest between the peaks.
"Stop craning your neck like that," Cimorene said. "You're confusing the carpet."
"Sorry." Mendanbar sneaked a last look and sighed as the patch of green disappeared behind a rocky slope. How was Willin getting along without him?
"Mendanbar, is your sword slipping?" Cimorene said. "I thought I felt something for a minute there. Is it coming out of that sheath?"
"No," Mendanbar replied, checking it. "It's fine. And I haven't touched it. Are you sure it was the sword?"
"No," Cimorene admitted. "Maybe we flew over something magical and that's what I felt. It's gone now."
"Good," said Mendanbar. "Are you-"
The carpet gave a sudden lurch sideways, then dropped three feet.
"Mendanbar!" Cimorene cried. "I told you to stop that!"
"It wasn't me!" Mendanbar protested, trying to find something to hang on to.
"Well, it wasn't me, and there's only the two of us up here," Cimorene shouted.
The carpet rippled alarmingly, then resumed its peaceful progress.
Cautiously, Mendanbar turned his head to look at Cimorene. Wisps of black hair had come loose from her braids to blow wildly across her face. It made her look particularly lovely, even though she was scowling at him.
Mendanbar blinked and pulled his thoughts together.
"I really didn't do anything," he said.
"But-" The carpet wiggled and began to spin slowly. Mendanbar swallowed hard, wishing he had not eaten quite so much breakfast. He closed his eyes, then opened them again very quickly as the carpet bounced twice, paused, and started spinning twice as fast in the opposite direction.
"Carpet? Mendanbar shouted. "Cut it out!"
The lurching and spinning stopped. The carpet hung motionless in midair for a long moment, then dropped like the bottom falling out of a cardboard box. Cimorene gasped, then said something that sounded like "Oof!" as the carpet froze once more, three feet lower than it had been.
Mendanbar started to push himself up, then-without warning-the carpet dropped another three feet.
This time, Mendanbar stayed flat on the teddy bears. Two seconds later, the carpet dropped again. And again. And again. Mendanbar lost track of the bumps and concentrated on keeping track of his stomach. Suddenly, the carpet spun around twice and took off in a steep, fast climb.