“Ah,” Gresh said, noticing just how large the dragon’s fangs were and that he could see a faint smoldering glow coming from somewhere behind those fangs.

“Tobas…” Karanissa began, from behind Gresh.

“Fortunately,” the dragon said, interrupting her, “I think it’s a reasonable agreement. Still, I would appreciate it if in the future you would at least try to obtain my consent before casting spells on me.”

“I was planning to,” Gresh said, trying to hide just how relieved he was. “I just wanted to get the hard part out of the way first, and I was fairly sure it would be easier to talk sense to you than to a horde of spriggans.”

“Hmph,” said Tobas, producing a faint shower of sparks. Gresh quickly brushed off one that landed on the shoulder of his tunic. “Shall we get on with it, then?”

“Keep the Spell of the Revealed Power handy, in case the spriggans change their minds,” Karanissa urged.

Gresh glanced at her, trying to assess whether she was genuinely just trying to offer a helpful suggestion, or if there was some other reason she might want her husband turned into a dragon again, or if she was being sarcastic.

He couldn’t tell. He liked to think he was fairly good at figuring women out, after growing up among twelve sisters, but he could read nothing from Karanissa’s expression. He decided not to worry about it as he readied the jar of orange powder that would cast Javan’s Restorative.

“You might want to tell Ali what’s happening,” Karanissa suggested.

“She’s feeding the baby,” Tobas said.

“All the more reason to avoid any big surprises.”

“Um,” Tobas said. He lifted his head and called, “Ali, Gresh is about to turn me back!”

“Good!” Alorria shouted back. “Your clothes are… well, I did my best.”

Gresh grimaced.

The dragon’s immense head swung back around and lowered down toward Gresh as he raised a generous pinch of orange powder. He flung it at the dragon and shouted, “Esku!”

The transformation was not quite as spectacular in this direction; rather than a golden flash and extensive reshaping, there was merely a flicker of blue, an odd shrinking, and then Tobas was standing in the meadow in human form, naked and blinking.

“Hai,” he said. “That was odd.” His voice was faint and unsteady. He turned his head to one side, then to the other. “It’s so stiff,” he said. “And everything’s so dim and warm and quiet.”

“What’s stiff?” Gresh asked.

“My neck.” The wizard stretched, rolling his head from side to side. “That long neck was really rather convenient.”

“You’ll have to tell us about it sometime,” Gresh said. “But first…” He flung a pinch of dark red powder at Tobas and proclaimed, “Never give anyone the spriggan mirror-esku!”

The powder flashed and vanished.

Another pinch followed before Tobas had even finished blinking.

“Never harm the spriggan mirror in any way-esku!”

Several nearby spriggans applauded at that.

Tobas raised an arm to shield his eyes as Gresh flung a third dose and announced, “Never take the spriggan mirror to a place where wizardry does not work-esku!”

The spriggans applauded more vigorously as Gresh capped the jars of powder and put them away. Tobas stood, looking around at the hundreds of leaping, cheering creatures.

Then Gresh pulled the wrapped mirror from his pack and ceremoniously handed it to Tobas.

“Your mirror, sir,” he said. “I expect my fee will be paid at the first opportunity.”

Tobas accepted it gingerly. He partially unwrapped it and peered at it in the gloom as he said, “You might have waited until I had my clothes on. And I can hardly see anything in this light!”

Karanissa stepped forward with a hand raised; a dull orange glow illuminated the glass disk in the wizard’s hand.

“That looks like it,” Tobas agreed, studying the mirror.

“We saw it produce spriggans,” Gresh said. “Unless there are two of the confounded things, that’s it.”

Tobas looked up. “But it’s not producing any spriggans now?”

“No. And with luck, it never will again. I can explain it to you later, if you like.”

“I heard most of it-dragons really do have good ears-but I’ll want you to do that.” He turned. “Ali, are you all right?”

“I’m fine. Can we go home now?”

“Yes,” Tobas said happily. “Yes, we can, as soon as I’m dressed.” He trotted toward the carpet holding the mirror triumphantly before him, while the spriggans cleared a path for him.

“Come on,” Gresh said, following in the naked wizard’s wake.

Karanissa hesitated. “Wait a minute,” she said. “What about my duplicate?”

Gresh paused, startled, then looked back.

The other Karanissa was still in the cave, watching events with evident incomprehension.

“Come on,” Gresh called to her, beckoning. “We’ll take you with us.”

The reflection hesitated, then followed.

A moment later, when the mirror was safely tucked away in the wizard’s leather valise and Tobas was pulling his rather damaged tunic over his head, Gresh and the two Karanissas arrived at the carpet; Alorria stared up at them in shocked horror.

“Two of her! Tobas, what’s going on? How can there be two of Kara?”

“We had a little magical accident,” Gresh explained. “Don’t worry about her; she’s quite harmless-and she’s not really another Karanissa. She just looks like her. See, she’s two inches shorter?”

“But…” Alorria was plainly not happy, but was having trouble finding the words to express her displeasure. She looked down at baby Alris, who had fallen asleep at the breast and was not helping her mother convey her annoyance.

“Ask her, Ali,” Karanissa said. “She’ll tell you she isn’t me.”

“I don’t know exactly who I am,” the reflection said. “I was only created a little over an hour ago.”

“Are you married to my husband?” Alorria demanded, pointing at Tobas as he struggled to get his left arm into a badly sewn sleeve. Her motion jiggled Alris, who burped without awakening.

“Not that I know of,” the image replied, puzzled. “Wasn’t he a dragon originally? You were married to a dragon?”

“Only for a little while,” Gresh said. “I turned Tobas into a dragon for a few hours, and now he’s back to his proper form.”

“Oh,” the reflection said, sounding unconvinced. “I’m fairly sure I never married a dragon. Or anyone else, for that matter. Isn’t there some sort of ceremony when one gets married?”

“It is customary,” Gresh agreed. “So if we’ve established that Tobas has not acquired a third wife, could we please get moving? It’s already almost dark, and it’s a long way to Dwomor Keep.”

“But if she isn’t really Karanissa, why is she coming with us?” Alorria asked.

“Because stranding her alone in the mountains at night seems rude,” Gresh said. “Now, may we please find seats?”

Alorria did not seem entirely satisfied, but she moved to one side and let the others crowd onto the rug.

“Four spriggans!” a spriggan reminded Gresh, as he pushed several of the little creatures clear of the carpet. “You take four!”

“Right,” he said. He pointed to four who happened to be nearby. “You, you, you, and you. The rest of you, clear away.”

The chosen four squealed with delight and clambered onto Gresh’s lap, pushing at one another to make room. One of them yipped, “Fun!”

“We’re taking them with us?” Alorria protested, staring at the foursome in horror and clutching her sleeping child to her breast.

“Yes,” Tobas and Karanissa said in unison, as they took their own seats. Karanissa took a moment to get her reflection settled onto the fabric; then Tobas turned to look at the others. He gave Alorria an embarrassed glance, then whispered to Gresh, “Could you use the Restorative on my clothes? I know it’s waste to use high-level magic for such a thing, and Ali did her best, but she hadn’t come prepared, and I’m afraid these breeches are chafing horribly.”