Salinor’s cave was extremely well hidden, and it took Alex more time to find it than he thought it would. Salinor had cast several spells over the entrance of his cave in order to remain hidden from anyone or anything that might come to the island, and the dragon’s magic was impressive. It was only because Salinor had told him where to look that Alex was able to find the cave at all.

Alex spent the next eleven days and nights with Salinor, learning from the ancient creature and telling his own story to the dragon. Time seemed to melt away, and Alex didn’t remember sleeping or eating at all; he wasn’t even a little bit tired or hungry. When it was finally time for him to go, Alex was reluctant to leave the dragon behind. There was so much that Salinor knew, and so many more questions that Alex wanted to ask. Salinor also seemed sad that Alex was leaving, but he promised to visit Alex in his dreams from time to time.

“You are now a dragon lord,” said Salinor as Alex was preparing to leave. “If ever you need me, you need only call my name.”

“You have been very kind, my friend,” said Alex. “I hope I will never need to disturb your rest.”

“There are a few more things,” said Salinor, turning his giant head toward the back of the cave. “There are books that you should take with you.”

“Books?” questioned Alex. He’d never thought of dragons as reading or writing books.

“Ancient writings,” said Salinor. “Mysteries and knowledge that have long been lost. You may need what they hold.”

Alex went to the back of the cave and found a small gap in the wall. Moving through the gap, he entered a second cavern full of old-looking books. The number of books in the cave surprised him, and he wondered how they might have gotten there. Salinor could never have slipped through the gap, not even when he was a very young dragon. Alex picked up one of the books and glanced through its pages. The writing was different from the magic letters he had learned, but yet also strangely familiar. Without taking time to look at all the books, Alex held up his magic bag and moved them to his own library.

“The books are not written in letters that I understand,” Alex said when he returned to the main cave.

“They are not so much read as experienced,” said Salinor. “When you read these books, it will not be like reading, it will be as if you are there.”

“I don’t understand,” said Alex.

“In time you will,” answered Salinor in a confident tone. “And now one last thing before you go.”

“Yes?” said Alex, looking up at Salinor’s ancient face.

“Your family,” said Salinor. “You need to find your family to find yourself.”

“I have no family,” said Alex, turning away.

“We all have families,” said Salinor with a booming dragon laugh. “Your parents had families before they were your parents. Seek them out. They will need you, and you, I think, will need them as well.

“I will tell you this as a final gift in parting,” Salinor went on. “There was a time—a time long forgotten by most—when dragons and men were of one race. Not all men, but the great and noble men, the men who later became kings and rulers in the known lands, had the blood of the dragon in their veins. I was there, so I know what I say is true. I also know something about you that you have not yet guessed.”

“What is that?” Alex questioned nervously.

“You are of my own bloodline,” Salinor answered. “Both of your parents had dragon blood in their veins, and it flows very strongly in you as well, my child. In fact, I think that you alone among wizards could take the dragon form without fear of losing yourself.”

“The dragon form is warned against by all wizards,” said Alex.

“That is because most wizards would lose themselves in the form of a dragon. They would feel what it is to be a dragon and forget that they were ever men.”

“And you think I should take this form?” Alex asked.

“Not until you are ready,” said Salinor. “You will find great power in the dragon form, greater than you have now, greater than any I have ever had. Yet even with this power, I think you will be able to return to your human form at will. Unless I am much mistaken, you have two true forms—man anddragon.”

Alex wanted to ask more questions but Salinor lowered his head to the cave floor and closed his eyes. Alex bowed to the great dragon, and then left him in his hidden cave. It was a long walk back to the dwarf village, and as he went Alex considered everything Salinor had told him and the promises he had made to the dragon.

The first promise was a small thing, really, and one that Alex had decided to do before ever meeting Salinor face-to-face: cast a spell on the Isle of Bones to hide it from any who might come looking for it. The other two promises Alex had made were more complicated, and he needed time to consider exactly what they meant.

Salinor’s words about his family filled his mind as well, and Alex wondered why he had never thought to ask about his parents’ families before. The idea that he might have living grandparents, aunts and uncles, even cousins, was something new; he wondered how he could find them.

There was one other promise that had come as something of a surprise to Alex, hardly something he’d expected the dragon to think about.

“Always go to your friends in their times of need,” said Salinor in a serious tone. “If a friend calls for your help, go as quickly as you can.”

Of course he would, wouldn’t he? If any of his friends were in trouble, of course he would go to them. That’s what friends did. It seemed natural, the kind of thing he would do without thinking. So why had Salinor made him promise to do it?

As he approached the deserted village, Alex reflected on Salinor’s parting words. Salinor thought that Alex could take the dragon form and still return to his own form again. That was something no wizard had ever done, at least as far as Alex knew. Most wizards would not even try to take the shape of a dragon. Every wizard Alex had read about who had tried had either flown away as a dragon or gone completely mad and died. As he walked along, lost in his thoughts, Alex thought he could hear Salinor’s voice echoing inside his own mind.

“Through your friends and your family you will find your true self,” the dragon’s voice said softly. “Go to them when they need you.”

What did that mean? Alex knew who and what he was, didn’t he? Well, no, he didn’t. He was still learning about whathe was, and he had no real idea about whohe was. Iownan, the Oracle of the White Tower, had told him on his first adventure that he was a mix of races. He’d always thought of himself as human, but that wasn’t exactly true. Somewhere in his family’s history there were other races—elves, dwarfs, and apparently even dragons, according to Salinor. Could that be part of the reason Salinor had told him to look for his family? Was there something in his future that the dragon could see? The questions were enough to drive him crazy, so he tried to push them to the back of his mind. There would be time to think about them later, right now he had to get back to his friends and prepare to leave the Isle of Bones behind.

Chapter Fourteen

The Road to Kazad-Syn

Alex soon left the woods and entered the empty dwarf village. It was a depressing sight now that he knew how sorry Salinor was that the dwarfs had been destroyed. Alex could see that his friends had been busy while he was away, because when he entered the town square piles of treasure glimmered all around him. Some of the piles were stacked almost as high as he was tall, and it was like moving through a giant maze to find the company’s campsite. It was almost midday, and Alex quickened his pace, hoping to reach his friends before they started their meal.