Serali was delighted. Everything he was saying fell in line with her own experiences, and she was learning more than she'd known about the real facts. "What about the stories about dragons that you always hear?"

He shrugged. "They're just that, stories. They don't bear much relation to reality. Rogue dragons, that have for some reason decided to turn violent, do occasionally attack human settlements, and have to be chased off or killed, but that's pretty much the extent of it, and even that is relatively uncommon. Most of the 'dragon slayers' you run into have actually fought drakes, or wyverns, or other dragon-like animals, and not real dragons. But of course they love to tell wild stories about the things dragons get up to."

"So dragons don't actually carry off princesses?"

"No." Janus laughed. "Well, not usually. I did hear one story, from a reliable source, about it happening a single time. But it wasn't much like in the stories the dragon slayers tell!"

"Oh?"

"Yes. There was a young man, very much in love with a silly young woman. She insisted that she wanted to marry a hero, somebody who had proved his love with great deeds. Well there were two competing for her, and the one was a real fighter. But this young man wasn't. What he was though was friends with a young dragon. So he asked the dragon a favor. The dragon swooped down while the girl was out for a walk and carried her off. Then the young man chased it to its lair, and 'fought' it quite dramatically, and drove it off. She was so grateful for him saving her that she agreed to marry him on the spot."

Serali giggled. She could imagine doing something like that. It would be such fun! More fun even than leading the dragon-slayer around had been. But it was also completely ridiculous. "That's silly! Though I guess people who are in love do silly things. Karina is always mooning about after Ricolo, and he's two years older and likes somebody else, but that doesn't stop her from doing all sorts of silly things to try and get his attention." She herself had vaguely noticed that boys existed, but since more or less every boy near her age in the village had beat her up at one point or another she found herself less interested in them than she might otherwise have been. "It s a little sad too," she added. "She's only upsetting herself trying it."

"Yes. Love can be a very sad thing." Janus stared of into space, a faint expression of melancholy on his features.

She guessed what probably was behind the expression. "Were you ever in love?"

He sighed softly. "Yes, a very long time ago. She was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Her hair was a silver that put the metal itself to shame, and her eyes were purple, dark and deep enough to drown in. She was graceful and wild, a free spirit like no other. But the things which drew me to her were the very things that meant it could never be. She didn't want to be tied to one place and I have a duty. This trip now is the only time I ever leave the city. So she left. I haven't seen her in many years, but I still miss her."

Then he shook his head. "Well, enough of that, I can't go dwelling on what's past. What else shall we discuss?"

"Do you know anything else about dragons?"

He considered. "Not really. Ah! Bardic magic. Dragons all have perfect pitch, and are natural bardic mages. Some are better than others, and they tend to use it differently than human bards do, but they all have the gift. Which reminds me of something else, actually." He pulled a small object from one of the many little pouches at his belt. "Here. I brought this to show you something. I know you love music, and you seem to have a natural gift for it, so I wanted to try a little experiment." He held out the object to her and she took it. It was a small crystal, tinted purple which shaded from light at one end to dark at the other.

"What is it?"

"It's an amethyst. Quartz or citrine will work for this too, but I've always preferred amethyst. The crystal is the component for a cantrip."

"A cantrip?" Serali had never heard the word before.

"A cantrip is a very small spell," the mage explained. "It doesn't take a lot of talent or power to do, and all you need is the single component and a single word or action."

Serali considered that. "But if you just need an object and a word, why don't people cast them by accident?"

"An excellent question! First, because the language of magic isn't the same as the language we speak everyday. Second because not everyone has mage talent. But third and most importantly, because you have to clearly visualize the results you want, otherwise nothing will happen."

"I see."