Free Dragon's Breath by E. D. Baker

you do. He comes from a family whose witches can't make a decent potion without reading it from a book. Forget about him. He's wasting your time and talents." With a wave of her hand and some foreign-sounding words, Grandmother gestured toward Haywood, who disappeared with an audible pop.
    "Haywood!" screamed Grassina, her eyes wide with horror as she stared at the empty spot where the otter had just stood. "Mother, what have you done?"
    "I've done you both a favor by sending him to a very nice place where he should be perfectly happy, if he survives. He's going to start forgetting you, Grassina. By the third day, he'll have forgotten that he was ever human. An hour after the sun rises on the fourth day, the change will be permanent. Now get out of my way. That half-baked wizard Olefat has a lot to answer for, and I'm going to make sure he has a miserable time doing it." Twirling her cloak around her shoulders, Grandmother swung her leg over her broom and leaned forward. Before my grandmother could take off, however, Grassina darted in front of her and grabbed the broom handle.
    "No, you don't, Mother!" Grassina said. "You're not leaving until you bring my Haywood back!" I had never seen my aunt so angry before. Her face was red and veins stood out on her forehead.
    "Out of my way, you ninny!" screeched my grandmother. "It's not my fault that you're too dim-witted to know when someone's done you a good turn." She flicked her fingers at Grassina. Silver sparks shot from her fingertips, sizzling like fat on a hot pan. A spark landed on Grassina's wrist, burning her skin.
    Grassina jumped back, gesturing with both hands while muttering something under her breath. A swirl of snowflakes whispered between the two women, extinguishing sparks with a hiss. When the snow cleared, my grandmother had already shot into the sky, cackling that nasty laugh of hers. "Horatio's not good enough for you, Grassina!" she screeched. "Forget about him!"
    "That horrible witch!" exclaimed Grassina, scowling at my grandmother as she flew out of sight. "She can't do this to me again. I won't let her get away with it!"
    I shook sparks from my skirt and resolved that I would never use my magic to hurt anyone. It hadn't occurred to me that my grandmother would try to hurt her own daughter.
    "Now what am I going to do?" wailed my aunt. "Even if I bring Haywood home before four days are up, Mother will refuse to change him back."
    "You don't need her to do it! Eadric tried to tell you earlier—we overheard her explain to the other memories what you need to reverse it."
    A gossamer hair from mother-of-pearl.
>The breath of a dragon green.
A feather from an aged horse,
The husk of a magic bean.
    Tears streamed down Grassina's face. I couldn't remember ever seeing my aunt cry before. "But I have to find Haywood!" she said. "I'm sure she sent him somewhere ghastly. I don't have time to find him and ail those items."
    "All you have to do is find Haywood," I said. "Eadric and I can start looking for the things you need. We'll meet you back at the castle. Today is Tuesday, so four days from now would be Saturday. If we work together, I'm sure we can do this."
    "I don't know if I should let you," said Grassina. "It may be too dangerous. You'd need to look in the sea for the mother-of-pearl, and as to getting the dragon's breath—"
    "That part should be easy. I already know where we can find a dragon. We came across one in the enchanted forest."
    "I don't think—"
    "Please, Grassina. It's my fault that you talked to Grandmother. If I hadn't been so sure that she would help us, we'd all be back at the castle right now and none of this would have happened. Please let me make it up to you. I can do this, I know I can."
    "I can't—"
    "You've helped me my whole life, and this is the first time I'll be able to do something for you. Please give me the chance."
    Grassina wiped tears from her eyes with the back of her hand. "Are you sure about this? It won't be