A/N: Hello, you lovely people! I'm sorry for the hiatus, but I've been swamped by real life, including more original fiction projects than I could shake a stick at. See my profile page for details.

There will be more chapters of The Making of a Witch- maybe four more?- but they're only half-written. I'll get to them as soon as I can. And without further ado, here's chapter four.

Chapter Four

"I've decided," Morwen announced. "I'll go back to school."

Kazul nodded. "I think that's very wise of you, little one."

"But only until I'm a full-grown witch and I can live on my own," she stipulated. "I won't stay a minute longer."

"No one could reasonably expect you to. That's the whole point of growing up-so you can make your own living," Kazul pronounced. "Finish your breakfast and I'll help you return to Mistress Piroska. I'm sure she's worried about you."

Morwen shrugged. Mistress Piroska might wonder why a child in her care had vanished in the middle of the night, but Morwen didn't think she would actually worry about her.

Kazul lowered her head until she was looking Morwen in the eye. "I know she's not your mother, but unless she's a wicked witch, she probably cares for you and wants you to be safe."

Morwen couldn't imagine Mistress Piroska as a wicked witch, and giggled at the thought. A little absent-minded, maybe, and rather stern, but not wicked. She finished her food, smiling to herself, and was ready to go in a few minutes.

Staying with Kazul would have been a dream come true, but even she knew that she wasn't yet capable of the work the dragon would expect of her. And now that she'd decided to return to school, she was eager to get it over with.

"I'm ready when you are," she said as she joined Kazul outside the cave, her little bundle of possessions slung over her back.

"It's a long way back to your school," Kazul said. "Shall you ride on my back?"

Morwen's heart leaped at the possibility but she hesitated, not wanting to be rude. "Are you sure?"

"I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't," Kazul said matter-of-factly, and with that encouragement, Morwen scrambled up the dragon's side and settled herself in front of Kazul's wings.

It wasn't exactly comfortable- Kazul's scales were smooth and hard as iron, and Morwen's legs stuck out to the sides because they were so short. But she was riding a dragon, and that was something. She clung to the spike at the base of Kazul's neck and gripped with her knees like she was riding a horse. "I'm ready."

"Hold on tight," Kazul ordered. She took a few running steps then leaped into the air with an enormous flapping of wings that raised a cloud of dust around them until they gained enough height to avoid it. Morwen hung on for dear life. Kazul's muscles bunched and rolled beneath her, and if she hadn't been perfectly balanced, she would have been flung off of her perch onto the ground.

They soared up and up, until the trees were like green broccoli crowns below them and the road was small as an earthworm. Morwen would have liked to raise her arms and imagine she was flying through the air unsupported, but she was so precariously placed that she settled for grinning up into the blue sky and breathing deeply of the crisp, cool breeze that tickled her face and ruffled her hair.

Too soon, Kazul was circling a field to land. Sheep scattered away from them, little white dots that bleated their indignation and fear to the world.

"We're not anywhere near the school," Morwen noted once Kazul was on solid ground. "Why did you land here?"

"There are too many trees near the school for a safe landing," Kazul said. "Don't worry; arriving at school on a dragon's back is impressive enough; it doesn't matter whether I'm flying or walking."

Morwen thought swooping down into the courtyard and terrifying her schoolmates would have been more interesting, but she didn't say that. Kazul began walking and she had to concentrate on staying on. They dragon's walking gait was even stranger than flying, though not as difficult to sit to. At least, if Morwen lost her balance, she would slide to the ground instead of falling out of the sky.

She recognized the field- it belonged to Farmer Jones, who had asked Mistress Piroska for a charm to cure his cow's hoof rot last year. They weren't far from the school, and she grimaced at the thought of going back. It was the right thing to do, but that didn't mean she liked it.

Going from Farmer Jones' field to the school was an easy journey of half an hour. Kazul walked faster than a human and once Morwen got used to the dragon's rolling gait, she didn't mind. They were mostly silent, Morwen only speaking to direct Kazul down one path or another until they reached Mistress Piroska's house on the edge of the village.

It was a reasonably sized house, with a dormitory, dining hall, and three classrooms forming three sides of a square courtyard. Most of the children were playing games outside; Morwen hadn't realized it was already time for morning break. There was Branna- she'd never done anything to Morwen- and neither had Nessa. Morwen smiled to see them playing hopscotch. The smile went away when she saw Celia, along with her cronies, gossiping in a corner. They were too grown up to play games, apparently.

Then someone noticed the dragon waiting outside the yard. Gasps and screams filled the air and the little yard erupted in a flurry of scrambling children darting this way and that, shoving each other in the doorways and hiding behind the columns of the arcade. Morwen sighed. Kazul wasn't so very frightening, only large. She wasn't even showing her teeth.

Morwen slid to the ground and peeked out from behind Kazul. The yard was still and silent for only a moment, then there was a ripple of movement at the hall doors, and Morwen's classmates stood aside for Mistress Piroska to appear under the arch.

Her teacher was white with fear or anger but she advanced steadily across the courtyard. Unable to meet her eyes, Morwen watched her feet with unaccustomed fascination. Mistress Piroska's wooden clogs clunked on the courtyard stones with metronome-like regularity, the sound keeping time with Morwen's heart.

It might have been minutes or hours before the clunk-clunk ceased. Morwen slowly looked up, as if delay might lessen her guardian's fury.

"Well?" Mistress Piroska said. "What is the meaning of this?"

Morwen took a deep breath to give herself time to remember the proper form of introduction. "Good morning, ma'am," she said, willing her voice to remain steady. "May I present to you the dragon Kazul? She aided me when I was in danger. Kazul, may I introduce you to Mistress Piroska, my guardian?"

"How do you do?" Kazul said politely. Everyone within earshot flinched at her voice, like the tolling of a great bell.

Mistress Piroska looked about to explode with anger but she was too experienced to be overset by a mere dragon. "I'm very well, thank you," she said stiffly, with the air of a person whose rapidly-coalescing tirade has been suddenly and instantaneously cut off. "You have my thanks for your care of the child- if she was truly in danger."

"Madam, I assure you the danger was real," Kazul said. "Morwen showed great courage during her ordeal."

"Indeed. Well," she said to Morwen, "as long as you're not hurt, you may go inside. I will speak to you later."

"Yes, ma'am," Morwen whispered, then louder, "Thank you, Kazul, for helping me."

"It was my pleasure. And now you know where to find me, if you ever again need my help."

Thus dismissed, she had to leave the adults to talk. She dragged her feet the whole way across the courtyard, glancing back every few steps and wishing they would call her name.

But a mass of hands stretched forth from her classmates, seized her by the arms, and bundled her under the arcades like they thought Kazul would suddenly decide to eat her if she stayed in the open a moment longer. They whispered their worry to her and hoped she had escaped unscathed, but Morwen ignored them, choosing to watch Kazul's conversation with Mistress Piroska. She couldn't tell what they were saying, and it was a long few minutes before Mistress Piroska curtsied politely and Kazul bowed her head. They parted, Kazul walking back the way she'd come and Mistress Piroska returning across the courtyard.

Morwen stood tall as her guardian came near, determined not to shrink away even though Mistress Piroska looked frightfully grim. Her classmates murmured behind her but Mistress Piroska glared and ordered them out of the way. She put one hand on Morwen's shoulder, less firmly than Morwen expected, and steered her along the corridor and into the little room she used as an office.

Morwen shivered as the door shut behind her and fixed her eyes on the bookshelves behind Mistress Piroska's head. They were full of tomes of all sizes, some dusty, some well-thumbed, and looking at the lettering on their spines was easier than meeting her guardian's eyes.

"The dragon said you ran away."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Why?"

Morwen was silent, wondering if it was better to give her reasons and be ignored, or to keep quiet and still be ignored.

One of her guardian's eyebrows crept up her forehead. "Morwen. You will answer me."

She sighed. "It's like this-" and explained how she'd had enough of her classmates' wit at her expense, and run away to escape them.

Mistress Piroska listened grimly and at the end of Morwen's whispered speech, said, "And you didn't think to tell me, before you ran off and scared the life out of me?"

"I thought you knew and didn't care," she said, looking at her shoes and wishing a chasm would open in the floor and swallow her up.

She'd never before seen Mistress Piroska speechless, and it was a long moment of silence before her teacher shook her head gently and said, "I'm sorry I gave you that impression, dear. I thought you were only a little discontented, not so very unhappy, and that you'd be able to sort out your troubles without my help." She smiled ruefully. "And so you did. Not exactly in the manner I expected."

"I'm sorry, ma'am." She'd never felt so small.

Mistress Piroska put one finger under Morwen's chin so she had to look up. "I know, dear girl. You can make up for it by giving me a promise. Next time you're so unhappy, you must tell me so I can fix the problem. I have many children under my care, but you're the only one who lives with me and has no other adults to ask for help. So I want you to promise that you won't hide from me."

"Yes, ma'am," Morwen said, nodding. And she even meant it, for the most part. She was sure Mistress Piroska didn't want to hear her every little complaint but, well, sorting little complaints from big ones was part of being a grown-up, wasn't it? And Morwen wanted very much to be grown up. "But," she thought of another problem, "You can't protect me all of the time. Celia's father gives money to the school, and if you make her mad, she'll tell him and he'll stop giving to you."

"You think I can't handle Old Master Bain?" Mistress Piroska's eyes were alight with determination, but Morwen wasn't expecting her to add, "He hasn't a magical bone in his body, and if he thinks to harm the school because his daughter tells him to, I'll turn him into a toad."

Morwen clapped her hand over her mouth to stop her burst of laughter from escaping. "You wouldn't! Not really."

"You're right. Perhaps a mouse would be better," Mistress Piroska said, with air of serious consideration. "Now, I believe there's a few minutes left of the break time and I'm sure the other girls are frantic to learn about your adventure. You may go, and I'll speak to Celia later."

"Yes, ma'am. And, thank you." Morwen spun around and flung herself through the door, her heart swelling with happiness. Mistress Piroska believed her! And she wasn't even in trouble. She skipped down the corridor and slipped into the courtyard, where she was promptly mobbed by a crowd of her classmates, all demanding to know what had happened.

"A dragon?" Branna squeaked, her hands at her mouth. "How did you escape?"

"I didn't need to escape," Morwen explained patiently. "Kazul was very kind to me. She arrived at exactly the right moment- I thought those rock snakes were going to eat me for sure."

Of course, that set off another round of clamoring questions, and there was nothing for Morwen to do but tell them the story of her adventure. She carefully made it sound like she had left the school in search of a little excitement, not that she'd run away, and her classmates' gasps of awe and exclamations of praise almost made up for the scolding Mistress Piroska rained down on her head when she caught them talking during their afternoon lessons.

All in all, it was quite a successful adventure, Morwen decided as she lay on her narrow bed that night. Not that she cared to repeat the snake attack anytime soon.