“I’m warning you, stay back! This sword has magic.''Magic!' the dragon gasped in mock fright. It put a claw to its breast. 'Oh, please, brave man, don’t slay me with your magic sword!”

“The brave man slays with a sword, the craven with a wineskin.”

“I'm neither a magician, nor a wizard," Mab's deep voice sounded behind him. John was startled."But you are. I mean you must be. You can do magic.""Not magic, Sword Bearer. /Miracles/."...."But you do magic!" John said, bewildered."No, Sword Bearer. It is true that I have power from the Changer, but the power I have is His power, not ours. It is to be used in his service. Magic is stolen power. The power that Qhahdrun has is magical power. It was stolen from the Mystery of Abomination when he rebelled against the Changer. Qhahdrun really thinks it belongs to him, but one day it will be taken from him. For at the last all power will go back to the Changer from whence it came.”

“A man with a sword has a means to stay alive. A man with a named sword has a reason to stay alive.”

“You want me to go back into that house protected by a magic sticky note?”“Don’t even start,” I told him. “It’s working. If it weren’t working, you couldn’t drag me into that place.”“What did you write on here? ‘Don’t die’?”“No, I wrote, ‘Don’t be an a-hole!’” I headed for the house.“On yours or mine?”“On yours.”“Well, in that case, your magic isn’t working. I’m still an asshole.”

“Who knows, my friend? Maybe the sword does have some magic. Personally, I think it's the warrior who wields it.”