The Dragons of Decay (41 page)

“
Yes Mom, I'll do that,”
Simon said with a grin. “And I'll call you back after I talk to
Liliana. Probably in a day or two.”

Kronk poked him and the wizard looked
at him in surprise.

“
What?”

“
Tell her about our new
addition, master,” the earthen said with a smile.

“
What was that?” Clara
asked curiously.

“
Oh sorry. Kronk just reminded
me to mention that Sunshine had her foal.”

“
By the gods, I'd forgotten all
about that! What did she have? How is she? How are they both?”

Simon laughed at the woman's eager
questions.

“
Let's see now. She had a
filly. She's in excellent health, as is the mare. And Kronk named her
Sunbeam because she's the color of a banana, although she has a brown
stripe down the center of her back.”

“
That's wonderful news, Simon.
Truly wonderful. I didn't think anything could make me happier than
knowing you are with us again, but I was wrong. One day, when you are
back to your old self, perhaps you can bring me up for a visit.”

“
It's a date. In the meantime,
I'll keep you apprised of her progress. We'll talk again soon.”

“
Excellent. Thank you for
calling, my friend. It's so good to see you well and whole.”

“
Thanks Clara. Take care.”

Both Kronk and Aeris waved and the
wizard shook the mirror to cancel the spell.

“
So, what did you think?”
he asked as he set down it down on the desk.

“
About what?” Aeris
asked. “Her reaction?”

“
That and just the way the town
is coming together.”

“
I think that they are doing
well, master,” Kronk said happily. “And I am glad that we
can help them some more.”

“
You know, Kronk,” Aeris
said to him. “Sometimes your consistently pleasant nature gives
me a headache.”

The earthen snorted in disgust.

“
Elementals don't get
headaches,” he said tartly. “And what is wrong with you?
Why must you always be so gloomy?”

Aeris rose up several inches off of
the desk and bobbed up and down with his fists on his hips.

“
I am not gloomy,” he
stated. “I am a realist. Yes, things are going well right now
with them down there, but how long can it last? Why haven't either of
you mentioned the most ominous part of our dear wizard's rebirth? Are
you both intentionally blind?”

Simon frowned at him.

“
What are you talking about?”
he asked as he looked at Kronk, who looked mystified.

“
The dragon!” Aeris
exclaimed. “The dragon who, oh so coincidentally, appeared
several hours after your rebirth. And almost killed you, by the way.
It had to have been sent by the lords of Chaos, don't you think? And
if so, with your return this tower is now an even bigger target than
it was before. So is the new settlement down in Florida, because they
are your allies.”

“
You know, that's a very good
point,” Simon said slowly. “Funny, I just sort of put
that dragon out of my mind. Kronk?”

“
As did I, master. We have
faced so many dangers that one more seemed almost...trivial.”

“
Trivial?” Aeris threw
his hands into the air. “We are talking about a red dragon
here. They are, in their own way, as powerful as the browns. And with
the primal brown and its legions in the elven lands, the reds are
also the only species of dragon left on Earth. They have one mission
and one mission only: destroy all humans. Oh and who just happens to
be the nexus of the fight against the dark gods and the dragons at
the moment, according to the gods of Light?” He pointed a
trembling finger at Simon. “You, my dear wizard. Think about
that for a moment.”

“
You're right,” Simon
said to Kronk solemnly. “He is gloomy.”

“
What? I'm, I just...argh!”

The wizard laughed shortly and
grinned at him.

“
Easy, Aeris. Don't burst
anything. I'm just kidding.”

The air elemental subsided with a
grumble but looked a little less tense.

“
There, that's better,”
Simon said. He leaned forward and rested his chin in his hands.

“
You are quite right though,”
he said thoughtfully. “Obviously our enemies know that I'm
back. The goddess warned me that they would and it seems that she was
right.”

He looked around the room vaguely,
the light from the candles on the desk making the shadows dance. The
daylight from outside struggled to get through the ice coating the
windows and the study was quite dark.

“
I think that the tower is as
secure as I can make it. We know that it can stand up to a dragon
attack; it's already done so. But the new town is a different story.
Walls won't keep out a dragon, even if they are warded.”

He looked at Kronk who was listening
closely.

“
What they need down there is a
central structure, like the tower here, where I can place a ward that
will connect all of the other wards together to shield the entire
town.”

“
It would have to be a very
powerful one, master,” the earthen said, stroking his chin.
“The ward on the top of this tower connects all of the others
along the outer wall, but the grounds here are not nearly as large in
size as those of the new town. I do not know if such a thing is
possible.”

“
You don't need to protect the
entire town,” Aeris said as if stating the obvious.

“
We don't?”

“
Of course not. If the
townspeople rebuild following the pattern of Nottinghill, which I'm
guessing they will, they will build a central town hall. You only
need to ward that structure. The town's outer wall will repel a
ground-based attack and, if dragons attack from the air, the
community can retreat into the warded hall and wait out the assault.”
He shrugged. “The town itself would probably suffer significant
damage, but the people would survive.”

“
Damn,” Simon said
heatedly. “If only I'd warded the town hall in Nottinghill that
way, maybe the people wouldn't have had to move after all. Or die,”
he added grimly.

“
You could not know that wights
would overcome the town's defenses, master,” Kronk told him.
“When we travel down to the new settlement, my brethren and I
will add arches to both gates and you can ward them properly. That
will stop almost anything from breaking through. And if Clara agrees,
we will construct a town hall that you can ward as well.”

“
You look quite pale at the
moment, my dear wizard,” Aeris said abruptly. “You need
to eat something. This casting is draining your rather thin reserves
more quickly than I imagined it would.”

He floated over to the doorway.

“
I will warm up some stew.
Kronk, don't let him use any more magic and get him downstairs as
soon as you can.”

“
Agreed,” Kronk replied
with a glance at Simon. “He is looking a bit peaky, isn't he?”

“
He is, so get him moving. And
put out those candles before you come down. The last thing we need is
another fire in the tower.”

“
Um, guys? I'm not a child,”
Simon protested. “Stop talking as if I'm not in the room.”

Aeris just shook his head and went
out, leaving Kronk to meet the wizard's frown with one of his own.

“
Master, you know that we have
your best interests at heart, do you not?”

“
Yes, of course you do. But...”

“
And you have never been the
best gauge of your own physical condition, yes?”

“
Well, yes, only...”

“
Then please allow us to help
get you back to your old self. We want to do it and your friends need
you back in fighting form, so do not argue, master. Just accept the
help knowing that it is for your own good.”

He stopped speaking and his red eyes
widened as if he was surprised at his own boldness. But before he
could apologize, Simon held up a hand.

“
Don't be sorry for setting me
straight, Kronk. I need that sometimes. You two are amazingly patient
with me and, although I may not always show it, I really am grateful
for it.”

“
Then in that case, master,”
the earthen said with a little smile. “Get downstairs and eat!”

And he making little shooing motions
toward the door.

“
Yes sir!” Simon replied,
laughing, and he got up and left the room. Kronk pinched out the
candles and followed him, looking decidedly pleased with himself.

The next day dawned heavily, with
puffy, gray clouds choking the sky. Simon looked up at them nervously
as he hurried to the outhouse. They looked ominous.

When he went back into the tower and
asked, Aeris confirmed the worst.

“
Yes, a storm is approaching,”
he said with a shrug. “But it is not anything violent, my dear
wizard. I feel a lot of heaviness though, so I believe that there
will be a significant accumulation of snow.”

Simon sighed and nodded.

“
Oh the joys of winter,”
he said as he made his tea. Aeris had toasted some bread and he
spread blueberry jam on it and then sat down to eat.

“
Unfortunately, we have several
more months of this before spring arrives,” the air elemental
said as he floated over to the table. “At the risk of jinxing
us, we have to assume that, during one of the upcoming storms, there
will be an attack on the tower.”

“
Hopefully not until I'm back
to my old self,” Simon muttered with his mouth full.

“
We can only hope. Personally,
I think the winter is also a bit of a blessing.”

The wizard looked at Aeris
skeptically.

“
A blessing? How is this damned
weather a blessing?”

“
The red dragons,” Aeris
replied. “You've been back several days and, after that initial
attack on you after your rebirth, we haven't seen a single dragon.
And I think I know why.”

“
Oh? Do tell,” Simon said
with a touch of sarcasm.

“
The weather, my dear wizard.
Red dragons hate the cold. Yes, you were attacked by them a few years
ago during the winter, but that was a scheme to steal your magic. Now
that the tower is more fully protected and you are wearing your
amulet against such an attack...”

Simon reached up and felt the piece
of crystallized dragon's blood that hung on a chain around his neck.
He had found it hanging in his closet, but couldn't remember having
left it there. Yet another mystery.

“
Now that you are protected
from them that way,” Aeris continued. “I believe that the
dragons will not bother you here, at least not until the spring.”

“
Oh, I wish we could be sure
that was true,” Simon said with a touch of hope. “It
would be one less thing to worry about.”

“
I think we can be fairly
certain it is. The lady paladin has not reported any dragon sightings
over Moscow, has she?”

“
Lately? I don't know. But that
last time we spoke? No, she hadn't.”

“
Exactly. Red dragons hate
winter and it would take more than the urging of the dark gods to
make them endure it to get at you or other humans. Their leader is
one of the oldest of the dragons and, legend has it, is incredibly
arrogant. That primal even goes against the wishes if its queen, when
it disagrees with her.”

“
Wow, really? I thought that
all dragons were under her control.”

“
Under her command, yes. But
control? No. She may pass along the dark gods' wishes, but the primal
red dragon does not always follow orders. Or so it was said back in
the old days.”

“
Now that is interesting,”
Simon mused. “I wonder if we can use that somehow?”

“
Possibly. Arrogance is a
weakness, after all.”

“
Yeah, well, I'll think about
that later.”

Simon got up, washed his utensils,
made a second cup of tea and sat down again. He picked up the mirror
and gave Aeris a worried look.

“
What if something's happened
while I've been gone? They are so isolated in Moscow, especially in
the winter, and there are so few of them. What if...”

“
What if's solve nothing, my
dear wizard,” the air elemental said firmly. “Call them
and find out.”

“
Right. Right, okay. Good
point.”

Simon held up the mirror, rattled off
the Magic Mirror spell and focused on his memory of Liliana's face
the last time they had spoken.

The reflective surface misted over
quickly and, just as quickly, cleared up again.

“
Wow, that was fast,”
Simon said under his breath as Aeris moved to hover next to his
shoulder.

He was looking into the mirror at a
darkening sky. Liliana was standing on the roof of a tall,
battered-looking building and gazing upward. For a moment Simon was
afraid that she was watching an attacker, but although the sky was
dotted with fast-moving clouds, there were no dragons in sight.