The Dragons of Ash and Smoke (Tales from the New Earth Book 5) (30 page)

“
Good morning, my
dear wizard,” came a voice from the doorway.

Simon sighed and closed
his eyes for a moment. And so it begins.

“
Morning, Aeris,”
he said and turned his head to watch the elemental float across the
room, holding a steaming cup with both hands. A delicious smell
filled the room and Simon sat up with a smile.

“
You made coffee?”
he asked as he accepted the cup.

“
Certainly. You need
the pick-me-up. You aren't exactly a morning person, are you?”

“
Not exactly,”
Simon responded with a chuckle. He sipped the hot liquid carefully
and savored the strong flavor.

“
I take back
everything bad I ever said about you,” he told Aeris with a
wink.

The elemental snorted with
derision.

“
I doubt that.
Anyway, did you want to head down south and check out those cows
later today?”

“
Yes please. The
sooner the better, don't you think?”

“
I do. If you want
to get them used to a new home, and to being domesticated, starting
early in the season would be best. Especially since several of the
cows have calves. Raise the young in captivity and by next year, they
will feel at home here.”

“
Good point. Calves?
Excellent.”

Simon slipped out of bed
and stood up, shivering a bit in the cool morning air.

“
Think the water in
the lake is warm enough for a swim this morning?”

“
It was steaming a
little while ago, so I'd say yes. Just make sure you put on a robe
and shoes before you leave the tower or Kronk will get all maternal
and chase after you. Again.”

The wizard laughed under
his breath and went over to rummage in his cupboard for an old robe.
He found one, grabbed his soap and a towel and headed for the stairs.

Aeris had been right. The
morning air was cool but it made the water in the lake feel that much
warmer. Simon washed up and then swam a few laps, watched with some
interest by the horses. He guessed that Kronk had let them out early
so that he could begin working in the garden.

Back inside, the wizard
got dressed properly, ate a quick breakfast of toast and jam and
prepared to Gate to the vicinity of the cattle that Aeris had
spotted.

“
Are you sure that
that's the right spot?” he asked the air elemental.

They were huddled over his
atlas in the study. Aeris had found the coordinates for Simon to use
as his target when he Gated, but he'd sounded just a little bit
tentative. It made the wizard nervous.

“
Fairly sure,”
Aeris told him and then frowned. “What? Cows move around. This
is where I saw them, yes, but they could have moved several miles
since then. I won't swear that they are still there; that would be
unprofessional.”

Simon wrote the
coordinates on a scrap of paper and slipped it into his pocket.

“
Don't worry about
it. I didn't expect us to pop in right next to them, you know. In
fact, that would just spook them and we don't want to do that.”

He closed the book and
looked around the room, wondering if he was forgetting something.

“
Okay. Let's go,”
he said and Aeris followed him downstairs.

“
Oh, do me a favor
and shoot around to the back, would you? Tell Kronk that we're going?
He's working in the garden.”

“
He's going to
remind me to take care of you and not let you take any unnecessary
risks, you know,” the elemental said, sounding a little
exasperated.

“
It's because he
cares,” Simon reminded him. “Just smile and nod. He only
wants acknowledgment of his concerns, that's all.”

“
Fine, fine.”

Aeris disappeared with a
small pop of imploding air and the wizard crossed to the door to grab
his staff.

“
How are you doing?”
he asked it cheerfully. “Sorry if I've been neglecting you, but
you'll be getting a lot of work shortly.”

Simon ran his fingers over
the jeweled runes on the shaft of the weapon absently as he
considered the best way to catch a cow.

This should be
interesting, he thought.

“
He just said to
have fun,” Aeris said from behind him and Simon jumped with a
yelp.

“
Don't do that!”

“
Oh sorry. Forgot.
Anyway, Kronk is so busy digging that he barely paid any attention to
me. Let's get out of here before it dawns on him that we're actually
leaving and he races in here to make sure you're wearing socks.”

“
Be nice,”
Simon told him, trying not to smile. “Now grab hold and let's
do this.”

He took the coordinates
out of his pocket, fixed them firmly in his mind and then glanced at
Aeris, who was holding on to his sleeve.

The elemental nodded once.

“
Gate,” Simon
said firmly, and the tower faded to black.

“
Shield!” he
shouted a few seconds later as they appeared in the center of a field
surrounded by cows. The bovines were all staring at him in
astonishment. All but one. An enraged bull was racing at him from
some twenty yards away, its head lowered. Viciously sharp horns at
least a foot long were aimed straight at the wizard as he stood on
open ground, totally exposed.

The cows finally bawled in
fear and scattered in all directions, mothers and calves among them.
Simon was left standing in the path of the maddened animal with
nowhere to run.

His shield appeared mere
seconds before the creature smashed into him.

“
Brace yourself,”
Aeris yelled just before impact.

“
How?” Simon
replied as he gritted his teeth and held onto his staff for dear
life.

And then he was flying end
over end, twenty feet in the air. An analytical part of him knew that
before the Change, even a bull wouldn't have had that kind of power.

They're stronger, he
thought wildly as he spun across the field. A lot stronger.

The shield bounced as it
hit the ground and Simon slammed into it. He was shaken by the impact
and his teeth snapped together loudly.

“
Hang on,”
Aeris said from somewhere close by. “It's not done with us
yet.”

“
What?”

And the bull slammed into
the shield and sent them flying yet again.

“
Oh come on!”
the wizard shouted at the furious bull. He couldn't actually see the
beast because he was spinning so much.

This time Simon landed
face first against the shield and he was surrounded by sparks as the
energy field bounced across the open field. There was a sickening
crunch that he remembered hearing once before, in his old life.

“
Shit,” he
muttered weakly as he continued to bounce. “My nose is broken.”

The shield finally rolled
to a stop, resting against a tree. He managed to get his feet under
him and stood up slowly.

“
Where is it?”
he asked a little woozily.

Aeris hovered at his
shoulder, none the worse for wear.

“
You're bleeding,
Simon,” he said, wide-eyed. “Rather badly.”

“
Forget that. Where
the hell is the bull?”

The elemental pointed and
the wizard turned quickly and then almost fell as his wobbly legs
nearly failed him.

The bull was racing across
the field after its disappearing herd. Apparently it had decided that
the threat had been neutralized and now went off to try and round up
its harem.

Good luck with that,
buddy, Simon thought with painful amusement.

He canceled the shield and
then staggered a few yards to the small tree they had run into. The
bull had slammed him to the edge of the forest as easily as a child
would kick a soccer ball.

He sat down heavily and
leaned his head back against the trunk.

Aeris followed and floated
a few feet in front of him.

“
I am so sorry,”
he said contritely as he watched a trickle of blood ooze from the
wizard's nose and then drip on to his lap.

“
I had no idea that
we would appear anywhere near those blasted cattle, let alone close
enough to spook that bull.”

Simon shrugged and shook
his head slowly.

“
Not your fault,”
he said, slurring his words a bit. “I should have cast Shield
before we left. It's a good lesson for me and I'll make sure not to
forget it next time.”

He reached up and gently
touched his nose. He could tell that it was pointing to the left a
bit. Yup. Broken.

“
Could you set this
for me?” he asked Aeris, pointing at it.

The elemental flew closer
and stared at Simon's nose with narrowed eyes. He finally nodded.

“
Yes, I can see the
break through your skin. But it is going to hurt, my dear wizard. A
lot. Are you sure you want to do this?”

Simon closed his eyes. His
nose was throbbing in time with his heartbeat; the pain dull but
steady.

“
No, but I have to.
I've broken it before, you know. Well, the old me did. I know that
the sooner it's set, the better it will heal.”

He opened his eyes and
looked directly at his friend.

“
So do it.”

Aeris nodded and then
searched the ground around the tree. He picked up a small branch that
was still green and snapped off a six inch section. The branch was
about an inch thick.

“
Here,” he
said as he offered it to Simon.

The wizard looked at the
piece of wood blankly for a moment.

“
Ah, of course,”
he said as he fuzzily figured out what it was for. “Thanks.”

He took a breath, slipped
the wood cross-ways between his teeth and bit down hard.

“
Okay,” he
mumbled and then braced his head against the tree trunk and closed
his eyes.

“
All right,”
Aeris told him.

Simon felt the little
hands gently press against each side of his nose and held his breath.

“
On the count of
three. One. Two...”

There was a moment of
intense pressure on his nose followed by a snap that echoed through
his skull. The wave of pain that followed made Simon bite down so
hard on the piece of wood in his mouth that he almost bit it in half.
He sucked in a deep breath and swallowed several times to keep from
vomiting.

“
Three,” Aeris
said.

Simon opened his eyes and
glared at the elemental, who winked and moved back a few feet. He
looked at the wizard's nose critically.

“
Perfect,” he
said with a satisfied nod. “It snapped back into place exactly
as it should. You will have some swelling for a few days, which means
that Kronk is going to be fussing over you with his usual mother hen
routine.” He grimaced. “And he's going to yell at me for
getting you hurt. Again, the usual routine.”

With a careful turn of his
head, Simon spat out the wood and touched his nose tentatively. The
pain was down to a dull throb again but much more bearable. He used
his sleeve to gently wipe the blood off of his face.

“
Glad I wore brown
today,” he said. The streak of red on his robe wasn't too
noticeable. “Thanks Aeris.”

He pushed himself to his
feet and took a minute to find his balance.

“
Do you want to stay
and poke around or head back?” Aeris asked him. “I think
you should take the day to rest after that injury.”

“
Yeah, probably. But
we'll have to return for some cows later, so let's look around and
see if we can find a safe place to Gate back to when we do.”

“
Ah, good idea.”
Aeris looked around. “Which direction?”

Simon shaded his eyes with
his hand and looked across the field. The sun was blazingly bright at
midday and he could barely see the woods on the far side of the
clearing.

“
Well, not that way,
at least,” he said with a wave. “One meeting with that
damned bull was more than enough for me. Come on, Aeris, you're the
scout here. Find me a rise somewhere close, preferably clear of trees
so that I can see the surrounding countryside.”

“
Not asking for
much, are we?” the elemental replied tartly. Then he grinned.
“Ah, I love a challenge. Stay here for a moment while I take a
look around.”

And with that, he shot
straight up through the branches above them and disappeared from
sight.

Simon smiled and folded
his arms. He leaned against the tree and waited, keeping a careful
watch on the field in case the bull reappeared looking for round two.

Aeris returned a few
minutes later.

“
I think I've found
just the place,” he said cheerfully. “And it's through
the forest behind you, so we won't have to dodge that bull.”

“
Thank God for that.
Lead the way. Just take it slow, would you? My nose is feeling better
but now I've got a huge headache.”