The Dragons of Bone and Dust (Tales from the New Earth Book 7) (42 page)

The
earthen spun around and gaped at the figure standing behind him.

“
Master!
It's you!”

Simon
grinned down at him.

“
Of
course it's me. Who else were you expecting?”

Kronk
turned in confusion and pointed across the field.

“
But,
but, you were right over there! At least, I thought you were.”

He
looked at the shorts that the wizard was wearing.

“
And
you were dressed in a robe, carrying your staff.”

Aeris
must have spotted Simon standing at the gate because he was shooting
toward them at tremendous speed.

“
Oh,
here we go,” the wizard said as he rolled his eyes.

“
What
did you just do?” Aeris asked indigently when he reached the
gate. “What sort of trick was that?”

“
A
pretty effective one, clearly,” Simon said with a teasing grin.
“Now don't glare at me like that. I had to know if I could fool
the people who know me best, and that's you two. So calm down and
tell me what you think.”

Aeris
glowered for another minute and then he seemed to let go of his mood.

“
How
did you do it? That was an Illusion spell, wasn't it?”

“
Exactly
right. I took Brethia's story about Sheila to heart; specifically her
advice about confusing your enemies. I remembered reading something
obscure in Daniel's notebook about illusions but frankly, I passed
over it because I didn't understand what he had written.”

“
Which
was what, master?” Kronk asked.

Simon
pushed one of the double doors of the gate closed and Aeris
obligingly did the same with the other one.

“
It
was there right in front of me,” the wizard said with an
embarrassed laugh as he locked the gate. “The incantation for
an Illusion spell. My God, do you know how many times I could have
used that over the past few years? It's a bit frustrating to think
about it, but what's done is done.”

They
began walking toward the tower, Aeris floating at Simon's shoulder.

“
If
you're speaking of your battles with the dragons, it wouldn't have
helped anyway,” the elemental told him.

“
Why
not?”

“
Because
dragons can see through illusions, my dear wizard. Everyone knows
that.”

His
superior tone elicited a groan from Kronk.

“
Aeris,
everyone who is one of
your
kind may know it, but I certainly did not, nor did our master,
clearly.”

“
Really?
Hmm, what a surprise. Anyway, it's perfectly true. Dragons are
magical creatures. Things like illusions or invisibility spells are
useless around them.”

They
reached the front steps and Simon sat down slowly. The new spell was
incredibly draining and he hoped that he wouldn't have to use it very
often.

Kronk
plopped down on the grass in front of the steps and Aeris continued
to hover to the wizard's right.

“
So
invisibility doesn't work on dragons?” Simon said. “Good
to know. It works on drakes though.”

“
How
could you possibly know that?” the air elemental asked in
surprise. “You can't cast that spell.”

“
No,
but Virginia and the others can, when they're together. Remember
their story about how they escaped their captors back when we found
them? The small fort they were trapped in was attacked by drakes and
all of the bandits were killed. The four of them only got away
because they became invisible.”

“
I'd
forgotten about that. Not that the knowledge is of much use now,
considering that all of the drakes are probably dead.”

“
Do
not be so sure,” Kronk warned him. “Once the primal red
dragon changed others of his kind so that they could live apart from
him, and procreate, I believe that the red drakes were freed from
their leashes and have now scattered across the globe.”

“
A
cheerful thought.”

The
three of them relaxed out of doors for the rest of the afternoon.
Simon had to go inside at one point and put on a light shirt; his
pale skin still burned far too easily for him to take any chances.
Then he moved to sit in the shadows against the outer wall; it was
both cooler and offered shelter from the sun.

“
Have you
thought about Argentium and Esmiralla?” Aeris asked at one
point.

Kronk had wandered off to putter in
the garden and they were alone. The little guy simply couldn't sit
still for too long; he always had to be doing something.

Simon pulled his bare knees up under
his chin and looked up at the thin clouds lazily flowing across the
sky.

“
Many
times,” he said. “Where they are, what they're doing.
Yeah, many times.”

Aeris floated down and landed in
front of the wizard's bare feet. He sat down and looked at Simon
quizzically.

“
Has it
never occurred to you to call for their aid? I know how you feel
about Esmiralla, but Argentium told you that he'd help if you ever
needed him. And let's be honest here; for the upcoming battle, you
could use all the help you can get.”

“
Gee, thanks
for that vote of confidence. But this isn't his battle, Aeris; it's a
human problem. Well, it's a human and dwarf problem really. But it
really doesn't involve the lawful dragons. I suppose at some point
we'll have to meet up with Argentium and Esmiralla, if we survive,
that is, but for right now all the human race can depend on is each
other.”

He leaned back and rested his head
against the stone wall.

“
We're on
the ropes, you know. A handful of us left? And the Chaos lords
gunning for us? My God, I can't imagine anything more desperate than
our situation right now. But if we succeed in bringing down that
damnable tower and destroying the evil within? Then I think we'll
have a breather, a respite to plan a long-term strategy. That's when
I'll contact Argentium and see if he's willing to help us going on
into the future. On the other hand, if we fail, it will be a moot
point anyway. Most of humanity's leaders and magic-users will be dead
and the rest will have to remain with the dwarves until the end,
whenever that may be.”

Aeris mirrored Simon's pose, pulling
his translucent legs up and wrapping his arms around them. He nodded,
his small face blank of expression.

“
Your mood
has taken a gloomy turn, hasn't it?” he said without looking at
the wizard. “You have a very good chance of succeeding in this
endeavor, you know. You are a very strong wizard. Tamara and her
brother are excellent spell-casters as well. I know nothing of that
Barnaby fellow, but Veronique is powerful. With their help and
Malcolm and Aiden, I don't think that evil tower will be able to
stand against you.”

Simon smiled faintly at the
encouragement.

“
What about
Liliana?” he asked softly, the heat of the day making him
drowsy.

“
Yes, the
paladin. Her powers and skills may be the most important of all. She
may tip the scales in your favor.”

That firm statement woke Simon up and
he looked intently at Aeris.

“
How so?”

“
Oh, come
now, my dear wizard. A paladin going to war against necromancers and
the undead? What could be more perfect? She was made for this sort of
battle. Liliana will cut through that tower of corruption like a hot
knife through butter. I doubt that whoever the leader is in there
will know what hit them.”

“
I hadn't
thought of it like that,” Simon admitted.

“
Well I
have. Added to that is the fact that the lady paladin can heal
herself between skirmishes. I doubt that your enemies are prepared
for what is in store for them. So cheer up; things aren't quite as
desperate and gloomy as you may think.”

A pep talk from Aeris, Simon said to
himself. Who would have believed it?

“
Thanks for
reminding me of our strengths,” the wizard said as he pushed
himself to his feel with a groan. “I'm going to grab a towel
and take a swim. The lake will be warm but it's still refreshing.
Want to come along?”

Aeris flew upward and floated at the
height of Simon's head.

“
As
fascinating as that sounds, I'll pass. I want to do a quick patrol to
the north. In fact, I think I'll cross the river and scout out the
area on the other side. It's been far too long since I poked around
up there and I want to see what's changed.”

“
Have fun
and be careful.”

“
Yes
granny,” Aeris said acerbically. “I'll be back in a few
hours. Don't drown.”

And with that the elemental shot off
into the bright sky, quickly disappearing from sight.

“
Yeah, I'll
do my best,” Simon muttered and headed for the tower. “I
can't believe he just called me granny.”

That night, Simon and Kronk were
sitting on the front steps outside under the stars. The windows in
the tower were all wide open to cool it off from the heat of the day
and the wizard wanted to enjoy the fresh evening chill as it
descended.

He was sipping some apple juice that
had been cooling in the basement and watched the distant stars
silently.

Kronk sat next to him, looking like a
large lump of coal in the darkness. There was a new moon that night
and the only light was that of the stars.

“
How's the
garden doing?” Simon asked him quietly.

The earthen turned his glowing red
eyes upward to look at the wizard and smiled.

“
Well,
master, thank you. I am pleased that the first batch of apples came
in just in time for this heat wave. You seem to be enjoying the juice
I made for you.”

“
Love it.
I'll tell you though; I don't know exactly what month it is, but back
in the old days there is no way any apples would have been ripe at
this time of year.”

“
I suppose I
do have a way with plants, master,” the little guy agreed
modestly. “By the way, have you seen Aeris lately?”

“
No, but he
decided to do some scouting earlier. Frankly, I think he was bored.
He said he wanted to cross the river and poke around on the northern
side of it.”

“
But master,
what about Aquamastis? Won't that anger him? He has claimed the
entire river, after all.”

Simon watched a streak of light
appear and disappear in a flash across the sky, the death of a
meteorite, and took a deep breath. The air was finally cooling down
and, for the moment, he was feeling a deep contentment.

“
No, I don't
think so. The water elemental doesn't want anyone crossing the river,
but he meant anyone actually
in
the water, not above it. Aeris will be fine.”

“
Ah
I see. Well, that is good to know. And no word yet from the people of
Kingstone?”

“
Nothing.
I'm pretty sure that it will be soon though. It's high summer but
time passes quickly and Tamara wants to move on the dark tower before
the autumn, so it should be any day now.”

“
Are
you ready, master?” Kronk asked in a small voice.

Simon
looked down at his wide, burning eyes and nodded slowly.

“
I
think so. Well, as ready as I will ever be. I'm actually relieved to
be going into this with a group this time. Fighting alone against
some of the primal dragons was...”

He tried
to think of a word big enough to describe battling an enormous
dragon.

“
Challenging,
I guess,” he finished lamely. “I don't know. I'm just
glad to have some backup this time.”

“
As
am I, master. And what about us?”

“
What
about you what?”

Kronk
stood up and folded his arms decisively.