The Dragons of Decay (5 page)

“
Just a feeling, like I said.
In the old days of magic, creatures of darkness could use the cover
of storms, whether in summer or winter, to approach settlements.
Those days are gone, but the magic has returned. Who's to say that
the horrors from the old days haven't returned with it?”

“
Now there's a comforting
thought.”

Just before the storm obscured the
outside world completely, Simon had moved to the southern-facing
window, looked down at the front gate and frowned.

“
Why are the gates open?”
he asked.

“
They are?”

Aeris flew across the room and looked
below.

“
By the Four Winds, they are!”

“
Well, damn it, get them
closed!” Simon had barked and then caught himself.

“
Sorry. Please get them
closed,” he repeated in a lower voice.

The air elemental snickered.

“
There's a time for politeness,
my dear wizard, but this isn't it. I'll be right back.”

He disappeared with a tiny pop of
sound and Simon saw him reappear near the gates, just as the wall of
snow slammed into the tower.

The entire structure actually
shuddered slightly; an amazing feat considering that Kronk and his
fellow earthen had reinforced the building after two red dragons had
attacked about a year earlier.

The glass in both windows actually
creaked and chimed as the glacial winds pushed against them and Simon
cursed under his breath. He hated to do it, but it was obvious that
he'd have to close the shutters over the windows, at least the ones
on the second floor.

It was a battle to seal all of the
windows. The wind hurled blinding snow and ice pellets at him each
time he opened a window to pull the metal-reinforced wooden shutters
closed. He gashed his palm once as he hammered at the bolts inside
the covers to slide and lock them, but he finally finished with the
last set in his bedroom.

He staggered a bit and wiped cold
sweat off of his forehead. Then he hurried downstairs to rinse the
deep cut on his hand and wrap a bandage around it.

Simon was just finishing his first
aid when Kronk slammed open the front door, a howl of wind, snow and
deep cold accompanying him. The little guy turned and forced the door
shut, once again exhibiting his amazing strength.

He looked over at Simon, a small
crust of icy snow covering his head and shoulders.

“
The horses are secure,
master,” he said brightly. “The stable is clean and they
are fed and watered.”

He skittered across the room, jumped
on to the kitchen table and then stared at the wizard's
freshly-bandaged hand.

“
Master! You are wounded!”

“
I'm fine, Kronk. Don't worry.
It just took a little more force than I thought it would to close the
shutters upstairs.”

“
You should have waited for me
to do it, master,” the earthen said with his tiny fists on his
hips. “You mustn't take chances like that.”

Simon filled the iron kettle and hung
it over the fire.

“
Oh, for God's sake, I'm not a
child. I can actually do some things for myself, you know.”

“
Yes, master, I'm sure you
can,” Kronk answered in a tone that meant the exact opposite.
“At least Aeris should have helped you.”

He looked around the room.

“
Where is he anyway?”

Simon leaned back against the counter
to wait for the water to boil.

“
Oh. Well, just before the
storm hit, I checked the gates and noticed that they were open a bit.
I have no idea why, but Aeris popped out to close and lock them
again.”

“
The gates were open?”
Kronk sounded stunned. “But that is specifically against
standing orders, master. I have told my brethren that under no
circumstances may the gates be left open unless the order comes from
you, either directly or through myself or Aeris.”

He shook his head in confusion.

“
What were they thinking?”

Simon just shrugged, a little amused
that the earthen was taking what was obviously a mistake so
seriously.

“
No worries, my friend. Aeris
will close and lock the gates and probably chew out the others for
their error.”

“
No doubt, master. No doubt.”

Kronk looked at the wall of white
just beyond the window near the front door. Then he gave a convulsive
little nod, as if winning an argument with himself, and jumped off of
the table.

“
Wait, where are you going?”
Simon called after him as Kronk ran across the room.

“
Just checking for myself,
master,” the earthen said as he reached the door. He stopped
and turned, giving Simon a penetrating look.

“
Aeris should have returned by
now, master. Perhaps you should get your staff,” and he nodded
at the length of wood and metal leaning next to the door. “Just
in case.”

And with those cryptic words, he
jumped up, opened the door and closed it tightly behind him.

“
Just in case?” Simon
repeated out loud. “Just in case what? It's just a frigging
snowstorm for God's sake.”

A howl of wind slipped past the
tower, sounding remarkably like a child screaming and the wizard
jumped up, startled.

“
Maybe that's not such a bad
idea after all,” he muttered and walked to the door to get his
staff.

Then he retreated to the kitchen
counter, leaned against it again and pulled his spell-book from his
robe pocket.

He had rewritten all of his spells
into a smaller, easy to carry notebook and always kept it on his
person now. He could keep ten spells permanently memorized thanks to
months of dogged, tedious practice and study, and could pack another
ten into his memory temporarily.

Simon doubted that there was anything
wrong, but skimmed through the book regardless, wondering what spells
he might need if there was indeed some sort of emergency.

He dropped the book in surprise as he
looked up, wide-eyed. Something heavy had just slammed against the
front door.

His eyes flew to the bolts on the
inside of the reinforced door. Naturally they were all open, but the
latch was closed against the wind. As he watched, it rattled in its
slot and he saw it bend inward. It wasn't meant to do anything but
keep the door shut.

Simon swallowed convulsively, scooped
up his spell-book and slipped it back into his pocket.

No time to look up spells now, he
thought nervously.

He grabbed the staff and strode
toward the door,

It shuddered for a third time and the
latch squealed in protest, barely keeping the door closed.

Simon quickly chanted a spell.

“
Invectis
!”
he said loudly, just as the door crashed open.

A blast of arctic air hit his shield
spell and was redirected to the sides. The icy snow slammed into the
barrier, setting off little sparks and flashes of light and the
wizard could barely see the opening in front of him.

And then with a chorus of wails, like
damned souls released from Hell, a wall of white bodies leaped
through the doorway directly at him.

“
Holy shi...” he managed
to yell just as he was thrown across the room to slam into the far
wall. The shield cushioned the impact but he was dizzy and shaken up
as he lay on his back, looking up at the ceiling.

Somehow, he had managed to hang on to
his staff, and he staggered to his feet and raised it as he hurried
to cast a second spell.

“
Invectis
!”
he shouted again and heard little tinkles, like tiny chimes, as his
body was covered in a coating of crystal. He looked like a carving of
a man made of glittering diamonds.

The shield was holding and Simon
looked around frantically. His attackers had paused for a brief
moment, stymied by his shield, and he had his first chance to get a
really good look at them,

“
What the...?” he
murmured.

White, so white that they were
difficult to see in the midst of the snow and ice that was blowing
into the tower. Man-shaped but hunched over, the creatures dragged
their skinny arms along the ground. All he saw for certain were
blazing red eyes, gaping maws full of crooked fangs and long, thin
fingers tipped with inch-long claws.

An acidic stench, like urine, filled
the room as they piled in, making him gag.

What the hell are they? he wondered
in shock. And how had they gotten past his wards?

There were at least a dozen of the
monsters already inside the tower and more were crowding in at the
doorway, pushing and shoving as they tried to reach him.

Simon's mind began to race as he
considered the best plan of attack. Creatures that lived in sub-zero
conditions must be vulnerable to fire, he thought quickly.

He glanced up at the wooden ceiling
above him, with its huge cross-beams of oak and felt a pang of
regret.

Stop that, his inner voice said.
Buildings can be rebuilt. Deal with these bastards first.

For some reason that thought calmed
him down and he began to chant.

As he finished, the monsters drew
back a little, and Simon briefly wondered why. He couldn't know that
a smile as cold as the wind blowing into his home had crept across
his lips.

He pointed his staff at the group of
fiends directly in front of him.

“
Invectis
!”
he spat in a voice thick with disgust and hatred.

The room
exploded.

The Fire
Blast spell was an area-effect spell. It was crude and imprecise, but
it was also brute force personified. Everything that could burn in
the room suddenly went up like it was soaked in gasoline.

The
monsters were turned to ash so quickly that their bodies actually
stood for an instant, perfect copies made of lifeless cinders. And
then the wind blew past them, scattering ashes everywhere.

The other
creatures that had been eagerly trying to force their way into the
room drew back with wails of fear. They raced away, disappearing into
the storm. Simon almost followed them but stopped and looked around
at the home he loved engulfed in flames.

He chanted
another spell as quickly as he could and invoked it.

The
Blizzard spell seemed to copy the storm outside but instantly snuffed
out the flames, freezing the entire room and coating the burning
ceiling with ice. Simon hoped that he had snuffed out the fire in
time to at least stop the tower from collapsing from the inside.

With a
shrug, he put away that sad thought, recast his shield spell and
hurried outside.

He could
barely see ten feet in any direction as the wind whipped ice
particles past his shield, sending tiny sparks flying in all
directions. He stopped and listened intently, trying to hear anything
above the screeching blizzard. But he couldn't tell where the
monsters had fled and he realized that he could stumble around for
hours and not find them until they attacked.

Think,
Simon, think, he told himself frantically. How can I find these
things in this storm?

He was trying to decide what to do
when a blood-chilling scream came from the area near the front gates.

The wizard spun toward the sound and
hurried in that direction, slipping on the icy crust of snow that had
already built up around the tower.

As the open gates appeared out of the
white wall of snow, Simon stopped short and stared in disbelief.

There were several bodies scattered
across the ground, black blood and entrails making it look like a
scene out of a horror movie. Two of the monsters were still on their
feet but they were being pulled down by a half-dozen small, brown
figures while something that looked like a miniature tornado
repeatedly slammed into their heads, ripping bits of skin and bone
off of their faces, turning them into gory masses of flesh.

The creatures finally collapsed as
the earthen smashed into them again and again. Simon had never seen
anything so violent and demented as this and could only stand with
his mouth open in shock.

The bodies lay unmoving and obviously
dead and still the elementals, including Aeris, continued to tear
into them, literally ripping them apart.

“
Guys?” Simon called out
tentatively. “Hey guys! Um, I think they're probably dead
enough.”

All of the little figures stopped
attacking and looked over at him. The whirling dervish that was Aeris
slowed to a stop and all seven little elementals simply stared at
Simon blankly.

“
Master!” Kronk called
out in surprise. He was standing on the caved-in chest of one of the
creatures, covered in gore.

“
You're alive, master!”

“
Uh, yeah. Mostly.”