The Dragons of Ice and Snow (33 page)

Simon glanced at the cleric and watched
as she closed her eyes tiredly and lowered her head.

“They were gone all day and most
of the night. We weren't too concerned. I mean, two armored warriors
with great skill and enchanted weapons? What could possibly hurt
them?”

She turned and gestured for the wizard
to sit down again. She followed and then took a long swallow of
juice.

“They got back early the next
morning, covered in blood and bleeding from several wounds.”

“They were attacked?”

“Yes. They had been on their way
back to town, having seen no sign of whatever it was that was out
there, when something jumped them from above. They couldn't see it
clearly in the darkness. Malcolm said it was big, bigger than he is,
which is saying something. It was hairy and it was all claws and
fangs. It stank like an open sewer apparently. And it attacked like a
mad thing, didn't even try to protect itself. Insane is the way Aiden
described it.”

“They killed it?”

“Of course. But not before it
scratched and bit them in several places. Even armor leaves gaps, I
suppose. Malcolm had a deep gash on his forehead and Aiden had lost a
glove during the battle and had been bitten on the hand.”

She shrugged.

“I healed them, of course, and
that was the end of it. When they went back the next day to find the
body, to identify the creature, it was gone.”

She stared intently at Simon.

“They swear that the thing was
dead, and I believe them. So either it was removed by someone or
something after the battle or...”

“Or? Or what?”

Instead of answering, Clara tapped one
of the books.

“In the lore that I've read, when
a werewolf bites a victim and is then killed, it passes its curse on
and is set free. In many of the stories, the corpse simply fades
away, leaving no remains.”

“Hang on a second,” Simon
said in disbelief. “Are you telling me that Malcolm and Aiden
killed a werewolf? That's ridiculous.”

“I know it is. As ridiculous as
dragons, liches and us.”

“But what makes you think that is
what happened? And what's it got to do with that weird new building
of yours?”

“The building was constructed
several days ago, as an alternative to our only other solution.”

“Solution to what?”

She sighed again.

“To the problem of Malcolm and
Aiden. The day after they returned, there was still a full moon. And
they changed, Simon. Our friends are now werewolves. And if some of
my people have their way, I'm going to have to kill them.”

“
Wait a second. Let
me get this straight,” Simon said as he surged to his feet and
began pacing around the room.

“
You're telling me
that Malcolm and Aiden are...werewolves?

Clara nodded, her
expression filled with sadness.

“
Oh, this is too
weird. So they've been infected with this disease?”

“
Correct.”

“
And now, your
precious townsfolk want to kill them? The same two people who have
been guarding your town for months? The same men who have taught your
people how to defend themselves? The same friends who volunteered to
face dragons with me without even a moment's hesitation? Is that who
they're now willing to slaughter like rabid animals?”

The wizard was becoming
incensed and Kronk and Ana stared at him, wide-eyed. The water
elemental actually moved backward across the table to be further away
from him.

“
Simon, calm
yourself,” Clara said softly. “You're glowing.”

“
I'm what?”

He stopped and stared at
her, then looked down at his hands. She was right. In the dim room,
his skin was suddenly luminescent and little sparks were snapping off
of his fingertips.

He took a deep breath.

“
Sorry. That's never
happened before.”

He sat down again and
clenched his fists in an effort to get his emotions under control.

“
I understand your
anger, Simon, believe me,” the cleric told him. “I share
it. That's why I didn't contact you about this. I knew you would be
upset. We all are. Why do you think we built that enclosure? The
majority of the townspeople have no wish to harm either Malcolm or
Aiden. And neither do I. We're looking for some solution.” She
waved at the books. “Some cure or at least a way to control
their transformations.”

“
Okay. Sorry.”
He breathed deeply for a moment. “I'm rather fond of those two
big lunks.”

She managed a small
chuckle.

“
As am I. There has
got
to be a way out of this, short of driving a silver stake through
their hearts.”

“
Tell
me what happened when they changed. Was anyone hurt or...or killed?”

“
Thankfully
no. They were both off-duty and asleep in the barracks at the time.
Alone, fortunately. One of the watch heard howls and shrieks from
inside the building, opened the door to see what was happening, and
then had the good sense to slam it and seal it after her. She woke me
up and explained what she'd seen and together we roused the town. Our
blacksmith covered the door and windows with enough metal to keep
them inside and, when the sun rose, they became themselves again.”

“
And
that's when you realized what had happened,” Simon said flatly.

She
nodded.

“
Exactly.
At first, neither Malcolm or Aiden would believe us. Apparently they
had no recollection of what had happened after they transformed. But
the evidence spoke for itself. The barracks was torn apart, every
stick of furniture ripped to splinters. They'd even dug great gashes
in the walls and ceiling with their claws. It was rather convincing.”

“
So
how did they react when they accepted the story as fact?”

“
They
wanted us to kill them,” Clara said, her face twisted with
something like grief. “Can you imagine? For the good of the
town and its people, Malcolm said, they had to die. And there were
several among us who thought that that was a splendid idea.”

Her
tone was bitter.

“
Did
they? Well, they'd bloody well not mention it to me, or they'll get a
taste of a wizard's anger.”

“
Simon...”

“
Yeah,
yeah. I know. But how could someone condemn those two who've done so
much for Nottinghill before even trying to help them?”

“
Fear.
It makes people do strange things sometimes. At any rate, they were
voted down by a large majority and it was decided to construct the,
well, let's call it a prison, for the time being until we could sort
this out and find a solution.”

“
But,”
Simon frowned at her, “the full moon has passed, hasn't it? Are
they still locked up?”

“
They
are. It's at their own request,” she added hastily as Simon's
face darkened. “None of us are sure about werewolves.”
She looked at the books again. “What's true and what isn't? Are
they only a danger during the full moon? Could an accidental scratch
from one of them when they are human pass on the disease? We simply
don't know. I told them that they were free to go back to their
duties once the full moon had passed, but they wouldn't hear of it.
So here we are.”

She
looked at the wizard and reached out to him, laying her hand on his.

“
Simon,
help us. Please. Perhaps you or the elementals can shed some light on
this? We need more information and until we get it, Malcolm and Aiden
will be prisoners.”

He patted her hand reassuringly and
turned to look at Kronk and Ana.

“Any insights?” he asked.

“No, master, I am afraid not. I
have certainly heard of these creatures, but no more than that.”

“That's okay,” Simon told
the earthen. “What about you, Ana?”

“I have no information either,
sir wizard,” she said with a regretful shake of her head.
“However, I do have a suggestion.”

“I'm all ears.”

“The air elementals know more
about magic than the rest of our kind. Not Aeris, necessarily, but
one of his more powerful counterparts might have some ideas.”

Simon nodded and sucked on his lower
lip as he stared at nothing in particular.

“Okay, then, let's try that.”

He turned to Clara, who was watching
him rather hopelessly.

“Are you up for a visitation of
sorts?”

“What kind of visitation?”
she asked, eyes lighting up with interest.

“A summoning. I happen to be on
decent terms with a fairly powerful air elemental. I don't know
whether he can help with this or not, but I'd like to ask him. Hey,
you never know, right?”

“Absolutely. I have no problem
with that at all, Simon.”

“Good. Let's go into the main
hall. His arrival can get a bit...windy.”

They all followed him into the large
hall and Simon moved to stand next to the fire pit. He looked at
Clara, who nodded encouragingly and cleared his throat.

“Okay, here goes. Let's hope he's
in a good mood.”

He threw back his shoulders, grounded
his staff firmly on the floor and took a deep breath.

“Aethos! I need to speak with
you!”

Immediately they heard the high-pitched
sound of swirling winds in the distance, followed by a rumble of
thunder.

“Oh gees, here we go,”
Simon said under his breath. “Watch your eyes, Clara,” he
warned. “It could get a bit dusty in here.”

The cleric nodded and squinted,
preparing for the onslaught.

The room was suddenly filled with
violent winds carrying dried ashes from the fire pit, along with dust
and some wood chips. Simon closed his eyes and mouth and waited for
it to pass.

A few bits of debris hit his body and
caught in his hair and then the air became still again. When the
wizard opened his eyes, a tall, man-shaped figure that seemed to be
made of twisting, whirling fog was hovering over the pit, directly
within the sunlight that beamed in from above.

“Good day, wizard,” the
figure said in a voice that echoed around the room. “You wanted
to discuss something?”

“Hello Aethos. I hope I haven't
disturbed you?” Simon asked politely. It was never a good idea
to anger an elemental this powerful.

“Not at all, not at all.”
Aethos sounded positively cheerful and the wizard sagged a bit in
relief. “So what can I do for you today?”

“My friend is the resident cleric
here in town,” and he nodded at Clara as he spoke. Aethos gave
her a slight bow.

“She and her people have a
problem that we thought you might have some insight into. It
concerns...werewolves.”

“Werewolves? Here? How
interesting. What do you wish to know?”

Simon waved the cleric forward and she
approached the air elemental, looking more hopeful at his response.

“What we need to know, Aethos, is
whether there is a cure for this condition. Two of our people have
been infected, you see, and we want to help them.”

The misty figure seemed to ponder the
question. Usually Simon could see his expression, but for some
reason, the elemental had chosen to appear faceless this time, with a
gray fog swirling around where his features should be.

“Unfortunately, lady cleric,
there is no cure for Lycanthropy, save death.” he said with
what sounded like regret.

Clara gasped and clenched her hands
tightly at her sides.

“You're sure of that?” she
asked, her voice barely a whisper.

“Quite sure. I am familiar with
this condition from the old days of magic. There were actually
colonies of lycanthropes back then, who lived far from human
habitation. The problem was widespread.”

“Then there's no hope,”
Clara said to Simon as she turned away, looking dejected. “I
don't know what we're going to do now.”

She began to walk slowly back to her
quarters.

“Wait, lady,” Aethos called
after her. “Don't you want to know how to control the
condition?”

The cleric stopped in her tracks and
turned around to stare at him.

“There's a way to control it? You
mean, you can stop the infected from changing into monsters?”

“Yes, of course. The colonies
would not have survived long if their transformations had been
allowed to occur uncontrollably. They discovered a way to halt those
changes and it led to their survival. For a while at least.”

“So what can we do, Aethos?”
Simon asked him.

“Wolf's bane,” the
elemental said. “You must find wolf's bane. It must be fresh
and it must be harvested by the light of the full moon. Take the
flowers from the plant and ground them up. Add a drop of blood from
the infected person to the paste. Then have this mixture blessed by a
cleric,” he nodded at Clara, “one of whom is fortunately
available to you. The lycanthrope must keep this on his person at all
times. A locket or some other container was most popular in the old
days. This will stop the transformations before they begin.”

“But that is wonderful!”
Clara exclaimed with excitement. “Malcolm and Aiden will be
thrilled by the news.”

“Just a second,” Simon said
and he looked up at Aethos. “Do you have any idea where we
might find this plant?”

“Must I do everything for you,
sir wizard?” he answered with a dramatic sigh. “I will
say that you can find it on the high slopes of the mountains to the
far west. As to its appearance, I'm sure that you have books
available to help you with that.”