The Dragons of Ice and Snow (34 page)

He bowed in a general way to everyone.

“And now I must be going. Good
luck with your little problem, lady cleric.”

“Hey, what about...”
Simon's voice trailed away as he watched Aethos fade and disappear.

“Air elementals,” he said
under his breath. “They're all so flighty.”

He met Clara's bright eyes and smiled.
She looked excited and relieved at the same time.

“How can I thank you?” she
asked him as she took his hands and shook them with excitement.

“You don't have to. Malcolm and
Aiden are my friends too. But we aren't out of the woods yet. We
still have to find out what this wolf's bane looks like and where we
can find some.”

“Right. Of course.” Clara
turned back toward her rooms. “I have several books on flora.
Maybe we can find something in one of them.”

“Why don't you go and check them
out. Kronk and Ana will help you, I'm sure.”

“We'd be honored, lady,”
Ana said with pleasure. Kronk agreed and looked at Simon.

“And what will you be doing,
master?”

“I'd like to check on the guys.
I'm worried about them. No one likes being locked up, even
voluntarily.”

The cleric looked at him
compassionately.

“Of course you are. That's a fine
idea, Simon. And please tell them that at least now we know there's a
way to control their condition. It should cheer them up.”

“Let's hope so. I'll be back
soon.”

They split up and the wizard left the
hall and walked toward the enclosure.

As he approached the building, he began
to realize just how large it was and how high the walls were.

There was a single door made of thick
wooden planks reinforced with iron strapping. Two heavy planks were
hanging on brackets across the door, blocking it. A guard stood
nearby and watched him as he walked toward her.

“Good morning,” Simon said
pleasantly.

“Good morning, sir,” she
replied, looking at him curiously. “May I help you?”

She obviously didn't know who he was
and the wizard was actually pleased to see that new people were still
finding their way to Nottinghill.

“Yes. I'd like to speak to
Malcolm and Aiden, please.”

“I'm afraid that's not possible,”
she told him with a frown. “It is at their own request. They
wish to have no contact with any townspeople while they are going
through their, uh, difficulties.”

Simon looked up at the towering walls
and the grim metal teeth along the top of them.

“Yes, I understand that. But I'm
not a townsperson, you know. I'm a friend. Please just ask them if
they'll speak with me and let them decide.”

The guard nodded reluctantly and
adjusted the spear that was slung across her back.

“Very well then. Your name, sir?”

“Simon O'Toole. I live to the
north. Malcolm, Aiden and I traveled together not too long ago.”

The guard looked dubious, obviously
still not aware of who he was, and the wizard actually had to hold
back a laugh.

So much for being famous, he thought
with some hilarity. This is one way to keep me humble, if I ever
needed it.

The guard stepped up to the door and
pounded on it.

“Malcolm?” she called. “You
have a visitor.”

There was a moment of silence and the
woman looked at Simon and shrugged.

“We have no wish to speak with
anyone,” Malcolm finally replied. The voice coming through the
door sounded exhausted and his tone was bleak.

“I'm sorry, but he's a stranger.
He says his name is Simon O'Toole. Do you know him?”

Again there was a pause and Simon
waited anxiously. It was quite possible that the men wouldn't want to
see him, considering how depressed and dispirited they probably were.

“Let him in,” Malcolm
called out, his tone still dull.

The guard looked at the wizard with
some surprise and then lifted the planks out of their brackets and
set them aside. She grabbed the handle on the door and slowly pulled
it open, its hinges squealing painfully.

“Go ahead in,” she told
Simon. “I have to secure the door after you, though. Orders.”

Simon nodded his understanding and
stepped into the enclosure.

With no roof to block the morning
sunlight, the interior was brightly lit. In the center of the pen,
Malcolm and Aiden were sitting on the ground, knees pulled up to
their chests and heads bowed. Neither looked up as the door slammed
shut.

They were wearing gray canvas shirts
and leather pants. Their feet were bare. Both looked scruffy and
unkempt, very different from the neatly turned out men that the
wizard remembered.

Simon slowly walked toward them and
then sat down on the hard, dry earth in front of them and folded his
legs beneath him.

“Why are you here, Simon?”
Malcolm asked dispiritedly, not bothering to look up. Aiden remained
silent.

“And hello to you too,” the
wizard said with a grin. Both of the big men raised their heads and
stared at him and Simon was shocked by the blank passiveness on their
faces.

“You look good, my friend,”
the big man told him. “Did Clara ask you to come? I told her
not to, but then, she never does listen to me.”

There was a hint of the old Malcolm in
his voice and Simon's smile widened.

“No, she didn't. It was just a
happy coincidence that I showed up today for a visit.” He
raised an eyebrow. “If you believe in coincidences in this new
world of ours, which I don't.”

“If you're here to try to
convince us to leave this place, I fear you are wasting your time.
Aiden and I will not put our friends and our home at risk for our
freedom. Better they kill us than take a chance that we are not
dangerous.”

“We don't know enough about
this...curse, disease, whatever it is, to trust that it only appears
during the full moon,” Aiden spoke up, sounding as dejected as
his partner. “We came to Nottinghill to start a new life. We
offered the skills that the gods had given us to protect this place.
Can we do less than that now when we've been infected?”

He glanced at Malcolm.

“As he says, better to be dead
than to harm others.”

Simon's smile faded and he had to clear
his throat a few times before he could speak.

“Your concern for the town and
its inhabitants is admirable, my friends,” he said in a voice
clumsy with emotion. “I don't know that I would be as selfless
if I were in the same situation.”

“Yes you would,” Malcolm
told him sharply. “You've done nothing
but
risk yourself for others since you became a wizard.”

“
Yeah,
well, whatever. Anyway, I'm not here for a social call. I summoned an
elemental who had knowledge of this whole Lycanthropy thing;
certainly more than is written in the lore that Clara was able to dig
up.”

Both of the
men's faces suddenly showed a trace of desperate hope.

“
And?
Is there a cure?”

With a sigh,
Simon shook his head.

“
No,
I'm afraid not. You will carry the disease with you until the day you
die.”

Aiden
groaned and dropped his head while Malcolm closed his eyes a moment,
and then nodded heavily.

“
That's
what we thought. Well, I suppose it's good to have it confirmed, to
know for sure.” He nudged his partner. “Are you ready to
face what's coming?” he asked in a soft voice.

Aiden looked
at him and his gentle smile was heart-breaking.

“
With
you, I am willing to face anything,” he said calmly.

Malcolm
reached over and gripped his shoulder. He gave it a firm shake and
then looked at Simon.

“
Very
well. Tell Clara that we are ready. I believe silver is necessary to
end a werewolf's life. Or an enchanted blade. Ours will do just
fine.”

“
Hang
on there, you two,” Simon said, holding up his hands. “This
all sounds very noble and I'm not disparaging your willingness to
sacrifice yourselves for the greater good, but as they used to say,
it's not happening on my watch.”

“
What?”
Malcolm seemed puzzled. “But you just said that there is no
cure. Do you think that we want to spend the rest of our lives caged
up like animals? We do not. Death would be preferable to that
existence.”

Simon stood
up and brushed some dirt off of his robe.

“
Typical
warrior types,” he said with a exaggerated eye-roll. “Guys,
in my experience, there's always more than one answer to every
problem. There is no cure, no, but there is a way to control the
disease, to stop you from transforming into beasts.”

Malcolm
struggled stiffly to his feet, reached down and pulled Aiden up
beside him.

“
You're
saying that we can stop the change? That there's a way to actually
live with this curse?”

“
That
is exactly what I'm saying. It will take a few weeks to get what we
need; it needs to be gathered under a full moon, and that's about two
and a half weeks away, I believe. You'll have to wait as patiently as
you can until then. Can you do that?”

Both of the
men were smiling with dazed relief.

“
Can
we do that? By the gods, of course we can. To know that there is a
way to counter this disease other than dying? We'd sit here for a
year and call it worth it. Wouldn't we?” he added as he looked
at Aiden.

“
Longer
than that. Simon, how can we ever thank you?”

The wizard
laughed.

“
Seeing
the light come back on in your eyes is thanks enough.” He
reached out and gave Malcolm a clout on the shoulder and the man
grinned.

“
There,
that's better. Look guys, I'm sure that Clara will be by later to
tell you more about all this. I can't know how dull the next little
while is going to be for you, but stay calm and wait it out. We'll
have you out and doing your jobs again before you know it.”

Both of the
men thanked him profusely and Simon left them feeling better about
life and the world than he had for some time.

When the
guard had answered his knock and then sealed the door again behind
him, she looked at him closely.

“
No
bites? No scratches?” she asked.

Simon
snorted.

“
Don't
be absurd,” he said. “Neither one of them is dangerous in
human form and the disease can't be passed on while they are.
Everyone knows that.”

She looked
skeptical.

“
That's
not the rumor that's been going around,” she said as she moved
back to her original position. “Why else would they lock
themselves away unless they felt that they were a threat?”

“
They've
been misinformed,” Simon told her in a reasonable tone of
voice. “And if it makes you feel better, within a short time
they will have a way to control their affliction for good and they
will be able to return to the general population.”

Her eyes
went wide.

“
Really?
They won't have to die?”

“
Exactly.
And you can tell the rumormongers amongst the townspeople that too.
Maybe they can pass the truth around for a change.”

He nodded
once and headed back toward the town hall, cursing gossipers under
his breath.

When he
entered Clara's quarters, he found her and the two elementals pouring
over a large, leather-bound book. She was tapping a page and nodding
at something one of them had just said.

“
Exactly.
Those petals are distinctive. It shouldn't be too hard to find and as
long as we get there during the full moon, I see no problem.”

“
You've
had some luck?” Simon asked as he leaned his staff next to the
door and took a seat.

“
We
have indeed. The plant was actually called several names including
wolf's bane, but it is definitely the one we're looking for.”

She handed
him the open book and the wizard examined the illustration. He read
the description underneath and looked at the cleric in surprise.

“
The
Rockies? We have to go to the Rocky Mountains?”

“
I'm
afraid so. Remember what Aethos said? That the flower could be found
in the mountains in the far west? Well, he meant the really far
west.”

Simon tapped
his lips and nodded slowly, scanning the page.

“
Okay,
that should be fine. I can use the atlas at home to get the proper
coordinates for a Gate. Four thousand feet up, huh? Well, at least
the view will be nice.”

Clara
smiled, got up and left the room. She returned a few minutes later
and handed Simon a cup of tea.

He thanked
her warmly and sipped the sweet liquid.

“
How
did Malcolm and Aiden take the news?” she asked as she sat down
again with her own cup.

“
Exactly
as you'd imagine. They were thrilled. By the way, I mentioned that
you might drop by later, tell them about the whole process.”

“
Of
course I will. I talk to them every day, although I'll admit it's
been a very depressing few days. It will be nice to see them smile
again.”

“
Good.
Well, I'd love to stay but this development has changed my plans.
I'll head back to the tower and check out the atlas. I'll probably do
a few Gates to the location to make sure that there is actually
wolf's bane to be found.”

The cleric
set down her cup, looking thoughtful.

“
That's
a very good idea. It would be foolish to wait until the full moon
only to discover that there is no wolf's bane there.”

“
Exactly.
You two ready?” he asked Kronk and Ana.