The Dragons of Ice and Snow (43 page)

Kronk looked up at Simon.

“
It's signed:
Shandon Ironhand. Isn't that the dwarf who's life you saved from the
dragons below ground?”

“
It is. When he says
they're besieged, he must mean their capital city. That where he was
headed the last I heard.”

Simon stood up abruptly,
ignoring the remnants of his headache, and began pacing around the
room.

“
Demons! For cripes
sake, as if we don't have enough on our plate. Now it's demons?”

He stopped and glanced at
the earthen.

“
If it wasn't for
the evidence of that note, I'd be tempted to think that this was some
kind of bad joke.”

“
It seems genuine to
me, master.”

“
Yeah, me too.”

He started pacing again.

“
So, Shandon and his
people are trapped in their city by demons. You know, when I say it
out loud like that, it just sounds ridiculous.”

Simon snorted in disgust
and moved to stand at the open doorway. He looked blankly out at the
bright day, seeing the dwarf's face in his mind's eye.

There was a nobility and a
grit in Shandon that the wizard had appreciated. He and his people
had stood toe to toe against dragons and hadn't flinched, even as
their city had been brought down around them. That was admirable. If
anyone could hold back an attack of demons, it was them.

Kronk tapped across the
room and joined him at the door. Simon looked down at him and met his
glowing red eyes.

“
What do you know
about demons?” he asked a little desperately.

The little guy shrugged
his shoulders.

“
Nothing, master.
Stories, legends, nothing more. I suspect you will have to ask others
about them. No elementals to my knowledge have ever had dealings with
them.”

“
Really? Hmm, that's
interesting. I wonder who would have any information?”

He leaned his head against
the door frame and stared listlessly at the thin clouds scudding
across the sky.

Demons. Demons. Who could
he ask about such things?

Simon heard Kronk tip-tap
back into the tower and then return a moment later. He looked down
and saw that the elemental was holding his hand mirror and extended
it toward him when their eyes met.

“
What?” he
said as he reached down and took it from Kronk.

“
You will have to
call your friends, master. Someone may know something and it sounds
like the dwarves are in a desperate situation. There is no time to
stare at the sky and think deep thoughts.”

Simon was caught off-guard
by that rebuke. It was very unlike the little guy, but his serious
expression confirmed that he wasn't joking.

“
Yeah, good point,”
he told him and moved forward to sit on the top step outside the
door.

Who would know anything
about this stuff, he wondered. Well, let's try the obvious first.

He cast the Magic Mirror
spell and watched the surface of the mirror cloud over.

“
Who are you
calling, master?”

“
Clara. She is a
cleric, after all. Maybe she had some insight into this sort of
thing.”

“
But she has never
had to deal with demons, has she, master?”

“
No. but being a
conduit for the gods of Light, she might...”

The fog cleared away and
Simon found himself staring at the town of Nottinghill. Clara was
sitting on a bench just outside of the town hall, chatting lightly
with several women. They were all smiling and joking and the wizard
waited a moment, not wanting to interrupt.

Finally, they stood up and
the women wandered off, leaving the cleric alone to stare pensively
at something beyond Simon's sight.

“
Clara? How are you
today?”

With the merest hint of
surprise, the woman smiled and sat down again.

“
Ah, good day, my
friend. How's your head?”

Simon felt his face turn
red.

“
Um, fine. I
overindulged last night, as you obviously know. I hope I wasn't too
obnoxious. I've never been a big drinker, even back in the old days.”

“
You were fine.”
she answered with a knowing smile. “You're actually a cute
drunk. A little maudlin perhaps, but that's endearing in some
people.”

“
Yeah, I'll bet,”
he muttered, his face definitely glowing red now.

“
Don't give it
another thought,” she said kindly. “Malcolm and Aiden's
freedom was worth celebrating. I'm quite sure that the big lug is
feeling much worse than you are. Aiden came by earlier and said that
he couldn't get him out of bed. He was rather amused by that, I
think.”

They both chuckled and
then Simon cleared his throat.

“
Well, I'm glad that
everything turned out for the best. And now, on to our next problem.”

His change in tone got her
attention and Clara sat up frowning.

“
What is it?
Dragons? Undead?”

“
Ah, the good old
days,” Simon said wryly. “No, something altogether new,
at least to me. Tell me, what do you know about...demons?”

“
Demons?” The
cleric's frown deepened. “What do you mean, demons?”

“
You know, demons.
Hell-spawn. Creatures out of nightmare, that sort of thing. Listen, I
don't even know what I'm talking about. I just know that apparently
the dark gods have pulled yet another trick from up their sleeves and
unleashed demons into the world.”

“
But, how do you
know this?”

“
Hang on. I want to
read you something.”

Simon stood up and went
back inside to sit at the kitchen table. He picked up the dwarf's
note and read it out loud. When he was done, he sat back and watched
Clara's reaction.

“
Shandon and his
people are under attack by these creatures? But that's...”

“
Insane. I know. We
have enough problems in the world right now and, naturally, the dark
gods deal one off the bottom of the deck and send demons down on us.
Crazy. What I need is any information we can come up with about them.
How strong are they? Are they vulnerable to magic? How do they
attack? All of that stuff.”

“
I'd love to help,
Simon, but I don't know any more than you do about them. I may get a
visitation from the gods of Light soon though, if that is what has
been sent against us now. But at the moment, I can't even venture a
guess about them.”

“
Yeah, I was afraid
of that,” he said with a sigh.

A movement from the
doorway caught his attention and he saw Kronk waving at him. The
little guy made a digging motion and pointed outside and Simon smiled
and nodded. The elemental waved once more and left.

“
I do have a thought
though,” Clara said as she stood up and smoothed her dark blue
robe. She began walking and spoke at the same time.

“
I'm all ears,”
the wizard said.

“
Speak to your
friend, Daniel. The elves are the oldest of all the races, older even
than the dwarves. They are a fount of knowledge. If anyone knows
anything about these creatures, it would be them.”

“
They were next on
my list, actually. Thanks for the suggestion though. So, say hi to
the boys for me and wish me luck.”

She stopped walking and
seemed to look directly at him.

“
I do, my friend.
Keep me informed of any news, won't you? If these demons are
attacking the dwarves, humanity has to be next on their list of
targets.”

“
I know, Clara. Talk
to you soon.”

She smiled bleakly as
Simon canceled the spell and put down the mirror. Then he stood up
and began making more tea.

He hadn't spoken to Daniel
in several weeks. Things had been a bit crazy, to say the least, and
he simply hadn't taken the time to call him.

That was inexcusable, he
thought uncomfortably. If he only talked to him when he needed
something, what kind of a friend did that make him?

With a heavy sigh, he
brought his tea back to the table and sat down again. He took a few
fortifying sips and picked up the mirror.

When the surface cleared
this time, Simon's eyes widened in surprise. Daniel was staring right
back at him.

“
It's about damned
time you called,” his friend said harshly. “What have you
been waiting for, an invitation?”

“
Um, what?”

Daniel's glare softened a
bit and he smiled ruefully.

“
Sorry, that was a
little mean. How are you doing, old friend?”

“
Been better. What's
wrong? If you wanted to talk to me, you could have used the lodestone
I gave you to signal me.”

“
Actually, no, I
couldn't.”

Daniel reached for
something beyond Simon's line of sight and held it up. It was the
lodestone. But the once clear stone was now jet-black and a crack ran
down the center of it.

“
What the hell? What
happened to it?”

The man tossed the stone
aside in disgust and shook his head.

“
Our out-of-sync
time lines happened to it, apparently. I asked one of the Elders what
was going on when it began to blacken a few days ago, my time. He
just gave a little sniff of disdain and said that the elven realm and
the realm of Earth simply cannot stay connected for very long, even
through an object like a lodestone. Long story short, these things
burn out rather quickly because of that disjointed connection.”
He shrugged. “That's the explanation. To be honest, I don't get
it, but there you go.”

“
Damn it,”
Simon said, irritated. “I thought we'd always be able to rely
on that thing. Maybe I can get Kronk to find another one and drop it
off for pick-up? It would last for a while, wouldn't it?”

Daniel shook his head.

“
Never mind. He'd
have to supply a new one every month or so, Earth-time. I'll leave it
up to you to contact me when you choose to. I know you've been busy.”

Simon looked at his
friend's face and saw the young man that he knew in the old man's
expression.

“
So you've been
spying on me again?” he asked lightly.

“
The elders have.
Well, not you specifically but the Earth in general. They pass some
of the information they glean on to me, when it suits their
purposes.”

“
So what have you
been told?”

“
Let's see now. Your
run-in with the drakes in Moscow excited them quite a bit. Good job
there, by the way. Um, your work with the men who contracted
Lycanthropy. Beautifully done. And now, this attack on the dwarven
capital. I believe my elvish colleagues were caught off-guard by that
one.”

“
They're not the
only ones,” the wizard muttered. “That's why I've called
you, by the way.”

“
I know. And it's
why I was so cranky when I answered. Sorry about that.”

“
Don't sweat it. Old
men get testy, I've heard,” Simon said with a grin.

Daniel moved the mirror he
was holding, lifted his free hand and shook a finger at him.

“
Watch it, boy.
Don't disrespect your elders.”

They both laughed and then
the older man became solemn again.

“
So what do you want
to know?”

“
Anything you can
tell me. I mean, I've gotten used to the idea of dragons. I've fought
the undead. And now I personally know a pair of reformed werewolves.
But demons? Really? It seems that the dark gods' bag of tricks is
endless.”

Daniel snorted.

“
Hardly. I think
they're panicking.”

Simon laughed in
disbelief.

“
Panicking? For
what? In case it escaped your notice, old buddy, we're on the ropes
here. A handful of humans against, how many dragons, hundreds?
Thousands? I doubt that panic is even in their vocabulary.”

“
Isn't it?”

Daniel turned his head and
the wizard heard him shuffling through some papers.

“
My friends on the
counsel drew me up a few pictures of the 'demons' that have laid
siege to the dwarven capital. Here, take a look.”

Simon watched as his
friend held a sheet of parchment in front of his mirror, and he
leaned forward until his nose was almost touching the glass,
enthralled by what he saw.

The picture had been drawn
in exquisite detail and was richly colored. It showed the figure of a
creature, standing on two legs, arms raised above its head. Ascending
from its shoulder-blades were massive wings, webbed like a bat's.

The face was vaguely
human-like, but its gaping mouth was lined with row after row of
pointed teeth, almost like a shark's. It had practically no nose, but
its eyes were enormous and a sickly yellow color, like runny egg
yokes. Above its eyes a pair of jagged horns rose up and back over
its bald skull. It was terrifying.