The Dragons of Ice and Snow (44 page)

What was even more jarring
was that the monster wasn't red, like Simon's imagination had assumed
it would be, but slate gray, almost white, the color of a drowned
corpse.

He squinted, trying to
pick out every detail. Its skin, something about its skin. It
was...scaled? Yes, the entire surface was a network of interlocking
scales, some scarred, others chipped or broken, as if the creature
had seen many battles.

“
So that's a demon,”
Simon said shakily.

Daniel dropped the picture
with a sound of disgust.

“
Of course not.
There are no such things as demons,” he said scathingly. “Leave
your old religions and fairy tales back in our lost world, my friend
and attend to what I just showed you. Here, look again.”

He held up the picture
once more and the wizard looked at it in confusion, wondering what he
was supposed to be seeing.

“
Don't you recognize
it?” Daniel asked. He sounded a little exasperated.

“
Still cranky,”
Simon said and his friend laughed reluctantly.

“
Yes, sorry. But
damn it, man. Look at it!”

I'm frigging looking,
Simon thought, but what am I supposed to be seeing?

He examined the picture
yet again.

Okay, he says there are no
demons. So if this isn't a demon, then what the hell is it?

His eyes flicked from
feature to feature. Leathern wings? Check. Fangs and horns? Check
again. Scaly skin.

He jerked back abruptly.
Wait. Scales? The thing has
scales
.
You have got to be kidding me.

“
It's a goddamn
dragon, isn't it?” he whispered in shock.

“
Ladies and
gentlemen, we have a bingo!” Daniel crowed triumphantly as he
dropped the parchment. “Took you long enough to figure it out
though.”

“
Sorry, your honor,”
Simon said sarcastically. “I didn't realize I was on the
witness stand. But, how is that possible? That thing is humanoid! And
why would they do this?”

“I have no idea how it's
possible. They are gods, after all. As to why though, that should be
obvious. According to the elves, these things are about a dozen feet
tall. Unlike a dragon that's fifty feet long or more, they can move
underground with no problem at all. They retain all of a dragon's
powers and strengths in a more compact form.”

Simon was having a hard time accepting
what he had seen. Dragons walking like people? It was an abomination.

But something else was bothering him.

“They're white dragons, aren't
they? That damned primal white dragon is responsible for this.”

“Not exactly. Oh I'm sure it's
involved, but there are more than this one type besieging the
dwarves.”

He lifted another drawing for Simon to
examine.

It was a second full-color illustration
of a humanoid monster. Very similar to the first, this one's horns
were twisted, rising in spirals over its head. It was blood red and
glowing with heat. It held an enormous sword in its hands, the blade
engulfed in flames.

“A red dragon?” Simon asked
weakly.

“Yes. And, just to complete the
trifecta, here's one more.”

Another drawing was held up and Simon
recoiled from the image.

Like the first two, it was a winged
creature walking on two legs. But the skin of this monster was an
earthy brown color and seemed to be oozing with slime, trailing
behind it like a huge slug. Its scales were slick with the mucus and
yet it almost seemed to be rotting, like old meat wetly decomposing
in a swamp. It was nauseating .

“Cripes. A brown dragon? I've
never seen one of those before.”

Daniel put down the paper and nodded
grimly.

“Lucky you. They are truly
horrible, even for dragons. They attack with a blast of fluid that
eats away anything it touches.”

“Acid?”

“For all intents and purposes,
yes. So all of the remaining dragon types are represented in this
siege.”

“How many are we talking about
here? Dozens?”

“Hundreds, my friend,”
Daniel told him with a weary sigh. “Hundreds. I will say that
the dwarves are more than holding their own. The problem is that they
have no reinforcements. Every warrior they lose weakens them, whereas
the dragons are replenishing their losses constantly. It is a war of
attrition and the dragons will win, eventually.”

Simon stood up and walked outside. The
tower felt oppressive suddenly and he wanted to breathe the fresh
air.

“So what can we do?” he
asked as he wandered around the inside of the wall. The grass was
very green here and the air rich with the smells of spring.

“Short of cutting off their
supply of reinforcements, there isn't anything anyone can do. Shandon
Ironhand and his people will put up a valiant fight, no doubt. But in
the end, the dwarves will be vanquished and become a simple footnote
in the history books. If anyone is around to write them one day.”

“Funny,” the wizard said.
“The Daniel I remember wasn't a quitter. Has getting old so
quickly changed you? Or is it some elven taint that has suddenly made
you so weak?”

“What?”

The old man in the mirror sat up and
glared at Simon.

“How dare you! I may be old in
body, but I will never be weak.”

“Good. Glad to see that I can
still get a reaction when I poke the bear,” Simon said with a
sly grin.

Daniel hesitated and then chuckled
ruefully.

“Fine, you got me. But I'm
certainly not giving up, old friend. We need a plan, some way to at
least give the dwarves a period of respite, so they can rebuild their
walls and defenses. They were caught off-guard by the original attack
and weren't fully prepared. But if they could regroup and lock up
their city properly, I believe that the dragons could bash themselves
against the dwarven walls for years to no effect. Their magical canon
can knock those creatures out of the air quite easily, or so I'm
told, so the monsters have been attacking the walls instead.”

“Hmm, so we just need to buy them
some time,” Simon murmured thoughtfully.

He had made his way through the back
gate and was standing on the shore of the lake. He sat down in the
grass near the water and looked at the ripples running across its
surface.

“Do you know how these dragonoids
are getting down to the capital city in the first place?”

“Gates,” Daniel told him.
“Don't look so surprised. You saw the primal green dragon use a
Gate last year, remember?”

Simon nodded absently as he recalled
the massive hole in the sky that had unleashed the green dragon. A
horrific sight.

“The primals can all cast Gate
spells. Obviously they are doing so to transport their forces to the
battle.”

“I'm surprised they don't just
teleport all of the beasts into the middle of the city. The war would
be over in an hour.”

“They can't,” Daniel said a
bit smugly. “Dwarves can block magic of that kind.”

The wizard recalled the time he had
tried to contact Shandon using a Magic Mirror spell. The dwarf had
blocked the spell until he knew who was calling.

“Well, that's something anyway.”

He lay back on a forearm, holding the
mirror steady so that he could keep his friend in sight.

“So, as I see it, there are only
two ways to slow or stop the dragon attacks.”

“And they are?” Daniel
asked.

“Block the Gate spells long
enough for the dwarves to regroup and rebuild, or cut off the supply
of dragons at the source.”

“At the source? What source?”

Simon raised an eyebrow.

“You mean you don't know? Primal
dragons replenish their ranks by hatching eggs. There are a finite
number of them, although how many I don't know. If we could find
those eggs and destroy them, there would be no new dragons to mutate
into those horrors.”

“Well, well. You learn something
new every day, I suppose. No, I didn't know.”

Daniel frowned and stared off at
something that Simon couldn't see.

While he waited, the wizard turned and
watched the three horses grazing at the far end of the lake. Sunshine
was definitely getting bigger, but her coat shone like molten gold
and she looked healthy.

“Do you have any idea where these
eggs are being kept?”

Simon turned back to look in the
mirror.

“None. But Aeris is up north,
scouting. I've been hoping that he'll come across them, or the primal
white dragon. I need to know where that creature is. Maybe I'll call
him after this and ask him to concentrate on searching for the eggs.”

“That's an awfully big area to
cover,” Daniel said doubtfully.

“Yeah, I know. He's been gone for
weeks now. He's using that amulet I had you examine, but it's not
been very much help. Maybe you could talk to the elders and ask if
they have any idea where the eggs could be. Not just the white
dragon's eggs, but the red and brown as well.”

“Oh, I will, I assure you. I'll
also ask about a way to perhaps block the Gate spells beyond the
walls of the dwarven capital. They may have some thoughts.”

“Sounds good.”

Simon stood up and brushed loose pieces
of grass off of his robe.

“One last thing, dear friend.”

The wizard stopped in mid-motion. He
peered at Daniel's face. The man's voice had changed and was now
tight with worry.

“What is it?”

“I...was hesitant about sharing
this last picture with you. I'm not sure whether seeing it will help
or hurt your resolve. But I refuse to hold back any information from
you, so...”

“What are you talking about? What
information?”

His friend locked eyes with Simon for a
long moment, then picked up a piece of parchment and held it in front
of the mirror.

“The...dragonoids, as you called
them, are not alone. They have allies joining in the siege of the
dwarves.”

“Allies? What?”

The wizard looked at the drawing and
hissed between his teeth.

At first he thought it was a picture of
some sort of bizarre statue made of glass. Vaguely humanoid in shape,
the figure seemed to be made of jagged pieces of semi-translucent
diamond. It was all sharp edges and hard corners.

There were four limbs and a head, but
the face was featureless. It held a long shard of evil-looking yellow
crystal in its hands and the artist had drawn it running with the
weapon raised over its head.

“What the hell is that?”

“You don't recognize it? Hmm.
Well then, would it help if I told you that it isn't made of minerals
or rock, but of ice?”

Simon blinked rapidly, his mind groping
for an answer.

Daniel dropped the picture and then
turned his mirror so that he could watch his friend's expression.

Kronk's face came to mind suddenly. His
pebbly little features, his limbs made of small pieces of rock and
stone fused together.

And then the light dawned and Daniel
nodded grimly.

“You know, don't you?” he
asked.

“Kronk was right,” Simon
said, shaking his head helplessly. “He tried to warn me and I
didn't take him seriously. But he was right.”

His friend simply waited quietly.

“It's a water elemental, isn't
it?”

“Yes, my friend. A water
elemental. They have taken sides in the war between dragons and the
world of men and dwarves, and they've chosen the dragons.”

“But why?” Simon asked
plaintively. “Why would they do that?”

“A good question. There has to be
some sort of incentive. Why don't you ask one of them directly, see
what they tell you.”

“Oh, I intend to,” Simon
told him grimly. “And she'd better have some damned good
answers.”

Daniel closed his eyes, looking very
tired.

“I'll speak with the elders and
glean whatever I can from them. Meanwhile, you investigate on your
end and call me back when you can. Remember, time moves faster there,
so be patient. It may take longer to find some answers on my end.”

“Will do. Thanks for the
information. I'd rather know the truth than be protected from it. And
it's good to see you, as always.”

“I'm glad you called, old
friend,” Daniel said warmly. “Sorry I was a bit short
with you. I'm just worried about both the dwarves and what's left of
humanity.”

“No sweat, Daniel. I am too.”
He winked into the mirror. “But maybe the next time I call, you
can say hello first and then chew me out, okay?”

“Deal,” the man replied
with a laugh. “Take care of yourself.”

“You as well.”

And Simon canceled the spell and headed
back to the tower. The smile faded from his lips as he thought about
the new information that Daniel had passed on to him.

Just when he thought things couldn't
get any worse.

Kronk met up with the
wizard as he was walking into the tower. He followed him to the
kitchen table, jumped up and then stared at him, his little red eyes
narrowed.

“
What has happened,
master?” he asked with obvious concern. “You look
worried.”

“
Am I that obvious?”
Simon responded wearily.

“
Perhaps only to me,
master. What is the problem?”

“
I talked to Daniel
after speaking with Clara. I thought maybe the elves would know
something about demons. After all, they are the oldest of the races.”

The little guy nodded in
approval.

“
An excellent idea,
master. And what did you learn?”

Simon told the elemental
what his friend had relayed to him about the dragons. As usual, Kronk
listened attentively without interrupting.