The Dragons Revenge (Tales from the New Earth #2) (22 page)

“
You
think that you will, my sweet one, but you won't be. My family will
be very large indeed when we return again. But we shall save that
debate for another day, shall we? Come now, the night is waning and I
have much to do.”

She
extended her bony hand impatiently and Simon looked at the others one
last time.

Clara
was watching him hopelessly, her posture limp with exhaustion. Aeris
had his arms folded and glared at Simon disapprovingly. And Kronk, as
usual, had a look of complete trust on his face as he watched
closely.

Simon
extended the staff toward the lich and she glided forward, cackling
happily to herself.

'Bene-Dunn-Gal,'
Simon said silently. 'Take my blood if you need it. If it will
strengthen you, take a full measure and use it well.'

He
held up the staff and felt it bite deeply into his palm.

The
lich reached out and plucked the staff from Simon's hands. She
grasped it firmly, crowing her glee.

“
Ah,
such a gift. Imagine, my dear, when we meet again and I turn its
powers against you.”

Simon
smiled widely.

“
Yes,
imagine that, you heartless bitch.”

Madam
stopped laughing and stared down at him, her eyes flaring and drops
of flame leaking down her skeletal face like tears.

“
Be
careful, small wizard. Do not test me, or when we see each other
again, your death will not be easy.”

Clara
stepped forward and glared at the monster.

“
You
got what you wanted, abomination. Now go. Your foulness corrupts the
very air we breathe.”

The
wizard looked at her in admiration. He knew that Clara was terrified,
but she was also furious at her people's deaths, especially
Richard's.

“
Your
death will be hard regardless, cleric of fallen gods,” Madam
spat at her. “Your soul will twist in torment when I collect it
for my masters. Think on that as you wait for my return.”

The
lich turned slowly, holding the staff triumphantly like a trophy as
she floated toward the destroyed gates. She was giggling horribly to
herself again.

The
sun was about to peek over the horizon and Simon guessed that the
dawn was only minutes away. Now is the time, he thought.

“
Madam!
One last thing before you go,” he called to the lich.

She
stopped in between the gates and turned to look at him.

“
Speak
quickly, child. I'm running a little late, don't you know.”

Simon
walked forward and stopped a few feet away from the towering monster.

“
Just
one small question,” he said. He thought the glaring eyes
flicked a quick look over his shoulder at the distant horizon.

“
One
question then, dear one. As a further payment for my lovely present.”

“
I
wanted to ask if your masters have another lich stored around
somewhere to take your place when you're gone?”

She
peeled out a ear-torturing laugh.

“
I
will never be gone, child. I am immortal. I am eternal.”

“
Really?”
Simon lifted an eyebrow. “Let's find out.”

He
turned and ran toward Clara and the elementals. The sun was about to
rise.

“
Now!”
he yelled as he reached the group. The three of them looked at him as
if he'd lost his mind.

“
What?
What are you..?” Madam sputtered. And then a white light blazed
along the length of the staff and the lich's hands were locked on to
Bene-Dunn-Gal by layers of ice.

“
What
is this?” she shrieked as she shook her hands, trying to loosen
the icy grip of the staff. And then, as if the weapon had become
unbearably heavy, the staff slammed into the ground, dragging Madam
on to her knees in the frozen dirt.

“
What
is going on?” the lich roared. “What have you done?”

She
raised her head and glared at Simon. He glared back, a twisted grin
on his face.

“
I
just thought you'd like to see the dawn. It's lovely this time of
year.”

The
blood red eyes widened as the lich looked up at the sky, arms
frantically heaving as she tried to rise.

And
the sun rose above the horizon.

“
No!”
Madam shrieked. The sun's rays slammed into the monster as if she'd
been hit by a flamethrower. Her black robes ignited and the lich
began to roll frantically around on the ground, screaming and roaring
in rage and fear.

“
How's
that for a hard death?” Simon yelled at her.

Bene-Dunn-Gal
came free of her grip and flew through the air to land at the
wizard's feet. He picked it up gratefully.

“
Good
job,” he muttered to it. Bene-Dunn-Gal seemed to purr in
response, obviously pleased with itself.

The
lich rolled and thrashed and struggled against her destruction. As
her robes burned away, the awful skeletal body beneath was gruesomely
revealed. The bones, covered with scant shreds of skin, turned black
in the merciless sunlight. Madam shrieked her pain and fury in a
hideous gibbering voice

Silently,
Simon and Clara and the townspeople watched the lich slowly
disintegrate, her cries fading as the relentless sunlight slowly
burned her to ashes. The greasy stench of burnt, papery flesh made
Simon gag and clap his hands over his nose and mouth.

“
Gods
help us,” Clara prayed fervently as she watched in horror.

The
undead's bones began to collapse but the lich reared up one last
time, her clawed hands groping toward the wizard as she tried to pull
her ruined body toward him.

“
This
isn't over, wizard,” she screamed at him. Her once-blazing eyes
were no more than pits of charcoal, yet somehow Simon felt their
hateful gaze catch his own.

“
This
isn't over! My masters will not allow you to upset their plans,
insect. Others will come, and when they do, they will make you beg
for death. You'll see.” She laughed, a deadly, chilling sound.
“Oh yes. You'll see.”

A
final groping lunge and then her body fell in on itself and her skull
shattered into shards of smoking bone.

Simon
watched, stone-faced, until the last of her bones stopped their
unholy quivering. When it was done, Simon slung his staff over his
shoulder with a relieved sigh and looked at Aeris with a small,
pained smile.

The
elemental threw his hands in the air.

“
If
I could have a heart attack, you'd have killed me by now.”

Simon,
Clara and the other townspeople began the sorry task of gathering up
the bodies of the fallen. They carried them gently to the town hall
and laid them side by side in the center of the room, covering them
with blankets so that they looked like they were merely sleeping.

Once
the sun had risen, Virginia, Eric, Anna and Gerard had returned from
the back gate. They were shocked at the carnage and the loss of eight
of their neighbors.

Richard's
death hit them all particularly hard. He had been in the original
group to greet the four when they'd first escaped from their
captivity at the brutal hands of old world humans.

Anna
was overcome with grief and was led away by Virginia. Eric and
Gerard, grim-faced and silent, joined Simon at the main gate to help
sweep away the remains of the undead. He told them about the
confrontation with the lich as they worked.

Kronk
helpfully created a hole in the frozen earth and the burned bones,
ashes and bits of smoking hay were pushed into it. He filled it in
afterward and the only remaining evidence of the attack was the
damage to the walls and the gap where the gates used to be.

The
three of them leaned on the brooms they'd been using and stared in
exhaustion at the wall.

“
Now
what?” Eric asked, trembling a bit with fatigue. Like Gerard
and Simon, his face was streaked with dirt and soot and criss-crossed
by lines of sweat.

“
Now
we repair the damage,” came a voice from beside them. The three
young men looked down and met the eyes of a smiling Kronk.

“
I
will summon my friends and we will rebuild the wall. And then we will
dig the moat around the town.”

He
folded his arms and looked at the trio sternly.

“
Master,
you and your friends should get cleaned up and rest. We will handle
this.”

He
made little shooing motions and Simon exchanged glances with Eric and
Gerard. Even after such a tragedy, they couldn't help but grin at the
little guy's attempt to take charge.

“
Very
well, Kronk,” Simon said as he shouldered his broom. “We'll
leave you to it. Call me if you need any help or have any questions.”

“
Yes
master, I will. Off you go.”

And
Kronk waved and slipped into the earth.

Back
in the town hall, the remaining members of the community had gathered
and were standing or sitting in scattered groups, speaking in low
voices. When the three young men entered, Clara, still looking tired
and pale, but clean and dressed in a fresh robe, greeted them warmly.

“
We've
made some food, my friends,” she told them and led them to the
back of the hall where a table had been set up.

Dishes
piled high with fresh biscuits, dozens of fried eggs and slices of
cooked beef awaited them. All of the food smelled wonderful and Simon
was surprised to find that he was starving.

He
filled a plate, grabbed a cup of tea and found a bench where he
didn't have to look directly at the bodies laid respectfully near the
fire.

While
he ate, Simon tallied up the number of people that remained of the
populace of Nottinghill. It wasn't encouraging. Including the missing
Anna and Virginia, plus the two babies and their mothers, Simon
counted about thirty souls. He shook his head sadly.

“
Why
the long face, young wizard?” Clara asked as she sat down next
to him.

He
looked at her closely. The cleric seemed fresher than he would have
expected and her smile was as warm as ever, if a little strained.

“
I
was just counting up how few people you have left in town,” he
told her. “Will you be able to grow crops and do all of the
things that a settlement needs to do to survive with just these
folks?”

Clara
shrugged wearily.

“
We
will because we'll have to, won't we? Others will come. I have faith
that the gods of Justice will direct those Changlings out there who
are lost to our door. Losing Richard and the guards is a hard blow
though. Besides being our friends, they protected the town. Without
them, we wouldn't have survived to this point. Hopefully the moat
that Kronk is digging will help until we can train more protectors.”

Simon
looked at her skeptically but tried to smile.

“
You
know best, of course.”

He
finished his meal and Clara sent him to her quarters to wash up and
get some sleep.

When
he woke up that afternoon, Simon ached in every muscle and he simply
lay in bed and stared up at the rough, wooden ceiling above him.

“
Awake
at last, I see,” a voice commented dryly from his left.

“
Barely,”
Simon muttered. “So what's going on?”

Aeris
floated into view.

“
Kronk
and his helpers have rebuilt the walls and replaced the gates. And
they are almost finished digging the moat. There should be enough
daylight left to plant as many spikes in the bottom as the blacksmith
has ready to go. Luckily, the man was stationed at the rear gate and
was uninjured after the attack.”

“
Small
favors,” Simon said and stretched painfully. He sat up
reluctantly and threw back the covers. A quick glance at the sun
streaming through the window told him that it was still early
afternoon. He needed more sleep, but just couldn't lie in bed while
others were working.

“
Anything else?”
he asked as he sorted through his saddlebags and pulled out a spare
robe. Fortunately he'd packed with the thought of staying in town for
a few days.

Aeris floated above the
bed and watched as Simon got dressed.

“
The dead were
buried in a very touching ceremony. There is a small cemetery along
the inside of the wall at the far end of the village where they were
laid to rest. One of the earth elementals dug the graves for them.”