The Dragons of Argent and Silver (Tales from the New Earth #6)

by J. J. Thompson

  “I do not know. I doubt that he knows either. This is Esmiralla's show, as they say. She will dictate the next move.”

  Aeris looked over his shoulder and then lowered his voice.

  “I don't trust her, Kronk. This whole thing feels wrong somehow. You know how a wizard's magic works. There's no need for blood or eggs or any other disgusting materials. This feels more like witchcraft.”

  Kronk frowned at the flames and then nodded slowly.

  “I know. We share the same reservations. I have carefully mentioned my concerns to our master.”

  “And?”

  “And I believe that he is so eager to end his bond with the silver dragon that he is ignoring any foreboding. He simply wants to be rid of her and will do anything to accomplish that goal.”

  “Damn. Well, I don't like it anyway. Should I tell him?”

  Kronk looked at Aeris again and their eyes locked.

  “Why bother? It won't matter,” the earthen said heavily. “He will not listen.”

  “Damn,” Aeris muttered again.

  Simon woke up the next morning in better spirits than usual. He was optimistic that his merging with Esmiralla would soon be over and then each of them could both go their own way. He had come to the chilling conclusion that if he had to share his mind with the silver dragon for much longer, he might actually go insane. And that thought was terrifying.

  'You are finally awake,' the dragon's voice echoed through his head.

  “Obviously,” he replied shortly as he rolled out of bed. He preferred to speak aloud when communicating to Esmiralla. It seemed less crazy for some reason.

  'Good. Now that we have the three ingredients we need, the ceremony can soon begin.'

  Simon poked through his wardrobe, discovered an old pair of jeans and a belt to hold them up. They were ridiculously big on him but he had no interest in wearing any of his robes.

  He found another old t-shirt, this one black with a faded yellow smiley-face on it, and slipped it over his narrow shoulders. It fit like a tent.

  “So what's the holdup?” he asked as he got dressed. “I thought that we only needed the two types of blood and the egg and then we could get on with it.”

  'That is all that is needed for the ceremony, yes,' the silver dragon answered. 'Now we need the proper setting.'

  “Meaning?”

  Simon left his room and pattered down the stairs in his bare feet.

  'Meaning that the ceremony must be performed at night, under a full moon.'

  The wizard walked across the main floor to the sink and filled his kettle. Apparently both of the elementals were out.

  “A full moon? Seriously?” he asked derisively as he hung the kettle in the fireplace and added a log to the low-burning embers. “Should I sacrifice a virgin too? Yeah, good luck finding one of those around these parts.”

  'Your tone is not appreciated, wizard.'

  The dragon sounded irritated but Simon was past caring.

  'The rite is the rite,' she continued. 'This is one of the parameters that must be met if we want it to succeed. And we both want that, do we not?'

  “Got that right,” Simon said harshly. “So how long until the next full moon? I don't keep track of it for some reason.”

  Esmiralla ignored his sarcastic comment.

  'Do not fret. Three days are all that you will have to endure. Three days and we are free of each other and can go our separate ways. Patience, wizard. Patience.'

  Her presence faded and Simon let out a long breath.

  Three days. Yeah, I can wait three days, he thought. At least now I have a time frame. That's a relief.

  He made his morning cup of tea and walked outside. The stone steps out front were a bit cool on his feet but not too bad and Simon sat down and listened to the birds singing and the gentle sound of the breeze wafting past his tower. It was going to be a lovely day.

  “Good morning, all powerful one,” a voice said from his left.

  The wizard turned his head and watched Aeris fly slowly around the corner of the building. The elemental looked quite happy.

  “Morning,” Simon replied. “How's it going?”

  “Very well.”

  The small semi-transparent figure moved to hover next to the wizard's shoulder and bobbed on the mild wind.

  “I'm overjoyed not to be in the desert chasing after the mother of the dragons, frankly.”

  He looked around with a satisfied smile and actually sighed softly.

  “It is good to be home.”

  “Glad to hear it.”

  Simon took a sip of his tea and watched one of the earthen as it clumped along the top of the outer wall.

  “I wanted to ask you a question, if I may,” Aeris said after a few minutes.

  The wizard blinked, drawn out of his thoughts, and looked at the elemental.

  “Of course you can. Anything.”

  “Okay. Good.”

  Aeris actually looked uncomfortable, which was unusual for him, and he hesitated.

  “Well, come on,” Simon told him with a grin. “You've never been the shy type.”

  “True. Okay then. Is the silver dragon available to speak with me as well?”

  The wizard frowned and closed his eyes for a moment, feeling through his thoughts for the familiar presence. He opened his eyes again and shook his head.

  “Nope. Sorry. She's off doing whatever it is that she does. Weird how she can mentally come and go but physically is trapped within me. You wanted to speak to both of us?”

  Aeris shook his head.

  “No, quite the opposite actually. I wanted to talk to you about the ceremony and the ingredients we've retrieved for you.”

  “Oh?”

  Simon put down his cup, drew up his knees and rested his forearms on them.

  “Okay, shoot.”

  The elemental looked into the wizard's eyes sternly.

  “All right. What are you doing?”

  Startled at the question, Simon stared back and blinked several times.

  “What?”

  “You heard me. What are you doing?” Aeris repeated, almost hissing as his tone became more intense. “Wizards don't use ingredients in their spell casting. They don't need them. You are mindlessly following the silver dragon's orders, apparently without question, never wondering if she might have an ulterior motive. That isn't like you at all, my dear wizard.”

  He paused and looked Simon up and down.

  “And what in the name of the Four Winds are you wearing?”

  “What?” Simon said again, feeling completely lost and more than a bit stupid. “What's wrong with my clothes?”

  “Jeans? A shirt? You look like an ordinary person!”

  The wizard had to laugh.

  “And that's a bad thing?”

  Aeris was almost quivering with exasperation.

  “Yes it's a bad thing! Do you not know why magic-users wear robes? No? It is because of the flow of their power. Tight clothing interrupts the channels that magic uses to travel through their bodies. Wearing that,” he raked Simon's body with a dismissive glance, “constricts your power. It is not natural for you. And not too long ago, you seemed to know that subconsciously and always wore robes. Now? Now I don't know what's gotten into you.”

  Aeris put his hands on his hips and glared at Simon.

  “Wow. Really? Is that why casters wear robes? I never knew that. Makes sense, I suppose.”

  He looked away from the elemental and stared across the bright courtyard, thinking hard.

  “I'm not sure why I started dressing like this. Sentimentality, I thought. You know, remembering the old days and all that.”

  Aeris nodded silently, his expression softening a bit.

  “But you may have a point,” the wizard continued. “I ditched the robes right after I sent you and the others off to find the ingredients for the ritual. Now why would I do that?”

  He looked sharply at Aeris.

  “Do you think Esmiralla ha
s some other reason for using this kind of magic?”

  The elemental became thoughtful.

  “Perhaps, my dear wizard. Perhaps. My only point here is to make you aware of things that you might not be. You're too close to it all, obviously, being merged with the silver dragon. Two kinds of blood? A dragon's egg? Whatever she is planning, this is dark magic. Very dark.”

  Simon picked up his cup and finished his tea. It was cold. He stood up and motioned for Aeris to follow him back inside.

  “So what do you suggest I do?” he asked as he crossed the room and hung the kettle over the fire again.

  Aeris flew to the kitchen table and stood on it.

  “Do? I have no idea. I only wanted to focus your attention on the situation. What you do now is up to you.”

  Simon sat down at the table and rested his chin on his hands. He nodded thoughtfully.

  “I guess so. Oh, by the way, she's informed me that we must go through the ceremony by the light of the full moon.”

  Aeris jerked back and his eyes widened.

  “The full moon?” he whispered. “But that's...that's not wizardry. That is witchcraft, absolutely.”

  “What the hell is she up to?” Simon muttered as an icy lump formed in his stomach.

  What had he gotten himself into this time?

  Chapter 6

  Esmiralla informed Simon on the day of the full moon to be prepared to start the ritual that evening. And then her presence faded from his mind again. She had been popping in and out ever since Aeris and the others had returned and, while the wizard enjoyed the solitude when she was 'away', wherever that was, he was becoming more and more suspicious.

  “It's tonight,” he told Kronk when the two of them were out back later that day tending the garden.

  Simon had shared his worries with the earthen and was a bit surprised to find out that the little guy actually agreed with Aeris.

  “Oh dear. Are you worried, master?” Kronk asked as he pulled up a weed from between rows of young tomato plants and threw it on a refuse pile.

  “Yes and no. Yes, I'm nervous about it, and no, I just want her the hell out of my head. You know?”

  Simon threw several small rocks on to the weed pile. No matter how many of the damned things they dug up, the stones always seemed to return to plague them. Maybe the stupid things grew back just like the weeds.

  “No master, but I understand.”

  Kronk smacked his hands together and took a critical look at the row of plants.

  “These look fine, master. I will dispose of the garbage.”

  The wizard stood up and leaned back. His spine cracked loudly in several spots and he sighed in relief.

  The little guy smiled up at him.

  “The day is warm, master. Perhaps a swim to wash off the dirt?”

  “Brilliant idea, my friend. I'll go and get my swimming things.”

  Simon turned away, walked several steps and turned back.

  “What should I do?” he asked simply.

  Kronk looked at him and Simon was warmed by the deep affection he saw in the earthen's eyes.

  “Be ready, master. For anything.”

  He looked Simon up and down and put his small hands on his hips.

  “And please, in the name of all the ancient wizards, master; wear a robe tonight.”

  Simon laughed in surprise as he realized what he was wearing; a threadbare pair of sweat pants and a gray tank top, both of which were, as usual, miles too big for him. He'd put them on without thinking. His bare feet were quite dirty.

  “I'll do that. Thanks, Kronk.”

  The little guy waved and began shifting the pile of refuse.

  Back in the tower, Simon grabbed his bathing things, stripped down to his loincloth and went out again. He made his way down to the lake and, after testing the water and finding it cool but not cold, waded in with a bar of soap.

  He spent a long time after washing up just floating in the middle of the small lake and blindly staring up at the deep blue sky. He was trying to think through various scenarios of what might happen during the ceremony and come up with ways to counter them, but the variables were too confusing. He had no way of knowing what Esmiralla was up to, if she was up to anything at all. And if she was, what exactly could he do to stop her when she was quite literally inside his head? Blow his own brains out?

  “Yeah, there's the solution, Simon,” he murmured as the water lapped against his body. “You're an idiot.”

  “Well, I wouldn't say that, but don't let me stop you from doing so.”

  Simon rolled his eyes to the right and saw Aeris hovering just above the surface of the lake, a few feet away.

  “Good morning,” he said as he flipped around and began treading water. “Where have you been?”

  “Oh, here and there,” Aeris replied vaguely. “Went down to check on our ursine neighbors. It has been a while. When this is over with, you really should head down there and try to set up a dialog. They could be useful allies.”

  The wizard swam slowly back to shore, grabbed his towel and began drying off. Aeris followed along.

  “You think so?” Simon asked dubiously. “I'm not so sure. I mean, a humanoid bear is still a bear, which means one good swipe of a paw and I'm dead.”

  “I know that, my dear wizard. Naturally I would make first contact, feel them out, see if they are hostile or not. We can go from there.”

  “Let's talk about it after tonight, okay? It's the full moon, you know.”

  “I'm an air elemental. Of course I know.”

  Simon finished drying off, put on clean underwear and his shoes and began walking up the gentle slope toward the tower. Chief and the other horses cantered by him and the big stallion whinnied as he passed. The wizard smiled and waved.

  “Anyway, I asked Kronk this, so now I'm asking you; what should I do?”

  Aeris hurried to catch up and floated along beside Simon's right shoulder.

  “Do? If the dragon turns out to be treacherous, you mean?”

  The wizard nodded.

  “Hmm. Well now, that's a hard one to answer. We don't know if she really is planning something deceitful, do we? And if she is, what is it? The silver dragons, as I told you once, were incredibly powerful in their day. On par with the most powerful of the evil dragons. And even though Esmiralla isn't a primal, she must be considered very close to one in sheer strength. I would say that if she is going to do something during or after this ritual of hers, you may have to wait until it is done to respond.”

  Simon stopped abruptly and looked at the elemental.

  “Seriously? That's your advice; wait and see?”

  “If you have a better plan, I'm all ears,” Aeris replied with a shrug.

  The wizard began walking again, thinking hard.

  It wasn't the fault of either elemental; they knew as much about the situation as he did, which was nothing. All three of them could be completely wrong about Esmiralla and her intentions. She was a dragon, after all, and he was sure that dragons didn't think like other beings, natural or supernatural. Aeris was right. He would simply have to wait and see what happened under the full moon.

  “You're right, I guess. I'll have to try to be prepared and play it by ear,” he said as he entered the tower. “But as a plan, I hate it.”

  “I don't blame you.”

  While Aeris stayed downstairs and stoked the fire, Simon went up to his bedroom to get dressed. He was thinking about the ominous night ahead and didn't really pay attention to what he was doing until he found himself staring at his reflection in his closet mirror.

  “What the hell?” he said in surprise.

  He was wearing a baggy pair of black pants and a short-sleeved button-down shirt. He had put them on automatically.

  “Exactly who are you?” he asked himself in the full-length mirror. “And what have you done with Simon O'Toole?”

  He undressed again angrily and flung the clothes back into his bureau. Then he deliberately cho
se a dark blue robe from his closet, slipped it off of its hanger and over his head.

  The garment felt very strange and rough against his skin and for a moment he was consumed by revulsion, like he'd just stroked a snake. And then the sensation was gone as quickly as it came and the robe felt familiar and comfortable again.

  Damn, that was creepy, he thought as he slipped on his indoor shoes and headed for the stairs.

  On the main floor, Simon was happy to find that Aeris had made him coffee for a change, dipping into his limited supply. Kronk had joined him and both were talking quietly. The earthen was adjusting the logs in the fireplace while Aeris watched.

  “Thanks Aeris,” the wizard said as he took the steaming cup from the counter and sat down in his comfy chair in front of the fire.

  “You're welcome. I'm pleased to see you properly dressed for a change.”

  “As am I, master,” Kronk said approvingly as he finished moving the logs around and dusted off his hands.

  The two elementals moved to stand in front of the fire. They looked up at Simon and he smiled back at them.

  “Me too. It was weird though. I actually put on the wrong clothes at first, without thinking, then took them off again and put on the robe. And for just a moment, it felt damned strange.”

  He sipped the coffee and savored the flavor as the elementals exchanged a look.

  “That could be quite telling,” Aeris said to Kronk.

  “I agree. Just like we were saying this morning, isn't it? She may be trying to minimize his power by making him wear those mundane clothes.”

  “Possibly. At least this time he didn't go along with it though; that's a good sign.”

  “Uh, guys? I'm right here,” Simon said and tapped on the floor with his heel.

  Aeris looked up at him and cocked his head to one side.

  “We're well aware of that, my dear wizard. Do you always have to be the center of every conversation?”

  The wizard felt his ears getting red at the remark.

  “Well no, of course not. But I hate people talking about me as if I'm not in the same room with them when I am.”

  Kronk gave him a contrite look while Aeris seemed to consider the remark. He nodded once.