“So, what about this death city of yours?”
Aeris' sharp question snapped the wizard out of his tranquil mood. He turned to glare at the elemental.
“Thanks a lot,” he snapped.
“What? You've committed to taking your friend's ashes back to this devastated place. You should at least map out a plan of action before you go. Or were you just going to breeze in, plant Daniel like a seed and waft out again?”
“That was entirely disrespectful, Aeris!” Kronk said sternly. “Daniel was a great man.”
“Of course he was a great man!” the air elemental replied with a glare. “A great man who probably wouldn't have wanted his best friend ripped to shreds just to indulge his last wish!”
Simon ran his fingers through his hair and pushed himself to his feet.
“Guys, don't argue. I'm going to do this but I won't rush headlong back to the city. It's been what, four years since my last visit? I'll scout it out first with Magic Mirror and then decide on the best place to lay Daniel to rest.”
He brushed off the seat of his robe and then smiled as he thought of something.
“Hey, at least this time I won't have to ride Chief there and back. I can Gate to the spot I choose, do what I have to do and leave. Pretty straightforward, really.”
Aeris grumbled but didn't say anything.
“Where's Ana, by the way?” the wizard asked and looked around curiously.
“Back at the lake, master,” Kronk told him. “She was,” he frowned, “testing the ground water for viability? Whatever that means.”
“It means that she wanted to make sure it's drinkable,” Aeris told him with a hint of superiority in his voice.
“Is that what that meant? Well then, that is what she is doing, master.”
Simon smiled down at him.
“Good. Too bad she missed Ethmira though. Oh well, another time. Anyway, Aeris, would you do me a favor and close and seal the front gate please?”
“Certainly. We can't be too careful, can we?” the air elemental said with some emphasis and zipped off toward the gate.
Simon shook his head at Aeris' attempt at a subtle jab.
“Kronk? Feel like taking a walk? I want to go back and spend some time with the animals.”
“I would like that, master,” the earthen said happily and he bounded down the steps as Simon descended and turned to the left.
The two of them wandered around the tower and out of the back gate. It was open but an earth elemental was standing on the arch above it, keeping watch. Simon waved up at him as they walked through the opening.
The pasture between the tower wall and the lake was already covered with thick grass that waved and shimmered like a surreal green sea. The horses; Chief, Tammy, Sunshine and her daughter Sunbeam, were all grazing down by the lake. Several massive cows wandered around the area, chewing their cud and staring dully at the wizard and the earthen.
The sheep, as usual, moved in a little group from one patch of grass to another.
Chief whinnied a greeting as he spotted Simon and trotted up to meet him. The stallion's massive horns, similar to those pictured on mythical unicorns except that there were two of them, swung to the side as the horse was careful not to impale the wizard.
“Hey big guy,” Simon greeted him. He stroked the smooth neck as Chief delicately rested his chin on the wizard's neck and nickered happily.
The other horses watched with interest but allowed the stallion his time alone with Simon before each approached to receive some attention.
Sunbeam was as lemon-yellow as always but she had grown quickly. She was no more than a few hands shorter than her mother now, but slighter in build and much more mischievous. She allowed the wizard to rub her neck, then pretended to snap at him and ran off with a high-pitched squeal.
Simon laughed at her antics and felt himself beginning to relax. Spending time with the small herd always had that effect on him. He watched the horses as they went back to grazing, then strolled down to the lake shore and sat by the water.
He stared out across the shimmering surface, watching the glints of sunlight as it reflected off of the ripples. His thoughts were pulled reluctantly back to his last visit to Ottawa, his hometown.
He recalled the journey vividly. He had ridden Chief because his knowledge of spells at that time didn't include Gate.
He snickered at himself and Kronk looked at him curiously.
“Sorry,” Simon said. “I was just remembering my last visit to Ottawa. Not only couldn't I Gate there, I knew practically nothing about my magic. Not even Magic Mirror. I went in there totally blind to the dangers. God, what an idiot.”
“Not an idiot, master,” the little guy said stoutly. “Simply innocent. The world was being remade at that time, was it not? I remember it too, you know. I never told you this, but I was so worried about you when you left, I could barely go about my duties.”
Simon smiled at him and patted his narrow shoulders.
“I guessed, actually. My God, things were so different then, weren't they?”
He looked over his shoulder at the tower, rising up over forty feet behind its protective wall.
“We didn't have the wall, or Aeris, or your fellow earthen to stand guard.”
“Master, we had practically nothing,” Kronk told him. “It was just you and me. The three horses were here, but Sunbeam hadn't been born yet. Your neighbor, the herb witch Heather, was still trusted. And it wasn't until you returned from the city that you first met Ethmira.”
“Yeah, that was a shock.”
Simon pulled up his knees and rested his chin on them.
“She just walked up to the front door and knocked. Imagine that!” he exclaimed with a laugh.
“A more innocent time, master. It is difficult to accept that it has only been four years, more or less.”
“When you say it out loud like that, it sounds so unbelievable. And now I have to return to Ottawa, where it all started.”
He turned his head and rested it against his legs as he stared at Kronk.
“Tell me honestly, just between us; what do you think of Daniel's request?”
The little guy sighed, a tiny squeak of sound, and looked across the lake. He didn't reply for several minutes and Simon waited patiently. He knew how deliberate Kronk could be when organizing his thoughts.
When he looked up at the wizard, his expression was carefully neutral.
“Very well, master, I will answer you honestly. I had great respect for your departed friend. He was immensely intelligent and fiercely loyal to you. And as you have said many times, he saved your life. Plus he set you on the road to becoming a wizard, which has made a tremendous impact on the future of this world. But,” he looked back toward the tower for a second, “I must agree with Aeris. Daniel was in his last extremity when he asked to have his remains buried in Ottawa. I do not believe that, if he had been in his right mind, he would have made this request. It is, forgive me, madness to go there. We do not know what dangers await you and even spying out the place using your magic may not make you safe.”
He tilted his head to the side as he caught Simon's gaze and shrugged.
“You asked for my honest opinion, master.”
“I know I did. Thanks Kronk. I appreciate that.”
Simon shifted around and rested his chin on his knees again. He should have been surprised by the little guy going along with Aeris; they rarely agreed on anything. But when it came to safety, Simon knew that Kronk would always choose the more cautious approach.
He was probably right too, the wizard thought. Daniel was near death and possibly nostalgic, thinking of his life before the world had changed, when he had asked Ethmira to bring his ashes to his best friend. If anyone knew how dangerous the ravaged cities were now, it was Daniel.
“But I have to respect his dying wish, don't I?” he blurted out.
Kronk looked at him but remained silent, seeming to know that Simon wasn't speaking to him.
>
The wizard stood up abruptly.
“I need to take a walk. Watch over the place until I get back, okay?”
Kronk looked up at him quizzically.
“Of course, master. Take your time. It is an important decision.”
“Thanks, bud. I don't think I'll be gone very long.”
He waved at the earthen and walked away, circling the little lake clockwise until he entered the forest. He headed north following paths made by unknown creatures. Simon wondered if they were deer trails or had been cut into the earth by something much more dangerous.
Once he had been walking for five minutes or so, the wizard stopped and held out his arm.
“Mortis de Draconis,” he said.
His staff appeared in his hand and he immediately felt safer.
“Hey there,” he said to it. “We're about to do something really stupid. I hope you're ready.”
The length of wood and metal didn't answer, of course, but Simon fancied that it warmed under his fingers.
“Shield,” he muttered and an opaque barrier appeared around him, flattening the grass and small bushes on both sides of the game trail.
Just in case, he thought, and began walking again.
He was making for the Ottawa River, which was about an hour's brisk walk directly north of his tower. He had no idea if Kronk was suspicious of his motives for walking off, but once either elemental noticed the staff's absence, he knew that they would probably guess.
Well, sometimes you just have to follow your heart, even when your head is screaming at you to turn back.
“Yeah, because that makes sense, you dink,” he said to himself.
No monsters attacked him and all Simon heard were bird calls as he traveled. Once a very loud buzzing noise filled the forest and he stopped and listened, searching for the source. Eventually though, it faded away again and he walked on, wondering what could have caused it.
Despite the circumstances and his general mood, Simon found himself enjoying the day and even caught himself humming several times.
The sun was just climbing toward noon when he emerged from the forest to see the broad expanse of the river spread out before him.
The Ottawa River was hundreds of miles long and at many points could be over a mile wide. It was at least that far across at the point where Simon appeared. He leaned on his staff and took a few minutes to just enjoy the amazing view.
The river was blue-green under the bright sky, the water choppy out in the middle with whitecaps leaping and foaming. But whatever wind was churning up the river couldn't reach the wizard where he stood surrounded by trees.
Simon wondered where Aquamastis was. He wasn't quite clear on the relationship between the powerful water elemental and this river that he lived in now. Was he stretched thinly along its entire length? Or did he travel from one end to the other in an endless patrol? It was quite possible that it was something else entirely, something that a human could not even understand.
Whatever it was, he was happy for the elemental. Aquamastis had helped him twice against primal dragons and all it had cost was Simon saying that the powerful being could stay on Earth and live in the river. A small price to pay for helping to save humanity.
But he wasn't here to see the elemental; at least not today. No, he really had wanted to walk and work things out in his mind about the best way to lay Daniel to rest. Maybe it had also helped to settle his emotions down a bit. Having Ethmira show up with his friend's ashes had brought back all of his feelings of grief and loss. And guilt.
Simon found a large rock jutting out into the water and climbed to the top of it. He pulled up his robe with a wry smile at how undignified it must look and sat down on the warm surface. He lay his staff across his knees and let himself examine his emotions, especially how guilty he felt over Daniel's death. Then he reached back to the time before magic and lost himself in his memories.
Chapter 15
A year before the return of the dragons, Simon had begun to Change. His large frame and muscles had started to shrink. He had begun to grow back his hair and the deeps lines and creases on his face were fading.
It had been a slow process but eventually the people that he had worked with began to notice. Changlings were in the news all the time back then and there was an underlying fear and suspicion of what they were and what was happening. Simon had decided to leave his job as it became more and more uncomfortable working there.
And shortly after that it had ceased to matter anyway because technology began to break down.
He sighed and picked up a pebble off of the rock. He tossed it blindly into the river and listened to the 'plonk' as it landed and sank.
“What a mess that was,” he murmured as he looked across the river. “First all forms of internal combustion engines began to fail; planes, trains and automobiles stopped working. Then the Internet, television and radio died. And finally the electricity failed completely. And without electricity there is no water, no refrigeration, no cooking. No heating and cooling. Modern society stumbles into anarchy.”
And it was at this precise moment that Daniel had stepped in.
Simon had begun spending most days and night at his friend's home. The huge rambling old house at least had several fireplaces where they could burn wood for heating and cooking. Daniel had stocked up on bottled water, dried food and other supplies and it was as comfortable as any place could be with gangs of desperate people roaming the streets looking for ways to survive. The two friends had barricaded the doors and windows just in case.
Authority broke down amazingly quickly. The police couldn't function; no cars, no radios and finally, no working guns. With no way to stay organized and enforce the law, the police department eventually gave up and then it was every man and woman for themselves.
That was when, in the midst of Simon's Change, that Daniel had told him to run.
“Leave this city, Simon,” he'd said. “Your tower is fully stocked with food, you have a working pump that draws fresh water and, except for you, me and a handful of construction workers who I doubt give a damn, no one else knows where it is.”
They had been sitting in the library, surrounded by hundreds of old tomes, a fire crackling on the hearth. Daniel had dug up a bottle of cognac from somewhere and both of them were sitting in armchairs facing the fire. Simon remembered being pleasantly drunk.
His friend's suggestion caught him by surprise and he took some time to answer.
“Sick of me already?” he'd asked finally.
“You know I'm not. But this town is only going to get worse. People have begun to fight in the streets. They are getting more and more desperate by the day and who can blame them? The government has all but vanished, even tinned food is running out and it's a long way to the river to get drinkable water. Parents are frantic. Hell, everyone is. And your Change is accelerating.”
“Tell me about it.”
Simon had looked down at his body; a body he could barely accept was his anymore.
His right arm was slim and smooth like a boy's but his left was still thick with muscle and covered in hair. His legs were the same weird combination. When he walked, he rolled to one side with an exaggerated limp. Thank God he had retained his six feet in height, but it was like the halves of two different people had been glued together. Simon avoided looking in any mirrors now; what he saw was both hideous and terrifying.
“When did your eyes change color?” Daniel asked and leaned forward to see better in the flickering firelight. “This is the first time I've noticed that.”
“They changed color?” Simon groaned. “Oh crap. What are they now; purple or pink?”
Daniel barked a laugh.
“No. One is a lovely sky blue and the other is a soulful brown.”
“Great. Two different colors. So much for having hazel eyes. As if I'm not freakish looking enough.”
He drank some cognac and sank into bitter thoughts.
“You aren't a freak, Sim
on,” Daniel said calmly. “Your Change will eventually alter your entire body, not just one side. For God's sake, you're getting younger! Surely some discomfort is worth that, isn't it? Especially to a man who's almost sixty-one?”
Simon looked at him sourly.
“My age is irrelevant. You know that. I can take on men half my age. I can bench over four hundred pounds and not break a sweat. I don't give two shits about becoming young again. I hated my youth. God, years of awkwardness. Acne. Social ineptness. Ugh, my teens were a nightmare, not something I look back on fondly. And if that's the direction my Change is taking me, somebody pull over the bus; I want to get off.”
Daniel laughed again and shook his head at Simon's intransigence.
“The Change won't stop, old friend. It will progress until it is complete or you are dead. I think we can at least agree that the second option isn't the best one. But you need a place where you can allow the process to occur at its own pace; where you are secure, well fed, safe. And that is your tower.”
“And just how the hell do I get there? It's not like I can call a cab or take a bus. And the horses are running wild now. I let them run free a couple of months ago, the last time I was there. Things were already breaking down and I wasn't sure if I'd ever get back so I released them.”
“Good thinking, but Chief and the girls are loyal. I doubt if they've gone too far from home. As to how you get there, old man; you walk. You put one thick leg in front of one skinny leg and you move that misshapen ass out of this doomed city.”
Simon felt a chill of fear ripple down his back, breaking through his alcoholic haze.
“Doomed? What do you mean, doomed?”
“Just what I said.”
Daniel refilled his glass, reached over to top up Simon's and sat back again. He sipped his liquor and stared blindly at the flames in the fireplace.
“This city, hell, all cities, are doomed to fall. A city survives only when its infrastructure remains intact. And ours is gone now. Ottawa has gone from Canada's capital to just a mass of people fighting to live. And I'm sure that every other city in the world is going through exactly what we are. Technology is gone, my friend. We will soon be reduced to using bows and arrows for hunting and swords to protect ourselves. Bye-bye New Age, hello dark ages. Fun times.”
The Dragons of Argent and Silver (Tales from the New Earth #6) Page 18
