“Aeris...” the wizard began but stopped as Kronk shook his head.
“I do not want to lose myself in the stone. I am enjoying my time here far too much for that. Those who were lost were ancient beings whose lives had become a meaningless existence. Many were slaves to ancient wizards who used them badly. By all accounts they were ready to end it all and became one with the element of earth. It was their escape, you see.”
He smiled happily at Simon.
“I do not wish to escape. I have far too much to do. Why, the gardening alone...”
“Fine, Kronk. Fine,” Aeris cut in. “Just checking.”
“If you think it will help, my friend, then the choice is yours,” Simon told him gratefully. “How long will it take?”
“Several hours, master. But do not worry; I will be back.”
The earthen hopped off of the desk, waved as he reached the door and left the room.
“I'm not sure if that was a promise or a threat,” Aeris said as he stared at the doorway.
Simon had to laugh.
“You really never stop, do you?”
Aeris looked at him and grinned mischievously, obviously knowing what the wizard meant.
“I wouldn't be me if I did, now would I, my dear wizard?”
“Can't argue with that. Well, I guess we can leave the search in Kronk's capable hands.”
He rubbed his scalp gently for a moment and then picked up the hand mirror. Kronk had managed to fuse all of the shards together again into a smooth surface and had even straightened out the silver housing. He could barely tell that he'd smashed the thing in a moment of grief.
It had also been his mother's mirror and was the only memento he had to remember her by, except for his memories. He was very glad that Kronk could repair it.
“So let's check out the city, shall we?” he said to Aeris.
“Ah, good idea. This should be interesting.”
The elemental moved to hover at Simon's right shoulder and both of them peered at their own reflections.
“You might want to shave,” Aeris told the wizard. “I think I see a hair above your upper lip.”
“Shut up,” Simon snapped at him and they exchanged grins in the mirror.
The wizard cast the Magic Mirror spell and concentrated on the ruined Peace Tower as he had seen it earlier in the day.
While they waited for the magic to find its target, Aeris looked at Simon curiously.
“What exactly were you doing so close to that city, by the way? You do realize how dangerous it was, right? I didn't want to say anything in front of Kronk; you know how he gets. But seriously? You got close enough to see these Parliament Buildings of yours?”
“I told you already; it just sort of happened. I was walking and remembering the past and then I reached the river. I followed the shoreline, saw the island and Gated over. End of story.”
“Uh-huh. Okay then, stick with that explanation if it helps you sleep at night.”
Simon ignored him and focused on the mirror.
“It's clearing,” he said and both he and Aeris leaned forward to peer at the vista appearing before them.
“Holy crap.”
It was past sunset and Simon was sitting in his comfy chair in front of the fireplace, sipping some wine when Kronk came bounding in the front door and slammed it behind him.
“Master, I am back!” he exclaimed as he hurried across the room.
“We can see that,” Aeris said acerbically. He was bobbing gently just above the floor in from of the fire and throwing off rainbows of colored light.
“Welcome back,” Simon told him with a smile. “How are you feeling?”
The little guy jumped up on to the arm of the chair, looking quite pleased with himself.
“Very well, master. I found the experience quite refreshing. I now know every nook and cranny of this tower in a way that I never have before.”
He looked around the room with an affectionate expression.
“It is a good building, master. Strong bones. It will last as long as you need it to.”
“Good, because I have no intention of living anywhere else any time soon.”
Simon took another sip of wine and Kronk looked at it curiously.
“I felt a need for something fortifying,” the wizard told him. “I'll explain in a minute. So what about the pebble?”
“The pebble? Oh yes, the pebble! Wait a moment, master and I will fetch it.”
Kronk jumped down again, tip-tapped across the room and ran up the stairs.
“He never does anything in half measures, have you noticed that?” Aeris asked. “It's all or nothing for that guy.”
“I know. Not a bad way to be, I suppose, but hard to maintain for most of us.”
“I agree. Oh well, it helps to define him, I suppose.”
“And what defines you, Aeris?” Simon teased. “A lack of urgency?”
“I'll have you know that I have plenty of urgency when the situation warrants it,” the elemental replied with some dignity. “I simply can't see getting excited over things like searching for a piece of rock or gardening. Honestly, it's sometimes exhausting just to be around him.”
“Be nice,” Simon told him. “He has a good heart.”
“Well, technically neither of us has a heart, but I know what you mean. Ah well.”
Aeris sighed and they both went back to staring at the dancing flames. It was soothing and after what they had seen in the mirror, Simon had a feeling that the elemental needed that calming effect as much as he did.
Kronk returned quickly, skittering down the stairs in a way that always made Simon think of someone wearing tap shoes. And he smiled at the sound every time.
“Here it is, master,” the earthen said as he jumped back up on to the chair and offered the wizard the round pebble.
“Where was it, anyway?” Aeris asked. “We practically tore this place apart and found no sign of it.”
“There is a crack in the floor underneath one of the bookcases in master's study,” Kronk told him. “Somehow the little stone rolled under there and became lodged in the crack.”
“Huh. I wonder how that happened,” Simon said as he held the smooth pebble up and examined it in the firelight.
Aeris floated over and stared at the stone. He snorted as he bobbed there, hands on his hips.
“Not very impressive, is it?”
“Aeris, it's a rock,” Simon told him dryly. “It's not supposed to dance and tell jokes.”
He turned the pebble over and saw the same crude etching that he remembered from the day he received it. It felt like it had been a hundred years ago.
“Ah, now that's interesting,” the air elemental said as he zipped forward to peer closely at the design. “I've seen this somewhere before.”
“Have you? Where?”
“Patience, my dear wizard. Give me a moment to think.”
Simon turned the pebble so that Kronk could see the oddly-shaped rune.
“Do you recognize it?” he asked the little guy.
Kronk shrugged indifferently.
“I am afraid not, master. Magic and runes were never of great interest to my people. Those of the air realm concerned themselves more closely with such things.”
“So I've heard.”
Both Simon and Kronk watched as Aeris folded his legs in midair, put his elbows on his knees and frowned in concentration.
“Where was it?” he said softly to himself. “Where?”
While Simon waited for the elemental to remember, or not, he got up and refilled his glass. The wine had been a gift from the people of Nottinghill Castle. They were growing grapes again and their vintner was busy turning out as much wine as he could. It wasn't half bad either.
“Master, why are you drinking that?” Kronk asked softly when the wizard had sat down again. “You rarely touch alcohol. Did something happen while I was below ground searching for that stone?”
Simon nodded, took a sip, nodded again
.
“You could say that, yes. Something that goes far beyond me deciding whether to bury Daniel's ashes in Ottawa or not. Something that could radically change our lives, for better or for worse. I'm not sure about that part yet.”
“What was it, master?”
“Let's wait for Aeris, okay? We'll talk when he's done thinking.”
“As you say, master.”
Simon was grateful that the little guy wasn't argumentative, at least not with him. His relationship with Aeris was another matter entirely and they could spend hours sniping at each other. The wizard suspected that they each secretly enjoyed it.
He was just finishing his second glass of wine and wondering if elementals actually could fall asleep after all, when Aeris lifted his head and caught his eye.
“Got it,” he said, standing in midair again. “I remember now.”
“And?”
“And. I was enslaved by a particularly nasty wizard at the time; a wizard who specialized in rune work. She invented many unique runes and achieved a certain, shall we say, notoriety among the magical community.”
“Really? Why? What did she use her runes for?”
“Mostly for assassinations. She became the go-to wizard if some wealthy lord or noble wanted someone, um, taken care of, as they say.”
“You worked for a murderer?” Kronk asked, wide-eyed.
“You know better than that,” Aeris snapped at him. “Back then we were thought of as tools, remember? Mindless slaves who did as they were told. Or did you have a different experience than mine?”
Kronk hesitated and then shook his head slowly.
“What you say is true. It must have been horrible for you.”
“It was a nightmare.”
Aeris looked at Simon hopelessly.
“She made me a part of her terrible schemes. As an air elemental, I was perfectly suited for the task of spying out her targets, watching their patterns, infiltrating their homes.”
He hesitated and stared at the pebble that Simon had left on the arm of his chair.
“And when the time was right, I would take one of this wizard's runes and leave it in the bed chamber of her victim.”
“And then what would happen?”
“They were curses, my dear wizard. Each had its own 'special twist', she used to say. One would cause a victim to be asphyxiated. Another would ignite a conflagration and burn them alive. She was endlessly imaginative, I assure you.”
“Oh my God. Whatever happened to her?”
Aeris' smile wasn't pleasant.
“She accepted the wrong contract. Arrogance, I suppose. She'd become so good at killing that she thought she was invincible. She was mistaken.”
“So what happened?”
“She attempted to assassinate a master wizard. She herself was never much more than an apprentice, except for her skill with runes. She had no idea what sort of protections a truly skilled wizard can surround himself with. So when I left a rune in his bedroom and she activated it, the spell rebounded on her. I watched as she died, screaming. It was actually rather satisfying.”
Simon shifted uneasily in his chair. He plucked the pebble off of the arm and held it up on his flat palm.
“Are you saying that this rune is cursed?”
Aeris frowned at him.
“Of course not. It's a communication rune. A rather limited one. More of a toy than a true piece of wizardry. It allows the creator to speak to whomever possesses it but only at short range; I would say a few miles at most.”
Both Simon and Kronk stared at him silently.
“What? Why are you both looking at me like that?”
“You just told us a story about a psychopathic killer wizard who assassinated others using runes,” Kronk said in a strained voice. “Why would you do that when this rune is a simple communication device?”
Aeris seemed surprised by their reactions.
“Because you asked where I had seen that particular rune before. The wizard that I mentioned worked her way up from creating spells like the one attached to that pebble to the killing runes I told you about. Sorry. Did you think that I was going to say it was dangerous? It isn't. Honest.”
Simon slumped back in his chair and let out a long, slow breath, slipping the pebble into a pocket.
“Good to know,” he mumbled.
“But I will say this, my dear wizard. If this child, Sarah, is still alive and learning her craft, she may very well be quite a powerful rune-scribe by now. And that would make her potentially very dangerous indeed.”
“Yes, I can see that. But after what you and I saw earlier, I think the likelihood of her survival is doubtful at best.”
Aeris nodded solemnly.
“Master, what was it? What did you see?”
The fire crackled and hissed to itself as Simon considered his answer.
“Wouldn't it be easier just to show him?” Aeris asked.
“Yeah, maybe. Could you get the mirror for me?”
“Certainly. Be right back.”
The air elemental shot across the room and up the stairs and Simon took the opportunity to get up and walk to the sink. He set his glass down and filled the kettle.
“That's enough wine,” he said over his shoulder to Kronk. “I don't like hangovers any better in this body than I did in my old one. Tea would be a better choice.”
“I agree, master,” the earthen said, smiling.
Simon hung the kettle over the fire, slipped on his thin shoes and headed for the door, summoning a mage light as he went.
“Tell Aeris I'll be right back; that wine's gone right through me.”
“Of course, master. I'll get your tea ready.”
“Thanks. Won't be long.”
The wizard slipped out of the front door with the light bobbing along over his head and Kronk jumped from the chair to the floor and then up on to the counter.
He was carefully spooning dried tea into a cup when Aeris came back downstairs again.
“Where's he gone?” he asked as he crossed the room holding the hand mirror.
“Outhouse,” Kronk replied absently. He was concentrating on the task at hand.
“Ah, of course. The wine. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to eat and drink and have to, you know, use the facilities?”
Kronk put down the tea box and thought about it for a moment.
“Not really, no. It always seemed so...convoluted. We absorb energy directly from our environment. I think it is much more efficient, don't you?”
Aeris flew over to the chair and laid the mirror on one of the arms.
“Oh, I agree. But apparently it can quite pleasurable trying new foods and beverages.”
“I suppose so.”
Kronk glanced at the boiling kettle.
“Could you bring that over for me? I'm making master some tea.”
“Oh, he's off the wine? Good.”
Together they made the cup of tea and when Simon came back in from the outhouse, it was sitting on the little table next to his chair, steam rising invitingly.
“Thanks guys. I appreciate that.”
He washed his hands and then sat down, put the mirror in his lap and picked up the cup.
“Ah, much better,” he told them after a few sips.
He picked up the mirror again and concentrated on it.
“Magic Mirror,” he said quietly and the surface fogged over.
“What are we going to be looking at, master?” Kronk asked.
He had moved to the arm of the chair and was leaning forward, watching the mirror intently.
“I told you earlier that I decided to zip over to Aylmer Island while I was walking along the river.”
“Yes and that was a bit risky,” Aeris replied tartly.
“Oh, it was not. Don't exaggerate. Anyway, I noticed that the outline of the Peace Tower looked different from how I remembered it. So while you were searching for Sarah's pebble, Aeris and I took a peek in the mirror.”
“And saw what, master?”
The shining surface began to clear and Kronk made a surprised sound deep in his throat as he saw what Simon had seen several hours before.
“That,” the wizard said.
Chapter 17
The evening had fallen over the site of the Parliament Buildings but in the mirror it was lit well enough to see. From the mirror's perspective, they were looking at it from several hundred feet above the ground; a literal bird's-eye view.
To the south of the ruined buildings, directly below the Peace Tower, was a large hole where the front lawn had been once upon a time. It was perhaps fifty feet across, its interior lost in darkness. And around the hole, torches were blazing every few yards, whipping violently in the wind.
“It is a hole, master,” Kronk said blankly.
“Yes, my friend. A hole. A hole that was not there four years ago.”
“But why does it worry you, master? It is big, I suppose, but any creature could have dug it. Couldn't they? Perhaps it is a sinkhole caused by erosion underground.”
Aeris flew up and around to Simon's left shoulder.
“Show him, my dear wizard,” he murmured.
“Show me what?”
Simon tilted the mirror forward and the view zoomed down toward the ground at great speed.
“Look at the edges of the hole,” Aeris said to Kronk.
“They appear to be...writhing? Moving? What is that?”
“Watch and see.”
A few seconds later the view became clear and defined and Kronk pulled back from the mirror in disgust.
He was looking at masses of humanoid forms. Shambling, screeching, eyes blazing with purple fire.
“Undead, master. Hundreds of undead.”
“Thousands, Kronk,” Simon said. “Thousands.”
Kronk seemed confused as he looked in the mirror again. He frowned but remained silent.
“What is it?” Aeris asked. “You seem puzzled.”
“I am. How did you see these abominations earlier? Undead cannot exist in direct sunlight. The pure light of the heavens destroys them utterly.”
Simon nodded and adjusted the axis of the mirror. The view retreated upward again and then moved to the left.
“Remember the oddness of the Peace Tower I mentioned?”
The Dragons of Argent and Silver (Tales from the New Earth #6) Page 20
