How did he know that I'd need this one day, the wizard wondered. How?
It was a question he had asked himself numerous times over the past five years. Daniel had been a visionary and his choices had saved Simon's life more than once, but he was still amazed at how much the man had foreseen.
He opened the tome and began skimming through it. The entire book was rather horrible. There was page after page of incantations that he would not have understood back in the old days. Now though he could read them, more or less, but the gut-churning magic associated with the spells was absolutely alien to him and he knew just by looking at them that this power was totally inaccessible to him.
“Just as well,” he murmured in disgust as he flipped through the pages.
He found a large section filled with illustrations and settled deeper into his chair as he examined each one.
The artist who had drawn these pictures had been a master. He or she must also have been somewhat perverse.
“Skeleton,” Simon muttered.
The picture showed the standard bony figure that could have been found in any medical book, but with an evil twist. The naked skull was weirdly warped and the monster was holding up a rusty sword. Twin flames burned in the empty eye sockets and its mouth gaped open in a mindless scream.
He flipped the page and shuddered.
“Ghoul.”
This picture was somehow worse than the skeleton, even though they were very similar. The difference with the ghoul as that it was covered in bits of dried skin that flapped off of its bones. And it had eyes inside its leering skull. Eyes without lids which made the ghoul look even more insane, if that was possible.
The next few pages were filled with a rogue's gallery of undead monsters, all hand-drawn by a master artist. Zombies, wights, wraiths; they were all there and all horrible.
What makes it so much worse is knowing that they are actually real, Simon thought grimly. Real and out there somewhere.
He closed the book with a snap and set it on the side table.
“So how do I stop those things?”
“Sir wizard?” a gentle voice spoke from behind him.
Simon looked over his shoulder and saw Brethia flying down the stairs.
“Yes Brethia?”
“Sir, could you come up to the roof please?”
The wizard stood up and hurried over to meet her at the steps.
“What's wrong?”
“It...will be easier for you to see it, my lord. Please.”
“No problem. Let's go.”
It only took a minute to get to the roof. Simon pulled himself up the final rungs of the ladder and stepped out into the cool evening air.
He instantly saw Brethia and Orriss bobbing side-by-side in the light breeze that was wafting over the tower. They glowed slightly, making them easy to spot.
They were at the eastern edge of the roof and Orriss motioned at Simon urgently the moment he saw him.
“Sir wizard, this way,” he called out.
“What is it?” Simon asked as he joined them.
“My lord,” Brethia said as she pointed downward. “We spotted an anomaly and wanted you to see it.”
“An anomaly? Where?”
Simon leaned over the parapet to look at the open area between the outside wall and the forest. The ground there was monochromatic in the weak moonlight, but he could see it fairly well even in the dark.
He gasped as he realized that the ground was actually heaving, pulsing up and down like a living thing. Leaves and small plants in the clearing were shaking and flying in all directions.
“Good God, it's as if it's breathing, isn't it?”
“Yes sir,” Brethia agreed. “I have never seen anything like it. Perhaps you could send Kronk or one of the other earthen to check it out?”
“I'd love to, but they are away on a mission at the moment. Damn it.”
“That is unfortunate,” Orriss said as he watched the weird movement below. “In that case, I can go down and get a closer look, sir wizard.”
“Not a chance,” Simon told him quickly. “No one leaves the safety of these walls. A lot of bad things are happening right now and I won't take any chances with anyone that works for me. Clear?”
Orriss bowed slightly and Simon thought that he looked a little relieved.
“Clear, my lord.”
A glowing figure suddenly shot straight up and over the parapet
“What in the Four Winds is happening?”
It was Aeris.
“Good question,” Simon replied as he stared at the moving ground beyond the wall. “I have no idea.”
Aeris joined him while Brethia and Orriss moved back politely.
“Kronk hasn't returned, obviously,” the air elemental commented.
“Obviously. Bad timing, I guess. We could really use his help right about now.”
“I'm guessing that you want us all to stay within the warding?”
Simon nodded and leaned forward, resting his forearms on the low parapet. He squinted at the movement in the clearing.
“What could be causing that?”
“I have no idea, but I don't like it. At all.”
The wizard looked at him and then nodded toward the area of the outer wall closest to the disturbed area.
“Touch my shoulder. I need to get down there.”
“Um, okay,” Aeris said in confusion.
Simon focused on the wall below.
“Gate,” he said.
The teleport took less than a second and the pair were suddenly standing on the wall looking over the land that stretched off toward the distant trees.
“Ah, that was handy.”
“Thanks. Now, what is that?”
The shadows and thin moonlight were confusing to the eye and Simon just couldn't focus well enough to make out any details.
“Screw this,” he snapped.
“What?”
The wizard stood up straighter and stretched out his left arm.
“Mortis de Draconis,” he said loudly.
The staff appeared in his hand and Simon nodded in satisfaction, leaning on it. Then he made a gesture with his right hand and a globe of silver light materialized in front of him, shining brightly. He motioned at it and it rose several feet above his head.
Simon summoned two more blazing mage lights and sent them to join the first one.
“Okay, let's shed some light on this mystery,” he said and sent the trio of silvery globes over the wall toward the still-churning ground.
The mage lights began rotating around each other as they moved and their area of illumination became much larger. The ground a dozen feet below them was lit up brightly and Simon could make out fine details as they moved.
“Much better,” he muttered and Aeris nodded silently as he watched the lights through narrowed eyes.
“Where are Stennos and Osteros?” Simon asked as he kept his eyes on the slowly moving lights.
“Patrolling the wall. Don't worry; they won't let anything creep up on us while we're investigating this thing.”
“Good. One worry at a time.”
The three lights approached the weirdly moving ground, about fifty yards out from the wall. Simon lifted his hand a bit and they rose up higher and merged into one intense globe of radiance, as bright as a spotlight. The ground was lit up in all directions and the wizard could finally see the mysterious area.
“What the hell?”
The ground was slowly spinning in a clockwise direction as if it had been turned to mud. There was a vibration that could be felt even from the wall and Simon and Aeris could hear a low, grinding sound, like rock scraping on stone. Twigs and branches snapped and were pulled out of sight as the earth was stirred as if by a giant invisible spoon.
“What could be causing that?” the wizard wondered.
“It's new to me,” Aeris told him, puzzled.
Simon looked from side to side, spotted the closest rune and moved quickly over to it
. He put his right hand on it and raised his staff.
“Let's strengthen this while I'm down here.”
Mortis de Draconis pulsed and drew in magical energy. Simon felt it channel up his left arm, concentrate in his chest next to his heart and then drain away down his right arm and into the rune cut into the stone on the wall. A muted blue pulse of color lit the wall for a brief moment and then faded again.
“There,” he said and rubbed his eyes. His legs felt a little weak but it passed quickly.
“Are you all right?” Aeris asked.
Simon forced a smile, nodded and went back to watching the moving, churning ground out in the clearing.
“Master?” a voice called out.
“What the...?”
The wizard looked around in the dark for Kronk but couldn't see him.
“Kronk? Where are you?”
He heard a tip-tapping sound and realized that the earthen was jumping up a ladder somewhere nearby.
“Here, master,” the little guy said loudly as he hopped up on to the wall in front of the parapet and hurried over to Simon.
“You're back,” Aeris said and pointed out at the moving ground in the distance. “Any idea what that is?”
“Yes. Master, you need to strengthen the wards on this wall,” the little guy said urgently.
“I just did. Why?”
Before Kronk could answer, all sounds faded around them. The ground became still and the bright mage light broke apart into its three separate globes again. They began to vibrate and then all three shattered in showers of sparks.
“What?” Simon whispered.
“Master, they are coming!”
A massive explosion deafened the wizard and he stumbled backwards, almost falling off of the parapet. Aeris zipped around him and pushed him upright, holding on to his robe firmly until Simon found his balance.
He thanked the elemental and raised a hand, creating a new globe of light. Then he sent it streaking across the clearing toward the source of the explosion. Its radiance grew in strength as it flew until the area was brightly lit again. But now, instead of a field heaving mysteriously, a huge hole had opened up in its place. Fumes and smoke billowed out of the crater and Simon gaped as he saw countless bony arms groping for a handhold.
“The undead, master.”
“Yeah, thanks. I can see that,” Simon told him loudly, his ears still ringing. “How many?”
Kronk didn't answer right away and when the wizard looked down at him, he shrugged.
“All of them, master,” he answered gravely.
“Oh crap.”
Simon looked back at the field and felt a chill race up his spine. The hairs on his neck and arms stood up and he stared in horror at what he was seeing.
Dozens of bodies were climbing out of the hole. No, not dozens; hundreds.
The undead horde was erupting out of the ground like ants swarming out of an anthill. There were figures that were just bare bones held together with gristle, emaciated monsters with putrid chunks of flesh stuck to their frames, and fresh corpses with gaping mouths and rotting eyes. But no matter what kind of monster they were, all of their eyes flickered with purple fire and all of them watched the tower malevolently.
“That light,” Simon said.
“What light. Master?”
“In their eyes. That purple light. It's the same color as that thing we saw gliding above the city; the one we couldn't identify.”
“Can we worry about the immediate threat please?” Aeris said pointedly. “We need to stop them before they reach the wall.”
“The wards will hold them back,” Simon said with a confidence he didn't really feel.
“Maybe so,” Aeris said a bit dubiously. “But for how long? If we can prevent them from attacking in the first place, the wards won't need to be tested.”
The undead had began spreading out across the field in a wide front. More of them poured from the fresh crater, clawing and groping their way to the surface. What made the horror even worse for Simon was the fact that none of them made a sound. He could actually hear their bony fingers scraping across the churned earth as they reached the surface, but once they had emerged, they just stood there, mute.
Well, they couldn't talk anyway without tongues, he said to himself. They were dead mindless drones controlled by an evil wizard. Still, their silence was unnerving.
“I wonder where that damned necromancer is?” Simon said as he scanned the ranks of the enemy.
“Good question,” Aeris replied. “He can't be too far. Without his magic to animate them, these monsters would collapse like marionettes with their strings cut.”
There was a disturbance inside the hole, rumbles and loud crashes echoing across the field. Simon tried to see what was happening but the undead were so thick now that they blocked his view of the crater.
“What's happening?” he asked.
“My brethren are trying to slow them down, master,” Kronk told him.
He was standing on top of the wall with his small fists clenched tightly.
“The other earthen?”
The little guy nodded.
“But I didn't tell them to do that.”
Kronk managed a strained smile as he looked at Simon.
“It was their choice, master. You have always said that we are not slaves, yes? So they have chosen to do what they can to help defend you and your home.”
“But what if they get hurt, or worse?”
The little guy only shrugged.
“They have made their choice. I would have done the same, master, but I chose to wait. If those creatures breach the wall, though, I will fight them.”
Simon stared at him helplessly. What could he say? Kronk was right. No elemental that served him was actually a servant, and certainly none were slaves. If they chose to defend him, all he could do was thank them and hope for the best.
“I appreciate their help, my friend. You know I do. But no one should ever get hurt on my account.”
“Noble sentiments, my dear wizard,” Aeris said with a trace of his usual sarcasm. “But if you don't want any of us to risk ourselves, you will have to stop being so damned lovable.”
“What?”
The air elemental snickered at his reaction and Simon laughed reluctantly.
“Yeah, I'll try that from now on, smart ass.”
The three of them watched the undead anxiously as the sounds of battle below ground continued. Even the monsters began to turn en masse toward the hole as their fellow undead stopped climbing out of the crater.
“They've managed to stop them from reaching the surface,” Aeris said.
“For the moment,” Kronk agreed. “But I do not know how long they can hold them back.”
“Then let's use this time to our advantage, shall we?” Simon said.
He stepped on to the top of the wall next to Kronk and raised his staff.
“Be careful, master!” the little guy exclaimed.
Aeris flew up beside him and prodded him.
“Shh, don't distract him,” he hissed.
The wizard ignored them and looked up at the sky. There were a few wisps of cloud passing across the sliver of the moon that was almost directly overhead and he pointed Mortis de Draconis at them.
“Why don't we make some noise,” he whispered to it.
He knew the spell he wanted but he hadn't created a word of power for it, mainly because he had never used it. Theoretically he knew what it did but this would be his first time testing it.
If I live through the night, I think we'll call it a success, Simon thought ruefully.
The incantation was long and convoluted and he had to be precise. Several of the words he spoke in the ancient language of magic were difficult to wrap his tongue around and he almost mispronounced them. Simon knew that it he did that, the spell would have to be started again from the beginning.
When he'd finished, Simon could feel the power charging the air around him. His hair was lif
ting and sparking from the magic that he was controlling and his chest was heavy with the weight of the spell that he was holding in check.
He breathed deeply and pointed his staff at the crowd of undead staring at him with their empty purple eyes. He squinted and hunched his shoulders in anticipation.
“Lightning Storm!” he shouted.
There was a silent thump of air that slammed down from the heavy clouds that had gathered during his incantation. Half of the horde of monsters collapsed from the sudden change in air pressure.
The sky flashed several times and blue fire seemed to rain down from the heavens and slam into the undead creatures below.
Wave after wave of lightning bolts seared Simon's eyes and he raised an arm to protect them. The sound was indescribable and his ears rang and throbbed and began to bleed. He knew that he was yelling but he couldn't even hear himself.
He felt a firm grip on his staff and looked down to see Kronk holding him, anchoring him to the wall. Aeris was pressed against his back, saving him from falling backwards. And the lightning struck again and again.
Simon cringed and waited as the bolts struck the earth in rapid succession.
Seconds felt like hours but the spell eventually ran its course and he lowered a shaking hand, blinking back tears as he tried to peer through the afterimages.
“Can you see anything?” he asked the elementals loudly. His ears were numb and he could barely hear anything.
“Your light collapsed, master and there is too much smoke hanging over the field,” Kronk told him faintly.
Simon stepped down on to the parapet, his legs shaking. He used his staff to support himself for a moment; it felt very warm and seemed to be throbbing in time with his heartbeat.
“Remind me to never cast that spell again,” he said as he was finally able to focus on Aeris.
“I assure you I will,” the elemental said as he rubbed the side of his head and then gave it a shake.
“I know that my kind have an affinity for lightning, but it is possible to have too much of a good thing. Phew.”
“No kidding. And I think I've drained most of my power.”
Simon flicked his hand and created a new globe of light. Fortunately they consumed very little magic. He sent it toward the darkness of the field and waited breathlessly to see what the aftermath of the spell was.
The Dragons of Argent and Silver (Tales from the New Earth #6) Page 25
