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

by J. J. Thompson

  Four Gates at least, he thought. I'll have to cast four Gates before I can get away from this strange being. Simon didn't know what Lacertus was, but he did know one thing; the creature was no elemental.

  He slept, somehow, and was awakened by Lacertus as the sky was beginning to glow in the east.

  “I can feel them approaching, sir wizard,” he said as Simon opened his eyes and looked around in confusion.

  “Can you?”

  How interesting that you can feel undead monsters, he thought to himself.

  “Okay then. It's time to go.”

  He opened the atlas, picked a random location and memorized the coordinates.

  “Surely you want to eat and drink something first?” the elemental asked, sounding puzzled. “The primals won't be here for at least ten minutes.”

  “I'd rather Gate first. We're heading to the west coast of Alaska, apparently, so we should be able to find some fresh water there.”

  “As you wish,” Lacertus said with a bow.

  Bag hanging off of one shoulder and staff on the other, Simon nodded at the little being and cast the spell. The void closed in around him and he felt some relief as he got away from those piercing eyes.

  They Gated twice more over the next ten hours or so and Simon made sure that the last Gate spell took them to upper New York state, so that they were in the same time zone as his tower.

  They ended up on a tall hill overlooking the remains of what must have once been a picturesque little town. The wizard stood looking down at the destroyed buildings and leveled homes with a sense of almost suffocating sadness. Bathed by the light of the stars, the desolation seemed even worse.

  Were we really that bad? Did we really deserve this?

  “You look unhappy, sir wizard,” Lacertus commented, his voice hollow with false concern.

  Simon managed to keep his loathing off of his face and just shrugged.

  “Old memories,” he said tersely. “Of better times.”

  “Ah yes, better times. But were they better? Surely one such as you, with as much power as you now command, has benefited from what happened, yes?”

  The wizard looked at the floating, sparking figure in disbelief.

  “My entire race was almost wiped out. My friends, my coworkers, hell, my whole world was razed to the ground and you think I've benefited?”

  He pointed down at the sad remnants of the town and glared at the elemental.

  “Explain to me how much better off those people are now. Can you? Tell me how much happier I am as I'm hunted down by two undead monstrosities. Go ahead, I'd be fascinated by your answer.”

  Lacertus stared back silently and Simon fancied that he could see a slight look of amusement on that inhuman face before it changed to one of chagrin.

  “I have offended you, sir wizard. I do apologize. Certainly what happened was horrible and unfair. Please excuse my insensitivity. I will weigh my words more carefully in the future.”

  Simon nodded curtly and turned away. He walked back to the little campfire he'd built and sat down.

  He looked up at the sky and tried to judge the time as the elemental flew back and settled down next to him.

  “I'm beginning to hate the darkness,” the wizard said, trying to sound more exhausted than he was. “I feel like I'm constantly being stalked by unseen creatures.”

  “You are safe, I assure you. I sense no danger near us. But dawn is just two hours away and then you will be more at ease, I am sure.”

  “Thank you,” Simon said as he felt a thrill of anticipation. Two hours to go and then he would hopefully escape this...thing.

  “I'm sure you're right.”

  Never had the minutes dragged by so slowly as they did that night. Simon couldn't sleep and didn't bother pretending that he could. Instead he flipped through the atlas, looking at each location that they had Gated to. It was amazing to think that he'd basically gone around the world, in a random fashion, in his race to stay ahead of the dracoliches. And yet when he thought about it, all of the places seemed to blur together and he couldn't really remember specifics from any of them.

  “Dawn is approaching,” Lacertus said eventually, surprising Simon out of his reveries.

  “Is it?” He looked to the east. “How can you tell? The sky is still dark.”

  The elemental shrugged.

  “I just know, that's all. We will have to leave in an hour or so. The primals will be getting close by then.”

  “No problem. Just tell me when. I'll be ready.” He looked out a the darkness uneasily. “It really does feel like we're being watched.”

  Lacertus bowed gracefully and flew upwards.

  “If it will ease you mind, I will do a quick circuit of the surrounding trees. There is no danger, but if it will help...”

  “Ah, would you? I would really appreciate that.”

  “Whatever I can do for you, sir wizard. What makes you happy, makes me happy.”

  The misty figure flew off, little sparks dripping from him as he vanished into the woods.

  Time to get the hell out of here, Simon thought frantically.

  He'd never Gated from a sitting position before; it just felt weird somehow. But he had a feeling that if he stood up or made any noise, Lacertus would return to see what he was up to. So he carefully grabbed his bag with his left hand and his staff with his right and concentrated on his target.

  “Gate,” he whispered.

  Never had the deep cold of the void felt more welcoming.

  Chapter 32

  Simon appeared in the middle of the main floor of his tower, still sitting down. The fire was burning for some reason and several candles were lit. Kronk was sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace while Aeris was floating above the right arm of his comfy chair. It almost felt like he'd just stepped out for a moment, instead of returning after being on the run for weeks.

  Both elementals turned as one as he popped into existence and they stared at him in shock.

  “Hey guys,” he said as he got to his feet and dropped his bag with a thud. “How's it going?”

  “Master!” Kronk shouted in his deep baritone. “You have returned!”

  “Well, well, if it isn't the wandering wizard, returning from the wars,” Aeris said, grinning broadly. “Are you well?”

  “No. I'm not well. I am not well at all.”

  He kept Mortis de Draconis in his hand as he hurried to the front door and opened it.

  “How long until the sun rises?” he asked Aeris.

  “Sunrise?”

  The air elemental frowned.

  “About thirty minutes. Why?”

  “Look, I don't have a lot of time to explain, but I've been on the run since I left here..”

  “We know.”

  “Be quiet, Aeris!” Kronk snapped as he tip-tapped across the floor to look up at Simon. “Let master speak.”

  “Thanks. Anyway, I've been on the run and, about ten days ago I was joined by an elemental, who's been helping me.”

  “What?”

  Aeris looked outraged while Kronk's face dropped in disappointment.

  “You could have called on us, master. We would have helped.”

  “Well, apparently we weren't good enough,” Aeris said thinly. “Our dear wizard decided to trade up. So who is serving you now? A fire elemental perhaps? Flighty lot. Or a relative of Ana's?”

  “Stop that,” Simon told him as he looked out into the darkness of the front yard, expecting to see Lacertus appear at any moment.

  “I didn't summon him. He says I did, inadvertently, but there's no way in hell that I did that.”

  “You cannot summon one of our kind without using the summoning spell or their name, master,” Kronk pointed out.

  “Exactly. But he claims that I did. Anyway, I've suspected that he isn't what he seems to be since he arrived, but I haven't been able to shake him until now.”

  “I don't understand. If you didn't summon him, where did he come from?” Aeris
asked. “Which realm is he from?”

  “He says that he's from the realm of magic.”

  The elementals looked at each other and then at Simon.

  “There is no such place, master,” Kronk said confidently. “Four elements, four elemental planes. No more, no less.”

  “A realm of magic? That's absurd,” Aeris said derisively. “All of the elemental realms are magical. It is how we came to be.”

  “He said you would deny that it exists,” Simon told them.

  He took a moment while he was talking to take off his boots, which were filthy and ragged with wear, and put on another pair.

  “Ah, that's better,” he said with relief. “Look, the point is that I didn't believe him. But there's something about him that made me wary and I went along with him because of it.”

  “What was it, master?”

  “He has power, Kronk. A great deal of power. He can sail through my shield as if it wasn't even there. He can also Gate. He never Gates with me; he simply follows me to wherever I end up. And he can feel the dracoliches approaching from miles away.”

  “No elemental can Gate,” Aeris said flatly. “And he can follow your magical trail? That means that he can sense your Gate's destination no matter where you go.”

  He looked gravely at the wizard.

  “This is bad. This is very bad. Whatever this creature is, he has power that may actually rival your own.”

  “Yeah, I figured that out. But look, here's what I'm going to do. I think that those undead primals are able to follow me because someone, one of the necromancers I assume, used blood magic to attune to my physical body.”

  “Oh master, that is horrible!”

  “Yes, we get that, Kronk,” Aeris told him dryly. “So what are you up to, my dear wizard?”

  “I'm going to enter a portal to the elven realm. I remember being told that one of the effects of traveling to a different plane was that your physical body is disintegrated, transported and reintegrated when you arrive. I think that will screw up the spell that's letting those primals follow me.”

  “Wouldn't it be easier to just kill them?” Aeris asked plaintively. “Again,” he added.

  “I'm not strong enough right now. I need a plan. And for the past few weeks I've been so distracted from just trying to stay alive, not to mention dealing with Lacertus, that I haven't had time to think.”

  Both elementals became very still and their eyes widened.

  “What? What is it?”

  “What did you just say, my dear wizard?” Aeris asked in a strangled voice.

  “I said I've been so busy that...”

  “No. That name.”

  “You mean Lacertus? What about it?”

  “Run, master!” Kronk told him urgently. “Run for the portal. Right now!”

  “Yes. We'll try and keep him busy while you get away. Now, before it's too late.”

  The candles were all snuffed out at once, leaving a sharp smell of burnt wax in the air, and the fire was quenched as if someone had poured a bucket of water on it.

  “Oh, it is already too late,” a voice said ominously from out of the darkness.

  Simon cast a light spell and tossed it overhead. It disintegrated in a quick flash of sparks.

  “Master, the door. Go now,” Kronk whispered.

  The front door slammed shut as he spoke, the bang rattling through the tower like a toll of doom.

  “Lacertus?” Simon said loudly, trying to keep his voice steady. “Is that you?”

  “You tried to trick me, didn't you, Simon? And after all that I've done for you. You have hurt my feelings, do you know that? Running back to these pathetic, weak creatures. Choosing their friendship over mine? That was impolite. And rude, very rude.”

  “I didn't mean to be rude,” the wizard said as he turned in a slow circle. The darkness was almost absolute and he couldn't see his hand in front of his face.

  “But I figured out how to throw the undead dragons off my trail and I wanted to do it quickly. We've jumped so many times and I am, as you've so rightly noticed, exhausted.”

  There was a long moment of silence.

  “Yes, you are tired, that is true,” Lacertus answered. His voice, usually so light and airy, had deepened and grown in power. It made the hair on Simon's arms stand up and he felt his skin rising in goosebumps.

  “But why didn't you just tell me?” the disembodied voice continued. “I could have helped you. But instead you left me and snuck away, like some cowardly thief in the night. Hardly a friendly gesture, was it?”

  “You're right and I apologize for that.”

  “Do you? You mean now that you are caught, you apologize. Well, apology not accepted!” Lacertus yelled petulantly.

  “Do you know who he is?” Simon whispered to Aeris, who was floating not a foot away at eye level. He still glowed very slightly, the only light in the room.

  “Through legends, yes,” the air elemental replied, his voice so faint that Simon could barely hear him.

  “He is a god, my dear wizard. A lesser god to be sure, but a god nevertheless. Evil, petulant, cruel; he is related to the lords of Chaos but is what you might call a poor cousin. His powers pale in comparison to theirs but he is still one of them, with all that that implies.”

  “Stop whispering!” Lacertus shrieked. Simon's ears rang with the sound. “You are conspiring against me, I know it! And I won't have it. I won't!”

  “Very well then,” Simon said, tired of the game playing. “What do you want, Lacertus? Are you going to kill me?”

  “What? Kill you? Oh, my dear Simon, of course not. How could you even suggest such a thing?”

  The voice now was cloying and honey-sweet. It was even worse than his angry tone, as far as Simon was concerned.

  “Then if you aren't going to kill me, let me go.”

  “But if I did that, how would you learn your lesson? No, I have something else in mind.”

  “What are you going to do, demon?” Aeris asked harshly, to the wizard's amazement.

  “Oh, it speaks! The insect speaks. Did you know, insect, that I despise your kind? I do, truly. So do my relatives, the Chaos lords. You and all of your lawful, helpful species. Earth, air, fire and water. Bah! Always playing by the rules, always so eager to please. So tiresome. Of course, the lords are too lofty and great to sully their hands with the likes of you. But me? Oh, I am only too happy to help. So, this is what I intend to do, Simon. I am going to remain here with you and prevent you from leaving for a while. In a few hours, the undead primals will track you down and join us. To save you, your little friends here, and the others who guard your walls, will do battle with the dracoliches. And lose. They will all be destroyed and my own hands will be clean.”

  “And I'll die anyway.”

  “Oh don't be so tiresome. I won't allow them to kill you. I will simply alter the spell on them and send them on their way to hunt down the rest of your species. You will live, my little friend; wiser and having learned a valuable lesson about the price of betrayal, but you will live.”

  “You're insane!” Simon spat.

  “Not true! A god cannot be insane. Insanity is a mortal condition and while I may not be as strong as the great lords of Chaos, I am still one of them.”

  Lacertus continued to espouse on his own sanity and seemed to be enjoying the sound of his own voice.

  “Master, on the count of three, I am going to burst open a section of the wall,” Kronk murmured, speaking beneath the ramblings of Lacertus.

  “You must run while you can. Aeris and I will hold this creature back and buy you some time.”

  “Have you gone insane too? You guys can't stop him. You told me yourselves; he's a god.”

  “A very little one,” Aeris commented. “Kronk's right. Take your chance when it comes. You are still a wizard and a fine one at that. Don't forget your powers. You are not as weak as you seem to believe.”

  “One...”

  “Kronk, don't do it!”
>
  “Two...”

  “Damn it, Kronk. Stop!”

  “Is that an order, master?'

  “Of course not. I don't give you orders. I...”

  “Three!”

  The front door exploded outward as did six feet of wall on either side. A stream of daylight from the rising sun illuminated the room and Simon could finally see.

  Lacertus was floating above the kitchen table and his look of surprise would have been funny under other circumstances.

  “Now master. Run!”

  Simon leaped forward and raced through the ruined wall and down the front steps, jumping over several stone blocks. He used his staff to help him keep his balance while behind him he heard a scream of rage.

  “How dare you!” Lacertus bellowed. “I did not give you permission to leave!”

  He sounded completely mad now and Simon felt a rising fear. The insane were truly dangerous and unpredictable.

  He ran across the yard to the front gate and pulled back the bolts. He could still hear the god, demon, whatever he was, yelling in the tower. Apparently Aeris and Kronk were attacking him and giving Simon his chance.

  Don't die, guys, he prayed fervently as he pulled back the gates and began running across the field. Please don't die.

  Don't forget your powers, Aeris had told him. Okay fine. I'm first and foremost an elementalist. Time to act like one.

  “You won't get away!” Lacertus yelled from behind him as Simon reached the forest.

  He turned around and saw with horror that the demon had gotten past the elementals and was chasing after him. What made it even worse was that he was no longer the same size he had been. He was running like a human and was the size of a man.

  Somehow, that figure wreathed in fog and crackling electricity was so much more horrible now that he was larger. His eyes blazed with flame and his face was twisted with fury.

  “Incendus! Aethos! I need you,” the wizard shouted as he took to his heels and plunged into the trees.

  A blast of thunder echoed through the woods followed by a burst of heat that Simon was sure had ignited several trees. He kept running and didn't look back.