“Aeris!” Simon cried, grinning widely. “Welcome back.”
The air elemental flew forward and rose until he was at head height.
“Thank you, my dear wizard. I am more than pleased to be home.”
He looked down at Kronk and they exchanged a friendly smile and a nod.
“Let's go in. I'm suddenly in the mood for a celebratory glass of wine.”
“Any excuse, eh Simon?” Aeris asked slyly as he followed the wizard up the steps.
Simon chuckled at the dig.
“Well, in this case, it's a good excuse.”
Back inside, Kronk and Aeris took their customary places on the kitchen table and Simon found a bottle of wine, a gift from the people of Nottinghill, in a cupboard. He opened it and searched for a glass while letting the wine breathe.
“So tell me what happened to you,” he said over his shoulder as he rinsed the glass.
Aeris bobbed up and down silently for a moment and the wizard poured himself some wine, sat down and stared at the elemental expectantly.
“Well?” he asked after a long silence. “What's the matter? Can't you remember how you were injured?”
“I can, somewhat,” Aeris answered reluctantly. “But before I talk about that, I have a confession to make.” He took a deep breath. “It was my own fault that I was attacked.”
“What?” Kronk and Simon asked at the same time.
“Yes, my fault,” Aeris continued. “I was overconfident, sure that the creatures that I was following could not detect me while I was invisible. I was...mistaken.”
“That's who attacked you? Those Changlings that have been destroying homes?” Simon asked.
“”No, not all of them, my dear wizard. Just one. One who saw through my invisibility. One who pinned me down with magic and cast spells that almost destroyed me. Just one.”
Simon's breath caught in his throat.
“A spell caster? So they can use spells.”
“Some of them can use magic, at a rudimentary and basic level, true. They can cause fires and such. But the one who almost killed me? Oh, that one is quite, quite different.”
“How so?”
“For one thing, she is not a monster; at least not outwardly. Obviously her heart is as black as the Void.”
“She?” Kronk piped up, sounding startled.
“She,” Aeris assured him.
“Okay,” Simon said. “So what does this woman look like?”
The air elemental moved closer to the wizard and watched him fixedly.
“She looks like you, Simon. In fact, she could be your twin sister.”
“What!”
Simon sat up with a surprised jerk.
“What are you talking about? I don't have a sister. Or a brother for that matter.”
“Nevertheless, the similarities are striking. Like you, she has two different colored eyes, except that one is blue and one is yellow. Her hair is dark like yours with flecks of white in it, just like yours. And she appears to be around the same physical age and height.”
“Okay, that's creepy,” the wizard said, feeling a little stunned. “But you said that you were following mutated Changlings. You never mentioned a humanoid one.”
“Apparently she is the one that has been coordinating the packs of Changlings that are ravaging across the countryside. The pack that I was following met up with several others in a meadow deep in the forest. In the center was a little hill and this robed and hooded being stood there, surrounded by hundreds of the creatures.”
“Hundreds?” Kronk said. He looked at Simon in alarm. “We did not know that there were that many, master.”
“No, we certainly did not.” Simon leaned forward. “So what happened at this little get-together?”
Aeris looked over Simon's shoulder as if picturing the events he was describing.
“The figure began speaking to the horde. I was at the edge of the clearing, in the tree tops, and couldn't hear what it was saying. I knew that it was important to know what orders were being given and so I decided to get closer.”
He sighed lightly, still looking off vaguely.
“That proved to be my undoing. As I floated above the gathered creatures, who were unaware of my presence, the robed figure stopped speaking. I froze, sure that I was undetected, but waiting for the speech to continue. And then the figure turned and a pale hand shot out of the robes and pointed straight at me! 'Intruder' it screamed and that is when I knew that it was a woman. And that I had been exposed, somehow. I turned to flee and found myself frozen in mid-air. The woman cried out in a language that I had never heard before and I was suddenly yanked back, as if by a giant hand, and I found myself on the ground at her feet.”
Simon was listening, open-mouthed, caught up in the story while Aeris began speaking faster, reliving the moment.
“I looked up and saw the woman push back her hood and for a moment, Simon, I thought it was you! So similar. But no, it was not. The beasts howled and slobbered around me, so I knew that I had been rendered visible again. And this woman glared down at me, a finger pointing, her power keeping me pinned to the earth.”
Aeris looked at Simon.
“She spoke to me then, but it was an insane rant and barely coherent. All about spies of the gods of Light and her destiny and who knows what. Gibberish, really. But her magic was real enough. When she'd finished her diatribe, spittle flying from her lips, she smiled at me. It was an evil, ghastly, gloating smile. She screamed an incantation in that strange language and...” He shrugged a bit wearily. “That is all I remember. The next thing I knew, I was back in the plane of Air and Aethos was using his own essence to heal me.”
“That must have been a surprise,” Kronk said with a knowing smile on his face.
“You're telling me. An great elemental like him using his own life force to heal a little one such as myself? Unheard of! But, he did it. I owe him my life.”
He stared intently at Simon.
“And you as well, my dear wizard. Aethos told me that you summoned me back in time to save my life, and I thank you for that.”
Simon smiled briefly.
“Thank luck, Aeris. I just decided that you'd been gone too long and wanted you home. The timing was random, but I'm more than grateful that I called you back when I did.”
“As am I,” Aeris said and bowed slightly, something that he had never done to Simon before.
The wizard felt his face getting red and avoided Kronk's knowing look.
“Yes, well... Anyway, you're back now and looking like your usual self and that's all that matters.”
Simon drank some wine and savored its smoothness. Clara's vintner sure knew how to make wine, he thought with relish. He put down his glass and felt his pleasure drain away as the air elemental's expression became grave.
“No, it's not, Simon. That woman is evil and she's still out there. She commands that hellish pack and it is hunting Changlings. And,” he added with emphasis, “she's a wizard.”
“Wait. What?” Simon almost knocked his wineglass over. “Are you kidding me?”
“A wizard,” Aeris repeated firmly. “No other type of magic-user could have seen through my cloak of invisibility or damaged me the way that she did. Not even a mage can see the invisible. And a witch could not have harmed me. She is a wizard, I'm certain of it.”
“Holy crap,” Simon muttered. He stood up and refilled his glass. Then he looked at the elementals, nodded at his chair by the fireplace and crossed the room to sit down in front of the fire. While his two small friends followed him, he leaned forward and added a log to the low-burning fire.
A cloud of embers burst in the fireplace like tiny fireworks and Simon watched them vaguely as Kronk hopped up on to the armrest on his right and Aeris hovered over the one on his left.
The wizard sipped his wine and glanced at Aeris. The air elemental was watching the fire as well. He looked a bit dazed and Simon wondered if he was really back to his old self.
&
nbsp; “So, any suggestions? What's our course of action now? Aethos made me swear to stop this wizard, if that's what she is, but I'm not exactly sure how I should do that.”
“I know. And I'm sorry that you had to make that vow, Simon, I really am. I had no idea that he was going to do that.” He continued to stare at the red-blue flames but smiled crookedly. “I am simply not that important to my people. Personally, I think he used my situation as an excuse to make you chase down this woman.”
That hadn't occurred to Simon.
“Why?” he asked.
“Why? Because, as you know, an elemental cannot enter this world unless it is summoned. Aethos returned with me on his own because he told you that he would, but he could not then go racing across the country to find the wizard. So he's put that burden on you.”
Aeris finally looked at Simon.
“It's a rather cruel thing to do to such a young magic-user as you still are, my dear wizard. But I will say that I agree that this woman must be stopped. Somehow she controls that mass of twisted Changlings. Remove her and they will become leaderless and scatter to the four winds.”
“But still dangerous,” Kronk pointed out.
“I know that, but welcome to this New Earth,” Aeris said to him. “It is a dangerous place and will become more so as time goes on. But it is not on Simon to right all of the ills of the world. Others, like Clara and her people, must bear some of that burden as well. So to answer your question, my dear wizard, I have no idea. If we could track her movements, then perhaps we could confront her when she was alone and not surrounded by her monsters. But, no offense, I have no intention of putting myself in that situation again.”
Simon had an idea.
“Aeris, you know more about magic than I do, or Kronk does. Could the Magic Mirror spell be used to track her down?”
The air elemental raised an eyebrow.
“Certainly, at least in theory. But until you discover that spell and can cast it, it's just wishful thinking.”
Simon and Kronk exchanged broad smiles and Aeris looked at them, confused.
“Wait. Have you actually found the Magic Mirror spell?”
Kronk jumped off of the chair and tip-tapped across the room. He hurried up the stairs while Simon relaxed and drank more wine. He was starting to feel a pleasant buzz and contentedly enjoyed the warmth from the fire as Aeris stared at him, perplexed.
“Where's he gone?” he asked.
“Patience, my friend,” Simon told him with a wide grin. “You've missed a few things while you were convalescing.”
It only took a moment for Kronk to return, hopping down the stairs with a book held over his head. He came back to the chair, jumped up and handed the book to Simon.
“While you were gone, we discovered this in my bookshelf. Don't ask me where it came from; Clara thinks the gods of Light snuck it past their evil relatives somehow. But whatever.”
He flipped through the pages while Aeris watched intently over his shoulder. When he found the list of spells, Simon moved the book over so that the elemental could see better.
“Magic Mirror, Invisibility, Featherfall. But this is wonderful, Simon! These spells are incredibly useful.”
He tapped the list.
“Have you actually used any of them?”
“Yep. I talked to Clara with the Magic Mirror spell and we discovered that she could see me and Kronk if she looked into a mirror at the same time.”
“Yes, that is one of its properties,” Aeris said absently as he scanned the list of spells. “But it can be used for so much more than that.”
“Like what?” Simon asked eagerly.
“Well, for instance, if you use that atlas of yours to find the longitude and latitude of a place, you can actually see it in a mirror using the spell.”
“Yeah, I knew that,” the wizard said and Aeris stared at him in surprise.
“You did?”
“Don't look like that. It's something I remembered from back in my fantasy game playing days. And I'm thrilled to know that that works. So what else can it do?”
Aeris smiled a bit evilly.
“It allows you to spy on others, such as our dark wizard.”
“Seriously? That's amazing!”
Simon felt a thrill of excitement, but then something occurred to him.
“Is it possible for a wizard to sense that they are being watched that way?” he asked cautiously. “She did see you even though you were invisible.”
The question seemed to give Aeris pause.
“”Hmm. I hadn't considered that. I don't really know, to be honest. At a guess, I would say that as long as you kept your distance, something which I foolishly did not, you should go unnoticed.” He shrugged. “I hope.”
Simon finished his wine and then looked from one elemental to the other. He was smiling fondly at them and Aeris watched him, puzzled.
“What is it? Wine finally kicking in?” he asked sarcastically and the wizard burst out laughing. The laughter was a mixture of relief and pleasure and he laughed all the harder at Aeris' look of irritation.
When he finally settled down, Simon wiped his eyes but he couldn't stop grinning.
“No, it's not the wine. I'm just happy that we're back together again. I even missed your bad attitude, you cantankerous elemental, you.”
Aeris stared at him, trying to look offended, but he ended up chuckling. Kronk looked amused.
“Fine then. I've missed both of you as well. You know how I feel about the plane of Air. When I came to and realized that I was back home, it was almost as painful as my wounds.”
The elemental looked around the room and heaved a heavy sigh of contentment.
“It is good to be home.”
Chapter 16
The next few days around the tower were some of the most pleasurable that Simon had experienced for quite some time. When he looked back at that time, it seemed like the calm before the storm that was to follow.
Aeris was more helpful with chores, which the wizard was sure would be short-lived, and he was even friendlier than normal to Kronk, who seemed confused by this change of attitude.
Simon explained what had happened while the air elemental was away and Aeris was particularly interested in the news that Bene-Dunn-Gal could store spells for later use.
He floated over to stare at the staff, keeping a respectful distance from the weapon.
“This is more than just a staff, my dear wizard,” he said in a hushed voice. “This is a legendary relic. I had heard of something similar once, but assumed that it was just a story.”
“I'm going to add a few spells to it every day,” Simon told him. “The problem is, it's just as exhausting to cast a spell and store it in Bene-Dunn-Gal as it is to cast it in battle. So I can only do a few at a time before I have to rest.”
He added this last with some irritation and Aeris stared at him with a scowl, hands on his hips as he bobbed up and down in mid-air.
“Don't over-exert yourself, Simon. You don't want to be dealt a setback, especially after suffering through a severe illness like you just have.”
“It was only the flu,” Simon protested. “And how did you even know that?”
“Kronk told me, of course. So don't push yourself too far. We need you strong and healthy if you have to face that evil wizard anytime soon.”
Simon snorted.
“Great. You're just back and Kronk is already telling tales about me.”
He was washing some dishes and wiping down the kitchen counter as he spoke and ended up muttering under his breath about conniving elementals. Secretly though, he was amused that the two were chatting and scheming behind his back to keep him healthy.
“I'll have to have a word with that earthen about spreading gossip,” he added, just to see what Aeris would say.
“Don't bother,” the air elemental declared as he flew over to the counter to watch Simon work. “He only told me because he cares, so don't bully him.”
“Ha! That's your job. I know, I know.”
“Exactly.”
The two glared at each other for a moment and then burst out laughing. Obviously neither of us was fooling the other, Simon thought happily.
The day after Aeris returned, Simon asked the elemental to join him as he contacted Clara.
“I promised her that I'd get in touch as soon as you got back,” he told Aeris as he sat at his desk in the study, mirror in hand. “She was very concerned about you.”
“She was?”
The elemental floated across the room and hovered by Simon's shoulder. He looked a bit surprised.
“It's nice to know that she cares, I suppose,” he said dubiously.
Simon gave him a little smile and cast Magic Mirror.
When the mist cleared from the mirror's surface, both of them saw Clara walking down one of the narrow roads in Nottinghill. She was just waving at someone out of sight and obviously enjoying the warm spring day.
“Hi Clara,” Simon said loudly.
The cleric stopped abruptly and looked around.
“Simon? You surprised me. How are you?”
“I'm great, thanks. Guess who's back?”
He nodded at Aeris and the elemental spoke up reluctantly.
“Good day, lady cleric,” he said formally.
Clara's eyes widened in surprise.
“Aeris? My goodness. You're home! How wonderful. How are you feeling?”
“I am very well, lady.”
The cleric grinned impishly.
“Why so stiff, my friend? We're at least on a first name basis, aren't we?”
Simon saw the elemental thaw noticeably at the cleric's warm tone.
“Sorry, Clara. You're right, of course. It was a horrible experience, but I'm fine now, thank you.”
“That's better,” the cleric answered as she began to walk again. “Give me a minute to get back to the hall. I want to see you for myself.”
Simon and Aeris watched as Clara hurried through the town and into the main hall. She greeted a few townspeople as she went but didn't stop to talk.
A few minutes later she was sitting in her quarters looking at them through her own mirror.
“And there you are!” she exclaimed as she saw Aeris hovering by Simon's shoulder. “You look as good as new.”
Tales from the New Earth: Volume One Page 63
