The Dragons Return

by J. J. Thompson

  Daniel's first find had been in Central America. He jotted that down. Then, naturally, he had gone to South America, specifically Brazil.

  Simon continued to trace his friend's steps, becoming more interested in spite of himself.

  My God, he thought. The man had actually circled the globe. The Americas, Europe, Asia. There was even a small note about a tomb in central Australia. How long had it taken Daniel to complete his journey? Years, obviously.

  And yet, he had never gone into detail about his many trips. Simon had asked him several times about them and Daniel had always been vague in his answers.

  “Just research, my friend,” he'd say. “Dusty and boring, I assure you.”

  That had been about it. And yet, reading through the book now, Simon realized that Daniel had to have known that something was coming, that a change was in the air.

  But how? That's what Simon really wanted to know. How had he known? Daniel had written that he hadn't Changed. So how had an ordinary human, a mundane as Ethmira had called them, known that the world was about to be destroyed and remade?

  He sat back with a sigh and glanced up at the gray skies still heavy with rain.

  I don't know how he knew, but if I ever see him again, that will be one of the first things I ask him. Well, right after 'where the hell have you been'.

  Simon picked up the book and the pages of notes he'd made and walked back inside. He set the kettle over the fire to boil water for tea and then stopped and stared into space. He had an idea.

  He hurried up the stairs into his study and scanned through the shelves of books that lined the walls.

  “Aha!” he exclaimed and pulled out a large old book with a faded picture of the Earth on the cover.

  Back downstairs, he made his tea, then sat down at the table and opened the atlas. He'd decided that actually seeing where Daniel had traveled might help him figure out his notes, somehow.

  In the center of the book was a map of the Earth, cut into wedges. Simon began to circle the locations of Daniel's discoveries.

  “Hmm, let's see,” he muttered. “Panama, right. Um, Brazil. Okay, and...Hawaii? Got it.”

  He continued to follow his friend's path around the world, checking his notes as he went. When he finished making his final mark and sat back, from next to his left shoulder he heard, ”What is that, master?”

  Simon yelped and turned to see Kronk standing on the table staring down at the map. The little elemental looked at Simon.

  “Oh, forgive me. I didn't mean to startle you.”

  Simon shook his head and then stretched slowly.

  “That's okay, Kronk. I was deep into it, that's all. Were you down with the horses?” The elemental was glistening with rain drops.

  “Yes, master. I finished cleaning the stable. We are going to have more than enough manure to fertilize the garden next spring.” He sounded enthusiastic and Simon had to smile.

  A few years ago the thought of manure would have disgusted me, he thought. Now it will help me eat in the future. How the world has turned.

  “That's great,” he said. Then he indicated the map. “I was following Daniel's path of discovery. From where he started in his notes to where he finished.”

  Kronk looked at the map with interest.

  “This is where he went?” he asked. Simon nodded silently. “He certainly covered the world, did he not?”

  “He did indeed.” Simon stared thoughtfully at the many circles he'd drawn on the map and sipped his tea. “How the heck he found all of these places is a mystery to me though. He claims that he had no magic and he didn't Change and yet he found these magical runes scattered all over the place. Weird.”

  Kronk didn't answer and when Simon looked at him, he saw the little guy tapping his mouth as he absorbed the path marked out on the map.

  Simon sat quietly, fascinated. Kronk wasn't exactly known for sitting still and now he was as focused as Simon had ever seen him.

  “Is there a problem?” he finally asked the little figure.

  “Hmm? Problem, master? No. But there is a memory that I am trying to draw out. Something about these locations.”

  “The locations?” Simon repeated. “What about them?”

  Kronk stepped up to the book and touched each marked location in turn.

  “I think...I think I remember a map, long lost now, from one of my former young master's homes. It was in the room where they conducted their magical experiments.” He stared a little longer. “Yes. A map hung from one wall, showing these places.”

  Kronk fell silent again and continued looking at the book. Simon waited but he said nothing further.

  “And?” Simon asked a bit impatiently. Kronk looked at him in surprise.

  “Oh, sorry master. These places,” he tapped the map, “were where the world's magic was thickest. It would pool up, like eddies in a stream. Or so I heard them say.”

  “Really?” Kronk nodded and Simon examined his list of locations again. “But, why would there be ruins at these spots? For that matter, how would Daniel have even known about them?”

  “I do not know, master. Perhaps the ancients used these sites for various works of power. But how your friend knew of them is a mystery.”

  Simon looked at the map intently again, then got up abruptly and walked to the open door. He leaned against the door frame and stared out at the rain.

  “Yeah, just one mystery on top of another,” he said to himself.

  There was a thump behind him as Kronk jumped to the floor and then the tap-tap of the elemental's feet as he walked over and stood next to Simon.

  “Master?” Kronk said. Simon looked down at him. “I am not very smart, as some of my own kind have pointed out in the past, but I think that perhaps the elves may have directed your friend's steps on his journey. They would certainly know where many places of power were located. Perhaps they foresaw a time when you would need aid to develop your magical skills?”

  Simon stepped outside and sat down on the top step. Kronk moved to stand beside him.

  “They can do that? Foresee the future?”

  The elemental looked at the falling rain and then turned his head to stare at the point in the clearing where Ethmira had left the day of her visit.

  “I have heard that their elders had the gift of Sight. A way to see the threads of time; how they weaved together into infinite possibilities. They may have plucked one thread from the loom, the thread of your destiny, master, and aided your friend in his quest.” He shrugged. “But that is just a guess.”

  A bird's chattering call rang through the air and Kronk smiled with seeming delight at the sound. Simon stared at him in wonder.

  So simple, like a child, he thought. And yet so full of knowledge. He's a complex little being.

  Kronk seemed to feel his eyes on him and looked at Simon.

  “What is it, master?” he asked.

  “Nothing, my little friend. Have I mentioned lately how grateful I am to have you around?”

  “No, you have not,” Kronk said. “But I am the one who is grateful, master. To be useful, that is a gift. At least to me.”

  “Oh, you are very useful,” Simon said sincerely. “And you've given me something else to think about. If Daniel is connected to the elves somehow, that raises a whole raft of new questions. Like why they would contact him. And how. And why they would have any interest in a nobody like me.”

  Kronk let out one of his little laughs.

  “You may have been a nobody in your previous life, master. But you are not anymore. You are a wizard. You may be one of the few in this new world of yours. That makes you important.”

  Simon had no answer for that, so he simply sat and watched the rain fall with his little friend in companionable silence.

  The rain let up in the early afternoon and the sun finally broke through the clouds. Simon put aside thoughts of Daniel and went for a walk.

  First he checked on the horses and, as usual, found that Kronk had done a per
fect job of cleaning the stables. They were running free along the lake and met him with wickers of delight as he arrived at the shore. He stroked their soft muzzles and watched them as they raced about in obvious delight. He had to smile.

  How could you stay gloomy when observing such beautiful creatures?

  Kronk was nowhere to be seen so Simon decided to walk the circumference of the lake, just to pass the time and give himself a chance to think.

  Walking in nature had always cleared his mind and even in this new body of his it was no different. The small lake could be circled in half an hour without hurrying and he liked to walk around it a few times a week.

  There had been two other cottages on the lake once. But the small buildings had been left empty years before and were just ruins now; humps of collapsed timbers and some shingles.

  When he had bought his original cottage, the others had been included in the price, as had the lake.

  Simon reached the opposite side of the small stretch of water and sat down on a grassy knoll, now fairly dry in the afternoon sun. He stared across the shimmering lake at his tower, drew up his knees and rested his chin on them.

  Why had he even bought the place? The little cottage had basically been four walls and a roof. No running water, just a well. An outhouse. No insulation. But the price had been ridiculously cheap and he had wanted a place away from the city where he could train for his iron-man competitions.

  Simon sighed loudly and closed his eyes. He supposed it was nice being young again, but even at sixty he had been in amazing shape. Big, strong, confident. Everything he wasn't now. Ugly too, he thought with a small grin. But you couldn't have it all.

  He opened his eyes and squinted into the flickering light off of the water, examining his home.

  It had been Daniel's idea to build a tower. Did he know something even then? Probably.

  When Simon had come to him to tell him about his new country getaway and that he intended to renovate it, Daniel had traveled to the site and they had bounced ideas off of each other.

  Both of them had loved fantasy games and it hadn't seemed too outrageous when Daniel had suggested tearing the old cottage down completely and building a tower in its place.

  When Simon had reminded his friend that he couldn't afford to do any such thing, Daniel had waved away his objections.

  “I'd like to visit you here, Simon,” he'd said. “I don't have a place of my own to retreat to and I like the thought of coming out here occasionally and getting away from it all. So I'll fund this little venture and you can pay me back by guaranteeing me a place here any time I want it.”

  Simon had been speechless, he remembered. And then Daniel had added a caveat.

  “I want to help design the place as well. Would you let me do that?”

  Of course he had. And that had been a lifesaver.

  Daniel had sketched out a rough outline. A cold storage in the basement for vegetables. A secure locker beside it where bags of flour and sugar and other dry goods could be kept away from dampness and insects. A new well was dug to bring in fresh water in all seasons. And on and on.

  In the end, with the help of an architect friend of Daniel's, the tower had been planned and built, taking less than a year to construct.

  Simon looked at it now. His home. His refuge. And Daniel had never visited, not even once.

  He watched as the horses frolicked along the far shore. The stable had been one of his own ideas, one that Daniel had approved of. Thank God for that. He at least had transportation now that technology no longer functioned.

  He had to have known something. Why a tower? The construction contractor had given him more than one odd look and his men had thought the entire thing absurd.

  But they had built it to last. The walls were almost two feet thick. In the middle of them was heavy insulation that helped to keep the tower warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

  The chimney distributed the heat from the fireplace throughout the tower during the cold season and, with the pull of a lever, sent the smoke straight out of the top of the structure in the summer.

  Simon stood up with a grimace of irritation. The ground had been damp enough to leave him with a wet butt. Then he chuckled at himself and set off to finish his stroll.

  Back at the tower, Simon came across Kronk sitting on his front steps. When he saw him, the little guy jumped up excitedly and waved.

  “Master, I'm glad you're back.”

  “Um, thanks. I wasn't gone that long was I?” Simon asked, a little surprised at the reception.

  “No, but I have some good news. The scout has returned.”

  Simon stared at Kronk blankly for a moment, then he realized what the elemental was talking about.

  “The scout? You mean the air elemental?” Kronk nodded rapidly. “Excellent! Where is it?”

  “Upstairs in the study, master,” Kronk told him as he walked into the tower. Simon followed and the two hurried up the stairs to the second floor.

  The air elemental hovered over the table in the study, exactly where it was before venturing out on its task. As Simon entered the room, it turned its small head and nodded at him.

  “Wizard, I have returned.”

  “So I see,” Simon said as he sat down and watched the elemental closely. “Have you had any luck?”

  “Luck?” The little creature's tone was scornful. “A scout uses skill, not luck. I have reconnoitered deep tombs and lofty mountains for great masters of magic, young wizard. This errand was child's play in comparison.”

  Simon bit back a sharp reply. It would be foolish to anger the little being, at least not until he divulged any information that he had.

  “All right then. Could you tell me what you found?”

  “Yes, of course. Do you have writing materials?”

  “Sure.” Simon pulled out a large square piece of paper and a pencil from a cupboard and set them beside the elemental.

  The airy figure floated gently above the tabletop for a moment, bobbing up and down slowly like a chip of wood floating on the sea. Simon found the motion almost hypnotic. Then it picked up the pencil, apparently not bothered by the fact that it was half as long as it was, and began to draw on the paper.

  At first its pencil strokes were slow and methodical. But it quickly began to draw faster and faster until its movements were a blur. Simon sat back and stared in amazement. Kronk only gave a little sniff of disdain.

  Finally it finished drawing the map and dropped the pencil. Then it looked at Simon and indicated that he should look at the paper.

  “I scouted the area around the tower to a distance of approximately a day's ride in all directions.”

  Wow, Simon thought. That's a lot of territory.

  The elemental pointed at a small square in the middle of the paper. To the north was a small oval.

  “Here is the tower and the lake.” It had drawn an X a few inches to the upper right of the tower and nodded at it.

  “You are aware of the witch that lives closest to you, to the northeast?”

  Simon nodded silently.

  “She is not very powerful, but has gathered some small items of interest. Some minor artifacts and an interesting tome of lore that perhaps you should read. She presents no danger to you.”

  Further north, the elemental had drawn a set of wavy, horizontal lines.

  “The major river to the north in now inhabited by creatures that resemble those that existed in the old days of magic.” It paused and stared thoughtfully at the paper. “I assume that local lifeforms have been warped by the new magic into these creatures. I would recommend against swimming in it,” it added dryly.

  “What sort of creatures?” Simon asked, fascinated.

  “Oh, the usual. Fresh water sharks, a rather imposing river serpent, and some obviously confused mer-people. It is a small community at the moment but will likely grow. If they survive, of course.”

  The matter of fact way the air elemental presented its report was at
odds with what it was saying and Simon stared at it in disbelief.

  “Mer-people? Wait. You mean like mermaids?”

  The elemental looked confused by Simon's question.

  “Certainly. I believe that they were once ordinary humans who were Changed by magic. Apparently this world is reverting to its former state, filling the land with creatures that once existed. Perhaps the magic alters reality for its own purposes; conforming it to what existed before the gods were banished from the Earth.”

  There was another moment of silence. Simon looked at the intricate map.

  Mermaids? River serpents? What the hell was happening to the world?

  “Why would it do that?” he asked. The elemental shrugged.

  “Magic comes from the old gods. They may need to change the world into a semblance of what existed once in order to return to it.”

  “Huh.” Simon set his elbow on the table and rested his chin on his palm. “That's almost what the elf told us.”

  The elemental looked at Simon with wide eyes.

  “Elf? You have seen an elf?”

  Simon wasn't sure if the creature's tone was one of shock or accusation. Maybe both.

  “Yeah. Not long ago an elf maiden showed up at the tower and explained what was happening in the world. Well, some of it anyway.”

  “Elves. So the elves are returning.” The elemental continued to stare at him. “But why reveal themselves to you?”

  “I'm not sure. Apparently they know an old friend of mine. The maiden, Ethmira, dropped off a key that allowed me to open a box that held notes from my friend. They're in a book on the kitchen table downstairs.”

  The elemental vanished.

  “Hey! What the...”

  Before he even had a chance to stand up, the air elemental reappeared, Daniel's notebook clutched in its two hands.

  It dropped the book beside the map and opened it quickly.

  As it began to rapidly read the pages, flipping through them at breakneck speed, Simon sat back and watched with confusion.

  “Something wrong?” he asked finally.