“But, but...” Aeris began to sputter. Kronk cut him off.
“You dare? You dare to take my master's trust and play with him like he was a toy?”
He was seething but Simon cut him off.
“Easy there, my friend. Happily there was no harm done. We do have the wall, after all. Actually,” he looked at Aeris again, “I don't know if he's betrayed us to anyone out there, but we'll be extra vigilant from now on, just in case.”
From beneath the large reference book, Simon pulled out a sheet of paper with a line of symbols written on it. Aeris' eyes widened as he saw it and Simon nodded.
“Yes. I've written down the spell to banish you. I don't think it's painful but I'm pretty sure it will work. And, if I do it right, it will bar you from being summoned ever again, by any wizard.” He smile humorlessly at the air elemental. “Enjoy your extended stay back home. You'll be there forever.”
As Simon took a breath to begin the spell, Aeris rushed forward, a look of horror on his face.
“Stop! Stop!” he cried urgently. “You're wrong about me. Please, Simon. Wait.”
Simon stopped and sat back, staring at him. It was Aeris using his name, which he hardly ever did, that got his attention.
“Wrong? How am I wrong?”
Aeris hesitated and then his shoulders slumped.
“You're right, at least partly. I did trick you that night. But it was for your own good! I knew that you would be easy prey when those creatures really did return. And they will. Believe me, they will.”
“But why trick me?” Simon asked, baffled by the elemental's reply.
“Because humans don't listen to us!” Aeris sounded frustrated. “They never did. Oh we had our uses. But a real conversation? I have never met a wizard who wanted my advice, or any elemental's advice for that matter.”
“Then you don't know my master at all,” Kronk told him. He no longer looked angry. Instead, Simon thought he caught a hint of compassion in the little guy's voice and he remembered that small elementals like Kronk were no more than practice for the ancient spell-casters.
“He is exactly as you see him,” Kronk continued. “He listens. Even to me.” He shook his head sadly. “How could you be so mistaken after what you have seen?”
“I was mistaken. I admit that,” Aeris said weakly. “My last memories of dealings with wizards are not good. I can only plead ignorance. But I meant no harm, truly. And I did not lie about the cleric. I have seen her and spoken to her. She seems honest enough but, as I've just proven, I'm not very good at reading humans, clearly.”
“Clearly,” Simon agreed. He watched the air elemental speculatively. “But how can I trust you now? Surely you see my dilemma, don't you?”
“Yes, I suppose I do.” Aeris drifted over to the window and gazed out at the bright sunlight. “I don't know how to convince you.” He turned and looked at Simon, who was startled by the fearful look on the little face. He'd never seen Aeris afraid before.
“But I beg you, please don't send me back to the realm of air. You don't know what it's like there,”
“How bad can it be?” Kronk asked. “My home is perfect. Flowing lava, earthquakes, fierce storms,” He smiled widely. “It is delightful.”
“That's delightful to you?” Simon asked in disbelief. “It sounds terrible.”
“For you, master, yes it would be. But for those of us created from stone, it is comfortable.”
“Well, maybe your home is like that, but mine is something else.” Aeris sounded even more agitated as he spoke. “Winds, clouds, sunlight, wafting breezes. Ugh!”
“But that sounds lovely, Aeris,” Simon said. “What's so bad about that?”
Aeris floated back to stand in front of Simon.
“It's boring! That's what is so bad about it. It's always the same. Year after interminable year. My fellows and I don't even talk anymore because there's nothing new to say! Nothing changes. Everything is the same. Forever.” He looked beseechingly at Simon. “If that isn't Hell, I think it comes very close to it.”
“Boredom,” Simon repeated flatly. “You're afraid of...boredom.”
“Yes! Can you understand that? Look around you, Simon. You have a whole new world here. A new life to look forward to. Adventure! Excitement! It's all right there,” he pointed at the window, “just outside your door. And you've made me a part of it. I haven't been this happy and stimulated in eons.”
“But you lied to me, Aeris,” Simon said. “Why did you do that, really?”
“Because I want you to live!” Aeris said with conviction.
“You do? Why?”
Aeris turned to Kronk.
“Didn't you tell him what happens to elementals when their summoner dies?”
“I think I did,” Kronk replied, frowning. “When we spoke of Atlantis, master. Did I not tell you that I was released when my former master died?”
“Oh, right,” Simon said, shaking his head. “I'd forgotten that.”
“So you see? You have to live, because if you die, I have to return home. And I do not want to do that.”
Simon remained silent, thinking it through. He was inclined to believe Aeris. Now he remembered Kronk telling him about the consequences of his master's death. Maybe Aeris was just a good actor, but somehow he doubted it. The air elemental seemed genuinely distressed by the idea of being banished back to his realm. And, if he was being truthful about the cleric, he'd certainly proved useful. Being tricked didn't sit well with Simon though and he needed something more if he was going to allow Aeris to stay.
“Is there a promise I can hold you to?” he asked the hovering figure. “A promise of no more tricks or lies or deceptions that you will keep?”
Aeris' eyes widened and a look of hope crossed over his face.
“Yes, there is one.” He nodded at Kronk. “He knows what it is. You won't have to take my word for it.”
Simon turned to Kronk, who was staring at Aeris in disbelief.
“It is a fearsome thing, what you are saying. Dare you make such an oath, knowing the consequences if you break it?”
“Yes, I know.” The air elemental sounded desperate. “But I'd rather face oblivion than go back, at least right now. Perhaps some time in the future, when I have seen enough of this new world, I will change my mind. But for now, I am willing to swear.”
“Hang on,” Simon cut in. “Exactly what kind of an oath are we talking about here?”
“All elementals are descended from the first of our kind, master,” Kronk told him. “Our lords are very powerful. They know our every thought, our every spoken word. Our every movement.” He glanced at Aeris. “And our every broken vow. If Aeris swears on his lord's name and breaks his word, his lord will destroy him utterly.”
Simon gaped at them both.
“But that's horrible,” he gasped.
“It is our way, master,” Kronk said simply. “Once Aeris swears, you can be sure that he will keep his word, or be destroyed.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Simon asked Aeris. “It doesn't sound like these powerful elementals will allow you much leeway if you fudge the truth.”
The air elemental nodded solemnly.
“I'm sure, if you will keep me. That is up to you.” He hesitated. “Master,” he added.
Simon felt himself reddening.
“No, please don't call me that, Aeris. Simon is fine. Kronk may not be able to break the habit, but don't you start.”
Aeris actually chuckled.
“As you wish. But the question remains; will you keep me here, in this world, if I give you my oath?”
“Yes. Yes, I will. You are very talented, and useful. And if I can trust you, then I do want you to stay.”
Aeris smiled widely.
“Thank you, Simon. And now, witness my oath.”
He floated up to the middle of the room and raised his arms toward the ceiling.
“Hear me, my lord Astrandamus, ruler of the four winds, keeper of the keys
of the realm of air. I swear fealty to this wizard, Simon. May I be bound by this oath, to be true, to be faithful and to be honest, from now until I leave his service. And may you strike me down with all of your power should I forswear this vow.” He paused and then added quietly, “Let it be so.”
Simon cried out as his ears popped. He felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room for a brief instance and then he was blinded by a flash of light and a crack of thunder that made the tower shudder from the rooftop to the cellar.
He blinked rapidly to clear his eyes and yawned, trying to relieve the pressure in his ears.
And then the air was still again and he heard a hesitant birdsong ring out through the window.
“My lord has accepted my oath, Simon,” Aeris said as he floated back down to stand on the table. “I am yours to command.”
“Um, okay.” Simon wiped his eyes. “That's good. And now that that's over with, where exactly were you when I called back?”
“As I told you, I was scouting to the north. I wanted to see where the dragon had made its lair.” Aeris looked very serious. “It may not matter now, but one day we will need that information.”
“The dragon?” Simon asked incredulously. He stood up abruptly and walked to the window, both elementals following him. As he touched the window frame, he thought he felt a light vibration running through the tower that then slowly faded away; the last remnant of Aeris' oath.
He sat on the edge of the window and looked down at the wall. It was still strange to see the thing surrounding his home. Somehow, even in the bright daylight, he could see the glow of his runes like a silver aura shimmering along the entire stretch of stone.
The dragons, he thought. The source of all the upheaval in his world. How long would this interval of peace last? How long before the last of the original human race was consumed and the monsters began hunting those like him?
Simon swallowed convulsively. He was so weak and puny. But how powerful would he become? If he found out what his true name was, and he rolled his eyes at the thought, and if his magical skills continued to improve, could he be a threat to that creature?
No, he doubted it. But what if there were others like him? What if he could get a group of Changlings together to challenge the dragon?
As absurd as it was, the idea excited him. A group of magic-users together might actually be able to take on the dragon. Beat it? Probably not. But what choice would they have when the time came and the monster began searching for them? Better to go down fighting than sit passively waiting for death.
Simon looked at Aeris, who was hovering next to him and looking outside.
“So what did you find?” he asked.
“I found...devastation. Beyond the hills across the river to the north, the land has been seared and scarred beyond recognition. There is nothing growing there now. Any towns or villages that once existed have been utterly destroyed.” He frowned, still looking off into space. “These dragons seem to thrive on death. It looks the way land would if a volcano had exploded in its midst. The rock has been melted, the soil fused.” He gave a little shudder.
Simon felt numb. How could they fight that? But one day they would have to.
“Guys? Back in the day, when wizards were powerful, could they have taken on a dragon?”
Aeris slowly turned and looked at him with surprise. Kronk tapped over to the window and jumped up to stand on the ledge. Both of them exchanged a puzzled look.
“Not that I know of, master,” Kronk said, sounding curious. “But why would they want to?”
“Why? But, weren't dragons a threat even back then?”
There was a momentary pause as both elementals seemed totally confused by Simon's question. He stared at them impatiently.
“Okay, what's the problem? It's a simple question, isn't it?”
“No, Simon, it isn't,” Aeris answered him. “Back then, the dragons were only a legend. They didn't actually exist.”
Simon slumped back against the window frame.
“They didn't exist?” Both little heads bobbed forward once. “But where did they come from then? For that matter, where had they been back in the old days?”
A breeze slipped by him, ruffling his hair and pushing it across his face. Simon brushed it back impatiently.
Kronk gave Aeris an encouraging gesture and the air elemental began speaking.
“The evil dragons were defeated eons before the magical world was destroyed,” he began to explain in a pedantic tone. He reminded Simon of his old English teacher.
“The last of the elder dragons, a creature on the side of Light, sacrificed himself to destroy the evil dragons. How this was done is lost in the dimness of time, but certainly there were no dragons alive before the final destruction of Atlantis. Legend had it that the elves were involved,” he added thoughtfully.
“Obviously they were brought back by the dark gods, master,” Kronk added. “But whether wizards from the old times could have fought them is something I do not know.”
“Neither do I,” Aeris said. He looked intently at Simon. “Why do you ask?”
“Because of what Ethmira told me when she visited. That once all the remnants of my old world were destroyed, the dragons would turn on those of us who were left, the Changlings.”
“You intend to fight them?” Aeris asked dubiously.
“I don't see that I'll have much of a choice,” Simon said with a shrug. “Do you?”
Before either of the little figures could answer, a movement from outside caught Simon's attention and he turned to look out past the wall. Three figures had emerged from the forest beyond the clearing and stood still, blinking in the sunlight.
Simon sat on the windowsill and gaped at them.
“Well, well,” Aeris said quietly.
“We have visitors, master,” Kronk added, stating the obvious.
Okay, Simon thought sarcastically. This day just keeps getting better and better.
Chapter 11
The three people standing at the edge of the forest reminded Simon of figures from some old story.
At the lead was a woman dressed in robes very much like his own, but these were more elaborate, deep blue in color and were covered with a stiff mantle of red. Her hair was black and hung down over her shoulders. She was leaning on a pale, wooden staff.
Behind her, standing side-by-side, were two men. Both towered over her and were heavily muscled. One looked older and was completely bald but sported an impressive beard. The other looked very young. He had long blond hair and wide blue eyes.
What made them so amazing looking to Simon wasn't their height; it was the fact that both men were wearing armor.
The armor seemed to be made of iron and was dull and clunky looking, but appeared functional. The older man had an axe riding on his hip, while the younger was armed with a long sword.
Simon shook his head in disbelief.
“Am I dreaming?” he asked no one in particular.
“No master, you are not,” Kronk said reassuringly. “I see them too.”
Simon stood up and pulled back into the shadows of the room so that the group couldn't see him watching them.
“So who the hell are they?”
“No idea, master.”
Both Simon and Kronk looked at Aeris who had a slightly embarrassed look on his face. He seemed unwilling to meet their eyes.
“Aeris? Do you know anything about our visitors?” Simon asked suspiciously.
“Um, that is the cleric I told you about,” he said hesitantly. Then he looked at Simon with wide eyes. “But I swear I didn't tell them where you lived or anything about the tower. I don't know how they found us.”
Simon stared at him levelly for a moment, then he smiled a bit.
“Well, you haven't exploded, so I believe you.” He nodded toward the trio, who still hadn't moved. “You say she's a cleric? I don't know what sort of powers she has, but I'd guess that it wouldn't be too hard for her to track you b
ack here if she wanted to.”
Aeris clapped a hand to his forehead.
“Of course! Why didn't I think of that?”
“Too busy being infallible perhaps?” Kronk asked sarcastically.
Simon hid a grin as Aeris sighed.
“Maybe. Maybe you're right.”
The woman started to walk toward the wall, followed closely by the two armored men.
“You said she was a servant of the gods of Light?” he asked Aeris, who nodded vigorously.
“Absolutely. I sensed no darkness within her. And that she couldn't hide from me, I know it.”
“Well then, we might as well go down and say hello,” Simon said as he turned toward the door. “You can introduce us, Aeris.”
“I'll do that,” the air elemental assured him and floated out the window.
Kronk jumped to the floor and followed Simon out of the room.
When the two of them walked outside and stood just inside the closed gate, Simon looked down at Kronk.
“Should we wait or go ahead and open the gate?”
The little guy shrugged.
“Aeris says they are servants of goodness. We can trust his word, now. But it is your choice, master.”
Simon contemplated the gate. It would be a show of good faith to his neighbors to welcome them without suspicion. Of course, if they decided to attack him, he didn't have enough skill to defend himself.
He tapped the knife hanging from his belt. It was still imbued with a fire spell and could do some damage but it would be little help against men wearing armor. And who knew what that cleric could do.
He sighed. May as well go all in, Simon, he thought. So he walked the few steps to the gate doors and pulled two large levers that, somehow, slid back the bars on either door and the two that descended into the ground. He spared a moment to marvel at the cleverness of the earth elementals. Then he pulled the doors and they effortlessly opened inward and swung back out of the way.
A dozen yards away, the three people were standing, watching him. Aeris was hovering next to the woman, speaking quietly.
As she spotted Simon, the woman smiled widely and he felt a touch of reassurance. Standing in the sunlight, with the birds singing and a warm breeze blowing, he couldn't imagine this person wanting to do him harm.
The Dragons Return Page 14
