“And what it that, my dear wizard?” Aeris asked. Simon could hear the concern in his voice. Whether it was for the elemental's safety or for himself, or both, he didn't know. But he appreciated it all the same.
“I don't have time to explain. The dragon is almost on me. Now, if you have any loyalty to me at all, please do what I say.”
He knew it was a low blow, putting it like that, but he saw Aeris' small glowing figure nod once and then turn toward the group that was now swimming offshore.
“Good luck, master,” Kronk said sadly. “You are the finest wizard I have ever known.”
“Thanks Kronk. That means a lot. Now go!”
The elementals retreated and Simon looked up again.
The dragon had stopped descending. What was it doing? Watching the elementals as they joined the small group of humans? He was sure it could see as well as an eagle, if not better.
Or was it watching him? Wondering perhaps what he was doing standing alone and exposed. Who knew?
Simon raised Bene-Dunn-Gal and held it straight out over the water. And then he waited and watched.
A minute passed, then two. The dragon just hung there hundreds of feet above him, flapped its massive wings.
Come on, you bastard, he thought. Do something! Take your revenge on the quivering little wizard down here.
And then the dragon dropped like a stone. A roar of rage followed by a trail of fire made it look and sound like a meteor was streaking earthward through the night.
Simon choked for a second with fear and then shouted out over the water.
“Aquamastis! I summon you! Honor our bargain and take what is yours!”
The river continued to ripple and splash and then, in an instant, from the shoreline where Simon was standing, straight up the river to the west, the water froze solid.
An ice bridge, a hundred yards wide and stretching out as far as he could see in the moonlight, appeared.
Simon didn't bother to look over his head. He could hear the dragon roaring as it swooped down toward him and so he started to run.
The ice was rough with the small waves frozen instantly and he only slipped a little as he ran for his life.
Behind him the ground trembled and he almost fell over as the dragon crashed to the earth, standing on the island, its blazing eyes glaring at him, each one larger than he was.
Simon dared to look over his shoulder in quick snatches and, when he'd run at least a hundred yards and was puffing like a bellows, stopped and stared back at the dragon.
On foot it was even more impressive than when it was in flight. Sixty feet at the shoulder, with its head rising high above that on a serpentine neck, it watched him balefully.
Simon couldn't understand why it wasn't attacking. He was totally exposed and defenseless. It should strike now. But it didn't.
Finally the head descended and pushed forward and the wizard found himself caught in that wicked gaze as it glared at him across the frozen river.
“So, this is what a wizard looks like in this modern age.”
Simon gaped. The thing was speaking! A huge bass voice, loud enough to make him flinch even at that distance, echoed across the night.
“Pathetic,” it rumbled. “Look at you. Look at the ruin you've brought down upon your people.”
The scaled mouth pulled back exposing row after row of dagger-like teeth, each a foot long at least. It was smiling and Simon shuddered at the sight.
“Are you proud of yourself, wizard? Do you feel heroic? I destroyed hundreds of wizards when this world was young and full of magic. Even the lowliest was more of a challenge than you have been. But I should thank you, I suppose.” It sounded thoughtful but Simon knew he was being mocked.
“Yes, I should thank you. You've reminded me that those blasted dwarves and the damnable elves still exist, even after we thought the world swept clean of them.”
A slimy black tongue, a dozen feet long, slipped out from between its teeth and the dragon licked its mouth slowly. It was obscene.
“Well, now we will correct that oversight. Once your little race is extinguished, my siblings and I shall turn our attention to those pathetic wretches. And then the world will be clean and my masters will return to rule in all of their glory.”
It narrowed its eyes to burning red slits.
“As they were always meant to. Pity you won't be around to worship them, little wizard. They are magnificent.”
“Well then at least you'll be doing me a favor when you kill me,” Simon shouted, hearing how tiny and weak his voice sounded after the dragon's. “I won't have to see their disgusting faces.”
The dragon reared back and a small stream of fire dribbled from its nostrils.
“Have a care, worm. Do not provoke me further, or your death will not be swift and merciful, but slow and agonizing. You know not of what you speak when you speak of the gods of Chaos.”
It looked up at the star-filled night sky.
“Who gave you the darkness, after all, hmm? Who gave you the will to fight, to conquer? Or the need to improve yourselves? The wish to gain power? Do you think it was those pathetic beings who call themselves the gods of Light?”
It laughed and the rumble made Simon slip to one knee on the jagged ice. He felt pain as the sharp edges of the frozen waves bit into his knee, but ignored it and pushed himself to his feet, leaning on Bene-Dunn-Gal.
“No, it was not. It was my masters. And now you've squandered their gifts to attack one of their emissaries. You truly are a fool.”
“Am I really? Is that blood I see trickling from the side of your face? Who do you think gave you that? Me!” Simon shouted.
He'd spotted the small smear of glowing red dripping along the creature's jaw. It looked like rivulets of thin lava streaming on to the ground.
The dragon hissed and shot its head forward, a rumble growing louder from deep in its throat.
“And how about those maggots I killed, eh?” Simon started to back away from the dragon as he shouted, trying not to trip on the uneven ice beneath his feet.
“What are they called? Drakes? Well, you know what I call them now? Ground beef! So much for your impressive servants. I only wish you'd dropped more of them on the island so that I could have had more fun in filleting them.”
And then he turned and ran.
The dragon had pulled back and spread it wings, shrieking in rage. Simon glanced once over his shoulder, afraid that the monster would take to the air again and attack from above.
But its berserk rage seemed to keep it grounded. However, even in its sudden anger, the dragon set one foot on the ice bridge first, testing its strength. A second foot followed the first and then it roared with glee as it realized the bridge would hold its tremendous weight.
“And now you die, worm!” it bellowed and began to stamp along the frozen river after the fleeing wizard.
Simon ran like he'd never run before. He ran for his life.
How deep is the water here, he wondered frantically. Is it deep enough?
Part of him screamed yes but the practical part of his mind told him that it wasn't, that he had to keep running.
The dragon wasn't running. It didn't have to. Each enormous step forward covered dozens of yards and Simon's head-start was diminishing rapidly.
He could feel the hot breath on his back and he fancied that the wyrm was about to flick out its tongue like a monstrous frog and reel him in.
When he began to feel his robe smoldering from the heat of the pursuing dragon, he knew that it was his moment to act. Whether this worked or not, he was out of time.
He held up the staff as he ran and from behind him, he heard the hollow inhalation of the dragon as it sucked in huge amounts of air, preparing to burn him to a crisp.
Simon spoke an incantation faster than he'd ever thought he could. He spared a quick though of gratitude that he hadn't become tongue-tied.
Then he cast the spell and his skin took on the gleam of diamonds.
Around him the bridge hissed and melted a bit as the fire raised a thick cloud of steam.
Simon was amazed that he was still alive, but he knew that he wouldn't survive a second blast. Parts of his skin had lost the diamond-like glitter and he knew that another stream of fire would dissolve it entirely.
But he wasn't going to die lying on his back. Somehow, he managed to scramble to his feet and he turned carefully on the slippery surface to face the dragon.
It had stopped about fifty feet away, and its massive body blocked out the stars. Simon wasn't sure but he thought that it looked somewhat amazed that he was still alive.
“A decent spell, wizard. Well done. Do you think it will save you twice?”
The dragon sounded evilly amused.
“No, I don't,” Simon said loudly. “This is the end.”
“Yesss,” the dragon hissed. “It is.”
It reared back a final time and sucked in another gigantic breath.
“You know, I hope there's a hell for dragons,” Simon shouted. “And I hope that it isn't made of fire. I hope it's made of water!”
The dragon's eyes widened.
“What?” it cried, utterly perplexed.
“Aquamastis! Now!”
The dragon looked around.
“Who are you speaking to?” it bellowed in confusion.
“Your executioner, you bastard!” Simon shouted and then he was suddenly neck-deep in frigid water.
The ice bridge collapsed, turning in an instant from solid to liquid.
The dragon tumbled backwards, frantically beating its wings. But there was nothing to stand on, no way to brace itself and it sank like it was made of rock, bellowing and thrashing like a gigantic bat plunged into deep water.
Simon struggled to keep his head above the surface, treading water with his left hand while keeping a death-grip on the staff. He felt weak suddenly and desperately tried to think of some way to save himself from a watery death.
Suddenly, he was rising above the river. Ten feet, twenty, until he was lying fifty feet above the water on a semi-liquid surface, staring up into a face made of rippling liquid.
It watched him with detached amusement, but Simon turned to stare down at where the dragon was still struggling to escape the river.
There was no fire now. Snaps and crackles of electricity, loud enough to hurt the wizard's eardrums, shot out from the dragon in all directions. The river was shorting it out, Simon thought. That's why it had feared water. It was like some monstrous battery that was being drained of its charge.
It screamed and cried and thrashed about, creating incredibly high waves in the river. Suddenly its head shot up out of the water on that long, serpent's neck straight at Simon. The maw gaped and its teeth caught the moonlight.
The immense water elemental that was holding the wizard was suddenly a hundred feet further away and Simon heard the dragon's teeth snap on nothing. And then, with a final scream, an ear-shattering bellow of agony, there was a massive explosion of electrical energy and the dragon tore itself apart and sank out of sight.
A long moment of silence followed and Simon stared down at the few floating bits of dragon scattered on the river, too exhausted to feel anything but relief.
“Well done, wizard,” the elemental said in a voice much lighter than that of the dragon.
“Thanks,” Simon said as he lay back on the huge palm. “But it was as much your victory as it was mine.”
Aquamastis chuckled.
“Perhaps. But I do not care about dragons. We made a deal, did we not?”
“We did,” Simon said wearily. “We did indeed. And although I doubt the others will be too pleased by it, I'm sure that they will agree.”
The water elemental laughed again, softly.
“I do not care if they agree or not. You summoned me. You freed me. You gave me this river as my own. And that is enough.”
They began to glide toward the distant island.
“You and yours are free to move about my river tonight. But once you have left, it is mine. Do not attempt to cross it again.”
Simon nodded.
“I know. But thank you anyway. A river is a small price to pay for stopping a dragon.”
“Perhaps it is, wizard, to you.”
Aquamastis lowered Simon as they reached the island and he stepped off the huge hand on to solid ground.
“But it is a great price to me. Thank you for this bargain. We will speak again one day.”
And the watery form broke apart and fell back into the dark water like rain.
Simon heard some shouting from across the island and squinted in the moonlight, trying to see who it was.
Clara and the others were running towards him, laughing and shouting, soaked to the skin. Behind them he saw Kronk and Aeris, both grinning happily.
Simon smiled at them all and then turned to look back over the river as it glittered beneath the moon and the stars.
Well, he thought. That's one dragon down.
Epilogue
About a month had passed and life had returned almost to normal when Simon found himself hosting a reunion of sorts.
Some of the survivors of the battle met at his tower to celebrate their victory and plan for the future. They had all spent the interval since the confrontation with the dragon mourning their dead and adjusting to the new reality of life without its evil looming over them.
Aeris was still a little sulky by what he called Simon's 'betrayal' in making a deal with a water elemental behind his back.
He seemed particularly vexed that the wizard had sent himself and Kronk on a wild goose chase while he made the deal.
“Aeris, I had to,” Simon told him for the hundredth time. “Neither of you would have approved and I wasn't sure that I would have to use Aquamastis anyway.”
The air elemental just grumbled.
Kronk, on the other hand, had cheerfully accepted Simon's reasoning, probably because it had saved his master's life.
“Aeris, let it go,” the little guy said. “The dragon is destroyed and our master is safe. What more is there to talk about?”
“But a river? Kronk, he gave away an entire river!”
Kronk shrugged.
“That was the price,” he said simply and left it at that.
The November morning when the visitors arrived dawned clear and cold. There had been several snow flurries in the past week and winter was looming. Simon had harvested the last of his crops, put up jars of preserved fruits and vegetables and was almost prepared for the long dark season to come.
Ethmira arrived with one of her people. She had lost a dozen archers and had taken their loss very hard. Because elves were immortal, any deaths were considered tragedies and to lose that many of her people had sent the elvish maiden into deep mourning. They accepted death, but they loved their people dearly.
But when she arrived, Ethmira had been smiling, a bit sadly perhaps, but smiling all the same. Her people's period of mourning was done and now they were looking forward to rejoining the new world.
But as she told Simon, they were well aware that the danger hadn't passed. However, at least the area around Ottawa and most parts of North America were clear, until the other dragons completed their conquest of their own territories.
Clara and the four Changlings made it to the tower before lunch. All were well, but several villagers had been killed, including the warrior Michael and Susan, the ranger. Both had been on the same raft and it was the first to be raked with dragon-fire during the attack.
Simon was busy serving his guests, as was Kronk, who was thoroughly excited to be having something to do that wasn't routine.
Aeris hovered in the background. He greeted each visitor graciously but stayed out of the conversations. Simon thought that he was still pouting a bit.
When everyone was seat
ed with a drink at hand and something to eat, the general chatter turned to the last moments of the battle.
“We thought we'd lost you, Simon,” Clara said frankly. She was sitting on the couch with Virginia and Anna. Both of them nodded in agreement.
“That elemental was a complete surprise.”
“To all of us,” Aeris muttered loudly and shot Simon a baleful look.
“I know,” the wizard said. He looked at Aeris with amusement. “It was an eleventh hour decision and I honestly didn't know if it would work.” He smiled at Clara. “An act of desperation, honestly.”
“And what exactly does it mean, that you gave it the river?” Ethmira asked. “I don't quite understand that part.”
Simon pushed back his hair. He was standing next to the fireplace sipping some tea.
“As I understand it, if you want to cross the river, you will need Aquamastis' permission. And I don't know what you will need to do to get it.”
There was a general stir at that information but Simon kept talking.
“We will still be able to use any surviving bridges that cross the river. We just won't be able to use boats or swim across.”
“Where on earth did you get the idea to summon that thing anyway?” Virginia asked. “And how did you know that it would make a deal?”
Simon had to chuckle.
“I was reading a book about nature spirits and water sprites and it occurred to me that the description seemed familiar.” He waved at Kronk and Aeris. “It reminded me of my friends here. The one point that was made in the story was that water sprites loved their rivers and lakes and were very territorial. That gave me an idea.”
He sipped his tea and looked at his guests fondly. They were listening closely to his story and he felt a little twinge of guilt at the thought of those they had lost.
“The elementals had been banished from the world when the old gods had fled the Earth and taken the magic with them. I guessed that a water elemental might be eager to return to the world if I could offer it some incentive. It turns out that I was right.”
“But to summon a being that powerful? I didn't realize you had that kind of magic,” Eric said curiously. He and Gerard were drinking wine that they'd brought up from the village. Both were standing at either end of the couch.
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