“What is so funny, master?” he asked when the wizard had finally finished and was wiping the tears from his eyes.
“Oh, it's Aeris,” he answered with a grin. “I know I should be used to him complaining by now, but it's becoming so over the top that every time he starts again it cracks me up.”
“I see.” Kronk frowned up at him. “So you find the fact that Aeris is alone in a frozen wasteland searching for one of the most powerful creatures on the planet, at great personal danger to himself, funny, master?”
Simon's grin faded and he felt his face become red with embarrassment. He knew the earthen well enough to know that he wasn't being judgmental, but his question drained away any humor that the wizard had found in Aeris' situation.
“You're right, as usual. There really is nothing funny about what our friend is doing, is there? I'm sorry, Kronk. Sometimes I'm just an idiot.”
“No master, you are not,” the little guy said. He moved across the table and patted Simon's shoulder. “You are simply too close to all of this. You are being overwhelmed by so many responsibilities that it is difficult to separate them into their different parts.”
Simon tented his fingers and tapped his chin thoughtfully.
“Hmm. That's a very good point, I suppose. I'm going to have to remember to step back occasionally and look at the big picture.”
“Exactly, master. By the way, have you spoken to our friend, the lady cleric, since you returned from the mountains?”
“Yep.”
Simon stretched and hissed at the pain in his lower back. Too much time sitting and studying was taking its toll.
“It was just a quick call to let her know that the wolf's bane is there. She was relieved.”
“Of course. But if I may make a suggestion, you might want to call her and ask if those...amulets? Yes, those amulets that she was having made to hold the concoction are going to be ready on time. The full moon rises in two days.”
“Oh right. Damn, I should have thought of that. Thanks again.”
The little guy just smiled and jumped down, heading toward the door.
“Oh, before you go out on patrol,” Simon said and the elemental turned back to look at him, wide-eyed.
Simon lowered his voice.
“Any sign of our watery friend lately?”
Kronk tip-tapped forward.
“None, master. Perhaps she is simply out enjoying herself.”
“Yeah. And perhaps she isn't. Just...keep an eye out, would you? Let me know if you see anything, I don't know, out of the ordinary.”
“I will, master. Have a good evening.”
And with a wave, the earthen hurried across the room and out the door, closing it behind him.
Simon sighed loudly and picked up the hand mirror. Things were starting to move more quickly again. He just hoped that he could keep up.
Two days later and it was the first evening of the full moon.
Simon had arrived in Nottinghill a few hours before sundown and went with Clara to watch while Malcolm and Aiden allowed themselves to be wrapped in heavy iron chains before the moon rose.
“Are you sure this is necessary?” Simon asked them. It was distressing to see the two men trussed up like animals.
“This enclosure should be able to hold you, don't you think?” he continued.
Clara said nothing. She had a hand over her mouth and seemed to be close to tears.
“It is our choice, my friend,” Malcolm told him. He and Aiden stood still, showing great dignity as the guards wound lengths of chain around them.
“We will not take even the smallest risk of doing harm to others,” Aiden said solemnly. “These are our people, Simon. How could we chance it?”
Both guards, young men whom Simon vaguely recognized, gave the big men looks of intense respect and stopped several times to make sure that they were as comfortable as possible.
When the task was done and the guards had withdrawn, the wizard knelt down next to the men where they'd been carefully lowered to the ground and tried to give them a reassuring smile.
“Well, after tonight, you will be free men once more.”
He glanced at the cleric where she stood rigid and mute, watching her friends compassionately.
“Clara will wait in the town hall until I retrieve the wolf's bane. Once it's ground up and blessed we'll seal it in the amulets that the blacksmith made and you'll be free.”
“It's that one thought that has made this entire episode so much easier to endure, Simon,” Malcolm told him, the ghost of a smile on his lips. “But the night is far from over. We have had this disease racing through our blood for weeks now. Who knows if even these chains will hold us when the wolf takes over.”
“Have faith, Malcolm,” Clara finally said. “And you too, Aiden. We will get through this and be the better for it. You'll see.”
Aiden only shrugged, his face now blank of emotion.
Malcolm stared at the cleric.
“Forgive me if I trust in you and Simon more than faith, Clara. Your gods are the ones that helped bring on this madness. I don't have much in the way of faith when it comes to them.”
The cleric opened her mouth to protest and then simply nodded.
“I understand. Well then, come along, Simon. The sun is almost down and we have things to do.”
“Good luck, guys,” the wizard said as he stood up. “We'll see you in the morning.”
He winked at Malcolm and Aiden scowled slightly.
“Stop flirting, you two,” he growled and then grinned widely.
The tension broke and they laughed together. Simon waved and left the enclosure. The guards slammed and barricaded the door behind him.
“And so it begins,” he said to Clara.
“Yes, it does. Come up to the hall with me, would you? I wanted to show you the amulets that we made.”
“Certainly.” Simon looked toward the west at the horizon blazing red with the setting sun. “We have a few hours to wait anyway. It won't be dark in the mountains for a while yet.”
“Ah, I'd forgotten that. You have time for some tea then.”
Back in her quarters, the cleric made the tea while Simon examined the two containers that the blacksmith had created.
They were shaped like small spheres and unscrewed in the middle into two halves. The spheres each had one of the men's names engraved on it, written in small, neat script.
The wizard picked one up and rolled it in his fingers. A thick little ring had been attached at the top to slip a chain through and the chains themselves were heavy and sturdy-looking.
When Clara walked in with the tea, Simon held up one of the amulets.
“Silver?” he asked curiously.
“Yes. It seemed only proper to craft them out of the one substance that legend says is toxic to werewolves. It will reassure both Malcolm and Aiden, as well as the rest of the town, that they are safe to be around.” She shrugged a bit and frowned. “Some people are having trouble believing that this will work. I've held a town meeting and explained it all to them but, well, people are people. These days, with magic and mythical creatures being real and all, some of them tend to overreact to anything strange.”
“Smart move then.”
Simon nodded at two small earthenware vials that were sitting next to the amulets.
“What are those for?”
The cleric grimaced a bit.
“Blood. Both of the boys were happy to donate, of course. Seems a bit barbaric to me but it's what Aethos said we needed. Their names are written on the bottom.”
“Right. I'd almost forgotten about that.”
Simon accepted his tea with a smile and they both sat down and enjoyed a quiet moment together.
“How is Sunshine doing, by the way?” Clara asked after a few moments. “Any problems? Discomfort?”
“None. Kronk is doting over her like a mother hen and I check on her a few times a day. She's just the same as always, although I swear she give
s me a look once in a while as if to say 'what's all the fuss about?'”
The cleric chuckled and sipped her tea.
“That's good to know. Considering that your three horses may be the only ones left in existence, I'll admit I'm feeling a little motherly myself.”
Simon looked at her with a small smile.
“So am I, to be honest. But I doubt that they are the only horses left. When this is all behind us, whenever that will be, I intend to have Aeris and a few other air elementals search out locations from the old days where horses were prevalent. You know, like Alberta, Montana, places like that. Who knows, we may get lucky.”
“Good idea. I hope so. Besides the fact that they are beautiful animals, technology no longer works and most of us can't Gate around like you can. We'll need horses for transportation and agriculture as our population increases.”
Simon turned his cup slowly on the table, picturing the future without the fear of dragons looming over them. He smiled a bit wistfully.
“I agree. That's why I intend to make finding more of them a priority. Once we deal with the little problem we've been having with dragons, of course,” he added with a wry grin.
He finished his tea and glanced at the window. It was fully dark now. He stood up and walked over to look up at the sky. The full moon was just beginning to rise among the stars.
“How long before Malcolm and Aiden begin their transformation?” he asked as he watched the pale sphere. It looked almost ominous to him now.
Before Clara could answer, there was a blood-chilling howl that echoed across the shrouded town.
Simon turned quickly and looked at the cleric.
“Now,” she said bleakly.
The wizard felt the hair stand up on the back of his neck as a second howl, full of hunger and hatred, joined the first.
“Oh my God. It sounds so much worse than I'd imagined,” he said.
Clara nodded mutely, her eyes bright with unshed tears.
“Okay, I'm not waiting any longer,” Simon said. He chanted the Gate spell, keeping the memory of the mountain meadow firmly in his mind.
“See you soon,” he said.
The cleric gave him a tremulous smile.
“Good luck,” she said.
“Invectis!”
The mountains were still bathed in the light of the evening sun when Simon arrived. He reached over his shoulder and adjusted his staff and then looked around to make sure that the wolf's bane was still in full bloom.
The plants were exactly where he remembered them, waving in the late afternoon breeze and the wizard calmed down a bit. The horror of actually hearing his friends howling after they had transformed had affected him more than he'd realized.
“Oh crap,” he said aloud.
He'd been so rattled that he'd Gated to the mountains without the gloves he knew he had to wear to handle the toxic flower or a bag to put them in.
“Frigging brilliant, Simon,” he told himself in disgust.
He took a moment to think and then rattled off the Magic Mouth spell.
“Kronk, can you hear me?” he said as he walked toward the nearest bunch of flowers. The light was beginning to fade in earnest now.
“Master? Hello! Where are you?”
“I'm in the mountains. Look, could you do me a favor? Find me some gloves and a bag of some sort, would you? I forgot to bring them with me and I can't collect the wolf's bane safely without them.”
There was a short pause and Simon pictured the little guy rolling his red eyes.
“Yes, of course, master. Give me a few minutes.”
“Great. Let me know when you have them and I'll summon you to this location.”
“I will, master.”
Simon waited and passed the time exploring the little meadow. It seemed that no animals or birds had discovered this little nook filled with life, but a few bumblebees lumbered along the grass drunkenly, their fat bodies weaving from side to side. Some unseen insects buzzed by his ears but nothing bit him and he guessed that mosquitoes didn't live this high up. If they did, they wouldn't survive without animals to feed off of.
Good, he thought. I hate the little blood-suckers.
At the back of the meadow, where the side of the mountain rose up like a wall, the wizard discovered a small, clear pool of water. A catch-basin for rain, he assumed as he squatted down next to it.
The sky was growing dim, but he could still see well enough to spot the ripples of tiny insects skating on top of the water. He smiled at the sight.
Where's there water, there's life, he thought a bit whimsically.
“Ready, master,” Kronk said suddenly and Simon stood up quickly.
“Right. Hang on a second.”
He walked over to a clump of flowers, looked off to the side and found a bare patch of ground. He canceled the communication spell and focused on the spot where he wanted the earthen to appear.
“Kronk, I need you,” he said firmly and a moment later the ground erupted in a little explosion of dirt, and the earthen climbed out of the hole.
“Hello master,” Kronk said brightly with a broad smile.
He loves being useful, Simon thought affectionately.
“Hey there. Did you find everything all right?”
“Of course, master,” the little guy replied and held up a pair of gardening gloves in one hand and a canvas sack in the other.
“Perfect. Thanks so much. I don't know what I'd do without you.”
The earthen's eyes brightened and his broad smile threatened to split his face.
“It is always my pleasure to serve, master,” he replied.
“Okay, we have to wait for moon-rise, I guess,” the wizard said and he searched the now dark sky for the full moon. But there was no evidence of it yet.
“Hmm, this could take a while,” he muttered.
“It will appear in that direction, master,” Kronk said as he pointed. “It won't be long, perhaps thirty minutes.”
“Really? Good. So how are things at home?”
They walked slowly to the edge of the meadow, where the ground dropped away sharply.
“Fine, master. Still no sign of Ana, though.”
“I see. You know, maybe I should summon her back and ask her what she's up to?”
Kronk looked up at him.
“What would be the point, master? If she is innocently exploring, she might be offended. And if she is planning something, she would simply not tell you.”
“Could she lie to me?” Simon asked as he glanced up at the starry sky and then back at Kronk.
“No master, not directly. But she could simply avoid telling you the truth. Almost the same thing, but not quite.”
“Yeah, that's a good point.”
Simon shook his head and pushed back his hair absently.
“You know, life would be so much simpler if I wasn't always looking over my shoulder waiting for someone to stab me in the back.”
The little guy chuckled, his laughter sounding like stones rubbing together.
“Hazards of being a wizard, master.”
“Wonderful,” Simon replied dryly. “You know, back in the day, I never had this type of fear riding me. I was big and strong and confident in myself.” He paused thoughtfully. “Of course, I didn't have nearly as many responsibilities either.”
“Exactly, master. Then you were one among many. Now? Now you may be the only wizard in the entire world. Your burden is great.”
“Thanks, Kronk. That's just makes me feel so much worse.”
Simon grinned as he said it but the earthen looked at him solemnly.
“I know it does, master. But at the risk of being too forward, sometimes you seem to forget how much you mean to the rest of humanity. I know that you are a humble man, but you must not lose sight of your own importance.”
Simon snorted so loudly that he choked and spent the next few minutes coughing.
“Sorry, Kronk,” he finally said, wheezing a bit. “But you may be a
bit biased. Now, let's concentrate on the task at hand, shall we?”
“Yes master. Look.”
The wizard followed the little guy's gaze and saw the top of the moon slowly begin to crawl over the distant horizon.
“Wow, it looks huge, doesn't it?” he said in a hushed voice. “And it's kind of red. Well, that's not at all threatening.”
“It is only the moon, master,” Kronk said, being his practical self.
No imagination at all, Simon thought as he watched the little guy stare at the rising moon. And yet so child-like. Ah well.
“I'll wait until it's fully risen, just in case,” he said. “This has to be done right the first time.”
“Agreed, master.”
And so they stood in silence and watched as the moon slowly ascended. It was beautiful in its own way and Simon felt no impatience as he waited.
When the bottom edge was almost fully exposed, he turned to Kronk.
“Well, we can almost...”
“Get down, master!” the earthen said in an urgent whisper.
“What?”
And then the little rocky body hit him like a projectile, knocking him off his feet into the tall grass.
“Kronk!” Simon said breathlessly. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Shh! Dragon!”
“What? Where?”
The little guy rose up a little and pointed. Simon turned to look in that direction and his stomach clenched in fear.
Across the bloated moon, a vast winged shape soared majestically, gliding like some massive bat across the bright glowing orb.
The wizard watched in mute shock as the first winged monster was followed by another, and then another.
“My God,” he whispered. “How many are there?”
“Too many, master. Stay still and keep low.”
“Yeah, no kidding.”
The two of them watched as dragon followed dragon in a majestic display. It seemed to last for hours and the moon had risen high in the sky by the time the last of the winged behemoths had disappeared.
Simon stood up carefully, trying to look in all directions at once. But the sky was clear again and he finally sucked in a ragged breath and blew it out slowly. His body was slick with sweat and his heart was still racing.
The Dragons of Ice and Snow Page 25
