The Dragons Revenge (Tales from the New Earth #2)

by J. J. Thompson

  Simon shook his finger sternly at him.

  “Don't take unnecessary risks. Some Changlings have powers that can harm even you. I'll call you every few days with the Magic Mouth spell to see how you're doing. And if you do have any problems, come straight home.”

  “Yes, father,” Aeris said sarcastically, but grinned as he said it.

  Simon laughed.

  “Okay, get out of here. And good luck. I hope you'll be able to find some lost souls.”

  Aeris' smile faded and he looked very serious as he answered.

  “So do I, my dear wizard. So do I.”

  And with a quick wave, he disappeared with a little pop.

  Simon stared blankly at the empty spot where the elemental had been, then went back to digging his furrow. He began whistling thoughtfully through his teeth as he worked.

  That evening, Simon sat in his chair next to the fireplace and decided to contact Clara. He hadn't received a signal from her lodestone since he'd returned from Nottinghill and had assumed that she was busy getting her people back on track after their losses.

  Kronk was sitting on the floor beside the fireplace, staring at it quietly. He seemed a bit down since Simon had told him that Aeris would be away for perhaps a few weeks and the wizard suspected that the little guy was more fond of his counterpart than he let on.

  The wizard muttered the incantation for Magic Mouth and then settled deeper into his chair and stared into space.

  “Clara? Can you hear me?” he asked.

  “Simon? There you are!” the cleric responded, sounding excited. “My goodness, it's been so long that I thought you'd forgotten about us.”

  “Forgotten about you?” Simon said, perplexed. “Of course not. I just thought that since you hadn't used your lodestone to get my attention that you were busy with, you know, running the town and stuff.”

  There was a pause and then Clara laughed.

  “My dear friend,” she said, amused, “you may be in the body of a teenager but your memory seems to be closer to that of the older man you used to be. I lost my half of the lodestone, remember? I could have stood in the middle of town and yelled at the top of my lungs and it would have been just as useful.”

  Simon groaned and covered his face. Kronk looked up at him curiously.

  “My God, I'm an idiot,” he said, red-faced. “I totally forgot that.”

  He looked at Kronk as he spoke.

  “My little friend will dig up another lodestone and, when Aeris returns, I'll send him down with half of it.”

  Kronk nodded vigorously as Simon spoke and the wizard smiled.

  “Well, that's a relief,” Clara said. “Things have been interesting around here but we've had no problems that I've needed you for. So where's Aeris gone?”

  The wizard explained the air elemental's idea to search for other Changlings and Clara was enthusiastic in her approval.

  “That's a wonderful idea,” she said. “Thank you both. We can use all the help we can get, to be honest. We've started to prepare the fields for the spring planting and, frankly, we're behind schedule.”

  “I'm glad you approve,” Simon said. “So what interesting things have been happening that you wanted to discuss?”

  “Well, it's an strange coincidence, but we've already welcomed two new members to our community.”

  “Really?” Simon replied, startled. “Who are they? And where did they come from?”

  “They're actually the answer to my prayers, or part of it anyway. Their names are Malcolm and Aiden. Malcolm is simply the biggest man I've ever seen. I thought Richard was large, but this man? He reminds me of an old-time body builder. He has to be about six and a half feet tall. A beautiful young black man who keeps his hair in long braids and has the loveliest smile you've ever seen.”

  Simon began to smile. Clara almost sounded like a schoolgirl with a crush.

  “You have a new boyfriend, Clara?” he teased her.

  “What? No! Of course not.” She giggled self-consciously. “Apparently as a cleric, I'm expected to be celibate. Ah well, we must all make sacrifices, I suppose. But some of the young women in town are quite smitten with him. Too bad he's not interested.”

  Simon stood up and went to the counter to get his kettle. He pumped some water into it and hung it over the fire.

  “Not interested?” he asked as he began to prepare tea. “Why not?”

  “Well, he and Aiden, who's almost as large as Malcolm is, are together, if you know what I mean.”

  “Hmm, well that's good. I think a stable relationship is probably helpful in this crazy world we're living in now.”

  “I agree. Anyway, Aiden is as sweet as his partner. He's Vietnamese, with a mane of hair most women would kill for. Oddly, the two of them knew each other before the Change.”

  Simon waited for the kettle to boil, leaning back on the counter as he spoke.

  “That is odd. How'd that happen?”

  “According to Malcolm, they were both in high school together, although they only knew each other in passing, in a small town called Renfrew. Do you know it?”

  “Sure. I've been there a few times, back in the old days of technology. It's west of Nottinghill, I believe.”

  “Exactly. They began to Change around the same time and found themselves ostracized by their friends and family. Naturally they gravitated to each other for mutual support and one thing led to another. Renfrew was leveled by drakes, not the dragon, and they were the only survivors. Since then they've wandered, never staying in one place for more than a few months. Aiden says that something drew them slowly but surely to us. I'd like to think it was the gods of Light.”

  The wizard picked up the now boiling kettle and poured the water into his teapot.

  “And they're fighters?”

  “Indeed they are. Like Richard, they found that after the Change they had skills they had never had before. They can handle any weapon with ease and our smith has already made them both armor that they wear like a second skin.” She sighed. “You know, my friend, even now these Changes sometimes scare me. We've been altered body and mind by the gods, without our permission, and then we're thrust out into the world and basically told to survive. It's...unsettling.”

  “Ha! That's one word for it,” Simon agreed dryly. “Insane is another. But we're playing by their rules now, I suppose.”

  He sat down with his tea by the fire again and winked at Kronk, who smiled widely.

  “Are you sure that these two are trustworthy? I mean, they've walked out of the wilderness at a rather opportune time, haven't they?”

  He sipped his tea and closed his eyes. He was sore and tired from the day's work, but pleased with the progress that he and Kronk had made.

  “I'm sure, Simon. As a cleric, I can detect evil thoughts and intent. These two are precisely what they claim to be.”

  “That's a relief. So what have they been doing?'

  “Malcolm's already organized a militia. As he says, there really aren't enough of us to separate into guardsmen and townsfolk. So he and Aiden are training everyone in at least the basics of weapon use, primarily bows at the moment, so that we can all contribute if there is another assault on Nottinghill.”

  She paused and Simon sipped more tea, waiting.

  “They were quite taken by your fortifications, by the way. The moat and the walls. They're both eager to meet you the next time you decide to drop by.”

  “Well, thank them both,” Simon said as he looked at Kronk. “But my rocky little friend deserves all the accolades for the town's defensive structures. I was just a bystander.”

  Kronk began to object and the wizard hushed him with a gesture. At the little guy's look of indignation. Simon grinned broadly.

  “As you can imagine, he's trying to duck out of taking credit for his work, but I won't let him.”

  “Good. Don't,” Clara said firmly. “Without him and his fellow elementals, we would be in a very precarious position right now.”

&nbs
p; “Me too, Clara. Me too. Well, I'm thrilled that you have some more help now. If Aeris discovers any more Changlings, I'll pass along that information as I get it.”

  “Thank you, Simon. I'll keep my fingers crossed that he finds some people who want to live here. How are your studies coming along, by the way?”

  “Not too bad, actually. I have several spells permanently memorized now, which is a relief. Magic Mouth is one of them. My Shield and Stone Skin spells are firmly locked in as well. For some reason, I can't do the same for any offensive spells, but I'm not really complaining. Oh, and by the end of the week, I'm going to try my Gate spell again, once Kronk and I finish getting the garden prepared for planting. So I may be the one to deliver that lodestone to you if Aeris isn't back in two weeks or so.”

  “Now don't overdo it, sir wizard,” Clara said sternly. “I'm sure you still have a ways to go before you recover all of your former skills.”

  Simon rolled his eyes while watching Kronk.

  “Don't worry. My friend here won't allow me to overextend myself. He's quite the little disciplinarian when it comes to me working too hard on my magic.”

  Kronk nodded, looking suspiciously smug.

  “Good to know,” Clara said with a chuckle. “Well, you have a good evening, Simon, and hopefully we'll talk soon.”

  “You as well, my friend. Take care.”

  Simon canceled the spell, sat back and stared at the fire while he drank his tea.

  “All is well with the cleric and her people?” Kronk asked.

  “Hmm? Oh yeah, they're good.”

  Simon passed on the news of the newest members of Clara's town and the little guy looked pleased.

  “I'm glad that they have some protectors again, master,” he said as he stood near the fire. “The world is becoming a very dangerous place.”

  “No kidding,” Simon agreed. “I hope that Aeris is being careful on his scouting trip. I have a feeling that we've barely scratched the surface when it comes to the evil that is lurking out there on the New Earth.”

  Simon waited two days before getting in touch with Aeris. The garden was finished and now he just had to wait for warmer weather before he and Kronk started planting.

  The horses were running by the lakeside late in the afternoon, while Simon sat on the shore and watched, when he decided to call Aeris.

  He invoked the Magic Mouth spell easily and lay back on his elbows on the new grass.

  “Aeris? Can you hear me?”

  There was a pause and Simon watched the horses run and dodge as they played along the water.

  “Ah, my dear wizard, there you are.”

  “Here I am. So how's it going? Find any sign of people yet?”

  “Unfortunately not. But I've found a few other disturbing signs that I wanted to talk to you about.”

  Simon sat up and hunched forward. Aeris' tone was unusually serious.

  “Signs? Of what?”

  “Well, I've stumbled across several small homes here and there, I believe you used to call them cottages?”

  The wizard looked at the tower over his shoulder. It had started off as a small cottage once upon a time.

  “Yes, cottages. And?”

  “And each of them has been razed to the ground.”

  Simon stared blankly across the lake, seeing Aeris' face in his mind.

  “Razed? How?”

  “Fire. All of them have been burned to their foundations. And in some of the ruins, I've found human remains.”

  “Oh gees,” Simon muttered. “Is there any chance that they were destroyed by the dragon or its drakes before it was killed?”

  “I'm afraid not,” Aeris answered with certainty. “The ashes were dry, not soaked by the snows over the winter. And one of them was still smoldering when I discovered it. In fact, it was a narrow stream of smoke that drew my attention to this ruin in the first place.”

  Simon stood up and slowly began to walk along the shore. He reached down, pulled out a stalk of grass and began sucking on it thoughtfully.

  “So what's your assessment of the situation? What do you think is happening?”

  “Well, until I find evidence to the contrary, I believe that a lot more people survived the return of the dragons than we ever suspected. Some were undoubtedly mundane humans, others were Changlings. Perhaps some of these destroyed homes contained both. Who can say? Bones are just bones, after all.”

  The wizard winced at the mental picture that comment conjured up.

  “Anyway,” Aeris continued, “I believe that someone or something is systematically killing any survivors it can find. As I said, not all of the homes I found were inhabited, so it looks like all structures are being destroyed indiscriminately, perhaps in the hopes of catching anyone who is hiding. It's very brutal and quite efficient.”

  “Damn it,” Simon said to himself. “There aren't enough of us as it is. And now something is trying to kill us off.”

  He stopped and crouched down to pick up a handful of pebbles. He tossed them one at a time into the clear water.

  “It has to be an agent of the dark gods,” he told Aeris. “They have to kill off all of humanity before they can return, so it makes sense that this is their doing.”

  Aeris was slow to answer and Simon waited, a bit perplexed.

  “You don't agree?” he finally asked.

  “Well, I don't disagree, my dear wizard. But we mustn't be too hasty attributing all of the world's evils to just the gods of Chaos. There were cruel people in your old world long before the gods returned.”

  “Hmm, that is true.”

  “Anyway, I have a feeling that I will discover the culprit soon enough. The ruins have been fresher the further I travel, so I may just catch up to whoever is doing this in the next few days.”

  Simon stood up, alarmed.

  “Be careful, Aeris,” he said forcefully. “You have no idea what these destroyers are capable of. If they are magic-users, you could be in real danger.”

  “How nice to hear that you care,” Aeris replied with just a hint of his usual sarcasm.

  “Don't worry, my dear wizard,” he continued more seriously. “I am moving invisibly and very high above the ground. I am taking no chances, believe me.”

  “Well, that's good to know,” Simon said. He felt a little relieved at the elemental's caution. “I should have had Kronk make a lodestone for you so you could contact me when needed.”

  “And where exactly would I put it?” Aeris answered with some amusement. “Elementals don't come with pockets, Simon.”

  The wizard laughed in spite of himself.

  “Right. Okay. Well look, I'm going to get in touch every day from now on, just in case.”

  “Oh goody,” Aeris replied.

  “Stop that,” Simon said. “It's just for my own piece of mind. So I'll talk to you tomorrow. Watch yourself.”

  “I always do,” the elemental told him.

  Simon canceled the spell and stood looking across the lake at the remnants of an old cottage that had been built there years ago.

  What could be out there hunting down humans?

  Chapter 13

  True to his word, Simon got in touch with Aeris every day for the next week, usually late in the afternoon. The elemental reported that he had found several more burned houses, always remote residences that had probably been cottages back in the old days. Each one was a more recent ruin than the last, but so far he hadn't encountered whoever or whatever was destroying them.

  The wizard was becoming increasingly anxious the longer Aeris was away. According to the elemental, he was over a hundred miles to the southwest now and Simon had decided that the next time they spoke, he would recall Aeris, whether he wanted to return or not.

  Something that far away wasn't an immediate threat anyway. Or so he hoped.

  One thing that had cheered him up was that he had finally cast the Gate spell for the first time in months. Kronk had fussed over him and insisted that he only try to transpor
t himself from one side of the field in front of the tower to the other.

  Simon actually agreed that the first cast should be a short-range attempt. He remembered the first time he had cast the spell a year ago. He had ended up in mid-air and had broken his leg when he'd hit the ground. It wasn't something that he wanted to repeat.

  After a light breakfast, just tea because he was quite nervous, Simon headed outside with his spell-book. He left his staff inside. He was a bit afraid that Bene-Dunn-Gal would overpower the spell and send him headfirst into a tree.

  Kronk had opened the main gates earlier and the wizard walked out on to the field, looking for the best spot to begin.

  “Over here, master,” Kronk called out. He was standing at the edge of the forest across from the tower. Simon waved and hurried over to meet him.

  “This is where you should cast the spell, master,” the little guy told him.

  Simon looked around, mystified.

  “Why here?”

  Kronk pointed at the tower.

  “Because, master, if you aim for the space between the gates and overshoot, you won't slam into anything.”

  “Overshoot?” Simon hadn't considered that. “Hmm, good point. Okay, let's try that.”

  “You are ready, aren't you, master?” Kronk asked doubtfully.

  “Of course I'm ready,” Simon assured him, trying to reassure himself at the same time. “Why don't you head over? I'll meet you there in a few minutes.”

  I hope, he thought anxiously.

  Kronk tip-tapped away while Simon opened his spell-book and found the Gate spell. It was just as complex as it had always been, but now he could hold it in his mind for more than a few minutes.

  He read through the incantation twice, slipped the book into his robe and took a deep breath.

  “Okay, wizard,” he said under his breath. “Don't screw this up.”

  He spoke the magical words in a strong, sure voice, stared at the spot that he wanted to move to and, with mixed feelings of both fear and exhilaration, ended with the word of command.

  “Invectis!”

  A massive force slammed between his shoulder blades and Simon felt his body fly forward. The world blurred around him and then...he was standing next to Kronk and looking at him with a broad smile.