The Dragons of Bone and Dust (Tales from the New Earth Book 7) (11 page)

But now as he dried off carefully, he
could feel waves of exhaustion starting to wash over him. He pushed
them back with some effort.

Not yet, he told himself. Soon, but
not yet.

The clean clothing felt wonderful and
the robe, received in a trade with Nottinghill Castle not long before
he had escaped Lacertus, was soft and warm and just felt right
against his skin.

He ran his hands across the dark blue
cloth and smiled contentedly.

“
I think I'm
me again,” he said quietly. “I'm me and I'm home. What
more could anyone want?”

When he entered the tower again,
Simon was surprised to find only Aeris there, puttering at the
kitchen counter. He could hear the small army of earthen over his
head, banging around as they continued their cleanup and repair work.

The main room looked almost new
again. Granted, the comfy chair and couch were gone, but the kitchen
table and its six wooden chairs were cleaned up, as was everything
else. The table top gleamed as if freshly polished and there was a
fire cheerfully burning in the fireplace.

Candles were set up and lit on the
mantle and on the table; a welcome sight as the evening descended
outside. Simon closed the newly replaced front door behind him and
then stopped to run a hand over it.

Perfectly made, as everything built
by earth elementals was. The wood was dark and heavy and had been
smoothed out.

“
Kronk
wanted me to tell you that they would be sealing the wood tomorrow,”
Aeris said from across the room. “Also that they would add iron
strapping and proper locks. They wanted to make the tower livable for
you tonight and fine-tune everything later.”

“
Amazing, as
always,” Simon said.

He slipped off his boots and put them
in the cabinet near the door. Then he slowly walked across the room
and sat down at the table with a tired grunt.

“
Long day
for you,” Aeris said from the counter.

He was cleaning something in the sink
that Simon couldn't quite see and the wizard just sat back and closed
his eyes for a moment.

“
You could
say that, yes. I think at this point I'm running on adrenaline. Once
I burn that out, I'm going to collapse.”

The air elemental chuckled and Simon
heard him using the pump beside the sink.

“
Well then,
perhaps a cup of tea is in order. It might keep you going for a few
extra minutes.”

“
What?”

The wizard opened his eyes and sat up
in time to see Aeris pick up his old kettle and float across to the
fireplace to hang it over the flames.

“
You cleaned
it up!”

“
Of course I
did,” Aeris said and rolled his eyes. “You don't think
I'd forget one of your favorite things, do you? And the tea box was
closed tightly enough that nothing got in to ruin it. It may not be
as strong as you'd like, but it will do until you can get some
fresh.”

“
Aeris, you
are a life-saver,” Simon said sincerely.

“
Well,
perhaps not a life-saver. But it is important to remember the little
things, I believe. We'll have to send one of the earthen out in the
morning to raid a wild bee hive for honey though; what you had was
ruined.”

“
Unsweetened
tea will be just fine for now,” Simon told him.

He took a minute to look around the
room.

“
It's
amazing how much they can do in such a short space of time,”
the wizard said as he saw how clean everything was again. “I
was sure that it would take days, or longer, to get everything back
to normal.”

“
It would
have, if it had just been you and I and Kronk,” Aeris told him
as he waited for the kettle to boil. “But six earthen together
can do almost anything and in record time. You're lucky to have
them.”

“
Oh, I know
that. And I've told them all that many times.”

Simon chuckled at a memory and Aeris
looked at him curiously.

“
Oh, it's
nothing,” the wizard said. “Just that every time I
compliment Kronk or any of his people, they get so flustered. It must
have been a hard existence, working for the wizards back in ancient
times, when a simple compliment was such a rare thing.”

Aeris picked up the boiling kettle
and carried it to the counter.

“
It was a
nightmare, my dear wizard. An absolute nightmare. Back then, no
elemental from any plane wanted to be summoned to Earth. We knew what
was in store for us.”

He poured hot water into a cup, put
down the kettle and carried the cup over to Simon.

“
Thanks.”

The wizard watched as the elemental
landed on the tabletop and sat down, his expression rather sad.

“
Old
memories?” Simon asked softly as he sipped his tea. “This
is delicious, by the way.”

“
Thank you,”
Aeris said absently, his thoughts obviously on something else.

“
Yes, old
memories. Between the two of us, my dear wizard, I cannot express how
much happier I've been in your service. And I can speak for Kronk and
the other elementals who have served you as well. You treat us as
people, not things, and that is partly why the earthen are so
enthusiastic when you call upon them for help.”

Aeris looked up at Simon and smiled
broadly.

“
And partly
it is because they just love to be doing something. Busy as a beaver,
wasn't that the expression?”

“
Yes, that
was it,” Simon answered with a laugh. “At least it was up
here in Canada. Well, it's good to know that you are all happy to be
back. And while we have this quiet moment,” he glanced up at
the ceiling, “and the others are still busy, can you tell me
what happened with Lacertus?”

Aeris stood up and then ascended to
hover at Simon's eye level.

“
Ah yes,
that creature. I was rather wondering when you'd get around to
mentioning him.”

Simon sipped more tea and sat back.
His lower back was burning with fatigue and he knew that he'd have to
get some sleep soon.

“
Were you?
To tell you the truth, when I got back and saw the front door ripped
off of its hinges, I really feared the worst. That's another reason I
was so happy to see you both safe and sound. So what's the story?”

Aeris bobbed up and down. He looked
over at the new door and shook his head.

“
I would
love to tell you a gallant tale of a brave battle against that little
god, but the truth is rather more mundane. Kronk and I held him back
for only a few moments before he broke free of us. He flung us aside,
smashed open the door and chased after you.”

He smiled ruefully as he remembered.

“
We
recovered and pursued him.”

“
That was
foolish, Aeris,” Simon chided him. “You could have been
killed the second time around.”

“
Heat of the
moment and all that,” the elemental said with a shrug. “Didn't
matter anyway. A few minutes later, I could feel myself being pulled
out of this world and back to the plane of air. That meant one of two
things; either you had escaped into the elven realm or you had been
killed. And until today, I never knew what had truly happened. I'm
pleased it was the former and not the latter.”

Simon laughed at Aeris' sly
expression.

“
So am I,
Aeris. So am I. Also, I think my premise was correct. My journey to
another plane and back again must have altered my physical makeup
enough to stop Lacertus' ability to track me. If it hadn't, he'd
probably be here by now.”

“
By the Four
Winds, that hadn't occurred to me!”

“
Relax. I
doubt that he knows I'm back. And I'd like to keep it that way for as
long as possible.”

“
Agreed.”

The noise from over their heads had
died down and a few minutes later, the entire troop of earthen came
clattering down the stairs, speaking softly in their rumbling, bass
voices.

“
The
upstairs rooms are clean, master,” Kronk said brightly as he
led the others over to the table. “My brethren will take their
places on the outside wall and begin patrolling, if you will allow
it.”

Simon smiled at the small troop of
earth elementals. Each one was slightly different from each other;
some were formed of lightly-colored stone, others, like Kronk, were
almost black. But all of them had the same burning red eyes and
innocent, bright expressions.

“
I would be
honored if you all want to stay and secure my home. And thank you for
your work today; you're an amazing bunch.”

There was a general rumble of
pleasure from the group and all of the earthen bowed before they
headed for the door.

Kronk hopped up on to the table and
tapped across it to stand near Simon.

“
Your
bedroom is ready for you whenever you want to sleep, master,”
the little guy said. “Aeris brought up a new mattress and we
threw the old one out of the window. One of the others will take it
away and dispose of it.”

“
Did you
replace the bedding?” Aeris asked him.

“
Of course
we did. We had to stuff a pillowcase with some towels because you had
no pillows in storage, master, but I believe that it will do for
now.”

Simon grinned at him blearily.

“
I could
sleep on a pillow made of cement right now, my friend. Thanks a lot.”

He drank the remnants of his tea and
stood up slowly.

“
I'm going
to head up, guys. I can't keep my eyes open. Thanks again, to both of
you. The best part of coming home is having you back.”

“
We feel the
same way, master,” Kronk said sincerely. He looked over at
Aeris. “Don't we?” he prodded.

“
Well, I'm
not looking for a hug, but I'm happy to be back and pleased that you
are well, oh most powerful wizard.”

Simon rolled his eyes and chuckled as
he stumbled to the stairs.

“
Never
change, guys. I'll see you in the morning. Good night.”

The next morning, Simon woke up in a
panic and leaped out of bed, staring around wildly. Sunlight was
blazing in through the windows and he was blinded for a moment as he
tried to remember where he was.

“
Easy there,
my dear wizard,” came a reassuring voice from the doorway.
“You're safe and sound.”

Aeris floated into the room and
hovered at head height as he watched Simon. He appeared to be amused
and the wizard let out a long breath as he realized that he was home.

Simon sat down on the edge of his bed
and ran his fingers through his hair with a sigh.

“
Thanks,
Aeris. I was dreaming that something was stalking me, but it was
invisible and I started to run and...woke up.”

“
Ah, I see.”

The elemental flew across the room
and landed on the bedside table.

“
My kind
don't dream, obviously, because we don't sleep, but that sounds
frightening.”

“
It was. It
was like being back in the elven realm, being hunted in the forest
there. Scary.”

“
You'll have
to tell me the story sometime,” Aeris told him.

“
Yeah,
maybe. But not right now. What time is it?”

“
Two hours
after sunrise. You slept well.”

Simon nodded once and then realized
that he was sitting naked as he chatted with the elemental and
neither of them even cared.

It really does feel like I'm home
again, he thought with an internal laugh.

“
I did, for
sure. Between the panicked last run to the portal in the other realm,
and the magical energy I used here, I'm actually surprised that I
feel as well as I do.”

“
Your body
is absorbing the magic in the atmosphere,” Aeris told him as he
watched Simon get up and rummage through his closet.

Kronk had replaced all of his
clothing and the wizard happily chose a dark brown robe and clean
underwear and socks to wear. He looked back at Aeris as he got
dressed.

“
Meaning?”

“
Meaning
that, like a man dying of thirst who is offered water to drink, your
body is sucking in the energy around it at a frantic pace. You are,
or soon will be, overcharged. So to speak. Don't let it go to your
head though; if you spend too much magic too quickly, you risk
becoming ill.”