The Dragons of Bone and Dust (Tales from the New Earth Book 7) (35 page)

“
The type that you'd
expect. Aeris said that there were two patrols circling the outside
of the tower. Undead; skeletons and zombies. A dozen in each group.
They don't get tired, of course, so they simply march around and
around the perimeter. I assume they retreat inside once the sun comes
up. But inside is another matter. The enemy leader, whoever that is,
has employed some old friends of mine.”

His voice became thick with anger and Shandon's
eyes narrowed.

“
Who?” he asked.

“
Goblins. The little
bastards are a hell of a lot more dangerous than mindless undead, so
I suppose it makes sense to press them into service. Just like the
patrols outside, there are two groups constantly on patrol.
Fortunately, Aeris says that he saw no spell-casters among them, but
we have to assume that we'll run into goblin mages or wizards as we
ascend the tower.”

“
Lovely,” Tamara
said dryly. “I'd forgotten about them. As far as we know, the
goblins produce the only wizards on the planet except for you,
Simon.”

“
And those human
necromancers,” he replied heavily. “They were once
wizards until the Chaos lords perverted them. Anyway, I wanted to add
that the goblins are all armed and wearing pieces of armor, mostly
leather. Aeris says that they don't get along with each other too
well, but that's hardly a surprise considering how truly nasty a
species they are.”

The king fiddled with his beard and seemed to be
lost in thought. As Simon finished speaking, he gazed at the wizard
keenly.

“
So what is your plan?
How are you going to assault that stronghold?”

“
I'm not the leader,
Shandon,” Simon protested. “I'm just relaying the facts.
I'd like all of you, together with the other mages and Malcolm and
Aiden, to discuss it first. Once you come up with a battle plan, call
me back and we'll set it up.”

Everyone stared at him and he looked back in
surprise.

“
What? You didn't think
that I was going to take charge and just order you around, did you?
My God, you must know me better than that by now!”

Liliana was the first to react. She chuckled and
looked at Tamara.

“
He's right, you know.
Simon's never had a problem risking his own life in the fight against
our enemies. But telling others what to do? He'd not comfortable with
that.”

Sebastian and Veronique remained silent but
listened attentively. The king shook his head.

“
My friend,” he
rumbled in a gentle voice. “Battles are not won by committee.
One person has to lead, just as one person is surely leading the
forces of the Chaos lords.”

“
I know that,”
Simon told him tiredly. “But everyone has to agree on who that
person will be. My vote is for either Liliana or Tamara. Anyway, I'll
leave all of that in your hands, folks. Just remember what Virginia
told us; the four of them won't be able to use their invisibility
spell on more than a dozen people, so make your choices wisely. We'll
need a healer and warriors as well as casters, you know.”

“
We know,” Tamara
assured him. “It shouldn't take us too long to get organized.
As long as the king will allow us to communicate with you magically?”

Shandon smiled beneath his beard.

“
Of course I will. It is
irritating some of my courtiers enormously that I am doing so, which
is extremely entertaining.”

The mage grinned.

“
Thank you, my lord. So
we'll call you in a day or two, Simon. Thank your scout for us, would
you? He'd provided valuable information.”

“
I will. It will inflate
his ego to new heights, I'm sure. Talk to you soon.”

The wizard waved once to all of them and then
canceled the spell.

“
Well,” he said to
himself as he stood up. “That was interesting.”

“
So, were they
impressed?” Aeris asked eagerly.

Simon was standing outside of the back gate behind
his tower, watching the rippling surface of the lake. He looked over
at the elemental who had floated down from above.

“
Where were you, on the
roof?”

“
Yes, I thought that
keeping watch up there might be a good idea, at least until Brethia
and Orriss come back. So how did it go?”

The wizard smiled at his persistence.

“
Yes Aeris, they were
impressed. In fact, I was instructed to pass along their thanks to
you for a job well done.”

“
Woo-hoo! I knew they
would be.”

Aeris flipped several time and then bobbed happily
in the evening breeze.

“
So what now?” he
asked.

“
Now? Now we wait. The
others are going to discuss strategy and make a plan of action and
then they'll get in touch. Oh and they'll choose a leader as well.”

Simon ambled toward the lake with Aeris floated
along behind him.

“
What do you mean, choose
a leader? You're the leader, oh great wizard.”

With a tired sigh, Simon sat down near the edge of
the water and watched water-bugs skim along its surface, leaving
little trails behind them like miniature powerboats. The sun was
setting and crickets were beginning their nightly song.

“
I'm no leader, Aeris,”
he replied as he pulled up his legs, wrapped his arms around them and
rested his chin on his knees. “I'm a lone wolf, you know that.
If I have to stand to battle, I'd prefer doing it alone, without
risking anyone else.”

The elemental descended until he appeared to be
standing just above the water. He put his hands on his hips and
looked up at Simon quizzically.

“
But you aren't going to
attack the enemy's tower alone,” he stated firmly.

“
Yeah well, that place is
a bit too much for me to take on by myself. But if I thought I could
succeed, I'd give it a shot.”

“
I believe you. Why
though? Why have you always been so content to be by yourself? I have
a feeling that even if Kronk and I weren't here, you'd still choose
to live alone.”

Simon hesitated, giving his answer some thought.
It was the first time that Aeris had ever asked that question and he
deserved an honest response.

“
Okay, I'll tell you, if
you really feel the need to know.”

He looked past the elemental at the darkening lake
behind him.

“
Back in the old world, I
wasn't what most people would call attractive. Physically, I mean. I
like to think that I was kind and generous, but I was also big.
Really big. And I went bald very young. It made me self-conscious, I
guess. I became a programmer because I enjoyed working with
computers, but also because it was mostly a solitary profession.
Working alone with a machine meant no one judged me or was mean to
me. It made life so much...”

“
Easier?” Aeris
suggested gently.

“
Exactly. But when I was
around thirty years old, something inside of me shifted. I don't even
know why. But I decided that just because I was big, that didn't mean
that I had to be fat or out of shape. So I decided to hit the gym,
work out, get fit for the first time in my life.”

He ran his fingers through his hair slowly,
enjoying the feeling of the heavy mass.

“
It was the hardest thing
I had ever done. For a shy, self-conscious person who was well over
six feet tall and weighing almost three hundred pounds to go to a
public club and work out in front of other people was literally
torture. I remember dying a bit inside every time I went.”

“
But you kept going?”

“
I had no choice. My
doctor had hinted that my weight was going to be the death of me
eventually. Not straight out, but I got the gist of his hints. That
was the final push I needed to start working out, I suppose. So I
kept at it, embarrassment be damned. I would go in late at night or
very early in the morning, when there were few people around to stare
at me. And it worked! Slowly at first, a pound lost here, some
strength gained there. But I progressed.”

Simon grinned at Aeris, who was starting to glow
in the fading light of early evening.

“
And there's nothing like
progress to encourage a person to keep pushing forward. A few years
later and I had dropped fifty pounds of fat and put on almost as much
weight in muscle. I was still big but now it was because of my
strength. And I was still ugly, but I didn't care. There were no
bullies calling me names anymore, not like in school. They gave me a
wide berth and I was happy about that.”

“
But you continued to
prefer solitude?”

“
Old habits, I suppose.
I've never liked conflict. Not like the conflict that we have with
the dark gods, but personal conflict between people. You know how I
always stop you and Kronk when you start arguing? That's why. It
stresses me out. Living alone meant that I never had to deal with
that, and I was content to keep it that way.”

“
Ah, I think I understand
now,” Aeris said thoughtfully. “And you remain that same
person to this day. Even though you are young and attractive and
powerful, that large, shy man still lives inside of you somewhere.”

Simon shrugged.

“
And he always will, I
suppose. I'm okay with that. Old Simon was a good man, Aeris. He
really was. In my mind, he feels more like an childhood friend that I
once knew than the old me, but maybe that's for the best.”

He pushed himself to his feet and looked around.

The tower was still visible in the gathering gloom
but it was beginning to blend in with the approaching night.

“
Let's go in. It's
starting to get chilly and I want to make dinner.”

“
Certainly.”

Aeris zipped upward and flew along beside the
wizard's shoulder.

“
What about companions?”
he asked as they approached the back gate. “Were you ever
married or whatever?”

“
Nope. Paralyzing shyness
doesn't help with that sort of thing,” Simon said as he entered
through the gate.

Aeris slipped in behind him and the wizard closed
and locked the heavy door.

“
Not that I ever really
wanted kids,” he continued as they walked around the tower.
“But it might have been nice to have had someone special. At
least I had a close friend in Daniel.”

They stopped at the steps leading to the front
door and Simon turned to Aeris.

“
Friendship is sometimes
underrated, I think. A close friend can often be more supportive than
a wife or family. I count it as a blessing that I knew Daniel for so
many years. He was a lifesaver, he really was.”

Aeris looked at him with an undecipherable
expression.

“
And Kronk and me?”

Simon grinned.

“
You two keep me
grounded, and sane. When you aren't driving me crazy,” he
added.

They both shared a laugh and Simon walked up the
steps.

“
Do me a favor, would
you? Check the front gates to make sure they're sealed? We can never
be too careful.”

“
I agree. Consider it
done.”

The wizard smiled a thank you and turned to open
the door.

“
And Simon...”

He turned back to look at Aeris, surprised as
always when the elemental used his name.

“
Thank you for your
candor. I've always wondered why you live like this. You didn't need
to tell me, but I'm grateful that you did.”

The wizard winked at him.

“
What are friends for?”
he said as he opened the door and walked into the tower.

“
What indeed,”
Aeris whispered.

Almost a week passed before Simon
heard back from the people in Kingstone. He'd spent his days
puttering in the garden, practicing a few obscure spells that he'd
managed to dig up in Daniel's old journal and trying to get as much
sleep as possible. He had a feeling that he'd need all of his
strength and limited stamina for the coming attack.

Kronk had suggested several times
that perhaps they should go out in search of more cows to
domesticate, but Simon had had to put him off. He didn't want to use
what few magical resources he had for something so trivial. Needless
to say, the little guy was disappointed. He really did love caring
for animals.

“
When we get
this attack over with, I promise that restocking the herd will be my
first priority,” Simon told the earthen in an attempt to cheer
him up.

“
Yes,
master. Thank you. I look forward to it.”

The wizard wasn't sure whether he'd
managed to convince Kronk or not, but the elemental did stop asking.

“
Just don't
forget your promise,” Aeris whispered to him a few minutes
after the conversation. “You'll crack that stone heart of his.”

“
I won't, I
won't,” Simon murmured back. “Wait. Does he actually have
a heart?”

“
Metaphorically
speaking, my dear wizard.”

Simon was baking some bread on a warm
afternoon when he felt a tingle down his spine. It was the familiar
feeling he got when someone was trying to contact him magically.