The Dragons of Bone and Dust (Tales from the New Earth Book 7) (53 page)

But Argentium was gracious with them
and, even when Barnaby stuttered and stammered as he was presented,
the dragon simply bowed a little and greeted him politely.

“
This will be something to tell
my kids, if I ever have any,” he muttered to Sebastian. “The
day I met a dragon face to face. Crazy.”

Sebastian shushed him and everyone
settled down. Simon gestured up at the darkness above them and looked
at Argentium.

“
Do you know what they are
doing up there? And more importantly, is there a way for us to reach
them?”

The platinum dragon folded his arms
over his armored chest and frowned in thought.

“
I do not know specifically
what they are doing or planning, no. But there is activity up there
and more than one human form, that much I do know. And the
abominations that were once primal dragons still circle the tower's
peak, waiting to attack anyone who approaches.”

“
Why aren't there more undead
troops here?” Tamara asked. “We've barely raised a sweat
reaching this point and I know that the leader up there commands
hundreds, possibly thousands of undead creatures, including more
dracoliches. This place should be swarming with the vermin, and
goblins as well.”

Argentium chuckled, surprising them.

“
You have made a few mistaken
assumptions, my friends. The goblins are not in league with the
necromancers. Yes, some of their spell-casters and warriors have
joined with your enemies, but that was their own choice and they are
now considered traitors by their people. But the goblins hate all
humans, whether they serve the lords of Chaos or the Light. They are
now at war with this tower and its denizens. That is the explanation
for the lack of undead troops.”

He looked around pensively at the
darkness beyond the floating globes of light.

“
The undead legions are spread
thinly across the world, attacking the goblin settlements like
mindless swarms of ants. Whoever the leader of the necromancers is,
he is no battlefield genius. He is simply using his hordes to batter
at the goblin strongholds, the same way he's used them to try to
defeat the dwarves. Both outcomes are the same; a futile waste of
troops.”

“
He's losing?” Hallic
asked hopefully.

Argentium looked at him and smiled
ruefully.

“
When you can simply resurrect
your fallen troops as well as your dead foes, losing is not really a
possibility. No, the only way to stop the attacks against your
people, the goblins and what remains of humanity is to stop the one
who dwells above us.”

He looked upward and frowned.

“
That magic-user is powerful
though; he controls the undead, gives them life of a sort, but they
also feed power back to him. It is a twisted, symbiotic bond that
won't be easily broken.”

“
He's still human, isn't he?”
Malcolm growled. “He can still bleed, can't he?”

“
He can.”

“
Then if he can bleed, he can
die. We just need to reach him.”

“
Hold on a moment,”
Liliana said and stepped closer to Argentium. “What about those
two undead primals up there. If we destroy the head necromancer, will
they fall as well?”

“
The undead troops and the
lesser animated dragons will cease to exist, yes,” he told her
gravely. “But the primals have achieved a sort of
semi-sentience. They are almost self-aware and retain much of their
power from their previous lives. They will have to be defeated
individually.”

“
Yes, I thought as much,”
she said stoically. “Ah well, I enjoy a challenge.”

“
How many casters are up
there?” Simon asked.

“
Six, I believe. No more than
that. The two that were patrolling the outside perimeter of the
tower, and their troops, have been dealt with.”

There were scattered exclamations of
surprise.

“
You destroyed the patrols?”
Tamara asked him.

“
Not I. The silver dragon,
Esmiralla, took up that task. It was not a problem.”

Argentium looked at Simon as he spoke
and the wizard nodded his understanding. Now wasn't the time to hold
a grudge.

I just wish she hadn't stolen my
kidney though, he thought fleetingly, and then let it go.

“
Well, there's one less thing
to worry about,” he said with some relief. “I was sure
that there were a lot more necromancers than the handful that are
here in this tower right now. I suppose their numbers were whittled
down in their battles with the goblins. Good news for us. So now, the
most important question is how can we reach the top of the tower and
deal with the rest of them?”

Everyone looked at each other,
waiting for someone to come up with some sort of solution. To Simon,
the answer was obvious, but he wasn't going to be the one to suggest
it; he had a feeling that, ally or not, the argent dragon would be
offended.

Apparently Barnaby was either more
eager or more ignorant, because he was the one who opened his mouth
and suggested it.

“
Why don't you just fly us up?”
he asked innocently.

Argentium looked down at the mage and
his expression became glacial.

“
I beg your pardon?” he
said slowly.

“
I said, why don't you...ow!”

Sebastian had elbowed him in the
ribs.

“
Shut up, you idiot!” he
hissed. “You're talking to a dragon, not a bloody mule.”

Barnaby finally seemed to realize
that he'd insulted Argentium and he tried to stammer an apology. The
argent dragon ignored him.

“
Do you suggest that I act as
transportation?” he asked Simon intently.

The wizard felt Argentium's gaze on
him like twin lasers and swallowed once before he spoke.

“
I wouldn't suggest it, no. But
unless we can come up with a way to bring down the enemy's warding, I
can't think of another way to reach the top of the tower. Can you?”

The dragon glowered at him for a
moment.

“
You have answered your own
question, wizard. It won't matter if I carry you to the pinnacle. If
you cannot bring down those wards, you won't be able to reach the
necromancer physically. His warding blocks your magic and it blocks
you; surely you know this? The wards you have placed upon your own
tower do the same, do they not?”

“
But it wasn't like that
before,” Simon protested. “Aeris was able to scout out
the necromancer's actions back when he had a base in the city of
Ottawa. Yes, his wards blocked my Magic Mirror spell, but they didn't
block anyone physically.”

“
He has grown since then,”
Argentium told him. “His power is stronger now and his wards
match your own. They must be brought down and there is only one way
to do so.”

“
Which is what?”

Everyone appeared to be holding their
breath as they waited for the argent dragon to answer.

Argentium in turn seemed reluctant to
reply. He walked away from the group, glinting and flashing in the
light as he moved. A dozen yards away he stopped and bowed his head.

“
He seems conflicted about
something,” Aeris said to Simon in a hushed voice. “I
wonder why.”

“
So do I. One thing I do know
though; we can't coerce him. If he chooses not to help us further,
there is literally nothing that we can do about it.”

The air elemental nodded and
descended to float next to Kronk. The two of them began speaking
quietly.

The company waited while Argentium
wrestled with whatever thoughts were bothering him. A few long
minutes passed before he returned, walking proudly with his head held
high. He met Simon's eyes and smiled.

“
The necromancer's wards can
only be taken down if they are overloaded. I will take it upon myself
to do this for you all. Once the protective magic has fallen, your
group must quickly use your viewing spell to find a clear spot up
above and Gate to it immediately. Do not hesitate; the necromancer
and his followers will try to recast the warding as quickly as they
can.”

“
But, I don't understand,”
Tamara said in confusion. “How can such wards be overloaded?”

“
Only by direct attack,”
Argentium told her. “By an overwhelming force. I will attack
the sanctuary along with Esmiralla. Between us, we have sufficient
power, I believe, to batter down those wards. Unfortunately, there is
a distinct possibility that the recoil from the collapsing spells
will destroy one or both of us. Even if they don't, there are the two
undead primals to contend with afterward. But I have decided that it
is worth the risk to stop the evil that is threatening this world and
your people.”

“
My lord argent,” Liliana
said formally. “I think I speak for all of us when I say that
you offer is...”

“
Too high a price to pay,”
Simon interjected, cutting her off. “Argentium, sacrificing
your life and possibly the life of the silver dragon as well, is a
waste just to get at the scum who lives at the top of this tower. We
can find another way to tear him down without losing the only two
lawful dragons left in the whole world.”

As soon as he spoke, Simon was
brought up short by what he had just said and replayed it in his
head.

“
Sir wizard,” Argentium
said. “There is no other way. Believe me, I have no wish to
die, not again, but this necromancer must be stopped and I cannot
think of any other way to reach him.”

He stopped and frowned at the wizard.
The others looked at Simon as well and were puzzled by his
expression. He seemed lost in thought and he was smiling vaguely.

“
Simon? Are you okay?”
Malcolm asked.

“
Hmm? Oh yes, sorry. I just
thought of something. It occurred to me, as I was speaking a second
ago, that we needn't actually try to ascend the tower to get to the
magic-users above. We can make them come to us; well, sort of.”

“
We can? How?” Tamara
asked him.

“
The way I just said. We can
tear him down, or rather, tear this damned tower down from under him.
You can't stay hidden and warded on top of a building if that
building is destroyed, now can you?”

The mage snorted in disbelief.

“
This bloody place is huge. How
exactly do you propose we 'tear it down', hmm?”

Simon grinned widely and just
pointed. Everyone followed his arm and looked across the floor to the
distant hole that Argentium had smashed through the wall.

“
I'd say a few more of those
aught to do the trick. Argentium, could you and Esmiralla bust down
the walls on this floor?”

The argent dragon stared at the
ragged hole he had created and then turned to Simon, matching the
wizard's grin with one of his own.

“
You know, I do believe that we
can. By the gods, why did I not think of that myself?”

“
Sometimes the best plans are
the simplest ones,” Simon told him with a shrug. “We just
need a few minutes to Gate out of here, round up Virginia and the
others who are waiting nearby and then get to a safe distance. After
that, the stage is yours.”

“
I doubt that the destruction
of this place will kill that necromancer,” the dragon warned
him. “He may just transport himself out of here to another
location.”

“
He may, but I doubt it. We are
all here now, in his web. It's obvious that he knows we're here. In
fact, he's probably known for quite some time now. He's just been
toying with us, letting us make enough progress to get our hopes up
and then planning to attack us with overwhelming force. Tearing this
place down will probably just enrage him, which is fine by me.
Emotions tend to cloud a person's judgment and that is the best time
to confront them.”

“
Well said, Simon,”
Liliana told him and squeezed his shoulder. “Take him while
he's angry and shaken from losing his home. It's the perfect time to
strike.”

“
Very well,” Argentium
told them. “I will return to Esmiralla, she waits nearby, and
we will give you five minutes to get clear; any longer and our foes
may detect your absence. And then we will strike.”

“
Thank you,” Simon told
him sincerely.

“
No, thank you, my friend,”
the argent dragon said. “I may live to fight another day after
all; we all may. Your time starts...now!”

Argentium hurried off into the
darkness and Simon extinguished his light globe. Tamara did the same
and in the darkness they felt a sudden blast of wind as the dragon
transformed and flew out of the tower in a burst of speed.

“
Tamara, do you want to Gate us
or shall I?” Simon asked her.

He could just make out the
silhouettes of the people around him but he couldn't tell who was
where.

“
I think you had better do it,
Simon,” she told him, sounding a little embarrassed. “It
takes me some time to gather enough strength to Gate more than a
handful of people at once and I think that we should all transport
out of here immediately.”