The Dragons of Bone and Dust (Tales from the New Earth Book 7) (57 page)

“What are you doing up here anyway? Where
are the others?”

“Dealing with the wounded,” the wizard
told her and watched her expression change.

“Of course. Damn those bastards! Fergus
didn't make it, did he? No, I thought not. My leg was broken in the
blast, but fortunately the gods were feeling generous this morning
and healed me. I saw these creatures moving around and mistakenly
thought that they were our foes.”

“I've sent Aeris off to scout the area,”
Simon told her as his breathing finally slowed somewhat. “If
they are close by, he'll find them. And speaking of elementals,
where's Kronk?”

Liliana pointed at the mass of rubble under their
feet.

“Down there somewhere. As we were climbing
up here, I asked him to try to find either the dragons or their
remains. I want to know if either one survived the destruction of the
tower.”

There was a sudden burst of light and the two of
them turned toward the east. Simon smiled in relief.

“Finally. True sunrise. If those
necromancers really are still around, they're screwed. Undead can't
survive in the light of the sun.”

An ear-splitting roar made the ground shake under
their feet and the wizard looked up, searching for the source of the
sound.

“Those undead can,” Liliana exclaimed,
her voice thick with hatred. “And it looks like we've found the
necromancers, or at least their leader.”

Arrowing straight down at them were the two
missing dracoliches. In the burning light of the rising sun, their
bleached bones looked like they were on fire and their gaping maws
glowed red.

Standing on the back of one of the abominations
was a robed figure. He was pointing his staff directly at the wizard
and the paladin.

“Brace yourself,” Simon shouted. “This
is going to be bad!”

“
Liliana, get close to me,”
Simon said urgently.

The paladin moved to stand next to
him and the wizard quickly raised a shield.

The undead dragons were falling from
the sky at unbelievable speed and all that Simon and Liliana could do
was watch and wait for the impact.

“
Will your shield hold?”
Liliana asked as she watched their doom drop toward them.

“
I don't know,” Simon
replied.

He brought his staff down in front of
him and channeled as much energy as he could into reinforcing the
barrier.

“
Well, we're about to find
out,” the paladin said grimly as she drew her sword and stared
upward defiantly.

The shield became opaque and thick,
denser than any that Simon had ever cast before. It was the best that
he could do.

“
Here they come!” Liliana
shouted as the screeching of the undead monsters and the sound of the
wind through their bones deafened them.

The unstable ground beneath them
heaved and both the wizard and the paladin were tossed aside like rag
dolls. They bounced and crashed into each other inside the shield
until Liliana grabbed Simon in a crushing hug to save him from
breaking his bones on her armored body.

“
Hang on,” she told him
urgently.

“
I'm trying,” he squeaked
as he tried to breathe. Her grip was like steel bands around his
ribs. “Watch that damned sword of yours.”

They bounced and rolled down the
mound of debris as if they were actually inside a giant rubber ball,
finally coming to rest at the base of the hill.

“
Are you all right?” the
paladin asked as she stood up and carefully sheathed her sword again.

“
Fine. Fine. Just a little
dizzy.”

Simon stood up with her help and
looked back up at the top of the mound.

“
What just happened?”

“
I think Kronk must have found
our missing dragons,” Liliana said. “Or at least one of
them.”

She pointed skyward and Simon dropped
his shield to get a better look.

“
Whoa,” he said in awe.

The magnificent figure of a silvery
dragon was swooping and diving a hundred feet above them, dodging
attacks from the two dracoliches.

“
Who is it?” the paladin
asked in a hushed voice as she watched.

“
Argentium. I'd recognize him
anywhere. He's bigger than Esmiralla; almost as big as the two
primals that were used to create those undead dragons.”

The deadly aerial ballet was
mesmerizing. The argent dragon's grace, considering his size, was a
thing of beauty. The dracoliches looked uncoordinated and brutish in
comparison. But there were two of them.

“
Can he defeat both of them by
himself?” Liliana asked anxiously.

She looked like she was yearning to
help the argent dragon, but there was nothing that she could do.

“
He's not by himself,”
Simon said as he began to scramble up the side of the debris mound.
“I've got to get back up to the top of this thing.”

The paladin hurried to help and the
two of them tripped and stumbled up the hill, trying to watch the
battle as they went.

Argentium spun around and blasted one
of the dracoliches with a blazing stream of fire. The monster dove
away to avoid the attack while the second undead dragon, this one
being controlled by the necromancer on its back, belched a roiling
cloud of black gas back at the argent dragon.

“
What kind of attack is that?”
Liliana asked Simon as they reached the top of the mound.

“
Poison of some kind. It's
deadly. By the way, what makes you think that the spell-caster up
there is the leader of the necromancers?”

She smiled at him wryly.

“
Who else would have the
'privilege' of riding a dracolich? I'd say that their leader would
permit only himself to be the one in the driver's seat, wouldn't
you?”

Simon nodded as he watched the
battle.

“
You're probably right.
Arrogant bastard.”

“
Master!”

The wizard spun around to see Kronk
hopping over loose stones and rocks as he ran toward him. Aeris was
flying just over his head.

“
Hey guys! Glad to see you're
both okay.”

“
Thank you, master. Lady
paladin,” Kronk bowed to Liliana, “I am afraid that I
could only find the argent dragon. The silver dragon is still buried
under this pile of rock somewhere. Whether she is alive or dead, I
cannot say. I apologize for not finding her.”

“
Good grief, my little friend,
don't apologize!” the paladin exclaimed. “You did an
extraordinary job just finding one of them.”

“
I hate to interrupt this
charming little chat,” Aeris interjected. “But I believe
that your services are needed elsewhere, lady.”

Liliana frowned at him and glanced at
Simon, who could only shrug.

“
What do you mean?” she
asked.

“
I have found the remaining
necromancers,” Aeris said with a self-satisfied smile. “They
are hidden away on the far side of this mound.”

He pointed to the east where a clump
of misshapen trees had just missed being pulverized by the collapsing
tower.

“
There. I think that they are
waiting for their leader,” he looked up at the battle far
overhead, “and enjoying the show.”

“
Are they now?” the
paladin growled as she rested her mailed hand on the pommel of her
sword. “Well, I think I'll just head over there and crash their
little party. Aeris, could you do me a favor?”

“
Anything, lady paladin.”

“
Please go to Tamara and tell
her what is happening. I'm going to need some magical assistance with
this, I think. Lead her and anyone else who wants to help to the
hiding spot of the necromancers; I'll wait for them nearby.”

“
I will do that. Do you need
anything before I go?” he asked Simon. “Back rub?
Pedicure?”

The wizard snorted with laughter.

“
Oh, just go, for God's sake,”
he said as he waved the elemental away.

Aeris grinned and zoomed off.

“
Is he always like that?”
Liliana asked with a confused smile.

“
Pretty much. Do you want me to
come with you?”

She shook her head and pointed at the
ongoing battle above them.

“
I'm guessing that, unlike
myself, you may be able to help our ally up there. This other task is
earthbound and I can definitely deal with that.”

“
Okay, good luck then. And
watch your back; those necromancers are treacherous dogs.”

“
Tell me about it. See you
soon.”

The paladin moved off quickly,
watching her footing as she went.

“
Master? Can you really help
the argent dragon?”

“
Hopefully. I was actually
waiting for someone else to jump in. Hmm, maybe they went for lunch.”

“
Master?” Kronk said,
confused.

Simon grounded his staff.

“
Incendus! Please join me, if
you have the time.”

A burning flash of heat made the
wizard stagger back several steps and he held his hand up in front of
his face instinctively.

“
If I have the time? Of course
I have the time. What is the problem, sir wizard?”

Simon looked at the man-sized ball of
fire that was floating and bobbing in front of him. He pointed
straight up, keeping his eyes on the fire elemental.

“
Did you decide to pass on this
fight? If not, then what the hell are you and Aethos waiting for?”

“
What?”

Incendus changed to a human shape and
he craned his neck back to look at the sky.

“
By the First Fire, when did
that battle start?”

“
A while ago. Why? You didn't
notice?”

The elemental put a burning hand to
his featureless face and shook his head.

“
No. We, Aethos and I, were
having a discussion about something quite different. I am afraid that
we were distracted. I apologize, sir wizard.”

“
Do you? Aethos! Come to me, if
you please.”

The obligatory crash of thunder and
flash of light accompanied the air elemental's appearance and he
looked curiously at Simon.

“
You called, Simon O'Toole? Ah,
Incendus. I was wondering why you left so abruptly. What is going
on?”

“
That is,” the fire
elemental said with disgust as he gestured skyward. “While we
were having a chat, we were neglecting the reason that we were
summoned by this wizard in the first place.”

“
What?”

Simon couldn't tell from the swirling
maelstrom that Aethos appeared to be, but he assumed the elemental
was looking up at the battle overhead.

“
When did that begin?” he
asked, apparently mystified.

“
It's been going on for some
time now,” Simon informed him in exasperation. “Look, I
rarely ask for anything from the elementals. I treat all of those who
have chosen to serve me with respect and friendship. I expect the
same in return. If you two didn't want to help me, you could have
just said so and I would have found others who did. Is this about
that Lacertus incident? Are you holding a grudge or something?'

A face formed on the head of
Incendus, crude but visible. Its expression was a mixture of shock
and disbelief.

“
I assure you, sir wizard, we
would never neglect our duty,” he exclaimed.

“
A grudge?” Aethos
spluttered. “Never! We hold you in high regard, Simon O'Toole.
Please believe us.”

“
Fine. Whatever. Then would the
two of you be so kind as to do your jobs? Help Argentium!”

Simon hadn't realized that he was
shouting by the end of his sentence until the two elementals backed
away from him.

“
Of course,” Incendus
said as he reverted back into a ball of fire.

“
At once,” Aethos told
the wizard.

Both of them shot straight up
explosively, sending dust and pebbles flying in all directions.

Simon wiped dirt and sweat from his
face and shook his head to clear his vision.

“
I believe that you got their
attention, master,” Kronk said with a rumble of laughter. “Very
clever.”

“
Thanks. They are two very
powerful beings and I can't and won't just try to order them around.”
He looked up to try and follow the elementals' progress. “But
appealing to their pride? That seems to have worked just fine.”

Simon had gotten the elementals to
intervene in the aerial battle just in time. Argentium had been
distracted by one dracolich just long enough for its partner to dive
down on him and slash him with its claws. A gaping wound, dripping
bright blood, now stained the argent dragon's hide.

“
Damn it,” the wizard
growled. “If those two are going to do something, now would be
a good time.”

Both Incendus and Aethos had worked
together before, so what they did next shouldn't have surprised Simon
too much, but it did.