The Dragons Revenge (Tales from the New Earth #2) (24 page)

“
Great job on this,
by the way. How do they raise it?”

Kronk showed Simon the
heavy chains that he and the other earthen had created. They were
attached to the far end of the drawbridge and then ran through holes
drilled into the walls and down to heavy cranks on the ground.

“
All the people here
have to do to close off the town is spin these wheels to retract the
chains,” Kronk said as he pointed out the mechanism. “We've
built a smaller version for the rear gate.”

The earth elemental took
Simon back out to the drawbridge and showed him how the chains could
be loosened enough to hang low as a kind of barrier against anyone
accidentally falling off of the edge.

“
That should add to
their safety, master,” he said. “But I'm afraid that
there will always be some risk with this sort of defense.”

Simon nodded thoughtfully.

“
Yes. Of course,
you're right. And considering what they faced this morning, somehow I
think the people of Nottinghill will have no objections.”

The two walked back into
town and up the narrow main road to the hall.

Back inside, Simon found
Clara and Aeris chatting amiably with Eric and Gerard. Eric informed
the wizard that Anna was still too upset to see anyone and that
Virginia was staying with her.

“
I hadn't realized
that she cared so much for Richard,” he told Simon as the four
humans and two elementals sat across from each other on opposite
benches. “Ginny told me that Anna actually had a crush on him.
Who knew?”

Clara snorted and the
other three looked at her in surprise.

“
Men,” she
said with some exasperation. “It was as plain as the nose on
your face, Eric. She lit up every time Richard would walk by or say
hello to her.”

Eric and Gerard looked
mystified.

“
She did? Huh. I
never noticed,” Eric said. “You?” he asked Gerard.

“
Nope. But then,
according to Anna, I'm a bit thick.”

Simon laughed at Gerard's
self-deprecating comment.

“
Don't feel bad,”
he told him. “I lived for over sixty years as my old self, and
I've never understood women. That hasn't changed even though I have.”

“
You're all
hopeless, you know that?” Clara told them.

The three young men
laughed at her comment and then Simon got up reluctantly.

“
I hate to leave you
all like this, but I have to get home. My mares can't be alone for
another night and I have things to do as well.” He looked at
Clara. “Are you going to be okay?”

She stood up and hugged
him tightly.

“
Of course we will,
thanks to you.”

The cleric smiled at the
two elementals.

“
And thanks to both
of you as well. Aeris, you've been such a help. And Kronk, without
you and your friends, we would be defenseless now. Thank you so
much.”

“
It was nothing,
lady,” Kronk said earnestly as he bowed. “Please call my
master when the blacksmith has the last of the spikes ready for the
moat and I will return to install them.”

“
And if you need me
for anything, again, just call Simon,” Aeris told her.

“
I will, believe
me.”

Simon shook hands with
Eric and Gerard.

“
Say goodbye to
Virginia and Anna for me,” he told them.

They assured him they
would.

With a final farewell,
Simon and the elementals left the main hall. He hurried to the
stables and saddled Chief, who was restless and ready to get back to
his stable-mates.

As Simon mounted, Kronk
disappeared into the earth to travel quickly back home while Aeris
rose up to float by the wizard's shoulder.

Simon chirped at Chief and
the big horse set off toward the main gate at a trot, his horns
glowing proudly in the late afternoon sun and his tail high. He was
nickering to himself in obvious delight.

There was no one watching
the gate as they passed through the archway, but Simon was quite sure
that the drawbridge would be raised by nightfall and he felt some
satisfaction in knowing that, at least for now, the town was safe.

After the events that had
played out in Nottinghill, home had never been so welcome.

When Simon and Aeris
reached the tower just after dark, they found the gate wide open and
Kronk waiting for them out front holding a torch to light their way.

The little guy insisted on
taking the stallion around to the stable himself and getting him
settled down for the night.

Simon gratefully watched
him lead Chief away and went inside to find the fireplace burning
brightly, candles lit around the room and the kettle boiling.

He went upstairs to unpack
and change, then came back down to make some tea and have a light
meal.

Afterwards, the wizard and
the two elementals sat by the fire, discussing the events of the past
two days. Simon had found a book in his library, a fantasy game guide
that he had saved for some forgotten reason from the old days, and
rifled through it as they spoke.

“
A necromancer?”
Kronk asked after Simon had told him Aeris' theory on the nature of
their true enemy.

“
So our friend
believes,” the wizard said with a quick glance at the air
elemental.

“
Well, I suppose
it's possible,” the earthen said doubtfully.

Aeris bristled a bit but
calmed down as Kronk went on.

“
The airy ones were
much more involved in the day to day activities of the wizards long
ago.”

He looked at Aeris.

“
Can a wizard
actually fight something like that?”

Simon was amused to see
the air elemental's smug look as Kronk actually deferred to him for
once.

“
I'm not sure,”
Aeris admitted thoughtfully. “It depends on the circumstances.
Certainly if a wizard fought a necromancer, it would be best to do so
during daylight. Darkness strengthens them. Night time is their time.
Their servants cannot face the light of the sun, as we saw in
Nottinghill.”

“
You know, it's
fascinating just how much information these people got right,”
Simon said, tapping the open book on his lap.

“
Listen to this:
'Unlike most magic-users, necromancers depend on the spirits of the
dead instead of spells to accomplish their ends. Summoning these
spirits to animate corpses, these vile dark wizards attack the
living, using horror and death to conquer their enemies.'”

He looked at the
elementals and then into the fire.

“
I can't imagine why
anyone would embrace something so vile,” he said quietly. “Why?
For what purpose?”

Simon shut the book and
closed his eyes briefly. He was so tired.

“
How can we know
what his or her reasons are?” Aeris asked gently. “All we
do know is that these dark gods who are seeking a way back into this
world are using whatever tools they have at their disposal to stamp
out any opposition to their return.”

Simon opened his eyes and
looked at Aeris, who smiled at him a bit grimly.

“
I suppose it's a
compliment to you, my dear wizard, that they hate you enough to set
something like that on your trail.”

“
Yeah great,”
the wizard said dispiritedly. “After all this time, suddenly
I'm famous. Lovely.”

Kronk laughed his grating
little laugh.

“
Infamous is a
better word, master,” he said.

Simon got up slowly and
tossed the book on to the kitchen table.

“
Either way, I've
had enough for today. I'm going to try to get some sleep.”

He walked to the stairs
and then looked back at his two friends.

“
Keep the fire
going, would you?” he asked Kronk. “And Aeris, could you
do a few patrols around the tower overnight?”

“
Of course, master,”
Kronk told him.

“
Naturally,”
Aeris said.

“
Good. I'll see you
both in the morning.”

And with that, Simon made
his way to bed. Sleep had never seemed so attractive.

Spring came quickly that
year. Within a month of the attack on Nottinghill, the last of the
snow was gone and grass was forcing its way up through the cracked
ground. Wild flowers could be seen popping up here and there in the
field beyond Simon's tower and the only time he needed to wear a coat
was after dark.

Simon and Kronk began to
work on the garden, turning the soil, breaking the larger clumps
apart, cleaning up the debris of the winter and digging furrows to
get the ground ready for planting.

The wizard, as always,
found the work invigorating. He had never had a green thumb in the
old days, but now, thanks in large part to Kronk, his garden grew
almost anything he cared to plant in it. It was very satisfying.

Aeris came to him one
morning with a request. Simon was using a hoe to make a long furrow,
occasionally picking up rocks and tossing them on to an
ever-increasing pile at the edge of the garden.

“
You know, I swear
these damned rocks and stones weren't here last year,” he told
the air elemental as he stopped to wipe the sweat off of his forehead
with his sleeve.

“
Perhaps they grew
there over the winter,” Aeris said teasingly.

“
You know, I'm
starting to think that myself.”

Simon leaned on the hoe
and stared curiously at the figure floating a few feet away.

“
So what's up?”
he asked.

“
I've been
thinking,” Aeris said.

Uh-oh, Simon thought. That
wasn't always a good thing.

“
What about?”
he asked casually as he began digging with the hoe again.

“
You and the
stone-head are busy with the garden and the tower is as clean as I
can make it.”

Simon stopped and rested
on the hoe again.

“
Thanks for that, by
the way. I know you hate housework.”

“
I do,” Aeris
replied and grimaced. “But we all have to do our part, I
suppose. At any rate, those chores are done and now I'd like to get
back to my preferred job.”

“
Which is?”

“
Why, scouting, of
course,” he said wide-eyed. “That is the reason you first
summoned me, isn't it?”

“
True.”

Simon looked at the
elemental curiously.

“
But scouting where?
For what?”

“
For Changlings. You
remember that our friend, the cleric, said that she believed that
others might find their way to Nottinghill this year. Well, the more
I've thought about that, the more I've come to believe that I can
help. If I scout further afield, perhaps a hundred miles in all
directions from the town, I might discover Changling survivors.”

The wizard thought about
that for a moment.

“
That could take a
long time, Aeris. Possibly weeks. And what makes you think that any
Changlings you found would even want to pack up and move to Clara's
village?”

The elemental shrugged,
bobbing and weaving in the spring breeze.

“
That would be their
decision, of course. But if they don't even know that a secure
settlement exists, then how can they make that choice? Besides, I
think that having a chance to move to a place that is protected and
inhabited by others like themselves would be appealing to a lot of
lonely people out there.”

“
Assuming there are
any, of course,” Simon added.

“
Naturally. So, what
do you think?”

Aeris sounded eager and
Simon was intrigued by the idea. Certainly Nottinghill could use all
of the help it could get. And the air elemental was right. His first
job had been scouting and, at the moment, there was very little for
him to do around the tower.

“
Well, if you're
that determined to try, go ahead,” Simon told him.

He watched with a grin as
Aeris spun around ecstatically and shot up ten feet in the air.

“
Yes!” he
cried and then gradually floated down to eye level again, smiling
broadly.

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.”