The Dragons Revenge (Tales from the New Earth #2) (30 page)

“Thanks. Anyway, I feel as weak
as a kitten. No casting today. But I want to read through that new
spell-book again.”

He looked around the room and then
sighed.

“Oh crap. I left it in the
study.”

“Stay and rest, master. I will
get it.”

Kronk jumped down and hurried to the
stairs.

“Thanks,” Simon called
after him as the little guy scurried up the staircase.

While he waited for the earthen to
return, the wizard idly scanned the room, his mind comfortably blank.
By the front door, Bene-Dunn-Gal leaned in its usual spot. The light
from the fire reflected off of the smooth bronze that spiraled up
along its length until it reached the large gem at the top.

Simon stared at the staff and frowned
as he remembered something. Maybe it was because he wasn't thinking
about anything in particular. Maybe it was something else. But he
suddenly recalled the day that he had summoned the staff. Something
had changed that day. It teased his memory enough that he got up,
crossed the room wincing as his joints ached and throbbed and carried
the staff back to his chair.

When Kronk hopped back down the stairs
carrying the spell-book, he found the wizard sitting with
Bene-Dunn-Gal resting across his knees, slowly running his hands down
its length.

“Here is the book, master,”
the elemental piped up when he reached the chair.

Simon glanced at him blankly.

“Hmm? Oh, right. Thanks. Just
leave it beside the chair.”

Kronk left the book on the floor and
hopped back up on the arm of the chair. He looked at the staff with a
mixture of curiosity and wariness.

“Why are you looking at that
thing, master?” he asked.

“I just remembered something,
bud. Weird that it took until now to recall it, actually.”

He continued to stroke the staff as if
patting a pet dog. Kronk watched uncomfortably.

“What did you remember, master?”

Simon stopped rubbing the staff, which
had taken on a warm glow in the firelight. If an inanimate object
could look content, Bene-Dunn-Gal was that object.

He ran a finger along the smooth metal
of the staff and looked at Kronk.

“When I first saw the staff, when
I summoned it with the spell that Daniel left for me, this metal
wasn't bare.”

Kronk leaned forward and examined the
bronze wrapping.

“It wasn't? Then what was on it,
master?”

“Writing. Line after line of
tiny, almost unreadable writing. I was still fairly new to magic then
and I didn't recognize it for what it was. But I do now.”

He looked at the elemental with an
expression of amazement.

“They were spells, Kronk. Dozens,
perhaps hundreds, of spells. Row after row of them, all the way from
the bottom of the staff to the top. Then I took possession of
Bene-Dunn-Gal and it absorbed a drop of my blood...”

Kronk grimaced and Simon smiled grimly.

“Yeah, I know. I still hate that.
Anyway, when that happened and the staff bonded with me, all of those
spells disappeared, as if someone had erased the writing the way you
would wipe off a chalkboard.”

“And what do you think that
means, master?”

“I think,” Simon began to
speak slowly, feeling his way, “that the staff's previous owner
used it to store spells. No matter how advanced the wizard is, except
for a few utility spells, all incantations must be memorized before
they can be cast. I think that Bene-Dunn-Gal allows a wizard to store
spells for future use.”

Kronk's eyes widened as he looked at
the staff with new interest.

“Master! If that is so, then the
staff would be a potent weapon indeed.”

“Exactly. If I could store
twenty, thirty, a hundred spells within it, to be cast as I needed
them, just think how useful that would be.”

“You would certainly become a
force to be reckoned with, master,” Kronk said in an intense
whisper. “If it is possible.”

Simon held up the staff with both
hands.

“Bene-Dunn-Gal, you heard what I
said. Is it true? Can you store spells for the wizard that you are
bonded to?”

The staff shuddered along its length
and a low moan, barely audible, came from it.

Kronk drew back and stared at the
weapon.

“I do not trust that thing,
master,” he said. “It is too much like a living creature
for my liking.”

Simon put the staff on the floor in
front of his chair and sat back, trying to get comfortable. His chest
was heavy and he felt feverish.

“I think it does have some sort
of rudimentary intelligence, but I don't think it's evil. I think
that it enjoys being used, being powerful. Or it would if it could
think. Maybe it can.”

He reached down, grabbed the staff and
then stood up and returned it to its spot by the door.

“Anyway, I'll try to store a
spell on it when I'm feeling better. At the moment I'm so weak that I
doubt if I could conjure up a happy thought.”

He walked toward the stairs.

“I'm going to bed, Kronk.”

He stopped at the foot of the staircase
and looked back at the little guy.

“Are your friends manning the
wall? I should have asked you that earlier.”

Kronk jumped down and tapped over to
look up at the wizard.

“Yes, master. I will join them
after you lay down to rest. I want to build up the fire before I go
out. A sick person shouldn't be cold; you could catch a chill on top
of your flu.”

“Thanks, bud. I'll see you in the
morning. If anything happens before then, wake me up.”

“Sleep well, master. We will keep
you safe while you rest.”

Simon smiled at the elemental and
slowly plodded up the stairs.

Maybe I'll feel better in the morning,
he thought. I really hate being sick.

Simon's hopes for a speedy
recovery were wildly optimistic. Not only was he not feeling any
better the next day, but his flu lingered on for over a week. And he
was not happy about it.

“
I know I'm
grouchy!” he growled at Kronk one morning several days later.
The elemental had made the comment when Simon had snarled at him for
asking how he was feeling, for about the millionth time.

“
Maybe I wouldn't be
if you'd quit being such a mother hen.”

He was sitting in his
usual spot in front of the fireplace, a cup of tea in one hand and an
open book in the other.

Kronk stood on the floor
in front of him and put his little hands on his hips. His eyes burned
intensely red as he glared up at the wizard.

“
Perhaps I would not
be such a 'mother hen', whatever that is, if my beloved master wasn't
so cranky all the time!” he said sharply.

That got Simon's
attention. The little guy never spoke to him in that tone of voice
and he knew that he had pushed the endless patience of the elemental
too far.

The wizard took a deep
breath.

“
I'm sorry,”
he stated simply. Kronk's expression didn't change. “I really
am. I know what a pain I am when I'm sick, especially when it keeps
me from doing basically anything.”

The elemental snorted but
his eyes returned to their normal soft glow.

“
Very well, master.
If it improves your mood, you look and sound much better today. I am
sure that, in another day or two, you will be back to normal.”

Simon tried to smile. The
little guy was right. His joints still ached and the throbbing behind
his eyes was still there, but the pain was much more bearable.

“
I think you're
right. I'm actually going to try to store a simple spell in
Bene-Dunn-Gal today. Nothing too strenuous,” he added hastily
as Kronk's expression changed to one of concern. “Just the
Light spell. It's always in my memory now anyway, so it shouldn't be
hard to use it for the experiment.”

“
That should be
fine, master,” Kronk said reluctantly. “If you are set on
testing your theory.” He hopped up on the arm of the chair. “By
the way, we saw no suspicious movements last night. All was quiet as
usual.”

Simon got up and retrieved
his staff. He sat down again, careful not to knock the little guy off
the chair as he did so.

“
Good to know. I'll
have to thank our friends for their efforts. I'll admit that I've
slept easier knowing that the six of you have been keeping watch.”

Kronk puffed up a little
and Simon tried not to grin at the elemental's pleasure at his
compliment.

“
We know, master. To
be honest, they are all pleased to be helping guard a great wizard.”

Simon almost dropped his
staff as he burst out laughing.

“
A great wizard? Oh,
come on! Me? I'm barely past an apprentice's skill level even now,
that much I know.”

He settled Bene-Dunn-Gal
across his knees as he stared at Kronk.

The little guy shook a
finger at him.

“
You destroyed the
black dragon, master. Even in the earthen realm, a deed like that
does not go unnoticed. There is a certain pride among my brethren to
be serving you. In fact, I believe that they are looked upon with
some envy when they return to my world after doing some work for
you.”

“
Really? Huh. Well,
if it makes them happy, then why not? That whole episode is a bit
over-rated as far as I'm concerned.”

Kronk made a sound of
disgust that made Simon smile.

“
At any rate, I may
as well give this a shot and get it over with.”

He set his cup on the
floor next to the chair and then grasped Bene-Dunn-Gal firmly with
both hands.

“
Okay. I have no
idea how this is supposed to work,” he muttered to Kronk.

The elemental tapped his
chin thoughtfully.

“
I suppose you
simply cast the spell
at
the staff, master. If you are correct, it will absorb the spell into
itself and hold it until you wish to release it.”

Simon
looked from Kronk to the staff and back again.

“
You
know, sometimes I really do underestimate you, my friend. That
actually sounds about right. If it works, of course.”

“
It's
just a guess, master. If it doesn't work, casting the Light spell
will at least do no damage.”

“
True.
Okay.”

The
wizard stood up, grimacing at the pain in his knees. He decided that
he should be standing for this experiment. He walked to the center of
the room, planted the end of Bene-Dunn-Gal on the floor and held it
tightly with both hands.

“
Okay.
Here we go.”

He
chanted the Light spell aloud, staring intently at the metal gleaming
on the staff. When the incantation was finished, he hesitated and
then used the word of command to invoke it.

“
Invectis
,”
he said quietly.

Bene-Dunn-Gal
blazed for a split second, a golden light flowing along its length.
The metal under Simon's hands warmed noticeably, but didn't become
hot. And then the staff was quiescent in his hands again.

“
Did
it work, master?”

“
No
idea. Let's see.”

Simon
walked back and sat down again. He put the staff across his knees and
started to examine it closely.

“
Any
sign of writing on it?” he asked Kronk as he peered at the
metal along the staff. The firelight was throwing shadows and his
nose was almost touching Bene-Dunn-Gal as he searched it.

Kronk
was leaning forward and staring at the staff intensely. He pointed at
the very bottom suddenly.

“
There,
master. What is that?”

Simon
slid the staff across his knees and squinted down at the bottom of
the bronze coating. There, in minuscule writing, was the incantation
for the Light spell.

“
Son
of a...” Simon muttered, wide-eyed. He looked at Kronk
incredulously. “I don't believe it. It worked! It actually
worked.”

Kronk
looked gleeful, apparently forgetting his original objections to the
experiment.

“
Look
how little room the spell takes on the metal, master! You could imbue
the staff with hundreds of incantations.”

Simon
sat back and exhaled in relief.

“
Wow.
This could be a game-changer, my friend. It really could.”

He stroked the staff
lightly and Bene-Dunn-Gal responded with a low sound, like a
contented cat purring at its master.

“
Apparently the
staff is pleased as well,” Simon said, amused, but Kronk's
expression darkened.

“
Never take that
object lightly, master. It is a relic of great power, and it seems to
be self-aware. A dangerous combination.”

The wizard stopped
touching Bene-Dunn-Gal and met Kronk's eyes soberly.

“
I know it is. And
while I may be excited by this discovery, I'm well aware that any
object that demands blood as payment for services rendered isn't
exactly heaven-sent. So don't worry.”

Kronk hopped down and
crossed the floor to the front door.