The Dragons Revenge (Tales from the New Earth #2) (31 page)

“
I'm glad to hear
you say that, master. And now I must see to the horses.
Congratulations on your success!”

Simon watched the little
guy fondly as he pulled open the door and went outside. He really was
a mother hen, for sure, but who else in this entire world cared more
about Valagar the bumbling wizard, formerly Simon O'Toole the I.T.
guy, than Kronk?

He got up and returned the
staff to its resting place next to the door. One spell inscribed on
it was enough for today. Simon was still suffering from the
occasional chill and he wanted nothing more than to sit in front of
the fire, drink cups of tea and read his books. He trusted his
Changling body to throw off the effects of the flu, eventually. He
just wished that it would get on with it.

Two days later and Simon
really was back to normal, or close to it. He was feeling well enough
to help Kronk plant seeds for the season's first crop in the garden.
As well, he cleaned the stables and then let the horses out to run in
the pasture along the lake.

The grass was lush enough
now for the three horses to feed off of and not depend on hay alone.
Simon sat in the sun and enjoyed watching them as they grazed.

Tammy still blended in
with her surroundings, her mottled coat making her hard to see even
in the open field. Sunshine, with her yellow coat, moved like molten
gold and Simon found himself watching her with a wide smile on his
face. She was quite simply beautiful and a joy to observe.

And Chief was, as usual, a
beast out of legend. With his mane and tail made of spikes and the
two horns over his eyes, Simon felt that the stallion belonged in a
book of mythical creatures. Anyone who didn't know what a gentle
creature he was would be quite intimidated by his appearance.

Each horse wandered by
while he sat watching them, nudging him, looking for pats and
caresses. Simon was happy to oblige, laughing loudly when Chief
pushed him so hard with his head that the wizard was actually bowled
over and rolled twice in the grass.

By noon, Simon was ready
for some lunch and made some sandwiches to eat on the front steps. It
was too nice a day to be stuck indoors. He was just finishing his
meal and chatting quietly with Kronk, while watching one of the earth
elementals walking along the top of the wall, when a rumble of
distant thunder made him look around in confusion.

The sky was a deep, pure
blue with only a few scudding clouds racing across it and he frowned
as he looked up.

“
A storm? Doesn't
look like it,” he commented to his little friend.

Kronk looked around
alertly.

“
Not a storm,
master,” he said tersely. “I think it's...”

He was cut off by a sudden
flash of light that appeared between the steps and the front gate,

Simon leaped to his feet
and stared eagerly at the spot where a glowing, hovering mist was
coalescing.

“
Is that what I
think it is?” he asked Kronk hopefully.

“
I think it is,
master.”

The earth elemental was
watching the glowing spot intently.

Both of them stood
unmoving and waited to see what would happen. Simon's hands were
clenched into fists and he was shaking with anxiety.

“
Come forward,
wizard,” a voice called from within the mist. It was strained
and weak, but Simon thought that it sounded like Aethos.

He walked slowly down the
steps and cautiously approached the now pulsing mist. He stopped a
few paces away and peered at it.

“
Aethos?” he
asked hesitantly.

“
Yesss,” the
voice replied with a exhausted sigh. “We have extended
ourselves to save our small brother, but the cost was high. I have
given him some of my essence but left myself weakened. I will not
respond again if you attempt to summon me until I have regenerated,
so bear that in mind.”

“
I understand,”
Simon said gravely. “Thank you for your efforts on our behalf.”

“
It was not for you,
wizard. It was for one of our own. But before I return the little one
to you, I will have your vow.”

“
My vow?”
Simon repeated, perplexed. “About what?”

“
You will vow to
hunt down those responsible for attacking one of our people. You will
vow to discover how he was injured. Aeris claims not to remember
specifics. We are not so easily harmed and we must know how it was
done.”

Aethos' voice
strengthened.

“
And you will vow to
stop these attackers, by whatever means necessary.”

Simon began to speak and
Aethos cut him off.

“
Mind, wizard, that
we will be watching you to ensure that you keep your word. Should you
not, we will withdraw our favor and take back our brother. And we
will never aid you again. Will you give your vow?”

The wizard watched the
formless mist swirling in front of him and had a feeling of dread. He
knew, somehow, that this was one of those moments in life where he
was about to take a step that would change his destiny, forever.

Would he swear to destroy
whoever or whatever had attacked Aeris? What if it had been a
mistake, or an error? He could be vowing to hunt down an innocent.

He remembered Aeris'
broken body and felt his resolve harden. No, that hadn't been an
accident. Someone had meant to kill his friend. There had to be a
price to pay for that.

He looked grimly deep into
the mist.

“
You have my vow,
Aethos. There is an evil out there now that must be dealt with. And
it harmed an air elemental. I didn't even know that was possible. So
I will find this force and stop it. I swear.”

“
I accept your word,
wizard. Make sure you keep it.”

There was another bright
flash of light and Simon covered his eyes, blinking furiously. When
he could see clearly again, the mist, and Aethos, was gone. In its
place was a familiar foot-tall figure floating lightly where the mist
had been.

“
Aeris!” Simon
cried, grinning widely. “Welcome back.”

The air elemental flew
forward and rose until he was at head height.

“
Thank you, my dear
wizard. I am more than pleased to be home.”

He looked down at Kronk
and they exchanged a friendly smile and a nod.

“
Let's go in. I'm
suddenly in the mood for a celebratory glass of wine.”

“
Any excuse, eh
Simon?” Aeris asked slyly as he followed the wizard up the
steps.

Simon chuckled at the dig.

“
Well, in this case,
it's a good excuse.”

Back inside, Kronk and
Aeris took their customary places on the kitchen table and Simon
found a bottle of wine, a gift from the people of Nottinghill, in a
cupboard. He opened it and searched for a glass while letting the
wine breathe.

“
So tell me what
happened to you,” he said over his shoulder as he rinsed the
glass.

Aeris bobbed up and down
silently for a moment and the wizard poured himself some wine, sat
down and stared at the elemental expectantly.

“
Well?” he
asked after a long silence. “What's the matter? Can't you
remember how you were injured?”

“
I can, somewhat,”
Aeris answered reluctantly. “But before I talk about that, I
have a confession to make.” He took a deep breath. “It
was my own fault that I was attacked.”

“
What?” Kronk
and Simon asked at the same time.

“
Yes, my fault,”
Aeris continued. “I was overconfident, sure that the creatures
that I was following could not detect me while I was invisible. I
was...mistaken.”

“
That's who attacked
you? Those Changlings that have been destroying homes?” Simon
asked.

“”
No, not all
of them, my dear wizard. Just one. One who saw through my
invisibility. One who pinned me down with magic and cast spells that
almost destroyed me. Just one.”

Simon's breath caught in
his throat.

“
A spell caster? So
they
can
use spells.”

“
Some of them can
use magic, at a rudimentary and basic level, true. They can cause
fires and such. But the one who almost killed me? Oh, that one is
quite, quite different.”

“
How so?”

“
For one thing, she
is not a monster; at least not outwardly. Obviously her heart is as
black as the Void.”

“
She?” Kronk
piped up, sounding startled.

“
She,” Aeris
assured him.

“
Okay,” Simon
said. “So what does this woman look like?”

The air elemental moved
closer to the wizard and watched him fixedly.

“
She looks like you,
Simon. In fact, she could be your twin sister.”

“
What!”

Simon sat up with a
surprised jerk.

“
What are you
talking about? I don't have a sister. Or a brother for that matter.”

“
Nevertheless, the
similarities are striking. Like you, she has two different colored
eyes, except that one is blue and one is yellow. Her hair is dark
like yours with flecks of white in it, just like yours. And she
appears to be around the same physical age and height.”

“
Okay, that's
creepy,” the wizard said, feeling a little stunned. “But
you said that you were following mutated Changlings. You never
mentioned a humanoid one.”

“
Apparently she is
the one that has been coordinating the packs of Changlings that are
ravaging across the countryside. The pack that I was following met up
with several others in a meadow deep in the forest. In the center was
a little hill and this robed and hooded being stood there, surrounded
by hundreds of the creatures.”

“
Hundreds?”
Kronk said. He looked at Simon in alarm. “We did not know that
there were that many, master.”

“
No, we certainly
did not.” Simon leaned forward. “So what happened at this
little get-together?”

Aeris looked over Simon's
shoulder as if picturing the events he was describing.

“
The figure began
speaking to the horde. I was at the edge of the clearing, in the tree
tops, and couldn't hear what it was saying. I knew that it was
important to know what orders were being given and so I decided to
get closer.”

He sighed lightly, still
looking off vaguely.

“
That proved to be
my undoing. As I floated above the gathered creatures, who were
unaware of my presence, the robed figure stopped speaking. I froze,
sure that I was undetected, but waiting for the speech to continue.
And then the figure turned and a pale hand shot out of the robes and
pointed straight at me! 'Intruder' it screamed and that is when I
knew that it was a woman. And that I had been exposed, somehow. I
turned to flee and found myself frozen in mid-air. The woman cried
out in a language that I had never heard before and I was suddenly
yanked back, as if by a giant hand, and I found myself on the ground
at her feet.”

Simon was listening,
open-mouthed, caught up in the story while Aeris began speaking
faster, reliving the moment.

“
I looked up and saw
the woman push back her hood and for a moment, Simon, I thought it
was you! So similar. But no, it was not. The beasts howled and
slobbered around me, so I knew that I had been rendered visible
again. And this woman glared down at me, a finger pointing, her power
keeping me pinned to the earth.”

Aeris looked at Simon.

“
She spoke to me
then, but it was an insane rant and barely coherent. All about spies
of the gods of Light and her destiny and who knows what. Gibberish,
really. But her magic was real enough. When she'd finished her
diatribe, spittle flying from her lips, she smiled at me. It was an
evil, ghastly, gloating smile. She screamed an incantation in that
strange language and...” He shrugged a bit wearily. “That
is all I remember. The next thing I knew, I was back in the plane of
air and Aethos was using his own essence to heal me.”

“
That must have been
a surprise,” Kronk said with a knowing smile on his face.

“
You're telling me.
An great elemental like him using his own life force to heal a little
one such as myself? Unheard of! But, he did it. I owe him my life.”

He stared intently at
Simon.

“
And you as well, my
dear wizard. Aethos told me that you summoned me back in time to save
my life, and I thank you for that.”

Simon smiled briefly.

“
Thank luck, Aeris.
I just decided that you'd been gone too long and wanted you home. The
timing was random, but I'm more than grateful that I called you back
when I did.”

“
As am I,”
Aeris said and bowed slightly, something that he had never done to
Simon before.

The wizard felt his face
getting red and avoided Kronk's knowing look.

“
Yes, well...
Anyway, you're back now and looking like your usual self and that's
all that matters.”