The Dragons Revenge (Tales from the New Earth #2) (36 page)

“
At
a guess, master, I would say that she was able to detect your Magic
Mirror spell. You have been watching her for long periods every day,
in the early morning and again in the evening. But after you saw the
imminent attack this morning, you stopped watching. Perhaps she
suspected that you would try to intervene? I do not know for sure.”

Simon
slipped Bene-Dunn-Gal over his shoulders, sighed in frustration and
then caught himself.

“
Which
way is that farmhouse from here?”

Kronk
pointed.

“
That
way, master. Perhaps two miles.”

“
Okay,
let's go and check on them. If the wizard is gone, maybe they'll be
safe. We can tell them about Nottinghill and see if they'd like to
move there, at least temporarily until we can actually find and
capture that woman.”

There
was still no sound of the pack returning. Simon listened intently and
then nodded.

“
At
least something's going right today,” he said to himself.
“Aeris, I need you,” he added loudly.

The
air elemental appeared a few feet away, laughing loudly.

“
Oh,
that was marvelous,” he said as he tried to control his mirth.
“I had them running around like mindless animals. Which they
are, of course.”

“
We've
been tricked,” Simon said flatly and Aeris stared at him, his
glee forgotten.

“
What?”

“
Look,”
the wizard said as he pointed at the body. “She set us up. That
damned wizard was never here.”

Aeris
zipped down and hovered over the sprawled body of the young man.

“
But
then, who is this?”

“
No
idea. Some poor Changling that she caught and used as bait, I guess.”

Simon
looked at the five earthen that Kronk had summoned.

“
Could
you all do me a favor and bury this poor guy? It's the least we can
do for him. Kronk and Aeris and I have to get to that farmhouse.”

“
Of
course, sir wizard,” one of them said with a bow. The others
bowed as well. “Anything you need of us, we will do. Should we
follow when we are done?”

“
No,
that's fine. You can head home after this. Thanks for the help.”

He
waved, turned away and began to jog toward the distant farm.

Simon
heard Kronk stumbling along behind him while Aeris caught up and flew
to his right.

“
You're
going to check on the farmers?” the air elemental asked as he
floated along.

“
Yeah.
Maybe we can get them out of harm's way before that wizard returns.
At least we can warn them.”

Aeris
flew silently for a minute and Simon watched the ground, avoiding
roots and fallen branches as he ran. He spared a thought for how
stupid he must look as he ran with his robe pulled up to his knees so
that he wouldn't trip.

I
never appreciated how women could move so gracefully in a dress, he
thought wryly. I know I can't.

“
Simon,”
Aeris said, interrupting his thoughts.

“
Hmm?”

“
I
don't think you need to run.”

The
wizard slowed to a stop and looked at the hovering figure.

“
What
do you mean?”

“
I
mean I think I recognized that young man that the wizard used to
trick us. You may not have, but I think he was one of the Changlings
from the farm.”

Simon
was stunned. He stared at Aeris' solemn expression, trying to grasp
what he was saying.

“
You
mean, she's already killed them all?”

“
Who
can say? But I'd guess that the summoning of reinforcements was
simply a ruse. She probably attacked the farm this morning, after you
stopped observing her. But we should check regardless. There may be
survivors.”

Aeris
didn't sound very hopeful and Simon turned away, cursing loudly.

“
How
is she doing this?” he shouted. Several birds fluttered away
from the surrounding trees as his voice echoed through the forest.

He
began to move again, walking this time and sick at the thought of
what they might find when they arrived at the farmstead.

“
What
one wizard can learn, another can as well, isn't that so, master?”
Kronk asked a few minutes later.

“
Yeah,
I guess so,” Simon answered, keeping his eyes on the ground
ahead. “Why?”

“
I
was just thinking, master, that's all. Is it possible that the dark
wizard also can use Magic Mirror? That she spied on you as you spied
on her?”

That
comment made Simon stumble to a stop again and turn to look at the
little guy.

“
My
God. I hadn't thought of that. Yes, of course it's possible. If she's
getting direct help from the gods of Chaos, it's even likely. Damn.
That means that she could be watching us right now, having a great
laugh at how well her ruse worked.”

“
I
doubt that, my dear wizard,” Aeris told him. “She's
probably getting as far away from this part of the country as
possible.”

“
What
makes you say that?”

Aeris
began moving forward and Simon followed along.

“
Because,
you may have been tricked, but you are still a wizard, as she is. All
modesty aside, you are quite powerful. Why should she risk your wrath
when she's gotten away with this charade? Better to move on and begin
her bloody campaign in some place far away from here.”

“
Yeah,
maybe. I guess it doesn't matter now.” Simon scowled. “But
the minute we get home, I'm going to see if there's a way to block
that blasted spell. Kronk was right. If I can spy on her, she can spy
on me.”

The
farmhouse was a scene of desolation. When Simon and the elementals
emerged from the forest and stared across the freshly dug furrows of
the fields surrounding the large farmhouse, with its barns and
storage sheds, there was nothing left but smoldering timbers and
collapsed walls.

“
Crap,”
Simon whispered. In his heart, he had held on to a faint hope that
maybe Aeris was wrong about the attack. But he hadn't been.

“
I
am so sorry, master,” Kronk said as he looked out over the
fields. “Such a waste. Such an evil, evil waste.”

“
I
know, my friend. I'm sorry too. Sorry for them, whoever they were.
They survived the fall of the modern world, the attack of the
dragons, Changing into something totally unknown to them, only to be
brought down by some nameless bitch and her dark masters.”

He
wiped a hand roughly across his eyes.

“
Well,
that's it. No forgiveness now. No mercy. This creature has to be
stopped. Taking her power isn't enough. She had to be destroyed.”

“
Revenge,
Simon?” Aeris asked quietly.

“
Perhaps.
A bit. But mostly it's because I think that even if we could strip
her of her magic, she would still always be a threat.”

Reluctantly,
he began to walk over the rough, turned earth of the fields toward
the house. There couldn't be any survivors, but he wouldn't leave
without at least checking first. He owed the memory of the Changlings
that much, at least.

He
examined at the furrows as he stepped over them. Would today have
been planting day? What sort of crops had they intended to grow?
Corn? Wheat? Had they been as eager as he'd been to see the spring
and start the new growing season?

He
found himself becoming more and more depressed and slowly walked with
his shoulders hunched, not looking at the smoking ruins ahead.

He
almost tripped as Kronk grabbed the hem of his robe.

“
What
the...?” he exclaimed as he turned angrily to look at the
little guy. He'd almost fallen flat on his face.

“
Master,
beware!” Kronk yelled before Simon could say anything. He was
pointing toward the buildings and the wizard's breath caught in his
throat.

A
mass of bodies, feral, bestial, all howling and hooting, was racing
from behind the smoldering house straight toward them.

“
Simon,
behind you!” Aeris called out and the wizard glanced over his
shoulder to see a second pack of beasts emerge from the forest at
almost the exact same spot that he had came from.

“
They
were following us.” he stated. The mutants were moving fast and
would be on them in seconds.

Simon
slipped Bene-Dunn-Gal off of his back and slammed it butt-end into
the ground.

“
Shield!”
he barked and the air six feet in all directions turned opaque with a
subdued thump.

Just
in time. The creatures smashed into the shield and bounced off. They
clawed and bit at it, growling and slavering as they tried to reach
him.

Simon
knew exactly how long the shield would last and he began counting
down his internal timer as he cast it.

“
Okay,
you two. Kronk, get below ground and head for home. Aeris, you know
you can pass through the shield as long as I'm the one who cast it.
So get flying. Meet Kronk back at the tower.”

The
two little figures gaped at him.

“
Master,
I will not leave you!” Kronk averred. “I will not have it
said that I ran from a fight and let my master face evil alone!”

“
If
you think you've getting rid of me that easily, Simon,” Aeris
hissed, “then you don't know me at all. I'm staying.”

“
Damn
it!” Simon barked. “I can't win this battle if I have to
worry about the two of you. Now get the hell out of range and let me
do my job.” He glared at them both. “That's an order!”

He
had never ordered either of his small friends to do anything before,
but he knew that as summoned creatures, they would have to obey.

“
Yes
master,” Kronk mumbled, barely audible over the continuous
howls and barks from the attacking monsters. The shield was starting
to thin and crackle at the edges. Simon know what that meant.

“
Good
luck,” was the last thing the little earthen said and he sank
out of sight in the newly-turned earth.

“
Fine,”
Aeris snapped. “But if you get yourself killed, I'm never going
to forgive you!”

He
started to rise and fade at the same time.

“
Stay
alive, Simon,” he said desperately just before he vanished.

I'll
give it my best shot, the wizard thought.

As
the shield was about the fade, Simon held on to the staff with both
hands.

Now
for a little spell invented by yours truly, he said silently to the
attacking monsters. See if you like how I taste after this.

“
Lavaskin!”
he shouted just as the Shield spell wavered and disappeared.

The
mass of mutated creatures leaped at him with happy, hungry barks and
growls. The sound quickly turned to screams of pain and the smell of
burnt flesh and hair as Simon's skin became coated in molten rock.

He'd
come up with the spell by combining the incantations of the Stoneskin
spell with the Fireball spell. The results were short-lived but then
they didn't need to last too long.

The
packs retreated, screaming in agony. The giant snake-like mutant with
little arms like a T-Rex tried to wrap its coils around him and burst
into flames. Its hissing tortured shouts nearly deafened the wizard.

Simon
got to his feet slowly. He was unhurt but the attackers had sent him
flying through the air and he had rolled a dozen times, leaving a
trail of smoking earth in his wake.

“
Shield!”
he said again, just as the Lavaskin spell vanished.

He
watched the monsters closely. All of them, and he counted about
twenty creatures, had survived the attack except the snake-thing. It
was just a misshapen pile of bones and ash. Several of the monsters
rolled around to snuff out their burning fur.

When
they had recovered, they gazed at Simon balefully, their eyes a
uniform savage yellow. A few glanced worriedly at the remains of the
snake-thing.

“
Yeah,
you should worry,” Simon shouted at them. He tried to keep his
voice steady but the truth was, he was deeply afraid.

He'd
had exactly five copies of the Shield spell stored on Bene-Dunn-Gal.
Three were left. Each spell lasted exactly five minutes.