The Dragons Revenge (Tales from the New Earth #2) (52 page)

Thinking
furiously, Simon had the germ of an idea. A crazy idea, but an idea
all the same.

He
turned and ran toward the edge of the field, to the part of the
now-dead barrier that he had entered through earlier. He pointed
Bene-Dunn-Gal at it.

“
Magic
Missile!” he yelled and searing bolts of light shot from the
staff and slammed into the dried-out remains of the thorny vines.

The
missiles blasted a path through the brittle plants and bits of twigs
and dust shot in all directions. Simon squinted and raised an arm to
protect his eyes as he ran through the former barricade. He was
covered with brown leaves and dirt as he ran, but ignored it.

“
Chief!
Chief, where are you?” he shouted as he reached the far end of
the destroyed barrier.

A
high-pitched neigh drew Simon to the left and, in a flurry of hooves,
the stallion raced toward him, eyes bright and horns gleaming like
twin daggers.

The
wizard jumped on to Chief's back and spun him around. He spared a
glance up at the dragon and felt his stomach twist into knots.

The
distant green shape was descending, growing alarmingly as it shot
down toward him.

“
Okay,
buddy, we've gotta move!” he yelled at Chief and the stallion
leapt forward, racing into the forest in the general direction of the
tower.

Simon
slipped his staff over his shoulders, leaned over Chief's neck and
held on for dear life.

“
I
think you're smart enough to know what's going on, old friend,”
he said to the horse. Chief swiveled one ear back and listened
closely as he ran.

“
We
need to get that bloody dragon on the ground, without being flattened
first. Stay amongst the trees and keep running. It can't hit what it
can't see.”

Chief
snorted and shook his head, increasing his speed as he twisted and
dodged around the mature trees of the forest.

I
was right, Simon thought with a kind of grateful joy. The big guy is
smarter since his Change. Now let's see how fast he is.

Somewhere
above the cover of the trees, a tremendous roar shook the air,
sending a torrent of leaves fluttering across their path. The meager
sunlight filtering through the thick branches was blocked out for a
moment and Simon knew that the green was right above them.

Over
the pounding sound of Chief's racing hooves, the wizard heard a
terrifying sound; the sound of huge lungs taking in a vast quantity
of air.

He
yanked the reins hard the left and the stallion skidded violently to
the side and shot off in a new direction.

Simon
reached over his shoulder and grabbed Bene-Dunn-Gal.

“
Shield,”
he muttered quickly and he and the horse were surrounded by the
translucent barricade.

Just
in time. A blast of withering green gas shot down from above and
Simon watched in horror as the growth around him sagged and collapsed
at the mere touch of the deadly substance.

That's
not ordinary chlorine gas, he thought as he urged Chief on. I think
just letting it touch me would be fatal.

The
realization of how deadly the green dragon's breath weapon was made
Simon rethink his plan. He had to do something even more desperate.

“
Okay,
lad,” he said to Chief. “Change of plans. Head for home.
You understand? Back to Tammy and Sunshine, as fast as you can run.”

The
stallion's ears perked up at the sound of his stable-mate's names. He
threw up his head, whinnied loudly and turned to the right so
abruptly that Simon almost flew off of his back.

The
wizard clamped his thighs as tightly as he could to Chief's body,
crouched down in the saddle and let the big horse have his head. He
trusted the stallion to find the fastest way home.

Above
them, the sound of huge wings faded behind them as the horse's change
of direction and burst of speed threw off the attacking green.

Simon
looked up and noticed that the light was fading from the sky. Sundown
was coming and he wasn't sure if that was going to help or not. His
new plan didn't depend on daylight, but more on luck and some
educated guesses from the research he had done on dragons and their
weaknesses.

Yeah,
research that depended on facts invented by fantasy game writers, he
thought with some despair. I could be totally wrong about this whole
thing.

Well
then, you will die, a little voice hissed at him from deep within.

No
kidding, he told that dark place that existed somewhere inside his
soul. Now shut-up, I'm busy.

Chief
showed how magnificent he was that day. His powerful body drove them
through the forest so fast that the trees were merely a blur. His
horns began to glow with a ghostly nimbus in the darkening woods and
several times Simon was sure that they had actually pass
though
a tree.

The
shield spell had faded away but the sounds of the raging dragon were
still far behind them.

My
God, Simon thought in wonder. How fast are we moving?

No
more than twenty minutes after they had escaped into the trees, Simon
and Chief burst into the open field that led to the tower.

As
they appeared, high above them came a roar of triumph. The primal
green dragon had spotted them.

Chief
flew across the clearing straight toward the closed gates while Simon
looked back over his shoulder.

The
dragon was shooting down out of the evening sky, the full moon behind
it outlining its writhing snake body. It grew and grew as it
descended to attack and the wizard turned back to look at the tower,
praying that one of the elementals had seen them coming.

His
prayers, for a change, were answered, and the double gates opened
wide seconds before Chief smashed through them.

As
they barreled into the front yard, the gates slammed shut and a
flicker in the air confirmed that the wards had sealed off the tower
again.

Simon
jumped off of the stallion and almost collapsed as his rubbery legs
barely held him up. He leaned on the sweaty flank of Chief who was
blowing out great gasps of breath. Foam dripped from his neck and his
noble head dipped with exhaustion.

“
You
were incredible, old buddy,” Simon told him with an
affectionate slap on his sweaty neck.

He
turned to see Kronk hurrying toward him from the gates.

“
Master!
You made it!” the elemental exclaimed with relief.

Simon
looked up at the green dragon. It had banked away from the tower once
the wards had been activated and was now circling high up in the air,
its long neck extended as it scanned the ground.

“
Not
yet,” the wizard told Kronk. “Do me a favor, would you?
Take Chief to the stable and unsaddle him? Walk him around until he
cools off, give him some water and then get ready to let all three
horses out so that they can run to the lake.”

Kronk
looked up at him in confusion.

“
You
want to send them beyond the protective shield, master? The dragon
would probably kill them out of spite.”

“
I
know that. I said to get them ready, not to release them yet. I'll
let you know when.”

“
As
you wish, master,” the earthen said dubiously.

Simon
handed him the reins and Chief followed Kronk slowly as he led the
horse back toward the stable.

Aeris
flew out of the front door and hurried up to Simon.

“
You're
alive,” he said with some relief. “Good.”

He
looked up at the massive outline of the green dragon, malevolently
circling the tower, occasionally bellowing in fury.

“
You've
made it mad, I see. Well done.”

Simon
had to grin at the familiar sarcasm.

“
And
now you've led it back to our home.” Aeris looked at the wizard
quizzically. “An act of desperation or some wild scheme?”

Simon
bent over, shook his hair to clear out the bits of dirt and bark and
then threw back his head to get the hair off of his face. He wiped
the sweat off of his forehead with a sleeve.

“
A
bit of both, I suppose,” he told the elemental absently, still
watching the green dragon. “Obviously our ugly friend up there
knows that there's a shield around the tower. Do you think it could
smash through if it wanted to?”

Aeris
floated next to Simon's shoulder and followed his gaze.

Night
was descending in earnest now and the stars began to shine brightly
in the purple sky. The dragon shone with its own putrid green light,
still trailing a cloud of glowing gas behind it.

“
At
a guess, I'd say yes. But, large or not, it would be wounded in the
attempt, perhaps quite badly. Something I'm sure it is aware of.”

“
Ah,
so that's why it's biding its time. Good.”

Simon
hurried up the front steps and into the tower.

“
So
what is this crazy plan?” Aeris asked as he followed him
inside.

Simon
held up a hand and drew a large glass of water from the pump at the
kitchen sink. He drank it off in great gulps and then stood leaning
on the counter, breathing deeply.

“
Ah,
I needed that,” he said finally. He splashed some cold water on
his face, wiped it off with a dish towel and then crossed to the
stairs.

“
I'm
heading for the roof. Come on and I'll fill you in.”

He
ran up the stairs as quickly as his tired legs could carry him, Aeris
floating along behind him.

Once
he had opened the trapdoor to the roof and climbed out, he looked up
until he had spotted the circling green dragon.

“
Close
the door, would you?” Simon asked the air elemental, and Aeris
lowered the trapdoor carefully and joined the wizard in watching the
dragon.

“
You
realize that we are trapped here, don't you?” he asked Simon
quietly. “If you try to Gate out and escape, I'm sure that the
dragon will know and will attack at once.”

The
wizard looked at Aeris and smiled, looking pleased.

“
Yes,
I know. In fact, I'm counting on it.”

“
You're...?
Are you mad? That creature is more powerful and much more clever than
the primal black dragon. If you are thinking of trying something
creative, it could backfire.”

Simon's
smile faded and his face became grim. A cool breeze stirred his hair
and rippled the robe along his body. Bene-Dunn-Gal was in his right
hand.

“
I
know. There is no chance of me destroying it one on one. I hit it
with a Fireball spell and it only made it mad. So I have to try to
trick it. The one thing that this dragon shares with the black is its
arrogance. It waited to attack me back at Heather's place. I thought
at first that it might be a little afraid of me.”

He
snorted at the idea.

“
But
it isn't. These creatures are too old and too powerful to fear
anything, especially not a human, even if he is a wizard. No, it was
disdain. It was toying with me, mocking me. It was playing with me
the way a shark will toy with its prey, circling it and nibbling at
it until it is ready to strike.”

He
nodded toward the dragon.

“
That's
what it's doing now.”

“
So
what do you plan to do?” Aeris asked nervously.

Simon
looked at him again and tried to smile reassuringly. He didn't think
it worked very well.

“
First,
I'm going to intensify the wards. I want them as powerful as
possible.”

“
Intensify?
But, how? These are the strongest wards that the spell-book
contains.”

“
Watch,”
Simon said and moved to stand in the center of the roof. He held
Bene-Dunn-Gal aloft and stared at it intently for a long moment. And
then with a cry, he slammed the staff on to the stone in front of
him, the end digging slightly into the surface of the roof.

Aeris
drew back, wide-eyed, as arcs of power, like lightning, erupted from
the jewel at the top of the staff and shot out in four directions,
hitting each ward that was embedded into the edges of the roof at the
four points of the compass.

A
sizzle, like the magnified sound of burning meat, cut through the air
and the stench of ozone rose up from the wards.

The
effect only lasted a moment and then Simon slumped forward and rested
both hands on Bene-Dunn-Gal, using it to stay on his feet.

“
Simon?
Are you all right?” Aeris asked quickly as he flew toward the
wizard.