“I hope so. I'm going to have to call them soon. Tomorrow probably. I want to take the day to settle in and reconnect with my home again. By the way, thank you,” Simon told them with an affectionate smile.
They both looked puzzled.
“For what, master?”
“For taking care of the place, watching over the horses...you know, for everything. The place looks exactly the way it did when I left.”
Kronk gave Aeris a smug look.
“Told you so,” he muttered and the air elemental rolled his eyes.
“You are welcome, my dear wizard, but after all it is our home too. I for one have become quite fond of the old place.”
“As have I, master. There is no need to thank us for doing our duty.”
“Maybe not, but I thank you anyway. Now,” Simon said as he stood up. “I want to walk around, get a feel for the place again. Kronk, I heard you say that you were going to let the horses out. I'll come along. I want to see them again.”
“A wonderful idea, master!” the little guy said enthusiastically. “They have missed you, I'm sure.”
The wizard finished his tea and then went over to the clothes cabinet. He poked around and found a pair of soft leather shoes to wear. The dwarven shoes were serviceable but not all that comfortable. He sighed with pleasure as he put them on.
“Aeris, do you want to join us?” Simon asked as he followed Kronk to the door.
“Thank you, no. I have to finish my dusting first, according to the taskmaster,” he said with a withering look at the earthen.
Kronk just shook his head silently, opened the door and went outside.
“Be nice,” Simon said quietly after the little guy had left the room. “He does what he does because he cares.”
The air elemental hovered silently for a moment and then nodded reluctantly.
“I know that, my dear wizard. But someone has to poke him occasionally. Keeps him on his toes.”
Simon chuckled, shook a finger at him and then followed Kronk out the door.
He'll never change, he thought to himself. And I wouldn't want him to.
Simon walked down the front steps and turned left. He wandered slowly around the tower, taking in every detail. He actually stopped several times to pat the weathered stone. It felt warm and familiar to the touch and he felt more at home with every passing minute.
Kronk had gone on ahead but was waiting for him outside of the stable. At Simon's inquiring look, the little guy smiled.
“I wanted you to go in first, master. They will be very surprised to see you.”
“If they remember me at all,” Simon said a bit nervously.
“Oh, I think they will, master. They really are quite intelligent.”
“That's true.”
The wizard took a deep breath and opened the stable door. The smell of horses and sweet hay wafted over him. He smiled with pleasure and walked in.
The aisle between the box stalls was clean and the windows let in the bright sunlight. Kronk kept a tidy stable. Four heads were thrust over the doors to the stalls, three large ones including Chief's, with his two long, razor-sharp horns, and one smaller one, the filly, Sunbeam.
She was in the same stall as Sunshine, her mother, and both of them were looking at the door curiously.
Chief was the first one to recognize Simon and he let out a blast of sound that shook the air inside the stable. Dust floated down from the ceiling and Simon clapped his hands over his ears.
The other three were quick to join in, adding their neighs to the cacophony of sound until the wizard thought he would be deafened.
“Easy, guys, easy!” he shouted over the din. “You're going to bust my eardrums. Relax now. Easy.”
He hurried forward to the closest stall, Tammy's, and began stroking her dark face. She whickered frantically and rubbed her head against him, her deep brown eyes wide with excitement.
“Hey, old girl,” Simon said softly as he stroked her ears and then scratched under her chin. She calmed down slowly and then closed her eyes, sighing loudly with contentment.
“I've missed you too,” he told her. “We're going to let you all out in a minute for a run, but first I have to say hello to the others.”
He patted her again and then moved on to Chief.
The stallion had been watching impatiently and threw back his head, his keen horns almost smacking into the ceiling.
“Don't be like that,” Simon admonished him. “I said hi to Tammy first because she was the closest, so don't get all cranky.”
Chief eyed him narrowly for another moment and then, with a show of reluctance, lowered his head and allowed Simon to rub his forehead between his horns, his favorite spot.
“Have you been taking care of the girls for me while I was gone?” the wizard asked him under his breath.
The big horse snuffled along Simon's chest and then gave him a gentle push with his head, careful to keep his horns out of the way.
“I knew you would,” Simon told him. “Your daughter looks more beautiful than ever. You did good, buddy.”
Chief turned his head and looked across at Sunshine and her filly and snorted proudly. Clearly he agreed.
“And how are you ladies doing?” the wizard asked as he stepped across the aisle to stand in front of the pair.
Sunshine stretched out her neck and rested her chin on his shoulder, something that she always seemed to do when greeting Simon. Her daughter, Sunbeam, tried to copy her mother but couldn't reach the wizard's shoulder.
He quickly obliged by bending down until the little filly could nuzzle his neck.
“How are you, little girl?” he asked her as he stroked her baby-soft neck. “You're growing like a weed, kiddo. Mom, you should be proud. Your baby looks good. Really good.”
He spent a few more minutes with them and then went back to the door and opened it wide.
“Okay Kronk,” he said. “Let them out. I'll open the back gate.”
“Yes master,” the earthen called back as he entered the stable. “I will do that now.”
Simon hurried across the yard to unlock the rear gate. He pulled it open and stood back to let the horses out into the field behind the tower.
The four of them eagerly burst out of the stable one by one, Chief in the lead as always. But for the first time, each of them stopped and gave Simon an affectionate swipe of their heads or gently nuzzled him with their soft lips before slipping through the open gate and out to the grassy pasture beyond.
When they were all out, Simon looked around for Kronk and saw him standing in the doorway of the stable.
“While they are gone, I will clean out their stalls, master. Why don't you head out and spend some time beside the lake? It might do you some good after being kept underground for so long.”
The wizard smiled at the little guy's thoughtfulness.
“Okay, I will. Thanks, Kronk.”
The earthen waved and went back inside while Simon followed the horses out through the gate and into the lush field outside of the wall.
Behind the tower was a small lake. When he'd bought the site, way back before the Night of Burning, there'd been a little cottage where the tower now stood and Simon had been overjoyed at finding his summer hideaway. Now it was his home and his refuge.
He walked across the field, a mild slope leading down to the lake. Except for the remains of an old cottage that had been deserted since he'd first moved in, the small body of water, which he refused to call a pond even though it was no more than fifty feet across and twice that in width, was pristine. On this warm spring afternoon, the water was rippled by the light breeze and glittered in the sunlight.
The horses, as always, ran together along the length of the lake, throwing back their heads and showing off to each other. Even little Sunbeam, a bright lemon streak, copied her elders and kicked up her heels as she ran beside her mother.
Simon stood knee-deep in the waving grass and simply enjoyed the moment. He breathed in th
e fresh air and, finally, felt the last vestiges of the gloom of the dwarven city lift from his mind, replaced by the glow of home and hearth. It was almost intoxicating.
He moved down to the shore and sat on a small boulder that jutted out of the field, the water to his right. He ran his fingers through his hair, closed his eyes and lifted his face to the sun.
Was this how a prisoner, locked away in some gloomy dungeon, felt when granted his freedom, he wondered. A part of him felt a pang of guilt at that idea. The dwarves hadn't been his jailers; they'd been his saviors. Opheilla had saved his life and had spent months nursing him back to health. She'd asked for nothing in return and he knew that it would hurt her cruelly to have her home compared to a jail. And Shandon! He had made Simon a member of the dwarven community; something that the wizard was sure was not a common occurrence.
Okay, shut up Simon, he told himself forcefully. There's enough guilt festering inside of you without adding to it. The dwarves are at home in the deeps and you aren't. It's as simple as that. Just stop thinking of their city as being comparable to a prison, that's all. Besides, if you want to feel guilty about something real, just remember Clara.
He opened his eyes and gasped as something touched his neck. But it was only the filly, delicately nuzzling him and staring with wide eyes.
Simon laughed and carefully stroked her neck until she was quivering with happiness. Sunshine wasn't very far away, munching on grass and watching the interchange with obvious approval. When she'd lost interest a few minutes later, Sunbeam bolted away and raced across the field to chase Chief, who obliged by loping just ahead of her and neighing with amusement.
The wizard smiled at their antics but was drawn back to thoughts of his fallen friend.
He remembered the day that Clara had appeared in the clearing in front of his tower. My God, how long ago was that? Three years? Or was it four? He wasn't sure.
But she had walked out of the forest, somehow following Aeris' trail back to the tower. He had made contact with her and her fellow Changlings and had, imprudently perhaps, mentioned Simon and his tower.
How confident she'd been, the wizard reflected with a smile. Of course those two large warriors with her had probably had something to do with that. What had they been called?
He frowned in concentration until their names floated up from the recesses of his brain. Ah yes, Richard and Michael. Big, strong and loyal, they'd been Simon's first exposure to armored warriors and they had been impressive. His smile faded. They were both long dead now, killed by Madam and her legion of walking corpses.
Ah but back then, they had all been so alive. How pleased he'd been to have had his first human visitors. And Clara. Clara.
Simon bowed his head and turned to watch the little ripples dance across the water.
She'd worn her hair long at the time and it had made her look much younger than she was. And yet she'd called him young man. It made him laugh even now. That had been the beginning; the start of their friendship. They'd endured everything this crazy New Earth had thrown at them; walking corpses, ghouls, wights, even werewolves, and had come out the other side intact, or nearly so. To have her die in such a way, by dragon-fire, betrayed by one of her own; well, the word unfair was far too inadequate to use, no matter how true it was.
His lips pulled back in an unconscious snarl as he though of Henry, the traitor.
I'll find you one day, you bastard, Simon said silently. You won't be able to hide from me or my vengeance forever.
He shook his head after a moment, the rage retreating. Clara wouldn't approve of revenge, that he knew. Perhaps it would be best to just leave the traitorous little coward to his fate. With the world the way it was now, he was probably dead already.
With a tremendous effort, he pushed away all of his dark thoughts and just tried to enjoy the day. He stood up and began to walk slowly around the circumference of the lake, occasionally checking on the horses and just drinking in the beauty surrounding him.
Once he'd reached the other side of the lake, Simon squatted down next to the water and peered into the shallows. Tiny minnows darted and swam like living bullets just beneath the surface and he watched them with wonder, as if they were something he'd never seen before.
“You're deep in thought,” a voice said to him. It was coming from just over the lake itself and the wizard looked up to see Aeris hovering above the rippling surface, watching him.
“Hey Aeris. Yeah, I guess I am.” Simon stood up and stretched. “All done your chores?”
The elemental twitched his shoulders, his opaque form bobbing in the breeze.
“More or less. According to Kronk's standards, I'm never done, at least not to his satisfaction. But on this momentous day, I've done as much as I intend to. We haven't seen you for months and I have no intention of using all of my time on your first day back dusting shelves.”
He flew closer and placed his small fists on his hips.
“So how are you feeling now? More like your old self?”
“Definitely.”
Simon began walking again and Aeris floated along beside his left shoulder.
“I'm still putting the pieces back together in my mind; you know, all of the past that you and me and Kronk have shared, stuff like that. I mean, my stay with the dwarves has already started to feel more like a dream than a real memory. Weird, huh?”
Aeris thought silently for a few paces.
“Not really,” he replied with a frown. “You have been through a lot of trauma, my dear wizard. Let's remember that you did actually die once already. And then, with the dragon attack, you almost repeated that experience. You spent six months in an induced coma and then had to spend another month recovering your strength. You've battled four primal dragons, monsters by the score and you have lost close friends, many of them. I'd be more alarmed if you weren't bothered by it all.”
He gave Simon an admiring glance.
“But you are made of much tougher stuff than I ever gave you credit for. Perhaps these memories need to take on a more distant tone for you to cope with them. That may be your mind's method of healing; compartmentalize the bad things and emphasize the good.”
Simon had stopped to listen to the air elemental and now began walking again, thinking through Aeris' words.
“You know, that may actually be close to the truth. A few minutes ago I was experiencing a moment of rage, when I thought of the guy who betrayed the people of Nottinghill and got Clara killed. And then, I don't know, it's like my mind took that memory and stuck it in a drawer somewhere deep inside my head and the anger just disappeared.”
Aeris nodded vigorously.
“Exactly. You cope with these traumatic events better than any wizard I've ever known, and I knew many. You can, oh what is the best way to describe it...distance yourself, I guess, from the horrors and focus on the positives. But you don't forget the bad things, you simply keep them at arm's length where they won't affect your judgment.” Aeris smiled at him. “A very healthy way of dealing with your new life, my dear wizard.”
“Well, if it is, it's a total fluke. It's just the way the old Simon O'Toole dealt with life, I suppose. He, well I, was never one to get ruffled by life's currents and eddies. I just rolled with the punches and kept going.”
He watched the horses grazing in the distance, their manes and tails flowing in the wind. It brought him a sense of peace.
“You know, that might be the greatest advantage of all for a Changling, or at least for me. I have an adult's maturity inside this adolescent body. I don't react to dangers and emergencies the way I would have back when I was a teen. Even losing Clara, not to mention all of the other good people that have fallen over the past couple of years. Once upon a time, I would have probably curled up in a corner somewhere, unable to cope. Now? Now I just move forward and deal with things.”
He glanced at Aeris and saw that the elemental was watching him with undisguised affection, a look very unlike him.
“W
hat?” Simon asked.
“Nothing. Really. It's just that it's good to have you back, that's all. As much as I like Kronk, and don't tell him I said that, without you in residence the tower had lost its purpose.” He waved at the squat, block-like structure across the field.
“This is the home of a wizard. That is its reason for being. That is why all of us are here, to help you. Without your presence, it was just an empty shell.”
Simon stopped and stared at him, grinning.
“Well now, scratch an air elemental, discover a philosopher. Who knew?”
Aeris laughed a little self-consciously.
“Maybe so. But the place just feels right again with you here. Now we can move forward, to whatever future you envision. Make it a good one, my dear wizard. Frankly, I am tired of being bored.”
Chapter 8
After the horses were back in their stalls, Simon, Aeris and Kronk all returned to the tower. To Simon's surprise, Aeris had begun making a stew before he'd met him outside and the elemental shot across the room as they entered.
“What's that?” the wizard asked as he put his staff back in its place and took off his shoes.
“Stew.” Aeris began stirring the large, cast-iron pot that was hanging over the fire. “I filled the pot with water and dropped in some dried venison before I went out. I'll add the vegetables now and it should be ready by the time the sun sets.”
“Hey, thanks Aeris. That sounds wonderful.”
“No trouble. Just part of my job. Right Kronk?” the air elemental asked pointedly.
The earthen sniffed and tapped across the room. He jumped up on to the kitchen table and watched Aeris stirring the pot.
“We all have our tasks, you know,” he said with a touch of exasperation in his voice. “Why must you make such a fuss about it?”
“I'm not fussing,” Aeris told him. He put the large spoon on the table and floated off toward the stairs to the basement. “I'm simply making conversation. I'll be right back with the vegetables.”
And with that, he zipped down the steps and disappeared.
Tales from the New Earth: Volume Two Page 9