“It couldn't have. And I am grateful, really. But she never told me that we'd have such a challenge separating once the primal was dead. And she sure as hell never said that we'd need some of the dragon queen's blood for the ritual. Cripes, it sounds more like voodoo than magic.”
'Power is power, child,' Esmiralla told him equably.
She sounded almost as weary as Simon felt.
'The blood is a conduit for the spell. Nothing else in this world will do. It is as simple as that. The other ingredients are fairly easy to acquire compared to that one.'
“Maybe so. But I'm worried about Aeris and the others. The queen is insane but unimaginably powerful. One mistake and they will all be destroyed.”
Kronk was watching him closely. Obviously he could only hear one side of the conversation, but he seemed to be following the gist of it.
“Aeris is clever, master. And air elementals are quick. Very quick. They will await their opportunity, take the sample and be gone before the queen even detects their presence.”
“I hope so, my friend. I really hope so.”
Simon sipped more tea, sat back in his chair and stared over at the flames crackling and leaping in the fireplace. He tried to picture Aeris and the other two elementals stalking the dragon queen. The very idea made him shudder.
One mistake, he thought. All it will take is one mistake.
“Get back. Get back!” Aeris shouted. “She will see you for sure, you idiot. Now is not the time.”
Orriss zoomed across the top of the desert sands, his glowing form moving like a streak of light in the darkness.
“And go invisible next time,” Aeris added when the other elemental had rejoined him and Brethia. “What were you thinking?”
“I thought I saw an opening,” Orriss told him apologetically.
The three of them looked back across the sand dunes at the writhing, twisting mass that was the dragon queen. Her scarred and filthy yellow scales were pale and colorless in the monochrome of the desert night, but she could be seen easily as she convulsed and twisted mindlessly in the endless sands.
“Does she never rest?” Brethia said with exasperation. “Supernatural creature or not, even dragons get tired.”
“She must, don't you think?” Orriss asked Aeris while they watched the massive creature.
“That is certainly my hope. But unless we are pushed to our limits, we don't need to rest,” Aeris told them both. “Perhaps she is the same. Who can say? The queen is unique among her kind. She was the first, the root of the tree from which dragon-kind sprang. And we know virtually nothing about her. Strange, isn't it?”
The trio of elementals had been following the dragon for several days now. Brethia and Orriss had been tasked with keeping an eye on the monster a few months before. Simon had sent Aeris to join them specifically to obtain some of the dragon's blood. So far they had had no luck.
The monster would travel in one direction for hundreds of miles just to turn randomly and head off in an entirely new direction, seemingly at random. It had quickly become clear that the dragon queen was completely mad.
“Why would the gods of Chaos do something like that?” Brethia wondered sadly. “Create the creature that would birth an entire species yet leave her almost mindless? It seems unnecessarily cruel.”
The queen stopped spinning in place, leaped into the air dozens of feet and then set off at high speed to the north.
Aeris sighed.
“Here we go again. Let's follow along.”
The three elementals waited until the dragon was several miles ahead of them before they set off, flying a few feet off of the sand dunes of the Sahara desert.
“Do you think the others are having better luck finding their ingredients?” Orriss asked Aeris as they moved across the dunes. “I must admit, when our wizard shared his, um, condition with us, I was appalled and hoped that we could help him get away from the silver dragon as soon as possible. With all due respect to her, of course,” he added hastily.
“I hope so. Finding a surviving red drake won't be easy,” Aeris said thoughtfully. “On the other hand, Aethos is quite powerful. If any of our people could find one, it's him. And Incendus will track down a dragon egg. For one from the fire realm, he is quite intelligent. And strong.”
Orriss looked skeptical but said nothing. The air elementals considered their fiery cousins to be a bit too emotional, perhaps because they were the strongest of all of the elemental races and often quick to anger.
“I only want to get the blood for our master,” Brethia said firmly. “To have to share your mind with another seems like a horrible curse to me. It must be torture for the wizard.”
The desert was brightly lit by a three-quarter moon gleaming in the clear, star-studded sky and the three elementals looked like tiny ghosts as they zoomed across the sands.
“It is,” Aeris told her bleakly. “Our dear wizard is at his wits' end. He is not sleeping properly, he barely eats now and is losing weight that he simply cannot afford to lose. Just between us, I am sick with worry for him.” He looked quickly at the other two. “I'd rather you kept that information to yourselves.”
“You care more for him than you let on,” Brethia told him with a smile.
Orriss grinned as well and Aeris scowled at them for a moment before he laughed a bit self-consciously and nodded.
“I suppose that's true. But our wizard thinks I'm rather cantankerous. I've built up his expectations and I mustn't disappoint him. Anyway, let's concentrate on getting some blood from that blasted monster, shall we?”
The forests of what was once southern British Columbia were extensive and thick. Since magic had re-entered the world, they had become even more wild and menacing than they had ever been.
Twisted monsters prowled their depths and hid in darkened groves, dark wraiths waited in the deepest recesses of the woods and creatures not seen since the world was young stalked the trails there again.
Aethos, air elemental and elder of his kind, had no fear of these dangers. Very few beings, even those created by the renewed magic let back into the world, could see him as he traveled invisibly through the deep woods. And of those that could, most gave a being of his power a wide berth. He feared nothing and never had.
But now he hunted a red drake, a servant of the dead primal red dragon, and it made him nervous. It was such a new sensation that the elemental examined it closely as he searched the forest.
He knew that the drakes were cunning and strong. They could see through his invisibility; of that he had no doubt. And they were magical creatures, which meant that they could actually do him harm; something that most mortal creatures could not.
I suppose all of that together makes me nervous, he thought to himself. How odd.
The thick trees echoed with the sounds of teeming life. Howls and strange cries mingled with the screeching of birds and the screams of flying creatures that looked like leather-winged dinosaurs. The gods of Chaos had surely Changed the world into something from the time of magic. The trees towered hundreds of feet in the air and were connected with vines and hanging with moss. Those who had once lived here would never have recognized the forest now.
It was familiar to Aethos in a way. He had seen forests like these in the distant past. Like all elder elementals, he had existed almost since the Earth was created. He had seen civilizations rise and fall, had seen armies of legendary creatures battle. He had known mages and witches, shamans and clerics. He had even served wizards, when it pleased him to do so. And he toiled for one now; not in servitude but out of respect.
Simon O'Toole was different, the elemental conceded. He was caring and warm. He refused to use any elemental against their will, asking for their service, not ordering it. He gave the elementals his loyalty and earned theirs in return. He was, Aethos admitted to himself, quite extraordinary.
Which was why the elemental was here, flitting through the primordial forest on the trail of a red drake. Because the wizard w
as in pain, tormented. He had bonded with a silver dragon, merged with it somehow, using magic that Aethos had never even known existed. And he had done it for the most altruistic of reasons; to save his people. Only by combining his powers with those of the last silver dragon could the wizard have hoped to defeat the primal red.
And he had defeated it, and survived. It was the stupidest, bravest thing that Aethos could have ever conceived of. How could he not, out of admiration alone, attempt to help the wizard reverse the spell he now suffered under? How could he not at least try?
Added to that was the fact that the air elementals revered the silver dragons. Of all the draconic races, the silvers were the ones that Aethos and his people had the most in common with. The dragons' powers were similar to those from the air realm and their nobility was admirable. In the end, the elemental was performing his task as much for Esmiralla's benefit as for the wizard's. At least that is what he told himself.
Aethos stopped abruptly, hovering several dozen feet above the ground, and listened intently. The surrounding chatter of the forest was fading quickly and a new sound was taking its place.
Roars and bellows of rage echoed through the trees and the elemental turned in a slow circle, trying to determine the direction they were coming from.
Ah there, he thought, and shot through the trees toward the noise.
It was the sound of battle, of two creatures locked in mortal combat. And the hissing, screeching cacophony of one of the combatants was familiar to Aethos. It was the battle cry of a drake.
He dipped and wove through the branches, avoiding blankets of thick moss and the twisted trunks of massive trees. Finally the elemental saw the forest open up ahead and the bright sunlight warn of an approaching clearing and he slowed and moved forward cautiously.
Peering out at a large meadow choked with small shrubs, wildflowers and tall grasses, Aethos found the source of the sounds of battle and stared in surprise.
He had been right; one of the combatants was a red drake. A dozen feet long from snout to forked tail and covered in blood-red scales, the horned creature was screeching like a steam whistle as it slashed and bit at its foe.
The monster that it was battling was something that Aethos had not seen, and had not missed, for eons. As large as the drake but draped in thick white and yellow feathers; it was a griffon.
Its orange, serrated beak dripping with green blood, the griffon's massive wings flapped and rattled as it mindlessly attacked the drake, feathers flying in all directions.
What could make a griffon, a flying creature, attack a grounded monster like the drake, Aethos wondered. He watched in detached interest as the battle raged on.
A moment later, the elemental nodded invisibility to himself. The griffon's right wing was bent at an awkward angle with no sign of recent injury. The creature must have lost the ability to fly and been attacked by the drake. It didn't really matter to Aethos. Neither monster was anything but vicious and evil and he rather hoped they'd kill each other and save him the trouble.
The elemental looked around the edge of the clearing and spotted others watching the epic battle. He saw several large deer, horns gleaming like wicked daggers. He spotted the black fur of a massive bear and flickering, strange shapes that were monsters of some kind that he couldn't quite make out. Aethos knew that he would have to keep an eye on them when the time came for him to strike.
The combatants were evenly matched. The thick feathers of the griffon protected its body from the drake's attacks almost as well as the red monster's scales. Both were about the same size, although the reptilian drake was the heavier of the two.
Red blood splashed and mingled with green. Scales were torn off and feathers flew in a cloud as both creatures rolled and twisted and tore at each other. It was primeval and savage and even Aethos was repulsed by the simple-minded rage of the battle. If anything was needed to convince him of the lack of intelligence of drakes, it was this.
Neither creature showed any sign of tactics or planning; they simply threw themselves at each other, over and over again. It wasn't long before the combatants were covered in gore and showing signs of weakening. Aethos watched closely and allowed himself a resigned sigh. The griffon was going to lose.
As deeply as its talons gouged the drake and its beak sliced into the red hide, the drake's scales were simply too thick to allow the avian to deal a killing blow. On the other hand, the reptilian was biting deeply into the griffon through its feathers and its lighter weight and awkwardness on the ground worked against it.
I'll have to kill the damnable thing myself, the elemental thought ruefully. And quickly. Once the griffon is dead, the scavengers may work up their nerve and attack the injured drake en masse.
By luck or chance, the fighters had rolled and thrashed across the glade until they were fairly close to the edge of the forest where Aethos floated invisibly. He gathered his power, waiting for the drake to deliver the coup de grâce. It came suddenly.
The griffon leaped on to the drake, which twisted suddenly and flung its opponent a dozen feet away to land on its back. For a brief instant the bird-like creature lay stunned, feebly clawing at the sky, and the drake seized its opportunity, pounced on its helpless foe and disemboweled it.
The griffon screeched pathetically one last time, a wail of despair and agony and then collapsed and lay still. The forest seemed to hold its breath as the drake raised its hideous, blood-soaked head and bellowed triumphantly. It seemed to be daring the monsters that surrounded the clearing and it licked its muzzle clean of gore as it appeared to wait for another opponent.
There was no immediate response to the drake's challenge and its yellow eyes gleamed in wicked glee, even as its own blood dripped from the open wounds left by the griffon. It stretched its neck skyward and screamed its battle cry.
The howl was suddenly cut off abruptly and the drake's eyes widened with a look of almost comical surprise. This was followed by a grotesque, slopping sound as the misshapen head appeared to tear loose from its serpentine neck and drop to the ground with a meaty thunk. Green blood sprayed from its severed neck and the heavy body collapsed.
A stunned silence gripped the surrounding forest and then a misty outline, vaguely man-shaped, appeared next to the corpse and scooped up the dripping head.
Aethos held the grizzly trophy up by one twisted horn and looked around the edge of the clearing, seeing dozen of glowing sets of eyes watching him with evil intent.
“They're all yours,” he said loudly as he waved a hand at the two bodies. “I just need this. Enjoy.”
And he disappeared with loud crack like thunder while the forest came alive around the meadow and the monsters came out to fight over the remains.
The deserts of the former country of Australia were not all barren and lifeless. Scrub brush, hummock grasses and stunted trees managed to survive in one of the driest, hottest areas on Earth. It was the perfect place to find red dragon nests.
At least that was what Incendus was telling himself as he searched the broken landscape. Truth be told, the fire elemental was bored. He had reluctantly agreed to retrieve a dragon egg for the wizard, Simon O'Toole, and was now regretting his own eagerness.
Not that he didn't want to help the man with his rather unusual problem, Incendus told himself. He had huge respect for the wizard. But those born of fire, by their very nature, were in constant need of stimulation and this country was extremely dull.
When fire elementals traveled long distances, they assumed a form of pure flame. If anyone had spotted Incendus flying high over the arid country, they might have mistaken his blazing form for a meteorite. He moved with incredible speed, as fast as his air elemental cousins, and scanned the ground below for signs of a nesting dragon.
Damn that primal for giving his lesser dragons the ability to mate, Incendus cursed to himself. It was an unbelievable abomination. The world would be buried under the wings of thousands of those twisted monsters.
It was ba
d enough that their insane queen still lived, although she at least was witless and only a vague threat at the moment. But to allow dragons to mate? It was beyond his comprehension.
But enough of that, the elemental told himself irritably. The battle against the dragons was a task for the future; one he relished. Right now, he had to find an egg for the ritual to tear the wizard and the silver dragon apart.
What had Simon O'Toole been thinking when he'd made that agreement? What was the dragon's thinking? Incendus wondered briefly if the two of them weren't as mad as the dragon queen in their own way.
A movement ahead and below him pulled the elemental out of his gloomy reverie and he halted abruptly and floated on the wind, a crackling, shifting ball of fire hundreds of feet above the ground.
He focused his attention on a patch of sunken ground surrounded by stunted brown trees and what looked like heaps of displaced dirt. Was that a flash of red in the otherwise colorless landscape?
It was, the elemental thought gleefully. It was a dragon, wings spread out, brooding on a crude nest.
The question was, were there eggs down there?
He watched intently, waiting for the creature to move.
“Come on. Come on, you stupid beast,” he muttered, willing her to fold her wings so that he could see the nest beneath her.
After a moment, the nesting mother finally did shift and close her wings slightly and Incendus smiled to himself.
“Got you,” he said with a satisfied chuckle as he saw a handful of shiny pale ovules resting beneath her.
Incendus could perhaps be forgiven for what happened next. He was, after all, seeing a dragon's nest for the first time ever and his attention was focused entirely on it. But for whatever reason, he was caught completely by surprise.
From the blazing sky above him, a red dragon arrowed out of the sun and slammed into the distracted fire elemental. Over fifty feet in length and weighing a dozen tons, the monster bellowed its rage as it attacked its target, obviously defending its mate and offspring.
Tales from the New Earth: Volume Two Page 44