The elemental rubbed his hands together and a glow engulfed them. Simon watched, fascinated, as the glow increased to an almost painful level. Then with a final flash of brilliance, something appeared between Aethos' hands.
It was large, dark and misshapen and it took the wizard a moment to recognize what the elemental was holding.
“Oh gross,” he said in disgust as he stared into the dead eyes of a drake, which seemed to be staring back at him.
“Hmm, yes, I suppose it is. But you asked for a drake's blood and a drake's blood I have found,” Aethos said with obvious satisfaction.
“I thought it best to ascend high enough to freeze the thing before I brought it back,” he continued. “Less messy that way, don't you think?”
“Thanks, that was very thoughtful of you.” Simon continued to stare at the grizzly trophy. “Could you, um, leave it downstairs in the basement? It's cooler down there and I should be able to draw some blood off of it with minimal mess once it thaws out.”
“Of course, sir wizard. Is there anything else you need from me or should I return home?”
“No, that's fine, Aethos. I am very grateful for your help. I doubt that I would have been able to get a drake's blood on my own.”
The elemental chuckled.
“Oh, I think you would have found a way. You are quite resourceful. Farewell then, sir wizard. Do call if you need me again. You've kept my life interesting as of late and I find that I am enjoying our collaborations.”
“I will, Aethos. Thanks again and take care.”
The elemental bowed slightly and disappeared with a loud bang of imploding air.
'So, one ingredient down,' a voice said from inside his head.
“One down, two to go,” Simon answered the silver dragon out loud.
'Good. I know that you are as eager as I am to sever our connection.'
“I am. I didn't realize that I was being that obvious. But I'm sure you want your freedom back as much as I want my privacy. No offense.”
Laughter bubbled through his mind.
'None taken. You are correct. Patience, young wizard. We are getting closer now.'
Before he went to bed that night, Simon performed the distasteful task of draining some fluid from the drake's remains. Kronk joined him in the basement and watched silently as the wizard managed to fill a glass jar with stinking green blood.
Not only did it smell like week-old roadkill, it was slimy as well and Simon was surprised that he managed to seal the jar and wash up without vomiting. But he did, barely.
Kronk took the head away to bury it deep somewhere and the wizard washed the basement floor clean of the last bits of drake's blood. Unfortunately, the smell would linger for days.
The next morning brought Simon his second visitor in as many days.
The day was warm with only a few puffy clouds chugging across the sky and, for a change, Simon had thrown on a pair of old shorts and a ragged old t-shirt that was the size of a tent on his slim torso. It had fitted him back in the old days and was a reminder of just how much he had Changed physically since then.
He sat on the front steps of the tower, closed his eyes and leaned back, enjoying the warmth of the sun.
Kronk skittered around the corner from the back of the tower and made his way to the bottom of the steps. He stared up at Simon and seemed to be reading the shirt.
“What does that mean, master?” he asked as he pointed at the faded design on the t-shirt. “A Night at the Opera?”
Simon looked down at his chest and then grinned at the earthen.
“It was the title of an album by my favorite band back in the day; Queen. An amazing bunch of songs and not a dog in the lot. Blew me away when I first heard it as a teenager.”
“What is an album, master?” Kronk asked curiously.
Running his fingers through his hair, Simon frowned as he tried to think of a way to describe old records.
“Well, let's see. It was a way to record music by artists that could then be played back by people whenever they wanted to hear the music again.”
The little guy's red eyes widened.
“Oh, I see, master. That is very clever.”
“I suppose so. It was primitive compared to the digital stuff we used just before the world came crashing down around us. It's one of the things that I miss the most from those days, you know; music.”
“But you hum, master,” the little guy told him. “You do it all the time when you are working around the tower.”
He grinned and winked up at Simon.
“It drives Aeris crazy, by the way.”
“Does it? I'll have to remember that. Yeah, I guess I do hum but that's all I can do. Even in this new body, I can't sing worth a damn. A shame but you can't have everything, I suppose.”
A blast of heat made Simon scurry back up the steps on his heels and elbows, holding up a hand to shield his face.
Kronk was blown backwards and rolled several feet, rumbling a protest.
“Ah, oh my. I do apologize, sir wizard,” a voice like the hissing of embers said with some embarrassment.
Simon wiped sudden sweat out of his eyes and looked blearily at the writhing, shimmering outline of Incendus, who was hovering an inch above the ground and withering the grass beneath him.
“Perhaps I should have announced myself as those pompous airy ones do,” he added with a touch of condescension.
The wizard pushed himself up to a seated position, irritated and amused at the same time. He glanced down at Kronk, who stood up and walked back to the steps, giving the large burning figure a wide berth. The little guy nodded at him reassuringly.
“That's okay, Incendus,” Simon told the fire elemental. “No harm done. Did you find it?”
From the center of his essence, surrounded by flames, the fiery being pulled out a pale ovoid, the size and shape of a large watermelon.
“I did indeed. One dragon egg, as requested.”
He set it down on the ground below the steps and steam began to rise from the earth beneath it.
“Don't touch it for a few minutes; it's quite hot.”
“I can see that. Any problems getting it?”
Incendus snorted a laugh, twin jets of fire shooting from his nostrils.
“Well, the parents weren't pleased with me, I can tell you. Fortunately I'm quite a bit faster than they are, so I was able to snatch the egg and leave before things got too,” he grinned widely, “hot for me, as it were.”
Simon chuckled at the pun.
“Good. Well done. I very much appreciate the favor, Incendus.”
The burning figure made a dismissive gesture.
“Not at all, not at all. The hunt was rather dull, I will admit, but capturing the egg made up for it. Now, what else can I do to assist you?”
Simon was staring at the egg in fascination. Its leathery, skin-like surface was both interesting and disgusting at the same time.
“Oh, nothing. Nothing at all,” he said as he looked up at the elemental. “I am beyond grateful for this, but you are quite free to return to the realm of fire whenever you wish.”
“As you have never tried to command me, sir wizard, I am always free to do that, am I not?”
Incendus bent over and took a last long look at the egg.
“Ugly thing when you get right down to it, isn't it? Well, whatever you intend to do with it, good luck. I must tell you that I believe the red dragons are reproducing at an alarming rate. You might want to keep that in mind going forward.”
Simon narrowed his eyes and focused on the elemental.
“What makes you say that?”
“The fact that there were a half-dozen of these things in that one nest. If that is typical, and if the several hundred red dragons that exist are mating, then I invite you to compute the total of new dragonets. Now, I don't know how long it will take for those young dragons to mature, but even if it is a decade, you may only have that length of time before those several hundred becom
e several thousand.”
He shook his head and his expression darkened.
“A fairly grim prospect, don't you think?”
“Damn. I hadn't actually done the numbers in my head,” Simon told him, appalled. “If we don't find a way to thin out their ranks, we'll be ass-deep in dragons soon.”
“I agree. Well, let us cross that bridge when the need arises.”
Incendus bowed with a flourish.
“Do call when you need me again, Simon O'Toole. I enjoy the little jobs you give me.”
Before the wizard could reply, the elemental disappeared like a snuffed flame, leaving the smell of ashes and soot behind him.
“So this is a dragon egg, master,” Kronk muttered as he approached the ovoid.
He put his small hands against the side of the egg and Simon almost warned him off; the object was still radiating heat. But he remembered that Kronk wasn't affected by fire and watched with interest as the earthen ran his hands across the egg.
“What do you think?” the wizard asked when the little guy was finished and stepped back.
“Think, master? I think that it is disgusting and evil and I think that if you did not need it for this ritual of yours, I would crush it and stomp on it and bury it deep.”
Simon stared at Kronk in open-mouthed surprise. The earthen was the most gentle of souls, most of the time. His reply had caught the wizard off-guard.
“Really? That's so unlike you,” he said hesitantly to the little guy.
“No, master. Forgive me for correcting you, but it is not. My people hate evil in all of its forms and this?” Kronk pointed at the egg, his blocky face twisted with distaste. “This is potentially a servant of the gods of Chaos. Pure evil in every way. One day, if allowed to hatch and mature, it could be a threat to you, master. So I would willingly destroy it and all of its kind if I could.”
“Um, okay then. Good to know. Anyway, I guess when it's cooled down enough, we can put it downstairs with the vial of drake's blood. Now all we need is the blood from the dragon queen and we're good to go.”
'That is correct,' Esmiralla's internal voice told him faintly.
“I will take it to the cellar for you, master,” Kronk said stoutly, overcoming his obvious aversion to the egg. “Once it is no longer hot.”
“Thanks a lot. Now if only Aeris and the others could get back from their excursion, we could get on with this.”
“Hopefully soon, master. Aeris is stubborn, if nothing else, and he loves a challenge.”
“That's what I'm afraid of,” Simon told him as he pushed back his hair. “Sometimes that makes him reckless. Let's hope this isn't one of those times.”
Chapter 5
“She's gaining on us!” Orriss yelled frantically.
He didn't bother looking over his shoulder. He fancied that he could feel the dragon queen's hot breath on his back; certainly he could hear her deafening roars of insane rage.
“Just keep flying!” Aeris called back. “Brethia may only get one chance at this, so don't panic and disappear.”
“I won't, I won't. But she's getting too close!”
The pair of elementals were racing across the dunes, twisting and diving from hill to hill. Aeris had finally gotten sick of stalking the dragon and had decided to lure her into a spot where one of them could get a dram of her blood. It might not have been the smartest of ideas.
He was aiming for a line of scrub brush that marked an arroyo ahead. The ground there dipped suddenly and led to a narrow, high-walled canyon that he hoped would funnel the worm-like queen in the direction they wanted her to go. At least, that was the plan.
“Damn it, Orriss, keep up!” he shouted angrily over his shoulder. “What kind of an air elemental are you? You're going to get your slow ass killed if you don't get moving.”
Although he would never admit it, Aeris was afraid that the younger elemental would be destroyed by the mad dragon queen. And if he was, it would be Aeris' fault as his senior and leader. He couldn't allow that to happen.
He risked a quick look behind them. The queen was slithering over the sand like a huge snake, her yellow, crusty scales rasping across the ground with an ear-splitting squealing sound. Combined with her constant bellows of rage, the air shivered with noise.
She was about fifty yards back now and gaining, as Aeris had had to lower his speed to allow Orriss to keep up. Her enormous red eyes were locked on both of them and she chased them with a focus that was foreign to the insane creature. In a way, the elementals had given her a purpose, if only temporarily.
If my dear wizard could see us now, he'd have a few choice words for me, Aeris thought with a wince. I cannot let this situation end in disaster.
Somehow Orriss managed a burst of speed and shot by Aeris, who barked several words of encouragement at him.
“Now keep going,” he added loudly. “Get through those bushes and go invisible. I'll do the rest.”
Orriss waved at him silently, saving his energy for the race and Aeris lagged a bit more to give the young one his chance to get clear.
A wave of heat suddenly engulfed him and Aeris cursed under his breath as he realized that the queen had gotten close enough to belch fire at him. Her fiery breath was even deadlier than a normal dragon's would be. Plus, the line of erect quills that sprang up between her eyes and ran all the way down her spine were hollow and filled with a murderous poison. Fortunately, air elementals were immune to any poison or disease, but the queen's flames could still kill him.
He accelerated to keep ahead of her and watched with some relief as Orriss disappeared through the scrub brush ahead. Finally. Now it was up to him to keep the mad dragon's attention while Brethia did her job. He hoped this scheme worked because the thought of repeating all of this made him feel almost physically ill.
He looked back again, afraid that the queen might be losing interest in the chase, but he need not have worried. Her gaze was chillingly locked on him, her eternal rage given a target.
Now for the final push, he said to himself and reached for the last of his strength. He crested the low hill ahead, burst through the dry brittle plants and dropped down into the arroyo. A hollow to his left appeared empty as he shot by it, but he knew that Brethia was in there, invisibly waiting for the queen to pass.
The deep, narrow canyon ran a long way, at least a mile. It was an anomaly that Aeris couldn't explain, but it had given him his idea when they had stumbled upon it two days earlier as they'd followed the queen.
“Wait. You want me to what?” Brethia had asked in surprise.
The three had been hovering over the arroyo, the queen a distant blur on the horizon.
“Take her blood. Look, it's pretty straightforward. Orriss and I can get her angry and lead her to this canyon, ditch, whatever you want to call it. It's deep and narrow enough to funnel her in a straight line along its length, so she won't stray off-course, which is what has been defeating our efforts to get some blood up until now, right? All you have to do is hide off to one side,” he pointed to one end of the arroyo, “that small depression near the entrance will do nicely. Take a sample as she passes and that will be that. She won't even feel it.”
Both Brethia and Orriss had listened dubiously but had agreed to the plan. Neither had any better ideas and they had been stalking the queen for far too long as it was.
Please let this work, Aeris muttered as he zoomed down the narrow canyon. Please, please let this work.
He waited until he was several dozen yards into the ancient waterway, if that's what it was, before looking back. He was just in time to see the massive, scarred body of the dragon queen surge into the canyon, actually becoming airborne for a few seconds due to her tremendous speed. It was a magnificent, horrific sight and Aeris felt a rush of fear as he tried to increase his own velocity and stay out of the reach of the monster.
She landed with an earth-shaking crash, dirt and debris flying in all directions and sending a cloud of dust shooting down the canyon
. The cloud engulfed Aeris and he was blinded in an instant.
He had no choice. Without his sense of sight and with an enraged giant wyrm on his tail, Aeris knew that he wouldn't survive more than a few seconds if he became disoriented. So he did the only thing he could do; he turned invisible and shot straight up out of the arroyo to safety.
It was very close though. He actually felt the searing, magical breath of the queen on his back and heard her immense stomach gurgling as he flew out of range. It was one of the most terrifying situations he'd ever been through and not something he intended to repeat.
When he was about two hundred feet above the ground, Aeris became visible again and looked down.
The mad queen had already traversed the arroyo and was racing off mindlessly toward the horizon, probably still unaware that her prey had escaped. Aeris felt a momentary pang of sympathy for her endless plight and then looked around for Brethia and Orriss.
He saw both of them ascending to join him and he saw twin expressions of satisfaction on their faces. He felt a swoop of hope as he waited for them; maybe the plan had worked. At least they were all still alive.
“Did you get it?” he asked Brethia eagerly when she arrived.
She made a swirling motion with both hands and a glowing globule of green liquid appeared between them.
“As ordered, a dram of dragon queen blood,” she replied with a wide smile. “She never even noticed the small wound I made between her scales. I had to be quick and precise, but I managed it.”
Orriss cheered and Aeris congratulated Brethia heartily. She shrugged and shook her head.
“We did it as a team, my friends,” she told them. “Our wizard will hopefully be pleased.”
“I think we can be certain that Simon will be ecstatic,” Aeris assured her. “And, as we have been given permission to return when our mission was done, you can both teleport back to the tower as soon as you'd like.”
“Excellent. I for one am tired of the endless sand of this place,” Orriss said.
He disappeared with a small pop, leaving Aeris and Brethia to stare at the yellowish smudge in the distance that was the dragon queen.
Tales from the New Earth: Volume Two Page 46