Simon frowned as he walked to the very edge of the island and peered as hard as he could across the river.
“The tower is still ruined. The other buildings are still shapeless piles of rubble. So what's changed?”
He finally worked out the difference from his last memories of the place.
“Someone's built something on top of the Peace Tower,” he said to himself. “It's still misshapen and a wreck, but it is definitely higher than it was four years ago.”
Who would do that? And why?
Simon found a semi-comfortable spot on the ground clear of glassy residue and sat down to think.
Why build up a tower? The obvious answer would be to use it as a look-out, a guard post. But when he had retreated from the city, racing to get out of town before the sunset, there had been no organization, no cohesive group of people inhabiting the city. There had just been a small group of Changlings, odd creatures who had begun Changing as children and had powers that he still didn't understand, and their hunters. The hunters, unseen by Simon at the time, had been led by an unpleasant-sounding woman who had called herself Madam.
Madam. The name still made him shiver. A year after Simon had fled the city, Madam had come calling on his friends in the town of Nottinghill, leading an undead army. It turned out that the creature had been a lich, raised by the dark gods to wipe out any and all people she could find. She had nearly succeeded with the inhabitants of the small settlement.
Simon's powers had been very limited then. He could only memorize a few spells at a time and the battle had been a near thing.
“You know, I owe that victory to my first staff,” he said to Mortis de Draconis, holding it across his knees. “It was very clever, for a length of sentient wood, I mean.”
Madam and her followers had been destroyed, but before that happened the monster claimed to have killed the young Changlings in the city and turned them into her undead slaves. If that was true, then who had built the addition to the Peace Tower?
She could have been lying, Simon thought as he stared at the misshapen tower. She might have just said that to piss me off. And if that's the case, maybe they still live. They could be thriving. Who knows?
He remembered the one youngster who had saved his life the day he returned to his home town. Covered from head to toe in rags and as small as a child, she had warned him to run when Madam and her pack had cornered him.
“Sarah,” he whispered.
She said her name was Sarah. She and her group of Changlings, all hidden from prying eyes in cast-off rags, had constantly been on the move to stay ahead of the undead. But even though their leader, Bobby, had distrusted Simon, Sarah had given him a warning, and a gift. She had warned him to leave the city before sundown, and she had handed him a pebble. On one side, a weird rune had been etched into its surface.
Where is that little stone, he wondered. Simon was sure that it was somewhere in his tower. It had been precious to him. Sarah had somehow used it to communicate with him when Madam was closing in, telling him to run. She said that the unseen menace was powerless in the sunlight, and she had been right.
Unfortunately, once he had left the city his connection to the child had faded away and he'd never seen or heard from her again.
Simon stood up with a grunt and leaned on his staff. He looked at the tower once again.
If I just Gate blindly into town, I could be in for an unpleasant surprise. I need to scout with the Magic Mirror spell first, but even that might not be good enough.
I need to find that pebble, he thought.
Simon took one last look at the distant tower and held up his staff.
“Gate.”
Chapter 16
An hour later, Simon and the two elementals were tearing up the tower, searching for Sarah's pebble.
“Damn it,” the wizard said as he groped through his desk in the study. “If I was an enchanted bit of rock, where would I hide?”
“Does that method actually work?” Aeris asked as he peered into the bookshelves, scanning one row at a time.
“Not really. What I should say is, if I was a distracted young wizard with very few powers and his head up his ass, where would I drop a pebble? That might work better.”
Aeris snickered while continuing his search.
“As amusing as that sounds, my dear wizard, you are being too hard on yourself. Back then you didn't think that you would ever be returning to your old city. You were concerned with survival, mastering your craft, learning all that you could about magic. That pebble must have seemed inconsequential at that time.”
“I'm still concerned with all of those things,” Simon told him as he knelt down and searched the floor under his desk. “But now that pebble is a hell of a lot more important to me than it was then.”
“Master!” Kronk shouted from downstairs.
Simon's head jerked up in surprise and slammed into the underside of the desk. He yelled in pain and then pulled out every curse word he'd ever known as he held his throbbing skull.
There was a moment of silence in the tower, punctuated by the wizard's continued cursing, and Kronk stuck his head in the room.
“Master?” he said tentatively.
“Relax,” Aeris told him as Simon got to his feet, one hand holding the top of his head.
“Our great leader just smacked himself. He'll live.”
“Oh master, was that because of me? I am so sorry!”
“Relax, Kronk,” Simon told him. “Ouch. It's not...ow...your fault. I was just startled, that's all.”
He held his head a minute longer and then checked his hand for blood. His mass of hair had prevented any real damage and Simon now felt like an idiot.
A feeling I've become all too familiar with, he thought with pained amusement.
“Anyway, what's up?” he asked Kronk as he said down gingerly on the chair behind the desk.
The little guy tip-tapped across the room, jumped up on the desk and stood looking at Simon dubiously.
“Are you sure you are okay, master? I could get a poultice or something for your injury.”
“I'm fine. Really. Now, why did you howl like a banshee?”
Aeris floated over and stood next to Kronk. The earthen looked at him, puzzled.
“Did I howl like a banshee? I have heard a banshee's howl and I do not think my voice could ever hit that high a note.”
“Hmm, good point,” Aeris answered thoughtfully. “Actually I'd say you bellowed like a buffalo. Much lower tone.”
“A buffalo? Really? I do not know about that. That sounds undignified. Perhaps a rock golem or...”
Simon sighed in exasperation and tapped on the desk.
“Guys? We're getting off track here. Let's focus. Kronk, what is going on?”
“Oh yes. Well master, I've thought of a simpler way to find that bit of stone. I can go down below the root of the tower and merge with it. That way I can feel every bit of rock and stone in the building. If that pebble is here, I will find it.”
“Wow. You can do that?”
“Oh yes, master. It is difficult and will take some time but I can certainly do it.”
Simon leaned forward and stared into the little guy's burning red eyes.
“Is it painful?”
Kronk seemed puzzled.
“Painful? No master, quite the opposite. For one of my kind, it is actually quite liberating. We are one with the stone for a time.”
The little guy looked around and lowered his voice.
“Indeed, master, I have heard of some of my people merging with stone and never returning. Whether because they could not or they chose not to is a mystery.”
“Hang on just a minute,” Aeris interjected. “If that's true, then how do we know if you'll even return from this merging thingy? I don't know about the great and powerful wizard here,” Simon rolled his eyes, “but I for one don't feel like living in a place made partially of your dead body. That's...gross.”
“Aeris...”
the wizard began but stopped as Kronk shook his head.
“I do not want to lose myself in the stone. I am enjoying my time here far too much for that. Those who were lost were ancient beings whose lives had become a meaningless existence. Many were slaves to ancient wizards who used them badly. By all accounts they were ready to end it all and became one with the element of earth. It was their escape, you see.”
He smiled happily at Simon.
“I do not wish to escape. I have far too much to do. Why, the gardening alone...”
“Fine, Kronk. Fine,” Aeris cut in. “Just checking.”
“If you think it will help, my friend, then the choice is yours,” Simon told him gratefully. “How long will it take?”
“Several hours, master. But do not worry; I will be back.”
The earthen hopped off of the desk, waved as he reached the door and left the room.
“I'm not sure if that was a promise or a threat,” Aeris said as he stared at the doorway.
Simon had to laugh.
“You really never stop, do you?”
Aeris looked at him and grinned mischievously, obviously knowing what the wizard meant.
“I wouldn't be me if I did, now would I, my dear wizard?”
“Can't argue with that. Well, I guess we can leave the search in Kronk's capable hands.”
He rubbed his scalp gently for a moment and then picked up the hand mirror. Kronk had managed to fuse all of the shards together again into a smooth surface and had even straightened out the silver housing. He could barely tell that he'd smashed the thing in a moment of grief.
It had also been his mother's mirror and was the only memento he had to remember her by, except for his memories. He was very glad that Kronk could repair it.
“So let's check out the city, shall we?” he said to Aeris.
“Ah, good idea. This should be interesting.”
The elemental moved to hover at Simon's right shoulder and both of them peered at their own reflections.
“You might want to shave,” Aeris told the wizard. “I think I see a hair above your upper lip.”
“Shut up,” Simon snapped at him and they exchanged grins in the mirror.
The wizard cast the Magic Mirror spell and concentrated on the ruined Peace Tower as he had seen it earlier in the day.
While they waited for the magic to find its target, Aeris looked at Simon curiously.
“What exactly were you doing so close to that city, by the way? You do realize how dangerous it was, right? I didn't want to say anything in front of Kronk; you know how he gets. But seriously? You got close enough to see these Parliament Buildings of yours?”
“I told you already; it just sort of happened. I was walking and remembering the past and then I reached the river. I followed the shoreline, saw the island and Gated over. End of story.”
“Uh-huh. Okay then, stick with that explanation if it helps you sleep at night.”
Simon ignored him and focused on the mirror.
“It's clearing,” he said and both he and Aeris leaned forward to peer at the vista appearing before them.
“Holy crap.”
It was past sunset and Simon was sitting in his comfy chair in front of the fireplace, sipping some wine when Kronk came bounding in the front door and slammed it behind him.
“Master, I am back!” he exclaimed as he hurried across the room.
“We can see that,” Aeris said acerbically. He was bobbing gently just above the floor in from of the fire and throwing off rainbows of colored light.
“Welcome back,” Simon told him with a smile. “How are you feeling?”
The little guy jumped up on to the arm of the chair, looking quite pleased with himself.
“Very well, master. I found the experience quite refreshing. I now know every nook and cranny of this tower in a way that I never have before.”
He looked around the room with an affectionate expression.
“It is a good building, master. Strong bones. It will last as long as you need it to.”
“Good, because I have no intention of living anywhere else any time soon.”
Simon took another sip of wine and Kronk looked at it curiously.
“I felt a need for something fortifying,” the wizard told him. “I'll explain in a minute. So what about the pebble?”
“The pebble? Oh yes, the pebble! Wait a moment, master and I will fetch it.”
Kronk jumped down again, tip-tapped across the room and ran up the stairs.
“He never does anything in half measures, have you noticed that?” Aeris asked. “It's all or nothing for that guy.”
“I know. Not a bad way to be, I suppose, but hard to maintain for most of us.”
“I agree. Oh well, it helps to define him, I suppose.”
“And what defines you, Aeris?” Simon teased. “A lack of urgency?”
“I'll have you know that I have plenty of urgency when the situation warrants it,” the elemental replied with some dignity. “I simply can't see getting excited over things like searching for a piece of rock or gardening. Honestly, it's sometimes exhausting just to be around him.”
“Be nice,” Simon told him. “He has a good heart.”
“Well, technically neither of us has a heart, but I know what you mean. Ah well.”
Aeris sighed and they both went back to staring at the dancing flames. It was soothing and after what they had seen in the mirror, Simon had a feeling that the elemental needed that calming effect as much as he did.
Kronk returned quickly, skittering down the stairs in a way that always made Simon think of someone wearing tap shoes. And he smiled at the sound every time.
“Here it is, master,” the earthen said as he jumped back up on to the chair and offered the wizard the round pebble.
“Where was it, anyway?” Aeris asked. “We practically tore this place apart and found no sign of it.”
“There is a crack in the floor underneath one of the bookcases in master's study,” Kronk told him. “Somehow the little stone rolled under there and became lodged in the crack.”
“Huh. I wonder how that happened,” Simon said as he held the smooth pebble up and examined it in the firelight.
Aeris floated over and stared at the stone. He snorted as he bobbed there, hands on his hips.
“Not very impressive, is it?”
“Aeris, it's a rock,” Simon told him dryly. “It's not supposed to dance and tell jokes.”
He turned the pebble over and saw the same crude etching that he remembered from the day he received it. It felt like it had been a hundred years ago.
“Ah, now that's interesting,” the air elemental said as he zipped forward to peer closely at the design. “I've seen this somewhere before.”
“Have you? Where?”
“Patience, my dear wizard. Give me a moment to think.”
Simon turned the pebble so that Kronk could see the oddly-shaped rune.
“Do you recognize it?” he asked the little guy.
Kronk shrugged indifferently.
“I am afraid not, master. Magic and runes were never of great interest to my people. Those of the air realm concerned themselves more closely with such things.”
“So I've heard.”
Both Simon and Kronk watched as Aeris folded his legs in midair, put his elbows on his knees and frowned in concentration.
“Where was it?” he said softly to himself. “Where?”
While Simon waited for the elemental to remember, or not, he got up and refilled his glass. The wine had been a gift from the people of Nottinghill Castle. They were growing grapes again and their vintner was busy turning out as much wine as he could. It wasn't half bad either.
“Master, why are you drinking that?” Kronk asked softly when the wizard had sat down again. “You rarely touch alcohol. Did something happen while I was below ground searching for that stone?”
Simon nodded, took a sip, nodded again.
“You could
say that, yes. Something that goes far beyond me deciding whether to bury Daniel's ashes in Ottawa or not. Something that could radically change our lives, for better or for worse. I'm not sure about that part yet.”
“What was it, master?”
“Let's wait for Aeris, okay? We'll talk when he's done thinking.”
“As you say, master.”
Simon was grateful that the little guy wasn't argumentative, at least not with him. His relationship with Aeris was another matter entirely and they could spend hours sniping at each other. The wizard suspected that they each secretly enjoyed it.
He was just finishing his second glass of wine and wondering if elementals actually could fall asleep after all, when Aeris lifted his head and caught his eye.
“Got it,” he said, standing in midair again. “I remember now.”
“And?”
“And. I was enslaved by a particularly nasty wizard at the time; a wizard who specialized in rune work. She invented many unique runes and achieved a certain, shall we say, notoriety among the magical community.”
“Really? Why? What did she use her runes for?”
“Mostly for assassinations. She became the go-to wizard if some wealthy lord or noble wanted someone, um, taken care of, as they say.”
“You worked for a murderer?” Kronk asked, wide-eyed.
“You know better than that,” Aeris snapped at him. “Back then we were thought of as tools, remember? Mindless slaves who did as they were told. Or did you have a different experience than mine?”
Kronk hesitated and then shook his head slowly.
“What you say is true. It must have been horrible for you.”
“It was a nightmare.”
Aeris looked at Simon hopelessly.
“She made me a part of her terrible schemes. As an air elemental, I was perfectly suited for the task of spying out her targets, watching their patterns, infiltrating their homes.”
He hesitated and stared at the pebble that Simon had left on the arm of his chair.
“And when the time was right, I would take one of this wizard's runes and leave it in the bed chamber of her victim.”
Tales from the New Earth: Volume Two Page 60