Instead of his usual sarcastic response, the air elemental simply smiled wanly and settled on to the arm of the chair opposite to the earthen while his companions moved to float in front of the fire.
Aeris offered up the mirror and Simon took it and looked at him in confusion.
“What do you mean, it's out of hand?” he asked and looked at the other air elementals. “And why do I need this?”
Aeris had a strange, wide-eyed expression on his face and the wizard thought that he seemed frightened. It was a rare look for the elemental.
“I meant exactly what I said. The undead masses that were gathered around that tower are gone. All of them. My friends here intercepted me before I could get to the city. They were just about to return here with their report. I thought you might want to use the mirror to confirm their observations.”
“How can you be sure they are gone?” Kronk asked as Simon cast the Magic Mirror spell.
“I'm not, but Stennos and Osteros are. According to them, the land around the tower is churned up from many undead feet, but the horrible things are gone.” He glanced at the air elementals. “Strangely enough though, the necromancer is still there, on that tower. I guess that he's no general; certainly he isn't leading his troops.”
“Okay, this is just getting weirder,” Simon said as the mirror fogged over. “Where did they go? Are they all heading in the same direction or did they split up into groups?”
“We don't know, sir wizard,” Stennos spoke up. “It happened so fast. One moment they were there and the next, poof, they were gone. Osteros and I were circling the perimeter of the city in opposite directions and I swear that we were out of sight of that tower for no more than a few minutes, but they disappeared within that window. It's as if they knew we were keeping an eye on them.”
“That necromancer might have,” Simon said as he watched the mirror.
“Master, a suggestion?”
“Yes Kronk?”
“You could send myself and some of my fellows who are guarding the outer wall to follow the tunnels and find your answers for you. It may be the only way to discover that necromancer's plans.”
Simon looked at the earthen with some concern.
“Could you do that safely? I don't want to risk any of you just for that.”
“Of course we could, master. We can use our senses to follow the tunnels at a distance. It would be very safe.”
“And who would guard the tower while those earthen are gone, hmm?” Aeris asked pointedly.
Kronk nodded at Stennos and Osteros.
“Them. You are constantly regaling us with tales of how good your people are as scouts. Well, let them prove it.”
Simon heard the challenging tone in Kronk's voice and hid a smile. The little guy was basically calling out Aeris. It was a rare event.
“Ah, um, yes. Of course,” Aeris blustered while the other air elementals watched him with wide eyes. “These two are worth a dozen earthen when it comes to standing watch. You should let Kronk go ahead, my dear wizard. We will keep the tower guarded while they are gone.”
The wizard looked at Kronk, who nodded vigorously, and sighed loudly.
“Fine. Kronk, how many will you need?”
“All of them, master, if you will permit it. It will speed up our mission considerably.”
“All right. Take the five of them with you. Stennos, Osteros? Would you mind patrolling the wall around the tower while the earth elementals are gone? It's your choice, of course.”
“It would be our pleasure, sir wizard,” Osteros spoke for the first time. “I am sure that Aeris will join us as well.”
Simon looked at Aeris and raised an eyebrow.
“Aeris?”
“Yes, of course. You two go ahead. I'll be along in a few minutes.”
“Be careful, Kronk,” Simon told him as the earthen hopped off of the chair.
“Always, master. We will be back soon, I am sure.”
He raced for the door and Stennos and Osteros flew off after him. All three left at once and Kronk slammed the door shut behind them.
“He got you,” Simon told Aeris with a grin.
The elemental chuckled and moved up the arm of the chair so that he could see into the mirror.
“That he did. He wasn't wrong though. He and the others will be able to follow those tunnels discretely while my people and I keep an eye on things here. Now the question is, what is that damnable necromancer up to?”
The mirror began to clear and Simon nodded at it.
“Let's find out,” he said.
The mirror 's point of view started well above the wreckage of the former Parliament Buildings and the Peace Tower. The area was dark but there were still several torches burning at points around the gaping hole.
“No movement,” Simon said quietly.
“None. Stennos was correct. The undead are gone.”
“What about our 'friend' in the tower?”
Simon tilted the mirror and the view changed to focus on the ruined tower. It was dark and deserted. There was no magical globe and no evil spell-caster.
“Crap! He's gone.”
Aeris rose up and flew across to the counter. He lifted the kettle, shook it and flew back to the fireplace. At Simon's inquiring look, he shrugged.
“You seem to think better when you are drinking tea.”
“Do I? Okay, sure. Thanks. Now why would that guy suddenly gather his troops and move out? Do you think he knew that he was being watched?”
“I very much doubt it,” Aeris replied as he waited for the water to boil. “Bad timing on our part is more like it. I think that you were lucky to have spotted him when you did. If you'd waited a few days longer, all that you would have found would have been a big hole and a mystery.” He hesitated. “One might almost think that you were the target of divine inspiration.”
Simon had to laugh.
“Do you really think the lords of Light are helping me? Now? Where the hell have they been over the past five years?”
Aeris frowned at him.
“Helping you. Or have you forgotten that they brought you back from the dead? Twice, I might add. Maybe now that the primal dragons have been destroyed and their eternal enemies have changed tactics, they managed to 'nudge' you in the right direction? It's possible, you know.”
Simon stood up and walked over to the sink. He rinsed out the cup sitting there and prepared his tea.
“Look, I've seen and done enough now to know that anything is possible. But in this case, I think we can chalk it up to simple coincidence. Besides, either way we still have to deal with that guy and the threat he poses.”
Aeris carried the steaming kettle over and poured hot water into Simon's cup.
“I agree,” the elemental said as he set down the kettle. “Which is why we basically have to sit here, be patient and wait for Kronk to report back.”
“No, that's why I have to do that,” Simon corrected him as he sat down in front of the fire again. “You have a perimeter to patrol, remember?”
With a grimace, Aeris reluctantly flew to the front door.
“Fine, I'll do that. But please call me when Kronk returns if I don't see him first.”
“I will. Have fun.”
“Always the comedian,” Aeris answered sourly and left the tower.
Simon laughed to himself and settled into his chair to wait. He suspected that it was going to be a long night.
Chapter 20
After an hour of silently staring into the fire, Simon got up and went upstairs to his study. He scanned through his bookshelf and pulled out one of the reference manuals that he'd saved from the old days. He tucked the large tome under his arm and returned to his comfy chair.
He summoned a mage light and set it to hover just behind him so that he could read comfortably. The book on his lap had a black leather cover and was quite heavy. Across its spine was the title in gold lettering: 'Malevolence: A Study in Black Magic'.
This was one of Daniel's choic
es for Simon's library.
How did he know that I'd need this one day, the wizard wondered. How?
It was a question he had asked himself numerous times over the past five years. Daniel had been a visionary and his choices had saved Simon's life more than once, but he was still amazed at how much the man had foreseen.
He opened the tome and began skimming through it. The entire book was rather horrible. There was page after page of incantations that he would not have understood back in the old days. Now though he could read them, more or less, but the gut-churning magic associated with the spells was absolutely alien to him and he knew just by looking at them that this power was totally inaccessible to him.
“Just as well,” he murmured in disgust as he flipped through the pages.
He found a large section filled with illustrations and settled deeper into his chair as he examined each one.
The artist who had drawn these pictures had been a master. He or she must also have been somewhat perverse.
“Skeleton,” Simon muttered.
The picture showed the standard bony figure that could have been found in any medical book, but with an evil twist. The naked skull was weirdly warped and the monster was holding up a rusty sword. Twin flames burned in the empty eye sockets and its mouth gaped open in a mindless scream.
He flipped the page and shuddered.
“Ghoul.”
This picture was somehow worse than the skeleton, even though they were very similar. The difference with the ghoul as that it was covered in bits of dried skin that flapped off of its bones. And it had eyes inside its leering skull. Eyes without lids which made the ghoul look even more insane, if that was possible.
The next few pages were filled with a rogue's gallery of undead monsters, all hand-drawn by a master artist. Zombies, wights, wraiths; they were all there and all horrible.
What makes it so much worse is knowing that they are actually real, Simon thought grimly. Real and out there somewhere.
He closed the book with a snap and set it on the side table.
“So how do I stop those things?”
“Sir wizard?” a gentle voice spoke from behind him.
Simon looked over his shoulder and saw Brethia flying down the stairs.
“Yes Brethia?”
“Sir, could you come up to the roof please?”
The wizard stood up and hurried over to meet her at the steps.
“What's wrong?”
“It...will be easier for you to see it, my lord. Please.”
“No problem. Let's go.”
It only took a minute to get to the roof. Simon pulled himself up the final rungs of the ladder and stepped out into the cool evening air.
He instantly saw Brethia and Orriss bobbing side-by-side in the light breeze that was wafting over the tower. They glowed slightly, making them easy to spot.
They were at the eastern edge of the roof and Orriss motioned at Simon urgently the moment he saw him.
“Sir wizard, this way,” he called out.
“What is it?” Simon asked as he joined them.
“My lord,” Brethia said as she pointed downward. “We spotted an anomaly and wanted you to see it.”
“An anomaly? Where?”
Simon leaned over the parapet to look at the open area between the outside wall and the forest. The ground there was monochromatic in the weak moonlight, but he could see it fairly well even in the dark.
He gasped as he realized that the ground was actually heaving, pulsing up and down like a living thing. Leaves and small plants in the clearing were shaking and flying in all directions.
“Good God, it's as if it's breathing, isn't it?”
“Yes sir,” Brethia agreed. “I have never seen anything like it. Perhaps you could send Kronk or one of the other earthen to check it out?”
“I'd love to, but they are away on a mission at the moment. Damn it.”
“That is unfortunate,” Orriss said as he watched the weird movement below. “In that case, I can go down and get a closer look, sir wizard.”
“Not a chance,” Simon told him quickly. “No one leaves the safety of these walls. A lot of bad things are happening right now and I won't take any chances with anyone that works for me. Clear?”
Orriss bowed slightly and Simon thought that he looked a little relieved.
“Clear, my lord.”
A glowing figure suddenly shot straight up and over the parapet
“What in the Four Winds is happening?”
It was Aeris.
“Good question,” Simon replied as he stared at the moving ground beyond the wall. “I have no idea.”
Aeris joined him while Brethia and Orriss moved back politely.
“Kronk hasn't returned, obviously,” the air elemental commented.
“Obviously. Bad timing, I guess. We could really use his help right about now.”
“I'm guessing that you want us all to stay within the warding?”
Simon nodded and leaned forward, resting his forearms on the low parapet. He squinted at the movement in the clearing.
“What could be causing that?”
“I have no idea, but I don't like it. At all.”
The wizard looked at him and then nodded toward the area of the outer wall closest to the disturbed area.
“Touch my shoulder. I need to get down there.”
“Um, okay,” Aeris said in confusion.
Simon focused on the wall below.
“Gate,” he said.
The teleport took less than a second and the pair were suddenly standing on the wall looking over the land that stretched off toward the distant trees.
“Ah, that was handy.”
“Thanks. Now, what is that?”
The shadows and thin moonlight were confusing to the eye and Simon just couldn't focus well enough to make out any details.
“Screw this,” he snapped.
“What?”
The wizard stood up straighter and stretched out his left arm.
“Mortis de Draconis,” he said loudly.
The staff appeared in his hand and Simon nodded in satisfaction, leaning on it. Then he made a gesture with his right hand and a globe of silver light materialized in front of him, shining brightly. He motioned at it and it rose several feet above his head.
Simon summoned two more blazing mage lights and sent them to join the first one.
“Okay, let's shed some light on this mystery,” he said and sent the trio of silvery globes over the wall toward the still-churning ground.
The mage lights began rotating around each other as they moved and their area of illumination became much larger. The ground a dozen feet below them was lit up brightly and Simon could make out fine details as they moved.
“Much better,” he muttered and Aeris nodded silently as he watched the lights through narrowed eyes.
“Where are Stennos and Osteros?” Simon asked as he kept his eyes on the slowly moving lights.
“Patrolling the wall. Don't worry; they won't let anything creep up on us while we're investigating this thing.”
“Good. One worry at a time.”
The three lights approached the weirdly moving ground, about fifty yards out from the wall. Simon lifted his hand a bit and they rose up higher and merged into one intense globe of radiance, as bright as a spotlight. The ground was lit up in all directions and the wizard could finally see the mysterious area.
“What the hell?”
The ground was slowly spinning in a clockwise direction as if it had been turned to mud. There was a vibration that could be felt even from the wall and Simon and Aeris could hear a low, grinding sound, like rock scraping on stone. Twigs and branches snapped and were pulled out of sight as the earth was stirred as if by a giant invisible spoon.
“What could be causing that?” the wizard wondered.
“It's new to me,” Aeris told him, puzzled.
Simon looked from side to side, spotted the closest rune and m
oved quickly over to it. He put his right hand on it and raised his staff.
“Let's strengthen this while I'm down here.”
Mortis de Draconis pulsed and drew in magical energy. Simon felt it channel up his left arm, concentrate in his chest next to his heart and then drain away down his right arm and into the rune cut into the stone on the wall. A muted blue pulse of color lit the wall for a brief moment and then faded again.
“There,” he said and rubbed his eyes. His legs felt a little weak but it passed quickly.
“Are you all right?” Aeris asked.
Simon forced a smile, nodded and went back to watching the moving, churning ground out in the clearing.
“Master?” a voice called out.
“What the...?”
The wizard looked around in the dark for Kronk but couldn't see him.
“Kronk? Where are you?”
He heard a tip-tapping sound and realized that the earthen was jumping up a ladder somewhere nearby.
“Here, master,” the little guy said loudly as he hopped up on to the wall in front of the parapet and hurried over to Simon.
“You're back,” Aeris said and pointed out at the moving ground in the distance. “Any idea what that is?”
“Yes. Master, you need to strengthen the wards on this wall,” the little guy said urgently.
“I just did. Why?”
Before Kronk could answer, all sounds faded around them. The ground became still and the bright mage light broke apart into its three separate globes again. They began to vibrate and then all three shattered in showers of sparks.
“What?” Simon whispered.
“Master, they are coming!”
A massive explosion deafened the wizard and he stumbled backwards, almost falling off of the parapet. Aeris zipped around him and pushed him upright, holding on to his robe firmly until Simon found his balance.
He thanked the elemental and raised a hand, creating a new globe of light. Then he sent it streaking across the clearing toward the source of the explosion. Its radiance grew in strength as it flew until the area was brightly lit again. But now, instead of a field heaving mysteriously, a huge hole had opened up in its place. Fumes and smoke billowed out of the crater and Simon gaped as he saw countless bony arms groping for a handhold.
Tales from the New Earth: Volume Two Page 65