“The undead, master.”
“Yeah, thanks. I can see that,” Simon told him loudly, his ears still ringing. “How many?”
Kronk didn't answer right away and when the wizard looked down at him, he shrugged.
“All of them, master,” he answered gravely.
“Oh crap.”
Simon looked back at the field and felt a chill race up his spine. The hairs on his neck and arms stood up and he stared in horror at what he was seeing.
Dozens of bodies were climbing out of the hole. No, not dozens; hundreds.
The undead horde was erupting out of the ground like ants swarming out of an anthill. There were figures that were just bare bones held together with gristle, emaciated monsters with putrid chunks of flesh stuck to their frames, and fresh corpses with gaping mouths and rotting eyes. But no matter what kind of monster they were, all of their eyes flickered with purple fire and all of them watched the tower malevolently.
“That light,” Simon said.
“What light. Master?”
“In their eyes. That purple light. It's the same color as that thing we saw gliding above the city; the one we couldn't identify.”
“Can we worry about the immediate threat please?” Aeris said pointedly. “We need to stop them before they reach the wall.”
“The wards will hold them back,” Simon said with a confidence he didn't really feel.
“Maybe so,” Aeris said a bit dubiously. “But for how long? If we can prevent them from attacking in the first place, the wards won't need to be tested.”
The undead had began spreading out across the field in a wide front. More of them poured from the fresh crater, clawing and groping their way to the surface. What made the horror even worse for Simon was the fact that none of them made a sound. He could actually hear their bony fingers scraping across the churned earth as they reached the surface, but once they had emerged, they just stood there, mute.
Well, they couldn't talk anyway without tongues, he said to himself. They were dead mindless drones controlled by an evil wizard. Still, their silence was unnerving.
“I wonder where that damned necromancer is?” Simon said as he scanned the ranks of the enemy.
“Good question,” Aeris replied. “He can't be too far. Without his magic to animate them, these monsters would collapse like marionettes with their strings cut.”
There was a disturbance inside the hole, rumbles and loud crashes echoing across the field. Simon tried to see what was happening but the undead were so thick now that they blocked his view of the crater.
“What's happening?” he asked.
“My brethren are trying to slow them down, master,” Kronk told him.
He was standing on top of the wall with his small fists clenched tightly.
“The other earthen?”
The little guy nodded.
“But I didn't tell them to do that.”
Kronk managed a strained smile as he looked at Simon.
“It was their choice, master. You have always said that we are not slaves, yes? So they have chosen to do what they can to help defend you and your home.”
“But what if they get hurt, or worse?”
The little guy only shrugged.
“They have made their choice. I would have done the same, master, but I chose to wait. If those creatures breach the wall, though, I will fight them.”
Simon stared at him helplessly. What could he say? Kronk was right. No elemental that served him was actually a servant, and certainly none were slaves. If they chose to defend him, all he could do was thank them and hope for the best.
“I appreciate their help, my friend. You know I do. But no one should ever get hurt on my account.”
“Noble sentiments, my dear wizard,” Aeris said with a trace of his usual sarcasm. “But if you don't want any of us to risk ourselves, you will have to stop being so damned lovable.”
“What?”
The air elemental snickered at his reaction and Simon laughed reluctantly.
“Yeah, I'll try that from now on, smart ass.”
The three of them watched the undead anxiously as the sounds of battle below ground continued. Even the monsters began to turn en masse toward the hole as their fellow undead stopped climbing out of the crater.
“They've managed to stop them from reaching the surface,” Aeris said.
“For the moment,” Kronk agreed. “But I do not know how long they can hold them back.”
“Then let's use this time to our advantage, shall we?” Simon said.
He stepped on to the top of the wall next to Kronk and raised his staff.
“Be careful, master!” the little guy exclaimed.
Aeris flew up beside him and prodded him.
“Shh, don't distract him,” he hissed.
The wizard ignored them and looked up at the sky. There were a few wisps of cloud passing across the sliver of the moon that was almost directly overhead and he pointed Mortis de Draconis at them.
“Why don't we make some noise,” he whispered to it.
He knew the spell he wanted but he hadn't created a word of power for it, mainly because he had never used it. Theoretically he knew what it did but this would be his first time testing it.
If I live through the night, I think we'll call it a success, Simon thought ruefully.
The incantation was long and convoluted and he had to be precise. Several of the words he spoke in the ancient language of magic were difficult to wrap his tongue around and he almost mispronounced them. Simon knew that it he did that, the spell would have to be started again from the beginning.
When he'd finished, Simon could feel the power charging the air around him. His hair was lifting and sparking from the magic that he was controlling and his chest was heavy with the weight of the spell that he was holding in check.
He breathed deeply and pointed his staff at the crowd of undead staring at him with their empty purple eyes. He squinted and hunched his shoulders in anticipation.
“Lightning Storm!” he shouted.
There was a silent thump of air that slammed down from the heavy clouds that had gathered during his incantation. Half of the horde of monsters collapsed from the sudden change in air pressure.
The sky flashed several times and blue fire seemed to rain down from the heavens and slam into the undead creatures below.
Wave after wave of lightning bolts seared Simon's eyes and he raised an arm to protect them. The sound was indescribable and his ears rang and throbbed and began to bleed. He knew that he was yelling but he couldn't even hear himself.
He felt a firm grip on his staff and looked down to see Kronk holding him, anchoring him to the wall. Aeris was pressed against his back, saving him from falling backwards. And the lightning struck again and again.
Simon cringed and waited as the bolts struck the earth in rapid succession.
Seconds felt like hours but the spell eventually ran its course and he lowered a shaking hand, blinking back tears as he tried to peer through the afterimages.
“Can you see anything?” he asked the elementals loudly. His ears were numb and he could barely hear anything.
“Your light collapsed, master and there is too much smoke hanging over the field,” Kronk told him faintly.
Simon stepped down on to the parapet, his legs shaking. He used his staff to support himself for a moment; it felt very warm and seemed to be throbbing in time with his heartbeat.
“Remind me to never cast that spell again,” he said as he was finally able to focus on Aeris.
“I assure you I will,” the elemental said as he rubbed the side of his head and then gave it a shake.
“I know that my kind have an affinity for lightning, but it is possible to have too much of a good thing. Phew.”
“No kidding. And I think I've drained most of my power.”
Simon flicked his hand and created a new globe of light. Fortunately they consumed very little magic. He sent it toward the
darkness of the field and waited breathlessly to see what the aftermath of the spell was.
The mage light rose and grew brighter as it traveled, lighting up the thick smoke rising from the burning grass and brush.
“I can't see a damned thing,” Simon said as he leaned against the top of the wall, straining to catch any signs of movement.
“Kronk, where are the other earthen? Do you know?”
“Yes master. I can feel them through the stone,” the little guy replied. “They are returning now. Have you given them permission to pass through the warding?”
“I did, yes. I'll want a full report from them when they get back.”
“Of course, master. I shall go and meet them.”
Kronk tapped away and Simon heard him hopping down the ladder.
“Aeris, can you see anything? Anything at all?”
“Nothing yet. I'd be happy to go over and check it out though.”
Simon glanced at him and smiled at his obvious eagerness.
“Fine, but stay out of reach, okay? Take no chances.”
The elemental began to rise up.
“Yes Mother. Will do.”
The wizard snorted and Aeris laughed lightly as he flew off.
“I've taught him some bad habits,” Simon muttered.
He pushed the hair out of his eyes, rested his staff against the wall and watched the distant scene closely.
“Wish I'd brought my mirror with me.”
The night had grown eerily quiet and Simon wondered whether his hearing had been damaged from the shockingly loud Lightning Storm spell. He touched his ear and examined his fingertips. Blood. Not much, but it was disturbing.
Whoever had invented that spell was a maniac, he thought. When the hell would you even use it except in an extreme situation like he had just been facing?
His mage light was becoming clearer as it shone down on the field. The smoke was slowly dissipating. He'd be able to get a better view soon.
“Master!” Kronk shouted from behind him.
Simon squinted at the ground behind the wall but it was too dark to see.
“Damn it,” he said irritably and conjured another globe of light. He sent it back toward the tower and it lit up the inner yard.
Kronk was standing there with two other earthen. In the uneven light the three looked like small animated piles of coal.
“What is it?” he called down to them. “Where are the others?”
Before Kronk could answer, the wizard heard Aeris calling from outside the wall.
“Simon! Seal the wards! Seal them now!”
Aeris hardly ever used his name and when he did, it was usually to get his immediate attention.
The wizard spun around and saw the air elemental streaking toward him, glowing brightly as he burned across the distance from the field.
“What's wrong?” he shouted as he grabbed his staff.
“Master, he's right. Seal the wards. Now!”
Two things happened simultaneously. A muted thump shook the wall as if something had exploded underground and the crater, which he could finally see again, boiled over with undead clawing their way to the surface, pushing aside the remains of the others destroyed by his spell.
And from overhead, a piercing shriek, like the cry of a huge eagle, shook the air. Simon looked upward and gaped in shock.
Something huge was diving down at the tower, something surrounded by purple flames. But it wasn't a dragon. There were no scales, no leathern wings to catch the wind, none of the savage beauty that even his draconian enemies had always had.
Instead, an impossible creature was on the attack. Bones, sinew and eye sockets filled with violet fire. A dracolich.
Chapter 21
Simon stared at the descending monstrosity, frozen with shock and fear.
What could he do to counter something like that?
“Damn it, wizard!” Aeris yelled as he got closer. “Get to the roof and seal the wards!”
The roof? Simon blinked and tried to focus. The roof. Right.
He looked up at the tower, raised Mortis de Draconis and concentrated.
“Gate!”
He stumbled as he appeared in the center of the roof, next to the pedestal that held the two ward stones. He risked a glance up at the attacking nightmare and wished that he hadn't. The undead dragon looked huge as it dropped from the black sky wreathed in nightmarish flames. It would be on them in seconds.
Simon put his right hand on the wards, grounded his staff and, for the first time since he had trapped the green dragon, sealed his tower off completely.
An opaque shell, similar to his personal shield spell but surrounding the entire tower and grounds out to the outer wall, appeared with a loud crackle of static. The wizard looked up in time to see the dracolich veer off with a scream of rage and he shuddered with relief.
“Well, that was a close one.”
The wizard glanced at Aeris as he wiped his forehead off on his sleeve. The elemental had flown up and over the edge of the roof to join him.
“No kidding. Where the hell did that thing come from?”
“The city, obviously. This necromancer is more powerful than I would have thought possible. Few of his ilk have ever been able to raise a dragon from the dead.”
They both watched as the undead monster began to slowly circle the tower, occasionally bellowing its rage.
“I wonder where he found the bones?” Aeris added.
“At a guess, I'd say it was the remains of the primal brown. The size is about right.”
“Really? But you killed that beast far to the south.”
Simon leaned on his staff, feeling his body's weakness now that the shock had passed. He looked at the elemental grimly.
“So? If I can Gate from one place to the next, surely that guy can as well. And if he's working for the dark gods, they could have easily guided him to the body, or what was left of it.”
“That's possible, I suppose.”
The trap door leading inside rose with a squeal and Kronk and the other two earthen popped out from below.
“Master, you sealed the wards in time!”
“Fortunately, yes.”
Simon frowned at the little group.
“The others?”
“Gone, my lord,” one of the earthen answered. “Destroyed. There are wraiths directing the undead. We did not know this until it was too late. They overwhelmed our brethren.”
“Wraiths?” Simon looked at Aeris. “What's a wraith? It sounds familiar.”
“Oh, come now, my dear wizard. You must have read about them when you were researching the undead, no?”
“Just remind me, Aeris,” Simon replied with exasperation at the elemental's superior tone. “I've done a lot of reading about those things lately.”
“Fine. Wraiths are undead, but they are different from those animated corpses and bones below. They are damned souls brought back by dark magic. They retain some of their native intelligence and often act as lieutenants for necromancers. They have a material core but are essentially horrific spirits rather than actual physical creatures. Ring a bell now?”
“Vaguely. So they've organized the walking corpses? Lovely. Guys,” Simon said as he looked at Kronk and the others. “I am so sorry for your loss. If I'd known how dangerous it was, I never would have sent you out there.”
“There is no need to apologize, master,” Kronk told him. “We serve you and, if necessary, die for you because we choose to. My fellows, if they were still here, would say the same. We mourn their loss, yes, but we are proud of their actions.”
Simon rubbed his irritated eyes carefully; they felt swollen and gritty.
“So am I, Kronk. So am I,” he replied solemnly. “If you two are up to it,” he said to the surviving earthen, “I could really use you back down on the wall, patrolling. If you want to, that is.”
“We are honored, sir wizard,” one of them answered proudly.
Both earthen bowed in unison and
jumped down through the trap door.
“Thank you, master,” Kronk said. “It pleases them to serve.”
“I know, bud. And I'm lucky to have them.”
“Okay then. Can we conclude this love fest and address our immediate problems please?” Aeris asked with his usual lack of tact.
Simon glowered at him and the air elemental returned the look.
“Don't scowl at me,” he said and pointed at the enormous dracolich still circling the tower. “Focus on that and,” he gestured below, “them. You know that with the wards completely sealed, you will run out of oxygen in a few hours. You'd best come up with a plan before that happens.”
Simon looked down and felt a swooping sensation in his stomach. More undead were streaming out of the crater; a lot more.
“My God, how many did he raise?”
“No idea, master. He must have been at it for months. There can't be an undisturbed corpse within many miles of the city.”
“All for me? I suppose I should be flattered.”
“Don't be,” Aeris told him. “You may be their first target but you aren't their only one. I'm sure our bear-human neighbors are on the hit list as well as any Changlings that they can find. Perhaps you should take a minute to contact Nottinghill Castle? Warn them?”
“Good idea. I'll go in and do that. Do me a favor and keep an eye on that bastard, would you?” Simon asked and nodded at the undead dragon.
“I intend to. And you do me a favor in return and think of a way out of this. I'd hate to see you brought low by the remains of a dragon that you've already killed. Somehow it lacks...dignity.”
Simon had to laugh at that absurd statement and made his way inside and down the ladder. Kronk followed him and they hurried to the study.
The wizard lit all of the candles with a flick of his power and left Mortis de Draconis leaning against the wall. He sat down at his desk and picked up the mirror.
After he'd cast the Magic Mirror spell and was waiting for it to make the connection with Tamara, he looked down at Kronk who had hopped up on to the desk.
“I know that we're in a bad situation here, and this may sound a bit nuts, but could you do me an enormous favor and make some tea? It's weird, I know, but it helps me think. Plus I need a little caffeine. The body's getting a bit tired.”
Tales from the New Earth: Volume Two Page 66