“Wouldn't it be easier to just kill them?” Aeris asked plaintively. “Again,” he added.
“I'm not strong enough right now. I need a plan. And for the past few weeks I've been so distracted from just trying to stay alive, not to mention dealing with Lacertus, that I haven't had time to think.”
Both elementals became very still and their eyes widened.
“What? What is it?”
“What did you just say, my dear wizard?” Aeris asked in a strangled voice.
“I said I've been so busy that...”
“No. That name.”
“You mean Lacertus? What about it?”
“Run, master!” Kronk told him urgently. “Run for the portal. Right now!”
“Yes. We'll try and keep him busy while you get away. Now, before it's too late.”
The candles were all snuffed out at once, leaving a sharp smell of burnt wax in the air, and the fire was quenched as if someone had poured a bucket of water on it.
“Oh, it is already too late,” a voice said ominously from out of the darkness.
Simon cast a light spell and tossed it overhead. It disintegrated in a quick flash of sparks.
“Master, the door. Go now,” Kronk whispered.
The front door slammed shut as he spoke, the bang rattling through the tower like a toll of doom.
“Lacertus?” Simon said loudly, trying to keep his voice steady. “Is that you?”
“You tried to trick me, didn't you, Simon? And after all that I've done for you. You have hurt my feelings, do you know that? Running back to these pathetic, weak creatures. Choosing their friendship over mine? That was impolite. And rude, very rude.”
“I didn't mean to be rude,” the wizard said as he turned in a slow circle. The darkness was almost absolute and he couldn't see his hand in front of his face.
“But I figured out how to throw the undead dragons off my trail and I wanted to do it quickly. We've jumped so many times and I am, as you've so rightly noticed, exhausted.”
There was a long moment of silence.
“Yes, you are tired, that is true,” Lacertus answered. His voice, usually so light and airy, had deepened and grown in power. It made the hair on Simon's arms stand up and he felt his skin rising in goosebumps.
“But why didn't you just tell me?” the disembodied voice continued. “I could have helped you. But instead you left me and snuck away, like some cowardly thief in the night. Hardly a friendly gesture, was it?”
“You're right and I apologize for that.”
“Do you? You mean now that you are caught, you apologize. Well, apology not accepted!” Lacertus yelled petulantly.
“Do you know who he is?” Simon whispered to Aeris, who was floating not a foot away at eye level. He still glowed very slightly, the only light in the room.
“Through legends, yes,” the air elemental replied, his voice so faint that Simon could barely hear him.
“He is a god, my dear wizard. A lesser god to be sure, but a god nevertheless. Evil, petulant, cruel; he is related to the lords of Chaos but is what you might call a poor cousin. His powers pale in comparison to theirs but he is still one of them, with all that that implies.”
“Stop whispering!” Lacertus shrieked. Simon's ears rang with the sound. “You are conspiring against me, I know it! And I won't have it. I won't!”
“Very well then,” Simon said, tired of the game playing. “What do you want, Lacertus? Are you going to kill me?”
“What? Kill you? Oh, my dear Simon, of course not. How could you even suggest such a thing?”
The voice now was cloying and honey-sweet. It was even worse than his angry tone, as far as Simon was concerned.
“Then if you aren't going to kill me, let me go.”
“But if I did that, how would you learn your lesson? No, I have something else in mind.”
“What are you going to do, demon?” Aeris asked harshly, to the wizard's amazement.
“Oh, it speaks! The insect speaks. Did you know, insect, that I despise your kind? I do, truly. So do my relatives, the Chaos lords. You and all of your lawful, helpful species. Earth, air, fire and water. Bah! Always playing by the rules, always so eager to please. So tiresome. Of course, the lords are too lofty and great to sully their hands with the likes of you. But me? Oh, I am only too happy to help. So, this is what I intend to do, Simon. I am going to remain here with you and prevent you from leaving for a while. In a few hours, the undead primals will track you down and join us. To save you, your little friends here, and the others who guard your walls, will do battle with the dracoliches. And lose. They will all be destroyed and my own hands will be clean.”
“And I'll die anyway.”
“Oh don't be so tiresome. I won't allow them to kill you. I will simply alter the spell on them and send them on their way to hunt down the rest of your species. You will live, my little friend; wiser and having learned a valuable lesson about the price of betrayal, but you will live.”
“You're insane!” Simon spat.
“Not true! A god cannot be insane. Insanity is a mortal condition and while I may not be as strong as the great lords of Chaos, I am still one of them.”
Lacertus continued to espouse on his own sanity and seemed to be enjoying the sound of his own voice.
“Master, on the count of three, I am going to burst open a section of the wall,” Kronk murmured, speaking beneath the ramblings of Lacertus.
“You must run while you can. Aeris and I will hold this creature back and buy you some time.”
“Have you gone insane too? You guys can't stop him. You told me yourselves; he's a god.”
“A very little one,” Aeris commented. “Kronk's right. Take your chance when it comes. You are still a wizard and a fine one at that. Don't forget your powers. You are not as weak as you seem to believe.”
“One...”
“Kronk, don't do it!”
“Two...”
“Damn it, Kronk. Stop!”
“Is that an order, master?'
“Of course not. I don't give you orders. I...”
“Three!”
The front door exploded outward as did six feet of wall on either side. A stream of daylight from the rising sun illuminated the room and Simon could finally see.
Lacertus was floating above the kitchen table and his look of surprise would have been funny under other circumstances.
“Now master. Run!”
Simon leaped forward and raced through the ruined wall and down the front steps, jumping over several stone blocks. He used his staff to help him keep his balance while behind him he heard a scream of rage.
“How dare you!” Lacertus bellowed. “I did not give you permission to leave!”
He sounded completely mad now and Simon felt a rising fear. The insane were truly dangerous and unpredictable.
He ran across the yard to the front gate and pulled back the bolts. He could still hear the god, demon, whatever he was, yelling in the tower. Apparently Aeris and Kronk were attacking him and giving Simon his chance.
Don't die, guys, he prayed fervently as he pulled back the gates and began running across the field. Please don't die.
Don't forget your powers, Aeris had told him. Okay fine. I'm first and foremost an elementalist. Time to act like one.
“You won't get away!” Lacertus yelled from behind him as Simon reached the forest.
He turned around and saw with horror that the demon had gotten past the elementals and was chasing after him. What made it even worse was that he was no longer the same size he had been. He was running like a human and was the size of a man.
Somehow, that figure wreathed in fog and crackling electricity was so much more horrible now that he was larger. His eyes blazed with flame and his face was twisted with fury.
“Incendus! Aethos! I need you,” the wizard shouted as he took to his heels and plunged into the trees.
A blast of thunder echoed through the woods followed by a burst of
heat that Simon was sure had ignited several trees. He kept running and didn't look back.
“You seem to be in a great hurry, wizard,” said a familiar voice that crackled like flame.
“Indeed, I do not believe I have ever seen a wizard in such a rush,” a voice like a gale agreed.
“Hey there,” Simon said loudly, not turning around. “I wonder if I could ask a favor?”
“Do be careful now,” Incendus said with some concern. “You wouldn't want to run into a tree. By the way, why are you racing through the forest? Some new type of human game perhaps?”
“They do love their games, do they not?” Aethos told him.
Simon was already panting and sweat was beginning to run down his forehead into his eyes.
“It's not a game. I'm being chased by someone. Well, more like something,” he gasped as he quickly rubbed the sweat out of his eyes.
“Do tell. And you'd like us to, err, intervene?”
“That would be lovely, thanks. But I have to warn you, the thing has already attacked Aeris and Kronk, and I'm not sure if they're still alive.”
With some relief, Simon spotted a game trail that was leading in the right direction. He slowed down and then stopped, trying to catch his breath. As he panted, he turned his head to look behind him.
Incendus and Aethos were there, side by side, watching him curiously. As what he had said sunk in, the shifting shape of Aethos' face darkened.
“What creature would dare harm one of my people? A dragon? A caster of some sort?”
Simon took a deep breath, stood up straighter and leaned on his staff.
“No. According to Aeris, he's kind of a...god.”
“A god?” Incendus repeated and grinned. “You are joking, aren't you?”
The wizard looked back in the direction of the tower but saw no sign of pursuit yet. He was sure that wouldn't last.
“I wish I was. They claimed that he's a minor relative of the lords of Chaos. How he even entered this world is beyond me, when they are still trapped outside in the Void.”
“And who is this so-called god?” Aethos asked angrily.
“His name is Lacertus.”
The reaction of both powerful elementals was identical, but it wasn't the fear that Simon has seen from Kronk and Aeris. Rather it was dark fury.
“Lacertus!” Aethos spat. “Demon. Destroyer of the innocent. Monster!”
“He's here? Now?” Incendus asked roughly, his fiery body going from red to orange to almost blue as his form became hotter.
Simon nodded and stepped back as the heat washed over him.
“Yes. He was pretending to be friendly but I saw through his tricks. Then...”
“I know you are near, you traitorous wizard!” a cry carried through the trees.
Simon moved to the left to look past the elementals and saw the sparking, misty form of Lacertus.
“There. That's him.”
The demon seemed to see him at the same time and howled in triumph.
“Now I have you. And you summoned other insects for me to play with. Good, good! I will squash them as I did the others.”
“Run, Simon,” Incendus told him. “Get to wherever it is you are going. Leave him to us.”
“Can you beat him?” Simon asked, desperately hoping for a yes.
The fire elemental just shrugged as Aethos' form altered and he began whirling like a miniature tornado.
“Well, he is a god, after all. Now run, and good luck to you.”
“To you two as well.”
Simon turned, got his bearings and began to run, following the game trail. Behind him he heard Lacertus howl in anger and then his voice was drowned out by the high-pitched shriek of a gale. Aethos had gone on the attack.
I'm not worth that kind of sacrifice, the wizard said to himself as he raced along the trail, frantically looking for the clearing where the portal would appear.
He glanced up at the brightening sky.
Had appeared, he corrected himself. It had to be there by now, but how long the elders could keep it open was anyone's guess.
A stitch formed in his side and stabbed him painfully with every stride as he ran ever slower. Where is that damned clearing, he wondered frantically as his run turned into a staggering trot and then an unsteady shuffle.
Where are you? Where are you?
He burst into the open so suddenly that he tripped and fell to his knees.
“Simon! What's happened?”
Strong hands grasped his arm and helped him to his feet. He leaned on his staff and used his sleeve to wipe the sweat out of his eyes.
It was Ethmira. She was looking at him with concern as she helped him stay on his feet.
“What's going on?” she asked quickly.
“I'm...”
He took a few seconds to try to catch his breath, his side burning with pain.
“I'm being chased. We have to go, right now,” he managed to say in a wavering voice.
“Chased? By whom?” she asked but helped him to walk into the center of the glade.
Something unsteady flickered in the air, moving like waves of heat rising from the ground. The portal.
“Some kind of a demon, or minor god, or something. I don't really know. All I know is that he fought with Aeris and Kronk and may have killed them. And he's fighting two more powerful elementals right now. I don't think they can beat him or even hold him for long. So can we leave?”
The elf nodded silently, and led him forward.
“Just step into the portal when you are ready,” she told him. “It won't hold for much longer. I'm so glad you showed up when you did. We're almost out of time.”
“You are out of time, elf,” a voice rumbled from the forest.
Lacertus stepped out of the trees. He was denser, taller and more terrifying looking than ever. He was also missing an arm and his other hand.
“Halt, wizard. Your servants have failed and I am here to stop you.”
“You don't look so good, demon,” Simon shouted at him.
“This? This is nothing. I have all of eternity and it will heal. And now it is time for my vengeance.”
“No, it is you who are out of time,” Ethmira said with disdain. “You are trying to distract us, but you are too far away to stop Simon from entering the portal.”
She smiled mockingly.
“It is you who have failed,” she said. And then her smile widened. “Lacertus.”
The demon howled and leaped forward and Ethmira wrapped her arms around Simon and lunged for the portal at the same time.
The wizard saw Lacertus reaching for them and just missing. If he had still had a hand, he would have caught them.
Then with a agonizing, wrenching sensation, the elf and the wizard were sucked out of the realm of Earth and were gone.
The End
The Dragons of Bone and Dust
by
J. J. Thompson
“Death and Life cancel each other out. We either win or we die; it's as simple as that.”
- Simon O'Toole
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 1
A thick mist hung heavily over the fields and f
orests. The air was cold, clammy with moisture in the early autumn morning and unusually still, with no breeze to push the fog aside.
Rising out of the mist, a castle brooded atop a hill, glowering over the countryside like an uneasy giant. No movement disturbed its grim facade; the high walls were still, no smoke rose above it, no sounds escaped its hidden interior. It might have been deserted.
A small group of people stared up at the silent edifice. No one spoke but most of the faces looked either sad or wistful as they relived memories of better times.
A deep voice broke the silence and the group turned as one to look behind them.
Standing next to a strange machine that poked out of the ground near the edge of the forest was a short, thick-set figure. A dwarf.
He was wearing heavy steel armor as easily as an average man would wear light clothing and his thick gray beard hung down below his waist.
“I hate to rush ye all,” he called out to the group, “but there be dragons about. Say yer farewells and board the drill, if ye please.”
A frail-looking young man, wearing a robe as red as clotted blood, frowned at the dwarf. He pushed his fine blond hair out of his eyes and glanced at the woman standing next to him, who met his eyes with a look of faint amusement.
“What's his hurry? There aren't very many dragons left anymore and we have a cleric with us who can feel a dracolich coming from miles away.”
He looked at the dwarf again and snorted.
“And what's with that accent? He bloody well sounds like he stepped out of fourteenth century London.”
The woman laughed lightly and tucked her short blond hair behind her ears. Her robe was bright green and stitched with intricate designs. She toyed with a metal wand hanging on her belt as she spoke.
“Easy, Sebastian. Don't take your anger out on Garold Greydon. He's just the pilot of that infernal machine and he has every right to be nervous. The dwarves have been good enough to offer us shelter in their capital, even in the midst of their war against the lords of Chaos, but they couldn't spare any guards for this trip, so he's a little tense.”
Tales from the New Earth: Volume Two Page 81