Tales from the New Earth: Volume Two

by J. J. Thompson

  “Well now, this looks promising,” he said to himself. “A little bit of mold, but that can be cleaned off easily. Leather's thick and intact.”

  He pulled himself out from under the heavy sofa and stood up.

  “I think you'll do nicely,” he said to the sturdy piece. “Unfortunately, I think I'm out of luck finding a decent chair though. Damn.”

  The several chairs in the room were all ruined. Mold had eaten into them and they were beyond repair.

  “Oh well, maybe we'll find one some other day. It's a big planet, after all.”

  Simon walked out of the room and followed the hallway, looking for Kronk. He wondered whether there were artisans among the dwarves who built furniture. Surely there must be. Perhaps a trade?

  “Master? Ah, there you are.”

  Kronk appeared out of the darkness ahead, his little red eyes glowing in the gloom.

  “Any luck?” Simon asked him.

  “I am afraid not, master. There are no hidden areas along this hallway or off of the main room. I believe that we have found all there is to find.”

  Simon sighed and nodded reluctantly.

  “Yeah, I suspected as much. Oh well, at least I found a serviceable couch. I'd rather have found a good chair, but beggars can't be choosers.”

  “That is an interesting thing to say, master. But you are a wizard and far from being a beggar.”

  Simon laughed and led the way back toward the main room.

  “It is just a saying, my friend. And it applies. I can't build furniture and until I find someone who can, I'll have to depend on luck.”

  They re-entered the main room just as Aeris flew out of the fireplace.

  “Did you have fun in there?” Simon asked him jokingly.

  Aeris smirked at him as he rejoin the group.

  “In a manner of speaking. Did you know that the owner of this bunker had a neighbor? And that these two neighbors, perhaps to be economical, shared a ventilation system?”

  “Are you serious?”

  “I am. Maybe they were relatives or something. But whatever. The point is that over there,” Aeris pointed in the direction of the bathroom,” about forty yards through the rock, is another shelter almost identical to this one. Who knows, there may be others as well.”

  He looked very satisfied with himself.

  “In fact, we could be standing in what might be one section of a series of underground bunkers.”

  Simon was delighted by the news.

  “Aeris, that is amazing. Great work!”

  “Really? I mean, yes, of course. Just my usual thoroughness.”

  Kronk made a sound of disgust at the air elemental's smug tone and Simon grinned at them both.

  “Now guys, let's get along. Kronk, could you check it out please? We need to find the entrance. I'd rather not Gate blindly into another hidden room.”

  “Yes, of course, master. That way, Aeris?”

  The air elemental motioned for Kronk to follow him and led him across the room to the wall to the left of the bathroom.

  “Straight through and about ten feet lower than this area,” Aeris told him. “You will feel it before you see it, I'm sure.”

  “Good. Thank you.”

  The little guy looked over his shoulder at Simon.

  “I will be back shortly, master.”

  “No rush. Take your time. I'm going to Gate back home with the couch I found and then I'll return.”

  Kronk nodded and pushed his way into the wall, tearing a hole through the wood paneling and the insulation behind it, leaving behind a small pile of broken rock.

  “Care to come along?” Simon asked Aeris as the two of them watched the earthen disappear.

  “Certainly. Unless you've learned to use magic to levitate objects, you'll need my help moving that couch.”

  Simon walked over to the sofa and looked at Aeris, intrigued.

  “Is that possible? Levitation, I mean.”

  “Of course it is. Frankly, I am surprised that you haven't discovered that spell by now.”

  The wizard put a hand on the back of the couch and Aeris flew down and sat on it.

  “And where do you suggest I find it? The local spell shop?” Simon asked irritably. “Hang on, we're leaving.”

  The trip back to the tower with the couch only took a few minutes. Simon left it standing in the middle of the room because it needed a good scrubbing to remove the bits of mold that were clinging to its edges.

  “Should we take anything back with us?” he asked Aeris as he got a good look at the couch in daylight. It looked even better than he'd hoped.

  “Nothing that I can think of,” Aeris replied. He was nodding as he circled the sofa. “Good choice, by the way. Whoever built this thing was a true craftsman.”

  “I agree. Okay, let's get back before Kronk starts wondering where we are.”

  “Bah. I'll wager he's still poking around in that other bunker.”

  “Well, let's go and see.”

  Back in the underground shelter, Simon summoned another mage light and let it bob along over his head.

  “Funny how they disappear when I Gate,” he said thoughtfully as he looked at the bright globe floating above him.

  “Why funny?” Aeris replied. “You are their source of energy. When you leave, they can no longer exist. The same thing happens when you fall asleep with one of the lights still on. No conscious mind equals no power.”

  Simon leaned on his staff and thought about that. Something was poking at the back of his mind, but he couldn't quite grasp it.

  “I'll have to think about that some more in the future,” he said. “There's something about that theory that...”

  A grinding sound broke his train of thought and Simon turned just in time to see Kronk step out of the hole in the wall he had created earlier.

  “Welcome back,” the wizard told him. “How did it go?”

  Kronk smiled broadly.

  “Master, I think we have not only found you a new chair, but some other useful things as well!”

  “Like what?”

  The earthen laughed in obvious delight.

  “I would not want to spoil the surprise, master. Come and see for yourself.”

  “And just how is he supposed to do that?” Aeris asked sarcastically. “Unlike yourself, our dear wizard can't just walk through solid rock.”

  Kronk ignored the comment and gestured for Simon to follow him into the bathroom.

  “The people who built these shelters must have been friends, master,” he said as the room lit up from the mage light. “There is a concealed corridor leading from this room to the washroom in the other bunker.”

  “Okay, that's weird,” Simon said with a laugh. “A secret tunnel between bathrooms? Awkward if you walk in at the wrong moment.”

  Kronk smiled, looking slightly puzzled.

  “If you say so, master. Unfortunately the mechanism has seized up and no longer functions. I came through from the other side and found this door sealed, so I will have to break it down. I wanted to warn you first though. Now please stand back. There will be flying debris.”

  Simon hurriedly backed out of the bathroom and waited as he heard Kronk begin to smash through the hidden door.

  “I sometimes forget how strong you all are,” he said to Aeris as he waited.

  “We are, yes, but the earthen are truly the mightiest. Don't tell Kronk I said that though.”

  It only took a few minutes and then the little guy called them back in. He had bashed a hole through the wall between the ornate brass bathtub and the toilet. It was only high enough for Simon to crawl through, but he stopped the earthen when he offered to make it bigger.

  “It'll be fine, Kronk. No need to get fancy here.”

  The tunnel on the other side of the ruined door was lined with sheets of brushed aluminum and it sloped gently downward. The floor was tiled in white marble, discolored by years of dampness. There were light fixtures in the ceiling every few feet, but th
eir housings were rusted and several were cracked. A few wisps of cobwebs fluttered in the light bobbing over Simon's head.

  “Watch your footing, master,” Kronk said as he led the way. “Some of the flooring tiles have cracked. It must have been caused by the stone shifting over time.”

  The little guy had been right about the distance between the two bunkers; the passageway only ran about a hundred feet or so and ended in a door that had been opened inward. Simon stepped inside with his light and saw a second bathroom almost identical to the first one.

  “Same builder, I'm guessing,” he said to the others. “Ornate and overdone. Tacky as hell.”

  Kronk motioned them to follow him and the three existed the washroom into another living space. This one though was a little different than the previous bunker.

  “Whoa,” Simon said in surprise. “Now this person was a lot more thorough than the other guy.”

  “That is what I thought as well, master,” Kronk agreed.

  Aeris just looked around silently, wide-eyed.

  The furniture was very similar to that of the other shelter; heavy, leather-bound chairs and couches, many shelves of books and hand-crafted tables. The difference was how things had been preserved.

  Every piece of furniture was wrapped in thick plastic. Layer upon layer of wrapping had kept almost all of the contents of the room in pristine condition. The owner had even shrink-wrapped their books.

  Oddly enough though, this bunker hadn't been as well sealed as the other one. Dust blanketed everything and little clouds of it puffed up to hang in the still, stale air as Simon walked around.

  He coughed and cleared his throat several times, trying to walk slowly to keep the fog of grit to a minimum.

  “Wow, Kronk, you've discovered a gold mine of stuff!” he exclaimed as he tried to peer through the dirty plastic covering one of the large chairs.

  “Excuse me? I believe that I was the one who discovered this...mausoleum,” Aeris told the wizard sharply.

  “Aeris is correct, master. If it hadn't been for his exploration of the ducts, we would never have found this place.”

  The air elemental looked mollified by Kronk's statement and Simon was quick to agree.

  “You're both right. Thanks, Aeris. It's like discovering a lost treasure. And a lot more useful to me too.”

  “Just doing my part,” Aeris replied graciously. “Are you taking that chair home?”

  “I'm not sure yet. Could you poke around the rest of the place for me? I'd like to unwrap this and see what kind of condition it's in.”

  “I will help, master.”

  Aeris began to glow brightly again.

  “Sure, I'll look around. It shouldn't take too long.”

  He floated off toward a far doorway while Simon and Kronk began to carefully remove the plastic from the heavy, over-stuffed chair. The dust slid off of the covering in a thick cascade and the wizard had to walk away for a few minutes until it settled again.

  “My God, that's nasty stuff,” he said thickly after coughing for what felt like forever.

  “Rock dust, master,” Kronk told him as he continued to peel back the layers of plastic. He was naturally unaffected by the choking dust. “Not good for breathing. Please wait over there and let me finish unwrapping this.”

  “Good advice. Thanks.”

  A few minutes later they were staring at a sturdy chair covered in thick black leather. Even though dust had settled on it, Simon sat down anyway, to test it out.

  He sighed happily and grinned down at Kronk.

  “It's perfect, my friend. Absolutely perfect. Any signs of mold or rot?”

  The earthen ducked underneath the chair for a minute.

  “None, master,” he said as he reappeared. “It looks practically new.”

  “Like I said, a treasure room. We're definitely taking this home with us.”

  “Found what you wanted, I see,” Aeris said loudly from the doorway. “But before we leave, you might want to check this out.”

  Simon got up and brushed the dust off of his robe. He walked toward Aeris with Kronk trailing behind.

  “See what?”

  The air elemental motioned for them to follow him and led the way out of the room and into a long hallway. The walls and ceiling were paneled in wood that had warped and cracked over time. The thick rug on the floor was red but smelled cloyingly of mold as Simon walked on it.

  “I wouldn't want to stay here too long,” he said as he wrinkled his nose at the odor. “Some types of mold can get into the lungs and do nasty things to you.”

  “This won't take long,” Aeris assured him. “It's just up ahead.”

  The hallway turned to the left after a dozen yards or so and then ran on for about fifty feet. There were two open doors on each side that they passed and Aeris pointed at them as they went by.

  “Store rooms. I assume they were meant to hold food and water, among other things. Unfortunately, they were never used. Like the wrapped furniture, the owner of the place seemed to be thinking of the distant future, not any immediate threat.”

  “Yeah, I don't blame him,” Simon said sadly. “The world was no more dangerous when things went bad than it ever was; who would have expected dragons to rain fire down on their cities? Only Daniel, I guess.”

  At the end of the hallway was a huge steel door, like the vault door in a bank. It was the same design as the one in the first bunker except that this one was open.

  “The place wasn't sealed shut?” Simon asked in surprise.

  “I believe it was in the process of being sealed. Send your light ahead of you, my dear wizard, and see what lies there.”

  Curious about Aeris' strange tone of voice, Simon waved his mage light forward and it floated past them and through the open door of the bunker.

  “Oh my God,” he whispered in shock. “What happened here?”

  Piled in the opening were bones; lots of them. Dozens of people had died here, apparently frantically trying to enter the shelter and close the thick door behind them. They had failed.

  Aeris floated downward and hovered over the remains. Old clothing was disintegrating and the skeletons were so intertwined together that it was impossible to get an accurate count of the dead.

  The elemental suddenly darted down and picked up something next to the pile of bones. He exclaimed loudly in disgust and then flew back to Simon.

  “This explains a lot,” he said angrily as he handed the wizard a heavy, black object shaped like a dagger.

  It was a claw.

  “Drakes,” Simon hissed in anger.

  “Exactly. At a guess, I'd say that these people survived the initial dragon attack upon their city and tried to retreat to this bunker. Unfortunately the drakes tracked them down and killed them before they could get inside and seal the door.”

  Kronk moved forward and stared sadly at the remains.

  “It is so tragic,” he said in his heavy, bass voice. “Even sadder is the fact that even if they had made it into the shelter safely, they would still have died.” He looked up at Simon. “There were no supplies here. No food, possibly no water if the plumbing system had broken down. They would have died a horrible, lingering death.”

  Simon dropped the claw on the ground and wiped his hand on his robe. After a final glance at the unknown dead, he turned away.

  “Come on, guys. Let's get that chair and go home. I'm suddenly not feeling very cheerful anymore.”

  Chapter 10

  After a good cleaning, the sofa and chair quickly became part of the tower. Simon was especially happy to have a comfy chair in front of the fireplace again. It had been acquired under unhappy circumstances, but at least it was being used again.

  And once his tower officially felt like home again, Simon could no longer avoid it; he had to start the journey to the dwarven capital, Kingstone.

  “Why can't I just Gate there?” he said to the elementals one evening, a few days after their trip to Moscow. “I mean, I Gated int
o that bunker and that was underground.”

  The wizard was sitting in front of the fireplace, snuggled into the comfy chair and sipping tea. The flames were dancing and the wood smelled sweet as it burned. He was as comfortable as he had ever been and leaving his home to trudge for miles along the endless dwarven tunnels was the last thing he wanted to do.

  Kronk was sitting next to the fireplace, his stumpy legs stretched out in front of him. In the flickering light, he looked like a misshapen pile of coal, except for his burning red eyes.

  Instead of answering, the earthen looked over at Aeris. The misty figure was bobbing quietly a few inches above the floor on the opposite side of the fireplace and seemed a bit surprised that Kronk had deferred to him.

  “Well, there are several factors impeding your spell, my dear wizard,” he replied thoughtfully. “Unlike the bunker, which is only a hundred feet or so below the surface, the tunnels of the dwarfs travel many miles underground. The rock around them is a natural insulate against magic.”

  “Wait a second. How can something insulate against a supernatural power?” Simon asked. “You're making magic sound as mundane as electricity.”

  “But in many ways it is, master,” Kronk interjected. “It is a measurable force, like gravity and electricity and many other sources of power in nature.”

  “Kronk is correct, shockingly,” Aeris said dryly. “There is nothing 'supernatural' about magic, oh great wizard. Why would you even think that?”

  Simon put down his empty cup on the little table beside his chair and sat up. The conversation was beginning to intrigue him.

  “Why? Well, because of what it can do. Summoning fireballs? Gating? Hell, raising the dead? All of that is supernatural, isn't it?”

  Aeris put a hand over his face and shook his head in seeming disbelief while Kronk just stared at the wizard with a puzzled frown.

  “Unbelievable,” the air elemental finally muttered from behind his hand. “I'm working for a child. Well, there go my hopes and dreams for a brighter future.”

  “Hang on there, smart guy,” Simon growled. “What did I say that was so ridiculous?”

  “It wasn't ridiculous, master,” Kronk told him quickly. “Just a little, um...”