He looked up at his hovering friends.
“You two should get back to your post on the roof. If our wizard wants to question you, he'll summon you, I'm sure.”
They nodded mutely and flew off toward the top of the tower.
“They seem quieter than usual,” Kronk observed.
“They have good reason to be. Frankly, I have no wish to speak right now either, but the wizard will want a full report.”
They began to climb the steps and Kronk looked at Aeris skeptically.
“You? Not wanting to talk? That is new. Something quite extraordinary must have happened.”
“It did,” Aeris replied shortly. “Let's go in.”
They opened the door and entered the tower. The main floor was empty, the fireplace stacked with logs still unlit and the kitchen area clean and unused. The two elementals exchanged puzzled glances.
“Master normally has tea when he is working inside,” Kronk said with a confused frown on his craggy face. “How odd.”
“I'll go up and see if he wants us to get a fire going and make him some,” Aeris told him. “He will probably want something to drink once I give him my news. Come to think of it, he may decide on wine instead. I'll be right back.”
He flew across the room to the stairs and zipped up to the second floor.
Kronk watched him leave and then tip-tapped over to the fireplace to arrange the logs properly. He knew that his master did the best job he could, but he never managed to get the wood stacked just right; the earthen always rearranged things quietly so that he didn't hurt Simon's feelings.
“Hey Kronk,” Aeris called from upstairs. “Is the wizard's staff down there?”
The earthen turned to look at the wall where Mortis de Draconis usually rested and saw only a blank space.
“No, it is not. Oh, that means that master has gone out. Without us? Who will take care of him while he is away from the tower?”
Aeris came flying back down the steps and looked at Kronk incredulously.
“He isn't a child, you know. He's the most powerful magic-user of his race and he's a lot older than he looks. He can take care of himself.”
Kronk ignored him.
“I must ask my brethren if any of them saw him leave. Perhaps he told them where he was going.”
The little guy raced out of the door and Aeris watched him go with a faint smile.
“I truly believe that if that earthen could have children, he would,” he muttered. “Unbelievable.”
Kronk was back in a few minutes, wringing his hands as he tip-tapped into the room.
“He left about four hours ago, apparently,” he told Aeris, who was floating above the kitchen table in his usual spot.
The earthen leaped up to the tabletop to join him.
“Any idea to where?”
“None. The one he spoke to said that master told him to keep the tower secure but that was all. Oh, this is bad. I can feel it. Something has happened.”
“Kronk, will you stop that please?” Aeris asked.
The little guy had begun pacing back and forth on the table. It sounded like someone quickly knocking repeatedly on a wooden door.
He ignored Aeris and kept at it.
“Why would he just leave? And where would he go? He certainly didn't come to Nottinghill Castle four hours ago. And he can't Gate to Kingstone. Where else is there?”
He stopped and looked at Aeris, apparently waiting for an answer.
“There's an entire world out there,” the air elemental reminded him. “His atlas was lying on the desk in the study. Closed, unfortunately. So maybe he had an urge to just get away for a few hours. And why shouldn't he? Even wizards can't stay locked away in their towers forever.”
Kronk tapped his chin and gave that some thought.
“Possibly. Yes, that is possible. Master loves nature, after all. But still, to go alone like that? It is very dangerous to travel the world now, even for him.”
Aeris floated to the tabletop and sat down. He looked at the earthen quizzically and Kronk tilted his head in return.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked.
“Because I was just thinking that, with the wizard off somewhere, I might share my news with you first. Strangely enough, your reactions often mirror his for some reason. And to be honest, I have no idea how he is going to react when I tell him.”
“Tell him what?” Kronk wondered.
He walked over and sat down next to Aeris.
“What exactly happened today?”
The air elemental drew up his knees and wrapped his arms around them; it was something that Kronk had often seen his master do and he wondered if Aeris was aware that he was mimicking the wizard. Probably not.
“Today was not a good day,” Aeris told him slowly, staring at the far wall. “Today was either the end of something or the beginning of something; I'm not sure which. And I'm not sure that whichever it was, was for the best or the worst. Not at all.”
“You are being cryptic,” Kronk told him. “And it isn't helpful. Just tell me what happened on your search for the dragon's nest. All three of you returned, so at least you weren't injured.”
“Not physically, no. But I think that my faith in creatures who serve the Light has been shaken, perhaps irreparably. Again it depends on what happens next.”
Kronk shook a blocky finger at him.
“Cryptic,” he repeated.
“Right, right. Okay then, this is what happened. Feel free to gasp and curse in all the right places as I tell the story.”
“I never curse,” the little guy said primly. “Now get on with it.”
Aeris told the story simply, just as it had happened without embellishment. Kronk listened closely without interruption, his blazing eyes fixed firmly on the air elemental, his craggy face expressionless.
When he was finished, Aeris rested his chin on his knees, again mirroring the wizard, and sighed loudly.
“And now Argentium has possession of the five dragon eggs. The queen has lost whatever was left of her mind and, I'm guessing, will be tearing this world apart trying to find her children again. Let us hope that no humans get in her way as she does so. But what happens now? Can the argent dragon actually hatch and raise those dragons as anything but evil?”
He looked at Kronk.
“Argentium seems to think that they will be born as blank slates and that he can instill his own Lawful values upon them. I'm not so sure.”
“Blood will always run true,” Kronk said slowly as he mulled that idea over.
“Exactly. Wishful thinking and good intentions cannot change the soul of a truly evil being, and those hatchlings are the offspring of the Chaotic dragon queen. Their blood will be tainted from the start. No, this can only end badly for him and, more importantly, for the rest of us. What was Argentium thinking?”
Kronk stood up and resumed his pacing.
“I doubt that he was thinking anything,” he said absently as he frowned in thought. “It sounds like he made an emotional decision in the heat of the moment. But now he is committed, unless he chooses to destroy the eggs before they hatch.”
“He won't,” Aeris said flatly as he rose up to float a few inches above the table. “You should have heard his voice when he told me that he was taking them. He was serious about defending them, even against our wizard. No, Simon has been betrayed again by a Lawful dragon. That's why my faith in the Light is more tenuous than it has ever been.”
“Do not lose faith,” Kronk told him sharply.
He stopped abruptly to give Aeris a stern look.
“Our people, yours and mine, take our direction from Lawful values and have done so since the Great Rebellion. Never forget that.”
“Shh! Don't mention that!” Aeris hissed at him. “We are forbidden to speak of those times.”
“In front of outsiders,” Kronk reminded him. “And our master is not here, so relax. We are safe. But the only way the elemental races survived wa
s to embrace the values of the Light. The gods of Order helped to negotiate our peace and it has held for countless years ever since. You cannot allow the actions of Argentium to shake your faith now. Stand firm, my friend, and we will find a way through this to a happy conclusion.”
Aeris looked bemused.
“I don't believe that you've ever called me your friend before,” he said with a hesitant smile.
“Have I not? Well, that is only because I assumed it was obvious. But you are that to me, Aeris. And I have enough faith in the Light and our master for both of us, so hang on to that if you must. Argentium has made a mistake, one that could shake the foundations of the world, but what of his masters? How will they react?”
Aeris dropped down to the tabletop again and looked at Kronk curiously.
“His masters? He doesn't have any masters. He is the last of his people, Kronk, after the heroic death of Esmiralla last year.”
The air elemental caught himself as he spoke and turned to stare blindly across the room.
“Perhaps that is why he did it,” he muttered to himself. “Because of his loneliness and despair? Yes, that could be the answer.”
“It doesn't matter why he did it,” Kronk told him harshly. “We cannot do anything about the argent dragon right now. We must concentrate on finding our master and giving him the news. He will decide what we must do next.”
“And how will he react, do you think?”
The little guy pondered that question for a moment.
“Well, he will be angry, of course, but I doubt that he will race off to confront Argentium. If nothing else, our master knows that the dragon is almost as powerful as the primals were. Plus, they are a part of each other in a strange way. Remember, it was master's stolen organ that Esmiralla used in her spell to bring the argent dragon back to life.”
“How could I forget? Such a betrayal. Stealing someone's kidney? Without their consent? Oh, he was bitterly angry for months after that.”
“Understandably so. But he eventually forgave her, I think, and he mourned her passing in his own way when she gave her life to bring down the dark tower. As for Argentium, I know that master has a deep respect for the lawful dragon as a person, as well as a healthy dose of caution for him as a force of nature. No, master will not charge into battle upon hearing the news about the eggs. He will want to speak with the argent dragon first.”
Aeris nodded and looked relieved.
“Good. I hope you're right. The dragon's masters that you were speaking of are the gods of Law, I assume?”
Kronk nodded once.
“Yes, I thought as much,” Aeris continued. “I wonder if they will attempt to communicate with Argentium and convince him to abandon his plans for the eggs?”
Kronk sat down again with a thump and looked quizzically at Aeris.
“And if they do contact him and he says no? What then? They do not have enough power, while they are battling the dark gods, to enforce their will upon him. It would be a futile gesture at best. That is, assuming that Argentium would even accept a message from them, which is doubtful.”
“In any case, I guess you're right,” Aeris told him. “We need to find our wizard and see what he says about this mess. We can't do anything without his permission and, just between you and me, he does have a steady head on top of those skinny shoulders of his.”
Kronk snorted irritably as he sprang to his feet.
“Be nice, Aeris. Yes, we must find him. But how? How do we begin? Where do we start looking?”
“For now, we wait. Now hear me out,” he added quickly as Kronk opened his mouth to object. “It's only been a few hours and he might return tonight. If he does and we've all scattered in a panic to look for him, I have a feeling that Simon O'Toole will be...less than amused, let's say. He'll think that we're treating him like a child, again, and I personally don't want to deal with another one of his lectures on how much we baby him. They are lengthy and loud and besides, he's correct.”
Kronk glowered at the air elemental and then slumped a bit.
“You are right, Aeris. We do, well, I do, treat him like spun glass on occasion. But it is only because I worry so much.”
“I know you do, and so does he, Kronk. But he isn't helpless and, if he's chosen to spread his wings a bit, who are we to argue with him? Let's let him have a night to travel and do whatever it is that he is doing, all right? In the morning, if he hasn't returned, I'll head off to Nottinghill Castle myself to enlist the aid of the mages. Their spells will be of great help in searching for him. Assuming that it will be necessary, of course.”
Kronk nodded dejectedly.
“That is the best course of action, I suppose. But if he has not come home by dawn, you must go for help at once!”
“Relax Kronk,” Aeris said and put a hand to his chest. “I swear that I will, okay? In the meantime, I'll speak with Brethia and Orriss. If a search is necessary, there are only the three of us who can move at speed to look for him physically. No one except Simon can summon any more of my kind, so we are all that there is.”
“You do that. I will tidy up the tower to make sure that it is prepared for master's return.”
With that assertion, Kronk gave Aeris a last worried look and hopped off of the table.
The air elemental watched as the little guy tapped away across the floor and up the stairs and smiled fondly when the earthen was out of sight. He truly hoped that the wizard was not in trouble; it would break Kronk's nonexistent heart if anything were to happen to him.
Mine too, he thought in a moment of honesty.
He shivered as the thought of Simon lying injured somewhere flitted through his mind.
But surely that couldn't happen, he reasoned. After all, with a single word he could Gate back home and be taken care of. No, no, he was on some hare-brained adventure and would be back when he got hungry.
And I'll have a few choice words to say to him about stupid risks, Aeris added as an afterthought.
Pleased with his own reassurance, the air elemental flew out of the door and upward toward the roof.
Unfortunately for Aeris' peace of mind, and Kronk's overactive imagination, Simon O'Toole did not return that evening, nor the next morning.
As promised, the air elemental headed off to visit Nottinghill Castle, goaded on by an increasingly worried Kronk. But even for one of his race, Aeris knew that it would take him several hours at top speed to reach the castle and all he had to keep him company were his roiling thoughts.
“If he comes back before I reach Tamara and the others, have the wizard recall me immediately,” he told Kronk sternly before he left. “I'm going to look awfully foolish if I arrive at the castle to report him missing, only to find Simon chatting to the others through his mirror.”
“Yes, yes, I will,” Kronk had replied impatiently. “Now go, and do not get sidetracked. This is no time for useless adventures.”
“Like the one our dear wizard is on, I'm sure,” Aeris grumbled as the earthen all but pushed him off of the kitchen table toward the door.
“I'm going, I'm going!” he protested. “Stop shoving!”
“Then go already!”
It was early evening by the time that Aeris reached Nottinghill Castle. Torches were already lit on top of the high walls and several guards were walking along the perimeter on patrol.
It hadn't taken long to start bringing up the inhabitants from Kingstone, the elemental thought with some surprise. They must really have grown tired of living underground. And I don't blame them in the least.
He was wise enough to slow his approach and begin to glow in the fading light so that the guards could get a good look at him. Most of the humans had seen or heard of the elementals by now, but Aeris wasn't going to take any chances; their arrows were enchanted and could actually harm him.
After receiving directions from a wide-eyed young woman who was gripping her sword hilt rather tightly, Aeris entered the castle proper and sought out the main hall, wher
e he'd been told the leaders were meeting. Even with directions though, it was not easy to find. The castle was twice as large now and maze-like for newcomers like himself.
When he'd finally found his way and entered the massive central hall, Aeris was greeted warmly by Tamara and the others, including her brother, the mages from the Defiant and Malcolm and Aiden.
Liliana was there as well, deep in conversation with a large Asian man wearing a black leather tunic that Aeris recognized as the paladin, Lei Zhang. She looked up and nodded in greeting and then went back to her intense discussion.
The room was still mostly bare, its gray stone walls unadorned, but a meeting table made of heavy oak was placed in the center of the hall and a dozen chairs were placed around it. A huge marble fireplace built into one wall was radiating heat from a merrily-burning pile of logs to counter the chill in the air and it gave the plain chamber a more homey feeling.
Several jugs were scattered around on the table and the leaders were drinking their beverages and talking animatedly. They were obviously happy to be back in their own home again.
“And to what do we owe the pleasure of this visit, my friend?” Malcolm called out jovially.
He was drinking from a large tankard and from the redness of his face, Aeris guessed that he was quaffing wine.
Aiden rolled his eyes at his partner's loud question and smiled at the elemental.
“It's good to see you, Aeris. Is Simon with you? Hopefully he's accepted our invitation to check out the new castle.”
Aeris flew across the room to hover above the long table that the group was sitting at. He moved to its center and turned in a slow circle.
“I am afraid not. This is something rather more serious.” He hesitated and then added, “Possibly. I'm not sure yet. It could be nothing but you never know.”
“Aeris,” Tamara said loudly, cutting off his meandering speech, “Focus. Tell us what's going on, please.”
“Yes, of course. Forgive me, but I am perhaps a little more rattled than I thought I was. Um, my wizard seems to be, err, missing.”
A silence fell over the table and every pair of eyes was suddenly glued to Aeris' face, including the two paladins.
Tales from the New Earth: Volume Two Page 126