“As opposed to what we are now?” Tamara asked with grim humor.
Simon grinned at her, pleased to see that she wasn't angry with him for telling her to retreat from battle.
“Exactly. But this resistance to magic won't save them from physical damage. If magic missiles hurt them and actually killed a few, imagine what the dwarves' arbalests are going to do to them? The enchantment on their bolts may not matter, except to help penetrate their hides, but the razor-sharp edges are going to bite deep. We need to hang back and let our allies help us; that is why they're here, after all.”
“You are entirely too logical sometimes,” Tamara told him. “But you're also right.”
She walked to the front of the battlements and shielded her eyes against the now-bright sun.
“Your friend is having a field day out there,” she said to Simon. “But the drakes seem to be able to learn. They are avoiding him now and coming straight toward the castle.”
Simon joined her and squinted at the distant elemental.
Tamara was right. While incredibly strong and resilient, Kassus wasn't very fast and the surviving drakes were streaming past him while he fought a handful of the creatures. It was hard to tell from the castle walls, but Simon guessed that the elemental had killed perhaps a dozen drakes.
“He's done well,” the wizard said. “Aeris, could you check back on the queen and see if she's producing any more of those damned things? One surprise today is more than enough for me.”
“On my way,” the air elemental said as he quickly flew off.
Simon leaned out over the parapet.
“Ironhand!” he yelled. “They're coming!”
“It's about bloody time!” the king called up. “What are they?”
“Drakes. The queen created them.”
“She's a tricky one, for sure. We're ready for them.”
The wizard waved at the dwarves and moved back to check on Sebastian.
The mage was already standing up again. He was drinking from a canteen that one of the guards had offered him.
“Thanks Charlie,” he said as he returned the container. “Better get back in position. They'll need your bow in a moment.”
“Yes sir,” the young guardsman said.
He rejoined the line of archers standing ready along the battlements while Sebastian smiled reassuringly at Simon.
“Before you ask again, I'm fine. I overdid it in my enthusiasm, but I've learned my lesson and I'll pace myself from now on.”
“Good. And for this battle, I think projectile-based magic will be our best bet,” Simon told him.
Tamara and Chao were listening as well as Sebastian and the conjurer frowned at the term.
“Projectile-based?” he asked. “What kind of spells are those? As you know, my magic is quite different from yours.”
“I'm guessing that Simon means spells like Magic Missile, Ice Spear, Meteor; that sort of thing,” Tamara told him. “Am I right?”
“Exactly. Can either of you cast the more powerful projectile spells?” he asked the siblings.
Sebastian glanced at his sister and she shook her head.
“No, that's your department, my friend,” Tamara admitted. “We've tried using the incantations you gave us, on numerous occasions but, well...”
“We don't have that level of power,” Sebastian admitted frankly. “The last time I tried to cast that Meteor spell, I passed out.”
“And the Ice Spear simply doesn't work for us at all,” Tamara added. “No, we'll stick with Magic Missile and let you unleash the big guns.”
“Gotcha,” Simon told them. “We all need to go with our strengths. And speaking of which, I think that it's time to use one of mine. Excuse me.”
He walked away from the others down along the wall until he was halfway to the corner where Sylvie and Veronique were stationed.
“They're almost within range,” he heard one of the archers shout. “Get ready.”
Simon ignored that. He was quite sure that between the dwarven machines and the human archers, the drakes didn't stand a chance. What concerned him was the queen herself. They were about to slaughter her drakes and he had a feeling that she would attack when that happened. He doubted that her patience would last much longer, mad thing that she was.
“Incendus, I need you. And bring your friends along with you,” he called out.
There was no dramatic entrance this time, no fireballs from the clear blue sky. Instead, the fire elemental appeared ten feet away from Simon, shaped like a man engulfed in intense flames.
Fortunately the wizard had found an area of the wall far enough away from everyone so that the elemental's blistering heat didn't do any harm. Which was good because another of the beings appeared next to Incendus. And then another. And another.
Seconds later, ten fire elementals burned brightly along the wall. Simon could hear exclamations of surprise both behind him and from the sisters down at the corner, but he stayed focused on Incendus.
“Thank you for returning,” he said gratefully. “And for bringing along some friends.”
The fire elemental laughed, his voice crackling with power.
“You are welcome. And you're fortunate that the rules forbid you from summoning more than ten of my kind at once. I was actually inundated with volunteers when I went home and told them that you wanted additional help.”
Several of his fellows laughed at his comment, but their bodies almost blended together as one and Simon couldn't differentiate one from another.
“So, the battle has begun?”
Simon nodded and pointed at the drakes on the fields below. They were almost within range of the arbalests.
“Ah, I see,” Incendus said as he floated over to the edge of the wall. “And dwarves have joined you. Excellent. Good people, dwarves, for all that they turned on my kind many years ago. Stodgy but honest and fair. Did you want us to deal with those...whatever those snaky things are?”
“No, let's let the dwarves handle it,” Simon told him. “If they can't stop them, then feel free. No, the queen created those drakes as a prelude to her own attack. I brought you back before that happened. She is your primary target.”
“Good. We are all looking forward to it. Simply give the order when you are ready.”
“Thanks, Incendus. And my thanks to all of you for coming as well,” he told the pack of elementals.
They bowed as one and Simon hurried back to Tamara and the others.
“Now that's impressive,” she said, looking past Simon as he rejoined them. “Fire elementals? Wow.”
“I agree,” Chao told him. “They are going to make my friends pale in comparison, provided I even need to summon them after those elementals get done with the dragon queen.”
“Don't worry,” Simon replied grimly. “I have a feeling that she won't go down easily. So any help will be welcome when the main battle begins.”
“Archers! Get ready!” one of the guards called out.
The four spell-casters moved closer to the front of the wall until they could see the scene below without interfering with the line of archers.
“Almost here,” Sebastian muttered as he watched the swarm of drakes slithering toward the castle. “Almost here.”
Simon held his breath.
Now, he thought.
There was a shout in dwarvish from below that he was sure was the voice of the king, and the dozen arbalests shot their bolts almost as one.
The wicked projectiles tore through the approaching drakes, splattering gore everywhere. Bodies exploded, heads were ripped off; it was horrible and awesome in equal measure.
The people watching from on top of the wall cheered and Simon peeked over the edge to observe the dwarves reloading their weapons.
He'd wondered how fast they would be. The answer was, very fast indeed. The arbalests were re-cocked and reloaded in seconds and then each one was fired at will. The drakes never had a chance.
“Relax, everyone,” the lea
d archer told the others. “Save your arrows. The dwarves have matters well in hand.”
There were a few disappointed grumbles but for the most part everyone looked relieved. They had won the first round.
“Now what?” Tamara wondered as she watched the last drake writhe and bleed out.
Her answer was immediate and frightening. A bellow of rage rolled out of the forest with enough force to shake the castle walls.
While several people cried out, Simon turned to look at the mage.
“Now the queen enters the fray.”
Chapter 33
There was an explosion of green and brown at the edge of the forest. Trees and underbrush were pulverized as the dragon queen burst from the woods in all of her horrific glory.
“By my ancestors, she's big,” Chao whispered in awe.
“Big doesn't begin to cover it,” Sebastian added, his eyes as large as saucers. “How long is she? A hundred feet? More? Gods, how can something that big and heavy be that fast?”
“Magic, my friend,” Simon said grimly as he watched the last of the dragon's golden coils slip out of the wreckage behind her.
From where they were standing, the queen looked even more like a snake than a dragon. But there were differences that were uniquely hers.
Her wicked spines that dripped venom constantly could be seen even at a distance. They started growing from between her eyes and followed in a line all the way to the tip of her tail. A pair of thick, fleshy whiskers grew from her snout and writhed like tentacles. And her legs, mere stumps compared to the limbs of other dragons, seemed almost useless. The forward pair supported the weight of her great head and neck, but her back legs, protruding a mere dozen feet from the end of her body, could barely touch the ground.
“Do you know something?” Chao said the group. “She looks very much like our ancient depictions of dragons. I wonder if my ancestors encountered her, way back in the mists of time.”
“Undoubtedly,” Simon told him. “Or they heard stories of her from the older races, the dwarves and elves. As far as I know, she is unique, so I can't believe those old paintings of dragons that look like her are just a coincidence.”
“Yes, it's a fascinating subject, gentlemen,” Tamara said sarcastically. “But can we focus on the here and now please? How the hell do we stop her if she is as resistant to magic as those damnable drakes were?”
“The old fashioned way,” the wizard replied grimly. “We beat the hell out of her. She is immortal, not invulnerable. Those arbalest bolts will hurt. Arrows too. Their enchantments will let them pierce her hide. Our main problem is her size. Can we do enough damage to something that large to stop her? Especially since she will not be just standing still and letting us turn her into a pincushion.”
“Your little friend is returning,” Sebastian said as he watched the distant dragon. “And in a hurry again too.”
Simon just managed to see Aeris before the elemental reached the wall. His transparent body was hard to make out, especially when he was moving at great speed.
“There are no more drakes out there, my dear wizard,” Aeris reported as he rejoined them. “But something is happening with our friends overhead.”
“It is?”
Everyone turned their eyes upward to seek out the circling dragons, only to discover that they weren't all flying in formation any longer. A shining speck of silver was descending at tremendous speed, directly toward the dragon queen.
“It's Argentium!” Sebastian exclaimed excitedly. “Is he going to attack her?”
“I doubt it,” Simon replied. “From the way he spoke earlier, a battle is the last thing that he or the others want to engage in.”
The queen reacted to the approaching dragon by rearing up exactly as a snake would, her coils tightening beneath her to support her tremendous weight.
Her high-pitched hissing was as loud as a steam whistle and her jaws gaped open, rows of wicked teeth gleaming in the sunlight.
The argent dragon spread his wings at the last moment and he landed exactly in the middle of the open ground between the queen and the castle.
The two leviathans eyed each other silently for several moments, while those watching from the walls spoke in whispers, speculating about what was going to happen.
While they had a moment of respite, Simon walked away from the others and gestured for Aeris to join him.
“What is it?” the elemental asked.
“Nothing that important, but it just occurred to me that if I leave our mutual friend back at home instead of letting him join us in what could be the final battle between mankind and dragons, he'll never forgive me.”
Aeris grinned widely.
“You know that he'd forgive you for anything. But you're right, it would be a kindness not to let him miss it.”
“I'm glad that you agree.”
Simon stared at an open space on the ground a few feet away.
“Kronk, I need you,” he said firmly.
A small vibration could be felt under his feet and then the earthen appeared, pulling himself up out of the stone of the wall.
He looked up at Simon and Aeris and smiled with delight.
“Master! You remembered me! Oh, I am pleased.”
“Of course I remembered you, old friend,” the wizard said as he went down on one knee.
He reached out and Kronk placed a hand on his palm.
“I thought that you might want to be here for this confrontation with the queen. It just didn't seem fair to leave you behind.”
“Thank you, master. I appreciate your concern. Aeris, have you been behaving yourself?”
“Yes Mom,” the air elemental said, rolling his eyes. “Good to see you too, by the way.”
“Don't start, you two,” Simon warned them, trying to sound stern. “This is way too serious a situation. And that reminds me; since I'm summoning earthen, what the hell happened to Kassus?”
He stood up with some help from his staff and motioned for Kronk to join Aeris behind him.
“Kassus, come to me,” he said.
Like Kronk, the large earthen appeared to climb out of the solid stone wall. The shaking that accompanied him was much more pronounced however, and everyone looked around to see what had caused it.
“Ah, sir wizard. There you are,” the earth elemental rumbled. “I was wondering if I had slipped your mind.”
“Definitely not. Thank you for your efforts with the drakes, by the way. You gave my two friends time to retreat from the battlefield safely.”
“No thanks are needed. I enjoyed the fight. So what is next? That monster out there, I assume?”
He pointed at the queen and Simon nodded.
“Probably. We'll see how things progress. I've called Incendus and his fellows back to aid us, should it become necessary. Perhaps you could join them for now? I'll speak to you all shortly.”
Kassus turned around and saw the group of fire elementals burning brightly, even in the midday sun, and he laughed to himself.
“Eager as always, I see. Yes, I shall wait with them, sir wizard. Call upon us when you have need of our services.”
“Thanks, I will.”
The earthen strode over to stand near Incendus, totally oblivious to the waves of heat rising from them. He and the fire elemental began speaking in low voices.
“Simon,” Tamara called out. “Come over here, please. Something's happening.”
He hurried over to rejoin her, Kronk and Aeris following closely.
Looking across the field, he saw that the queen was pawing at the air in front of her with her absurdly small front legs, obviously agitated by the presence of the argent dragon.
“You dare approach me again?” she cried out, her voice booming across the distance. “I warned you not to interfere. At least those ungrateful whelps,” she looked up at the distant dragons, “have the sense to stay out of my way. What do you want, Argentium?”
The argent dragon stretched his wings once and then folded
them neatly across his back. His spiked tail wrapped itself around his front feet like a cat would and he focused on the queen's blazing eyes.
“I am here to ask you one last time to turn away from this path. The humans are no threat to you. They are few and weak and want nothing more than to live in peace. Can you not go your own way and let them go theirs? Must this end in bloodshed?”
“Few and weak?”
The queen's cruel laughter sent shivers down the spines of everyone who heard it.
“Few they may be, but weak? Their wizard helped to destroy my five firstborn children, in case you have forgotten that little fact. And with their deaths came the fall of our people. Our people, Argentium, not just mine. By the nine dark gods of Chaos, if that is weakness, then it is all the more reason to destroy them now, before they can grow any stronger! I must protect my few remaining offspring.”
She looked up again and snarled.
“No matter how ungrateful they may be. In time, they will come around to understanding my side of our argument. But that will not happen if these humans remain a constant threat. Now stand aside, argent dragon, and let me finish my work. Or stay there and be the first to fall. It matters little to me either way.”
“He won't be able to turn her aside,” Sebastian said quietly. “She is determined to have her revenge, not just on Simon, but on all of us.”
Argentium bowed his heavy head.
“I regret your decision, majesty. You force me to choose between madness or death. So be it.”
He extended his great wings and leaped skyward. But he did not fly off. Instead, the argent dragon tilted his body and back-winged toward the castle.
Many of the watchers cried out as the huge silver body seemed like it was about the slam into the building, but Argentium dropped back to the ground in front of the dwarven defenders with room to spare.
He stretched his wings to their full width and glared at the queen.
“You will have to get past me to have your revenge, Aurumallia. I will not fight you, but I will not stand down either. So make your choice and do what you must.”
Tamara reached out and gripped Simon's arm.
“My God, he's as crazy as she is,” she said in disbelief. “The queen will straight up murder him!”
Tales from the New Earth: Volume Two Page 162