“He doesn't like using his powers for offense, as I think we all know. So he's worked hard to find new ways to channel that energy. Do you want to tell them what you can do now?”
“It's just a parlor trick, Anna,” Gerard protested. “I doubt that it would help in this situation.”
“It might actually, now that I think about it,” Eric contradicted him. “It's just a different target, Ger. Think of it like that.”
The young man looked doubtful and Tamara, who had been frowning at the foursome, spoke up.
“What exactly are you lot talking about? What parlor trick?”
Gerard hesitated and Anna seemed exasperated by his reluctance and answered instead.
“He can find things,” she told them all. “Lost things. For example, a few months ago I lost a locket that was precious to me.”
She put a hand on her chest just below her neck and her expression became sad and lost for a moment. Virginia waited and then gave her arm a little shake and whispered something. Anna nodded and continued.
“It was a gift I received from my daughter, not long before the old world was destroyed. She and her family didn't make it.”
Simon was shaken as if struck by a blow. It was so easy to forget their past lives, but he recalled that Anna had been an older woman with a grown child when she had been Changed. It was a reminder that, once upon a time, they had all been something else.
“Anyway, I lost the locket somehow and I was very upset. Gerard came to me the next day and held out his hand. He had the locket! When I asked him where he'd found it, he said that he had been drawn to the garden just outside the front gate. I'd been weeding there all week.”
“What does that mean, drawn to the garden?” Sebastian asked Gerard. “Drawn how?”
“I have no idea,” he replied frankly. “When Anna told us about her loss and I saw how upset she was about it, I just thought that I'd like to find it for her. I don't like to see her unhappy.”
The diminutive woman smiled at him and it was Gerard's turn to blush.
“After that, a picture of the garden just, I don't know, popped into my head and I wandered over there to poke around. I found the amulet almost immediately.”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that. Since then, for fun really, I've tried to find other things that people have lost or misplaced.”
“He found my favorite dagger,” Malcolm said loudly and slapped the sheathed dagger on his belt. Even when he wasn't wearing armor, he always carried the weapon with him.
“He's found a lot of things for a lot of people,” Anna told them. “And the more he uses this 'trick', the better he gets at it.”
“Gerard, what are the limitations?” Simon asked the young man. “Are you limited by distance or type of object or what?”
“Well, I don't want to sound like I'm showing off...”
“He's not limited by any of that,” Eric interrupted his friend. “Honestly Ger, you have to be more assertive, you know?”
The wizard smiled at them and felt a rush of excitement.
“So if I asked you to focus on, say, a glyph, could you locate it?”
Gerard shrugged.
“I have no idea. Do you have a picture of it?”
Simon glanced across the table at Sebastian, who nodded.
“I'll get some paper and a pencil,” he said as he got up and hurried from the room.
“Can you find people, Gerard?” Tamara asked as they waited for her brother to return.
“People?” He frowned. “Good question. I've never actually tried.”
“Well, keep it in mind. If we could track down these necromancers individually, we could take them out one at a time. Probably the safest way of attacking them.”
“Maybe. Maybe not,” Aiden cautioned her. “If they are surrounded by their undead armies, 'taking them out' as you put it might not be as easy as you make it sound.”
“I didn't say easy,” she replied, giving him a hard look, “I said safer. None of these battles will be easy.”
Sebastian came back into the room and hurried down the table, offering Simon the writing materials.
“Thanks, Bastian,” he said and began drawing the symbol.
The memory of that glyph on the beach blazed clearly in his mind and he easily replicated it.
“Gerard? Could you take a look at this and see what you think?”
Simon handed the sheet of paper down the table to the pale young man and then sat back and waited to see what would happen.
“Hmm. Odd looking thing, isn't it?”
“Now's not the time to be an art critic,” Eric said to him. “See if you can, I don't know, feel other symbols like that out in the world somewhere.”
Gerard gave him an exasperated look but focused on the drawing.
“If I only knew how the whole thing worked,” he muttered as he studied the glyph. “It would be so much easier than just...waiting for a feeling.”
The room grew quiet and the atmosphere became tense. Simon knew that this might be their only hope of finding those evil symbols quickly. If it didn't work, he'd have to send out Aeris and his people to begin the search, and that could take months.
If they ever found them at all, he thought darkly.
“Anything?” Anna asked Gerard hesitantly after a few minutes.
He was frowning down at the paper and his head was cocked to the side, as if he was hearing a distant sound.
“Maybe,” he said slowly. “There is something. Somethings, actually. Anyone, which way is north?”
Malcolm pointed to the right of where Simon was sitting.
“That way,” he said quickly.
“Okay. Could I have that pencil?”
Sebastian grabbed it and gave it to him and Gerard flipped over the sheet of paper.
“Okay, so north is that way?”
He drew an arrow on the page and marked it with an N.
“Now, I'm sensing three points of attraction. This way, this way and over there.”
He drew three other arrows while Malcolm looked over his shoulder.
“So, to the southwest, the south and almost directly east,” the big man said. “Any idea how far?”
“It's not that precise. But the one to the east is the closest. I'm guessing it's just across the channel. Southwest is next and the southern one is very far away.”
Tamara sighed loudly.
“Well, it's better than nothing. Simon, this is where we'll need your help. Could you send three of your air elementals in those directions to see if they can find those glyphs? I suppose that they will have to travel at night to spot them in the dark.”
“They may not,” Simon told her. “They are magical creatures, after all. I'd hazard a guess that they will be able to spot the markings no matter whether the sun is up or not.”
“Then you'll do it?”
He smiled at Tamara.
“I'll ask. They aren't my servants, after all.”
“Right, right. Sorry.”
“No problem.” He looked around at the group. “You might want to plug your ears.”
“Our ears?” Keiko asked, speaking for the first time. “Why?”
Simon just smiled and looked at the center of the long table.
“Aeris, Brethia, Orriss. I need you.”
He quickly put his fingers in his ears while most of the others just looked at him in confusion.
“He's calling them now?” he heard Anna ask faintly.
The wizard noticed that Malcolm and Aiden didn't hesitate. They blocked their ears immediately.
He'd only summoned three air elementals at the same time once before. And after his ears stopped ringing, even though he'd plugged them, Simon vowed to never do so again.
The triple clap of thunder stunned everyone in the room and the elementals spent a few minutes floating together above the middle of the table, looking quite embarrassed.
“Didn't you warn them?” Aeris asked Simon as he
looked around at the pained expressions on all of their faces.
“Of course I did. I told them to plug their ears.”
“Did you explain why?”
“Well, no. But...”
“And this is the wizard I serve willingly, ladies and gentlemen,” Aeris said sarcastically. “I must be crazy.”
“No argument here,” Simon told him.
“Now wait just a minute!”
“Boys, boys,” Tamara interrupted. She looked both amused and sore, as she rubbed her temples.
“No time for joking around; this is important.”
“Who's joking?” Aeris asked with a long look at Simon.
Both Brethia and Orriss looked scandalized at the way he was speaking and the wizard had a hard time keeping a straight face.
“Tamara is right. She asked me to ask you if you all would do us a favor.”
“Of course we will,” Aeris said quickly while the others hurriedly nodded. “Anything for a friend of the great and powerful...well, this wizard here.”
Malcolm snorted a laugh while Simon just rolled his eyes.
“Fine. Look at this paper. You see the three arrows? We need you each to pick a direction, stay on that course as accurately as you can and follow it until you find a magical glyph that looks like this.”
And Simon flipped the paper over to show them the symbol.
“That's the symbol that has been drawing the dead from the oceans?” Aeris asked seriously, his teasing forgotten.
“That's the one. Gerard here,” Simon nodded at him and the young man smiled wanly at the elementals, “has sensed the glyphs, but the best that he can do is tell us their direction and which one is closest. Finding them is now up to you three, if you want to do it.”
“We will be honored, my lord,” Brianna told him earnestly.
Both she and Orriss bowed to the entire company, while Aeris nodded to everyone.
“Good,” Simon said. “Go ahead and decide who goes where and leave when you're ready.”
The three elementals huddled together. They whispered and examined the symbol again. Then they flipped over the paper, looked at the arrows and nodded in unison. With a triple pop, all of them disappeared.
“You know, that always freaks me out a little,” Aiden told the others.
“Well, they're off,” Simon said to the group. “It could be hours or several days, but if anyone can find those glyphs, those three will do it. The next step is finding those nasty orbs that the necromancers use to enhance their powers.”
Every head turned to look at Gerard and he flushed under this sudden scrutiny.
“Why are you all looking at me? I've never seen those orb thingies. I mean, I'll happily try to find them, but it will be a waste of time attempting it if I don't actually have any idea of what they look like.”
Tamara nodded grudgingly.
“That's a good point. Damn it. What I'd really like to know is exactly how many of those buggers there actually are and where they are now.”
There was a massive thump on the door that shook it on its hinges.
“Cripes, who knocking with a sledgehammer?” she snapped irritably. “Someone get that, would you?”
Half of the group was sitting down again while the rest watched curiously as Virginia hurried to the door. Just as she reached for the doorknob, it burst open and slammed back against the wall.
Virginia jumped back and then stared with her mouth open.
Malcolm and Aiden were on their feet and across the room faster than Simon would have believed possible for men of their size.
Aiden gently pushed Virginia aside and the two men barred whoever stood out in the hallway from entering.
“Who are you?” Malcolm growled, a hand on his dagger. “What do you want?”
“I am seeking the wizard, Simon O'Toole,” a voice rumbled, deeper and more resonant than even the big man's rich baritone.
“What do you want of him?”
Simon jerked upright in his chair at the sound of that voice. He leaped to his feet, trying to see past the two warriors.
“Guys? Let him in, please.”
“You know this person, Simon?” Malcolm asked over his shoulder.
Before the wizard could answer, the two men were flung back and slammed against the side of the table.
“We have no time for this,” the commanding voice rang out.
Both of the warriors sprang up again and seemed prepared to do battle.
“Stop guys, stop!” Simon yelled at them.
He rushed forward, pushing past the others.
“Don't try to interfere,” he said to the warriors. “You'll only get hurt, or worse.”
“I'll take my chances,” Aiden said angrily.
Malcolm just growled, his eyes fixed on the door.
“Please don't.”
The wizard waited but the unseen visitor seemed to be waiting for an invitation.
“You can come in,” Simon called out.
There was a collective gasp as a figure filled the doorway and slowly entered the conference room.
He was so tall that he had to duck low to make it under the lintel and when he was actually inside the room and stood up, his head almost brushed the ten foot ceiling.
“My God,” Anna whispered fearfully. “Who is that?”
“Folks, may I introduce Argentium, the argent dragon.”
The man looked at each person for a moment and then sketched a vague salute.
“It is good to meet you all. Unfortunately we have no time for pleasantries. Wizard, you are needed on the battlements.”
“For what?” Simon asked him in confusion. “What are you doing here?”
“More importantly, how did you get past our wards?” Tamara asked coldly.
Simon admired her courage, considering how overwhelming the argent dragon's presence was.
“Your wards impede lesser beings,” Argentium told her in an equally cool tone. “I am not such a one.”
“What's going on?” the wizard asked.
“You and these others are about to face something that you may not be prepared for. I...”
He looked around at the group and a fleeting look almost of pity crossed his perfect features.
“I did not expect this. I did not foresee it. But it has happened and so I have come to warn you. It is the least that I can do.”
“Spell it out, dragon,” someone said from the doorway. “What have you done?”
Argentium looked over his shoulder.
“Mind your tone. Good manners cost nothing.”
Someone else walked in and around the massive armored figure. Her own armor flashed and glittered in the candle light as she stood next to Simon and glared up at the dragon.
“Liliana!” the wizard exclaimed with pleasure. “I was wondering where you were.”
“On patrol. I just returned and followed our 'friend' here. Amazing how he just appeared in the courtyard. Quite a talent you have there,” she added, speaking to Argentium.
He nodded, looking vaguely amused, but then turned back to Simon with a grave look in his eyes.
“We have been deceived, wizard,” he rumbled.
“Deceived? What do you mean, deceived?”
“Misled, tricked, misdirected, whichever term you choose to use. Those glyphs that Esmiralla showed you were a distraction. Our foes wanted our attention diverted away from what they were truly doing.”
“Which was what?” Liliana asked.
“Raising dead dragons.”
There were a few exclamations from the others but Simon frowned at Argentium, puzzled.
“But we already knew that they were doing that, didn't we? I mean, my tower was attacked by a dracolich. And you told me that the necromancers were killing and raising the red dragons.”
Argentium made a dismissive gesture.
“I do not mean those creatures. The necromancers have come together as a group. They have used all of their powers to travel the world
to find the sites of your battles, wizard, and then combined their magic to perform hideous rites.”
“My battles? But why...”
Something clicked in Simon's mind and he stared at the argent dragon in horror.
“Oh my God. They've raised the primals?”
“They did, but they did not just raise them as mindless slaves. These black wizards and their dark gods have infused the undead dragons with the spirits of the fallen primals. They could not raise all of them, of course. But they found enough mortal remains to revive two of the primal dragons: Pyrathius and Crystallos.”
“Crystallos? Who is that?”
“The primal white dragon. “
Liliana exchanged a look with Simon.
“Oh damn,” she whispered. “He was the most twisted of the lot of them.”
“Was he ever. So where are they now, Argentium?”
“As I just said, you are needed on the battlements. They are here.”
Chapter 30
The walls of Nottinghill Castle were crowded with defenders. At least they felt crowded to Simon, who rarely saw more than two or three people together at a time.
Now all of the able-bodied residents manned the walls, except for a few care-givers who were watching over the castle's dozen children.
Simon stood back and watched as Malcolm and Aiden organized the defenders. He knew very little about such things and left it to the experts. The magic-users; himself, the mages, and Liliana, were grouped together on the southern battlements, looking out into the darkness. So far there was no sign of the attackers that Argentium had warned were about to descend upon them.
“Maybe he was wrong,” Sebastian said as they all scanned the star-fulled skies. “Can you see these monsters in the dark?”
“Definitely,” Simon told him. “The dark magic that infuses them burns with a horrible, purple fire. Didn't you notice it when those undead wyverns attacked the castle?”
The mage shook his head. Simon could just see his eyes reflected in the torchlight.
“I was too busy trying to save our asses to care. But if that's the case, where are they?”
“No idea. I'd ask Argentium but he naturally disappeared,” the wizard said with some disgust. “Typical draconic arrogance.”
The Dragons of Argent and Silver (Tales from the New Earth #6) Page 37