“Meaning?” Simon asked.
“Meaning that unless you've achieved master-class status as a wizard and haven't told us, you are in no condition to face a dragon, let alone one of the primals.”
“Yes, thank you, Kronk. I'm well aware of my limitations at the moment,” Simon told him acerbically.
“Just making sure, master. Cart before the horse and all that.”
Simon rolled his eyes, stood up and walked over to the work table.
“All the more reason to keep up my studies and my practice. One day soon, if I don't go to find the remaining four prime dragons, they'll come looking for me.”
Chapter 8
The winter was almost over when Simon felt ready to travel to Nottinghill. There were still mounds of snow piled under trees in the forest, but the field in front of the tower was clear and the ice on the lake out back was nearly gone.
A few strands of grass were poking their green tips tentatively out of the thawing ground and the wizard was cheered immeasurably every time he saw the vibrant color sticking out through the brown earth.
His magical skill had leaped forward and he was now able to memorize four spells at once. Along the way, he'd modified all of his spells and discovered several new ones including Shield and Fire Wall. Both spells were modifications of other spells and looked useful, especially the Shield spell.
Simon knew when he'd passed the 'delicate' phase of his training. It was when Kronk and Aeris had finally allowed him to pick up Bene-Dunn-Gal, his staff. Although he'd been itching to use the weapon to augment his powers, the elementals were having none of it.
“That would be cheating, master,” Kronk had told him firmly.
“I quite agree,” Aeris said. “That...thing is dangerous at the best of times. But in your current state, it could easily take control of your magic and then where would you be?”
Simon had called them a few names under his breath but had bowed to their protests.
So when the pair had announced that he had progressed far enough in his training to use the staff safely, the wizard felt like he'd been handed a gift.
“Well, here we are,” he'd said to the staff that morning. It leaned against the wall beside the door as it had for months, inert. Simon allowed his eyes to slowly run the length of the weapon, admiring its workmanship.
His friend Daniel had given him the spell to summon Bene-Dunn-Gal, but the wizard wondered yet again where the staff had come from. Who had created it? How long ago? Aeris claimed that only a highly skilled artificer could have made such a powerful magical object and Simon wondered what the staff had been used for and by whom.
He reached out with a trembling hand and picked up the weapon. The bronze metal that spiraled up its length was cool and smooth to the touch. Simon had been afraid that Bene-Dunn-Gal would feel the same way it had after he'd lost his magic; heavy and dead, a piece of wood and metal and nothing more.
But as he lifted it, the staff warmed under his touch and a faint glow shone through the bronze. A whisper of sound, like faint music, rose out of the weapon and carried faintly across the room.
“I believe it is happy to see you, master,” Kronk said as he watched carefully.
“Yes, I think it is,” Simon said with a smile. The staff weighed nothing now and he raised it up and twirled it once like he was twirling a baton. Then he laughed with mingled happiness and relief.
For the next few days, Simon used the staff while casting his spells. And just as he remembered it doing before, Bene-Dunn-Gal augmented his powers, increasing the strength of the spells and their duration. It still took a drop of blood from his palm for each cast, something that made Aeris shudder, but it was a small price to pay for the added boost in spell power.
And now the wizard was finally setting off to see Clara and the villagers. The day was bright and warm, relatively speaking, he had the staff strapped to his back and he was ready to go. Or at least he hoped so.
Kronk had decided to stay home and take care of the mares, since Simon would be riding Chief again, and generally watch over the place. Aeris would accompany the wizard; he was always happy to travel to Nottinghill to see his four young Changling friends.
As Simon led the big stallion around the tower from the stable and prepared to mount, he looked down at Kronk, who'd followed him, and would close and lock the gate after he was gone.
“Are you sure you don't want to come?” the wizard asked the little guy one last time.
“Yes, master, quite sure,” Kronk answered dutifully. He sounded slightly tired of the question. “If you decide to stay overnight, which I think you should, then you will know that everything here is being taken care of and you can enjoy your visit.”
“I suppose that's true,” Simon agreed and then grunted as he pulled himself up on to the saddle. “But even if Aeris and I do decide to stay over, we'll be home bright and early tomorrow. Maybe I'll give you a call with the Magic Mouth spell before we start back.”
Kronk's expression brightened.
“Oh, that would be considerate, master. That way I can put on the kettle before you get back.”
Simon laughed and, with a wave, turned Chief's head toward the forest across the clearing and headed out, with Aeris floating in his wake.
The journey took almost two hours, twice as long as usual. There were several very large, high drifts of snow that hadn't melted much yet and the wizard had to detour around them each time.
Although it was still chilly, Simon removed his gloves and opened his jacket as the day went on. The sun was quite hot and he found himself sweating about halfway to their destination.
“Better overdressed than under, I say,” Aeris told him pertly when Simon complained about the heat. “You're still regaining your strength and it's best not to take chances.”
“Yes, mother,” Simon replied grumpily as he wiped the sweat off of his forehead.
Aeris just sighed and didn't answer.
But when they finally emerged from the woods on to the little rise that overlooked Nottinghill, Simon shivered and buttoned up his coat. The wind, that the shelter of the forest had saved them from, cut through him on the exposed slope and he flipped his hood up over his head as well.
The town looked much as it had the last time the wizard had visited. But except for some mounds of snow that had been shoveled into piles along the inside of the wall, Nottinghill looked almost clear of winter's touch.
In front of the main gate, Simon could see that the ground was churned up and frozen from, he assumed, hunters leaving to find prey to help feed the town. Strangely, he couldn't see any movement in town. He wondered if the brisk, chilly wind was keeping people inside.
He looked up at the sun and guessed that it was just after noon, so perhaps folks were having lunch.
Vaguely uneasy, Simon chirped at Chief and the stallion carefully made his way down the mild slope.
They swung around to the left to approach Nottinghill on the main gate side. Simon and Aeris exchanged looks of surprise when they noticed that the gates were closed. That wasn't normal.
“What do you think is going on?” Simon asked the elemental.
Aeris was frowning at the closed gates.
“I have no idea,” he said as he floated along beside the wizard. “I've never seen those doors closed in daylight before.”
The wizard shrugged. “Well, we'll find out soon enough.”
When they got to about thirty feet of the gates, a hidden voice rang out.
“Halt! Who goes there?”
Simon pulled back on the reins and stopped Chief abruptly. He looked at Aeris.
“Who goes there? Are they kidding?”
The elemental looked like he didn't know whether to laugh or become angry. He settled for confusion.
“No clue, my dear wizard. Do they have a lot of visitors that we don't know about? How many wizards come by that ride a bi-corn and have an elemental with them?”
Simon looked up at the wall bu
t could see no one.
“Well, I might as well humor her,” he told Aeris quietly. The voice had been that of a woman.
“It's Simon O'Toole,” he shouted and pushed back the hood of his coat.
“And Aeris!” the elemental called out.
Simon had to stifle a laugh at the elemental's self-important tone.
“Simon O'Toole?”
A head popped up above the wall to the right of the gates. “Oh damn, it is you!”
Simon recognized the guard that had been on duty the last time he'd visited. He hadn't caught her name.
“Sorry about that,” she continued. “It's hard to see with all this glare.”
The wizard realized that the thin, crusty snow was reflecting the mid-day sun and understood that the guard had been blinded by it.
“No problem,” he told her with a smile. He shivered a bit at the fierce bite of the wind. “Uh, any chance that we can come in?”
The guard jumped slightly.
“Oh, of course, of course. Just give me a moment to open the gates.”
Her head disappeared and Simon waited as patiently as he could.
“I'm still not sure why the gates are closed,” he muttered to Aeris.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” the elemental replied, brow still furrowed.
The gates finally opened with a painful squeal of frozen hinges and the guard pushed the large doors aside until they were wide enough for Chief to slide through.
She signaled them urgently to enter and, once they had, quickly slammed the gates closed behind them.
Simon slowly and rather stiffly dismounted. He stood holding on to the saddle for a moment until his legs felt steady. Then he slapped Chief several times on the neck to show his appreciation and the big horse whickered and brushed his huge head across Simon's chest.
The wizard turned and waited for the guard to lock the gates. He took off his gloves and stuffed them into his pockets. When the guard walked over, he nodded at the gates and looked at her curiously.
“Is it normal these days to keep the place locked down?”
She shook her head, the spear across her back catching the sunlight.
“No sir. It's only since the attacks began a few days ago that we've been keeping the gates locked.” She made a sound of derision. “I know he's my superior, but Richard should know better. They only come after dark, so why lock the place down during the day? You know what I mean?”
Simon stared at her and then looked at Aeris, who shrugged.
“Um, not really. What are you talking about? What attack?”
Now it was the guard's turn to look confused.
“You mean, you aren't here because of the assault?” Simon shook his head. “Oh, I'm so sorry. I assumed that Clara had gotten in touch with you and that you'd traveled here to help.”
“Well, I'll certainly help in any way I can, but actually I just decided that the weather was finally decent enough to pay you folks a visit.”
He held out his hand and smiled at the guard.
“I don't actually know your name, so let me introduce myself. My name is Simon.”
Aeris snorted softly from behind him but Simon ignored him. The guard's face reddened and she hurriedly took off her furred glove and shook his hand.
“Oh, sorry. I'm Lynn. It's, ah, it's a pleasure to meet you.”
Simon's smile widened and he shook her hand twice.
“Same here. Now then, is Clara up at the hall or..?”
“She should be,” Lynn told him. “Richard and a few others are meeting with her to discuss tactics, or something. Go ahead up. And again, I apologize for not recognizing you when you arrived.”
Simon laughed and waved off the apology.
“Don't worry about it.” He became serious again. “If you've been attacked, I totally understand your caution.”
He gave her a wave and turned away, leading Chief up the narrow street toward the center of town.
“An attack?” Aeris said as he floated beside Simon. “By whom?”
“No idea, but Lynn said they only attack at night. I don't like that.”
“Neither do I,” the elemental agreed, his voice thick with concern.
They met no one on their walk to the main hall and that made Simon even more uneasy. The weather wasn't that bad, except for the biting wind. If people were staying indoors, there really was a problem.
At the hall, the wizard tied Chief's reins to a post next to the main door then removed his saddlebags and slung them over his shoulder. With a glance at Aeris, he opened the door and slipped into the warmth beyond.
The large hall was lit by torches hanging in sconces around the walls. There were many benches facing toward the center of the room, where a roaring fire shed welcome warmth. Smoke rose from the fire and found its way out through a hole in the ceiling.
Simon saw several figures standing or seated around the fire and he walked toward them slowly, waiting for someone to notice him.
As he neared the group, a woman looked up and made a sound of surprise. Her eyebrows rose and she smiled brightly.
“Simon! Well, what do you know? Who says that prayers are never answered?”
It was Clara.
Simon grinned at the warm greeting and looked at her companions.
Richard was standing next to the fire, gleaming in his armor, a sword on his hip. Near him stood another guardsman, a youngster still in his teens that the wizard didn't know.
On a bench facing the fire-pit sat Virginia and her three friends, with whom she shared her magical powers; Eric, Anna and Gerard.
Everyone greeted Simon with apparent relief. Richard strode forward and shook his hand firmly.
“Sir wizard! Welcome. We are very pleased to see you.” He turned and indicated the young armored man with him. “May I introduce my squire, Edmund. Ed, this is Simon, the wizard I've told you about.”
With wide eyes, the teenager awkwardly extended his hand and Simon shook it twice.
“Nice to meet you,” he said politely. He looked at Richard. “Squire?”
With a chuckle, the large man shrugged, his bald head glowing in the firelight.
“Old fashioned, I know. But on the New Earth, I suppose we'll have to fall back on ancient traditions. The fact is, an armored fighter needs help with his tools, weapons and armor. And he or she should try to train others who want to learn.”
He clapped Edmund on the shoulder with a clang of metal on metal. The young man smiled shyly.
“He's a good lad, even if he was older than I was before the Change.”
Simon knew exactly how that felt. He turned away at a touch on his arm and was enfolded in a huge hug from Virginia.
“It's great to see you,” she exclaimed after she'd let him loose. “The four of us were just trying to convince Clara that we should either go to see you or at least send someone.”
The wizard staggered a bit as she let him go and then looked from the four Changlings to the cleric.
“Why? What's going on? Clara, if you needed my help, all you had to do was use the lodestone to get my attention.”
Clara waved him to a bench and Simon sat down, after he slipped his staff off of his back and laid it down beside him. Aeris hovered next to him at shoulder height, watching silently.
She sat down near the wizard and smiled ruefully.
“I lost the bloody thing,” she said simply.
“What?”
She blushed and looked away. One of the young women, Anna probably, giggled at her embarrassment.
“I lost it, I said. I don't know where. I've torn apart my quarters looking for it, but it's gone. Since I usually carry it everywhere I go, it probably fell out into the snow sometime since we spoke last. I hope it turns up eventually but for now, it's just gone.”
For one moment, Simon was tempted to tease her a bit, but Clara looked genuinely distressed at the loss, so he just patted her hand reassuringly.
“Don't worry about it. I
'll have Kronk make us a new pair when I get home.”
“Oh, that would be such a relief, Simon. Thank you so much.”
“Not a problem. Now the question is, why did you want to speak to me. The guard on duty, Lynn, mentioned an attack?”
“Not just one attack, sir wizard,” Richard rumbled. He gripped the hilt of his sword tightly. “Several. We've been assaulted three times in as many nights.”
“Three times!” Simon stared from face to face. “Who's attacking you? And why?”
Clara stood up and walked to the fire. She stared at it a moment and then turned to look at the wizard.
“Not who, my friend. What.” She tilted her head a bit as she watched him. “Do you remember me telling you about that town about ten miles away? Where I got my books on magic and lore from the library?”
“Yes, of course. Why? Does that have something to do with these attacks?”
“Not directly, no. But it's an old town. And it has a cemetery filled with graves, some over a century old.”
Simon watched her in confusion.
“And?”
“And we believe that the attackers are coming from there.”
“Undead, Simon,” Eric spoke for the first time. His skin seemed paler than usual and his black eyes were enormous in the flickering firelight. “We're being attacked by corpses. Dozens of them.”
Simon put his elbows on his knees and leaned forward. He looked at Clara, who nodded in confirmation of Eric's incredible assertion and then at Richard, who did the same.
“Corpses,” Simon said flatly. “You mean like in the movies in the old days? Shambling zombies lurching along and moaning about brains?”
There were a few strained laughs at his question, but Clara and Richard maintained their serious expressions.
“I wish they were like that, Simon,” the cleric told him. “But they aren't. Not even close. These...things move with speed. They climb like monkeys. Fortunately, your Kronk and his fellow elementals built the wall well. It is too smooth for them to climb, and your wards seem to be painful to them, so they have to come over the front or rear gates. It allows us to focus on only two points along the wall instead of the whole length of it. Thank the gods for that small mercy.”
Tales from the New Earth: Volume One Page 52