Tales from the New Earth: Volume One

by Thompson, J. J.

  He made little shooing motions and Simon exchanged glances with Eric and Gerard. Even after such a tragedy, they couldn't help but grin at the little guy's attempt to take charge.

  “Very well, Kronk,” Simon said as he shouldered his broom. “We'll leave you to it. Call me if you need any help or have any questions.”

  “Yes master, I will. Off you go.”

  And Kronk waved and slipped into the earth.

  Back in the town hall, the remaining members of the community had gathered and were standing or sitting in scattered groups, speaking in low voices. When the three young men entered, Clara, still looking tired and pale, but clean and dressed in a fresh robe, greeted them warmly.

  “We've made some food, my friends,” she told them and led them to the back of the hall where a table had been set up.

  Dishes piled high with fresh biscuits, dozens of fried eggs and slices of cooked beef awaited them. All of the food smelled wonderful and Simon was surprised to find that he was starving.

  He filled a plate, grabbed a cup of tea and found a bench where he didn't have to look directly at the bodies laid respectfully near the fire.

  While he ate, Simon tallied up the number of people that remained of the populace of Nottinghill. It wasn't encouraging. Including the missing Anna and Virginia, plus the two babies and their mothers, Simon counted about thirty souls. He shook his head sadly.

  “Why the long face, young wizard?” Clara asked as she sat down next to him.

  He looked at her closely. The cleric seemed fresher than he would have expected and her smile was as warm as ever, if a little strained.

  “I was just counting up how few people you have left in town,” he told her. “Will you be able to grow crops and do all of the things that a settlement needs to do to survive with just these folks?”

  Clara shrugged wearily.

  “We will because we'll have to, won't we? Others will come. I have faith that the gods of Justice will direct those Changlings out there who are lost to our door. Losing Richard and the guards is a hard blow though. Besides being our friends, they protected the town. Without them, we wouldn't have survived to this point. Hopefully the moat that Kronk is digging will help until we can train more protectors.”

  Simon looked at her skeptically but tried to smile.

  “You know best, of course.”

  He finished his meal and Clara sent him to her quarters to wash up and get some sleep.

  When he woke up that afternoon, Simon ached in every muscle and he simply lay in bed and stared up at the rough, wooden ceiling above him.

  “Awake at last, I see,” a voice commented dryly from his left.

  “Barely,” Simon muttered. “So what's going on?”

  Aeris floated into view.

  “Kronk and his helpers have rebuilt the walls and replaced the gates. And they are almost finished digging the moat. There should be enough daylight left to plant as many spikes in the bottom as the blacksmith has ready to go. Luckily, the man was stationed at the rear gate and was uninjured after the attack.”

  “Small favors,” Simon said and stretched painfully. He sat up reluctantly and threw back the covers. A quick glance at the sun streaming through the window told him that it was still early afternoon. He needed more sleep, but just couldn't lie in bed while others were working.

  “Anything else?” he asked as he sorted through his saddlebags and pulled out a spare robe. Fortunately he'd packed with the thought of staying in town for a few days.

  Aeris floated above the bed and watched as Simon got dressed.

  “The dead were buried in a very touching ceremony. There is a small cemetery along the inside of the wall at the far end of the village where they were laid to rest. One of the earth elementals dug the graves for them.”

  Simon pulled his robe over his head, sat down on the bed and sighed heavily.

  “It's a big blow to this town,” he said as he pulled on some socks. “I'm not sure that they will be able to recover from such a loss.”

  “They're resilient, my dear wizard,” the elemental told him. “I have heard a few suggestions that you should move to Nottinghill from your tower. Apparently your help in protecting the town impressed some people.”

  Simon ran his hands through his hair and shook it out with an impatient motion.

  “Well, I appreciate their support, but that's not happening. If she needs me again, Clara can use the lodestone to call me and I can Gate down. I should be able to cast that spell soon, if I keep progressing. But the tower is my home,” he glanced at Aeris, “and yours too. I need that isolation for my spell research. Not to mention the fact that the townspeople would be driven mad by your constant bickering with Kronk.”

  Aeris sputtered a reply and Simon laughed. It was his first real laughter since the attack and it seemed to drive away the cloud of gloom that had settled over him.

  “Yes, I assumed that you wouldn't come,” Aeris said finally as he glared disapprovingly. Then his expression became grave.

  “There was something I wanted to talk to you about while I have you alone,” he said.

  Simon felt his amusement drain away at the elemental's serious tone. He glanced at the closed door and then looked at Aeris inquiringly.

  The air elemental took a deep breath.

  “I know how hard the last twenty-four hours have been for you and, honestly, I don't want to increase the burden on your shoulders, but, well, I've been thinking about that lich you destroyed.”

  “How could you not?” Simon muttered.

  Aeris nodded once.

  “Exactly,” he said. “Now, as you know, I learned a lot about magic from the wizards I served back in the old world of magic. Unlike Kronk and his fellow earthen, we air elementals were used for more advanced tasks than simply as practice for young magic-users.”

  As he paused, Simon made an encouraging gesture.

  “Yes, well, I remember hearing about those abominations a few times. The thing is...” His eyes darted around the room, reluctant to meet the wizard's gaze.

  “The thing is, we have to ask ourselves where that lich, Madam, came from.”

  “Came from?” Simon was perplexed. “She came from Ottawa. I told you that.”

  “No, no, I don't mean that.” Aeris said. He began wringing his hands together, something that Simon couldn't remember seeing him do before.

  “What I mean is, how did she come to be? How was she created?”

  Simon stood up and packed his soiled clothing into his saddlebags while he listened to Aeris.

  “She told us that, didn't she? She mentioned that the dark gods were her masters. They must have made her.”

  “She lied, Simon,” Aeris said harshly.

  The wizard sat back down on the bed and watched the elemental closely.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean just that. Liches are not raised by the gods; that simply isn't possible. And if she wasn't so distracted by her duties and her grief, I think Clara would have realized that herself.”

  Simon pondered what Aeris was saying, or intimating. He was still not sure what the elemental was getting at.

  “Your point, Aeris?” he asked a bit impatiently. He was still tired and hungry and he wanted to talk to Clara and check on Kronk's progress.

  The air elemental blinked rapidly and then shot across the room and listened at the door. Simon stared at him incredulously.

  “What...?”

  Aeris flew back and motioned for the wizard to keep his voice down.

  “I don't want to start a panic,” he whispered.

  “A panic? After facing a mass of undead and a lich? You must be joking. What could be worse than that?”

  “Something much more powerful than that undead monster. I think your true enemy is a necromancer.”

  Simon's reaction was obviously disappointing to Aeris. He stood up and stretched, yawning loudly.

  “Really? A necromancer, eh? Well, that's, um, bad?”
/>   Aeris rose to eye-level and moved to within inches of the wizard's face.

  “Bad? Are you joking? By the Four Winds, the world has changed beyond all reason if hearing that you have attracted the wrath of a necromancer doesn't make your blood run cold.”

  With a tired sigh, Simon sat down yet again and tried to marshal his patience. This was obviously important to his friend.

  “Okay, I'm listening. Explain why this is so bad. I'm not taking your announcement lightly, but let's remember that magic-users have only been around again for a couple of years. Before that, all we had were stories and legends.”

  Aeris moved to hover on top of the bed and nodded thoughtfully.

  “Of course. Right. I have to keep that in mind. Time passes so quickly on the elemental plane that all of this seems more immediate to me.”

  He squared his small shoulders and looked keenly at Simon.

  “Necromancers command the dead. That much I'm sure you must know.”

  “Yes, I know that. I think I told you that Daniel and I used to play fantasy games back in the day and certainly necromancers were mentioned in those games. But, I don't know, they seemed a bit lame to be honest.”

  “Lame? Oh my. Well, they certainly are not that. They are fallen wizards, Simon. Wizards who have given their souls completely to the evil gods in return for power over spirits and demons. Their powers are much stronger than those of that lich you faced this morning.”

  That got Simon's attention.

  “How much stronger?” he asked anxiously.

  Aeris frowned in thought.

  “Let me put it this way. You remember the power you wielded against the prime black dragon?” Simon nodded. “Well, double that.”

  Simon gasped. His memories of how powerful his spells were then were quite clear. He had felt immeasurably stronger then than he was now, with the knowledge that the gods had given him of master-level wizard spells. And necromancers were even more powerful than that?

  “Okay, now I understand your worry,” he told Aeris. “You think that one of those dark wizards is out there somewhere?”

  He waved vaguely at the window.

  “I can't think of anything else that could raise a lich like that Madam,” Aeris said. “She would have been a Changling first. Like yourself, she would have had potential to be a wizard. This necromancer had to have killed her first, then raised her as a lich and sent her off to gather an army of undead minions. The rest you know.”

  Simon was aghast at the cold-blooded sound of this supposed dark wizard.

  “My God, just like that? Kill some poor innocent and then set them on that path?”

  “Exactly. That is what you are facing. Or so I believe.”

  Simon got up, grabbed his saddlebags and slipped Bene-Dunn-Gal over his shoulder.

  “Okay. We'll talk about this again once we get home. For now, keep it to yourself, all right?”

  Aeris floated after him.

  “You don't think that Clara should be told?”

  Simon hesitated before opening the door. He thought for a moment and then shook his head.

  “Not yet. I can let her know once you and I have talked this through. I need more information before I decide to panic the town again after this last attack.”

  He waited for Aeris' reluctant agreement, then left the room to find Clara.

  The cleric was in the main hall, speaking to several townspeople. When she saw Simon, she excused herself and rose to greet him.

  “How are you feeling?” she asked as he approached.

  “I'm fine, thanks,” he replied. “Frankly, I need more sleep. But lying in bed while others are busy isn't something I've ever been good at.”

  The cleric smiled.

  “I know what you mean.”

  She waved toward the back of the room and Simon saw that the table back here now had some plates of sandwiches and a big urn of tea on it.

  “Before you do anything, have some breakfast.” She rolled her eyes at the wizard's look and chuckled. “Fine. Lunch then.”

  Simon grabbed a sandwich, fixed himself some tea and sat down near the fire to eat.

  Clara returned to the group of villagers and they began speaking in low tones.

  Aeris joined the wizard and the pair of them watched the others.

  “Any idea what's going on?” Simon asked him under his breath.

  “They're worried, of course,” Aeris told him quietly. “Their defenders are almost all dead, their numbers are significantly reduced and spring is still far enough off that their spirits are low.”

  The elemental stared at the sad little group and Simon was touched by the expression of concern on the little guy's face.

  “They're a resilient bunch. They'll be okay.”

  The wizard finished his food, emptied his cup and put it back on the table. Then he gave Clara a wave and left, with Aeris following behind him.

  Before he went down to the front gate, Simon visited one of the village outhouses and then went to the town stables to check on Chief.

  The stallion whinnied when the wizard entered and Simon hurried to check him over and give him a few pats and a scratch under his chin.

  Chief extended his head and closed his eyes in bliss as the wizard scratched and Simon had to grin.

  “Yeah. Big, bad stallion, that's you,” he murmured. The horse sighed in contentment.

  Once he'd assured himself that the horse had enough food and water, he patted him one more time, assured him that they'd be heading home soon and left the stable.

  Aeris had gone ahead to the main gate and Simon hurried in that direction. He passed a couple of villagers, who stopped to thank him for his efforts.

  Simon accepted their thanks a little self-consciously and moved on, shaking his head.

  They were the real heroes, not me, he thought. Changlings without any magic who were just trying to live their lives in peace. They're braver than I will ever be.

  As he rounded the last house near the gate, Simon skidded to a stop on the thin slushy snow and stared at the new construction in amazement.

  The old gates had been two large wooden doors that met in the middle, wrapped with several metal bands for strength with large bolts to secure them.

  Now there was an open arch, cleanly built and new, with no gates at all.

  “What the...?” he said to no one and moved forward to find out what was going on. He soon had his answer.

  As he walked through the arch in the wall, Simon found himself standing on hardened planks of wood. Like the old gates, iron strapping bound them together. They were maybe twelve feet wide and extended over a pit at least twenty feet across. The moat.

  “Wow,” he muttered.

  “You approve, master?”

  Simon turned around to find Kronk standing in the archway, a wide grin on his little face.

  “Approve? Kronk, it's amazing!”

  The wizard turned to follow the moat's progress as it stretched out to ring the entire town. He walked to the edge of the drawbridge and looked down at the bottom of the moat.

  Spikes. Hundreds of gleaming spikes pointed upward, promising a miserable death to anyone, or anything, that stumbled over the edge to fall below. The moat was over twenty feet deep and its sides were sheer and unclimbable.

  “That actually looks...terrifying,” Simon told the elemental as he knelt down on one knee and stared at the spikes. “Did you have enough to line the entire bottom?”

  Kronk tip-tapped across and stood next to the wizard. He looked down as well.

  “No master. We've covered about half of it, but we concentrated on the front and rear entrances first. The rest will be ready in a few weeks, the blacksmith told me. I asked him to tell Clara when he is finished and she can inform you. I'll return and install them then.”

  Simon stood up and carefully backed away from the edge.

  “I hope the townspeople know enough to stay away from the sides of this drawbridge.”

  He stam
ped his foot on the hard wooden surface and heard barely a thud in response.

  “Great job on this, by the way. How do they raise it?”

  Kronk showed Simon the heavy chains that he and the other earthen had created. They were attached to the far end of the drawbridge and then ran through holes drilled into the walls and down to heavy cranks on the ground.

  “All the people here have to do to close off the town is spin these wheels to retract the chains,” Kronk said as he pointed out the mechanism. “We've built a smaller version for the rear gate.”

  The earth elemental took Simon back out to the drawbridge and showed him how the chains could be loosened enough to hang low as a kind of barrier against anyone accidentally falling off of the edge.

  “That should add to their safety, master,” he said. “But I'm afraid that there will always be some risk with this sort of defense.”

  Simon nodded thoughtfully.

  “Yes. Of course, you're right. And considering what they faced this morning, somehow I think the people of Nottinghill will have no objections.”

  The two walked back into town and up the narrow main road to the hall.

  Back inside, Simon found Clara and Aeris chatting amiably with Eric and Gerard. Eric informed the wizard that Anna was still too upset to see anyone and that Virginia was staying with her.

  “I hadn't realized that she cared so much for Richard,” he told Simon as the four humans and two elementals sat across from each other on opposite benches. “Ginny told me that Anna actually had a crush on him. Who knew?”

  Clara snorted and the other three looked at her in surprise.

  “Men,” she said with some exasperation. “It was as plain as the nose on your face, Eric. She lit up every time Richard would walk by or say hello to her.”

  Eric and Gerard looked mystified.

  “She did? Huh. I never noticed,” Eric said. “You?” he asked Gerard.

  “Nope. But then, according to Anna, I'm a bit thick.”

  Simon laughed at Gerard's self-deprecating comment.

  “Don't feel bad,” he told him. “I lived for over sixty years as my old self, and I've never understood women. That hasn't changed even though I have.”