“You're all hopeless, you know that?” Clara told them.
The three young men laughed at her comment and then Simon got up reluctantly.
“I hate to leave you all like this, but I have to get home. My mares can't be alone for another night and I have things to do as well.” He looked at Clara. “Are you going to be okay?”
She stood up and hugged him tightly.
“Of course we will, thanks to you.”
The cleric smiled at the two elementals.
“And thanks to both of you as well. Aeris, you've been such a help. And Kronk, without you and your friends, we would be defenseless now. Thank you so much.”
“It was nothing, lady,” Kronk said earnestly as he bowed. “Please call my master when the blacksmith has the last of the spikes ready for the moat and I will return to install them.”
“And if you need me for anything, again, just call Simon,” Aeris told her.
“I will, believe me.”
Simon shook hands with Eric and Gerard.
“Say goodbye to Virginia and Anna for me,” he told them.
They assured him they would.
With a final farewell, Simon and the elementals left the main hall. He hurried to the stables and saddled Chief, who was restless and ready to get back to his stable-mates.
As Simon mounted, Kronk disappeared into the earth to travel quickly back home while Aeris rose up to float by the wizard's shoulder.
Simon chirped at Chief and the big horse set off toward the main gate at a trot, his horns glowing proudly in the late afternoon sun and his tail high. He was nickering to himself in obvious delight.
There was no one watching the gate as they passed through the archway, but Simon was quite sure that the drawbridge would be raised by nightfall and he felt some satisfaction in knowing that, at least for now, the town was safe.
Chapter 12
After the events that had played out in Nottinghill, home had never been so welcome.
When Simon and Aeris reached the tower just after dark, they found the gate wide open and Kronk waiting for them out front holding a torch to light their way.
The little guy insisted on taking the stallion around to the stable himself and getting him settled down for the night.
Simon gratefully watched him lead Chief away and went inside to find the fireplace burning brightly, candles lit around the room and the kettle boiling.
He went upstairs to unpack and change, then came back down to make some tea and have a light meal.
Afterwards, the wizard and the two elementals sat by the fire, discussing the events of the past two days. Simon had found a book in his library, a fantasy game guide that he had saved for some forgotten reason from the old days, and rifled through it as they spoke.
“A necromancer?” Kronk asked after Simon had told him Aeris' theory on the nature of their true enemy.
“So our friend believes,” the wizard said with a quick glance at the air elemental.
“Well, I suppose it's possible,” the earthen said doubtfully.
Aeris bristled a bit but calmed down as Kronk went on.
“The airy ones were much more involved in the day to day activities of the wizards long ago.”
He looked at Aeris.
“Can a wizard actually fight something like that?”
Simon was amused to see the air elemental's smug look as Kronk actually deferred to him for once.
“I'm not sure,” Aeris admitted thoughtfully. “It depends on the circumstances. Certainly if a wizard fought a necromancer, it would be best to do so during daylight. Darkness strengthens them. Night time is their time. Their servants cannot face the light of the sun, as we saw in Nottinghill.”
“You know, it's fascinating just how much information these people got right,” Simon said, tapping the open book on his lap.
“Listen to this: 'Unlike most magic-users, necromancers depend on the spirits of the dead instead of spells to accomplish their ends. Summoning these spirits to animate corpses, these vile dark wizards attack the living, using horror and death to conquer their enemies.'”
He looked at the elementals and then into the fire.
“I can't imagine why anyone would embrace something so vile,” he said quietly. “Why? For what purpose?”
Simon shut the book and closed his eyes briefly. He was so tired.
“How can we know what his or her reasons are?” Aeris asked gently. “All we do know is that these dark gods who are seeking a way back into this world are using whatever tools they have at their disposal to stamp out any opposition to their return.”
Simon opened his eyes and looked at Aeris, who smiled at him a bit grimly.
“I suppose it's a compliment to you, my dear wizard, that they hate you enough to set something like that on your trail.”
“Yeah great,” the wizard said dispiritedly. “After all this time, suddenly I'm famous. Lovely.”
Kronk laughed his grating little laugh.
“Infamous is a better word, master,” he said.
Simon got up slowly and tossed the book on to the kitchen table.
“Either way, I've had enough for today. I'm going to try to get some sleep.”
He walked to the stairs and then looked back at his two friends.
“Keep the fire going, would you?” he asked Kronk. “And Aeris, could you do a few patrols around the tower overnight?”
“Of course, master,” Kronk told him.
“Naturally,” Aeris said.
“Good. I'll see you both in the morning.”
And with that, Simon made his way to bed. Sleep had never seemed so attractive.
Spring came quickly that year. Within a month of the attack on Nottinghill, the last of the snow was gone and grass was forcing its way up through the cracked ground. Wild flowers could be seen popping up here and there in the field beyond Simon's tower and the only time he needed to wear a coat was after dark.
Simon and Kronk began to work on the garden, turning the soil, breaking the larger clumps apart, cleaning up the debris of the winter and digging furrows to get the ground ready for planting.
The wizard, as always, found the work invigorating. He had never had a green thumb in the old days, but now, thanks in large part to Kronk, his garden grew almost anything he cared to plant in it. It was very satisfying.
Aeris came to him one morning with a request. Simon was using a hoe to make a long furrow, occasionally picking up rocks and tossing them on to an ever-increasing pile at the edge of the garden.
“You know, I swear these damned rocks and stones weren't here last year,” he told the air elemental as he stopped to wipe the sweat off of his forehead with his sleeve.
“Perhaps they grew there over the winter,” Aeris said teasingly.
“You know, I'm starting to think that myself.”
Simon leaned on the hoe and stared curiously at the figure floating a few feet away.
“So what's up?” he asked.
“I've been thinking,” Aeris said.
Uh-oh, Simon thought. That wasn't always a good thing.
“What about?” he asked casually as he began digging with the hoe again.
“You and the stone-head are busy with the garden and the tower is as clean as I can make it.”
Simon stopped and rested on the hoe again.
“Thanks for that, by the way. I know you hate housework.”
“I do,” Aeris replied and grimaced. “But we all have to do our part, I suppose. At any rate, those chores are done and now I'd like to get back to my preferred job.”
“Which is?”
“Why, scouting, of course,” he said wide-eyed. “That is the reason you first summoned me, isn't it?”
“True.”
Simon looked at the elemental curiously.
“But scouting where? For what?”
“For Changlings. You remember that our friend, the cleric, said that she believed that others might find their way to Nottinghi
ll this year. Well, the more I've thought about that, the more I've come to believe that I can help. If I scout further afield, perhaps a hundred miles in all directions from the town, I might discover Changling survivors.”
The wizard thought about that for a moment.
“That could take a long time, Aeris. Possibly weeks. And what makes you think that any Changlings you found would even want to pack up and move to Clara's village?”
The elemental shrugged, bobbing and weaving in the spring breeze.
“That would be their decision, of course. But if they don't even know that a secure settlement exists, then how can they make that choice? Besides, I think that having a chance to move to a place that is protected and inhabited by others like themselves would be appealing to a lot of lonely people out there.”
“Assuming there are any, of course,” Simon added.
“Naturally. So, what do you think?”
Aeris sounded eager and Simon was intrigued by the idea. Certainly Nottinghill could use all of the help it could get. And the air elemental was right. His first job had been scouting and, at the moment, there was very little for him to do around the tower.
“Well, if you're that determined to try, go ahead,” Simon told him.
He watched with a grin as Aeris spun around ecstatically and shot up ten feet in the air.
“Yes!” he cried and then gradually floated down to eye level again, smiling broadly.
Simon shook his finger sternly at him.
“Don't take unnecessary risks. Some Changlings have powers that can harm even you. I'll call you every few days with the Magic Mouth spell to see how you're doing. And if you do have any problems, come straight home.”
“Yes, father,” Aeris said sarcastically, but grinned as he said it.
Simon laughed.
“Okay, get out of here. And good luck. I hope you'll be able to find some lost souls.”
Aeris' smile faded and he looked very serious as he answered.
“So do I, my dear wizard. So do I.”
And with a quick wave, he disappeared with a little pop.
Simon stared blankly at the empty spot where the elemental had been, then went back to digging his furrow. He began whistling thoughtfully through his teeth as he worked.
That evening, Simon sat in his chair next to the fireplace and decided to contact Clara. He hadn't received a signal from her lodestone since he'd returned from Nottinghill and had assumed that she was busy getting her people back on track after their losses.
Kronk was sitting on the floor beside the fireplace, staring at it quietly. He seemed a bit down since Simon had told him that Aeris would be away for perhaps a few weeks and the wizard suspected that the little guy was more fond of his counterpart than he let on.
The wizard muttered the incantation for Magic Mouth and then settled deeper into his chair and stared into space.
“Clara? Can you hear me?” he asked.
“Simon? There you are!” the cleric responded, sounding excited. “My goodness, it's been so long that I thought you'd forgotten about us.”
“Forgotten about you?” Simon said, perplexed. “Of course not. I just thought that since you hadn't used your lodestone to get my attention, you were busy with running the town and stuff.”
There was a pause and then Clara laughed.
“My dear friend,” she said, amused, “you may be in the body of a teenager but your memory seems to be closer to that of the older man you used to be. I lost my half of the lodestone, remember? I could have stood in the middle of town and yelled at the top of my lungs and it would have been just as useful.”
Simon groaned and covered his face. Kronk looked up at him curiously.
“My God, I'm an idiot,” he said, red-faced. “I totally forgot that.”
He looked at Kronk as he spoke.
“My little friend will dig up another lodestone and, when Aeris returns, I'll send him down with half of it.”
Kronk nodded vigorously as Simon spoke and the wizard smiled at him.
“Well, that's a relief,” Clara told him. “Things have been interesting around here but we've had no problems that I've needed you for. So where's Aeris gone?”
The wizard told her about the air elemental's idea to search for other Changlings, and Clara was enthusiastic in her approval.
“That's a wonderful idea,” she said. “Thank you both. We can use all the help we can get, to be honest. We've started to prepare the fields for the spring planting and, frankly, we're behind schedule.”
“I'm glad you approve,” Simon said. “So what interesting things have been happening that you wanted to discuss?”
“Well, it's an strange coincidence, but we've already welcomed two new members to our community.”
“Really?” Simon replied, startled. “Who are they? And where did they come from?”
“They're actually the answer to my prayers, or a part of it anyway. Their names are Malcolm and Aiden. Malcolm is simply the biggest man I've ever seen. I thought that Richard was large, but this man? He reminds me of an old-time body builder. He has to be about six and a half feet tall. A beautiful young black man who keeps his hair in long braids and has the loveliest smile you've ever seen.”
Simon began to smile. Clara almost sounded like a schoolgirl with a crush.
“You have a new boyfriend, Clara?” he teased her.
“What? No! Of course not.” She giggled self-consciously. “Apparently as a cleric, I'm expected to be celibate. Ah well, we must all make sacrifices, I suppose. But some of the young women in town are quite smitten with him. Too bad he's not interested.”
Simon stood up and walked over to the counter to get his kettle. He pumped some water into it and hung it over the fire.
“Not interested?” he asked as he began to prepare tea. “Why not?”
“Well, he and Aiden, who's almost as large as Malcolm, are together, if you know what I mean.”
“Hmm, well that's good. I think a stable relationship is probably helpful in this crazy world we're living in now.”
“I agree. Anyway, Aiden is as sweet as his partner. He's Vietnamese, with a mane of hair most women would kill for. Oddly, the two of them knew each other before the Change.”
Simon waited for the kettle to boil, leaning back on the counter as he spoke.
“That is odd. How'd that happen?”
“According to Malcolm, they were both in high school together, although they only knew each other in passing, in a small town called Renfrew. Do you know it?”
“Sure. I've been there a few times, back in the old days of technology. It's west of Nottinghill, I believe.”
“Exactly. They began to Change around the same time and found themselves ostracized by their friends and families. Naturally they gravitated toward each other for mutual support and one thing led to another, I suppose. Renfrew was leveled by drakes, not the dragons, and they were the only survivors. Since then they've wandered, never staying in one place for more than a few months. Aiden says that something drew them slowly but surely toward us. I'd like to think that it was the gods of Light.”
The wizard picked up the now boiling kettle and poured the water into his teapot.
“And they're fighters?”
“Indeed they are. Like Richard, they found that after the Change they had skills they had never had before. They can handle any weapon with ease and our smith has already made both of them armor that they wear like a second skin.” She sighed. “You know, my friend, even now these Changes sometimes scare me. We were altered in both body and mind by the gods, without our permission, and then kicked out into the world and basically told to survive. It's...unsettling.”
“Ha! That's one word for it,” Simon agreed dryly. “Insane is another. But we're playing by their rules now, I suppose.”
He sat down by the fire again and winked at Kronk, who smiled widely.
“Are you sure that these two are trustworthy? I mean, they've walked out of the
wilderness at a rather opportune time, haven't they?”
He sipped his tea and closed his eyes. He was sore and tired from the day's work, but pleased with the progress that he and Kronk had made.
“I'm sure, Simon. As a cleric, I can detect evil thoughts and intent. These two are precisely what they claim to be.”
“That's a relief. So what have they been doing?'
“Malcolm's already organized a militia. As he says, there really aren't enough of us to separate into guardsmen and townsfolk. So he and Aiden are training everyone in at least the basics of weapon use, primarily bows at the moment, so that we can all contribute if there is another assault on Nottinghill.”
She paused and Simon sipped more tea, waiting.
“They were quite taken by your fortifications, by the way. The moat and the walls. They're both eager to meet you the next time you decide to drop by.”
“Well, thank them both,” Simon said as he looked at Kronk. “But my rocky little friend deserves all of the accolades for the town's defensive structures. I was just a bystander.”
Kronk began to object and the wizard hushed him with a gesture. At the little guy's look of indignation. Simon grinned broadly.
“As you can imagine, he's trying to duck out of taking credit for his work, but I won't let him.”
“Good. Don't,” Clara said firmly. “Without him and his fellow elementals, we would be in a very precarious position right now.”
“Me too, Clara. Me too. Well, I'm thrilled that you have some more help now. If Aeris discovers any more Changlings, I'll pass along that information as I get it.”
“Thank you, Simon. I'll keep my fingers crossed that he finds some people who want to live here. How are your studies coming along, by the way?”
“Not too bad, actually. I have several spells permanently memorized now, which is a relief. Magic Mouth is one of them. My Shield and Stone Skin spells are firmly locked in as well. For some reason, I can't do the same for any offensive spells, but I'm not really complaining. Oh, and by the end of the week, I'm going to try my Gate spell again, once Kronk and I finish getting the garden prepared for planting. So I may be the one to deliver that lodestone to you if Aeris isn't back in two weeks or so.”
Tales from the New Earth: Volume One Page 58