Both Simon and Malcolm pulled back into cover, and looked at Aiden.
“What is it?”
“Movement,” he whispered. “I thought I saw a flash. Maybe sunlight on scales? Not sure.”
Malcolm stayed low and crept up beside his partner.
“Where?”
Aiden pointed and Malcolm looked in that direction.
Simon waited impatiently. He couldn't see more than a few feet outside of the building from where he was squatting.
“Anything?” he finally asked.
“We may have a survivor,” Malcolm said but he sounded dubious. “Come over here, Simon and take a look. You know these people. We don't.”
Simon moved forward, staying low, until he was next to the big man. His eyes followed Malcolm's nod and he gaped as he looked across the wide open square in front of the theater.
From between two wrecked buildings about fifty yards away, a figure was walking toward their position. Armor flashed like silver in the waning sunlight; armor covered in dents and dried blood. It was Liliana.
Simon was about to jump up and run forward when Malcolm grabbed his arm, holding him down.
“What are you doing? That's Liliana!” he exclaimed, trying to pull his arm from the big man's grip.
“The leader of this place?” Aiden asked in surprise.
“Exactly. And it looks like she's been in one hell of a fight. Let me go, Malcolm!”
“Wait, sir wizard. One moment. We just saw a dragon fly past. If it spots her before she reaches cover, it will attack. Call her over but stay hidden. That way, if there is an attack, you can give that damned dragon a surprise greeting.”
Simon stared at him. Malcolm was obviously thinking clearly. If he'd been alone, the wizard would have simply rushed out impulsively.
“You're right, my friend. Thanks.” He glanced down at the armored hand holding him in place and the big man let him go with an embarrassed grin.
“Sorry. I didn't mean to grab you like that.”
“I'm glad you did.”
Simon moved up right into the doorway.
“Liliana? Liliana! Over here!” he called out, wincing as he voice echoed off of the surrounding buildings.
The paladin raised her eyes wearily in surprise and saw Simon and the two guardsmen.
“Simon? What are you doing here?” she answered and increased her pace a bit. The wizard saw her grimace as she did so and then noticed that she was limping.
“She's hurt,” he said to the two men.
Aiden nodded.
“We'll have to get her back to Clara as soon as we can.”
“First things first,” Malcolm said sternly. “Let's find out what the hell happened to her and her people.”
Liliana kept her eyes on Simon as she made her way across the open square. He kept looking up, expecting to see a dragon arrowing down from above like an attacking eagle, but the sky remained clear.
When she finally made it to the theater, Liliana leaned against the door frame and closed her eyes a moment. Her breathing sounded labored and painful.
“Are you okay?” Simon asked, and then realized what a stupid question that was.
Liliana opened her eyes and smiled at him slightly.
“Okay is a relative term, my friend. I am alive, so that is something. My people, on the other hand...”
Her voice trailed off and Simon watched two tears slip down her cheeks, cutting furrows in the dirt on her face.
“Dead?” Malcolm asked gently.
She looked at him blankly and then nodded once.
Before she could continue, Aiden spoke up.
“Maybe we should get back downstairs? Liliana can rest and we'll be less exposed.”
“And trapped in here if the drakes return,” Malcolm reminded him.
“There will be no returning drakes,” the paladin said grimly. “I could not save my people, but at least I avenged them.”
The guardsmen stared at her with obvious respect.
“In that case, let's get you downstairs where you can at least sit down,” Simon told her.
She nodded and began to limp toward the stairs, waving off Aiden's offer of assistance.
“I can walk on my own,” she snapped at him and led the way.
The three men exchanged glances and Simon just shrugged. They followed her slowly.
Once they were down in the living quarters, Aiden drew a bucket of water from the well and filled a glass. He offered it to the paladin who accepted it with thanks. Malcolm had found an overturned chair and had set it upright for her to sit down.
Liliana sipped the water, her breathing slowly returning to normal. Simon grabbed another chair and sat down facing her. He summoned a light sphere again and set it to hover up near the ceiling.
Aiden moved to guard the door while his partner stood nearby, arms folded, watching her intently.
“Can you tell us what happened?” Simon asked her when she had caught her breath.
The paladin nodded, moving her left arm in a circle to loosen it up and wincing a few times.
“Two of my people were out scouting with me this morning,” she began. She stared at the floor as she spoke, her eyes dull. She sounded like she was drained of emotion.
“Routine, really. We scout out the neighborhood every day to make sure it remains clear. They headed west and I went east. Maybe they got careless. We hadn't seen any dragon activity for weeks. I don't know what happened, but about an hour or so into my patrol I heard the dragon.”
“A dragon? The one that tore open your door?” Malcolm asked.
Liliana nodded.
“Yes. That door weighs over a ton and it was ripped apart like it was paper. When I heard the first roar, I raced back.”
Her hands clenched into fists.
“I was too late. My fault. I had gone too far from the outpost and could not get back in time to save my people.”
“Do not blame yourself, lady,” Malcolm said. His tone was so fierce that she looked up at him in surprise.
“No one can run quickly in armor,” he continued and tapped his breastplate. “You were out doing your job. You are not the one who led the dragon to this place. Taking the blame on to yourself is futile.”
She was listening closely and nodded reluctantly.
“Perhaps. The results were the same. By the time I got back, the dragon was gone. The last of the drakes was streaming out of the building.”
Her expression became so fierce that Simon flinched and sat back.
Liliana caught his movement and looked at him. She managed a smile and made a reassuring gesture.
“Sorry, my friend. I never knew how much I could hate until today.”
She glanced down at her armor and Simon followed her look. To his surprise, the metal was no longer dented and splattered with dried blood. It gleamed like it had been freshly polished and was undamaged.
The paladin rested her hand on her chest and sighed loudly.
“Apparently the gods don't hold my hatred against me. For whatever that's worth.”
She stood up slowly and walked back and forth a few paces. Simon watched wide-eyed. She was no longer limping and the gray of fatigue had faded from her skin.
Liliana sat down again and gave them all a twisted smile.
“Well, isn't that a lovely gift,” she said bitterly. “My people are slaughtered but the gods see fit to heal their paladin. Wonderful.”
She leaped to her feet and glared up at the ceiling.
“What good does this do me now!” she roared. Her rage echoed around the room and the guardsmen watched her with identical expressions of compassion.
She collapsed on to her chair and covered her eyes.
“What good does this do me now?” she whispered.
Simon wanted to place a reassuring hand on her shoulder but he had a feeling that it would be rebuffed, so he waited, his heart sore as he watched Liliana's grief.
“How many drakes attacked?” Malco
lm asked finally, when she finally sat back and was staring blankly at the floor again.
“How many? I don't know. Five? Six? Doesn't matter. They are all destroyed. Once I finished off the straggler near our front door, I tracked down the rest. My people had been...consumed by then. No remains were left to be buried. But none of those creatures will report back to the dragon that sent them. Let them believe that my people survived and fought them off. It will at least give them pause.”
“Five or six?”
Malcolm looked at Aiden, who shook his head in mute amazement.
“Lady, we have never faced a drake, but Simon has. From what he's told us, just battling one of those beasts would be too much for even a group of people.”
Liliana stood up again and drew her sword. It rang like a bell and glowed a ghostly white.
“The gods' favor,” she said with a sneer. The sword was deadly sharp and runes ran down its length from hilt to tip. “This weapon sheers through drake flesh like a hot knife through butter. The beasts weren't that much of a challenge.”
Malcolm snorted.
“Your modesty becomes you, lady, but I doubt that it was that easy.”
The paladin sheathed her sword and looked around the room.
“Easy? No, it was not easy.”
She focused on the two guardsmen.
“I did not catch your names?” she said pointedly and looked at Simon.
He jumped up, feeling a little embarrassed.
“Sorry, Liliana. With all that's happened...anyway, this is Malcolm and that's Aiden. They are the leaders of the guardsmen in Nottinghill.”
“Nottinghill?” The paladin looked perplexed for a moment and then nodded. “Ah, of course. Clara's town, yes?”
“Yes.”
Malcolm stepped forward and shook her hand firmly.
“It is an honor,” he said sincerely.
The paladin managed a smile.
“The pleasure is mine,” she told him and nodded at Aiden, who saluted from his position at the door.
Liliana walked over to the pump and dipped her glass into the bucket of water. She drank it down and glanced around at the others.
“Water? Or something stronger? I'm sure I can dig up a bottle of vodka in all this mess.”
“No thanks,” Simon said. The guardsmen shook their heads.
“So how did you manage to show up when you did, sir wizard?” she asked. “I hadn't expected to see you for some time, perhaps only if or when we found your lost spell-book.”
Simon looked at her blankly for a moment and had to quickly reorganize his thoughts.
“Oh, right. That. Well, it was just bad timing, I suppose. Or good timing. I'm not sure. I discovered a new spell that I think will do major damage to white dragons.”
Liliana stiffened and she focused intensely on the wizard.
“So I called you this morning, well, morning in my time zone, and got no answer.”
He frowned at the thought.
“It's weird, you know. I can usually reach anyone, awake or asleep, with my Magic Mirror spell. But when I called you, I got nothing. That's what convinced me to come. I thought...”
“You thought I was dead,” Liliana said flatly. “Yes, not surprising. I felt your attempt to contact me, my friend. I was on patrol at the time, as I told you earlier, and could not talk.”
“I didn't know you could do that,” he said in wonder.
“It is part of who I am. I daresay your friend Clara could do the same, as could other spell-casters like yourself.”
She settled into her chair and it creaked under the weight of her armor.
“So you thought that I was dead or injured and came riding to the rescue?”
Simon felt a little embarrassed, but the paladin's smile of appreciation set him at ease.
“I don't know many who would do that even for someone close to them, my friend. Thank you. Now, what is this about a new spell?”
The wizard explained his theory about dragon weaknesses. All three of the fighters listened intently, Aiden nodding occasionally from across the room.
“So you believe that a dragon's strength is also its weakness?” Malcolm asked when Simon had finished.
“It seems so,” he said. “At least, that's what has happened in my battles against the primals I've faced.”
“I keep taking you at face value, Simon,” Malcolm said, looking a little embarrassed. “But you have destroyed two of the most powerful creatures on Earth.” He paused. “Gods, even saying that out loud sounds incredible. But if you think that you've discovered the dragons' Achilles heel, I have to believe you.”
Liliana was nodding slowly.
“Yes, I tend to agree. And this new spell is...?”
“I call it Blizzard,” Simon said self-consciously. “It's a spell that summons a storm of intense cold at a specific spot. The white dragons use deep cold as their main weapon, so it is possible that using the same sort of magic against them would have some affect on them.”
The paladin frowned.
“You don't agree?” the wizard asked.
“Oh, I agree. At least, if your logic is correct, then it should work.”
She stood up again and began pacing nervously.
“The problem is that we won't know if it is effective until you actually face a dragon. So it's all or nothing. And if it doesn't work...”
“If it doesn't work, I'm screwed,” Simon said with a shrug. “Story of my life basically. But, no risk, no reward.”
“That's a rather casual attitude, sir wizard,” Malcolm said with a frown. “No offense,” he added quickly.
“None taken. You're right. But it isn't a casual attitude, my friend. It is the actual truth. What I've faced,” he looked at the pacing paladin and added, “what we've all faced, is so outside the realm of our old reality that we're just staggering from battle to battle, hoping to survive.”
“A fair description, Simon,” Liliana said. “I think that I can help you to test your new spell. Not today. Too much has happened and I am too full of grief to think clearly.”
Simon watched her turn away and his heart went out to her. But what could he say? Some things went beyond consolation.
She turned and stared at the wizard.
“When I have found a new refuge and moved my belongings there and,” she looked around and shook her head, “put my friends' memories to rest, I will keep an eye out for patrolling dragons. If I can find one that keeps a fairly regular schedule, and some of them are creatures of habit, I will signal you with the lodestone that you said you made for me and we can devise a plan of attack. That way, you can test your spell and I...”
She gripped the hilt of her sword so tightly that Simon heard her metal glove squeal.
“I can begin to take my revenge. For now, I thank you all, but I'd like to be alone.”
Simon reached inside his coat and pulled out the half of the lodestone that Kronk had found for him. He handed it to the paladin and she accepted it with the ghost of a smile.
Then he stood up and Aiden, with a last glance down the hallway, walked back to stand next to Malcolm.
“Are you sure you wouldn't like to come back to Nottinghill with us?” the big man asked her. “You could rest, heal up, perhaps meet some new people.”
Liliana shrugged irritably.
“I have no need to rest or heal, warrior. I am a paladin. And as for meeting new people? Thank you but no. I'm not feeling very sociable right now.”
She stepped forward and shook hands all around.
“Thank you for coming. I do appreciate your concern, truly. Forgive me if I seem rude but...”
“No need for forgiveness, lady,” Aiden spoke up. “We understand. If you need us, Malcolm and I, in the future, you have only to ask.”
“Thank you both. Simon, I'll be in touch.”
“I'll be looking forward to it, Liliana. Be careful. You're alone now and that makes you more vulnerable than you were before.”
Simon had nothing to say to that. He gripped his staff firmly and chanted the Gate spell.
“Grab hold, gentlemen,” he said to Malcolm and Aiden.
They each put a hand on a shoulder and Simon smiled one last time at Liliana. Then he invoked the spell and watched her fade into darkness, a feeling of deep sadness rolling over him.
The wizard stayed for the night in Nottinghill. When he and the guardsmen had returned, they had spent several hours speaking with Clara about what had happened.
The cleric was shocked and saddened by the news of the attack on Liliana's people but accepted the paladin's wish to be left alone with her grief.
“She will have to sort this out for herself,” she said softly.
They were sitting around the central fire in the town hall. The fire was burning even though the day was still warm.
Simon sat alone on a bench, his coat and staff lying next to him. He was sipping some tea and staring quietly at the flames. The burning wood smelled sweetly and he felt exhaustion creeping up on him.
“That can't be healthy,” Aiden objected. Both he and Malcolm had gone to the barracks and removed their armor. Seeing them sitting side by side wearing plain tunics and leather pants seemed strange to Simon. Somehow they looked younger and more vulnerable.
“Alone with thoughts of your friends being slaughtered? How can that be good for her?”
“And what would you have us do?” Clara asked him simply. “We cannot force ourselves on her if she doesn't want our company, can we?”
“Of course not.” Malcolm said, with a look at his partner. “But I agree with Aiden. Moscow is a ruin. Depressing enough, I'm sure. But now Liliana is alone there, with dragons and perhaps drakes sniffing around, searching for her. A grim prospect.”
They fell into a glum silence, each alone with their own thoughts.
Finally, after Simon had yawned for the fourth time in a row, Clara stood up and smiled at him.
“I think it's time to call it a day, my friends. Simon, come along. I've got the guest room all ready for you.”
He wanted to protest that he should get home, but the wizard was so tired that he simply stood up and followed her meekly.
Tales from the New Earth: Volume One Page 92