“Your Diamond Skin spell, master?” Kronk offered tentatively.
Simon shook his head.
“If this acid stuff is as corrosive as it sounds, I don't think the skin spell will do more than slow it down for a few seconds. And to be honest, I'd rather not put it to the test.”
“Well, your standard protection spell is your Shield spell,” Aeris told him. “You actually stood in the stomach of the primal white dragon and it kept you safe.”
“No, it didn't,” the wizard said with another head shake. “The Diamond Skin spell kept me protected for a short time, but even that was being eaten away while I was in there, which is why I'm sure it won't be effective against the brown dragons' acid attack. The Shield spell filtered the fumes from the air so that I could breathe and added to the skin spell's defense but not for long. I suppose if I added more power to the shield, it could resist acid for a longer period, but then it would cut off all of the air as well, so that's out. Huh. That's a good example right there of how ineffective both spells were when facing acid, even if it was only stomach acid. I need something that lasts longer.”
The three of them exchanged looks but no one came up with any more ideas.
“Well, when worse comes to worst, there's always the standard fall-back plan,” Aeris said.
“Which is?”
“Duck,” the air elemental said dryly.
Simon heaved a loud sigh and stood up. He put the kettle over the fire and went to stand by the window, gazing out over the winter landscape.
“If there is a silver lining here, provided I actually do enter the elven realm, it's that I'll get away from this blasted weather. God, I hate this season.”
“We know, master,” Kronk told him. “I have a thought though, since we seem to be out of ideas.”
Simon turned and looked at him enquiringly.
“Call your allies, master. Clara, Liliana, the siblings in London, the group in Australia. More minds mean more ideas. Perhaps one of them has a solution to the problem?”
“That's a thought,” Simon said. He leaned on the window ledge, tapping his chin.
“The problem with that is I guarantee you that Liliana, and probably Tamara and Sebastian as well, will want to join in the fight. If anyone hates dragons as much, if not more, than I do, it's those three.”
“Well, it is possible that, as magic-users, they also age slowly like you do, my dear wizard,” Aeris said slowly. “I actually hadn't considered that before. Granted, because you channel more magic than they do, your body would age the slowest but still, it is something to think about.”
Simon made his tea and sat down at the table again.
“That's a good point.”
He sipped the sweet, hot liquid and then sat back and ran his fingers through his hair, pulling at it a bit in frustration.
“There's just so much that we still don't know about magic and casting spells and long-term consequences.”
He tugged at his hair absently.
“I mean, why is magic slowly turning my hair pure white, while this,” he tapped his cheek, “is as smooth as a baby's butt? Where's the logic in that?”
“Only the gods understand all of the intricacies of magic, master,” Kronk told him with a tiny shrug. “Even we elementals are not fully conversant in the ins and outs of using the power.”
He looked at Aeris who nodded reluctantly.
“Kronk's right. We air elementals worked more closely with wizards than any of the others and even we only learned what we learned through observation. If I may use terms from your old world of technology, my dear wizard, we know that magic alters the human body at a cellular level. Changlings like yourself and the others are proof of that. You have been mutated by the power into something more than you were. More and different. I cannot stress enough that you are a totally different creature than your old self, right down to your genetic structure. All that remains of that middle-aged power-lifting man that was Simon O'Toole are his memories. You are now something else.”
This was the first time that Simon had heard magic discussed in scientific terms and he looked at Aeris in surprise.
“Your people understand genetics?”
Aeris rolled his eyes dramatically.
“What exactly do you think we've been doing for the last several thousand years? I've told you before how incredibly boring my home is. Everything is always the same. So, many of us spent our time observing the Earth. We watched humanity rise from the ashes after the gods retreated into the Void and took the magic with them. Oh, that was a sad and painful time for your people, my dear wizard. Struggling to exist without the benefits of magic. Having to learn to fashion tools, build homes, reconstruct society literally from the ground up. And we all had to watch helplessly. There were no wizards to summon us, to seek our aid.”
He looked at Kronk for a moment.
“Think what just one earthen like our friend here could have accomplished if the newly-mundane humans could have summoned him to help them? But they couldn't. It was so incredibly frustrating to watch and not be able to help.”
Aeris was actually wringing his hands together unconsciously as he spoke, a sign that Simon had learned showed the elemental was emotionally invested in his memories.
“Wow,” he said. “I had no idea. What about your people, Kronk? Were they watching as well?”
“Oh yes, master. At first.”
“What do you mean, at first?”
The little guy's red eyes dulled as he looked at Simon.
“It was so...painful to watch, master. We earthen, above all other elementals, want to help. We exist to give aid. To be trapped, locked away from the world of humans when they needed us the most was unendurable. Many of us, myself included, stopped observing mankind altogether. It was a bad time for us.”
Simon reached out and patted the rocky little shoulder.
“Yes, I can see that. But try to put that behind you, my friend. Believe me, I would not be here today if it hadn't been for you and your people. And Aeris as well, once we summoned him.”
“The point, my dear wizard, is that even after all of our observations of humans before and after the old days of magic, we are no closer to truly understanding the complex ways that magic affects the world around us and the people within it. It remains a mystery.”
Simon finished his tea and picked up the mirror.
“Well, mystery or not, I've got two days to gather as much information as I can on how to deal with the brown dragons. So I might as well start now. The clock is ticking.”
Chapter 2
“You can't be serious,” the woman in the mirror told Simon. “The brown dragons actually invaded the realm of the elves?”
“I'm quite serious, Liliana,” he replied gravely. “We suspect that they blame the elves for the destruction of the primal white dragon, and maybe the other two primals as well.”
The paladin muttered under her breath and Simon guessed that it was just as well that he didn't speak Russian.
“But you can't mean to follow them there,” she finally said with a fierce glare. “I know that the time differential between our world and the elvish lands can be fatal to humans. You're sentencing yourself to death, my friend.”
“Not necessarily,” Simon told her. “It's quite possible that the magic in my system, the power that has, apparently, slowed down my body's aging process, will allow me to travel there and return safely. Mind you, staying more than several weeks might be harmful, but I might be fine until then.”
Her eyes narrowed as she listened. The mirror she was using to see the wizard with trembled a bit in her hand.
“I hear 'possible', 'apparently' and 'might be' in that argument, Simon. I don't think you're as sure of this course of action as you'd like me to believe you are.”
“I'm not saying I am,” he answered with some irritation. “It's a risk, I grant you, but it's a risk I'm willing to take if it comes to that. The thing is, there are no spell-caste
rs among the elves. No wizards, no mages,” he nodded at her, “no paladins. Elves are magic, they don't cast magic. So right there, their defense against the monsters is limited. If I go and lend my support, it could really help.”
“Really?” Liliana said skeptically. “One lone wizard against, how many did you say, possibly thousands of dragons? Look, I don't underestimate your power, sir wizard, but even so, you are no match for those kinds of numbers.”
“One, Liliana,” Simon said emphatically. “One dragon. The primal brown. Kill it and the others will fall. It really is that simple.”
The paladin barked a short, humorless laugh.
“That simple, is it? Just waltz into the elven lands, find the primal brown dragon somewhere in a world covered in vast forests, cast a few spells and bang! Problem solved? Simon, either you are completely naïve or you think that I am. Come clean, sir wizard and stop treating me like an idiot.”
“I...”
Simon caught himself and took a deep breath. The paladin was right. He was treating a life and death situation too lightly.
Time to smarten up, he told himself.
“You're right. I apologize. It's just that this doom and gloom stuff is easier to swallow if I deal with it less seriously than it is.”
“Apology accepted,” Liliana said with a little smile. “And I understand that reasoning, believe me. Now let's get back to the original discussion. The elves need help and you want to help them.”
She leaned back against the rough stone wall behind her with a clank of metal. As usual, the paladin was wearing a full suit of plate armor that shone as if it was highly polished. She treated it as if it was as light as the robes that Simon always wore.
Liliana was speaking to him from inside a decrepit building somewhere in the center of Moscow. She'd found a new base underground after her last one was invaded by drakes. She had even met up with several Changlings who had somehow survived and made their way to Moscow from little villages and towns, looking for food, clothing and especially shelter from dragons.
“I do want to help. In fact, I feel like I have to.”
Simon watched as the woman walked around the large room where she'd taken up residence. The cement walls were cracked and stained. There were several brackets bolted to them with torches spluttering and flickering, throwing off random shadows. He saw her stop and talk quietly to a few people who were sitting on bunks, chatting and laughing in a casual way.
The wizard was pleased that Liliana finally had some people around her. The small group of Changlings that she had been with when he'd first met her had been slaughtered, used in unholy rites by the primal white dragon. After that, she had become single-minded in her quest for revenge.
Now though, he saw a softer side of her as she smiled and spoke with her new people. It gave him a certain sense of relief to see the paladin more at ease.
Finally, Liliana walked up a steep flight of stairs and emerged on to the ground floor of a wrecked office building. She made her way to the broken front doors and leaned on the twisted frame, staring into the snow-covered streets beyond. She held up the small mirror in her hand and caught his eye again.
“Simon,” she said quietly, “you really should think this through. If you do enter the elven realm, you mustn't go alone. Surely there are some of us who would survive for the same reason that you would? Perhaps Tamara and her brother share this slow-aging effect of magic?”
“They may. I have no idea. But I really hate putting others in harm's way. You know that.”
“I do,” she answered with a crooked smile. “But just living on this New Earth puts us all in harm's way, don't you think? You should at least tell them about what's been happening and see what they say.”
“I intend to. You were just the first one I called; well, after Clara that is. I knew at least that she wouldn't volunteer to join me, because she feels the need to stay with her people and their town, to watch over them.”
“Yes, I know that feeling.”
The paladin squinted into the distance with a concerned expression on her face.
“I feel the same way about my handful of survivors, my friend. Normally I would be the first to insist that I join you in your battle against the brown dragons, if such a thing transpires. But now, with these people to protect, I find myself conflicted.”
Simon smiled at her.
“There is no conflict, Liliana. Your duty now, like Clara's, is to protect your people. Taking you away from them is something that I simply would not do.”
He chuckled and the paladin looked at him with a puzzled, but amused, expression.
“What's so funny?”
“Oh nothing. It's just that I was afraid I'd have to argue and convince you to sit this one out. I'm glad I don't have to, that's all.”
“Oh, you would, believe me. But just because the white dragons are all dead doesn't mean that we're safe yet. I'm still watching the skies, waiting for a flash of red.”
Simon instantly became tense.
“Red dragons? Any signs yet?”
“None. Trust me, I'd signal you with the lodestone if there was. But now that the browns are all in the elven realm and the other three primals are destroyed, the red dragons have free run of the entire world.”
She frowned and looked thoughtful.
“I wonder just how many there are? You said that there were a limited number of eggs available to the primals. It would be good to know what that exact number is.”
“Maybe ask your patron goddess the next time she visits you in your dreams,” Simon suggested, only half joking.
“That's an idea. Unfortunately it's a rare occurrence; a divine visitation. And when it does happen, I pretty much just listen. The goddess' visits are short, to keep from attracting the attention of the Chaos lords.”
“Good point. Anyway, I'd better get on and talk to Tamara and Sebastian. It was good to see you again, my friend.”
“You as well, Simon. Listen, if it does turn out that you do enter the elven realm, let me know, would you?”
She hesitated and then gave him a rather poignant smile.
“You are one of the few friends I have now and I worry.”
The wizard blinked rapidly, surprised to hear this admission from the tough as nails paladin.
“Thank you,” he answered with a reassuring grin. “Don't worry. I won't head off into adventure without teasing you about it first.”
She scowled and shook her finger at him in a mock display of anger.
“That was mean,” she said and then laughed. “All right, get on with your other calls. And take care.”
“You too,” Simon said and broke the connection.
He sighed and put down the mirror, rubbing his hands over his face.
“Are you okay, master?”
“I'm fine,” he told the little elemental. Kronk was standing on his desk, listening quietly as Simon called each of his allies. Aeris had decided to take a few turns outside along the wall. Just in case, he'd said.
“I'm actually relieved that Liliana didn't fight me about sitting this one out. She has a handful of people to watch over now and I think it's given her life purpose again, beyond striking back at the dragons.”
“That's good, is it not, master?”
“Very good, Kronk. Very good indeed. One less thing for me to worry about, I suppose.”
“Master, perhaps you should take a break? Come downstairs and have some hot chocolate. It always seems to soothe you.”
Simon had to smile at the earthen's concern.
Just before winter began in earnest, Clara had told him that one of her teams of scouts had come across a small country store that hadn't been completely burned out in the original dragon attack. Most of the food and supplies were spoiled after four years of exposure to the elements, but they had found a palette buried under some rubble and inside were dozens of sealed cans of cocoa powder.
The cleric had generously gifted him with three of the p
recious cans and he had tasted chocolate again for the first time in years.
Simon had actually teared up and the two elementals had watched him with a mixture of worry and confusion.
“Master, what is wrong?” Kronk had asked, deeply concerned.
“Yes, my dear wizard. What is the problem? You are given a taste of your old world and you're unhappy?” Aeris had said. “I don't understand.”
“Neither do I,” Simon had said, wiping his eyes with some embarrassment. “It's just that, I guess it all suddenly came back. My old life, all the people we lost, the taste of home. I don't know.”
He had closed his eyes and sipped the thick liquid slowly, the honey he'd mixed in making it sweet and delicious.
“Don't worry, guys,” he'd said softly, remembering distant Christmases from long ago. “The memories are dear to me. It's just that I thought I'd put them aside forever. Funny how a little thing like a smell or a taste can bring them all rushing back.”
Now when he had hot chocolate, and Simon drank it rarely to save his precious supply for as long as possible, it had a calming and, as Kronk had said, soothing effect on him.
“That's a really good idea,” he told the little guy. “Let's go.”
Simon picked up the mirror and followed Kronk downstairs. As he put on the kettle, Aeris popped into the room and joined the earthen on the kitchen table.
“So what's going on out there?” Simon asked him.
“Nothing. All's quiet. The earthen are patrolling the wall as usual.”
Aeris watched as the wizard made his hot chocolate.
“What happened?” he asked Kronk and nodded at Simon. “Why's he making that?”
“It's fine,” the earthen replied. “He is a little unsettled from talking to Clara and Liliana about this whole brown dragon thing.”
“Ah, of course. He's really quite emotional at times, have you noticed?”
“He is. That's not such a bad thing though. I've always said...”
“Um guys?” Simon said as he turned to look at them. “I'm standing right here. You do know that I can hear you, right?”
Tales from the New Earth: Volume One Page 121