“What are you talking about?” Kronk asked roughly. “Stop beating around the bush and just tell us.”
“There's a storm coming. A massive one. It will make the one that brought the wights down upon us look minuscule in comparison.”
Simon gaped at him.
“But, but, it's too soon!”
“There is no schedule when it comes to nature's wrath, my dear wizard. You know that.”
“Oh my God,” Simon muttered. He closed his eyes and rubbed them so hard that he saw red flashes cutting through his vision.
“How long until it hits?” he asked reluctantly.
“Three days,” Aeris answered simply.
“Three days? Holy crap,” the wizard said. Then he frowned. “Wait. Does that mean we have three full days starting tomorrow or..?”
“It means that in three days, the storm will smash into us like the dark gods' vengeance. It means, my dear wizard, that the people of Nottinghill had best be gone by the evening of the second day from now, or things could get very bad for them.”
Simon looked at Kronk, who shrugged and looked at him sympathetically.
“So he really means two days, master,” he said.
The wizard got up abruptly, dragged his chair back to the table and sat down again. He reached out and picked up the hand mirror and began casting the Magic Mirror spell.
The two elementals moved to stand on the table top and watched him closely.
“Do you think he's calling the cleric?” Aeris asked Kronk.
“Who else would he be calling?” the little guy replied. “She must be warned to increase the speed of her preparations. There is no more time to waste.”
Simon finished his spell and put a finger to his lips.
Both of the elementals nodded and he smiled a thank you at them.
“Clara? Can you hear me?”
The mirror fogged over for just a moment and then cleared, showing Clara's face. She was staring right back at Simon.
“Oh, hey there,” he said in surprise. “You walk around carrying a mirror now?”
The cleric smiled wryly.
“Considering how crazy it's gotten here lately, it seemed like a good idea.”
The view changed for a moment as she turned the mirror and Simon saw that she was standing in the barracks. People were packing large wooden boxes with clothing, blankets and a myriad of other dry goods. The door at the far end of the room was continuously opening and closing as people hurried in and out. The torches on the walls were flickering madly every time a blast of winter wind hit them from the entrance.
Clara turned the mirror around again and Simon watched her sit down.
“So, what's up?” she asked. “Did your scouts get back yet?”
“They did.”
“And? Please tell me it's good news. Frankly we could use some. People around here are getting a bit down, what with leaving their homes and all.”
“Well, good news and bad, actually. Can anyone hear us from where you're sitting?”
She looked at him sharply and then glanced around.
“No, they can't. They're all too busy right now,” she told him in a much quieter voice. “So, tell me what you don't want anyone else to hear.”
“Okay, here goes. Not all of the scouts got back safely.”
Simon proceeded to tell Clara about everything that had happened, starting with the loss of the scouts in Mexico and ending with Aeris' prediction of a storm hitting in less than three days time. He spoke steadily for fifteen minutes and the cleric did not interrupt once. Her face, on the other hand, paled and her lips thinned as she listened closely. For good measure, the wizard told her about his new wards atop his gates. She nodded approvingly at that.
When he had finished, Simon swallowed dryly and waited for his friend's reaction.
“Wow,” Clara finally said. “Just...wow. That's a lot to take in, Simon.”
“I know that. But time is short and you needed all the facts as quickly as I could give them to you.”
“Understood. And thank you for that. We don't need the poison pill sugar-coated at this point. So,” she rested her chin in her hand, “Mexico is definitely out, so at least we won't have people arguing and complaining when I tell them that Florida is the place for us. And I think that your air elemental, Trass was it? He had a good point. Seeing the remains of a place where I'm sure a lot of us traveled to in our childhood would be incredibly depressing. I think that Aeris' area, along the ocean on the east coast, sounds much more promising.”
She paused and fixed Simon with an intense stare.
“If we have to evacuate everyone within two days, are you going to be able to handle it? The strain of casting that many Gate spells is going to be immense.”
He twitched his shoulders and avoided looking at Kronk. He was sure that the little guy would be watching him in disapproval.
“What choice do I have? You have got to be out of Nottinghill before that storm hits, no matter what. There may not be wights accompanying it, but we can't know for sure. No one is going to die because of me. Not again.”
“Simon, no one has died because of you,” the cleric said firmly. “You did not knowingly send your scouts into harm's way. It was a tragedy, but you did not cause it. And certainly the people I've lost did not die because of you. So please, put that guilt away and let's figure this out, okay?”
“She is correct, master,” Kronk said and Aeris murmured in agreement.
Simon just shrugged.
“Fine. Whatever. At any rate, the answer to your question is yes; I will be able to handle it. Because I have to be able to handle it. So don't worry about me. I assume you'll call a meeting right away and tell everyone what's happening?”
“Not hard to do,” she replied with a little smile and looked across the barracks. “Most of my people are here now anyway. The rest I'll gather up and we'll talk this all out. Tonight. I wish I had those maps of Florida that your scouts drew up though.”
“No problem there. I can Gate...”
Aeris moved quickly and poked his face around the mirror to look at Clara.
“I will bring them to you directly, lady cleric,” he said, cutting Simon off. “Our dear wizard used up a lot of his strength today on the new wards and shouldn't expend any more until he actually needs to.”
“Hey! Wait a second,” Simon protested. Aeris just ignored him. So did Clara.
“Excellent idea, my friend,” she said to the air elemental. “Let's conserve his strength as much as possible.”
Simon moved the mirror around so that Aeris was blocked from view and glared at him. The air elemental simply returned his look stoically.
“Don't I get a say in this?” he asked Clara.
“No, you don't. Stop being difficult, Simon. Get your rest and call me in the morning. The next two days are going to be stressful on all of us, so be a good boy and do as you're told, all right?”
She smiled widely as she spoke and Simon gave in with bad grace and nodded once.
“Yes ma'am, “ he said tersely and then grinned himself. “You're both right, of course. But damn it, I really resent being such a wimp. This whole brains over brawn thing is vastly overrated.”
“Not if it saves the lives of my people, it isn't,” Clara replied, the smile fading from her face.
“Good point. Okay, Aeris will leave with the maps and notes right away. He should be there in,” he glanced at the air elemental, “thirty minutes? Yes, about a half hour. That should give you enough time to gather your people together.”
“My thought exactly. Call me first thing in the morning and I'll let you know what we've decided.”
“Will do. Good luck with everything,” Simon told her.
“Thanks. Have a good night.”
He broke the connection and stood up, putting the mirror on the kitchen table.
“Come on, Aeris. Let's get the notes from my study. You can come too, Kronk, if you want. I'm going to get the proper coordinates for m
y Gating targets from the atlas while I'm up there.”
“I will join you later, master,” the little guy said as he jumped off of the table. “I need to bring in more logs from the woodpile. We are getting low.”
“Okay then. Let's go,” he said to Aeris who nodded and followed him upstairs.
Simon sat down at his desk and pulled out the pile of notes and drawings from a drawer. He separated the drawings from Mexico from the maps of Florida, making two smaller piles. Aeris watched him and began frowning.
“Why the long face?” the wizard asked him when he was done.
“Do you not want the townspeople to see the reason that they cannot settle in Mexico?” he asked with a nod at the drawing of the goblin mound.
“Why? You think they should?”
“Of course! Simply telling people that there is danger often isn't enough. They must see it to believe it. I think that the cleric will be honest in explaining why they cannot go there, but the drawings will help to back her up.”
Simon began to nod reluctantly.
“I suppose you're right. It's just that, I don't know, they've been through so much and now they're leaving their homes in a rush. I just thought that it would be easier on them not to see the other horrors that this New Earth has in store for them.”
“Yes, it might be,” Aeris agreed, his voice becoming gentle. “But you cannot make monsters disappear by pretending they don't exist. That could actually get people killed.”
“Yeah. Yeah, I know. Okay then.”
Simon put all of the drawings in a pile and handed them to Aeris.
“Take it all. We'll let Clara decide how best to present the evidence to her people. And you have my permission to pop back here directly when you're done.”
Aeris rolled the papers together and smiled at the wizard.
“You've already given me that permission. Don't you remember?”
Simon raised an eyebrow.
“New wards, my friend. Don't you remember? The rules of magic dictate that you cannot cross my wards unless I expressly allow you to.”
Aeris gaped at him and the wizard burst out laughing. It felt good.
“Well, I'll be... You are correct, my dear wizard. Thank you for that. It's quite depressing traveling through the dead winter forest, especially at night. I'd rather not have to do it twice.”
“Not dead,” Simon said, shaking a finger at him. “Sleeping. I find it less gloomy if I think of it like that.”
“Semantics,” Aeris said with a shrug. “But I'll accept it. See you soon.”
And with that, he disappeared with the usual pop of disturbed air.
Simon sat back and settled himself comfortably in his chair. He spun around and stared at the dark window behind his desk, lost in thought.
Some time later, Kronk tip-tapped into the room and found the wizard still staring at nothing. He hopped up on the desk and looked at Simon quizzically.
“Are you all right, master?” he asked.
The wizard turned his chair around and looked at the earthen in surprise.
“That was fast,” he said.
“Was it? I think it took me about an hour, master. Is something wrong?”
Simon stood up, walked across to one of his bookshelves and pulled out the atlas. He returned to the desk and sat down, laying the large book down in front of him and resting his hands on it. He looked at Kronk blankly for a moment.
“Wrong? Nothing more than usual. I'm worried about moving the folks of Nottinghill, but I was also thinking that this might be an opportunity.”
The little guy brushed a little piece of ice from his arm.
“Opportunity for what, master?”
“For Liliana and her people. You know how bad the winter is getting here, but it will be even worse in Moscow. She's only managed to round up a handful of Changlings from the area and, while they are doing their best, it has to be a hard existence. They live on whatever they can find. They harvest wild crops in the short summer and they've managed to discover a few intact caches of tinned goods and dried food. But that can't last forever. I was thinking that they might consider moving south to join the people of Nottinghill.”
“An interesting idea, master,” Kronk said dubiously. “The paladin and her people are deeply attached to their home city. And, unlike Ottawa, it is not totally destroyed. The people were eliminated, yes, but as you said, some supplies remain. Why would they want to leave now?”
Simon flipped through the atlas until he found the map of old Russia. He tapped on the round spot labeled 'Moscow'.
“Because they are vulnerable. They are dug in under an old government building, kind of like the bomb shelter they used before the drakes found them. And we both know what happened that time,” he added grimly.
“All were used for the primal white dragon's horrible magic,” the earthen said with a nod. “Yes.”
“Yes. The primal is dead, but if wights attack during a hard storm, like they did here, I doubt that thick metal doors will stop them. Now, if I tell Liliana about Clara and the others moving south, away from the cold and the danger that comes with it, that may actually convince them that it's time to leave their city for a warmer, more secure home.”
Kronk was looking at the map thoughtfully, frowning in concentration.
“That is a good argument, master. Certainly it would not do any harm to ask, would it?”
“Exactly. It's late there now, but I'm going to call Liliana first thing in the morning, before we leave and lay it out for her.”
He placed a hand flat on the atlas, covering most of the map.
“Russia and its cities are lost. It's time to acknowledge that and move on.” He sighed tiredly. “If the paladin isn't too pigheaded, that is.”
“I would not mention that term to her, master,” Kronk told him with a touch of disapproval and Simon chuckled ruefully.
“Don't worry. I won't. Now, let's find some coordinates for the Gating I'll be doing tomorrow.”
Simon wrote down several sets of numbers as he explored the detailed map of Florida. There were no specific spots recommended by the scouts, only areas of interest and the wizard simply chose the center of each area as his targets. When he was done, he had a half-dozen coordinates to Gate to.
The wizard sat back, closed the atlas and rubbed his face. He was very tired now.
“Master, you should go to bed,” Kronk told him.
He looked at the little guy and nodded wearily.
“I know. Between you and me, the next two days are shaping up to be a bit crazy.”
“Exactly, master.”
Kronk pinched out one of the candles on the desk and looked pointedly at Simon.
With a short laugh, the wizard stood up with a groan and blew out the other candle. He summoned a magic ball of light with a flick of power and it bobbed a foot over his head as he walked to the door.
“I'm going, I'm going,” he said. “Have a good night. I'll see you in the morning.”
“Yes master. Sleep well.”
The next day began early. Simon had had a restless night, his mind flitting from one thought to the next and not settling on any of them for long. When he crawled out of bed just after dawn, a glance in the long mirror of his bureau showed dark streaks like bruises under his mismatched eyes.
“Well buddy, you look beat,” he said out loud and gave himself a tired grin.
He got dressed slowly, choosing to wear long underwear, heavy socks and a thick, dark blue robe. It would be warm down south but it looked just as cold as it had the day before and he'd rather be too warm than the alternative.
As he made his fuzzy way downstairs, Simon heard dishes clinking together. He turned at the bottom of the stairs to see Aeris puttering around at the kitchen counter, making tea. Several pieces of toast were stacked on a plate on the table with a jar of Nottinghill jam, strawberry, next to them. The air elemental was actually humming tunelessly to himself and Simon stifled a giggle at the sight of Ae
ris looking so domestic.
“Good morning,” he said as he walked across the room to his clothes cabinet. He slipped on his winter jacket and heavy boots.
“Morning, my dear wizard. Don't dally out there; the toast will get cold.”
“Ha. If I 'dally' in the outhouse, the toast won't be the only thing getting cold. I'll be right back.”
Once he raced back into the tower, shivering from the freezing air, Simon took off his outerwear, washed his hands at the sink and sat down at the kitchen table.
The toast was still warm and the tea was steaming. The wizard began eating while Aeris added another log to the fire.
“So where's Kronk this morning?” he asked through a mouthful of toast and jam.
“Sorting out the horses, I'd imagine,” Aeris replied. He flew up from the fireplace and hovered above the table.
“You know how he likes to make sure things are just so if we are going to be traveling.” The elemental chuckled. “He's been training the other earthen to care for them if we're gone for more than a day. I think that if they weren't earth elementals, a few might have given up in disgust.”
Simon swallowed and watched him curiously.
“Meaning?”
“Meaning that earthen are the most patient of all of the elementals. And with Kronk acting like a fussy mother hen, they have had that patience tested.”
The wizard shook his head with a grin and spread some jam on another piece of toast.
“Just shows that he cares,” he said. “Besides, we shouldn't be gone more than two days. After that, I'll remain here while Kronk and the others help the townspeople build a new settlement. That should keep him occupied for a while.”
“That's true. The earthen do love to work with stone.”
Simon was washing his dishes when Kronk burst in the front door with a howling wind behind him. He slammed the door behind him and hurried over to the table.
“Good morning, master,” he said as he leaped to the tabletop. “The horses are fed and watered. Sunshine is doing fine, but I'm worried that she may go into labor while we are away.”
The wizard finished drying his cup and plate and put them away. Then he turned to look sympathetically at the little guy.
Tales from the New Earth: Volume One Page 137