“I didn't say you would, my dear wizard.” Aeris' tone was one of exaggerated patience. “I was making a point. Anyway, if you watch this Liliana person, perhaps you can determine if she is who she says she is, or is something...darker.”
“Hmm.”
Simon snuggled into his chair, reluctant to move out of its warm embrace. But things were moving out in the world and he was a part of that, like it or not.
For just a moment, he fantasized about just getting out of this whole crazy war. If he settled into his tower, lived his life, used his magic to help Clara and his other friends, wouldn't that life be more rewarding? It would certainly be easier. And safer.
He took a minute to just dream a little about what it would be like. But it didn't last. In every scenario he thought of, the image of an attacking dragon always intruded.
Yeah, he thought. I doubt if retirement is an option right now.
So with a sigh of regret, he sat up and turned to Aeris.
“Sounds like the best chance we have to learn the truth.”
Simon looked out the window at the bright sunlit day.
“At a guess, I'd say it's probably night time in Moscow right now. It's doubtful that I'll see anything using the Magic Mirror but,” he stood and headed for the stairs, “you never know. Let's go take a look.”
Up in his study, Simon sat down at his desk, picked up his hand mirror and waited for Aeris to move to his right before beginning to cast the Magic Mirror spell.
He stared at his reflection thoughtfully. At one time, the slim, young face with its overly large, mis-colored eyes, had been a reminder of what he had lost, what his entire race had lost, when the dragons had returned. And he had hated it.
Now though, now he stared at himself with something like wonder. Simon hadn't had much of an ego back in the old days, and growing up as someone who would never have been called anything more than average looking, he'd cared little for his appearance. The face he was looking at was attractive though, he had to admit, surrounded by a mane of dark hair streaked with white, the result of using powerful magics.
He ran a hand over his smooth cheek and frowned, a bit puzzled.
“You seem to suddenly find yourself fascinating,” Aeris spoke up with amusement.
Simon glanced at him and then tapped the image in the mirror.
“When I finished Changing, what is it, over four years ago or so, I thought that the person staring back at me in windows and mirrors looked like a fourteen year old kid. Especially when I'd already passed my sixtieth birthday. And I wasn't looking forward to going through puberty again. It was a tough time, to be honest.”
He paused and the elemental nodded encouragingly.
“But four years later, and I haven't even started shaving yet.” He glanced down at his body. “I mean, everything works and all, but I haven't begun to fill out or mature in any way. It just suddenly struck me as a bit strange, that's all.”
Simon looked away from his reflection and saw a small, rather mysterious smile on Aeris' face.
“What?” he asked as he put down the mirror and rested his elbow on the desk and his chin on his hand.
“Oh nothing. I'll admit I rather like being useful. And part of that is sharing information from the past, the old days of magic.”
The wizard sighed wearily. Sometimes you had to draw Aeris out.
“And? What do you know that I don't?”
The elemental's smile widened.
“Many things, I'm sure,” he said teasingly. “But as it pertains to your age right now? Just this. Magic-users age much more slowly than the general population. They always have. And wizards? Even more so.”
Simon leaned forward and watched Aeris intently.
“Why?”
“It has to do with the use of magic.” He gestured at the wizard's cascading hair. “You've seen what it has done to you first-hand. The more you use the power, the whiter your hair will become. It is a normal reaction for a wizard. Conversely, the more power you channel, the slower you will age. For the same reason. Magic,” Aeris paused, as if searching for the right words, “twists the physical body of its user. That's the best way I can describe it. You were mutated by the gods of Light to be a perfect conduit for the power, but now it's the power itself that is doing the mutating.”
Simon sat back in his chair, watching the elemental but not really seeing him.
It's continuing to Change me? Oh that's just great, he thought.
“Okay, if what you say is true, then how long,” he picked up the mirror and pointed at his image again, “am I going to look like an adolescent boy?”
“Years,” Aeris replied simply. “Possibly decades. Some of the old wizards who summoned me were ancient, yet looked no older than a regular human in their twenties. Better get used to that smooth face. You'll be stuck with it for a very long time.”
There was a long silence as Simon absorbed the knowledge that Aeris had passed on to him. He stared at himself again.
Well kid, he thought. I guess we're stuck with each other.
He grinned suddenly and watched the boy's face in the mirror grin back.
“Thanks, Aeris. Since it's something that I can't do anything about, I'll not let it bother me from now on. But having white hair with this face,” and he slapped his own cheek lightly, “is going to look weird. For now though, let's get back to business, shall we?”
Simon began casting the Magic Mirror spell. He kept looking at the sketch of the paladin that the scout had made for him while he chanted. He didn't know the woman well enough yet to be able to draw on her face from memory.
And I may never know her that well if she's sold out to the dark gods, he thought grimly.
The mirrored surface turned foggy and he glanced at the air elemental while he waited for the spell to connect with its target.
“So where's Kronk this morning?” he asked idly. “The ground's still too hard to get the garden ready for planting.”
“Oh, you know him. He's cleaning up the debris left over from the winter. Old sticks, leaves, whatever he can find. I swear he's fussier than an old lady.”
“He likes to keep busy, Aeris,” Simon said in rebuke. “You might want to emulate him occasionally.”
“Hey now! Who dusted this very room not two weeks ago?”
The air elemental looked offended, but Simon just raised an eyebrow and blew across his desk. A cloud of dust drifted through the sunbeams shining into the study.
“Err, well. Perhaps I should make it a weekly chore,” Aeris added quickly.
“Yeah, maybe.”
The mirror cleared and Simon nodded at it. The air elemental moved in closer and they both watched with interest.
The scene that appeared in the mirror was a rather sad one. Inside of what looked like a derelict building, very dark in the Moscow night, several people were scattered around a small campfire.
The wizard could hear some moaning and at least one person was weeping. He counted five people in all, either lying bundled in blankets near the fire, or sitting wearing heavy coats and fur jackets. They all looked very young, and not one was uninjured.
Standing near the group, but further away from the fire, was a figure wearing gleaming silver armor. It was the paladin, Liliana.
Simon looked at her and the mirror zoomed in closer to where he could see the expression on her face. It showed a mixture of exhaustion, sadness and pain.
Liliana's cheek was cut open, the wound inflamed. She had deep circles under her eyes and, Simon wondered for a moment if it was the flickering reflection of the fire and realized that it wasn't, she was shaking.
One of the people sitting by the fire struggled to his feet and moved hesitantly over to stand next to the paladin.
“You should get some rest,” he said to her. He looked too thin and his heavy coat was smeared with what Simon thought was dried blood. “You've healed us all as much as you can. You must sleep so that you can heal yourself as well.”
“I have to remain on guard,” she said in a low, strained voice. “You are all that's left of us. I will not lose any more of you through my own incompetence.”
The young man reached up and shook Liliana's shoulder. Her armor clanked in the quiet of the night. She was much taller than him.
“Stop blaming yourself! Taras did not die because of you. Dragon fire is not selective. You saved the rest of us after the attack. Focus on that.”
She finally looked down at the young man. Her face twitched as if she was trying to smile, but it ended up being a grimace.
“Nikolay, I appreciate your concern. I do. But none of you is in any shape to stand watch. Sleep. In the morning, if we survive the night, I will get my rest.”
She gave him a gentle shove toward the fire and, after a brief hesitation, the young man stumbled back to his place and sat down heavily.
Simon had watched and listened with interest and now he caught Aeris' eye.
“What do you think?”
The elemental was tapping his chin and staring into the mirror, looking a bit perplexed.
“Honestly, it does look and sound like they were attacked, doesn't it?”
Simon nodded.
“So perhaps our theory was correct. They showed up for the meeting, a patrolling dragon attacked and they had to fall back.”
Aeris looked more compassionate than Simon had seen him in a long time.
“They lost someone too. It must be hard for such a small group to lose even one member.”
“Yeah, it definitely seems to have hit Liliana hard. She's blaming herself. Probably blames me too. I know I would.”
Aeris stared at him in surprise.
“What are you talking about? How is any of this your fault?”
Simon set the mirror on the table and rubbed his hands quickly over his face. He sat back in his chair and steepled his fingers together.
“I was the one who contacted Liliana, remember? It was my idea to have a meeting, not hers. God, how could I have ever thought that it was a trap? I mean, look at them!”
He leaned forward and picked up the mirror again.
“A handful of survivors living in a burned-out building, all of them wounded? If they'd been conspiring with the dragons, they sure as hell wouldn't be in this kind of shape.”
Simon felt disgusted with himself and guilty for the part he had played in someone's death.
Not someone, he told himself savagely. His name was Taras. Add that to the list of people whose deaths you were involved in.
Aeris flew quickly around and hovered a few inches from Simon's face.
The wizard pulled back, surprised, but the elemental moved with him. He was scowling.
“Don't you do this!” he said angrily. “Don't you do this again. You are always blaming yourself for the mistakes of others. And I won't have it, not again!”
“Aeris? Wha...”
“No! Enough. You are fighting a hopeless battle against the most evil creatures that have ever existed. Do you even know how many souls you've saved over the past few years? Killing two primal dragons? Destroying both a lich and a dark wizard? Do you? Well, neither do I. But it is probably in the thousands.”
The elemental's tone softened and he shook his head.
“Simon, you are a good man. Don't you know that? Don't you know that neither Kronk nor I would have stayed with you if you weren't?”
“You wouldn't?”
Aeris pulled back to hover over the desk and Simon relaxed a bit and rested his arms on its surface.
“Of course not. You gave us your permission to leave at any time. We stay because we believe in you. And your cause. Yes, good people have died in this war. And yes, more good people will die before it is done, if it ever is. But you cannot blame yourself. There's enough guilt in this world to go around. Don't burden yourself with more than your fair share.”
Simon stared at the little figure in wonder. Aeris had never said anything like that to him before and it took him a moment to absorb it. When he did, the wizard had to admit that the elemental was right, mostly. Blaming yourself for things you couldn't control was stupid. But he had set up the meeting with the paladin and her people. He had to take some responsibility for the tragic results.
“Thanks, Aeris. You...make some good points. Still, these people need our help.” He picked up the mirror and watched as Liliana began to walk around the inside perimeter of the building, stepping over fallen masonry and blackened timbers.
When he saw that the paladin was some distance from the others around the fire, Simon took a deep breath and said her name.
“Liliana? Can you hear me?”
She stopped dead in her tracks and a sword appeared in her hand like magic. She had drawn it faster than the eye could follow.
“Who is that?” she asked tightly, her eyes searching the area around her. “Where are you?”
“It's me, Simon O'Toole.”
Liliana stood still a moment longer and then sheathed her blade. She seemed to relax slightly.
“Simon? You're alive?”
“Obviously,” he replied, trying to sound upbeat. “I'm happy to see that you and your people are too.”
The paladin's smile lit up her face and her eyes brightened.
“But this is wonderful! After we were attacked and withdrew, I was afraid that the dragon would return to our rendezvous point and pounce on you as well. I'm so happy that I was wrong.”
“You weren't wrong,” Simon told her ruefully.
He explained what had happened when he'd Gated to their meeting place and the paladin listened, a scowl replacing her smile.
But when Simon told her of the death of one of the dragons, the smile returned, grim with satisfaction.
“I am sorry you lost your staff, my friend. But to kill a dragon is an amazing feat! Worth the sacrifice, in my opinion.”
Simon shrugged unconsciously.
“Perhaps,” he said. “I'll miss it. Right now I'm more worried about the spell-book I lost. In the wrong hands...”
Liliana was nodding.
“Yes, I understand. Not to worry. I will retrieve the book for you.”
The wizard sat up in alarm.
“No, don't do that! You've lost enough already. Don't risk your life for a stupid book. It's quite possible that it will never be found anyway.”
The paladin grinned slightly.
“I choose when and where to risk my life, sir wizard. Not you. And don't worry. I won't be returning to that part of the city any time soon. When I do, the dragons will, I'm sure, have moved on. Their patrols change periodically and whole sections of Moscow are safe from them for weeks at a time.”
Simon wanted to object again but reminded himself that Liliana was not even an ally yet. He certainly had no right to try to dictate to her. Not that she'd listen anyway, he thought.
“You know best. But for the present, is there anything I can do for you? If you'd like, I can Gate to your location, bring you all back here. Clara, the cleric we talked about before, would welcome you and your people to her town. They are a good bunch and you'd probably be a lot safer than you are in Moscow.”
He watched the paladin move to stand next to a large window and stare out into the night. The glass was long gone from the opening and a breeze blew her long dark hair back off of her face.
“Thank you, my friend, but no. I do not need to ask my people to know that they would not leave. Moscow is our home. I know we look battered and broken, but we are not. We have supplies, food, everything we need in caches all over the city. This,” she gestured back toward the fire, “this is just a temporary camp. My people need to rest up from the attack and from my healing. It took much out of them. In a day or two, we will head back to our permanent base, which is buried deep and very secure.”
“Oh. Okay.”
Simon was a little surprised by the paladin's wish to stay in such a dangerous place. But it's
their home, he thought. And to them, maybe it's not as bad as you might think.
He shrugged.
“Well, it's your choice.”
“It is indeed. Thank you for calling me, Simon. I was so worried that you'd come to harm. It is good to know you survived.”
“I feel the same, Liliana. I wonder, if it's all right with you, if I could call back in a week or two. You know, just to see how you're all doing?”
She actually managed a gentle laugh.
“I was going to suggest that. Call me in about two weeks. I may even have your spell-book for you. In any case, I'd like you to keep in regular contact. We Changlings are few and far between, and getting fewer by the day. If and when you decide to move against the primal white dragon, I want to be there. That monster owes more than its death can possibly repay.”
Her voice was suddenly savage and Simon shivered at its deadly tone.
“That sounds good. All the best, my friend. I know you know your city best, but please, keep your eyes up and your head down.”
“Of that, you may be sure. Good bye, sir wizard.”
“Good bye, lady paladin. And good luck.”
She nodded and smiled and Simon waved his hand across the mirror to cancel the spell.
He set it down on the desk, relaxed into his chair and let out a long, tired breath.
“Well, that was productive,” Aeris said as he bobbed in the air near the mirror.
“It was, for sure. I'm so relieved that she's okay. And that most of her people are too.”
Simon closed his eyes and rubbed them with his fingertips.
“Mostly I'm happy that they didn't betray us. Heather's treachery was hard to take. I hope we never have to face more like it again.”
“With the dark gods, I wouldn't count on that, my dear wizard. They are masters of lies and deceit. A weak person who is offered power can make an easy recruit for them, now that the world had changed.”
“True enough.”
Simon stood up, stretched and walked over to the window on the far side of the room. He opened it, hissing slightly as a chilly, early spring breeze blew past him.
But he stood there and just breathed in the cold clean air and watched the sunlight play on the barren treetops of the forest around his tower.
The Dragons of Ice and Snow Page 6