The Dragons of Ice and Snow

by J. J. Thompson

  The earthen laughed lightly.

  “You have much on your plate, master. Of course I believe it. Why not wake up now and make some tea. And perhaps think this through as a wizard instead of just Simon O'Toole, hmm?”

  Wow, Simon thought as he stood up and went to get the kettle. That's the gentlest kick in the ass I've ever gotten. The little guy could give lessons.

  “Okay then, my friend,” he said as he hung the full kettle over the fire. “Do you have any suggestions?”

  “I do not wish to seem forward, master, but yes I do.”

  Simon leaned back against the counter and nodded.

  “Go ahead then.”

  Kronk jumped on to the table and stood there tapping his chin.

  “First of all, master, you have no need to Gate on to that small mountain. A mesa, you called it?”

  “Mesa, plateau, whatever. Why not? We have to get up there somehow.”

  “I know, master, but again, you are thinking like a mundane, not a wizard. No offense,” he added hurriedly.

  “None taken. Keep going.”

  “It is simple, master. You remember Aethos, of course.”

  “The air elemental.”

  “Well master, there are earthen elementals as powerful as he who wish to serve you. Use them. They can easily transport your group to the top of that mesa through the ground with none being the wiser. I doubt that the dragons will be expecting an attack from beneath their feet.”

  Simon stared at him in amazement.

  “That's brilliant!” he exclaimed. “I never thought of that.”

  “I know, master. And once they get you to your target, they will also lend their aid to the fight. And may I say, my brethren who have that kind of power are formidable indeed.”

  Simon made his tea and sat down at the table, his mind racing at the possibilities.

  “Why do they want to serve me?” he asked. “And how many could I summon?”

  “They respect you, master. Through your actions and dealings with elementals in general, they have learned that you are an honorable man, and the first wizard in history to offer my kind something they have never had before.”

  “Which is?”

  “Choice, master. You have given us the power to choose. We can serve or we can leave. We can act or we can choose not to. That is power. That is freedom.” He smiled his little smile. “I would say that the earthen realm is echoing with those clamoring to join you.”

  “Wow. That's just...wow.”

  Simon was dazed at the idea that any powerful elemental would choose to serve him.

  “But the first rule of elementalism still applies, master.”

  “Wait, what? There are rules? How come I've never heard of them?”

  “Everything follows rules, master. Even the dark gods follow rules. If they didn't, they would have invaded this realm long ago. But they have to eliminate mortals first. That is a rule.”

  “Good point. And the first rule of summoning is?”

  “You may not have more than ten elementals from each realm serving you at the same time, master. Whether ten little ones like me, or great ones like Aethos, the rule is the same.”

  “And if I try to go beyond that?”

  “It simply won't work, master,” Kronk told him with a little shrug. “Summon an eleventh elemental and the first one you summoned is recalled back to its realm. Balance must be maintained. That is the rule.”

  “Makes sense, actually,” Simon mused as he sipped his tea. “Can you imagine the destruction a hundred elementals could cause? Or a thousand? An entire army?”

  “Precisely, master. Rules like these were put in place when our kind were first created. We do not know by whom. Whoever our creator was, I suppose, although we do not even know who that was.”

  “God?” Simon asked simply.

  “What is God, master? Do you know? We do not. We've known gods, yes. But one supreme being? That is a mystery to us.”

  “Don't feel too bad about that, Kronk. It's a mystery to us too. Okay then. I can summon up to ten earthen of comparable strength to Aethos. That's an excellent start.”

  “Nine, master,” Kronk interjected hurriedly.

  “Nine?”

  “Well, you can certainly summon ten, master, but that would force me to return to my home realm.”

  “Oh crap! I already forgot that.”

  Simon gave the little guy a nervous smile.

  “Sorry. Don't worry, bud. You aren't going anywhere.”

  “Glad to hear it, master.”

  “You realize that summoning that many earthen on the day of battle will exhaust me, right? I won't have a lot left in the tank for the fight.”

  Kronk made a face.

  “Again master, you are not thinking like a wizard. You know another rule already. Once an elemental is summoned, it must return to its master when it is called by name. You can summon the elementals tomorrow and rest for a day or two before the attack. Then you can call forth your elemental forces with no loss of energy or strength.”

  Simon pushed back his hair and looked at the little guy in embarrassed admiration.

  “I'm starting to feel like an apprentice wizard again. That slipped my mind too. Of course you're right. I told everyone that it would be several days before I was ready. I can always contact Malcolm and tell him to come in three days instead of two, so that I can be rested and ready to go when I need to be.”

  “Precisely, master. And now I will nudge your memory one more time.”

  The wizard sighed and grinned.

  “Go ahead. Your re-education is helping immensely.”

  “I do not mean to be insulting, master,” Kronk said hurriedly.

  “You aren't! Relax, my friend. Stop worrying about my feelings. This project is too important to fret about bruising my ego. What else is on your mind?”

  “The water elementals are now our enemies, master. Of course you know that. But I wanted to remind you of who their greatest enemies are.”

  Simon watched the earthen for a long moment and then he smiled.

  “The fire elementals,” he murmured.

  “Precisely, master. And I would guess that there are powerful inhabitants of the fire realm who would eagerly follow you into battle to have a chance to stop their greatest foes from achieving dominance on this planet and beyond.”

  Simon held his head with both hands. Too much, too fast, he thought.

  “If I'm going to summon that many elementals in one day, I'm going to be exhausted for at least two days afterward. You know that, right?”

  “Yes, master. But is it not worth it?”

  “Oh, I'm not complaining. Just thinking out loud.”

  “Then there is one last thing to consider, master. Aethos and others like him are very competitive. If they hear that you are recruiting powerful elementals from realms other than theirs, they will want to join you as well, to prove their worth.”

  Kronk shook his head and smiled with some confusion.

  “You would think that such beings would be above childish things like that, but they are not. Please do not tell him I said that, by the way, master.”

  With a laugh, the wizard tapped the little guy on the shoulder.

  “My lips are sealed. So, you think Aethos and other air elementals will want to join up? Wow.”

  “Yes master. Wow. But having these forces to aid you will be for naught if you do not have a plan to use them properly. That I leave to you. I am sure your tactical skills are far superior to my own.”

  The earthen turned and jumped off of the table.

  “Where are you off to now?”

  “I'm going to join the other earthen on the wall, master. Please remember to dismiss them before you summon the others tomorrow.”

  “I'll do that. Thanks for the help, Kronk.”

  The little guy gave Simon a wave and slipped out the door, closing it behind him to keep out the chilly night air.

  The wizard made more tea and w
ent to sit in front of the fireplace again.

  He sat, sipped and thought deeply.

  Okay, I'm going to have an army, came the giddy thought. It's crazy, but there it is. Now, what will I do with it?

  The next morning, after breakfast, Simon walked out of the tower, through the front gate and into the large field beyond. The grass was knee-high and a cool wind, rich with the smells of pine trees and spring flowers, wafted across the meadow, blowing the wizard's hair in all directions and sending ripples across the tall grass like waves on the ocean.

  Kronk and Aeris had followed him out. They had told the air elemental what Simon had planned and, for once, he hadn't objected.

  “Why are you both staring at me like that?” he'd asked irritably. “I said that the plan was crazy with the forces that Simon had. But with powerful elementals to help, it's not crazy anymore.” He smiled slyly. “I'll go with our dear wizard's word. It's not crazy, it's loony.”

  Simon had laughed.

  “Well, that's a step up from insane, so I'll take it.”

  And now here they were, at the moment of truth. It had sounded so much easier when they'd talked about it in the quiet of the evening in front of the fire, Simon thought. But he reminded himself that powerful elementals only responded to a summoner if they chose to. If he cast the spell and no one answered, he was definitely going to look like an idiot.

  Wouldn't be the first time though, he admitted to himself. Now get on with it.

  He'd brought his staff with him to help him focus his power, as well as a sheet of paper with the three most powerful runes for earth, air and fire written on it. He had only used the air rune once, and the others not at all. But they would boost the strength of the summoning to call forth a higher-ranking elemental. In theory.

  “Okay, boys,” Simon said. “This is it, the moment of truth. Oh, Kronk. I sent your friends back home so that I'd be able to summon nine of the more powerful earthen.”

  “Yes, master. Thank you for that. If you had exceeded the maximum number, I would have been the first to go.”

  “I know. But you're not getting off that easily,” he told the little guy with a wink. “Now, let's do this before I lose my nerve. Earth first, I think.”

  And so it began. Simon cast summoning spell after summoning spell. Earth elementals who stood taller than he did began to appear one by one and, once he had called forth nine of them, the wizard explained to them all why they were there and offered them a chance to leave if they weren't willing or interested in helping.

  “Leave?” one of them growled. It sounded like two boulders being ground together. “Are you joking, wizard? This will be the most amusement we've had in millennia. I for one am not going anywhere!”

  There was a chorus of agreement among all of the earthen and Simon thanked them.

  “The battle won't be for another two or three days. Aeris, you have that paper?”

  The air elemental nodded mutely. He seemed to be a bit overwhelmed by the assemblage of so many powerful elementals.

  “Good. Please give my friend here your names, one by one. I will call for you on the day of the battle. Be ready.”

  One of the earthen, who seemed to be made of black lava rock, strode up to Simon. The wizard had to look up to meet his blazing red eyes.

  “We have your word that we won't be left out of the battle?” he growled.

  “Of course,” Simon said calmly. He was quaking inside, but he knew that the elementals had to respect him from the outset or they wouldn't obey his orders when it counted most.

  “That is why I called you here, after all.”

  “Excellent. Then I pledge myself to you. My name is Kassus.”

  He looked over his shoulder at the others, who all nodded one by one.

  “I speak for my brothers and sisters in this. Call us and we will respond. It is time to take the battle to the dragons.”

  There were cheers from the others and as a group, they all bowed briefly to Simon.

  He nodded in return and the elementals lined up to give their names to Aeris, who seemed to be shaking rather badly.

  As their names were written down, each elemental disappeared with a loud pop of imploding air and, as the last one vanished, Simon let out a loud, ragged sigh.

  “You okay, Aeris?” he asked as he wiped off his forehead with his sleeve.

  “More or less,” the air elemental replied candidly. “I'm not sure that you'll have an easy time reading my writing, though. My hand was shaking.”

  Simon had to laugh.

  “I know what you mean. As a group they're a bit...overwhelming, aren't they? Kronk? How you doing?”

  “Fine, master. Intimidated, like you and Aeris, but fine. I am so proud of my people though, willing to stand with you against the dragons and the dark gods.”

  “You should be. I am too, come to think of it. And humbled that they think I'm worthy of following.”

  He snuck a look at both of his little friends.

  “I've always been a lone wolf. Even taking on the primals was something I preferred to do by myself. But this? This is too big for me. So I guess I have to learn to play well with others.”

  “My goodness, our wizard is growing up!” Aeris exclaimed to Kronk, who snorted at him in disgust.

  “Okay, moving on,” Simon said with a grin. “Your people next, Aeris. You ready?”

  “Um, yes?”

  “Great. Way to sound convincing there.”

  It was Kronk's turn to laugh and Aeris glared at him.

  “And here we go.”

  Simon called Aethos first. He didn't need a spell to summon him and at least the air elemental knew him.

  “Ah, sir wizard,” the tall, foggy figure exclaimed as he appeared in a blast of wind to hover above the grass several feet away. “How good to see you again. How did things go with your werewolf problem?”

  “Your solution worked, Aethos. Thank you for that.”

  “A pleasure. Now, rumor has it that you are looking for aid in an attack on the dragons. Is that so?”

  “How on Earth do you people get your information?” Simon asked a bit plaintively.

  “Ah, I so enjoy hearing a wizard refer to my kind as people. It warms my heart, or it would if I had one. We are supernatural beings, sir wizard. Our leaders see more than you could possibly imagine. They know that you are planning on fighting the dragons.”

  Aethos moved a bit closer to the wizard and lowered his voice.

  “Fortunately they do not know specifics, because she who rules the water realm watches as well.”

  “Damn, I hadn't considered that,” Simon said, thinking furiously.

  “Don't worry, wizard. She has been blocked by your very effective warding.”

  Aethos nodded at the tower.

  “She and the dragons know that you spied on their operations, because my small brother here was spotted.”

  He glanced down at Aeris, who lowered his eyes, looking embarrassed.

  “That was sloppy, little one. For a scout as experienced as you to be seen? Very disappointing.”

  Aeris didn't answer. He just hung his head and nodded silently.

  “Perhaps you'd like him replaced with a more, shall we say, skilled servant?” Aethos asked Simon lightly.

  “What? No! There's no way in hell I'm 'replacing' my friend here.”

  Aeris looked up at him with wide eyes.

  “He was spotted because he allowed me to see through his eyes. It froze him in place for a crucial moment and that's when the primal dragon sensed him.”

  “Did you?” Aethos asked Aeris, who nodded again. “I see. Well then, I withdraw my offer. It shows an almost unknown level of trust for one of my people to allow a wizard to see what they see. It speaks well of you,” he said to Simon, “that he permitted it.”

  The air elemental backed off a bit and folded his arms. Standing like that, floating above the ground with the grass whirling and twisting beneath him, reminded Simon of a mythical
genie.

  I wonder if that's where those tales originated, from old memories of air elementals?

  “Very well. I speak for my own when I say that we will lend you our support for this battle. Afterward? Well, we'll deal with that when it comes. I know how much this spell-casting costs you, sir wizard, so with your permission, I shall call my brethren here and you may have their names. Consider it a thank you for being so much more admirable than the wizards of old.”

  Simon, who was starting to feel a little light-headed, accepted the offer gratefully.

  Aethos said nothing for a moment. He simply lowered his head and closed his eyes.

  And then the field felt a lot smaller as eight air elementals, each as large or larger than Aethos, appeared with a whoosh of wind and a distant rumble of thunder.

  “Take their names, Aeris,” Simon told the little guy, who looked a little calmer.

  Each one gave his or her name to Aeris, some speaking in what the wizard assumed was their native tongue. It sounded like a whistling breeze, rising and falling in pitch. Several times the little guy laughed at some comment they made.

  When they were finished, the air elementals, like the earthen before them, bowed to Simon and vanished back to their own realm.

  Aethos lingered for a moment.

  “Do you have a strategy, a plan, sir wizard?” he asked quietly.

  “I do, Aethos. Whether it will work is another question. But I do have a plan.”

  “Excellent. But don't rule out the direct approach either. Sometimes brute force can work where finesse does not.”

  “I agree. I think there will be plenty of that as well.”

  “Good. I'm a simple being, after all. Point me at a target and let me go. It works quite well as a rule.”

  And with that and a smile, Aethos vanished.

  “Well, that was easier than I thought it would be.”

  “I agree, master. Aeris, are you all right?”

  Aeris looked at them both for a second, then gave himself a bit of a shake and shrugged.

  “More or less. I thought for a minute there that I was going to be recalled. Thank you, Simon, for sticking up for me.”

  “Friends to the end, Aeris,” Simon told him with a smile. “Friends back each other up. You made no mistakes out there and Aethos needed to know that.”