He thanked her and rose up a few feet.
“I will leave you all to decide on your next course of action,” he said to the group. “If you have any news or have need of me, simply call me using the Magic Mirror spell. And now, farewell.”
Before anyone could reply, the elemental disappeared with a little pop of air.
“Well, that was abrupt,” Malcolm said as he drained his cup. “I think that little fellow is more worried about Simon than he lets on.”
“I agree,” Aiden said as he stood up and walked a few steps to pick up an urn.
He refilled his cup and looked inquiringly at Malcolm, who shook his head.
“And I can't help but wonder the same things that he probably is,” Aiden continued as he sat down again. “If Simon is still alive, and according to Aeris he must be, where could he be? If he is being held captive, who is doing that? Goblins? Those animals would kill him outright. Renegade humans? Maybe, but wouldn't we have found some sign of them by now?”
“It's a big planet,” Liliana told him. “We could have missed them.”
“She's right,” Tamara said as she closed the atlas and stared blankly at it. “In fact, Aeris told me something else before I summoned you all to this meeting. Something that reminded me that this is not the same world that we all grew up on, and that it is now filled with mysteries that we haven't even begun to explore yet.”
“What did he say?”
The mage picked up her empty cup and stared into it as if reading the tea leaves on the bottom.
“He said that they had had a visitor at the tower; someone who could possibly be one of the Changling children that I assume you all recall hearing about back before the world ended.”
“Oh, I'd forgotten all about them,” Lei said in wonder. “I remember seeing groups of them in Beijing back before the dragon attacks. They were always swathed in layers of clothing so that you couldn't see their faces and were herded about by government handlers. The news said that many had mutated in strange ways.”
“Exactly,” Tamara said. “One of these Changlings saved Simon's life years ago when he went back to explore his home city. And Aeris just told me that someone who claims to be this same person showed up at the wizard's tower yesterday, looking for Simon. Who just happens to be missing. Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not.”
Liliana stood up, her silver armor ringing sweetly.
“I don't like it,” she stated. “I don't like it at all. Things are happening out there,” she waved her hand at the walls, “and all we do is sit here talking. We need to be doing something more.”
Sebastian looked down the length of the table at the paladin.
“Liliana, I know that you are a person of action, not words,” he said sympathetically. “But we have done all that we can do for the moment. We searched the places where Simon might have gone and found nothing. Thanks to Chao, we have agents out there now continuing to look for him. What else can we do?”
The paladin slammed her mailed fist on the table and several people jumped.
“I don't know!” she exclaimed. “Something! Anything! I feel helpless just twiddling my thumbs while the one person in the world responsible for us even being able to sit here comfortably and sip tea has gone missing.”
The group exchanged guilty looks but no one offered a response to Liliana's statement.
She muttered a curse and stalked out of the room, speaking to herself in Russian.
“That is not a happy person,” Malcolm said, stating the obvious.
“I know exactly how she feels,” Aiden told him, brushing back his hair with a tired gesture. “But Sebastian's right; what more can we do? If Aeris and his elementals, or those drakontes, find even a hint of Simon's whereabouts, I'm all for going after him, guns blazing, if he needs rescuing. But until they do, we're stuck waiting. And that is a tough pill to swallow when all you really feel like doing is smashing something.”
It was late evening and the tower was dark when Aeris appeared on the main floor. He could see well enough in the dark but he didn't much care for it, so he filled his body with energy until it began to glow.
“Kronk?” he called out as he looked around.
It wasn't like the earthen to leave the tower in darkness, even though the little guy could actually see better at night than Aeris could. He liked to light the candles even with Simon gone, as a reminder of happier, more normal times.
“Kronk, where are you?” Aeris called again. “I have some news from Nottinghill.”
He flew upstairs and was met by the same pall of silence. It was even darker up there.
“Where is that blasted earthen?” he muttered in irritation. “”Probably out back talking to the horses again. I swear he thinks they'll talk back eventually.”
He continued to climb the tower, looking around as he headed for the roof. Maybe the little guy had decided to keep watch from above while Brethia and Orriss were away on their search.
But no, when he popped up through the trapdoor, Aeris found only the night breezes and the sounds of crickets filling the air. Above him the summer stars danced and twinkled in their eternal display, indifferent to the troubles of others.
“Where is he?” the air elemental wondered aloud as he flew along the edge of the roof and looked down at the ground. “I have to go and search this Grand Canyon place. But if I leave and don't tell him where I've gone, I will never hear the end of it.”
He winced at the thought of the tongue-lashing that he would get from the earthen. No, it wasn't worth the aggravation to leave without telling Kronk first.
Aeris closed the trapdoor, just in case it rained later, and flew down from the roof to the outer wall. Perhaps his fellow earth elementals would know where Kronk was.
Except that there were no earth elementals. No one was patrolling the walls. They were empty of movement for the first time in years.
“By the Four Winds,” Aeris whispered nervously. “What has happened here?”
He sped around the entire perimeter to make sure that the guardians were truly gone and returned to his starting point in less than a minute.
The two gates, front and back, were closed and locked and the wards were active, but the tower and grounds were empty. Aeris was alone.
“What can I do?” he asked himself as he hovered above the main gate, looking up at the darkened tower helplessly. “Brethia and Orriss are gone, the wizard is missing, and now all of the earthen are as well. I am the only one left.”
He looked around one more time and then flew back toward the front door. He couldn't leave now, not with all of the tower's defenders gone. He would have to stay and care for the wizard's home, even if it meant doing so all by himself.
Aeris flew across the main floor to the fireplace. He reached out to one of the candles perched on the mantelpiece and concentrated his powers on it. The wick began to smoke and then burst into cheerful flame, illuminating the room warmly.
“Now that's better, isn't it? Feels more cozy.”
The elemental spun around with a gasp and saw a dark, misshapen figure sitting motionless at the kitchen table. He hadn't seen it when he had entered the room. He froze in shock.
How can this be, he thought, his mind roiling with confusion.
“Hush now,” the figure said. “Be still. I will not hurt you.”
Aeris recognized that voice. It was the shrouded woman who had called herself Sarah.
“We need to talk, little elemental. Things are not what they appear to be.”
Chapter 17
“What are you doing here?” Aeris gasped. “How did you get through the wards? Where are Kronk and the other earthen?”
“Hush, I said,” Sarah told him gently. “I will speak and you will listen. Everything is not what it seems, and I have little time.”
The air elemental held his tongue and waited. Any being powerful enough to counter the wizard's wards had to be treated cautiously.
“Good,” the stranger said. �
�I have news of your master.”
“He's not my...”
“He is being held against his will,” Sarah said, ignoring Aeris' interruption. “But he cannot be reached from this realm. An evil, corrupt being has spirited him away and is even now playing little games with him.”
“An evil being?” Aeris asked, a feeling of horror beginning to descend upon him. “Does this being have a name?”
“Yes, though I am loathe to utter it. He is called Lacertus.”
The air elemental began to curse and Sarah laughed lightly.
“That is not helpful, little elemental,” she told him. “Time is not on your master's side. I see that you recognize the name, so I will not say more about that accursed godling. He is small and petty, but far beyond the powers of your master. Simon needs aid and he needs it soon if he is going to survive.”
“What can I do?”
“You?”
Aeris could feel Sarah's unseen eyes focusing on him, their power pinning him in place.
“Nothing. You can do nothing. Simon's friends can do nothing. No mortal can help him, because no mortal can reach him. He is being held elsewhere, as I have said, and that strange place cannot be accessed by normal means. It is a creation of the godling and he has hidden it away in the Void quite skillfully.”
Aeris floated cautiously down to the top of the table and stared at the muffled figure.
“Why would he do that?” he asked.
“Because Lacertus is hiding. Oh, not from you or from the humans. He is hiding from his own kind, the lords of Chaos. He has angered them with his meddling in mortal affairs and they seek to punish him. And so he hides, and has taken your wizard with him to pass the time, as sport. A truly twisted being.”
“Then what can we do?” Aeris said, wringing his hands unconsciously. “If even the gods can't reach him, what chance do we have?”
“None. You have no chance. But there is one who might breach the godling's haven; one whose own powers are uniquely suited to the task.”
“Who? Who is he?”
“The dragon, Argentium. Born of the gods of Light, his powers can pierce the darkness of the Void where even the Chaos lords own cannot. He might be able to find this place and save your master, should he choose to do so.”
“The argent dragon? I doubt that he will want to help us. He's too busy with...other matters.”
Sarah giggled, but her laughter had a bitter edge to it.
“Yes, I know. The eggs. Foolish old dragon. His optimism will be his downfall. But he is the only one who can save Simon O'Toole.”
“How do you know all this?” Aeris asked in wonder. “Who are you? What are you?”
There was a moment of silence and the elemental thought that he could feel the weight of the darkness closing in around him.
“I am something beyond your understanding, little elemental. Those of us who were children when the magic released by the gods Changed us became something...other. We are still becoming. Who knows where our Change will end? But I became fond of the gentle young man that I met years ago in Ottawa and, learning of his plight, I have come to offer the only thing that I can; information. Take it. Use it. Save him if you can.”
There was a movement within Sarah's robes and a hand emerged, holding something. It turned and opened and Aeris saw a round, flattened stone with an odd glowing symbol cut into it.
“Do you see this? I gave the wizard a similar one once, but it was crude and weak compared to this one. With it, you can contact me whenever you wish. I will leave it just outside the front gates of this place. Consider it a gift.”
Aeris stared at the stone for a moment and then the delicate, pale hand that held it disappeared back inside the muffling clothing.
“Thank you,” he said simply.
“Your gratitude is appreciated, but it is not required. I warn you, do not contact me frivolously; I would not take kindly to that.”
“I won't, I swear.”
“Good. And now I must leave you. I have been too long away from the others as it is.”
“Wait! Please. Can you tell me how much time we have? How much time Simon has?”
“In that place? Time has no meaning there. A day on Earth could be a minute there or a lifetime. Best to make haste, little one, just in case.”
The world shuddered around Aeris and the air sparkled and vibrated. A moment of intense cold made him gasp in surprise and then he looked around in shock. Sarah was gone.
He stared at the lone candle burning on the mantelpiece, his mind roiling. Simon was a prisoner of that twisted little godling? He couldn't imagine a more horrible fate for the wizard. But what could he do about it?
“Well, the first thing I need to do is get that stone,” he told himself decisively.
It only took him a minute to fly across the yard and over the main gate. He dropped to the ground in front of it and looked around. The stone was easy enough to find, as it glowed in the darkness with a cool, ghostly radiance.
“There you are,” Aeris said to it as he scooped it up.
The rounded artifact was smooth and a bit warm and the elemental closely examined the glyph carved into it. He'd never seen anything like it before.
“I hope you prove useful,” he told it as he flew back over the gate toward the tower.
As he zipped inside, Aeris stopped abruptly halfway across the room. There were several candles flickering cheerfully on the kitchen table and on the mantelpiece and he stared at them in confusion. How had that happened?
“Aeris? Where did you come from?”
He spun around and saw Kronk walking into the room carrying several fresh logs to stack by the fireplace.
“Kronk? You're here!” he exclaimed.
“Yes, of course I am here. Where else would I be?”
Aeris looked down and saw the small round stone in his hands. He shook his head and turned it over several times. No, it hadn't been a dream. Sarah had been here. It had really happened.
“What is wrong with you? You looked confused,” the earthen told him.
Aeris watched the little guy carry his load across the room and stack the logs carefully next to the fireplace.
“Kronk, what's been happening? I mean, over the past few hours?”
The earthen jumped up on to the table and stared at him.
“Nothing. Nothing's been happening. Why? You were away in England and I was doing my chores. I just replaced the old logs with fresh ones and earlier I walked the outer wall and spoke with my brethren. And I lit the candles once it got dark. That is all.”
He peered at Aeris, his glowing red eyes narrowed.
“You look upset. Did something happen at Nottinghill Castle?”
“At the castle?”
Aeris shook his head again, trying to focus. He felt strange, disconnected. Everything seemed a little hazy around the edges, even Kronk.
“No, nothing happened at the castle. I told them about Argentium taking the eggs, and about our visitor, and then I came home. And then...”
His voice trailed off.
“Yes? And then?” Kronk prompted him.
“And then something happened here.”
Aeris sat down, feeling weak and dizzy suddenly. It was a strange feeling for one of his kind.
The earthen plunked himself down next to Aeris and waited patiently.
“I feel weird,” the air elemental told him. “Kind of...vague.”
“You have always been vague,” Kronk said with a smile.
The air elemental laughed weakly.
“Yes, maybe I have, on occasion. This is different though. I wonder if it was caused by Sarah. She did something, took me somewhere. Ah, it feels so strange.”
“Sarah? What about Sarah?” Kronk asked sharply. “Did you see her?”
“Yes, I did. She was sitting right there,” Aeris pointed at the chair where the mysterious woman had sat, “when I came back into the tower after looking for you and the others.”
&nbs
p; “Looking for me? Aeris, you are not making sense. I have been here the whole time; I just told you that.”
“I believe you. I think that she, I don't know, stopped time for an instant? Took me to another dimension? I can't say. All I know is that when I returned from Nottinghill, you and the other earthen were gone. The tower was dark and empty, and Sarah was sitting there.”
Kronk nodded slowly. He knew the air elemental well enough by now to accept what he was saying as fact. He stayed quiet and listened.
“She told me that Simon is being held against his will.”
“What! By whom?”
Aeris grimaced.
“By his old nemesis, Lacertus.”
Kronk let out a stream of invective that made Aeris stare at him in admiration.
“I didn't even know that you knew those words,” he said with a grin.
“I know them, but I rarely choose to use them. Lacertus! That monster has our master? Oh, this is terrible news, Aeris. Terrible!”
“Tell me about it. But it gets worse. She also said that the only one who can reach that place is Argentium.”
The earthen stared at him, not knowing what to say.
“Yes, I feel the same way,” Aeris said, seeing his expression. “The wizard is being held by a godling and can only be saved by a dragon. Sometimes I think that the universe really does have a sense of humor. Or irony. I'm not sure which.”
“Aeris, this is no time to be clever. We have to do something.”
The air elemental could only shrug.
“What, exactly? Find Argentium, who just stole five eggs from the dragon queen and plans to hatch them? Persuade him to save the wizard? Yes, good luck with that. Maybe we should pray to the lords of Chaos and tell them about their missing relative.”
“That is not even a little bit humorous,” Kronk growled at him. “To contact those creatures...”
His voice trailed off.
“What?” Aeris asked.
“Tell them about their missing relative? Are you saying that the dark gods don't know that Lacertus has our master?”
“No idea. But Sarah did say that they were angry with him and were seeking him, to punish him in some way.”
The Queen of Dragons (Tales from the New Earth Book 8) Page 21