It was Mortis de Draconis. The staff looked a little dull and some of the metal casing was scratched, but other than that it seemed intact.
“Thanks Kronk,” Simon said with relief. “I think I'll need that.”
With his staff and a helpful hand from Sebastian, the wizard managed to stand up and remain upright, with only a hint of a wobble.
“Shall we?”
Tamara shook her head in exasperation and took his free hand.
“Why are all the men around me so stubborn?” she lamented.
“Because you bring out the worst in us,” her brother teased.
She ignored him and intoned the Gate spell.
“Aeris, Kronk, grab hold,” Simon told the elementals.
Tamara waited until they were touching the wizard's robe and invoked the spell.
A moment later they were standing on the heights. A cool evening breeze was blowing from the direction of the forest and Simon breathed deeply, feeling happy to be alive.
“How long was I out?” he asked as he looked up at the darkening sky. There was no sign of the dragons.
“About three or four hours, I'd say,” the mage replied. “Your elemental friends departed after confirming that the queen was dead and that you were going to be fine.”
She walked slowly beside Simon as he limped toward the front of the battlements.
“Oh and our draconian observers left as soon as the queen fell. It was quite odd too; one minute they were there and the next they were gone.”
“According to Argentium, they wanted to see who won. Well, now they know.”
He stopped at the edge of the wall and stared across the field. Despite the falling darkness, it was still easy to see all the way to the forest.
“Whoa. Did I do that?”
“You most certainly did. Scared the crap out of all of us when it happened.
Simon was staring at a crater. It was about twenty feet deep and fifty feet across. Tamara had been right; it looked like someone had dropped a bomb out there.
He peered around, looking for the queen's remains, and felt a bit sick as he confirmed that she had indeed been torn apart.
Most of her huge body had been blasted out of the field entirely and was lying on top of crushed trees to the east. Her head was gone completely. The ground was painted with thick blood and bubbling green poison, and smoke and steam were wafting out of the crater.
“Looks like old pictures I saw as a child of the Blitz,” Sebastian commented. He had Gated in right behind them. “Without the blood, of course.”
“Simon, you saved us,” Tamara said. “You saved us all, again.”
She squeezed his hand and the wizard did his best to squeeze back, weak though he was.
“We all did it together,” he corrected her as he let go. “The people we lost here, those creatures of Chao's that fell, my elementals, all of us contributed, not just me.”
“But you did the lion's share, master,” Kronk averred.
Simon smiled down at the little guy who had hurried over to watch out for him.
“As usual. But he never takes credit where credit is due, does he?” Aeris chimed in.
The wizard rolled his eyes.
“That's because it was a group effort. And speaking of groups, I wonder what the dragons are going to do now?”
“That remains to be seen.”
That voice, echoing with power, was very familiar to Simon and when he looked slowly to his right, he wasn't surprised by what he saw.
Argentium stood there, towering over everyone, in his gleaming silver armor. Behind him stood the five young dragons in human form, all as expressionless as the last time that he had seen them.
The argent dragon stepped forward a few paces until he was looking down at Simon, his silver hair swirling around his face in the brisk wind.
“So you succeeded, young one,” he said calmly. “You defeated Aurumallia, just as I suspected you would.”
“Did you? That wasn't the impression that I got earlier,” Simon replied evenly.
“You have destroyed, or helped destroy, five primal dragons. A lesson, by the way, that has not been lost on my protégés. Someone who could do that was a dire threat to the queen. I am just saddened that, in her madness, she could not see it and chose to attack you and your people instead.”
“I'd feel worse about it if she hadn't been the root cause of my people's almost total annihilation,” the wizard told him coolly. “There are only a handful of us left now and no guarantee that we have a bright future ahead.”
“That is true. But you may all go forward knowing that the few dragons who remain are not your enemies.”
“That's a relief, at least,” Sebastian said.
His sister nodded, watching the five figures standing motionless with some suspicion.
“And what of you, Simon O'Toole? What will you do now?”
Argentium's pale blue eyes stared intently at the wizard for a moment.
“You are injured, I see. Deeply. You will need time to recover.”
“So I'm told,” Simon replied with a shrug, doing his best to ignore his pounding head.
His fingers and toes were numb and it worried him, but he refused to think about it for the moment.
“I'll do what I do, I suppose,” he continued. “Study, think, heal of course, and cultivate my garden. And I'll wait to see what this New Earth throws at me next.”
The argent dragon smiled.
“As good a plan as any, I suppose. But you will need to take your mind off of everyday affairs, I would imagine, and focus on getting better. I may have an idea on how you can do that.”
...What Comes After
Summer was waning and the leaves were starting to fall. Simon stood in the field in front of his tower and watched as the main gates in the outer wall closed behind him. He heard the bolts slide shut and saw the wards snap into place with a crackle of power. His home was secure.
Aeris rose up from behind the gates and flew out to join him.
“All sealed and locked tight,” he reported.
“Good. I'm going to miss the old place while we're gone, but at least I won't have to worry about a family of ghouls moving in and setting up shop.”
“I don't think ghouls have families.”
“You know what I mean.”
“My people will keep the tower safe, master,” Kronk said from where he was standing to the wizard's right.
“I know they will, my friend. I told them all that they could go home while we're away, you know, but they opted to stay. Very selfless of them.”
“We like to serve, master. And my people hold you in high regard.”
“We all do,” Tamara assured him. “Which is why I want to ask you, one last time, to come and stay with us at Nottinghill.”
She was standing next to her brother, both of whom were wearing thick woolen robes; one blue and one bright red. Autumn had come early to England and the days were very cool this year.
“Or if you don't want to be knocking around in that infernal castle, you can come for an extended visit to Kingstone. Ah, think of all the good ale we could drink and the songs we could sing!”
Simon's smile was wide as he looked at Shandon Ironhand. One of the dwarven drilling machines was poking up out of the ground halfway across the field and it's driver was standing next to it, waiting for his king.
“That's a more tempting offer than you know, my friend,” he said wistfully. “But according to Elaine, my physical limitations will take many years to mend. And I find living for extended periods of time underground...unsettling.”
Simon was leaning on Mortis de Draconis and, as his hair whipped into his eyes, he saw that it had turned almost completely white.
“I have no feeling below my knees now. I can't feel my hands. And I can barely turn my head. I am a burden at the moment and I need solitude and time to get back to being my old self.”
“You could never be a burden, Simon,” Sebastian said loyally. “I
would carry you around myself if you needed me to.”
“We all would,” his sister agreed. “How will you ever manage in that place by yourself?”
“He is not alone, lady mage,” Aeris told her. “Our dear wizard has Kronk and myself to watch over him, and a rather nice little house built by the argent dragon himself to live in.”
“And my magic works just fine, Tamara, now that my constant headache is gone. I've transported a lot of supplies to that little pocket in the Void and it feels just like home. And there are trees and hills, lakes and streams. Why, if you didn't know any better, you'd swear that you were still on Earth.”
“The argent dragon collected many books for his young charges to read while he was raising them, lady mage,” Kronk piped up. “Master will have many happy nights sitting in front of the fire, reading tales, sipping tea, and healing from his ordeal. He will be fine.”
“You know, the three of you seem to be trying awfully hard to convince me that this is a good idea,” Tamara said suspiciously.
“That's because it is,” Simon assured her. “And my mind is made up. But don't worry. Time moves much faster there than it does here and I'm certain that I'll be back before you know it.”
“Well laddie, if you're sure, you're sure,” Shandon said heartily.
He offered his hand to the wizard and then stepped back a pace.
“Remember, call me when you get back, and we'll crack open a keg together.”
“I will. And thank you again for all of your help.”
“As I told you once before, what are friends for?”
He nodded to the mages, waved at Simon and stomped off toward the drill.
“I suppose that we had better get home as well,” Tamara said reluctantly. “There's always some crisis or other to deal with when we're gone for more than a few minutes.”
“Learn to delegate,” Simon advised her. “You have a lot of good people around you, so let them take some of the load. And speaking of loads, Sebastian, are you sure that you'll be able to care for Chief and my mares? They're more than just horses since their Change, you know.”
The mage rolled his eyes.
“I've told you many times now that both Tamara and I love horses. And it probably doesn't hurt that one of the mares is named Tammy.”
He grinned at his sister and she chuckled.
“I am fond of that mare, I have to admit,” she said. “And Bastian's right; don't fret. Your horses will be perfectly fine until you return. And considering how much they've Changed, I'm guessing that their lifespans have increased as well, so they will still be around when you get back.”
“That wouldn't surprise me,” Simon told her. “Okay then, thanks to you both. Like I said, I'm sure that we'll be back in no time. But remember, if you do need me in an emergency, just let me know and I'll be there, fully healed or not.”
“And just how do you suggest I do that?” Tamara asked. “The Magic Mirror spell doesn't reach through the Void; we've already established that.”
“What? Oh crap, I forgot to give it to you, didn't I? Hang on a second.”
He rummaged through the pockets of the long cloak that he was wearing over his robe.
“Damn it, if I could actually feel anything with these clumsy fingers, this would be a lot easier to do.”
The mages exchanged a heartfelt look but didn't say anything.
“Aha! Here it is.”
Simon pulled a small oval stone out of his pocket and handed it to Tamara.
“A lodestone? Do they work across the Void?”
“They do. Kronk and I tested it. You know how it works; just concentrate on me while holding the stone and its mate, which I still have on me, will glow and become warm. Just please, make sure that it's an emergency, okay? It's exhausting Gating from that place back to Earth. I'd rather not have to do it too often.”
“Got it. Thanks Simon.”
She stepped forward and gave the wizard a hug, carefully avoiding bumping into his staff and knocking him off balance.
“Take care of yourself,” she whispered. “And come back soon.”
“I'll try.”
He offered his hand to Sebastian, who ignored it and hugged him as well.
“Thank you both for everything,” Simon said as the mage stepped back. “Be well.”
He looked at Kronk and Aeris, and the elementals each grabbed a part of his cloak.
“Gate!”
They disappeared into the blackness of the Void and the portal closed around them.
Tamara and Sebastian looked at each other.
“Why do I fear that we will never see him again?” she asked softly.
They both turned and stared up at the tower as the sun sank below the horizon. For a brief instance in the fading light, it seemed like the building was gray and still, abandoned and forgotten like some ancient ruin they had stumbled across in the wilderness.
“Let's go home,” Tamara finally said. “We've got a lot of work to do.”
The End
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The Queen of Dragons (Tales from the New Earth Book 8) Page 47