“Aeris, could you not just be quiet for a change?” Kronk told him, his red eyes glowing in the growing darkness.
Before the air elemental could reply, Simon nodded at the spot where they'd just been standing.
“There,” he said quietly.
A pearly luminescence appeared just as the darkness crept over them and suddenly the entire hill was lit up in a flash of white light. Simon shaded his eyes and squinted against the brightness which disappeared as quickly as it had come.
“See? I told you he'd be here already!”
The wizard knew that voice and grinned as he tried to see clearly.
“Malcolm? Sorry, the Gate nearly blinded me.”
The big man loomed out of the night and, for a change, gently patted him on the shoulder.
“Yes, it's me. Good to see you. And you brought the boys! Hey Kronk, Aeris. How you doing?”
“The boys?” Aeris murmured.
“We are well, sir,” Kronk said politely as he bowed, both to Malcolm and to the group behind him.
Simon summoned a globe of light and it rose up above him several feet.
“Is that wise?” someone asked.
The wizard could see a mass of people now and he grinned at the disapproving look on Tamara's face.
“The area is clear,” he assured her. “And unlike our friend here,” he nodded at Hallic who was looking amused, “I can't see in the dark.”
“Well, okay then. You'll have to douse the light when we move though. Hallic will be taking the lead and we don't want to give away our position.”
“Understood. So, introductions?”
Malcolm stepped to the side so that Simon could see the entire group.
“You know pretty much everyone here except for these two. Kate, Fergus, this is Simon O'Toole. Simon, these are two of the best warriors I know. Well, besides myself and Aiden, of course.”
“Modesty, Malcolm,” Aiden chided him.
Simon laughed and nodded at the two armored fighters.
“It's good to meet you both.”
“And you too, sir,” Kate said with a smile.
The young woman was a bit taller than Simon's six feet. She had a crooked nose that must have been broken at least once and piercing green eyes.
Fergus bowed and grinned but remained silent. He sported a neat goatee and his hair and eyes were black. He was just slightly taller than Kate.
Both she and Fergus were wearing impressive suits of dwarven armor. It was steel, enameled black like the armor of the royal guard, but fitted for the human warriors.
“They gave you armor?” Simon asked them.
“Actually the king insisted that armor be made for all of us,” Aiden spoke up. “But Malcolm and I like our old suits that the smith at Nottinghill forged for us. It's not pretty but it does the job.”
Both he and Malcolm wore their slightly battered plate armor. Simon noticed that it had been painted a dark gray that blended with the darkness and he nodded in approval.
“Of course,” Aiden continued with a glance to his right, “Liliana's armor is special and I doubt that even the dwarves could forge better.”
The paladin gave him a cool look and separated herself from the group and walked over to Simon. They shook hands and she looked him up and down.
“You look well, my friend,” she said quietly “How are you feeling after that confrontation with the necromancer?”
Simon had called Tamara and relayed the news about the attack on his tower. She had been both surprised and angered and had promised to tell the others about it.
“Honestly? I'm a little pissed off, if you'll pardon my language. That guy, whoever he was, had the nerve to try to scare me away. And not just me; he tried to frighten all of us. Personally though, I think that just revealed his own fears. I think he's worried that we pose a real threat to him and so he tried playing mind games with me. It didn't work.”
“Damned straight it didn't work,” Malcolm growled. “That weasel has betrayed his own people and threatened all of us. I think it's time to turn the tables on him, let the hunter become the hunted.”
“I would say that we all agree on that point,” someone said from the back of the group.
Simon watched as Kate and Fergus moved aside to make some room. Several people stepped forward together and he recognized Virginia, Eric, Anna and Gerard.
“Hey guys!” he said with a broad smile. “Long time no see! How is everyone?”
Both of the young woman gave him a hug, the tiny Anna making him feel almost huge in comparison, and the two men shook his hand warmly.
“We're good, thanks,” Virginia assure him. She almost always spoke for the four of them.
“Well, good is a relative term,” Eric said, looking a little annoyed. “We're less than thrilled that we can't do more than get you folks inside of that tower.”
“Eric, we've discussed this,” Tamara told him sternly as she looked at each of the four friends. “We know that you want to fight but your reaction speed as a group might compromise all of us and we can't take that chance.”
“We're willing to risk it,” Anna said in her little voice and then blushed as everyone looked at her.
“But we are not,” Sebastian said suddenly from behind them.
Simon hadn't seen him in the back and watched as the mage moved around to stand next to his sister.
“Look, you all know that Tamara and I don't always see eye to eye.”
“Now there's an understatement,” Malcolm muttered.
Everyone chuckled and even Tamara smiled reluctantly.
“But in this case, we are in agreement. We aren't fatalistic about this venture, but if we fall, our people back in Kingstone will need your skills to carry on. And besides, the smaller the group, the safer we all will be.”
Eric still looked belligerent but Virginia reluctantly nodded.
“He's right,” she told her friends. “I don't want to miss out on the battle, but we have to be adults about this. Right?”
There was a mutter of agreement but none of the four looked very happy about their situation.
“Hey, cheer up, guys,” Malcolm said encouragingly. “It's your powers that are going to get us into that hellhole in the first place. Without you, we'd be screwed. So it's not like you're just along for the ride.”
“That's true, you know,” Gerard told the others. “We aren't just tagalongs.”
“And now that that is sorted out,” Tamara said impatiently, “Simon, do you remember Miriam and Barnaby?”
Miriam was a cleric, a cheerful, matronly woman who was always smiling. She gave him a strong hug and winked as she let him go.
“Ah, the famous wizard. Or should I say infamous? Good to see you.”
“And you,” Simon wheezed. He wondered if his ribs were bruised.
Miriam wasn't tall but she was broad and obviously strong. She wore a simple brown robe and some sort of religious symbol made of silver hung from her belt. Simon didn't recognize it in the uncertain light.
Barnaby wore a robe as well, but it was dyed a very dark blue that looked almost black in the darkness. The young mage had long thin hair the color of cinnamon and an open, attractive face. He and Simon had only met once, on the Defiant, but the wizard had liked him almost immediately.
“How are you?” Simon asked as they shook hands.
“Happy to be here and raring to go,” the mage replied with a wide grin. “It's good to see you again.”
“And you.”
The wizard looked around and frowned as he realized that someone was missing.
“Where's Veronique?” he asked Tamara.
She shook her head and looked slightly disgruntled.
“She had to back out at the last minute. Sylvie became ill earlier today. Very ill, actually, so I have no right to be irritated by her sister's absence. Veronique simply didn't feel that she could come and leave Sylvie alone in that condition.”
“Is it serious?” Simon ask
ed anxiously.
He admired Sylvie very much and had hated the fact that they'd had to leave her behind.
“Opheilla is with her,” Miriam told him. She sounded reassuring. “She is an excellent cleric. I'm sure that Sylvie will be fine.”
“Yes, well, let's hope so. Anyway, now that we're all caught up, let's get down to business, shall we?”
Tamara opened a pouch that hung from her belt next to the wand that Simon had given her and pulled out a rolled-up piece of parchment. She unrolled it and handed it to him.
“The rest of us have seen this but I wanted you to take a look.”
It was a rough map of the area around Nottinghill Castle, including the bay where they were standing. The route to the castle was clearly marked and Simon was buoyed by the attention to detail that Tamara had put into her planning for the attack.
“You've been busy with your Magic Mirror spell,” he told her with a smile.
She nodded solemnly.
“If this whole thing goes south, I don't want it to be because we didn't prepare properly. Now, as I said, Hallic will be leading the way from here. Once we get close enough to the tower, he'll scout out the area and give us any information we'll need about the outside patrols. So, are you ready to go?”
Simon looked at the determined expressions all around him and then glanced at Kronk and Aeris. He raised an eyebrow and both of them nodded silently.
“We're ready. Lead on, Hallic.”
The wizard canceled his light with a gesture and the globe was snuffed out in an instant. The night was incredibly dark without its warm glow.
“Very well. Everyone knows the order of march?” the dwarf asked.
There was a murmur of assent from the group and Simon could just detect a motion from the rogue that he guessed was a nod. It was very hard to see.
“Sir wizard, you will please walk between Malcolm and Aiden. And now, we're off.”
The hike to the dark tower was one that Simon did not look back on fondly. The low bushes that lined the paths they followed were filled with little thorns and burrs and his robe was constantly getting hooked on the damnable things.
From the low curses he heard both in front of and behind him in line, everyone wearing robes was having the same struggle. The journey wasn't a pleasant one.
Aeris floated to Simon's left and made sure that he wasn't glowing in the night. Kronk gamely stayed on the wizard's right and hopped over and ran around brush and small trees. Fortunately he never got tired and seemed to have endless amounts of patience, so if he suffered, he did so in silence.
The trip took about an hour, even though it was only two miles from where the group had gathered. Between the pitch blackness of an almost moonless night and the rough terrain, they had moved at a snail's pace.
“Hold here!” came a rough whisper from up ahead. It was Hallic.
“Everyone, come forward slowly and stay low. I can see the tower in the distance.”
Simon followed the hunched outline of Malcolm in front of him, still amazed that such a large man wearing armor could move so quietly. Behind him, Aiden moved like a ghost as well. How they did that was a mystery.
The three of them, and the elementals, were the last in line and Simon had to creep around everyone else to see the tower. And when he caught his first glimpse of it, he was amazed.
The party was crouched at the border of the thin forest that turned into a rocky stretch of open land dotted with clumps of stubborn grasses. About a mile away, the dark tower rose up to blot out the stars behind it. Even in the darkness, the twisted building was immense and intimidating.
Simon looked up from the base of the tower to its peak, craning his head back to see the top. There were little spots of light glowing from many of the floors and he wondered if they were quarters for human servants, or slaves. Undead minions would have no need for lights at night.
At the very top, a hellish orange-red glow pulsed like a distant heart; throbbing with a slow and steady beat, the evil crown of the dark tower.
“My God, it's so much bigger in person, isn't it?” one of the men whispered in awe. “How are a handful of us going to take on that?”
“With skill, determination and a whole lot of sneakiness,” Hallic replied, his amused tone lightening the atmosphere slightly.
“Poor old Nottinghill Castle,” Anna muttered sadly, her small voice breaking. “There's nothing left of it. And it was such a nice place too.”
Simon saw some movement among the shadowy group and guessed that Virginia had moved to comfort her friend.
“We'll find a new place to live, I promise,” he heard her say. “It won't be the same, but it will home.”
“Simon? Come up here to the front of the bus, would you?” Tamara asked.
The wizard smiled to himself at her choice of words and moved around the group as quietly as he could to join her.
“What's up?” he asked.
A tiny light appeared, almost blinding to him after an hour's travel in total darkness, and lit up Hallic's face. The dwarf was holding a small glowing stone in his hand that was no brighter than a lighted match. He grinned at Simon and nodded at the tower.
“I'm heading out and I was wondering if your air elemental friend there would like to join me as I scout out the perimeter.”
“Seriously? I thought that your people hated elementals?”
Aeris floated into the wizard's field of view to his right, hovering a few inches off of the ground. He stared at the rogue silently.
“We don't hate elementals, we simply hate what they did to us back in ancient times. What their leaders did, actually. Anyway, I'm not your typical dwarf. I choose my allies as I see fit and one thing I do know from my studies is that this guy's people,” he gestured at Aeris, “are damned fine scouts and infiltrators.”
He winked at Aeris and the elemental smiled tentatively in return, obviously unsure of the dwarf's intentions.
“I could use a second set of eyes watching my back in there, plus I've read that elementals are sensitive to magical traps and wards. Is that true?” he asked Aeris directly.
“Yes, it is. And I would gladly join you, if you,” he looked at Simon, “will allow it.”
“I'm not your master or your boss, Aeris,” the wizard said, a little exasperated. “If you want to go with Hallic, feel free. You're an excellent scout and he'd be a fool not to take advantage of your talents.”
“High praise indeed, sir wizard,” the rogue said jovially. “So what do you say, Aeris is it? Would you like to come along and have some fun?”
“I would love to, sir dwarf,” the air elemental replied eagerly.
“Good. And call me Hallic. I'm no fine lord like these upstanding spell-casters.”
The rogue closed his fist around the glowing stone and the light was snuffed out, leaving the group in darkness again.
“Give us ten minutes to reach the tower, lady, and then follow along slowly,” Hallic told Tamara. “No need to creep along the ground, but everyone should try to move as silently as possible. And now, we're off.”
“Good luck, Aeris,” Kronk rumbled quietly.
“Thanks. Don't worry; like Hallic said, this is going to be fun.”
Simon watched the odd couple disappear quickly into the night and sighed loudly.
“Is something wrong, Simon?” Malcolm asked from the shadows.
“No, but I never thought I'd run into someone else as eager to sneak into danger as Aeris is, but I have. And now both of them are going to poke around that tower. Heaven help us all.”
There was a chorus of stifled laughter and then everyone settled down to wait out the ten minutes before they had to move. Simon sat down stiffly and rested his staff across his knees, looking around constantly for any hint of danger.
“Master? Do you think Aeris will be all right?”
The little guy was sitting a few inches in front of the wizard but all Simon could see were his small, burning eyes.
&nbs
p; “He'll be fine,” he replied quietly. “Actually, I'd say that with the skills both he and Hallic have, he's probably safer than we are at the moment.”
The hulking outline of Malcolm could just be seen against the stars a few feet away. He and Aiden had elected to stand watch over the group until it was time to move, in case a random patrol wandered by.
Kronk looked over at the warrior standing silently in the night and then back at Simon.
“I'd say that you are fairly safe, master, with warriors like him in the group.”
“Good point.”
While they were waiting, several people went back into the woods to answer the call of nature. Tamara sternly made sure that none of them went alone.
“Tammy, I can take a piss without any help,” her brother snapped at her when she insisted that Fergus go with him.
“He's there to watch your back, Bastian, not watch you. Now don't be a child; either let him go with you or hold it for the next six hours: your choice.”
The mage walked off into the forest muttering under his breath, the armored figure of Fergus at his back.
Simon grinned at the sight. His vision had adjusted enough for him to see vague details even with just the starlight above them.
He was pleased that he'd stopped on the hike to the tower to do his business. The water bottle hanging on his belt was still full and he wasn't thirsty. The last thing he wanted to think about at the moment was his bladder.
“Time, everyone,” Tamara said at last. “Okay, since Hallic isn't here, would you take point, Malcolm?”
“Of course,” the big man said confidently.
“Good. Single file, everyone take your time and Aiden bring up the rear, please.”
They set off again, their goal looming in front of them. Simon was following Eric and behind him was the cleric, Miriam. Everyone was being remarkably quiet and the wizard was grateful. They were all taking the venture quite seriously.
Malcolm led them toward the tower and then turned slightly to the right as they got to within a quarter of a mile of the building. Fortunately there were heaps of discarded rock and debris left over from the construction of the massive edifice and he made sure to lead the party to the shelter of one of them.
“Good God, what is that stench?” Virginia said in disgust as the group huddled behind a pile of broken stone. It was at least ten feet high and hid them all easily.
The Dragons of Bone and Dust (Tales from the New Earth Book 7) Page 31