There was a long moment of silence.
“Oh, you are a clever one, aren't you, sweet child? You know that Madam must keep her word if she invokes her masters. Very well then. I need time to rebuild my family anyway. So here is my word. In the name of my dark masters, I shall leave you and yours in peace for a month.”
And then she giggled.
“But not a moment longer. After all, I mustn't make the game too easy for you, hmm?”
“I accept your promise, Madam. And when you come back in a month, we'll be ready for you.”
The cowl flew back as the lich suddenly howled with laughter. Simon felt sick as the undead's head was revealed to be nothing but a skull covered with thin, broken skin and crowned with a few wisps of long, gray hair. Madam's blackened teeth clashed together as she laughed insanely and her burning eyes rolled in their sockets.
“You think that you will, my sweet one, but you won't be. My family will be very large indeed when we return again. But we shall save that debate for another day, shall we? Come now, the night is waning and I have much to do.”
She extended her bony hand impatiently and Simon looked at the others one last time.
Clara was watching him hopelessly, her posture limp with exhaustion. Aeris had his arms folded and glared at Simon disapprovingly. And Kronk, as usual, had a look of complete trust on his face as he watched closely.
Simon extended the staff toward the lich and she glided forward, cackling happily to herself.
'Bene-Dunn-Gal,' Simon said silently. 'Take my blood if you need it. If it will strengthen you, take a full measure and use it well.'
He held up the staff and felt it bite deeply into his palm.
The lich reached out and plucked the staff from Simon's hands. She grasped it firmly, crowing her glee.
“Ah, such a gift. Imagine, my dear, when we meet again and I turn its powers against you.”
Simon smiled widely.
“Yes, imagine that, you heartless bitch.”
Madam stopped laughing and stared down at him, her eyes flaring and drops of flame leaking down her skeletal face like tears.
“Be careful, small wizard. Do not test me, or when we see each other again, your death will not be easy.”
Clara stepped forward and glared at the monster.
“You got what you wanted, abomination. Now go. Your foulness corrupts the very air we breathe.”
The wizard looked at her in admiration. He knew that Clara was terrified, but she was also furious at her people's deaths, especially Richard's.
“Your death will be hard regardless, cleric of fallen gods,” Madam spat at her. “Your soul will twist in torment when I collect it for my masters. Think on that as you wait for my return.”
The lich turned slowly, holding the staff triumphantly like a trophy as she floated toward the destroyed gates. She was giggling horribly to herself again.
The sun was about to peek over the horizon and Simon guessed that the dawn was only minutes away. Now is the time, he thought.
“Madam! One last thing before you go,” he called to the lich.
She stopped in between the gates and turned to look at him.
“Speak quickly, child. I'm running a little late, don't you know.”
Simon walked forward and stopped a few feet away from the towering monster.
“Just one small question,” he said. He thought the glaring eyes flicked a quick look over his shoulder at the distant horizon.
“One question then, dear one. As a further payment for my lovely present.”
“I wanted to ask if your masters have another lich stored around somewhere to take your place when you're gone?”
She peeled out a ear-torturing laugh.
“I will never be gone, child. I am immortal. I am eternal.”
“Really?” Simon lifted an eyebrow. “Let's find out.”
He turned and ran toward Clara and the elementals. The sun was about to rise.
“Now!” he yelled as he reached the group. The three of them looked at him as if he'd lost his mind.
“What? What are you..?” Madam sputtered. And then a white light blazed along the length of the staff and the lich's hands were locked on to Bene-Dunn-Gal by layers of ice.
“What is this?” she shrieked as she shook her hands, trying to loosen the icy grip of the staff. And then, as if the weapon had become unbearably heavy, the staff slammed into the ground, dragging Madam on to her knees in the frozen dirt.
“What is going on?” the lich roared. “What have you done?”
She raised her head and glared at Simon. He glared back, a twisted grin on his face.
“I just thought you'd like to see the dawn. It's lovely this time of year.”
The blood red eyes widened as the lich looked up at the sky, arms frantically heaving as she tried to rise.
And the sun rose above the horizon.
“No!” Madam shrieked. The sun's rays slammed into the monster as if she'd been hit by a flamethrower. Her black robes ignited and the lich began to roll frantically around on the ground, screaming and roaring in rage and fear.
“How's that for a hard death?” Simon yelled at her.
Bene-Dunn-Gal came free of her grip and flew through the air to land at the wizard's feet. He picked it up gratefully.
“Good job,” he muttered to it. Bene-Dunn-Gal seemed to purr in response, obviously pleased with itself.
The lich rolled and thrashed and struggled against her destruction. As her robes burned away, the awful skeletal body beneath was gruesomely revealed. The bones, covered with scant shreds of skin, turned black in the merciless sunlight. Madam shrieked her pain and fury in a hideous gibbering voice
Silently, Simon and Clara and the townspeople watched the lich slowly disintegrate, her cries fading as the relentless sunlight slowly burned her to ashes. The greasy stench of burnt, papery flesh made Simon gag and clap his hands over his nose and mouth.
“Gods help us,” Clara prayed fervently as she watched in horror.
The undead's bones began to collapse but the lich reared up one last time, her clawed hands groping toward the wizard as she tried to pull her ruined body toward him.
“This isn't over, wizard,” she screamed at him. Her once-blazing eyes were no more than pits of charcoal, yet somehow Simon felt their hateful gaze catch his own.
“This isn't over! My masters will not allow you to upset their plans, insect. Others will come, and when they do, they will make you beg for death. You'll see.” She laughed, a deadly, chilling sound. “Oh yes. You'll see.”
A final groping lunge and then her body fell in on itself and her skull shattered into shards of smoking bone.
Simon watched, stone-faced, until the last of her bones stopped their unholy quivering. When it was done, Simon slung his staff over his shoulder with a relieved sigh and looked at Aeris with a small, pained smile.
The elemental threw his hands in the air.
“If I could have a heart attack, you'd have killed me by now.”
Chapter 11
Simon, Clara and the other townspeople began the sorry task of gathering up the bodies of the fallen. They carried them gently to the town hall and laid them side by side in the center of the room, covering them with blankets so that they looked like they were merely sleeping.
Once the sun had risen, Virginia, Eric, Anna and Gerard had returned from the back gate. They were shocked at the carnage and the loss of eight of their neighbors.
Richard's death hit them all particularly hard. He had been in the original group to greet the four when they'd first escaped from their captivity at the brutal hands of old world humans.
Anna was overcome with grief and was led away by Virginia. Eric and Gerard, grim-faced and silent, joined Simon at the main gate to help sweep away the remains of the undead. He told them about the confrontation with the lich as they worked.
Kronk helpfully created a hole in the frozen earth and the burned bones, ashes and bits of s
moking hay were pushed into it. He filled it in afterward and the only remaining evidence of the attack was the damage to the walls and the gap where the gates used to be.
The three of them leaned on the brooms they'd been using and stared in exhaustion at the wall.
“Now what?” Eric asked, trembling a bit with fatigue. Like Gerard and Simon, his face was streaked with dirt and soot and criss-crossed by lines of sweat.
“Now we repair the damage,” came a voice from beside them. The three young men looked down and met the eyes of a smiling Kronk.
“I will summon my friends and we will rebuild the wall. And then we will dig the moat around the town.”
He folded his arms and looked at the trio sternly.
“Master, you and your friends should get cleaned up and rest. We will handle this.”
He made little shooing motions and Simon exchanged glances with Eric and Gerard. Even after such a tragedy, they couldn't help but grin at the little guy's attempt to take charge.
“Very well, Kronk,” Simon said as he shouldered his broom. “We'll leave you to it. Call me if you need any help or have any questions.”
“Yes master, I will. Off you go.”
And Kronk waved and slipped into the earth.
Back in the town hall, the remaining members of the community had gathered and were standing or sitting in scattered groups, speaking in low voices. When the three young men entered, Clara, still looking tired and pale, but clean and dressed in a fresh robe, greeted them warmly.
“We've made some food, my friends,” she told them and led them to the back of the hall where a table had been set up.
Dishes piled high with fresh biscuits, dozens of fried eggs and slices of cooked beef awaited them. All of the food smelled wonderful and Simon was surprised to find that he was starving.
He filled a plate, grabbed a cup of tea and found a bench where he didn't have to look directly at the bodies laid respectfully near the fire.
While he ate, Simon tallied up the number of people that remained of the populace of Nottinghill. It wasn't encouraging. Including the missing Anna and Virginia, plus the two babies and their mothers, Simon counted about thirty souls. He shook his head sadly.
“Why the long face, young wizard?” Clara asked as she sat down next to him.
He looked at her closely. The cleric seemed fresher than he would have expected and her smile was as warm as ever, if a little strained.
“I was just counting up how few people you have left in town,” he told her. “Will you be able to grow crops and do all of the things that a settlement needs to do to survive with just these folks?”
Clara shrugged wearily.
“We will because we'll have to, won't we? Others will come. I have faith that the gods of Justice will direct those Changlings out there who are lost to our door. Losing Richard and the guards is a hard blow though. Besides being our friends, they protected the town. Without them, we wouldn't have survived to this point. Hopefully the moat that Kronk is digging will help until we can train more protectors.”
Simon looked at her skeptically but tried to smile.
“You know best, of course.”
He finished his meal and Clara sent him to her quarters to wash up and get some sleep.
When he woke up that afternoon, Simon ached in every muscle and he simply lay in bed and stared up at the rough, wooden ceiling above him.
“Awake at last, I see,” a voice commented dryly from his left.
“Barely,” Simon muttered. “So what's going on?”
Aeris floated into view.
“Kronk and his helpers have rebuilt the walls and replaced the gates. And they are almost finished digging the moat. There should be enough daylight left to plant as many spikes in the bottom as the blacksmith has ready to go. Luckily, the man was stationed at the rear gate and was uninjured after the attack.”
“Small favors,” Simon said and stretched painfully. He sat up reluctantly and threw back the covers. A quick glance at the sun streaming through the window told him that it was still early afternoon. He needed more sleep, but just couldn't lie in bed while others were working.
“Anything else?” he asked as he sorted through his saddlebags and pulled out a spare robe. Fortunately he'd packed with the thought of staying in town for a few days.
Aeris floated above the bed and watched as Simon got dressed.
“The dead were buried in a very touching ceremony. There is a small cemetery along the inside of the wall at the far end of the village where they were laid to rest. One of the earth elementals dug the graves for them.”
Simon pulled his robe over his head, sat down on the bed and sighed heavily.
“It's a big blow to this town,” he said as he pulled on some socks. “I'm not sure that they will be able to recover from such a loss.”
“They're resilient, my dear wizard,” the elemental told him. “I have heard a few suggestions that you should move to Nottinghill from your tower. Apparently your help in protecting the town impressed some people.”
Simon ran his hands through his hair and shook it out with an impatient motion.
“Well, I appreciate their support, but that's not happening. If she needs me again, Clara can use the lodestone to call me and I can Gate down. I should be able to cast that spell soon, if I keep progressing. But the tower is my home,” he glanced at Aeris, “and yours too. I need that isolation for my spell research. Not to mention the fact that the townspeople would be driven mad by your constant bickering with Kronk.”
Aeris sputtered a reply and Simon laughed. It was his first real laughter since the attack and it seemed to drive away the cloud of gloom that had settled over him.
“Yes, I assumed that you wouldn't come,” Aeris said finally as he glared disapprovingly. Then his expression became grave.
“There was something I wanted to talk to you about while I have you alone,” he said.
Simon felt his amusement drain away at the elemental's serious tone. He glanced at the closed door and then looked at Aeris inquiringly.
The air elemental took a deep breath.
“I know how hard the last twenty-four hours have been for you and, honestly, I don't want to increase the burden on your shoulders, but, well, I've been thinking about that lich you destroyed.”
“How could you not?” Simon muttered.
Aeris nodded once.
“Exactly,” he said. “Now, as you know, I learned a lot about magic from the wizards I served back in the old world of magic. Unlike Kronk and his fellow earthen, we air elementals were used for more advanced tasks than simply as practice for young magic-users.”
As he paused, Simon made an encouraging gesture.
“Yes, well, I remember hearing about those abominations a few times. The thing is...” His eyes darted around the room, reluctant to meet the wizard's gaze.
“The thing is, we have to ask ourselves where that lich, Madam, came from.”
“Came from?” Simon was perplexed. “She came from Ottawa. I told you that.”
“No, no, I don't mean that.” Aeris said. He began wringing his hands together, something that Simon couldn't remember seeing him do before.
“What I mean is, how did she come to be? How was she created?”
Simon stood up and packed his soiled clothing into his saddlebags while he listened to Aeris.
“She told us that, didn't she? She mentioned that the dark gods were her masters. They must have made her.”
“She lied, Simon,” Aeris said harshly.
The wizard sat back down on the bed and watched the elemental closely.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean just that. Liches are not raised by the gods; that simply isn't possible. And if she wasn't so distracted by her duties and her grief, I think Clara would have realized that herself.”
Simon pondered what Aeris was saying, or intimating. He was still not sure what the elemental was getting at.
“Your poi
nt, Aeris?” he asked a bit impatiently. He was still tired and hungry and he wanted to talk to Clara and check on Kronk's progress.
The air elemental blinked rapidly and then shot across the room and listened at the door. Simon stared at him incredulously.
“What...?”
Aeris flew back and motioned for the wizard to keep his voice down.
“I don't want to start a panic,” he whispered.
“A panic? After facing a mass of undead and a lich? You must be joking. What could be worse than that?”
“Something much more powerful than that undead monster. I think your true enemy is a necromancer.”
Simon's reaction was obviously disappointing to Aeris. He stood up and stretched, yawning loudly.
“Really? A necromancer, eh? Well, that's, um, bad?”
Aeris rose to eye-level and moved to within inches of the wizard's face.
“Bad? Are you joking? By the Four Winds, the world has changed beyond all reason if hearing that you have attracted the wrath of a necromancer doesn't make your blood run cold.”
With a tired sigh, Simon sat down yet again and tried to marshal his patience. This was obviously important to his friend.
“Okay, I'm listening. Explain why this is so bad. I'm not taking your announcement lightly, but let's remember that magic-users have only been around again for a couple of years. Before that, all we had were stories and legends.”
Aeris moved to hover on top of the bed and nodded thoughtfully.
“Of course. Right. I have to keep that in mind. Time passes so quickly on the elemental plane that all of this seems more immediate to me.”
He squared his small shoulders and looked keenly at Simon.
“Necromancers command the dead. That much I'm sure you must know.”
“Yes, I know that. I think I told you that Daniel and I used to play fantasy games back in the day and certainly necromancers were mentioned in those games. But, I don't know, they seemed a bit lame to be honest.”
“Lame? Oh my. Well, they certainly are not that. They are fallen wizards, Simon. Wizards who have given their souls completely to the evil gods in return for power over spirits and demons. Their powers are much stronger than those of that lich you faced this morning.”
The Dragons Revenge (Tales from the New Earth #2) Page 15