The Dragons Revenge (Tales from the New Earth #2)

by J. J. Thompson

  That got Simon's attention.

  “How much stronger?” he asked anxiously.

  Aeris frowned in thought.

  “Let me put it this way. You remember the power you wielded against the prime black dragon?” Simon nodded. “Well, double that.”

  Simon gasped. His memories of how powerful his spells were then were quite clear. He had felt immeasurably stronger then than he was now, with the knowledge that the gods had given him of master-level wizard spells. And necromancers were even more powerful than that?

  “Okay, now I understand your worry,” he told Aeris. “You think that one of those dark wizards is out there somewhere?”

  He waved vaguely at the window.

  “I can't think of anything else that could raise a lich like that Madam,” Aeris said. “She would have been a Changling first. Like yourself, she would have had potential to be a wizard. This necromancer had to have killed her first, then raised her as a lich and sent her off to gather an army of undead minions. The rest you know.”

  Simon was aghast at the cold-blooded sound of this supposed dark wizard.

  “My God, just like that? Kill some poor innocent and then set them on that path?”

  “Exactly. That is what you are facing. Or so I believe.”

  Simon got up, grabbed his saddlebags and slipped Bene-Dunn-Gal over his shoulder.

  “Okay. We'll talk about this again once we get home. For now, keep it to yourself, all right?”

  Aeris floated after him.

  “You don't think that Clara should be told?”

  Simon hesitated before opening the door. He thought for a moment and then shook his head.

  “Not yet. I can let her know once you and I have talked this through. I need more information before I decide to panic the town again after this last attack.”

  He waited for Aeris' reluctant agreement, then left the room to find Clara.

  The cleric was in the main hall, speaking to several townspeople. When she saw Simon, she excused herself and rose to greet him.

  “How are you feeling?” she asked as he approached.

  “I'm fine, thanks,” he replied. “Frankly, I need more sleep. But lying in bed while others are busy isn't something I've ever been good at.”

  The cleric smiled.

  “I know what you mean.”

  She waved toward the back of the room and Simon saw that the table back here now had some plates of sandwiches and a big urn of tea on it.

  “Before you do anything, have some breakfast.” She rolled her eyes at the wizard's look and chuckled. “Fine. Lunch then.”

  Simon grabbed a sandwich, fixed himself some tea and sat down near the fire to eat.

  Clara returned to the group of villagers and they began speaking in low tones.

  Aeris joined the wizard and the pair of them watched the others.

  “Any idea what's going on?” Simon asked him under his breath.

  “They're worried, of course,” Aeris told him quietly. “Their defenders are almost all dead, their numbers are significantly reduced and spring is still far enough off that their spirits are low.”

  The elemental stared at the sad little group and Simon was touched by the expression of concern on the little guy's face.

  “They're a resilient bunch. They'll be okay.”

  The wizard finished his food, emptied his cup and put it back on the table. Then he gave Clara a wave and left, with Aeris following behind him.

  Before he went down to the front gate, Simon visited one of the village outhouses and then went to the town stables to check on Chief.

  The stallion whinnied when the wizard entered and Simon hurried to check him over and give him a few pats and a scratch under his chin.

  Chief extended his head and closed his eyes in bliss as the wizard scratched and Simon had to grin.

  “Yeah. Big, bad stallion, that's you,” he murmured. The horse sighed in contentment.

  Once he'd assured himself that the horse had enough food and water, he patted him one more time, assured him that they'd be heading home soon and left the stable.

  Aeris had gone ahead to the main gate and Simon hurried in that direction. He passed a couple of villagers, who stopped to thank him for his efforts.

  Simon accepted their thanks a little self-consciously and moved on, shaking his head.

  They were the real heroes, not me, he thought. Changlings without any magic who were just trying to live their lives in peace. They're braver than I will ever be.

  As he rounded the last house near the gate, Simon skidded to a stop on the thin slushy snow and stared at the new construction in amazement.

  The old gates had been two large wooden doors that met in the middle, wrapped with several metal bands for strength with large bolts to secure them.

  Now there was an open arch, cleanly built and new, with no gates at all.

  “What the...?” he said to no one and moved forward to find out what was going on. He soon had his answer.

  As he walked through the arch in the wall, Simon found himself standing on hardened planks of wood. Like the old gates, iron strapping bound them together. They were maybe twelve feet wide and extended over a pit at least twenty feet across. The moat.

  “Wow,” he muttered.

  “You approve, master?”

  Simon turned around to find Kronk standing in the archway, a wide grin on his little face.

  “Approve? Kronk, it's amazing!”

  The wizard turned to follow the moat's progress as it stretched out to ring the entire town. He walked to the edge of the drawbridge and looked down at the bottom of the moat.

  Spikes. Hundreds of gleaming spikes pointed upward, promising a miserable death to anyone, or anything, that stumbled over the edge to fall below. The moat was over twenty feet deep and its sides were sheer and unclimbable.

  “That actually looks...terrifying,” Simon told the elemental as he knelt down on one knee and stared at the spikes. “Did you have enough to line the entire bottom?”

  Kronk tip-tapped across and stood next to the wizard. He looked down as well.

  “No master. We've covered about half of it, but we concentrated on the front and rear entrances first. The rest will be ready in a few weeks, the blacksmith told me. I asked him to tell Clara when he is finished and she can inform you. I'll return and install them then.”

  Simon stood up and carefully backed away from the edge.

  “I hope the townspeople know enough to stay away from the sides of this drawbridge.”

  He stamped his foot on the hard wooden surface and heard barely a thud in response.

  “Great job on this, by the way. How do they raise it?”

  Kronk showed Simon the heavy chains that he and the other earthen had created. They were attached to the far end of the drawbridge and then ran through holes drilled into the walls and down to heavy cranks on the ground.

  “All the people here have to do to close off the town is spin these wheels to retract the chains,” Kronk said as he pointed out the mechanism. “We've built a smaller version for the rear gate.”

  The earth elemental took Simon back out to the drawbridge and showed him how the chains could be loosened enough to hang low as a kind of barrier against anyone accidentally falling off of the edge.

  “That should add to their safety, master,” he said. “But I'm afraid that there will always be some risk with this sort of defense.”

  Simon nodded thoughtfully.

  “Yes. Of course, you're right. And considering what they faced this morning, somehow I think the people of Nottinghill will have no objections.”

  The two walked back into town and up the narrow main road to the hall.

  Back inside, Simon found Clara and Aeris chatting amiably with Eric and Gerard. Eric informed the wizard that Anna was still too upset to see anyone and that Virginia was staying with her.

  “I hadn't realized that she cared so much for Richard,” he told Simon as the four humans and t
wo elementals sat across from each other on opposite benches. “Ginny told me that Anna actually had a crush on him. Who knew?”

  Clara snorted and the other three looked at her in surprise.

  “Men,” she said with some exasperation. “It was as plain as the nose on your face, Eric. She lit up every time Richard would walk by or say hello to her.”

  Eric and Gerard looked mystified.

  “She did? Huh. I never noticed,” Eric said. “You?” he asked Gerard.

  “Nope. But then, according to Anna, I'm a bit thick.”

  Simon laughed at Gerard's self-deprecating comment.

  “Don't feel bad,” he told him. “I lived for over sixty years as my old self, and I've never understood women. That hasn't changed even though I have.”

  “You're all hopeless, you know that?” Clara told them.

  The three young men laughed at her comment and then Simon got up reluctantly.

  “I hate to leave you all like this, but I have to get home. My mares can't be alone for another night and I have things to do as well.” He looked at Clara. “Are you going to be okay?”

  She stood up and hugged him tightly.

  “Of course we will, thanks to you.”

  The cleric smiled at the two elementals.

  “And thanks to both of you as well. Aeris, you've been such a help. And Kronk, without you and your friends, we would be defenseless now. Thank you so much.”

  “It was nothing, lady,” Kronk said earnestly as he bowed. “Please call my master when the blacksmith has the last of the spikes ready for the moat and I will return to install them.”

  “And if you need me for anything, again, just call Simon,” Aeris told her.

  “I will, believe me.”

  Simon shook hands with Eric and Gerard.

  “Say goodbye to Virginia and Anna for me,” he told them.

  They assured him they would.

  With a final farewell, Simon and the elementals left the main hall. He hurried to the stables and saddled Chief, who was restless and ready to get back to his stable-mates.

  As Simon mounted, Kronk disappeared into the earth to travel quickly back home while Aeris rose up to float by the wizard's shoulder.

  Simon chirped at Chief and the big horse set off toward the main gate at a trot, his horns glowing proudly in the late afternoon sun and his tail high. He was nickering to himself in obvious delight.

  There was no one watching the gate as they passed through the archway, but Simon was quite sure that the drawbridge would be raised by nightfall and he felt some satisfaction in knowing that, at least for now, the town was safe.

  Chapter 12

  After the events that had played out in Nottinghill, home had never been so welcome.

  When Simon and Aeris reached the tower just after dark, they found the gate wide open and Kronk waiting for them out front holding a torch to light their way.

  The little guy insisted on taking the stallion around to the stable himself and getting him settled down for the night.

  Simon gratefully watched him lead Chief away and went inside to find the fireplace burning brightly, candles lit around the room and the kettle boiling.

  He went upstairs to unpack and change, then came back down to make some tea and have a light meal.

  Afterwards, the wizard and the two elementals sat by the fire, discussing the events of the past two days. Simon had found a book in his library, a fantasy game guide that he had saved for some forgotten reason from the old days, and rifled through it as they spoke.

  “A necromancer?” Kronk asked after Simon had told him Aeris' theory on the nature of their true enemy.

  “So our friend believes,” the wizard said with a quick glance at the air elemental.

  “Well, I suppose it's possible,” the earthen said doubtfully.

  Aeris bristled a bit but calmed down as Kronk went on.

  “The airy ones were much more involved in the day to day activities of the wizards long ago.”

  He looked at Aeris.

  “Can a wizard actually fight something like that?”

  Simon was amused to see the air elemental's smug look as Kronk actually deferred to him for once.

  “I'm not sure,” Aeris admitted thoughtfully. “It depends on the circumstances. Certainly if a wizard fought a necromancer, it would be best to do so during daylight. Darkness strengthens them. Night time is their time. Their servants cannot face the light of the sun, as we saw in Nottinghill.”

  “You know, it's fascinating just how much information these people got right,” Simon said, tapping the open book on his lap.

  “Listen to this: 'Unlike most magic-users, necromancers depend on the spirits of the dead instead of spells to accomplish their ends. Summoning these spirits to animate corpses, these vile dark wizards attack the living, using horror and death to conquer their enemies.'”

  He looked at the elementals and then into the fire.

  “I can't imagine why anyone would embrace something so vile,” he said quietly. “Why? For what purpose?”

  Simon shut the book and closed his eyes briefly. He was so tired.

  “How can we know what his or her reasons are?” Aeris asked gently. “All we do know is that these dark gods who are seeking a way back into this world are using whatever tools they have at their disposal to stamp out any opposition to their return.”

  Simon opened his eyes and looked at Aeris, who smiled at him a bit grimly.

  “I suppose it's a compliment to you, my dear wizard, that they hate you enough to set something like that on your trail.”

  “Yeah great,” the wizard said dispiritedly. “After all this time, suddenly I'm famous. Lovely.”

  Kronk laughed his grating little laugh.

  “Infamous is a better word, master,” he said.

  Simon got up slowly and tossed the book on to the kitchen table.

  “Either way, I've had enough for today. I'm going to try to get some sleep.”

  He walked to the stairs and then looked back at his two friends.

  “Keep the fire going, would you?” he asked Kronk. “And Aeris, could you do a few patrols around the tower overnight?”

  “Of course, master,” Kronk told him.

  “Naturally,” Aeris said.

  “Good. I'll see you both in the morning.”

  And with that, Simon made his way to bed. Sleep had never seemed so attractive.

  Spring came quickly that year. Within a month of the attack on Nottinghill, the last of the snow was gone and grass was forcing its way up through the cracked ground. Wild flowers could be seen popping up here and there in the field beyond Simon's tower and the only time he needed to wear a coat was after dark.

  Simon and Kronk began to work on the garden, turning the soil, breaking the larger clumps apart, cleaning up the debris of the winter and digging furrows to get the ground ready for planting.

  The wizard, as always, found the work invigorating. He had never had a green thumb in the old days, but now, thanks in large part to Kronk, his garden grew almost anything he cared to plant in it. It was very satisfying.

  Aeris came to him one morning with a request. Simon was using a hoe to make a long furrow, occasionally picking up rocks and tossing them on to an ever-increasing pile at the edge of the garden.

  “You know, I swear these damned rocks and stones weren't here last year,” he told the air elemental as he stopped to wipe the sweat off of his forehead with his sleeve.

  “Perhaps they grew there over the winter,” Aeris said teasingly.

  “You know, I'm starting to think that myself.”

  Simon leaned on the hoe and stared curiously at the figure floating a few feet away.

  “So what's up?” he asked.

  “I've been thinking,” Aeris said.

  Uh-oh, Simon thought. That wasn't always a good thing.

  “What about?” he asked casually as he began digging with the hoe again.

  “You and the stone-head
are busy with the garden and the tower is as clean as I can make it.”

  Simon stopped and rested on the hoe again.

  “Thanks for that, by the way. I know you hate housework.”

  “I do,” Aeris replied and grimaced. “But we all have to do our part, I suppose. At any rate, those chores are done and now I'd like to get back to my preferred job.”

  “Which is?”

  “Why, scouting, of course,” he said wide-eyed. “That is the reason you first summoned me, isn't it?”

  “True.”

  Simon looked at the elemental curiously.

  “But scouting where? For what?”

  “For Changlings. You remember that our friend, the cleric, said that she believed that others might find their way to Nottinghill this year. Well, the more I've thought about that, the more I've come to believe that I can help. If I scout further afield, perhaps a hundred miles in all directions from the town, I might discover Changling survivors.”

  The wizard thought about that for a moment.

  “That could take a long time, Aeris. Possibly weeks. And what makes you think that any Changlings you found would even want to pack up and move to Clara's village?”

  The elemental shrugged, bobbing and weaving in the spring breeze.

  “That would be their decision, of course. But if they don't even know that a secure settlement exists, then how can they make that choice? Besides, I think that having a chance to move to a place that is protected and inhabited by others like themselves would be appealing to a lot of lonely people out there.”

  “Assuming there are any, of course,” Simon added.

  “Naturally. So, what do you think?”

  Aeris sounded eager and Simon was intrigued by the idea. Certainly Nottinghill could use all of the help it could get. And the air elemental was right. His first job had been scouting and, at the moment, there was very little for him to do around the tower.

  “Well, if you're that determined to try, go ahead,” Simon told him.

  He watched with a grin as Aeris spun around ecstatically and shot up ten feet in the air.

  “Yes!” he cried and then gradually floated down to eye level again, smiling broadly.