“Ta-da,” he said in a shaky voice.
“Master, you did it!” the little guy said. He sounded more relieved than pleased.
“I did, didn't I?”
Simon ran his fingers through his hair and wiped a sheen of sweat from his forehead. His knees were shaking and he felt weak and light-headed.
“You look a little pale, master,” Kronk said as he stared up at him. “Perhaps you should sit down?”
“No, I'm fine,” the wizard said. He took a tottering step and then reconsidered. “Then again, maybe I will sit for a minute.”
He lowered himself carefully and sat down on the warm grass. He lay back on his elbows and just breathed deeply.
Kronk settled down beside him. Simon snuck a look at the elemental and saw the look of concern on his face.
“I'm fine, my friend. Really. And before you say anything, yes, I have to move carefully with this spell.”
He thought about the complexity of the Gate spell.
“This incantation takes me to the next level, I guess. If I get this right, consistently, I'll be able to tackle the really useful spells like Lightning Storm and Meteor.”
He lay back and closed his eyes.
“I'm afraid that we're going to need those soon, Kronk. If Aeris runs into something big and nasty, master-class spells may be the only thing that will stop it.”
“I understand, master,” the elemental said softly. “But you are just one person. You can only do your best. You can't save the world.”
Simon shivered. Kronk's statement echoed in his mind like prophecy. He opened his eyes and stared at the small, worried face beside him.
“Maybe not,” he said with a knot of fear in his belly. “But the powers that be may be expecting me to try.”
The wizard had to sleep for a few hours after casting the Gate spell. He was frustrated at his body's weakness but knew that pushing it would lead to a setback, something he couldn't risk doing.
When he woke again, Simon ate a snack and then walked outside and around the tower to the lake. Early dragonflies flitted above its calm surface and he sat on the shore and watched their flashes of blue and purple with a sense of joy.
Spring, he thought. Man, I've missed you.
Then he chanted the Magic Mouth spell while watching the sun flickering on the water.
“Aeris? Are you there?”
“Simon! Wait a minute.”
The wizard sat up, wide-eyed. The air elemental had been whispering; a first for him.
“What's going on?” he asked quickly.
There was a long moment of silence and Simon waited anxiously for Aeris to respond.
“Okay, I'm here,” the elemental finally answered in a more normal voice. “Sorry about that. I had to get some distance away from them before I could speak out loud.”
“Away from them? From whom?”
“Changlings, Simon.”
“Changlings?” The wizard frowned. “What are you talking about? I'm a Changling.”
Aeris laughed humorlessly.
“Not a Changling like you or Clara and the others. These creatures are monsters. I ran into a pack of them earlier today. They are the ones who are hunting humans.”
Simon's blood ran cold. He couldn't help but remember Sarah and the other Changlings that he'd run into in Ottawa. They had kept their bodies swathed in heavy robes to hide whatever they had turned into.
“What kind of monsters are we talking about?” he asked.
“They are each different,” Aeris told him. “Hideous amalgams of scales and claws. Some are immense, ten feet tall or more. One is more like a wolf covered in spines. A few have more than four limbs. They are horrors, my dear wizard.”
“How many?”
“At least twenty in this pack alone. But I've come across several trails that meet and separate, leading me to believe that there are a lot more than that.”
Simon stood up and began to pace along the lake shore.
“So let me understand this. There are packs of monstrous Changlings roaming the countryside killing humans indiscriminately? What the hell is that about?”
“I have no idea. But they are not mindless. They speak to each other in some language that I do not know. I saw them attack a small home and one of them, the leader I assume, had the pack surround the structure before they attacked. They are organized. Fortunately there was no one inside. And then another creature cast a spell and set the structure on fire.”
Simon stopped so quickly he almost tripped.
“Hang on a minute. You saw one cast a spell?”
“I did. That is the truly frightening thing about them. They are spell-casters, or at least some of them are. As far as I know, the only other Changlings who can use magic are yourself, Clara and the four youngsters we saved last year. And that's it. But here we see that the Changlings who were mutated into monsters can also cast spells. It worries me, my dear wizard, I must admit.”
Simon continued his walk around the lake, staring at the ground and thinking hard as he went.
“It worries me too. Is that why we have found so few Changlings who are human? Because a lot more Changed into those things?”
“Frightening thought, isn't it?”
“That's an understatement.”
Simon stopped near the remains of the old cottage and looked across the lake at his tower. The white stone building gleamed in the bright sunlight. He felt a sudden sense of grief at the thought of innocent people being twisted by the dark gods into monstrous creatures.
“Simon? What do you want me to do?”
“Are you in any danger?”
“Not at the moment. Apparently none of these creatures can see me when I'm invisible, and I've been keeping well behind and above them.”
“You mean there are things that can see you when you're invisible?” Simon asked with some surprise.
“Very few. Usually only high-level magic-users and only when they cast the See Invisible spell. The monsters here may be casters, but they are crude and don't seem to have much skill, really.”
“Good to know.”
The wizard leaned on a tree, its leaves just emerging from buds, and looked at the sad remnants of the old cottage. He'd never met the people who had once owned the little building. Who had they been? Why had they abandoned this pretty little spot? His mind wandered for a bit.
“Simon? Are you still there?”
He blinked rapidly and pushed away from the tree.
“Sorry,” he said. “I was just thinking. Okay, I'm going to leave this up to you. If you feel safe enough to follow them for a day or two to see if we can figure out exactly why they're hunting down humans, then go ahead. If not, I can summon you back home right now.”
Simon waited for Aeris to make a decision and began to walk back around the lake at the same time.
“I think I'll keep watching them, at least for now,” Aeris finally replied. He didn't exactly sound thrilled with his choice. “But I get a very bad feeling from these creatures, so I think I'll only stay on their trail one more night and return tomorrow.”
The wizard felt some relief at Aeris' decision.
“Good. I'll call you tomorrow morning and summon you back then.”
“That's fine. Don't be late with that call, my dear wizard. I really don't like being around these monsters.”
“I won't be. Be damned careful, Aeris.”
“I will be, Simon, believe me.”
The wizard canceled the spell and made his way thoughtfully back to the tower, considering the information that he had received.
Kronk and Simon talked about these new Changlings later that night in front of the fire. The wizard noted with some amusement that their nightly chats by the fireplace had become a routine. He appreciated the sense of normalcy it gave to his life.
After he had told Kronk everything that Aeris had seen, Simon waited while the little guy digested the information. You didn't try to hurry the earthen. His thoughts w
ere slow and deliberate, but he almost always came up with interesting responses to problems.
“Do you think it is possible that those Changlings you met in Ottawa are part of the pack of creatures that Aeris is following, master?” he finally asked.
Simon looked at him, wide-eyed. Such a thing hadn't occurred to him.
“Why? Do you?”
Kronk shrugged, a quick motion of his shoulders.
“I do not know, master. But if they were evolving into something, I suppose that it is possible.”
The fire snapped and sparked and Simon watched an ember jump up and flare for an instant before falling back into ash.
“But that lich, Madam, claimed that she caught Sarah and the others and turned them into undead.”
The elemental snorted.
“That creature was a liar, master. Nothing she said could be trusted. I think that it is quite possible that the Changling and her people survived. The question is, did they survive to become something monstrous?”
“Hmm.”
Simon watched the fire and then leaned forward, picked up a small log from the pile beside the fireplace and set it carefully on top of the burning wood.
“I have to admit that this information from Aeris disturbs me a great deal, Kronk. Changlings were supposedly created, not by the dark gods, but by the gods of Justice. We are supposed to be a counter to the evil gods, to try to stop them from returning to this world. But if these monsters are Changlings, then they may have been altered by the gods of Chaos. You see what that means?”
Kronk looked up at him and tilted his head to the side slightly.
“I think so, master. They are turning the Changlings against each other, corrupting the power of the gods of Light.”
Leave it to the little guy to see what Simon was getting at.
“Exactly, my friend. And that is terrifying. If true, then these dark gods must have known what their counterparts were doing and twisted it to their own purposes. Maybe they've just been playing with us all along.”
Simon felt a sense of despair settle over him. If his suppositions were correct, then he was just wasting his time trying to gain more power. The Chaotic gods were ahead of him and were simply stringing him, and all the others, along. It was a frightening revelation.
“Master, I think you are mistaken,” Kronk said firmly.
“What?”
“If these dark gods were in control from the beginning, then why would they send those dragons to attack the tower? Why would they send that lich to Nottinghill to draw you out? Those are not the actions of beings who are certain of their victory. They are acts of desperation and fear.”
Simon stared open-mouthed at his little friend. He was tempted to laugh at the absurdity of the idea that beings as powerful as the gods of Chaos would be afraid of any human, let alone him. But Kronk looked quite serious.
“Do you actually believe that?” he asked.
“Yes, I do, master,” Kronk said sincerely. “I have watched you closely over the last few years. I watched as your power grew last year. I saw you defeat a primal dragon. You, a human. I would never have believed such a thing was possible.”
Simon tried to interrupt but the little guy was having none of it.
“No, master. With all due respect, I know you will say that you tricked the black. But that doesn't matter. It is dead. You are not. And then I watched as you destroyed two more dragons. Not primals, no, but dragons nonetheless. After you lost your powers due to the treachery of the dark gods, I watched as you fought your way back. You are close now. Close to where you were at the height of your powers last year. And that is all your doing, master.”
Kronk looked at the wizard in admiration and Simon felt himself getting red.
“You make it sound more impressive that it was,” the wizard muttered uncomfortably.
“Do I?” Kronk smiled up at him. “Well, it's been impressive to me, master. I am proud to serve you. Great things are coming and I have the privilege of being involved, in a very small way.”
Simon settled into his chair and allowed the warmth of the fire to wash over him. He wasn't about to buy in to Kronk's belief that he was going to be the one to stop those faceless gods watching from the Void. But maybe, just maybe, he could play a small role in upsetting their plans. That would definitely be satisfying.
“I'm just going to do what I can, my friend,” he told the elemental. “If it helps in the overall battle, so much the better. But I can't look at the big picture. It's enough that I try to keep my own small piece of the world as safe as I can.”
“That is all anyone can do, master,” Kronk said agreeably.
The following morning, Simon was up early. His sleep had been disturbed by his concern for Aeris. He had a feeling that the air elemental's self-confidence could get him into trouble.
And so he was up shortly after dawn. He surprised Kronk by appearing in the stable and helping him feed and water the horses. He shoveled up the manure into the wheelbarrow and pushed it around the back of the building to dump it on the pile.
After getting washed up, Simon went upstairs to his study and, on a whim, grabbed an old gaming book at random and read through it idly. When he reached a page that listed wizard spells, he scanned through it with some surprise.
So many of the spells that the game players had made up were almost the same as actual real spells, he thought in wonder.
He frowned as he read through the list. Then he stood up and slowly walked downstairs, reading as he went, and absently began to make some tea.
When Kronk walked in some time later, he found the wizard nose-deep in the book, muttering to himself as he read.
“Interesting reading, master?” he asked as he hopped up on to the kitchen table.
“Hmm?” Simon looked up from the book and stared vaguely at the little guy. “Did you say something?”
Kronk tip-tapped across the table and nodded at the book.
“I asked if the book was interesting, master,” he said with a smile. “Obviously it is.”
Simon blinked a few times and then grinned in a slightly dazed way.
“Yeah, you could say that. Take a look.”
The elemental moved around to stand by Simon's shoulder and followed the wizard's finger as he traced the list of spells set out in a table.
“Over half of these spells are real,” he told the little guy in amazement. “Isn't that wild?”
“Why, master?” Kronk asked curiously. “It is a spell list, is it not?”
“Yes, but they're spells that were made up back in the days of technology. None of these spells worked back then. They were used in games.” At the elemental's blank look, Simon tapped the book in exasperation. “They came up with real spells! How did they do that?”
Slowly, Kronk's eyes widened.
“Oh, I see!” he said and leaned forward to look closely at the spells printed in the book.
“Magic Missile. Fireball. Lightning. So many others.”
He looked wonderingly at Simon.
“How did they know?”
“That's just it; I have no idea. But look.”
The wizard pointed at the Magic Missile spell and at the page number next to it. He flipped rapidly through the book until he found that page and spread the book wide so that Kronk could see what was there.
“Look at the incantation,” he said, his voice thin with intensity.
Kronk peered at the words written plainly in English. Then he looked up at Simon with wide eyes.
“It's the proper spell,” he whispered.
“I know,” Simon agreed. His knuckles were white as he gripped the edges of the book.
“What book is that, master? Where did you get it?”
Simon closed the book and showed Kronk the cover.
A colorful mixture of pastels illustrated a rather childish picture of a wizard. He had a long, white beard and had his hands raised. His blue robe swirled around him and some unidentifiable monster
was rearing up in front of him.
“Not a very good picture, is it?” the elemental said with a frown.
“Yeah, I know. It looks like a kid's book.”
Kronk was examining the cover.
“But what is it called? And who wrote it?”
Simon checked the spine of the book, but it was blank. Then he opened the cover and looked at the first few pages.
“Okay, that's weird,” he said, puzzled. “There's no title, no author name and no publishing information. Usually there's a copyright notice here somewhere, but there's nothing.”
The wizard set the tome down, finished his tea and stared at the book. He pulled at his lower lip thoughtfully.
“You know, I don't remember buying this thing. In fact, I don't even remember packing it up with the rest of my books when I moved my library here, a few months before the modern world was destroyed.”
Kronk ran his little hands over the book slowly, as if testing its texture. He finally stood up and looked at Simon, his expression unreadable.
“We need Aeris,” he said shortly.
Simon raised an eyebrow.
“We do? Why?”
The elemental gave the book a little kick.
“Because, master, I think you have been given a gift. I think the gods of Light are being sneaky, again, and helping you under the very noses of their evil cousins.”
“Wait. You're saying you think the gods gave me this? Just like that?”
“No master, not just like that. You do not have so many books that you would not have seen this one before now. I think that they have been waiting for their opportunity, waiting for the gods of Chaos to be distracted before sneaking this by them.”
Simon got up and poured himself more tea. He leaned back on the counter and looked at Kronk, without really seeing him.
“Distracted,” he mused aloud. “Distracted like maybe during that attack on Nottinghill by Madam and her undead followers?”
Kronk smiled tightly.
“Exactly, master.”
The wizard sat down again and opened the book. He found the list of spells and ran his finger down them.
“But then why are only half of these spells real ones?”
The Dragons Revenge (Tales from the New Earth #2) Page 18