Simon looked at him blearily and grunted. He sat down at the kitchen table with an audible thump and dropped his head on to his arms.
“Well now, that was a lively greeting. Feeling a bit under the weather?”
With some effort, Simon raised his head and rested his chin on his palms.
“I'm not sure,” he said weakly. “It has to have something to do with the spells I worked with yesterday. But I don't get it. Except for the two outside, I didn't actually cast anything. All I did was kind of link the normal incantations to a single keyword. It wasn't that hard.”
“Wasn't it?”
Aeris floated over to the table and hovered above it, looking at the wizard intently.
“You are as white as cream, you know. And I'll have to correct you. You were using power when you created those new linkages. It takes energy, your own reserves, to twist the magic and bend it to your will. Yes, you do it naturally as a wizard, but it is still your body, your soul, if you will, that powers the effort. You've just spent six months convalescing. You aren't back to your old self yet. Even you must see that.”
He shook a stern finger at Simon.
“And now you've pushed yourself into a relapse. We have been down this road before, my dear wizard. How many times does it take for you to collapse before you realize that you have limits?”
“I...”
Simon weighed Aeris' words and began to nod reluctantly.
“You may be right. I honestly thought that linking the spells to a keyword wasn't using very much power, if any. I felt fine when I went to bed last night. But today? Ugh.”
Aeris' cross expression faded and he looked vaguely amused.
“I understand. Magic can sometimes have a delayed effect. Just looking at you, I'd say you don't have enough strength to light a candle right now. Certainly, we won't be Gating to Russia today.”
Simon sighed and closed his eyes.
“You've got that right,” he muttered. “Do me a favor and take the kettle off of the fire, would you? I'm going back to bed.”
He stood up, feeling as if he was carrying an extra hundred pounds on his back and slowly began to walk back to the stairs.
“An excellent idea. I'll bring you up a snack in a few hours,” Aeris told him encouragingly. “Get some rest. Kronk and I will keep an eye on things while you do.”
“Thanks Aeris. You're a life-saver.”
“I do try,” the elemental said under his breath as he flew toward the fireplace. “When he lets me.”
That afternoon, Simon woke up abruptly and sat bolt upright in bed. He stared around in sleepy confusion, wondering what had dragged him from his deep sleep so forcefully.
His bedroom was empty and sunlight shone in through the window, giving his surroundings a warm glow. There was no sound inside of the tower and he rubbed his hands over his face briskly, trying to wake up.
“Kronk?” he shouted as he swung his legs out of bed. “Aeris? Anybody home?”
Apparently not.
Simon staggered to his feet, found his balance and stretched slowly, feeling his joints loosen one by one. He felt so much better than he had that morning and decided that maybe he'd just needed more sleep to shake off the effects of too much spell work.
Just like back in the day when I'd pull an all-nighter studying in college, he thought with a reminiscent smile.
He grabbed a robe randomly from his cabinet, dark brown, and slipped it on. He began humming as he slipped on some socks and then froze in place. There it was again. That feeling, the one that must have woken him up.
He spun in place, crouching down slightly. Simon was unaware that his hands had begun glowing with power.
I know that feeling, he thought, his mind racing. It was the same one I felt down in the new Nottinghill. Just before...
He raced out of the bedroom and ran for the stairs.
“Mortis de Draconis!” he shouted as he leaped up the steps. “To me!”
With an ease as if it had done it a thousand times before, the staff appeared in Simon's right hand in the blink of an eye. He reached the top of the stairs, swapped the weapon to his other hand and slipped open the bolt to the trapdoor that led to the roof.
The door was heavy and he grunted with effort as he pushed it up and over. It swung open and back and he scrambled out, his heart racing.
Simon moved to the center of the roof and then looked up. The sky was dotted with small clusters of clouds racing for the horizon, but was mostly a serene sea of deep blue. He could see for miles and what he saw sent a thrill of fear shooting down his spine.
Way up high, perhaps a thousand feet or more, was a flight of dragons. He squinted as he tried to count the small, winged specks. Four, five. Damn it. Six. Six red dragons were circling the tower, but so far away that they were well beyond his spell range.
“Master? What are you doing up here?”
Simon looked at the trapdoor and saw Kronk pop up from below. He waved him over.
“I came in to check on you and found you gone, master,” the little guy said anxiously. “Is anything wrong?”
“With me? Nope. I feel great. Well, except for them,” he added and pointed straight up.
“Them?”
Kronk craned his neck to look up and gasped.
“Dragons, master?”
“Yep. Red dragons. I count six of them.”
Simon moved to the low wall around the roof and placed his hand on the ward stone. It was humming inaudibly with power and tingled under his palm. He muttered a spell, one he hadn't needed to create a shortcut for, and magically reinforced it.
“Forgive me that I didn't spot them first, master,” the little guy said as he hopped up on to the top of the wall.
“Don't be silly, my friend,” Simon said with a thin smile. “You can't be expected to see everything, plus you have your own duties. I am a bit concerned that your fellow earthen, the ones guarding my outer wall, saw nothing.”
Kronk scowled, a very rare look for him.
“As am I, master. Excuse me while I go and inquire about that.”
He jumped down and ran for the trapdoor.
“Oh master, just a thought. Aeris is off scouting, as usual. Perhaps you should recall him for,” he glanced up at the tiny, circling dragons, “this? He's very good at noticing details.”
“Good idea. Thanks, I will.”
The little guy disappeared into the tower and Simon leaned on his staff and stared at a point a few inches above the wall.
“Aeris, I need you,” he said and waited tensely for the inevitable.
The air shivered with the boom of a thunderclap and static electricity made the wizard's hair stand on end for a moment.
“Ah, you're up, I see,” Aeris said as he appeared, floated serenely over the wall. “Missed me, did you?”
Simon snorted.
“Yeah, right. So where were you?”
“Keeping an eye on the forest. You made a good point about things changing rapidly, like our new neighbors to the south, so I thought I'd increase my sweeps of our border. Just in case.”
“Good idea. Unfortunately, while you were sweeping the forest, you missed the sky.”
“The sky?”
Aeris frowned and looked up. His mouth dropped open and then a string of curses, many of which Simon hadn't ever heard the elemental use before, blasted from his lips.
“Whoa, that's impressive,” the wizard told him when the elemental seemed to run out of words. “You could make a sailor blush.”
“Forget about your sailor fantasies,” Aeris snapped, still glaring up at the dragons. “When did they get here? And what are they doing?”
“I have no answer for either question,” Simon replied. “I woke up suddenly with a feeling that something was wrong. It was the same foreboding sensation I had just before I was attacked by that red dragon, the one that nearly killed me.”
He moved closer to the edge of the roof and looked down at the outer wall.
The air elemental looked angrier than Simon had seen him in years.
“I agree. I don't mean to sound critical...”
“You don't?”
Aeris ignored the comment.
“But you might want to add to your guardians by summoning a few of my people. We are, after all, trained to scout, to notice the details and the little things. If you had had some air elementals on your wall today, I assure you that those damned dragons would have been spotted long before their presence woke you up.”
He raised an eyebrow as he looked at Simon.
“I don't know how you can sense dragons, by the way, but that is an excellent trait to have.”
Leaning against the wall, Simon looked up and watched the circling dragons. At the height they were flying, they soared with hardly any effort, their wings barely moving. They were beautiful, he had to admit. Too bad they wanted him eviscerated.
“I know,and before you ask, I have no idea how I can do that either.”
“My guess? The lords of Light. Their gifts are often subtle and unknown until needed.”
Simon looked at Aeris and pursed his lips.
“Hmm. I hadn't thought of that. Good call. You may be right, considering the many times they've had to put me back together. Maybe they slipped a little upgrade in there the last time they adjusted my spark plugs.”
Aeris looked back at him in mild confusion.
“I don't have any idea what that means, but yes, perhaps they granted you this gift while you were being healed by the dwarves.”
Simon laughed lightly and then sobered as he began watching the dragons again.
“Care to take a guess as to what those things are doing up there?”
Aeris made a small sound in his throat and stared at the distant, ominous shapes.
“It could be anything. Of course they know where you live. After all, you were stripped of your powers a couple of years ago by two red dragons.”
Simon touched the shard of dragon bone that hung on a chain around his neck. It kept the dragons from draining his magic, as they had once before. Not surprisingly, it had survived the red dragon attack that had almost killed him.
“True enough. And what a lesser dragon knows is known to its primal master.”
“Exactly. And so, since they know you are here, there are only a few possible motives for this encroachment into your territory.”
Simon leaned against the wall and listened attentively.
“Shoot,” he said with a nod.
“Okay. First, it may be a reconnaissance. Yes, they know that you are here but that is about it. This may be a test of your defenses. You know, see if you bolstered your magical wards, added to the tower, whatever.”
“Makes sense.”
“Yes. Secondly, it could actually be the prelude to an attack.” Aeris looked up again. “There are six of the beasts, after all. It would be a serious battle if they decided to try to breach your defenses and kill you. We have to assume that they know that you are recently back from a long period of healing and are, perhaps, not at one hundred percent power yet. The primal might consider this the perfect time for an offensive move against you.”
“Maybe, but how would the dragons know that I was out of commission for months? Or that I'm just back now?”
Aeris shrugged.
“No idea. But when dealing with an enemy, always assume that they know more than they do. That way, you cover every eventuality.”
“Huh. I like that idea. Thinking that your enemy is stupid could easily get you killed.”
“And has done so to countless numbers over the ages. We should always learn from the past.”
Simon had to grin at the elemental.
“You know something? You really are smarter than you look. Behind that cynical facade is a rather keen mind.”
Aeris sniffed and looked up at the dragons.
“I'll ignore that first comment and thank you for the compliment. Yes, when we are trained back in our own realm, the air elementals are taught tactics along with scouting techniques. Some of us seem to have a knack for the, what was it called? Ah yes, the long view. History is a good teacher, if you are willing to learn from it.”
“Oh, you're back,” Kronk rumbled as he popped up from below.
“I am. Where were you?” Aeris asked him as the earthen hurried to join them.
“I wanted to know why my brethren missed the approach of that dragon flight,” the little guy said as he hopped up on to the wall.
“And? What did they say?” Simon asked him, trying not to sound accusatory.
Kronk gave the circling dragons a worried glance and then looked at the wizard with a long face.
“They said...well, they apologized. They are more focused on the grounds and forest encircling the tower, master. I'm sorry, but it is in our nature to be drawn to the Earth and the things that grow there. They are mortified that they missed something as obvious as six dragons, but they have made no excuses and leave their punishment in your hands.”
“Punishment?” Simon stared at him. “That's ridiculous. There won't be any punishment for this. You and your people aren't slaves, Kronk. Cripes, how many times do we have to dance the same dance? They made a mistake. So what? They are all volunteers, after all. No harm done, valuable lesson learned, right?”
The little guy looked intently at the wizard for a long moment and then nodded.
“Thank you, master. They will learn, I promise you that. But I did have an idea to perhaps aid in the security of the tower.”
Simon watched the dragons as he listened.
“I'm all ears, my friend.”
“Since Aeris' people are more or less crafted as scouts, I thought that if you assigned one or two to stay up here and keep an eye on the skies, that might keep the tower better protected.”
Both Simon and Aeris looked at Kronk. The air elemental's mouth dropped open and he seem speechless; a very rare occurrence.
“Wait a second,” he finally replied. “You are suggesting that our wizard summon some of my people to help? Kronk, are you feeling well?”
“It is only logical,” the earthen said with a frown at Aeris' teasing. “Your people are more in tune with the air and sky. If one had been up here today, we would have had an early warning of the dragons' approach.”
“I agree. I'm just impressed that you can see the bigger picture.”
“Is it not more important to keep master safe than to let egos get in the way?” Kronk asked him archly.
Simon had to laugh as Aeris flailed around for an answer.
“Just say yes,” he told him. “Thank you, Kronk. Aeris, my question for you is; would your people be willing to do it?”
“Well, certainly. Why wouldn't they?”
With another quick glance up at the dragons, Simon waved at the roof.
“Not exactly the most exciting assignment, is it, standing on a roof for hours at a time? I mean, if we could get two air elementals to help, they could rotate shifts; one to stand watch, the other to go off and do whatever they wanted to do to keep from getting too bored. But do you think any of them would go for it?”
“Oh, my dear wizard,” Aeris answered with a broad grin. “All of them would! Have you forgotten just how boring my realm is to those of us who have spent ages there? I think that if you summoned any two air elementals, they would both jump at the chance.”
He paused and stroked his chin, looking around the roof absently as he thought.
“In fact, why not offer the position to the two survivors from that horrible scouting trip to Mexico?”
“What? Do you actually think that they would want to come back to Earth, and work for me, after what happened? We lost all but those two, Aeris.”
“I know that. But we air elementals live for this.
We know the risks. And even after the horrible events of that trip, I believe they would both be eager to return.”
Simon pushed back his hair and watched the distant dragons.
“Your people are weird, do you know that?”
“I've heard that before.”
“Okay, I'll take that under advisement. For now, let's focus on the current threat, shall we?”
The dragons circled constantly, with little variance, for hours. As the day went on, Aeris went below and returned with a tray of tea and sandwiches for Simon, for which he was very grateful.
Finally, as the sky began to darken, things started to happen.
Simon was sitting on the floor of the roof, leaning against the wall and trying to stay awake.
Nothing like a long boring wait to make even the most dangerous situation dull, he thought idly.
Kronk was standing next to him, staring at the roof blankly. Simon wondered what he was thinking about.
“Time to get up, you two,” Aeris said suddenly. “Our friends are on the move.”
Simon jumped up and grabbed his staff, while Kronk hopped up on to the wall.
Aeris pointed up and to the west.
“There,” he said and they all looked in that direction.
The six dragons had stopped circling and were now twisting and weaving, dipping in and out of formation and generally flying in some sort of weird aerial dance.
“Now what are they up to?” Simon muttered.
The dragons began to circle again but this time accelerated until they were spinning faster and faster, their formation tightening until their wings almost overlapped. And then they broke apart, dipped their wings and raced away to the south in a long, straight line. In a minute they had faded from sight and were gone, just as the sun touched the horizon.
“Okay, what the hell was that all about?” the wizard asked, bewildered.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Aeris said, still looking south. “Why spend hours circling your enemy, making a big show, and then just leave? It doesn't make sense.”
“It does not make sense to us,” Kronk corrected him. “I am quite certain that it makes sense to the dragons. But no one really knows how they think, do they?”
“True.”
The Dragons of Ash and Smoke (Tales from the New Earth Book 5) Page 13