A chill of fear tightened Simon's skin and raised goosebumps along his arms. He stood up abruptly, put his empty cup on the kitchen counter and crossed the room to the front door. He opened it and stepped out into the bright morning sunlight.
“What are you talking about?” he asked as he lowered himself carefully and sat on the steps. He felt suddenly as frail as an old man and the warmth of the sun across his body felt comforting.
“The primal dragon, like his siblings, is a proud being. He controls hundreds of lesser dragons. He is, in many ways, the greatest power on this New Earth of yours now. And yet, for some reason, he has called for help. I cannot understand it; I simply know that it has happened.”
“Help from whom? Who or what could aid such a creature?”
“Master! Good morning. You are up early.”
Kronk had come tapping around the corner of the tower and was now approaching with a broad smile on his rocky face.
Simon smiled absently and put a finger to his lips. The earthen's eyes widened and he stopped at the bottom of the steps and watched the wizard intently.
“Pyrathius has awakened his mighty mother, the queen of the evil dragons; Aurumallia, the yellow dragon.”
“Yellow dragon?” Simon repeated aloud. Kronk's mouth gaped as he listened. “The dragon queen still lives?”
“She does. Somewhere in the world, she has slept hidden since the gods of Chaos returned. They have channeled their orders through her to her children, but she has existed in a dream-like state since they brought her back into this world. Passive and inert.”
She paused a moment and Simon stared at Kronk.
“Is it the silver dragon you are speaking to, master?” the little guy whispered anxiously.
The wizard nodded and held up a hand, listening intensely.
“But Pyrathius found her and managed to disturb her slumber. I sense that this was against the wishes of the dark gods. If he survives the coming battles, he may have to pay for his audacity. But he seems not to be worried by that thought.”
“What is she like?” Simon asked.
“Like? She is the epitome of evil, young man. It was she who directed the massacre of my people, including the slaughter of the great silver dragon, Argentium. Her power is unimaginable and uncontrollable. If she has indeed awakened, even the dark gods will tremble.”
“But why? Surely they created her to serve them?”
“Yes, but they overextended themselves. They have kept her somnolent since she birthed the primals and laid her eggs. Now, if Pyrathius has broken that spell, she will never allow herself to be chained by their power again.”
The silver dragon's voice deepened and Simon's level of fear increased.
“Do you understand what I am saying, young wizard? She must now be destroyed as well as her last primal child. Who knows what she can accomplish now that she is awake and in full control of her powers? She may even be able to begin laying eggs again, because I believe that it was the Chaos lords who limited her amount of offspring.”
“Oh God, this just keeps getting better and better,” Simon groaned. “So what should I do?”
Kronk hopped up one step and patted his knee consolingly.
“Do? Do whatever you wish,” the silver dragon told him. “I am not here to tell you how to deal with your problems, Simon O'Toole. I have warned you, which is more than enough. I will say that you should contact your friends and pass on this information to them. After that? Well, that is up to you. Farewell.”
And Simon felt the connection fade away.
“Hey wait! I need to ask you...”
But it was too late. She was gone.
“Damn it!” he hissed and slammed a fist on the stone steps.
“Master? What has happened?”
Simon sucked on a bleeding knuckle, grumbling.
“Master?”
The wizard sighed and looked at the little guy.
“We're screwed, that's what's happened,” he told him. “Tear down the tents and pack your bags, folks. We're done.”
“I do not understand.”
Simon ran a hand through his hair several times and stared across the yard to the outer wall. One of the earthen was walking slowly along it on patrol and he watched it for a minute, his mind empty of thought. Then he stood up with a grunt.
“Come on inside and I'll tell you,” he told Kronk.
Back in the tower, Simon put on the kettle again while the earthen tapped over and jumped on to the table.
“Where's Aeris?”
“I do not know, master, but if this is important, perhaps you should call him home?”
“Yeah, good idea. Aeris! I need you!”
The air elemental appeared in the center of the kitchen table accompanied by a burst of bright light and an ear-splitting crack of thunder.
“God, I hate that,” Simon muttered as his ears rang.
“Oh, I'm back. Good morning, my dear wizard. Why have I been recalled this time?”
Simon kept preparing his tea, thinking dark thoughts.
“Where were you?” Kronk asked Aeris, who was watching Simon curiously.
“Hmm? Oh, I was patrolling the area around old Nottinghill. The bear-people are hard at work with their hives and are planting a few crops. Fascinating to watch, actually. I really think we should attempt to contact them one day soon. They are obviously quite intelligent.”
“Yeah? Well, if they are Changed humans, that isn't too surprising is it?” Simon commented bitterly and picked up the boiling kettle.
“What's up with him?” Aeris asked Kronk.
“He has had some bad news. I am not sure what it is, but the silver dragon is involved.”
The air elemental's eyes widened and he gasped.
“Esmiralla? But that's wonderful.” He looked at Simon. “You spoke with her?”
The wizard made his tea, sat down at the table and looked at both elementals. He sipped the hot liquid, set down the cup and sat back.
“She called me, actually. To warn me. But considering her news, I'm almost sorry that she did. Ignorance is bliss, they used to say.”
“Please tell us what the silver dragon said, master,” Kronk asked calmly. “Perhaps we can help.”
Simon had to smile at the little guy. He meant well but his offer was beyond absurd.
“I don't think anyone can help, my friend,” he said heavily. “But this is what she told me.”
And he proceeded to tell them what Esmiralla said, almost word for word. When he was done, Simon picked up his cup, sipped his tea and watched their reactions.
“The dragon queen, awake after millennia of sleep.”
Kronk's voice was filled, not with fear, but with wonder.
“Can you imagine it?” He seemed to be speaking to himself. “She has woken up in a new world. Gone are the great magic-users of the past, her main enemies. But almost all of her children are dead as well. Is she angry? Or afraid? Who can say?”
Aeris looked at him with a frown.
“Wake up, dreamy,” he snapped at the earthen. “This creature is insanely powerful. If she chose to, right now, she could flatten this tower with little effort, wards or no wards. There is no force in this world, or even beyond it, that can stand up to her.”
He looked at Simon.
“She has no weaknesses, my dear wizard. Your tactics that worked so brilliantly against the primals will not work on her. She is invulnerable and uncontrollable. That is one of the main reasons that the dark gods locked her into an endless sleep in the first place.”
“You seem to know a lot about her,” Simon said with raised eyebrows.
“My people are more knowledgeable about magic and dragons than any of the other elemental races; you know that. Granted, our knowledge of the dragon queen is based more on rumor and conjecture than fact, but we believe it to be accurate.”
“But how can it be when no one has ever actually seen her?” Kronk asked him in a reasonable tone. “And do no
t get angry; it is simply a question.”
Aeris had bristled at the earthen's query but settled down and seemed to give it some thought. Finally he nodded reluctantly.
“You do have a point there, I must admit. And perhaps that is our one hope,” he added with a look at Simon. “Maybe we are wrong about her. Yes, let's hope so anyway.”
“Not much of a straw to grasp at but I'll take it,” the wizard said, shaking off his dark mood. “Where there's life, there's hope. So Daniel used to tell me. Speaking of whom, I'm going to call him later today and tell him about this. But first,” he stood up, “I have to call Tamara and give her the news. I'm not sure what they can do to prepare, but they should at least be informed.”
“But master,” Kronk interjected as Simon walked to the stairs. “If you tell them of the dragon queen's rise, won't you also have to explain where you got your information?”
Simon stood at the bottom of the staircase and stared across the room at Kronk.
“Damn. You're right. I'll have to tell them about Esmiralla.”
Aeris flew across the room with Kronk following along behind him.
“Don't worry about that,” he said as he reached the wizard. “I'm quite sure that the silver dragon knew you would have to, what is the expression? Let the cat out of the bag? And tell other humans about her. She did say they needed to be warned, didn't she?”
“That's true. Okay then, I guess I have little choice. Let's go.”
And the three of them headed upstairs to the study.
The conversation with Tamara took quite some time. First Simon had to convince her that he'd actually been in touch with a dragon that wasn't an enemy. That took a while. Sebastian was with her when he used his Magic Mirror spell and his calm, rational point of view helped to make his sister see reason. Once she had, Simon dropped the news on them about the dragon queen. And that was when Tamara really got upset.
“I can't believe it,” she exclaimed.
As seemed usual when she got upset, Tamara began pacing around Sebastian's bedroom. That was where she was when Simon had reached her.
“We just got my brother free from the clutches of goblins and were starting to plan on how to deal with the red dragons and their primal, and now you tell me that their queen has risen? Simon, what have you done?”
Apparently his image was standing in the room with them, and Tamara stopped and glared at him.
“What have I done? What are you talking about?”
“You do realize that this whole situation is your fault, right?”
Simon was speechless. All he could do was to stare at the mage in the mirror, trying to understand what she was accusing him of.
“Tamara, are you insane?” Sebastian asked harshly. “If not for him, I would probably be dead right now. And Nottinghill's population soon after, I should think.”
“I know that, Bastian. I'm referring to the dragon conflict as a whole. Simon, if you hadn't killed the four primals, would the leader of the red dragons have been desperate enough to wake up his queen?”
“I...I have no idea.”
“Really? Well, considering how egotistical dragons are, by all accounts, the primal red has just put himself under the command of his mother, for God's sake! How frantic must he have become to do that?”
“Forgive her, Simon,” Sebastian said. He was in bed, looking pale and hollow-eyed, but he was sitting up and his voice was strong.
“She's apparently decided to play the blame game instead of looking for a solution to our problems.”
“Solution?” Tamara's voice went up an octave and Simon winced. He wondered if she'd start attracting bats.
“You heard him,” she screeched. “The queen has no weaknesses. She's invulnerable. We can't fight her. What part of that wasn't clear?”
“Look, even Aeris admits that his people are only speculating on that point,” the wizard said quickly. “There's no such thing as invincibility. Even the dark gods have their weaknesses. And if that's the case, how could they create something that cannot be defeated?”
“See?” Sebastian gestured at Simon's likeness. “He's making sense. Now get a bloody grip, sis. We're supposed to be the leaders here; let's try to keep our heads and lead, shall we?”
Tamara looked from her brother to Simon and back again. She took a moment to breathe deeply and gave herself a shake. Then she caught the wizard's eye and smiled slightly, looking a little shamefaced.
“Sorry, Simon. I don't know what got into me there. Of course I don't blame you. I think the entire human race would be dead and buried by now if it wasn't for you and your efforts.”
“Apology accepted, of course,” the wizard replied with an understanding smile. “Although I'd say that was an exaggeration. And don't sweat it. You're still getting over the abduction and safe return of your brother. I'd be rattled too if I was in your shoes. Hell, I'm rattled enough as it is, to be honest.”
“So where do we go from here?” Sebastian spoke up.
He pushed himself into a more comfortable position on the bed with a grimace and Tamara moved around to help him.
“Thanks sis. Simon? Is there something we should be doing, like, right now?”
“Now? Damned if I know. I'm going to call my friend Daniel in the elven realm when we're done talking. Maybe he or the elves have some ideas about this. I mean, we can't even begin to try to deal with the dragon queen until we know where she is and what she can do. The elves have seers who look into our world all the time; maybe they've seen something.”
“Sounds like we're grasping at straws, but any help we can get, I guess,” Tamara said as she sat down heavily on the side of her brother's bed.
“Meantime, keep up your patrols, and your spirits,” Simon told them encouragingly. “Esmiralla has given us early warning, so let's use it to the best of our ability.”
“We'll double our patrols and strengthen our wards,” Sebastian promised with a look at his sister. “And we're going to take your idea about warding the cellars and use it. Seal the place up as best we can.”
“Ah, good. Glad to hear it. So, how are you really doing?”
The mage sighed heavily, shifted with a wince and then sagged into his cushions.
“As well as can be expected, according to Miriam. She says I'll be fit and back to full health in a couple of days. It's frustrating, but hey, I am alive and that's more than I expected after those damned goblins grabbed me.”
The three of them spoke for a few more minutes and Simon told them to call him if they needed him for any reason. Then he broke the connection and stared at the elementals.
“So what did you think of that?” he asked as he stood up and opened the window behind his desk. The room was getting stuffy and he needed some fresh air.
“The mage was quick to blame you for our troubles, wasn't she?” Aeris said as he bobbed above the desktop beside Kronk. “Very volatile woman, I'd say.”
“She is simply worried,” Kronk said diplomatically. “She and her brother are responsible for the safety of most of what is left of humanity. That has to be a heavy burden to bear.”
Simon sat down on the window ledge and looked out across the fields around the tower. The grasses rippled in a stiff breeze and he watched with delight as a doe and her fawn wandered out of the trees to begin grazing. The deer had Changed a little. They were larger now and the females also had horns that lasted all year long. Gorgeous.
He turned to look into the study as he realized that Aeris had asked him a question.
“What? Sorry, I didn't hear you.”
“You weren't listening is what you meant,” the air elemental said, sounding huffy. “I said shouldn't you have lunch before you contact Daniel?”
“Oh. Good idea.”
The wizard stood up and picked up the hand mirror from the desk.
“I can call him from downstairs when I'm done eating. Come on, guys.”
Chapter 24
After lunch, Simon took his mirr
or outside and sat on the front steps. The day was too amazing to waste indoors.
Kronk went off to check on the livestock. The horses and cows got along just fine now, but the little guy liked to spend time with them anyway.
“Aeris, I have a question for you,” the wizard said after Kronk left.
“A question? Ask away then.”
Simon wiggled his butt on the stone steps, wishing he had more padding; the steps pinched after awhile.
“It's just this: we need to know where the dragon queen is. That's basic information that gives us a starting point when it comes to making plans to defeat her.”
Aeris nodded his understanding.
“So I was thinking; if Daniel has no ideas on her location, I'd like to summon some of your people and send them out to scout instead. What do you think?”
The elemental floated next to Simon and folded his arms, looking off into the distance.
“I agree about the need for information, but where would your scouts begin looking? It's a big planet, you know.”
Simon opened his mouth to answer and then snapped it shut again. Aeris had a point. Where would they even start scouting? The queen could be anywhere. She could just as easily be in the middle of a swamp in Louisiana as in the Antarctic. Who knew?
“I hate it when you're logical,” he said dispiritedly. “But you're right. We need a starting point.”
“I'm not shooting down your idea,” Aeris said quickly. “You know my people love to scout. But it could literally take years to find her if we just go off in all directions.”
“True. Okay, let me call Daniel and see what he says. The point may be moot, if we're lucky.”
It took a long moment to reach the elven realm and Simon was just beginning to worry when the surface of the mirror cleared and he saw his old friend. He smiled fondly at the sight.
Daniel was sitting in a rocking chair, a heavy, brightly-colored shawl wrapped around his shoulders. He was rocking next to a blazing fireplace, candles glowing all around him as he read a large book. He looked older than Simon liked and he focused on the memory of the old friend he once knew rather than the senior that Daniel had become.
The Dragons of Ash and Smoke (Tales from the New Earth Book 5) Page 31