The Dragons of Decay

by J. J. Thompson

  A winged shape, that at first he feared was a dragon, was spiraling down toward the hill top. As it approached, the wizard began to make out details.

  It looked like a swan, but its feathers were as black as coal. It blotted out the sky as it closed in on the hill. And it was immense; as large as a dragon, at least. As it neared the top of the hill, it slowed and began to flap its huge wings, back-winging prior to landing, and Daniel and Ethmira turned away and covered their faces as dirt and ash were whipped around in the sudden wind.

  When the dust had settled, the black swan stood there, towering over the pair and watching them with placid, amber-colored eyes. It was, thought Simon, truly one of the most beautiful creatures that he had ever seen.

  “That's your ride?” he asked when he finally got over his shock.

  Daniel chuckled at his obvious surprise and nodded.

  “Yes. This is Pharra. She is the queen of all of her kind on this world. When Ethmira sent out a call for aid, she graciously offered her services to transport us quickly from place to place.”

  He looked up at the swan in admiration.

  “I believe she could out-fly even a dragon.”

  The huge bird lifted her head and let out a piercing cry that echoed through the air. Then she lowered herself to the ground and waited patiently.

  “Where will you go?” Simon asked them.

  “I know of a place that is quite defensible,” Ethmira told him. “Even if we face a dragon attack, and now it seems inevitable that we will, the refuge I am thinking of should enable us to hold them back for a long time. My people will join us once I send our friend here,” and she patted the swan's side gently, “back with news of where we've gone.”

  Simon watched as the elven maiden nodded once, then turned and climbed up and on to the back of Pharra. The swan made a soft noise deep in her throat.

  “I don't know how you managed to pick this exact moment to call, Simon,” Daniel told him. “Considering that I assured you the last time we spoke that we might be safe from the dragons for months, but your timing was miraculous.”

  “Blind luck, I guess,” Simon replied and then grinned impishly. “Or the gods' favor. Who knows?” He became serious again. “Listen Daniel, I'm about to have a meeting with the four Changlings I told you about before, Virginia and her friends. If they agree to help, or even if they don't, I want to cross over and do what I can.”

  Although his friend couldn't see him, Daniel glared out of the mirror directly at Simon and shook his head emphatically.

  “Absolutely not. I was glad you called so that, well I hate to sound maudlin but I wanted to have a chance to say goodbye. The remaining elves have chosen new representatives and they have decided to stop the primal brown dragon and its servants once and for all. Unfortunately it means that you won't be able to contact me again.”

  Simon stood in the bright morning sunlight with a warm breeze blowing across his body, but felt a chill course down his spine.

  “What? What are you talking about?”

  Daniel looked up at Ethmira and she made a little gesture, as if giving him permission to speak.

  “Ethmira is one of the new elders, Simon. Together they are going to exercise their power over this world and seal it off completely. The brown dragons will be trapped in the elven realm for all of eternity. Even the dark gods won't be able to crack open a portal into this world and the Earth will be safe, at least from the primal brown. You will be left to deal with the red dragons and their queen, but I have no doubt that you'll find a way to beat them.” He smiled fondly and Simon wished that his friend could actually see him. “You're a very resourceful man.”

  “No, Daniel. You can't! There's another way; there has to be.”

  His friend sighed and shook his head, his mane of white hair floating around his face like an aura.

  “I wish there was, old friend. But we've spent days going over and over alternatives and there simply aren't any. Even before the elders were attacked, this plan had been discussed. Now, it seems, it is the only option.”

  “It is not,” Simon said firmly, his voice so heavy with conviction that Daniel was caught by surprise and stared around in confusion.

  “What do you mean?” he asked. “You have another way to stop them? I know how clever you are, Simon, but I think we've gone through every possible scenario.”

  “I hate to argue with you, my friend,” Simon began and then had to laugh at Daniel's wry grin. “Okay, actually I enjoy arguing with you. But that's not the case now. I've thought of a possible way to stop the primal brown, but I'm going to have to cross over to put the plan into action. And I'm probably going to need Virginia and the others as well, although I'm willing to attempt it without them.”

  “Really? So what's the plan?”

  Ethmira leaned forward on the back of the swan, listening intently and Simon hesitated.

  “Um, I rather tell you in person, if you don't mind. I have a few details to work out and I don't want to present the plan until it's fully fleshed out.”

  “Well, that's fair enough, I suppose,” Daniel agreed and then asked, “By the way, how are you feeling? How strong are you now?”

  The wizard looked at the elementals, who were listening to every word, and put a finger to his lips. Aeris scowled and Kronk simply blinked, but both remained silent.

  “I'm feeling great, actually. Never better. My strength's come back more quickly than I ever imagined.”

  “Really?” Daniel looked pleased. “That's excellent. Okay, listen Simon, we have to move. Staying in one spot these days is not a good idea. I'll try to convince the leaders to hold off until we hear from you again. I think they will agree; after all, once their plan is put into effect, there's no going back.”

  He looked up at Ethmira.

  “Do you think they'll wait?”

  She nodded thoughtfully.

  “I'd say so. I will vote in favor of waiting, at least for a short time. But Simon,” she said, looking around, “please be sure of this plan of yours. There is no reason for you to sacrifice yourself if you aren't positive that your idea will work. Better for us to seal ourselves away and allow you to help in the final fight against the red dragons than for you to die needlessly.”

  “Thanks, Ethmira. I'll keep that in mind. How long do you think I have, my time, Daniel?”

  “No more than a week, I'd say. Only a day or two will pass here, but if we wait too long, the elders' resolve may waver. Or the dragons may make another bold move. We can't take the chance that either will occur.”

  “Got it. Okay, I'll call back soon. Please be careful, both of you.”

  He watched as Daniel awkwardly climbed on to the back of the swan, Ethmira pulling him up behind her. Both of them smiled and nodded and then, with a great leap, the massive bird launched itself into the sky, flapped its wings twice and was gone.

  Simon lowered the mirror and gave it a shake to break the spell. Then he turned and ducked into his tent and put it on the bureau.

  He walked out again to find both Kronk and Aeris staring at him.

  “What?”

  “You lied,” Aeris said accusingly. “You just lied to your best friend.”

  “Why did you do that, master?” Kronk asked, sounding confused. “You are far from being at full strength. It will take months before your powers are back to where they once were.”

  “Yes, I know that. Come on, I want to go and sit in the shade.”

  He walked across the bustling central area of the town and around the new town hall. He took a moment to peek into the building and saw piles of wood, already cut into planks, just waiting to be used.

  “Good job,” he said to Kronk, who thanked him with a perfunctory smile.

  Guess I'm not going to divert him that way, Simon thought and kept walking.

  When he arrived back where the chairs and tables were set up under the tarp, he found that Virginia, Anna, Eric and Gerard were already there, sipping lemonade and speaki
ng intensely with Clara and Malcolm. Liliana walked over at the same time and joined them. Everyone looked up as he approached and there were waves and smiles all around.

  “Hey guys,” the wizard said as he took a seat. Clara offered him a glass of lemonade and he accepted gratefully.

  “You're all looking rather serious on a beautiful day.”

  “We were discussing your proposal,” Virginia told him. “According to our beloved cleric, we are to make up our own minds on this, without her interference.”

  She smiled warmly at Clara, who returned it.

  “As far as I'm concerned, you are all adults and can make your own decisions. I just wanted Simon to lay out the risks before you rushed off to war, that's all.”

  She looked at the wizard and then gestured at Liliana, who had pulled up a chair and sat down.

  “Our lady paladin here was good enough to relate her experiences with dragons to all of us earlier this morning, so I think that we've heard the worst. If you have anything to add, Simon, now is the time.”

  The wizard looked down at Kronk and then over at Aeris, who was watching him closely as he swayed in the breeze.

  “I do have something, actually. Something that may well change your minds, that is if you've decided to join me in the fight.”

  He drank some lemonade, took a deep breath and then proceeded to tell all of them exactly what he had learned in his conversation with Daniel and Ethmira.

  When he had finished, he emptied his glass, refilled it and waited.

  The entire group had gone quiet when Simon had told them about the slaughter of the elders by the dragons and now it seemed that no one wanted to be the first to speak.

  Finally Liliana twitched her shoulders irritably and looked at each of them.

  “This is tragic news, but all it does is change the time line. Instead of having weeks or months to wait before we face the brown dragons, we have days. I for one am happy to just get on with it.”

  Then she turned to Simon and smiled.

  “That means yes, by the way. I will join in the fight.”

  He nodded solemnly.

  “Thank you. I appreciate your help.”

  He watched as Virginia and Anna looked first at each other and then at Clara as if for guidance. The cleric could only shrug.

  “If you're looking for my opinion, I don't have one. It's frightening that you have to make a life-threatening decision so quickly, but Liliana is right; at least you won't have to spend a lot of time dreading what is coming. But the choice is yours alone.”

  Gerard and Eric were whispering to each other, heads bowed and almost touching. After a few minutes they looked up and realized that the whole group was watching them.

  “Sorry,” Eric said with an uncomfortable grin. “Just weighing the pros and cons of the situation.”

  The young man's tall, skinny frame always reminded Simon of a stork and his pale complexion and black hair and eyes gave him a constantly solemn expression. Now he looked even more grave than usual.

  “So what do you think?” Virginia asked both young men, keeping her tone of voice neutral. “Unlike Liliana, we aren't making an individual decision here. Either we all decide to go or we all stay. Like the Musketeers, it's all for one and one for all with us.”

  “Personally I want to know how safe Nottinghill, the new Nottinghill, is going to be if we never come back,” Gerard spoke up for the first time. He and Anna were the smallest of the group and his white blond hair had always made him look very young to Simon. Now he appeared troubled and he was flicking his gaze from one face to another.

  “What if we go with Simon and Liliana and lose, and let's face facts here; we could lose. Will the town go on without us? Can it? After all, there are only twenty of us left now, counting the kids. I'm not afraid of dying, not really,” he added thoughtfully. “But it would be nice to know that our friends here still had a chance at a future if we never return.”

  There was a pause, as if everyone had stopped to take a breath.

  “Well, that's a depressing point of view, isn't it?” Anna said, wrinkling her nose. Her red hair glowed in the morning sun and her freckles were even more prominent across her nose as she seemed to have caught a bit of a sunburn. Simon felt a great affection for the small young woman; every time he saw her he was reminded of an old book he'd read years ago called Anne of Green Gables. If Anne had been real, he thought, she'd look like Anna. He wondered for the first time if her parents had named her after the fabled girl from the east coast.

  “There's every possibility that we'll come back just fine and in one piece,” she continued. “After all, Simon here has been instrumental in the deaths of three primal dragons so far. That's a pretty darned good track record, as far as I'm concerned.”

  Everyone turned to look at him and Simon knew his face was getting red.

  “Sheer dumb luck for the most part,” he said in a self-deprecating tone. “I've just stumbled from one battle to the next. Don't assume my ridiculous good fortune will last forever.”

  Liliana frowned at him. She was wearing a light tunic and pants, but her sword was hanging on her hip and she adjusted it as she leaned forward in her chair.

  “You've said something like that to me before, sir wizard,” she told him with an edge to her voice. “And quite frankly it makes me uncomfortable. Take some pride in your accomplishments, man! This golly-gee attitude is, quite frankly, beginning to get on my nerves.”

  Simon stared at her in surprise.

  “What?” he asked faintly as the rest of the group turned to look at the paladin, an angry murmur spreading from one person to the next.

  Liliana held up her hands abruptly and glared at them.

  “I don't mean to sound harsh, but I too have lost people to dragons. Good people. Friends, comrades. This man,” she pointed at Simon, “has killed not only dragons, but primals! Do any of you comprehend how extraordinary that is? And yet he still seems to have difficulty in accepting this.”

  Her voice softened as she looked at the wizard again.

  “Simon, I don't know if you are simply modest or if you lack confidence. If it is the former, then I apologize for my remarks. I admire you greatly. I do. But if you lack confidence, please work through that, and quickly. You know as well as I do that on the field of battle, lack of a belief in yourself could get you killed, and everyone else along with you.”

  The angry expressions were replaced by confused glances and Simon himself stared at the paladin, wondering if she was right. Did he lack confidence? Or was it just that he didn't want people to think he was an arrogant jerk?

  Clara began speaking to the group but he remained lost in thought, analyzing his own feelings.

  Through a mixture of what he considered luck, sneakiness and maybe some logical thinking, Simon had beaten the black, green and white primal dragons. And then he'd just sort of forgotten about it, or put it aside, or something. Was that a lack of confidence? Or just him being himself and trying to avoid getting an over-inflated sense of his own importance?

  He looked over at Liliana and saw that she was still watching him. As he caught her eye, she gave him a subtle wink and Simon suddenly felt a bit better.

  She wasn't unsure of him, he thought. The paladin simply wanted him to have more faith in his own abilities. A very clever woman.

  “I don't lack confidence,” he blurted out, breaking into the conversation. Clara stumbled to a halt in the middle of what seemed to be a very motivational speech and Simon knew that he was blushing yet again.

  God, I hate that, he thought.

  “Sorry Clara. Didn't mean to cut you off. But I just wanted to let you all know, Liliana most of all, that I am confident in myself. But I've known too many arrogant people in my life to ever want to be perceived that way. I think that's why I downplay what I've accomplished. And, to be honest, many others, including a lot of you here right now, have had a hand in bringing down the primals. I wouldn't ever want to overshadow your ach
ievements.”

  “That's exactly what I wanted to hear, my friend,” the paladin said approvingly. “I am reassured that you are indeed ready to face whatever is coming. And that's a good thing. Over-confidence is foolish, of course, but knowing your strengths is an asset.”

  “Okay, now that we have that sorted out,” Malcolm said gruffly, “what exactly are you four going to do?”

  “Before you guys make your decision,” Simon said to Virginia and the others, “I wanted to mention something that may or may not be relevant. I tried calling the Changling settlement in Australia earlier. Clara, I've told you about them? Right, well, there was no answer. Now they might just be preoccupied or it could be something more ominous. I don't have the coordinates of their town so I can't even take a look at their location to make sure they're okay.”

  “You think it's dragons?” Clara asked worriedly.

  “Frankly, it could be anything.” He smiled a twisted smile. “I remember back in the day thinking that Australia was basically a country designed to kill you. It seemed that everything that walked, crawled, flew or swam was lethal.”

  That made several people laugh and nod in remembrance.

  “So who knows what kind of monsters exist there now? The point is, they could be in trouble and that trouble could head here next. If that's the case, you four might well be needed here to defend the new town. Just food for thought. I wanted you to have all the facts before making your decision.”

  “Well, thanks for the added pressure, Simon,” Virginia told him with a strained smile. “Just what we needed. Guys,” she said and looked at Anna, Eric and Gerard, “I think maybe we should take a walk and discuss this alone. Yes?”

  The others nodded and as a group they rose and wandered off together, heading for the main gate of the town.

  “I don't envy them their choices,” Malcolm said gently as he watched them walk away. “Hard enough to choose to put yourself in danger, but they have to choose to put each other in danger as well.”

  “I agree,” Clara said as she refilled everyone's glass from a fresh pitcher of lemonade. “But let's not forget, like ourselves, they weren't children before the Change. None of us were, no matter how young we may appear to be now. I think that whatever they decide, it will be based on rational thought, not emotion.”