“I hope so,” Simon said soberly. He drank some lemonade and then caught Aeris' eye. The elemental was making a subtle gesture away from the group and apparently wanted to speak privately. He nodded and stood up.
“I forgot something in my tent, folks. Be back in a minute.”
He put down his glass, smiled at the others and walked toward the mass of tents.
When they were far enough away to be unheard, Simon looked at Aeris. Kronk was trotting along close behind them.
“So what's up?” he asked the air elemental.
Aeris looked around furtively, saw that no one was nearby and then glared at the wizard.
“It's the little matter of your lie to Daniel,” he snapped.
Simon stumbled to a halt and watched him with raised eyebrows.
“What about it?” he asked.
Aeris looked down at Kronk who simply shook his head silently.
“Fine then, I'll ask,” the air elemental said stiffly.
“We'd like to know what that was about. And it's not because we're self-righteous or nosy, my dear wizard. It's because you are going into battle at less than full power and Daniel doesn't know that. He may expect more from you than you can give. You have, in my opinion, set yourself up to fail. And I'd like to know why.”
“And myself as well, master. No offense intended.”
Simon ran his hands over his head, hissed in irritation as he again remembered that his hair was too short to push back and pointed at his tent.
“Fine. Let's talk inside, shall we?”
The tent was getting quite warm in the late morning sun and, once Simon had closed the flap, it quickly became stifling. Someone had come in and removed his bathing things and left a pitcher of water and a glass on the bureau.
He poured a glass, feeling sweat begin to roll down his back under his robe, and sat down heavily on his cot.
“Okay. This is just between us, right?”
“Of course,” Aeris said at once. He was floating a few feet away in front of Simon, while Kronk stood close by.
“Your secrets are safe with me, master,” the earthen assured him.
“Right. Well, things are starting to fit together in my mind. Maybe it's good that I can run them by you guys and see if they make sense. Kronk, do you remember the first time you and I saw a dragon?”
“Certainly, master. It was some time before Aeris joined us. Ethmira was visiting for the first time and, soon after she left, the primal black dragon flew by overhead in pursuit.”
“Did it?” Aeris asked in surprise. “You never told me that!”
Kronk shrugged.
“Why would I?” he said in response.
Looking disgruntled, the air elemental cocked his head at Simon.
“What does your first encounter with a dragon have to do with lying to your friend?”
“I'm coming to that. Now, at the time, Ethmira told us that her visit would be short because dragons could sense the presence of elves, correct?”
“That is true, master. I remember that.”
“Good. I accepted that explanation at the time because I didn't know any better. It was only later on that it struck me as bizarre that the primal black dragon himself would fly all the way from his lair north of the Ottawa River just to take on one lone elf. He might have dispatched one of his lesser dragons, but to do it himself? Odd, to say the least.”
“Perhaps the dragon's hatred for elves was so great that he could not restrain himself,” Aeris said, but he looked puzzled.
“Yeah, maybe. But then, if you both remember, when we attacked the primal white dragon on that mesa, with fifty elves along for the fight, the dragon didn't sense them at all. It didn't know any of us were there until the attack began.”
“Easily explained,” Aeris said loftily. “The elves were covered by a glamor. Ethmira told you that herself. The dragon couldn't sense them because they were obscured by elven magic.”
Simon smiled bitterly and shook his head.
“Really? Then why, when she first visited me, wasn't Ethmira covered by a glamor? She was well aware of the dragon's presence and warned us that she couldn't stay long because of it.”
“I...”
Aeris frowned down at Kronk, who was scratching his head, making a sound like sandpaper on rock.
“I have no idea,” he finally muttered.
“Well I do,” the wizard stated harshly. “And the facts were in front of me the whole time, brought to my attention by Daniel of all people. I just couldn't see them. But when I talked to him a while ago, he stated it again and things snapped together in my head.”
“Stated what again, master?” Kronk asked. “What did he say?”
“You both heard him,” Simon told them.
Both elementals looked mystified.
“Elves can't use magic,” the wizard said. “At all. They have no spell-casters, no wizards, no mages. They can't cast spells. They are magic, as we've heard so many times. They create enchanted weapons because their touch infuses the metal. But using spells? Impossible.”
He looked at Kronk and Aeris and was met with blank stares.
“Don't you see? The elves never had a glamor cast on them. Ethmira lied to me.”
Both of the elementals gasped at once.
“But, but master,” Kronk objected. “The elven maiden has been your ally for years now! She would not lie to you.”
“Wouldn't she?”
He held up a hand and counted off his points on his fingers.
“The primal dragon never caught her when she first visited me. Damned lucky girl. When she brought Daniel across from the elven realm, there was no sign of the dragon at all. How convenient. During our showdown with the black, elves were slaughtered but Ethmira was untouched. My, she is one lucky elf, isn't she? She showed up moments after I lost my magic to those two red dragons and helped me regain it. Great timing as usual. When Heather ambushed me at her home, the note that we found on our front gate was written on the exact same type of parchment and sealed with the same wax that Ethmira used in a previous note. How did Heather know about that or that I would respond to such a message?”
He took a drink of water and continued, the elementals staring at him in rising horror.
“She was also remarkably unscathed after our battle with the primal white dragon. But the thing that finally convinced me that something was really wrong was what we heard today.”
“Which was what?” Aeris asked tensely.
“Which was that the entire elder council had been attacked and destroyed by the brown dragons and by their primal. Now, if elves could cover themselves with a glamor, how did the dragons find the elders? They were being moved secretly to a new, more secure location away from the war front. So either a glamor doesn't actually exist, in which case Ethmira's been lying to me this entire time, and the dragons could sense the elders, or a glamor does exist, in which case the elders were betrayed by one of their own.”
“There is a third scenario, master,” Kronk said and Simon nodded at him.
“I know. Go ahead and say it, my friend.”
“It is that dragons cannot sense elves after all and each time they were attacked, it was because Ethmira informed them about the target.”
Simon sighed and slumped wearily on the cot, wiping his forehead on his sleeve. The heat in the tent was giving him a headache.
“Exactly right,” he told the little guy. “Pick your version of the truth, I suppose.”
“But why?” Aeris asked, baffled. “Why would an elf side with dragons? Each loathes the other, that much we do know.”
“I can't answer that. I do know that now that the elder council is destroyed, Ethmira has been appointed to the new council. Perhaps she is simply seeking power.”
“At the price of her entire world? No, I doubt that. I think there is a simpler explanation,” Aeris said with a scowl.
“And that is?”
“That she is simply evil. Elves aren't
saints, my dear wizard. There are many tales of rogue elves who turned bad. If Ethmira is involved with the dragons, then she is involved with the gods of Chaos themselves. Remember Heather? She was lured into evil by promises of power. Who's to say that Ethmira's case is any different?”
Simon stood up and put down his empty glass.
“Whatever the reasons are, I don't trust her. And that is why I lied to Daniel earlier when I said I was at full strength. I wanted Ethmira to think that I'm more formidable than I am at the moment. And that's why I wouldn't tell Daniel my plans for defeating the primal brown. She was listening.”
“Then you do have a plan? Aeris asked.
“Of course I do. It's mad, sad and probably impossible, but hey, you know me. That's my favorite kind.”
“No argument here,” Aeris muttered and Simon chuckled.
“Okay, let's get back. I'm melting in here.”
He turned before he left the tent and shook at finger at both elementals.
“Not a word of this to anyone. Clear?”
“You shouldn't even have to ask,” Aeris said stiffly while Kronk nodded, looking sad at this lack of trust.
Simon glared at them both and then grinned widely.
“Ha! Just kidding!” he said and laughed at Aeris' offended look.
It passed quickly and the air elemental smiled tentatively.
Kronk, on the other hand, laughed out loud.
“You got us that time, master,” he chortled with a sideways glance at Aeris.
“Sorry guys, I couldn't resist. Things are dark and gloomy, I know, but we can't let ourselves wallow in depression, right?”
“Yes, agreed,” Aeris said firmly as they followed Simon from the tent. “We must be optimistic, I suppose.”
“Good. Kronk, if you want to get your friends from where they're walking the perimeter, why don't you start your construction now?”
“Ah, good idea, master. There is so much to do!”
He saluted and disappeared underground.
“Come on,” the wizard said to Aeris. “Let's see if the others have made a decision yet.”
“Right.”
Chapter 26
The group of four, as Simon thought of them, had returned while he was talking to the elementals and were waiting for him, drinking juice and eating sandwiches while they waited.
Simon smiled at them all, grabbed something to eat and drink and sat down, Aeris hovering over his left shoulder.
He didn't speak, just ate hungrily and waited for someone else to open the conversation. Truthfully, even after what he'd said to Aeris and Kronk, he was depressed at the thought of Ethmira's treachery. He had believed they were friends, comrades in arms and now...now he feared that they might meet in battle, on opposite sides. It was a bleak thought.
Virginia cleared her throat and Simon focused her as she sat up, glanced at her friends and began to speak.
“We've talked it out,” she told him gravely. “There are some general concerns about leaving our friends here without our support, but if we take the long view, eliminating the brown dragons will ensure their safety in the future.”
She hesitated and Simon nodded encouragingly.
“The red dragons remain, but apparently you are going to ward the town hall before heading to the elvish realm, so at least the townspeople will have a refuge in case of an attack.”
“I'll be doing that, yes. So I take it you've decided to come along?”
“Was there ever any doubt?” Gerard said with a grin. “How can we sit on the sidelines and let you have all of the fun and glory?”
“You have a weird definition of fun,” Liliana said as she joined the group, but she was smiling as she said it. She sat down and swung her sword out of the way.
“So what comes next, sir wizard?” she asked calmly.
“Next? Next I call my friend Daniel and arrange for an elf to take us through to their world. As I understand it, there are places around the Earth where the two worlds coexist or overlap or something and the elves can step from one plane to the other. I don't know how they do it, but I do know that without their help, we can't cross over.”
He finished his juice, set the glass down on a table and leaned forward.
“But as to when we leave, I'll leave that up to you all. Today? Tomorrow? Considering the time differential, it doesn't really make much of a difference.”
“Speaking for myself, I am ready whenever you are,” the paladin said and then looked at the others curiously.
“The same,” Virginia said. Anna nodded while Eric and Gerard simply sat quietly. “We have no real preparations to make. Just tell us when we leave and we'll be ready.”
“Excellent,” Simon said and stood up. “I'll call Daniel and make the arrangements. Personally, I'd prefer to get another night's sleep and start off fresh tomorrow, considering the energy I'll be expending on warding the town hall. But I'll let you know what my friend wants to do shortly.”
He left again with Aeris trailing along behind him, went back to his tent and grabbed the mirror. Then Simon walked outside and made his way to the main gate. He greeted the guard on duty and heading out of the town to the grassy fields beyond.
“Why are we all the way out here?” Aeris asked when Simon had found a comfortable spot and sat down in the long, waving grass.
The breeze was warm and comforting and he leaned back on his elbows for a moment, gazing down the slope at the distant ocean waves.
“No reason, really. I just want to enjoy the weather while I can. Beside, that tent has turned into a sauna and I'd rather not sit in there for any length of time.”
“Ah, I see.”
Aeris hovered just above the top of the grass and looked around, seeming to find the view as restful as Simon did.
“You like it here?” the wizard asked him.
“Like it? Yes, I suppose I do. I'm as tired of winter as you are, my dear wizard. It would be nice to spend the season down here with the others. And yet, it isn't home, is it? Something about that tower of yours makes me miss it when I'm away too long.”
Simon had to smile at the elemental's wistful tone.
“I know what you mean. This place,” he waved at the area around them, “is lovely and certainly I won't mind visiting often, if things go our way. But it isn't home and never will be. I think I've put down roots up north. They're deep and strong and will always draw me back. I suppose that's as good a definition of home as any.”
He held up the mirror, chanted the communication spell and waited. The reflective surface fogged up and cleared again almost immediately and Simon watched as the image of Daniel swam into view.
He wasn't certain how much time had passed since they'd last spoken, but it couldn't have been long in the elven realm, as he saw his friend and Ethmira standing in a forest clearing and waving upward. He guessed that they'd just dismounted from the back of the giant swan, Pharra.
He waited and watched curiously as Ethmira said something to Daniel and led the way out of the clearing and into the surrounding forest. The pair walked under huge trees with pale trunks as big around as giant redwoods. The ground was almost bare with only a few scattered saplings growing here and there.
Aeris watched over his shoulder with interest but remained silent.
After a few minutes, the forest stopped abruptly at the base of a wall of stone that jutted up and out of sight. The foot of a mountain perhaps, Simon thought. It was like a wall of rock and at the bottom there was a gap, an opening that led into darkness.
“A cave,” he whispered. Aeris nodded in agreement.
The mirror went dark as Daniel and Ethmira entered the cave and Simon watched nervously, waiting for them to emerge into the light again.
Eventually, the image brightened and the wizard drew in a sharp breath.
His friend had walked into massive cavern. Sunlight was blazing down from many small holes in the ceiling and, as Simon watched, Ethmira picked up a torch from a bundle near
the tunnel entrance, lit it and proceeded to light torches that were placed all around the walls.
The floor was covered in fine sand and there were many piles of bags and boxes, supplies obviously. The cave itself was the size of a cathedral and the ceiling soared overhead, at least fifty feet above them.
“So this is your refuge?” Daniel asked Ethmira, his voice echoing around the cavern.
“It is,” she replied as she walked the perimeter, lighting torches. “And this is simply the first chamber. The cave goes deep into the mountain and has room for as many of my people as wish to join us.”
She put her torch in a bracket on the wall and crossed the cavern to rejoin Daniel. She pointed at the piles of supplies.
“I've been stocking this place with essentials for a long time now, just in case we needed to retreat here. No dragon can squeeze through that entry tunnel and the light up there,” she pointed over their heads, “is funneled down through dozens of feet of solid rock. Not even a primal dragon could force its way in here.”
Daniel nodded in approval.
“Wonderful,” he said. “I can't conceive of a better place of safety. When are you going to contact your new council and have them join us?”
“Right away. There is an aviary further in with small tunnels that allow our birds access to the caves. I've moved several here over the past month or two to get them used to their new home. I'll head in now and send off a few to get in touch with my fellow councilors. Make yourself at home, my friend. There are bedrolls stacked over there and food there.”
She pointed at a small alcove that Simon had missed as he'd watched her light the torches in the cave.
“There is a well with clean water in the nook there, if you are thirsty. I won't be long.”
“Thank you. Take your time. I'm a bit tired actually so I just want to sit down and recover my strength.”
She grasped his shoulder and gave him a warm squeeze and a smile before turning away and walking off. Daniel smiled after her but Simon felt a flash of anger as he watched her performance.
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