The Dragons of Decay (16 page)

The wizard
sighed heavily.

“
Yeah,
that's what I was afraid of,” he muttered and looked over at
Aeris for a second. “What about Liliana, the paladin from
Moscow?”

“
Ah,
well, she is an interesting case. Paladins are constantly healing
themselves, renewing their bodies even when out of battle. Apparently
this gift slows down the aging process as well.” Daniel
grimaced. “I'm told that very few paladins ever died a natural
death back in the old days of magic; their ends were usually quite
violent. So yes, if she chose to join you, she would be fine, at
least for a short visit.”

“
Excellent.
Anyone else?”

“
Yes.”
Daniel said and Simon watched him hopefully. “The elders claim
that the four magic-users who work as one, the youngsters who live in
Nottinghill, are the exception to the rule.”

“
Really?
You mean Virginia and the others?”

“
Exactly.
Apparently this communal spell-casting is unique; the elders have
never seen or heard of its like before. But they believe that the
shared power acts upon their bodies as a wizard's high concentration
of magic works on yours.”

“
Well,
that's interesting. So if they were up for it, they could join in the
battle against the brown dragons? Hmm.”

“
It
would, of course, be their decision alone,” Daniel said sharply
and Simon looked at him in surprise.

“
I
know that! Surely you know me better than to think I would try and
coerce them into joining me?”

“
Yes.
Yes, I do.”

His friend
rubbed his eyes wearily.

“
Sorry.
It's been a bit stressful here.”

“
I
know that, Daniel. Don't worry. If I even decide to mention it to
them, and to Liliana, I'll simply lay out the facts, including the
risks, and let them make up their own minds. And don't forget, like
me, they aren't what they seem. None of them were young when they
Changed, so they don't act with the rashness that a younger person
might.”

“
True
enough. Thanks for reminding me of that.”

“
You're
welcome. Okay then, I guess that's about it for now. I'll call back
in a week, my time, and you can give me a status report. And Daniel,”
he added and his old friend looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
“Take care, all right? If I've learned anything when it comes
to dragons it's that they are unpredictable. And this primal brown is
obviously more clever than the other primals I've faced. Watch
yourself.”

“
I
will. You as well. I'll talk to you soon.”

Simon
smiled and shook the mirror to break the connection. Then he picked
up his cup and finished his tea.

“
So
your friend thinks that Virginia and her friends could help in the
elven war?” Aeris asked.

“
You
heard? Yes, so he says. I'll admit, I could use the extra firepower,
but with any luck I won't need to. It sounds like the elves are
holding their own, for now at least. Maybe they'll be able to defeat
the brown dragons on their own.”

“
We
can only hope,” the elemental agreed. He drifted closer and
looked intently at the wizard.

“
What's
the problem?” Simon asked him curiously. “Why the look?”

“
How
are you feeling?” Aeris asked. “You were unconscious for
a week, you've lost perhaps ten pounds that you simply couldn't
afford to lose and, between the aftermath of the attack on
Nottinghill and the ongoing war in the elven realm, you are under
quite a bit of pressure.”

“
And?”

“
And
I'm just wondering how you are really doing,” the elemental
floated up and gently tapped Simon's forehead, “in here.”

The wizard
watched Aeris drift back to hover in front of the fireplace and then
rested his chin in his palm.

“
I'm
feeling...a little disconnected, to be honest. Things are happening
too quickly and I'm running just to keep up.”

The
elemental nodded silently.

“
I
think that I'm a creature of habit,” Simon continued, speaking
slowly as he tried to analyze his own emotions. “Except for the
attacks, of course, I'm comfortable here. And comfortable with
Nottinghill being where it is, slowly growing and maturing into maybe
a large town one day. And now it may be gone, just like that. Boom,
instant ghost town.”

“
But
you have the Gate spell,” Aeris pointed out. “You can
visit Clara and the others no matter where they go.”

“
Yeah,
I know. But,” he sighed in frustration and ran his fingers
through his hair, tucking it behind his ears, “I enjoyed riding
down to see them once in a while in the summer. I kind of liked the
idea that I had neighbors, even if they were an hour away by
horseback. Once they're gone, if they do decide to leave, this entire
part of the country will be deserted, except for me. And you guys, of
course.”

“
Of course,” Aeris said
with a crooked smile. “I must say that I feel the same way. I
think we elementals like continuity, sameness. If Nottinghill is
emptied and the people leave, it will be very disturbing. But what
can we do? It is their decision, their destiny, isn't it?”

“
It is, yes, and I have no
intention of trying to convince them to stay if they choose not to.”

Simon got up and rinsed out his cup,
leaving it in the tray next to the sink.

“
So what are you going to do?”
Aeris asked.

“
Now? Now I'm going to go up to
the study and call Clara. We don't have anything but speculation to
go on here and I'd like to hear how things are going from her own
lips. Plus,” he tightened his grip on the mirror and walked to
the stairs, Aeris floating along behind him. “I haven't seen
her for a week and I want to make sure she's okay.”

In his study, Simon sighed with
relief as he sat down at his desk. The old leather chair was much
more comfortable on his skinny butt than the hard wooden chairs
downstairs. Sunlight was streaming through the windows, warming the
room and allowing him to relax even more.

“
By the way,” he said to
the elemental, who was bobbing up and down on top of the desk, “how
are the horses? Especially Sunshine? She must be due soon.”

“
Within the month, according to
our friend, the cleric. She says the mare is doing well and to call
her when Sunshine goes into labor.”

“
I intend to,” Simon told
him. “No way do I want to act as a midwife; I have no idea what
to do during a birth.”

“
As I understand it, you don't
actually have to
do
anything,” Aeris said, amused. “Nature generally takes
care of these things.”

“
Sure, until something goes
wrong. This is the first horse born since civilization fell, at least
as far as we know, and it has to go right.”

“
True enough.”

The wizard looked into the mirror as
he cast the Magic Mirror spell, thinking of Clara, and the surface
fogged up quickly.

“
I wonder if Kronk has finished
his inspection yet?” he muttered.

“
It's only been about an hour,
my dear wizard, and our earthen friend is meticulous. I doubt if he's
done yet.”

“
Good point. I...”

He stopped speaking as the mirror
cleared. Clara could be seen sitting by a window in a large room with
rough stone walls. She was looking up and speaking intensely to
someone out of Simon's view. She was wearing a simple blue robe and
her chin-length brown hair was tucked behind her ears. Her hands were
folded on her lap.

The wizard waited until she smiled at
her unseen companion and turned to look out of the window. The smile
slipped from her face and she suddenly looked tired and dispirited.

Simon waited a moment, watching his
friend. He couldn't remember ever seeing her looking so...lost. It
disturbed him deeply.

Aeris floated over to look into the
mirror.

“
She looks very unhappy,
doesn't she?” he said quietly.

The wizard grunted an assent.

“
Clara? How are you?”

The cleric jumped slightly and
glanced around. Then she smiled, looking more like her old self
again.

“
Simon. Hi! How are you?”

“
I'm great, thanks to you.”

She made a gesture of denial.

“
It wasn't me, my friend. Thank
the gods for their mercy, and thank your elemental friends. They are
truly the ones who saved the day.”

Simon looked at Aeris and winked. The
floating elemental smiled widely.

“
I know that. And I tell them
how grateful I am all the time, believe me. But divine powers or not,
you were the conduit. So please accept my gratitude.” He
hesitated and added, “And my condolences for losing so many of
your people.”

Clara's face fell again and she
turned her head to stare out of the window.

“
Thank you, Simon,” she
whispered. “That's been the hardest part of this whole mess.”

She gazed outside and narrowed her
eyes, focusing on something.

“
You know, except for losing
the town hall, the damage really wasn't too bad. My people have
promised to rebuild it in the spring, when the weather warms up,
which I thought was lovely of them.”

“
That reminds me,” Simon
said. “Did Kronk and the others show up?”

The cleric smiled a bit and nodded,
still facing the window.

“
Yes, the three of them popped
up about a half-hour ago. They're examining the foundations of the
wall now and then Kronk told me they'd make sure that the drawbridges
and both gates are sound. If they aren't, they'll just go ahead and
do any necessary repairs. Thanks for sending them down.”

“
No thanks needed. You know
Kronk; he loves to be helpful.”

She actually chuckled a bit.

“
True. He is a dear friend to
you.”

There was a long pause and Simon and
Aeris exchanged glances.

“
Something's wrong,” the
elemental mouthed silently and the wizard nodded.

“
So your home is reasonably
intact and your people are doing okay?” he prompted after the
silence became uncomfortable.

Clara turned and leaned back, resting
her head against the window frame.

“
For now. Simon, I'm not sure
that I should mention this, but you've been nothing but helpful to me
and my town for the past two years and you deserve honesty.”

“
Um, okay. What is it?”

“
Here it comes.” Aeris
muttered.

“
Well, the truth is, no, my
people aren't doing okay. Or rather I should say that most of them
aren't. And that includes me.”

“
I see. So what's the problem?”

“
I wish my mirror hadn't been
destroyed by those cursed wights,” she said irritably. “I
really hate this talking into space without being able to see you.”

“
Sorry about that, but there's
an easy, temporary fix.”

She looked startled.

“
Which is?”

“
Just fill a bowl or pot or
whatever with water. You can use its surface as a mirror to see me.”

She stood up abruptly.

“
Why didn't I think of that?
Okay, hang on a minute.”

Simon and Aeris watched as Clara made
her way around the large, crudely-built room, rooting through several
chests. He decided that she must be in the barracks. It was a fairly
new building that had been built by Malcolm and Aiden in the autumn.
He saw a half-dozen crude cots and some heavy shelving attached to
the walls. A large fireplace was built into one of the walls and a
fire was burning merrily in it.

“
Aha!” the cleric
exclaimed as she pulled out a metal pan from one of the chests. She
crossed the room to a table and poured water into the pan from a
pitcher that was sitting there. Then she sat down at the table and
peered into the water.

And with an audible click, the cleric
and the wizard were suddenly looking directly at each other.

“
Ah, there you are,”
Clara said with a genuine smile. “You look so much better than
you have this past week.”

“
Well, I'm vertical, so that's
an improvement,” Simon joked.

She smiled quickly and then became
serious again.

“
As I was saying, I want to be
honest with you, my friend. Cards on the table, as we used to say.”

“
I appreciate honesty, Clara.
You probably know that by now.”

“
I do. So, here it is.”