The Dragons of Decay (43 page)

The chair was the most comfortable in
the tower, since he'd lost his sofa and comfy chair in the fire, and
the candles smelled faintly of cinnamon, one of his favorite scents
in the world. Even the howling of the storm as it raged around the
tower only made him feel more peaceful and secure within his home.

“
Has he fallen asleep?”
he heard Aeris ask as he entered the room.

“
No, he hasn't,” Simon
replied as he opened his eyes. “Just taking a minute to
appreciate my home.” He looked at the two elementals standing
side by side on the top of the desk. “Our home,” he
added, making even Aeris smile.

“
Yes, I must say that I hold
this tower in great affection,” the air elemental said as he
looked around. “I never thought that I could care about any
physical place, but I've been proven wrong.”

“
I should write that down,”
Kronk said to him jokingly. “One from the airy plane admitting
that he's made a mistake. Surely a historical moment.”

“
Uh-uh,” Simon said as
Aeris prepared to reply with a comment that would only start an
argument. “I want to call Clara and I want no fighting between
you two. It makes us look so...unprofessional.”

“
Since when have we been
professional?”

The wizard sighed and looked up at
the ceiling.

“
Since never, so let's try it
once, shall we?”

“
Of course, master. It's all
Aeris' fault anyway.”

“
What?!”

“
Guys!”

The two elementals settled down,
glaring at each other and Simon quickly picked up his hand mirror and
began casting.

He connected with Clara very quickly
and found her standing, surprisingly, on the seashore, staring across
at the distant horizon.

“
Clara? Good morning. Are you
okay?”

“
Good morning, Simon,”
she replied with a warm smile. “How are you feeling?”

“
Excellent, thanks. Getting
stronger every day.”

“
Wonderful news. You never know
when a fully-functioning wizard will come in handy, do you?”

He chuckled.

“
True. So what's happening?
You're away from the settlement for a change.”

“
We've decided to call it
Nottinghill, the new town that is,” she answered with a wistful
smile. “Someone suggested 'New Nottinghill', but my people are
a fairly pragmatic bunch and decided that was too wordy, so we'll
keep the old name. It was a lovely town while it lasted and we wanted
to honor its memory somehow.”

“
That's quite understandable
and, even though I know you don't need my stamp of approval, you have
it anyway.”

“
Thanks. As to why I'm outside
of town,” Clara gestured at the rolling waves that were
crashing on to the shore. The cries of gulls echoed mournfully over
the sound of the water and the scene was poignant and sad somehow,
and yet beautiful as well.

“
I never got a chance to visit
the ocean in my old life,” she said as she watched the restless
waves pensively. “My daughter got married and moved to Florida
with her husband, but I didn't visit soon enough. I had planned to
but, well...”

“
The dragons destroyed the
world,” Simon finished her sentence, a bitter taste on his
tongue.

“
Exactly right, my friend. So
since today was designated as a rest day, I decided to visit the
shore. It's only about a thirty minute walk from town.” She
smiled a bit. “And before you say anything, Aiden is watching
me a little ways up the beach, so I'm not here alone.”

“
Good. I was going to mention
that, actually. Anyway, I have some news. Both good and bad, I'm
afraid.”

“
All right,” the cleric
said, her body stiffening. “I wish I'd thought to bring my
mirror so that I could see you, but go ahead.”

So Simon told her what had happened
with Liliana and her people. Clara's face fell as he spoke and, by
the time he had finished, she had gone back to staring out to sea.

“
Imagine, surviving this long
only to die because of a gas leak. How tragic is that? Poor Liliana.
She must be devastated.”

“
She's still standing somehow,”
Simon said with admiration. “An amazing woman. I told her I'd
ask if she could join you, now that she's all alone and there isn't
anything tying her to Moscow.”

“
Simon!” Clara exclaimed.
“Ask me? By the gods, you must know me well enough by now to
know the answer to that.”

The wizard nodded unconsciously.

“
I do, but it is only courteous
to ask. And I believe that Liliana would say the same thing.”

“
Fine then. I formally give my
consent, and I speak for my people in this, for Liliana to join our
community. We would be honored to have her.”

She smiled into the wind.

“
Good enough?”

“
Good enough,” Simon said
with a laugh. “With luck, I'll be strong enough in a week or so
to Gate over to Moscow, pick her up and then bring her to you. After
that, I'm going to have to impose on you for at least a night. I
think I'll be too drained to risk Gating home right away.”

Kronk silently nodded his approval at
this plan and Simon winked at him.

“
Oh, we would love for you to
visit for a while,” Clara said enthusiastically. “Getting
away from that winter weather will do you a world of good.”

“
I have no doubt about that.
The snow is falling thick and heavy even as we speak.”

She grimaced.

“
Delightful. I'm feeling less
nostalgic about the old Nottinghill by the minute.”

“
I'll call you the day I decide
to do the transfer and I'll be bringing Kronk and a few of his
friends along to help with the new buildings. That should speed
things up a bit.”

“
That would be very generous of
him, Simon.”

“
It will be our pleasure,
lady,” Kronk spoke up and the cleric grinned.

“
He loves to help,” Simon
told her. “So, I'll let you get back to enjoying your day off.
Talk to you soon.”

“
I'm counting on it. Take
care.”

He canceled the spell, put down the
mirror and sat back in his chair. He rubbed his eyes and then looked
at Aeris as the elemental cleared his throat.

“
Hmm?”

“
You look like you could use a
nap,” Aeris told him pointedly. Kronk nodded vigorously in
agreement.

“
Sleep and eat. Sleep and eat.
That's all I do now, you know that?”

“
Big picture, my dear wizard,”
Aeris said. “Get healthy, get strong, save the world, right?”

Simon burst out laughing.

“
If only it were that simple.
Okay, I'll catch a few winks before I visit the horses.”

He glanced at the window and the
darkness that came with the heavy snowfall beyond.

“
After all, there's no rush, is
there?”

The next week passed quickly for
Simon, mainly because he spent most of it asleep. His new body was
still growing and filling in and it needed to be fed and then allowed
to rest. He occasionally felt like he was simply a passenger in the
vehicle that was his body and was trying to enjoy the ride. It
certainly helped him practice patience.

At the end of the week, the
elementals allowed him to try several simple spells, but watched him
like hawks for any sign of weakness. Simon felt like he was
auditioning for one of those old television talent shows and he was
more nervous than he expected to be.

“
Okay, you guys pick the
spells,” the wizard said at breakfast that day. For a change he
was having hot chocolate with his toast and was feeling mellow and
content, right up until the elementals mentioned the test.

The two were standing on the kitchen
table and Kronk waved Aeris forward.

“
Very well, my dear wizard. We
have discussed this. Obviously you can cast your communication spell
with little trouble, which is a good sign, so let's have you stretch
your magical muscles a bit more and cast these spells.”

Aeris held up a blurry hand and
ticked off the list on his fingers.

“
Light, Shield and...” he
paused dramatically. “Gate,” he finished and folded his
arms, waiting for Simon's reaction.

“
What?”

The wizard dribbled hot chocolate
down the front of his robe and jumped up to grab a dishcloth to clean
it off.

“
Hang on just a second,”
he said as he wiped himself off. “Light I can understand.
Shield? Yeah okay. I always have that memorized anyway and it's a
simple spell to cast. Bit draining though. But Gate? Come on. You two
have been on top of me for a week to make sure that I
didn't
cast that spell. And now you've done a total one-eighty? What's going
on?”

The
elementals exchanged a look.

“
We
don't want you to Gate very far, master,” Kronk said with a
nervous smile. “Just from here to,” he pointed upwards,
“there.”

“
You
want me to Gate to the ceiling?” Simon said with a frown.

Aeris
snorted.

“
Of
course not. I think you are still half asleep, my dear wizard. We
want you to Gate from the first floor to the second and that's all.
No further than that. I think all of us want to see what the
aftermath of casting such a spell will be, in a controlled
environment.”

Simon sat
down again and watched his two little friends thoughtfully.

“
You
do realize that if I collapse, it could set our plans back for God
knows how long, right?”

“
Is
it not better to know now, master, here at home, than possibly being
trapped in Moscow or Florida after a Gate?” Kronk asked him,
sounding like his usual practical self.

The wizard
hesitated and then grinned.

“
Okay,
I can't argue with that. If I was rendered powerless in the middle of
a Russian winter, and God forbid there was a wight attack, that would
probably be the end of me and Liliana as well.”

He
finished what was left of his hot chocolate and clapped his hands
loudly.

“
Well,
I'm ready whenever you guys are.”

Aeris
zipped across the room, grabbed Simon's staff where it was leaning
against the wall next to the door and returned to hand it to him.

“
Um,
you think I need this?”

“
I
think you need all the help that you can get,” Aeris said
tartly. “The staff helps to boost and channel your power and it
may ease the shock to your system somewhat.”

“
Yeah,
good idea. Thanks.”

Simon
walked to the center of the room and settled himself down. He planted
the end of the staff firmly on the floor and took a deep breath. His
heart was racing and his stomach twisted in a mixture of fear and
excitement.

“
Light
spell first?” he asked and both elementals nodded in unison.

“
Okay
then, here we go.”

He easily
rattled off the incantation for the spell and a globe of brilliant
white light appeared above his head, bobbing serenely and casting
sharp shadows around the room.

“
Well,
hello there,” Simon said as he looked up at it. “Long
time no see.”

“
How
do you feel, master?” Kronk asked quickly.

“
Feel?
Fine, I guess. No weakness, no dizziness.”

Simon
sucked on his lower lip as he focused on his body.

“
Nope,
no reaction at all. That's a bit weird, isn't it?”

“
Not
really,” Aeris responded. “It is a simple spell, after
all. The next one should be very telling though.”

“
Shield?
True. It's simple to cast but is usually fairly draining, even when
I'm at full strength.”

He squared
his shoulder, tightened his grip on the staff and looked expectantly
at his friends.

“
Ready?”

“
Go
ahead,” Aeris said. “Let's see what happens.”

“
Okay.
If I collapse, try not to let my head smack into the floor, would
you?”

Kronk
leaped off of the table and scurried across the room to stand next to
him.

“
I
will not let you get hurt, master,” he said stoutly while Aeris
just rolled his eyes.

“
He's
casting a spell, Kronk, not climbing a mountain. He'll be fine.”

Simon
chuckled.

“
Here
we go,” he said and began the incantation.