The Dragons of Ice and Snow (8 page)

“
Now
you're making sense, my friend,” Clara said and managed to
smile. “Get back home, eat, rest up and then tackle this
problem.”

“
I
will. Thank you for the advice,” he said sincerely. “You
always steer me in the right direction.”

The
cleric laughed.

“
Well,
I steer you in one direction. Probably not always the best one, but I
do what I can. Now, call Kronk. I'll feel better when you are home
safe and sound. And get in touch with me after you've had your rest
and we'll hash this thing out.”

“
I
will. Talk to you soon.”

Clara
nodded and Simon waved a hand over the water, breaking the
connection.

“
Well,
wonder of wonders. You finally took someone's advice.”

The
wizard looked at Aeris and chuckled.

“
I
always take advice. You know that. I just don't always follow it.
There's a difference.”

“
Don't
I know it. So, time to call our earthen friend?”

“
Yeah.
If he isn't home yet, I'm hoping he's close.”

As
luck would have it, Kronk had indeed arrived back at the tower. As
Simon and Aeris watched him reflected in the water, they saw the
little guy scurrying around inside, poking into cupboards and opening
drawers.

“
Hey
Kronk. I see you made it home all right.”

The
earthen looked up with a pleased smile.

“
Master!
Yes, I did. But I'm having trouble finding your old spell-book. Do
you remember where you left it?”

Simon
tried to think. His old book was just a bunch of pages tied together
with string. The spells had been added as he'd discovered them
through trial and error. More error than he liked to remember. Some
had come to him in dreams; a gift, according to Clara, from the gods
of Light.

He
hadn't used the dog-eared book for months, not since he'd found his
new spell-book in his book shelf, just sitting there innocuously,
waiting to be discovered. Yet another sneaky gift from the gods,
apparently.

Oh
damn, he thought suddenly. I've lost all the new spells from that
book! And what if someone else finds it? Like that paladin? Could she
use the magic written inside?

Kronk
was still standing silently, waiting.

“
Oh
sorry! I was distracted for a minute. Check the sock drawer in my
bedroom. I think I stuck it in there. No idea why.”

“
Yes
master, I'll check.”

As
he watched Kronk scurry up the stairs to the second floor of the
tower, Simon looked at Aeris.

“
If
someone finds the spell-book I lost, could they use the spells in
it?” he asked a bit frantically.

The
air elemental became thoughtful.

“
Possibly,”
he said reluctantly. “But only if they were wizards as well. A
mage, a witch, none of them have the level of magical ability
required to cast most of those spells. They are that powerful. Trying
to do so could actually destroy them.”

“
You're
sure?” Aeris nodded. “Okay. What about Liliana?”

“
The
paladin? Well, I don't know. Doubtful though. Her powers, like
Clara's, come directly from the gods through prayer. They don't
actually cast spells, per se. But if we get a chance, retrieving that
book should be a priority.”

“
Yeah,
right. I'll just ask the white dragons to give me time to search the
bloody countryside for it. It shouldn't take more than a week or so.”

Aeris
frowned at him.

“
Sarcasm
is
my
specialty, my dear wizard. And I'm serious. If the paladin has turned
to evil and does find that book, she may one day give it to an ally
who
can
use it. And that would be very bad.”

Simon
rubbed the back of his head and nodded slowly.

“
Noted.
Okay, one crisis at a time. Let's get back home first and make our
future plans afterward.”

“
Agreed.”

The
wizard looked down at the bucket again and watched while Kronk
tripped into his bedroom and pulled open the bottom drawer of his
dresser. He flung rolled-up socks over his shoulder as he searched
hurriedly for the old spell-book.

“
Aha!
Found it, master,” he crowed triumphantly. He held the old
battered bundle of pages over his head and beamed.

“
Fantastic,
Kronk. Okay, hang on to it. I'm going to cancel the Magic Mirror
spell and summon you back.”

“
Yes
master.”

Simon
tapped the water in the bucket and the splash broke the spell. Then
he stood up slowly, aching from where he'd slept on the stone floor.
His coat hadn't been thick enough to cushion him from the hard
surface. He put it on, dropped the bucket back into the well for
whoever visited this place in the future and went out into the
tunnel, Aeris floating along beside him.

The
wizard waved his globe of light forward and focused on a spot in the
middle of the roadway.

“
Kronk,
I need you,” he said firmly.

There
was a sudden loud snap of cracking stone and the little earthen
popped out of the ground with the ragged book under his arm.

“
Welcome
back, my friend,” Simon said warmly. “Well done, by the
way.”

Kronk
smiled widely and handed the book up to the wizard.

“
Just
doing my duty, master,” he said as he gave a nod to Aeris, who
returned it.

Simon
eagerly scanned through the loose pages of the book, looking for the
Gate spell. With a feeling of relief that left him weak in the knees,
he found it.

Of
course, he thought as he read the incantation. Of course that's the
spell. How could you have forgotten it?

He
looked at his companions and tapped the page where the spell was
written.

“
I
swear, I am going to read and re-read this damned thing until it is
burned into my memory. There is no way that I'll ever put myself and
you guys through this kind of danger again.”

“
Don't
make promises you can't keep, my dear wizard,” Aeris said as he
shook a finger at him. But he was smiling as he said it and Simon
laughed lightly.

“
You
have a point there. Okay, my friends. Are you ready to go home?”

“
Yes
master,” Kronk said brightly.

“
Past
ready,” Aeris added.

“
Okay
then. Grab hold and let's get the hell out of here.”

Aeris
floated over to the wizard and touched his shoulder while Kronk held
on to the bottom of his coat.

Simon
chanted the spell, pictured his kitchen and took a deep breath.

“
Invectis
!”
he barked loudly and felt himself being pulled away into nothingness.
It had never felt so good.

Simon spent a day trying
to recover from his battle and escape from the dragons' ambush. When
he got back to the tower, he ate with great pleasure and slept the
clock around. When he woke up, he ate heartily again.

Clara had been right. The
magic had burned away what little fat he had and he had to try to
restore his system before he used the power again.

Before he had slept, he'd
summoned the five earth elementals who had helped him in the past and
asked them to patrol the wall around his tower. They were happy to
help, even when he informed them that he wanted them to remain on
duty for the foreseeable future.

“
We will guard your
home for as long as you need us, master,” one of them told him
with a deep bow. The others copied her.

“
Thank you all. Your
help, as always, is invaluable.”

Looking quite pleased with
his compliment, the group hurried off to begin their rounds.

The tower took some time
to warm up in the cold of the early spring day, but with Kronk
constantly adding fuel to the fire in the fireplace, Simon was
finally able to take off his filthy clothes and bath beside the sink
in the kitchen. Being clean and well fed was a huge relief.

The next day, sore from
his adventures but feeling rested and well again, Simon tried to
figure out what to do next. He worried about his lost spell-book and
about the chance that Liliana had betrayed him.

How to start? What to do?
It was Aeris who made the best suggestion.

“
If this paladin is
as she claims to be, you can spy on her using your Magic Mirror spell
and she will never even know it,” the air elemental told the
wizard as he sat in front of the fireplace in his comfy chair.

Simon stared into the
flames, feeling content and safe at home but burning to know what the
paladin's role had been in the attack on him and the elementals. He
turned to look at Aeris where he hovered next to the fireplace.

“
You mean she won't
know I'm watching her?”

“
Exactly. The witch,
Heather, knew you were spying on her because she'd been given the
powers of a wizard. But a paladin or cleric doesn't have that sort of
power. You could watch Clara if you wanted to and she'd never know it
unless her gods told her. And I think they have more to worry about
than one of their followers being spied on.”

“
I would never spy
on Clara!” Simon said with a frown.

“
I didn't say you
would, my dear wizard.” Aeris' tone was one of exaggerated
patience. “I was making a point. Anyway, if you watch this
Liliana person, perhaps you can determine if she is who she says she
is, or is something...darker.”

“
Hmm.”

Simon snuggled into his
chair, reluctant to move out of its warm embrace. But things were
moving out in the world and he was a part of that, like it or not.

For just a moment, he
fantasized about just getting out of this whole crazy war. If he
settled into his tower, lived his life, used his magic to help Clara
and his other friends, wouldn't that life be more rewarding? It would
certainly be easier. And safer.

He took a minute to just
dream a little about what it would be like. But it didn't last. In
every scenario he thought of, the image of an attacking dragon always
intruded.

Yeah, he thought. I doubt
if retirement is an option right now.

So with a sigh of regret,
he sat up and turned to Aeris.

“
Sounds like the
best chance we have to learn the truth.”

Simon looked out the
window at the bright sunlit day.

“
At a guess, I'd say
it's probably night time in Moscow right now. It's doubtful that I'll
see anything using the Magic Mirror but,” he stood and headed
for the stairs, “you never know. Let's go take a look.”

Up in his study, Simon sat
down at his desk, picked up his hand mirror and waited for Aeris to
move to his right before beginning to cast the Magic Mirror spell.

He stared at his
reflection thoughtfully. At one time, the slim, young face with its
overly large, mis-colored eyes, had been a reminder of what he had
lost, what his entire race had lost, when the dragons had returned.
And he had hated it.

Now though, now he stared
at himself with something like wonder. Simon hadn't had much of an
ego back in the old days, and growing up as someone who would never
have been called anything more than average looking, he'd cared
little for his appearance. The face he was looking at was attractive
though, he had to admit, surrounded by a mane of dark hair streaked
with white, the result of using powerful magics.

He ran a hand over his
smooth cheek and frowned, a bit puzzled.

“
You seem to
suddenly find yourself fascinating,” Aeris spoke up with
amusement.

Simon glanced at him and
then tapped the image in the mirror.

“
When I finished
Changing, what is it, over four years ago or so, I thought that the
person staring back at me in windows and mirrors looked like a
fourteen year old kid. Especially when I'd already passed my sixtieth
birthday. And I wasn't looking forward to going through puberty
again. It was a tough time, to be honest.”

He paused and the
elemental nodded encouragingly.

“
But four years
later, and I haven't even started shaving yet.” He glanced down
at his body. “I mean, everything works and all, but I haven't
begun to fill out or mature in any way. It just suddenly struck me as
a bit strange, that's all.”

Simon looked away from his
reflection and saw a small, rather mysterious smile on Aeris' face.