The Dragons of Argent and Silver (Tales from the New Earth #6) (12 page)

'It is simplicity itself,' the dragon
said loftily. 'Just do what you are told when I tell you and we will
get through it. However, if you deviate in the slightest, the
ceremony will fail and the items your elementals retrieved will be
wasted.'

“And we'll have to start the
whole thing all over again,” Simon said with a frustrated sigh.
“I get it.”

'Good. Play your part, I shall play
mine and we will be two separate beings again by this time tomorrow.'

Her presence faded again and Simon
sipped his tea and stared at the flickering flames.

“And not a moment too soon,”
he whispered.

The day passed at a snail's pace from
Simon's perspective. Esmiralla's presence hovered in the back of his
mind and he was hyper-sensitive to it and everything that he was
doing.

He had changed his clothes and now wore
baggy old jeans and a misshapen gray sweater; both felt strange
against his skin but he knew that he had to continue to play his
part.

Kronk and Aeris came and went as usual,
but there wasn't a lot of conversation between any of them. The
wizard could tell by the not-so-subtle looks the elementals gave him
in passing that they were as nervous as he was. They were afraid of
letting the silver dragon know that they suspected her of trickery.
It made Simon a bit paranoid and he spent most of the day just
aimlessly moving from one room to the next, trying to stay calm.

'You seem restless today,' Esmiralla
remarked at one point.

Simon was flipping through a book in
his study, staring blankly at the pages. He almost dropped it when
she spoke. Did she sound suspicious?

“Restless? Yeah, probably. I
mean, tonight is a big deal, isn't it? I'm anxious to get it over
with,” he answered a little too quickly.

A long moment passed.

'Yes, of course,' she finally said. 'I
must admit that I am eager to begin as well. Try to think of
something else.'

Easy for her to say, Simon thought but
he felt relieved. She hadn't caught on to the real reason for his
twitchiness.

He eventually gave up trying to read
and went out for a walk. The day was beautiful and he thought that it
would help to distract him.

The meadow in front of the tower,
between the outer wall and the forest, teemed with wildflowers and
long green grass. The smell was almost intoxicating and Simon lost
himself in the delight of his senses for several minutes.

'We will be performing the ritual out
here,' Esmiralla told him abruptly.

Simon was roused out of his pleasure by
her voice ringing through his head and he scowled in irritation.

“Why?” he snapped.

'Because we will need a fire, a rather
large one, and this open area will be the safest location for it.
Also, we need to be out under the full moon for the magic to be
effective.'

“That doesn't sound like any
magic I've ever heard of before,” Simon said, now more confused
than angry.

'No offense, wizard, but you are very
young and uninformed. Magic comes in many forms and flavors. For our
separation to take place, this is the path that we must use.'

She paused.

'And so we will need a large fire,
after the moon has risen. I will let you know when the time is
right.'

She faded into the background again and
left Simon shaking his head.

A fire for what? Roasting marshmallows?
Making s'mores?

It felt raw and primal to him and the
hairs on the back of his neck stood up. What was coming?

The sun set finally and Simon sat on
the front steps outside of the tower watching the world's colors fade
away. Crickets started singing their evening song and the air began
to cool. He just sat there quietly, taking it all in.

“It must be almost time, master,”
Kronk said quietly.

The little guy was sitting to the
wizard's right while Aeris hovered to his left.

“Getting there. How long until
moon rise?”

“About an hour,” Aeris
replied in a subdued voice. “But if the silver dragon waits
until it is overhead, that will take almost three hours.”

Simon looked up and watched the first
stars appear in the purple night sky.

“She probably does.”

“I gathered up the firewood,
master,” Kronk said. “And arranged it properly. It is
ready to be lit whenever the dragon wishes it.”

“Ah, thanks,” the wizard
said gratefully. “I appreciate it.”

“It was nothing, master. It
helped to take my mind off of things for a short time.”

Aeris floated forward until he could
see the earthen sitting next to Simon and gave him a quelling look.

Kronk's glowing red eyes widened and he
nodded hastily. Obviously the air elemental had warned him not to
mention their suspicions aloud.

Simon watched the exchange and had to
suppress a smile. Subtlety wasn't really the little guy's strongest
skill.

“Esmiralla, are you there?”
he asked, deciding to be direct.

A pause.

'I am. What is it?'

“Do we wait for the full moon to
be high in the sky, or can we begin when it rises above the horizon?”

Both elementals watched quietly, eyes
riveted on the wizard's face.

'It will be best to wait until it is
directly overhead,' she replied. 'Have the ingredients ready next to
the fire and I will tell you when it should be lit. Have one of your
servants do it; I don't want you using your magic.'

“Why not?”

'I have my reasons. Trust me, it is
important. Now please, I am preparing for the ceremony in my own way.
Do not distract me further.'

And she was gone completely.

“Okay, that's weird,” Simon
said, looking from Aeris to Kronk and back again.

“What is weird, master?”

“She doesn't want me to light the
fire with my powers. She wants one of you to light it instead; using
a torch lit from the fireplace, I suppose.”

“Why?” Aeris wondered.

“She wouldn't say. Just told me
to trust her.”

“Hmm.”

Yeah, Simon thought. That isn't at all
suspicious.

“Is she...?”

Aeris made a vague gesture and the
wizard chuckled.

“No, she's not still around. I
felt her fade away again. I'll be damned if I know how that works.”

“You might not understand it if
she tried to explain it, my dear wizard. Ancient draconian magic
would probably not make much sense to a human mind.”

“You're probably right. Okay,
look guys, this may be our last chance to talk privately before
Esmiralla comes back, so let's make it count. I don't trust this
whole process, but it's the only chance I've got to get away from the
silver dragon, so I have to take it. But I want you to watch me
closely. If something happens, and God knows what that might even be,
you have my permission to take whatever actions you deem necessary to
counter Esmiralla.”

Both elementals looked surprised by
Simon's blanket statement.

“Whatever actions?” Aeris
repeated. “That gives us an awful lot of leeway, you know. An
unscrupulous person could take advantage of an opening like that.”

“But we would never do that,
master,” Kronk hastened to assure the wizard. “Would we?”
he added with a glare at Aeris.

“Of course not. I didn't mean us
when I said that. But what if, to save you from her schemes, we have
to do something fairly violent? Like knock you out or immobilize you
for a time? Is that acceptable?”

“Aeris!” the earthen gasped
in shock.

“Whatever you believe you have to
do, do it,” Simon answered levelly, catching Kronk's eye. “I
don't want to die, not again, and the gods of Justice have assured me
that I will not be brought back if I do. There's still so much work
for me to do in this world and I want to be around for a while to do
it. So please, watch my back the way I would watch yours if the
situation was reversed. All right?”

Aeris nodded while Kronk wrung his
hands, seemingly wracked with indecision.

Simon gently put a hand on the
elemental's small shoulder.

“All right, my friend?” he
asked quietly, the night sighing around them.

“As you say, master,” the
little guy agreed hesitantly. “But only if we absolutely have
to.”

“Good. Thanks. That's all I ask.
Now, if you guys wouldn't mind, could you bring the blood and the egg
out to the clearing?”

He was looking to the east as he spoke
and saw a pale glow beginning to light up the dark sky.

“It looks like the moon is about
to show her face and we might as well be ready whenever Esmiralla
returns.”

While the elementals headed downstairs
to get the ingredients, Simon got up from the steps and walked
unhurriedly to the main gate.

The gate was wide open and the field
beyond it was cast in shadow. The night had truly arrived and with it
a chilly breeze that made him shiver. The forest on the other side of
the meadow was a vague, distant mass of darkness and the grasses
ahead hissed and whispered like secretive snakes.

Maybe I'm just being paranoid, Simon
thought as he leaned against the right side of the gate and crossed
his arms.

Esmiralla may very well be doing
exactly as she says she is; splitting us apart so that we can both go
our own way. He certainly hoped so.

He watched the moon slowly ascend above
the horizon and enjoyed the earthy smells in the night air around
him. The distant woods seemed mysterious, alive with unknown cries
and odd primordial sounds that reminded Simon that the world had
Changed as much or more than he had.

And he loved it, he thought with a
sudden smile. The mystery of what creatures walked, flew or swam
across the face of the New Earth now was thrilling to him. He wanted
to start exploring it again, see the sights, learn all there was to
know about the world around him.

He wanted to develop his own powers to
their fullest potential, whatever that might be. The gods of Light
had given him his gifts to strike back at the lords of Chaos and
their minions. He wanted to battle the dragons again and whatever
other evils threatened his people. In the end, it really was what he
lived for.

Well, I can't do it with Esmiralla
hovering in the back of my mind and distracting me, he told himself.
So let's hope she's being truthful about this process and that I can
get back to living my own life and she can get on with living hers.

“We've got all of it, master,”
Kronk said from behind him.

Simon turned around and saw the little
guy carrying the dragon egg. He stifled a laugh. The pale ovoid was
bigger than Kronk was.

Aeris floated several feet above him, a
vial of blood in each hand. Both were greenish but the liquid in the
right-hand vial was glowing with a fluorescent, putrid color that was
stomach-churning to look at.

“I'm assuming that is the queen's
blood?” the wizard asked and pointed at the glowing vial.

“Good guess. Disgusting stuff,
isn't it? Well, shall we head out to the center of the clearing? The
moon is getting higher by the minute.”

Simon looked up and was surprised to
see that the bright disc had risen substantially since he'd last
checked it. He nodded at the others and the three of them moved
forward into the darkness.

The firewood in the pit at the center
of the meadow had been stacked up in a pyramid-like shape and was
almost six feet high. Kronk had dug the pit deep and wide enough to
ensure that the fire would be contained once the wood was burning.

“Good job,” the wizard
complimented him.

“Thank you, master. I hope that
it will suit the silver dragon.”

'It does.'

Simon shuddered as Esmiralla's voice
resounded through his skull once again.

“She says it does,” he told
the earthen

Both of the elementals looked cautious
and Aeris nodded his understanding. They should watch what they said
from now on.

'The moon is almost in the proper
position and I see that you have brought out the items needed for the
ceremony. Excellent. Tell your air elemental servant to light the
wood and we can begin.'

Simon winced at the word 'servant' but
chose to ignore it.

“Aeris, could you get a light
from the fireplace and bring it back? She wants to get the bonfire
going.”

“Certainly. Won't be a minute.”

He set down the two vials of blood next
to the fire pit and disappeared with a soft popping sound.

Kronk put the egg beside the vials and
stood back, watching Simon expectantly.

“So what exactly is going to
happen?” the wizard asked, staring at the unlit wood pile. “And
please, no more beating around the bush; just tell me.”

'Very well. The time has come, after
all. Once the moon is in full ascension, you will pour the blood over
the egg; first the blood of the drake and then the queen's blood.
While you are doing this, I shall be chanting the proper
incantation.'

“Okay, got it so far.”

'And then, when I give you the signal,
you will place the egg in the center of the fire; your earthen
servant can do this safely.'

“Stop calling them servants!”
Simon snapped irritably. “They are my friends.”

'As you say. Whatever they are, the egg
must be placed in the hottest part of the fire.'

“What happens after that?”

'We wait for the magic to take hold.
How long that will take is unknown. This is the first time I have
ever gone through this ritual.'

Simon looked worriedly at Kronk.

Are you sure it will work? he asked the
dragon silently.

'It should.'

He closed his eyes and ran his fingers
through his hair; his usual nervous gesture.

“What is wrong, master?”

“Nothing, Kronk. Nothing.
Esmiralla is a tad unsure about the results of this...”