The Dragons of Argent and Silver (Tales from the New Earth #6) (17 page)

Simon put down his book
and stared at the little guy, a bit bemused.

“
You know,
occasionally I forget how deep and wise you are, my friend. Thanks
for understanding. So where's Aeris?”

“
Gone south again,”
Kronk said with an exaggerated sigh. “He's taken to secretly
observing those humanoid bears that are living in old Nottinghill.
I've asked him why he bothers and he says it's important to keep an
eye on such potentially hostile neighbors.”

Finishing his tea, Simon
stood up and put his bowl in the sink. He put the kettle over the
fire again and leaned back against the counter to wait while he
stared with amusement at Kronk.

“
You disagree?”
he asked.

“
Not entirely,
master. But the bear people have kept to themselves this past year.
Why take a chance of being discovered and angering them
unnecessarily? Aeris is just being nosy and reckless.”

“
Two things he
excels at,” Simon said with a grin. “But let's let him
have his fun. I've decided that, if Aeris thinks it's feasible, then
we should make contact with our neighbors to the south. I think it's
time to find out if they really are friend or foe. Or something in
between.”

“
It could be
dangerous, master,” Kronk warned as he watched the wizard make
another cup of tea.

Simon sat down and gave
the elemental a lop-sided grin.

“
Hey, magic guy,
remember? I'll be fine. Besides, if I do go down to say hello, I'll
take you along to protect me. So I should be fine, right?”

“
Ah. Then yes,
master, I think you will be safe.”

Simon stifled a laugh at
Kronk's assurance that he could protect the wizard. The small
elemental had a big heart and the wizard knew that he was lucky to
have him.

An hour later, he was
sweeping the main floor of the tower. The front door was open and he
was brushing the dust outside, motes dancing in the morning sunlight.

He finished his chore and
then stood in the doorway, looking out into the courtyard with a
contented smile on his face.

The loss of Daniel was
still painful, and always would be, but this morning he felt better
than he had for days. The persistently beautiful weather was helping
to keep his spirits up.

As he leaned on the broom
and enjoyed the warmth of the day, the blurred form of Aeris came
shooting through the front gates and made a beeline for the wizard.
He stopped a few feet in front of Simon and bobbed up and down at
head level.

“
Now don't get mad,”
the elemental said before the wizard even had a chance to greet him.
“It wasn't my fault.”

“
Oh-oh. That's not
the best way to start a conversation, Aeris,” Simon said
warily. “What have you done?”

“
Done? Me? Nothing.”

The wide-eyed innocent
stare didn't fool Simon for a second. He'd seen that look before.

“
Just give me the
bad news and get it over with,” he said with a resigned sigh.

“
Well, you see, I
was down south scouting around the old town of Nottinghill.”

“
So Kronk said. What
happened?”

“
Did he? Okay.
Anyway, I was watching the bear people going through their day.”

He looked closely at Simon
as if to gauge his mood and hurried on.

“
I like to do that
occasionally, to pass the time.”

“
Uh-huh. So how are
they doing?”

“
Splendidly
actually! Really good.”

Simon leaned his broom
against the door jam, walked out and sat down on the front steps. He
guessed that this could take a while.

Aeris followed and landed
on the step on the wizard's right side. He sat down and stared up at
Simon.

“
They have planted a
lot of crops now, you know. Corn mostly, but there are also rows of
beans and, oddly enough, potatoes. I never even knew bears liked
potatoes.”

“
I didn't know they
liked corn. How are their beehives doing?”

“
Excellently. They
treat those bees very well and it shows. There have to be at least
two dozen hives now, probably more. And Nottinghill itself looks
great. I don't know if they found it or made it, but somehow they
managed to paint the outer walls an amazing white color. Perhaps it's
whitewash, but the walls are now gleaming. They really perk the place
up.”

Simon drew up his legs and
rested his chin on his knees.

“
How many of the
bear-human hybrids are living down there now?”

“
Hmm. I've counted
at least forty now; ten of them are cubs, if that's the correct
term.”

The wizard thoughtfully
sucked on his lower lip and watched as some thin clouds scuttled
across the sky.

“
Sounds like they're
doing well. Now,” he fixed Aeris with a piercing look, “tell
me what you've done to get yourself so excited.”

The elemental turned away
and looked across the yard, avoiding Simon's gaze.

“
Well, I suppose I
was getting a little too comfortable as I spied on the creatures. I
was circling the perimeter, just outside of the outer wall and I may
have, um, become visible for a moment.”

“
What!”

“
Now, now, my dear
wizard. Stay calm,” Aeris said hastily.

“
Stay calm? Yeah
right. Did they see you?”

“
Err, possibly. The
sentries probably did.” He looked at Simon's expression. “But
I vanished immediately, I swear, and I retreated right away. Even if
they did see me, it would only have been for a moment. We should be
fine.”

Simon peered at the
elemental.

“
Are you sure about
that?”

“
Absolutely. I'm
confident that no harm was done.”

“
Well...”
Simon began. He was interrupted by a call from the top of the wall
near the gate.

“
Sir wizard! Sir
wizard! Come quickly. We've spotted intruders.”

It was one of the earthen
who patrolled the outer wall.

“
Intruders?”

Simon leaped to his feet
and ran toward the open gates. Aeris raced along behind him.

When he reached the gates,
the wizard skidded to a halt on the slippery grass and stared across
the clearing toward the far edge of the forest. Several creatures had
pushed their way out of the thick undergrowth and stood blinking
owlishly in the bright sunlight.

“
Oh crap,”
Simon said and turned to glare at Aeris. “Confident you did no
harm, hmm?”

On the edge of the forest
stood three towering, furry humanoids that were quite clearly related
to bears. They walked on their hind legs and wore thick leather belts
around their waists. Each had a sword on their hip along with a
quiver of arrows. Across their backs, they carried long bows.

“
How did they follow
me?” Aeris asked, totally confused. “I give you my oath
that I remained invisible for the entire journey home.”

Simon nodded, watching the
bear people in fascination. The largest of them was at least eight
feet tall and massively built. It had silver fur and was a
striking-looking creature. He or she was staring at the tower and the
wizard was quite sure that they could all see him standing in the
middle of the open gates.

The leader said something
to the other two and they began to walk steadily toward the tower.
Kronk and a few of the earthen had repaired the damage done during
Esmiralla's ceremony and the field was level and easy to walk on
again. But the area where the fire pit had been dug was still bare
earth and Simon noticed that the leader glanced at it as the trio
walked past.

Very observant, he thought
to himself.

“
Quickly, we must
secure the gates,” Aeris urged and tugged on Simon's shoulder.

“
They are
approaching, sir wizard,” a deep voice from the arch above him
said nervously. “Perhaps you should withdraw and close the
gates?”

Simon watched the trio
approach for a few seconds and then shook his head. Although they
were large and obviously strong, he felt no sense of menace or threat
from them. They didn't stride quickly; they ambled, in no hurry at
all.

“
No, I don't think
so,” he said loudly enough for the earthen on top of the arch
to hear him.

“
Aeris, get my
staff, would you? Just in case this goes badly, I may need it.”

“
I think you're
crazy,” the air elemental muttered as he disappeared with a
little pop.

“
I just might be.”
the wizard muttered.

But he wasn't afraid; he
was excited. He had meant to attempt to make contact with the bear
people someday, considering how close they lived to his tower. The
choice had been taken out of his hands, but he was more intrigued
than nervous.

Let's see where this goes,
he thought.

The three bear people
weren't quite within hailing distance when Aeris returned with Mortis
de Draconis and handed it to Simon.

“
Be wary,” he
whispered and the wizard nodded once.

“
Always.”

A rustling in the grass to
Simon's right made him turn and he saw Kronk hurrying up to him. The
little guy had been in the back field with the livestock. One of his
fellow earthen must have warned him.

Simon winked at him and
the little guy's anxious expression faded a bit and he smiled weakly
in return.

“
They've stopped,”
Aeris said quietly and Simon turned quickly to look at the bear
people.

They had come to a halt
about thirty feet from the gate, the two smaller creatures, both with
dark brown fur and identical looks of curiosity on their faces,
standing slightly to the rear of the leader.

He or she caught Simon's
gaze. The ursine creature had eyes the color of honey; bright amber
and filled with a quiet intelligence. The leader raised its empty,
paw-like hand to its chest and bowed slightly.

Simon copied the gesture
and the creature looked pleased.

“
Welcome,” the
wizard said in a strong voice. “It's good to finally meet my
closest neighbors. My name is Simon O'Toole.”

The smaller pair made
grunting noises at each other, but their leader kept watching Simon.
It rubbed its paw across its chest several times, as if considering
the wizard's greeting and then stepped forward.

“
Greetings,”
it rumbled and Simon gaped at it. He hadn't been sure that the
creatures could actually speak intelligibly but he could understand
it easily. Their muzzles were bear-like but not as prominent and,
except for slightly larger canines, their teeth were flat, very much
like human teeth.

“
My name is Galder.
I am the leader of my people.”

Simon assumed that Galder
was male, both because of his size and his deep bass voice.

“
These are my
daughters,” he continued with a look to his right and left.
“Meer and Phan.”

“
I'm happy to meet
you,” Simon replied with a nod at both of the females.

They turned away shyly and
he spared a quick thought for how cute that was, considering that
either one could probably tear him apart with ease.

“
They do not speak
English very well at the moment,” Galder told him. “But
they are learning. I knew that one day we would meet humans out in
the world and I have been working hard to ensure that my people are
prepared.”

The leader bared his teeth
and Simon felt his stomach clench for an instant, then realized that
the creature was smiling.

“
I did not know
until today that we had a human living so close to us,” Galder
continued.

He looked up at the outer
wall and then beyond it to the tower.

“
You have a very
secure home here,” the bear-man said. “If I may inquire,
what are you? I see that you have elemental servants and you wear a
robe. That leads me to believe that you are a spell-caster of some
sort, yes?”

Simon leaned on his staff
and saw Galder glance at it briefly.

“
I am, yes. I'm a
wizard.”

The creature's eyes
widened and the females both gasped loudly.

“
A wizard! Well
then, that explains it. But why do you live in such a remote place?
There must be other humans in the world, yes? Could you not live with
them? Humans, like my people, are social creatures.”

With a light laugh, Simon
shook his head.

“
Actually I prefer a
solitary life, Galder. I think it's the wizard in me. I spend a lot
of time studying quietly, working on my magic and all of that. Having
other people around would be a...distraction, I suppose.”

He looked from Aeris to
Kronk and back at Galder.

“
My friends,”
he stressed the word and the bear-man looked surprised, “suit
me well. They are good companions but also know when I need time to
myself. It's a satisfying partnership for all of us.”