The Dragons of Argent and Silver (Tales from the New Earth #6) (28 page)

She
could have been lying, Simon thought as he stared at the misshapen
tower. She might have just said that to piss me off. And if that's
the case, maybe they still live. They could be thriving. Who knows?

He
remembered the one youngster who had saved his life the day he
returned to his home town. Covered from head to toe in rags and as
small as a child, she had warned him to run when Madam and her pack
had cornered him.

“
Sarah,”
he whispered.

She
said her name was Sarah. She and her group of Changlings, all hidden
from prying eyes in cast-off rags, had constantly been on the move to
stay ahead of the undead. But even though their leader, Bobby, had
distrusted Simon, Sarah had given him a warning, and a gift. She had
warned him to leave the city before sundown, and she had handed him a
pebble. On one side, a weird rune had been etched into its surface.

Where
is that little stone, he wondered. Simon was sure that it was
somewhere in his tower. It had been precious to him. Sarah had
somehow used it to communicate with him when Madam was closing in,
telling him to run. She said that the unseen menace was powerless in
the sunlight, and she had been right.

Unfortunately,
once he had left the city his connection to the child had faded away
and he'd never seen or heard from her again.

Simon
stood up with a grunt and leaned on his staff. He looked at the tower
once again.

If
I just Gate blindly into town, I could be in for an unpleasant
surprise. I need to scout with the Magic Mirror spell first, but even
that might not be good enough.

I
need to find that pebble, he thought.

Simon
took one last look at the distant tower and held up his staff.

“
Gate.”

An
hour later, Simon and the two elementals were tearing up the tower,
searching for Sarah's pebble.

“
Damn
it,” the wizard said as he groped through his desk in the
study. “If I was an enchanted bit of rock, where would I hide?”

“
Does
that method actually work?” Aeris asked as he peered into the
bookshelves, scanning one row at a time.

“
Not
really. What I should say is, if I was a distracted young wizard with
very few powers and his head up his ass, where would I drop a pebble?
That might work better.”

Aeris
snickered while continuing his search.

“
As
amusing as that sounds, my dear wizard, you are being too hard on
yourself. Back then you didn't think that you would ever be returning
to your old city. You were concerned with survival, mastering your
craft, learning all that you could about magic. That pebble must have
seemed inconsequential at that time.”

“
I'm
still concerned with all of those things,” Simon told him as he
knelt down and searched the floor under his desk. “But now that
pebble is a hell of a lot more important to me than it was then.”

“
Master!”
Kronk shouted from downstairs.

Simon's
head jerked up in surprise and slammed into the underside of the
desk. He yelled in pain and then pulled out every curse word he'd
ever known as he held his throbbing skull.

There
was a moment of silence in the tower, punctuated by the wizard's
continued cursing, and Kronk stuck his head in the room.

“
Master?”
he said tentatively.

“
Relax,”
Aeris told him as Simon got to his feet, one hand holding the top of
his head.

“
Our
great leader just smacked himself. He'll live.”

“
Oh
master, was that because of me? I am so sorry!”

“
Relax,
Kronk,” Simon told him. “Ouch. It's not...ow...your
fault. I was just startled, that's all.”

He
held his head a minute longer and then checked his hand for blood.
His mass of hair had prevented any real damage and Simon now felt
like an idiot.

A
feeling I've become all too familiar with, he thought with pained
amusement.

“
Anyway,
what's up?” he asked Kronk as he said down gingerly on the
chair behind the desk.

The
little guy tip-tapped across the room, jumped up on the desk and
stood looking at Simon dubiously.

“
Are
you sure you are okay, master? I could get a poultice or something
for your injury.”

“
I'm
fine. Really. Now, why did you howl like a banshee?”

Aeris
floated over and stood next to Kronk. The earthen looked at him,
puzzled.

“
Did
I howl like a banshee? I have heard a banshee's howl and I do not
think my voice could ever hit that high a note.”

“
Hmm,
good point,” Aeris answered thoughtfully. “Actually I'd
say you bellowed like a buffalo. Much lower tone.”

“
A
buffalo? Really? I do not know about that. That sounds undignified.
Perhaps a rock golem or...”

Simon
sighed in exasperation and tapped on the desk.

“
Guys?
We're getting off track here. Let's focus. Kronk, what is going on?”

“
Oh
yes. Well master, I've thought of a simpler way to find that bit of
stone. I can go down below the root of the tower and merge with it.
That way I can feel every bit of rock and stone in the building. If
that pebble is here, I will find it.”

“
Wow.
You can do that?”

“
Oh
yes, master. It is difficult and will take some time but I can
certainly do it.”

Simon
leaned forward and stared into the little guy's burning red eyes.

“
Is
it painful?”

Kronk
seemed puzzled.

“
Painful?
No master, quite the opposite. For one of my kind, it is actually
quite liberating. We are one with the stone for a time.”

The
little guy looked around and lowered his voice.

“
Indeed,
master, I have heard of some of my people merging with stone and
never returning. Whether because they could not or they chose not to
is a mystery.”

“
Hang
on just a minute,” Aeris interjected. “If that's true,
then how do we know if you'll even return from this merging thingy? I
don't know about the great and powerful wizard here,” Simon
rolled his eyes, “but I for one don't feel like living in a
place made partially of your dead body. That's...gross.”

“
Aeris...”
the wizard began but stopped as Kronk shook his head.

“
I
do not want to lose myself in the stone. I am enjoying my time here
far too much for that. Those who were lost were ancient beings whose
lives had become a meaningless existence. Many were slaves to ancient
wizards who used them badly. By all accounts they were ready to end
it all and became one with the element of earth. It was their escape,
you see.”

He
smiled happily at Simon.

“
I
do not wish to escape. I have far too much to do. Why, the gardening
alone...”

“
Fine,
Kronk. Fine,” Aeris cut in. “Just checking.”

“
If
you think it will help, my friend, then the choice is yours,”
Simon told him gratefully. “How long will it take?”

“
Several
hours, master. But do not worry; I will be back.”

The
earthen hopped off of the desk, waved as he reached the door and left
the room.

“
I'm
not sure if that was a promise or a threat,” Aeris said as he
stared at the doorway.

Simon
had to laugh.

“
You
really never stop, do you?”

Aeris
looked at him and grinned mischievously, obviously knowing what the
wizard meant.

“
I
wouldn't be me if I did, now would I, my dear wizard?”

“
Can't
argue with that. Well, I guess we can leave the search in Kronk's
capable hands.”

He
rubbed his scalp gently for a moment and then picked up the hand
mirror. Kronk had managed to fuse all of the shards together again
into a smooth surface and had even straightened out the silver
housing. He could barely tell that he'd smashed the thing in a moment
of grief.

It
had also been his mother's mirror and was the only memento he had to
remember her by, except for his memories. He was very glad that Kronk
could repair it.

“
So
let's check out the city, shall we?” he said to Aeris.

“
Ah,
good idea. This should be interesting.”

The
elemental moved to hover at Simon's right shoulder and both of them
peered at their own reflections.

“
You
might want to shave,” Aeris told the wizard. “I think I
see a hair above your upper lip.”

“
Shut
up,” Simon snapped at him and they exchanged grins in the
mirror.

The
wizard cast the Magic Mirror spell and concentrated on the ruined
Peace Tower as he had seen it earlier in the day.

While
they waited for the magic to find its target, Aeris looked at Simon
curiously.

“
What
exactly were you doing so close to that city, by the way? You do
realize how dangerous it was, right? I didn't want to say anything in
front of Kronk; you know how he gets. But seriously? You got close
enough to see these Parliament Buildings of yours?”

“
I
told you already; it just sort of happened. I was walking and
remembering the past and then I reached the river. I followed the
shoreline, saw the island and Gated over. End of story.”

“
Uh-huh.
Okay then, stick with that explanation if it helps you sleep at
night.”

Simon
ignored him and focused on the mirror.

“
It's
clearing,” he said and both he and Aeris leaned forward to peer
at the vista appearing before them.

“
Holy
crap.”

It
was past sunset and Simon was sitting in his comfy chair in front of
the fireplace, sipping some wine when Kronk came bounding in the
front door and slammed it behind him.

“
Master,
I am back!” he exclaimed as he hurried across the room.

“
We
can see that,” Aeris said acerbically. He was bobbing gently
just above the floor in from of the fire and throwing off rainbows of
colored light.

“
Welcome
back,” Simon told him with a smile. “How are you
feeling?”

The
little guy jumped up on to the arm of the chair, looking quite
pleased with himself.

“
Very
well, master. I found the experience quite refreshing. I now know
every nook and cranny of this tower in a way that I never have
before.”

He
looked around the room with an affectionate expression.

“
It
is a good building, master. Strong bones. It will last as long as you
need it to.”

“
Good,
because I have no intention of living anywhere else any time soon.”

Simon
took another sip of wine and Kronk looked at it curiously.

“
I
felt a need for something fortifying,” the wizard told him.
“I'll explain in a minute. So what about the pebble?”

“
The
pebble? Oh yes, the pebble! Wait a moment, master and I will fetch
it.”

Kronk
jumped down again, tip-tapped across the room and ran up the stairs.

“
He
never does anything in half measures, have you noticed that?”
Aeris asked. “It's all or nothing for that guy.”

“
I
know. Not a bad way to be, I suppose, but hard to maintain for most
of us.”

“
I
agree. Oh well, it helps to define him, I suppose.”

“
And
what defines you, Aeris?” Simon teased. “A lack of
urgency?”

“
I'll
have you know that I have plenty of urgency when the situation
warrants it,” the elemental replied with some dignity. “I
simply can't see getting excited over things like searching for a
piece of rock or gardening. Honestly, it's sometimes exhausting just
to be around him.”

“
Be
nice,” Simon told him. “He has a good heart.”

“
Well,
technically neither of us has a heart, but I know what you mean. Ah
well.”

Aeris
sighed and they both went back to staring at the dancing flames. It
was soothing and after what they had seen in the mirror, Simon had a
feeling that the elemental needed that calming effect as much as he
did.