The Dragons of Argent and Silver (Tales from the New Earth #6) (35 page)

Simon sighed in relief and
smiled at her.

“
That's great to
hear. Thanks Ana. Let's hope that Kronk and Aeris have good news as
well.”

“
Aeris is scouting
around the city?”

“
Yep. It occurred to
me that if the river and land is being poisoned then maybe the air is
as well. I really hope I'm wrong though.”

“
Agreed. Well, if
you don't mind, sir, I am going to spend the evening in the lake. I
find it relaxing. Please summon me if you need anything.”

“
Of course. And
thanks again, Ana. I appreciate your efforts today.”

She bowed and flowed back
down the steps. She lost her shape, became a small pool of water and
sank into the ground.

So weird, Simon thought. I
don't know that I'll ever get used to it.

He rested his chin on his
hand and sat quietly, watching the stars come out.

The moon, just a sliver of
light, rose in the east and it had cooled down enough for Simon to
consider going indoors when Kronk emerged from the ground not too far
from where Ana had disappeared.

“
Master? Are you all
right?” the little guy asked. He seemed surprised to see Simon
sitting alone in the dark.

“
I'm good, thanks.
Just thinking.”

“
Well, you should
get inside before you catch a chill. You were ill this morning,
master, don't forget.”

Yes Mom, Simon thought
wryly but kept it to himself. Kronk only nagged because he cared.

“
Fine. Come on.
Let's go in and you can tell me what you've found.”

Back inside, Kronk stoked
the fire and added a few logs while Simon lit all of the candles with
a flick of his power. He sat down in front of the fireplace and
waited until the earthen was done and joined him.

“
So, any news?”

Kronk hopped up on to the
arm of the chair, scratched his blocky head loudly and nodded.

“
Yes master, both
good and bad. The good news is that the earth around the city is
clean, so far, of any hint of infection. There is some residual
pollution from the age of technology, but it is minor and is being
cleansed by nature.”

“
Is it? Well, every
cloud has a silver lining.”

Simon stared at the flames
dancing in the fireplace.

“
Civilization only
had to be destroyed to stop us from polluting the crap out of the
planet,” he said bitterly. “Lovely.”

“
If you so say,
master,” Kronk said, sounding a little puzzled. “But
there is some bad news as well.”

The wizard dragged his
acidic thoughts back to the present. The past is past, he told
himself. Concentrate on the now.

“
Which is?” he
asked.

“
You remember that
hole that we saw near the tower, master? The one that was surrounded
by undead?”

“
How could I forget
it? It was a horrible sight.”

“
Yes master. Well, I
went deep to explore the condition of the earth and I discovered
tunnels leading off in all directions, centering on that hole.”

“
Meaning what?”

“
Meaning that the
necromancer is drawing his undead troops from many miles away. I
would estimate that he has emptied out all of the cemeteries within a
twenty mile radius of the city.”

“
But how is that
even possible? The amount of power that it would take to extend his
spells that far would be staggering. Impossible for a human
magic-user, even one that is working for the dark gods.”

Kronk was nodding.

“
Exactly, master.
Which means that the necromancer has to be traveling to the sources
in person. We saw him on that tower, but he must leave the city,
travel to a cemetery and unleash his magic. Then he could return
quickly, perhaps using the Gate spell, and the newly created monsters
would follow at their own pace.”

Simon looked at the little
guy skeptically.

“
He can do that?
What, like planting a seed, watering it and just letting it grow
after he leaves?”

Kronk smiled up at him.

“
A fair analogy,
master. I am not the expert in magic that Aeris is, but I understand
that reanimating flesh is a slow process. One does not just,”
he snapped his small fingers together, an odd crackling sound, “and
expect corpses to leap to their feet. It is like an infection; slow
and insidious.”

“
Huh. I didn't know
that.”

The wizard watched the
flames, thinking furiously. How could he use this knowledge to his
advantage?

“
I wonder if we
could track this guy and jump him when he's far from his power base?”
he muttered. “Without his troops, a necromancer must be
significantly weakened, don't you think?”

“
Perhaps, master,”
Kronk answered hesitantly. “You should speak to Aeris about it.
He would know more about such things.”

“
Yeah, I will. Maybe
we can stop this whole situation before it gets out of hand.”

“
It is already out
of hand, my dear wizard.”

Simon sat up and looked
around to see Aeris floating down the stairs carrying the wizard's
hand mirror. Two air elementals trailed along behind him. Simon
recognized Stennos and Osteros.

“
Ah, you are back,”
Kronk said with what sounded like relief.

Instead of his usual
sarcastic response, the air elemental simply smiled wanly and settled
on to the arm of the chair opposite to the earthen while his
companions moved to float in front of the fire.

Aeris offered up the
mirror and Simon took it and looked at him in confusion.

“
What do you mean,
it's out of hand?” he asked and looked at the other air
elementals. “And why do I need this?”

Aeris had a strange,
wide-eyed expression on his face and the wizard thought that he
seemed frightened. It was a rare look for the elemental.

“
I meant exactly
what I said. The undead masses that were gathered around that tower
are gone. All of them. My friends here intercepted me before I could
get to the city. They were just about to return here with their
report. I thought you might want to use the mirror to confirm their
observations.”

“
How can you be sure
they are gone?” Kronk asked as Simon cast the Magic Mirror
spell.

“
I'm not, but
Stennos and Osteros are. According to them, the land around the tower
is churned up from many undead feet, but the horrible things are
gone.” He glanced at the air elementals. “Strangely
enough though, the necromancer is still there, on that tower. I guess
that he's no general; certainly he isn't leading his troops.”

“
Okay, this is just
getting weirder,” Simon said as the mirror fogged over. “Where
did they go? Are they all heading in the same direction or did they
split up into groups?”

“
We don't know, sir
wizard,” Stennos spoke up. “It happened so fast. One
moment they were there and the next, poof, they were gone. Osteros
and I were circling the perimeter of the city in opposite directions
and I swear that we were out of sight of that tower for no more than
a few minutes, but they disappeared within that window. It's as if
they knew we were keeping an eye on them.”

“
That necromancer
might have,” Simon said as he watched the mirror.

“
Master, a
suggestion?”

“
Yes Kronk?”

“
You could send
myself and some of my fellows who are guarding the outer wall to
follow the tunnels and find your answers for you. It may be the only
way to discover that necromancer's plans.”

Simon looked at the
earthen with some concern.

“
Could you do that
safely? I don't want to risk any of you just for that.”

“
Of course we could,
master. We can use our senses to follow the tunnels at a distance. It
would be very safe.”

“
And who would guard
the tower while those earthen are gone, hmm?” Aeris asked
pointedly.

Kronk nodded at Stennos
and Osteros.

“
Them. You are
constantly regaling us with tales of how good your people are as
scouts. Well, let them prove it.”

Simon heard the
challenging tone in Kronk's voice and hid a smile. The little guy was
basically calling out Aeris. It was a rare event.

“
Ah, um, yes. Of
course,” Aeris blustered while the other air elementals watched
him with wide eyes. “These two are worth a dozen earthen when
it comes to standing watch. You should let Kronk go ahead, my dear
wizard. We will keep the tower guarded while they are gone.”

The wizard looked at
Kronk, who nodded vigorously, and sighed loudly.

“
Fine. Kronk, how
many will you need?”

“
All of them,
master, if you will permit it. It will speed up our mission
considerably.”

“
All right. Take the
five of them with you. Stennos, Osteros? Would you mind patrolling
the wall around the tower while the earth elementals are gone? It's
your choice, of course.”

“
It would be our
pleasure, sir wizard,” Osteros spoke for the first time. “I
am sure that Aeris will join us as well.”

Simon looked at Aeris and
raised an eyebrow.

“
Aeris?”

“
Yes, of course. You
two go ahead. I'll be along in a few minutes.”

“
Be careful, Kronk,”
Simon told him as the earthen hopped off of the chair.

“
Always, master. We
will be back soon, I am sure.”

He raced for the door and
Stennos and Osteros flew off after him. All three left at once and
Kronk slammed the door shut behind them.

“
He got you,”
Simon told Aeris with a grin.

The elemental chuckled and
moved up the arm of the chair so that he could see into the mirror.

“
That he did. He
wasn't wrong though. He and the others will be able to follow those
tunnels discretely while my people and I keep an eye on things here.
Now the question is, what is that damnable necromancer up to?”

The mirror began to clear
and Simon nodded at it.

“
Let's find out,”
he said.

The mirror 's point of
view started well above the wreckage of the former Parliament
Buildings and the Peace Tower. The area was dark but there were still
several torches burning at points around the gaping hole.

“
No movement,”
Simon said quietly.

“
None. Stennos was
correct. The undead are gone.”

“
What about our
'friend' in the tower?”

Simon tilted the mirror
and the view changed to focus on the ruined tower. It was dark and
deserted. There was no magical globe and no evil spell-caster.

“
Crap! He's gone.”

Aeris rose up and flew
across to the counter. He lifted the kettle, shook it and flew back
to the fireplace. At Simon's inquiring look, he shrugged.

“
You seem to think
better when you are drinking tea.”

“
Do I? Okay, sure.
Thanks. Now why would that guy suddenly gather his troops and move
out? Do you think he knew that he was being watched?”

“
I very much doubt
it,” Aeris replied as he waited for the water to boil. “Bad
timing on our part is more like it. I think that you were lucky to
have spotted him when you did. If you'd waited a few days longer, all
that you would have found would have been a big hole and a mystery.”
He hesitated. “One might almost think that you were the target
of divine inspiration.”

Simon had to laugh.

“
Do you really think
the lords of Light are helping me? Now? Where the hell have they been
over the past five years?”

Aeris frowned at him.

“
Helping you. Or
have you forgotten that they brought you back from the dead? Twice, I
might add. Maybe now that the primal dragons have been destroyed and
their eternal enemies have changed tactics, they managed to 'nudge'
you in the right direction? It's possible, you know.”

Simon stood up and walked
over to the sink. He rinsed out the cup sitting there and prepared
his tea.

“
Look, I've seen and
done enough now to know that anything is possible. But in this case,
I think we can chalk it up to simple coincidence. Besides, either way
we still have to deal with that guy and the threat he poses.”

Aeris carried the steaming
kettle over and poured hot water into Simon's cup.

“
I agree,” the
elemental said as he set down the kettle. “Which is why we
basically have to sit here, be patient and wait for Kronk to report
back.”

“
No, that's why I
have to do that,” Simon corrected him as he sat down in front
of the fire again. “You have a perimeter to patrol, remember?”

With a grimace, Aeris
reluctantly flew to the front door.

“
Fine, I'll do that.
But please call me when Kronk returns if I don't see him first.”