The Dragons of Argent and Silver (Tales from the New Earth #6) (9 page)

“
Did you get it?”
he asked Brethia eagerly when she arrived.

She made a swirling motion
with both hands and a glowing globule of green liquid appeared
between them.

“
As ordered, a dram
of dragon queen blood,” she replied with a wide smile. “She
never even noticed the small wound I made between her scales. I had
to be quick and precise, but I managed it.”

Orriss cheered and Aeris
congratulated Brethia heartily. She shrugged and shook her head.

“
We did it as a
team, my friends,” she told them. “Our wizard will
hopefully be pleased.”

“
I think we can be
certain that Simon will be ecstatic,” Aeris assured her. “And,
as we have been given permission to return when our mission was done,
you can both teleport back to the tower as soon as you'd like.”

“
Excellent. I for
one am tired of the endless sand of this place,” Orriss said.

He disappeared with a
small pop, leaving Aeris and Brethia to stare at the yellowish smudge
in the distance that was the dragon queen.

“
Shouldn't one of us
remain behind, to keep an eye on her?” Brethia asked.

“
If our wizard wants
us to continue to track her, he'll send someone back,” Aeris
replied, still watching the distant queen. “Personally, I agree
with Orriss; I'm sick of this place.”

“
In some ways, she
is a tragic creature, isn't she?” Brethia commented
sympathetically, nodding at the smudge on the horizon.

“
She is indeed. But
she's also one of the most dangerous monsters in the world. Either
way though, she is no longer our concern and hopefully never will be
again. Let's head back.”

Brethia nodded and
vanished.

Aeris waited a final
moment, looking around at the bleak landscape.

By the Four Winds I hate
the desert, was his last thought as he left for home with an enormous
sense of relief.

It was after sunset when a
distant rumble of sound shook the tower lightly. Simon was sitting in
front of the fireplace on the main floor, staring pensively into the
flames. The evening wasn't cold but he found it easier to think while
he watched the fire leap and snap as it burned.

He sat up at the vibration
that rippled through the building and listened carefully. Kronk, who
had been pushing the logs around in the fireplace to get a better
flame, jerked upright and looked at Simon.

“
Did you hear that,
master?”

“
Felt it, actually.
I think our wayward group of elementals is coming home.”

Simon clenched his teeth
and stuck his forefingers into his ears. He knew what was coming.

Three flashes and three
bangs of thunderous sound followed seconds later and he blinked back
tears as his eyes throbbed from the blinding lights.

He looked around and saw
Aeris, Brethia and Orriss floating above the kitchen table.

“
We're back!”
Aeris said cheerfully as Simon stood up and walked over to sit at the
table.

“
You don't say,”
he muttered as he wiped his eyes. “Could you not tone down that
damned entrance once in a while? It's a bit overdone, don't you
think?”

“
Please forgive us,
lord,” Orriss said quickly. “It is not our choice.
It's...”

“
Your ruler. Yeah, I
know. Don't sweat it, guys. I'm just a bit cranky these days.”

He managed to smile at
Orriss and shook a finger at him.

“
And there's no need
for that 'lord' stuff. Simon will do or, if you insist, sir wizard.
Okay?”

The elemental bowed while
Aeris rolled his eyes and Brethia grinned.

“
Of course, sir
wizard. I forgot.”

“
No problem. So I'm
assuming you guys have good news?”

Both of the male
elementals turned and looked at Brethia, who smiled even more widely.

“
We do, sir wizard,”
she replied and made an odd, hand-wringing motion.

An orb about the size of
an orange appeared between her hands, glowing with a greenish tinge
that made it look diseased.

“
That's it?”
Simon asked in a hushed voice.

“
It is. Frozen from
our return trip, but that was the best way to transport it anyway.”
She looked around. “Do you have some sort of container that I
can put it into before it begins to thaw?”

Simon stood up quickly and
stepped over to the cupboards. He rummaged around for a few seconds
and pulled out a large glass.

“
Here you go. Drop
it in this,” he said as he put the glass on the table.

Brethia lifted the frozen
globule of blood a little higher and let it drop into the glass. It
tinkled and bounced once, then settled to the bottom and began to
slowly melt.

Simon sat down again and
stared at the glass for a moment, then looked at the elementals with
a grin.

“
Guys, that was an
amazing accomplishment. Really amazing.”

The three of them seemed
very pleased with themselves.

“
Thanks,”
Aeris said. “Are we the first ones back?” he added
hopefully.

“
I'm afraid not,”
Simon told them and watched the three translucent faces fall.

“
Hey, come on, guys.
Your job was so much harder than the others were. Incendus and Aethos
had tough targets but the dragon queen is both incredibly powerful
and insane. I'm actually surprised that you're back already, both
with her blood and in one piece. Really remarkable.”

His pep talk worked and
the elementals cheered up immediately. Kronk, who had hopped up on to
the table and was watching quietly, gave Simon a discreet wink.

“
We were happy to
serve, sir wizard,” Brethia said. “May we now resume our
post on the roof?”

Simon looked at her and
Orriss curiously.

“
Don't you two want
some time off? Head home for a while maybe or whatever?”

“
Oh no, not at all,”
Orriss told him quickly. “We enjoy keeping watch over your
tower, sir wizard. And we will get a break because we share the
duty.” He hesitated. “Unless you would like one of us to
return to the desert keep track of the queen?”

His distaste for that
option was obvious and Simon had to laugh.

“
No, you've gone
above and beyond the call on this mission. I'll summon another one of
your people to take over that job.” The wizard grinned at their
pleased expressions. “I'll feel more secure with your keen eyes
up on the roof watching over my home.”

Both of the elementals
bowed and disappeared with twin pops. Aeris looked amused.

“
What are you
grinning about?” Simon asked him as he picked up the glass and
watched in disgusted fascination as the green blood continued to
melt.

“
Just their
enthusiasm. They love doing what they do.”

“
And you do not?”
Kronk asked absently as he tapped over to Simon and examined the
frozen blood.

“
Of course I do. But
I prefer scouting or doing what I do now to standing watch day and
night on the roof of this tower.”

Simon turned the glass
this way and that and then put it down on the table and wiped his
hand unconsciously on his shirt, even though he hadn't actually
touched the blood.

“
Can you imagine how
old this stuff is?” he asked the others as he nodded at the
green, viscous liquid. The blood had melted quickly.

“
Probably millions
of years, master,” Kronk replied in obvious awe.

He stroked the side of the
glass, his hand clinking loudly against it.

“
It's just blood,
you know,” Aeris said dismissively. “A dragon is a
dragon.”

“
No real respect for
history, hmm?”

“
I have a lot of
respect for history, my dear wizard. What I don't have respect for is
dragons. And if it wasn't for the queen, we would never have had the
damned monsters in this world to begin with.”

Kronk gave him a serious
look.

“
Don't blame her. It
was the lords of Chaos that created her to be the mother of her
species. If anyone is to blame, it is them.”

“
Kronk's right. If
we ever rid the world of the red dragons and the queen, we'll still
have to deal with the evil gods.”

“
Well, good luck
with that,” Aeris told him with his usual sarcasm.

Simon had to smile.

“
Yeah, you're right.
Good luck with that. Anyway,” he picked up the glass,”
I'm going to put this downstairs with the other 'ingredients' and get
it out of sight. It's a bit...”

“
Gross,” Aeris
said with a firm nod.

“
Exactly. I'll be
back in a minute.”

The wizard walked over to
the stairs and disappeared below. The two elementals watched him and
then Kronk turned to Aeris.

“
Was it difficult?”

Aeris floated off of the
table and down to the front of the fireplace. Kronk dropped to the
floor and joined him. Both of them sat and stared at the flames.

“
Difficult? Yes, I
suppose it was. Exciting too, in a way, but that creature is so
powerful and unpredictable that we came close to being destroyed more
than once.”

“
Well, I am glad
that you were not.”

Aeris smiled at the
earthen.

“
Thanks. I
appreciate that. So now what? When will our wizard start this
ceremony?”

Kronk shrugged, the light
from the fire casting shadows across his suddenly serious expression.

“
I do not know. I
doubt that he knows either. This is Esmiralla's show, as they say.
She will dictate the next move.”

Aeris looked over his
shoulder and then lowered his voice.

“
I don't trust her,
Kronk. This whole thing feels wrong somehow. You know how a wizard's
magic works. There's no need for blood or eggs or any other
disgusting materials. This feels more like witchcraft.”

Kronk frowned at the
flames and then nodded slowly.

“
I know. We share
the same reservations. I have carefully mentioned my concerns to our
master.”

“
And?”

“
And I believe that
he is so eager to end his bond with the silver dragon that he is
ignoring any foreboding. He simply wants to be rid of her and will do
anything to accomplish that goal.”

“
Damn. Well, I don't
like it anyway. Should I tell him?”

Kronk looked at Aeris
again and their eyes locked.

“
Why bother? It
won't matter,” the earthen said heavily. “He will not
listen.”

“
Damn,” Aeris
muttered again.

Simon woke up the next
morning in better spirits than usual. He was optimistic that his
merging with Esmiralla would soon be over and then each of them could
both go their own way. He had come to the chilling conclusion that if
he had to share his mind with the silver dragon for much longer, he
might actually go insane. And that thought was terrifying.

'You are finally awake,'
the dragon's voice echoed through his head.

“
Obviously,”
he replied shortly as he rolled out of bed. He preferred to speak
aloud when communicating to Esmiralla. It seemed less crazy for some
reason.

'Good. Now that we have
the three ingredients we need, the ceremony can soon begin.'

Simon poked through his
wardrobe, discovered an old pair of jeans and a belt to hold them up.
They were ridiculously big on him but he had no interest in wearing
any of his robes.

He found another old
t-shirt, this one black with a faded yellow smiley-face on it, and
slipped it over his narrow shoulders. It fit like a tent.

“
So what's the
holdup?” he asked as he got dressed. “I thought that we
only needed the two types of blood and the egg and then we could get
on with it.”

'That is all that is
needed for the ceremony, yes,' the silver dragon answered. 'Now we
need the proper setting.'

“
Meaning?”

Simon left his room and
pattered down the stairs in his bare feet.

'Meaning that the ceremony
must be performed at night, under a full moon.'

The wizard walked across
the main floor to the sink and filled his kettle. Apparently both of
the elementals were out.

“
A full moon?
Seriously?” he asked derisively as he hung the kettle in the
fireplace and added a log to the low-burning embers. “Should I
sacrifice a virgin too? Yeah, good luck finding one of those around
these parts.”

'Your tone is not
appreciated, wizard.'

The dragon sounded
irritated but Simon was past caring.

'The rite is the rite,'
she continued. 'This is one of the parameters that must be met if we
want it to succeed. And we both want that, do we not?'