The Dragons of Ash and Smoke (Tales from the New Earth Book 5) (27 page)

“
Since I don't know
anyone else that can communicate with me here using magic, I assume
that's it's you, Simon?” he said as he stared at the field in
front of him.

“
Yeah, it's me. I'm
amazed that you can sense me using the Magic Mirror spell now.”

Daniel waved a hand around
vaguely.

“
It's this place.
I've become convinced that the elven realm alters you the longer you
stay here. I'll never be a spell-caster, but my ability to feel magic
around me has definitely been heightened.”

Daniel smiled widely.

“
So how are you? I
was told by the elders about your battle with the primal brown
dragon.”

The smiled faded into a
look of concern.

“
And about you being
ambushed by a red dragon. All they knew for certain after that
encounter was that you had survived somehow and been taken deep
underground by the dwarves. The elvish seers cannot breach the
dwarven wards, so I've heard nothing since then.”

“
I'm fine now,
thanks to Stanis Ironhand and his people,” Simon told him.
“They put me into a healing sleep for months and saved my life.
I just got back a few days ago.”

Daniel looked skeptical.

“
You were in a coma
for months?”

“
Yep.”

“
And now you're
fine? Are you sure? Long-term comatose patients seldom return to
consciousness unaffected. There are often...side-effects.”

Simon smiled at his
friend's concern.

“
I know that,
Daniel. But those patients were being treated by old-school doctors.
I was cared for by a dwarven cleric and her methods were a heck of a
lot different. So yes, I'm sure that I'm back to normal.” He
chuckled. “Well, as normal as I ever was.”

Daniel laughed as well.

“
Good point.”

“
So what about you
and the elves? How did things go after I defeated the primal brown?”

His old friend put his
head back against the tree trunk and looked up at the waving leaves
above him with a serene expression.

“
Ah, it was
glorious, Simon. The lesser dragons fell from the sky like a cursed
rain. All of them died. The elves are still finding and burying
corpses. I don't know how much time has passed on Earth, but it's
only been a few weeks, my time, since I saw you last.”

Simon shook his head,
still amazed at the shifting time lines between the two worlds.

“
So now what?”
he asked. “That realm is safe and you can live in peace. What
will you do now?”

Daniel snorted and raised
the book he'd been reading.

“
Live in peace?
While my home world is being ravaged by dragons and Chaos lords? Yeah
right. No, I'm doing research, trying to dig back through time to see
how the whole thing started.”

“
The whole thing?
What whole thing? What are you talking about?”

“
The divine war
between the Light and the Darkness. How did it start? Which side
first created the dragons? Do the gods have any weaknesses? All of
that.”

Simon drank some coffee
while he considered his response.

“
Um, no offense,
Daniel, but they're gods. They don't have any weaknesses.”

“
Nonsense,”
his friend replied with a scowl. “All creatures have
weaknesses. I don't necessarily mean a physical vulnerability, you
know. Emotional, spiritual, there are many types of deficiencies that
can be exploited. These so-called 'lords of Chaos' have a lot to
answer for and, if we can find a way to help the gods of Light win
their war against these monsters, I think we should.”

“
Oh, I'm not
arguing, trust me. I just don't know how much mortals can do in a
fight like that. We must seem like ants to the gods.”

Daniel's smile was
unpleasant.

“
Exactly. And who
expects the ants to turn on them and attack, hmm? Anyway, that's what
I'm doing now. How about yourself?”

“
Still finding my
feet. Did you hear about how all of the Changlings are gathering in
one place to live?”

His friend perked up and
raised an eyebrow.

“
No, I didn't. Tell
me.”

And so he did. Simon told
Daniel about Nottinghill Castle and how as many Changlings as
possible had moved there, and of others who were being invited to
join them.

When he was done, Daniel
was smiling and nodding with approval.

“
Excellent. A
castle. That is brilliant. It's a place that can be well defended
both physically and magically. And there are hundreds of human
survivors? Wonderful. I'm cautiously optimistic.”

“
Me too.”

Simon was sorely tempted
to tell his old friend about the silver dragon. But he had no way of
knowing if the dark gods could tap into his communication spell and
he couldn't risk it.

“
Thank you for
calling, Simon. You've cheered me up immensely.”

Daniel stood up slowly and
leaned against the tree trunk for a moment. Simon was distressed to
see how wobbly he looked. He might sound vigorous, but his old
friend's premature aging seemed to be catching up to him. He quickly
pushed that thought out of his mind.

“
I'll keep doing my
research. Call me every few weeks, would you, and I'll update you on
anything I've found.”

“
Absolutely. You
take care.”

“
And you, young
wizard,” Daniel replied with a crooked grin.

Simon shook the mirror to
break the spell and then set it down on the desk.

What would he do if he
lost his friend to old age? The wizard shook his head and tried not
to think about it. That wasn't going to happen, not for years, he
told himself and tried to concentrate on something else.

Luckily a distraction
appeared soon afterward. As he was walking back downstairs for more
coffee, the door slammed open and Kronk popped into the room.

The little guy appeared to
be fairly dry and Simon stopped at the bottom of the stairs to look
at him.

“
Has it stopped
raining?”

“
It has, master, for
now. But the sky is still heavy with rain clouds, so I do not think
it will last.”

“
Probably not, but
this might be a good time to let the horses out for a run. I know
they don't care about getting wet but I thought I'd help you with
them and I don't want to get soaked. Frankly, I feel the need for
something to do.”

The little guy smiled
brightly.

“
A wonderful idea,
master. Let us go now, before it starts raining again.”

Simon slipped on his
outdoor shoes and he and Kronk headed for the stable.

Letting the horses out to
exercise and graze cheered the wizard up as usual and, when the rain
began to fall again, he ran back inside in better spirits. Chief and
the mares stayed out in the field. The rain didn't bother them and
the filly seemed to love it. Her bright yellow coat was splattered
with mud as she raced around the field joyously.

Simon waited for Kronk to
come in behind him and closed the door. As he was slipping off his
shoes, the little guy nudged his knee and pointed across the room at
the kitchen table.

He turned and saw Aeris
bobbing gently up and down and smiling. He looked pleased with
himself.

“
Hey, you're back!
That was fast.”

The wizard changed shoes
and walked over to sit at the table.

“
It really wasn't,”
Aeris replied. “I've been gone for hours.”

“
Well, it seemed
pretty quick. So? Any luck?”

The air elemental's smile
widened.

“
Yes. Very good luck
for a change. I found a herd of cattle about fifty miles to the
southwest of here. A couple of dozen cows and a rather formidable
bull watching over them.”

“
Milk cows?”
Kronk asked as he hopped up on to the tabletop.

“
Several of them
are, yes. The rest are beef cattle.”

“
Beef cattle? Hmm.”

Aeris looked at the wizard
intently.

“
Thinking of steaks,
are you? Could you bring yourself to kill and butcher a cow?”

Simon's face twisted with
distaste.

“
God no. That's why
I used to trade for venison with Nottinghill, before they moved away.
And why I don't eat rabbit or any of the other game around here. I'm
pretty sure I could milk a cow, once I figured out what to squeeze or
whatever, but as much as I love beef, I can't kill an innocent
animal.”

“
But you have no
problem with someone else doing the dirty work, right?” Aeris
said with faint disdain.

The wizard shrugged.

“
I'm a child of my
times. What can I say? I grew up buying my meat at a neighborhood
butcher shop. It not like I didn't know where the stuff came from,
but we had people who specialized in that sort of thing.”

Aeris snorted softly.

“
Well, my dear
wizard, those people are gone. If you want meat, you will have to
forget the middle-man and do the distasteful work yourself.”

“
Yeah, no. That's
not going to happen.”

Simon stopped speaking
abruptly as an idea began to form in the back of his mind.

“
What is it,
master?”

“
Something just
occurred to me,” he said, thinking it through. “If we
could actually round up a couple of dairy cattle and maybe several
beef cattle as well, then we could care for them here. I'm not sure
about a bull though; I think that would be too much to handle.”

“
Why that many
cattle?” Aeris asked. “And why beef cows if you can't
bring yourself to slaughter them for meat later?”

“
Because I know that
there are people at Nottinghill Castle who can,” Simon told
him.

Both of the elementals
looked a little puzzled and Simon tried to explain.

“
If we captured our
own beef cattle, domesticated them, raised them ourselves, then when
the time came to restock my supplies with smoked meat, dried beef,
all of that, I could just transport a cow to the castle. One of their
people could do the butchering and take a portion of the meat as
payment for their services. It would be a win-win for both of us.”

“
Ah, I see, master,”
Kronk told him with an understanding nod. “That sounds quite
fair.”

“
I agree, my dear
wizard. If they have many mouths to feed in their new home, the
townspeople would probably be quite happy to begin trading.”
Aeris frowned in thought. “Perhaps we could begin trading in
vegetables again as well. Kronk, could you expand the garden to grow
extra produce for trade?”

“
Yes, of course,”
Kronk replied. “We grow as much as we need now, because master
can't abide waste. Neither can I.”

He looked at Simon.

“
But if you'd like,
master, I can certainly plant more corn, beans, tomatoes; whatever
you'd like. It is still early in the season and expanding our garden
would be quite easy to do.”

Simon was smiling as he
considered the possibilities of renewing his trade with his old
neighbors. He didn't know what skills the new group had, but if they
had people who could sew or knit, he could use some new robes and an
extra blanket for his bed. And shoes. He wondered if any of them
could work leather into shoes. Hmm.

“
If you don't mind
the extra work, Kronk, then I think that's a terrific idea. We don't
live in a vacuum, even in this dangerous new world. I may be a
wizard, but I can't just snap my fingers and conjure up new clothes
or other things that I need. I have to rely on others for that.”

“
It is no trouble,
master,” the earthen assured him cheerfully. “I will
begin first thing tomorrow, providing the weather clears up. Planting
in the pouring rain is pointless; the seeds just wash away.”

“
I'll leave that in
your very capable hands, my friend,” Simon told him gratefully.
“Now, Aeris, about tomorrow.”

The air elemental listened
attentively.

“
If the weather is
nice, while Kronk gets started on expanding the garden, you can take
me to the location of the cattle and we can figure out the best way
to, um, procure some livestock.”

“
That should be
interesting,” Aeris said with a wry smile.

“
That's one word for
it. It's bound to be challenging, especially if, as you say, there's
a bull watching over the herd. Oh well, who said life was easy,
right?”

“
None of us, that's
for sure. Very well, sir wizard, we will give it a try.”

Simon got up and filled
the kettle. He put it over the fire and took out one of his fresh
loaves of bread. While he cut off several slices, Kronk jumped down
and added a log to the fire, adjusting it carefully until he was
satisfied with its placement. Meanwhile, Aeris floated over to the
counter and took out a cup and readied Simon's tea.