The Dragons of Ash and Smoke (Tales from the New Earth Book 5) (29 page)

“
You guys too,”
Simon replied with a smile.

Both men were wearing
their standard plate armor; plain and functional. They wore it as
easily as the wizard wore his robes.

“
Are you even
bigger?” he asked them. “You're both too old to still be
growing, you know.”

Malcolm rumbled a laugh
while Aiden rolled his eyes.

“
Tell that to my
body,” he said and tapped his breastplate. “The
blacksmith has had to adjust my armor twice in the last few months.”

Simon looked at both men
appreciatively.

Malcolm was still the
largest man that he'd ever seen. He was black, with fine features and
an open, almost innocent expression. He kept his shoulder-length hair
in braids to make it easier to wear a helmet when needed.

Aiden was Korean and even
more handsome than his partner. He was as muscular as Malcolm, but
hadn't been quite as tall after he'd Changed. Looking at him now,
Simon thought that he might have almost caught up to Malcolm's
height. His straight, thick hair hung down below his shoulders and
was fluttering in the breeze. He preferred to keep it loose, despite
teasing from his partner.

“
You both look
good,” the wizard told them. “Aiden, you may actually be
as tall as the big guy now.

“
Hey now, don't tell
him that!” Malcolm protested. “He's already getting a few
too many admiring looks from our new townspeople.”

Aiden chuckled and poked
him.

“
Don't be jealous,
you twit. As long as you don't lose interest or stop paying attention
to me, you have nothing to worry about.”

“
You see what I have
to deal with?” Malcolm growled as he pretended to glare at
Aiden.

Simon wasn't fooled. The
affection between the two men had been obvious from the first time
he'd met them.

“
By the way, how are
you doing this?” Aiden asked.

“
Doing what?
Speaking to you? It's just the Magic Mirror spell. I've used it
before; don't you remember?”

“
He means, how come
we can actually see you?” Malcolm said. “It's like you're
standing right in front of us. Granted, you look a little...misty,
but other than that, it's like you are actually here.”

“
Wait. What?”

Simon finally realized
that both men were staring right at him, something that they
shouldn't have been able to do without looking in a mirror. What the
hell?

“
You can actually
see me?” They both nodded. “And it looks like I'm
standing with you?”

“
Exactly. It's
pretty awesome, to tell you the truth,” Aiden said
appreciatively.

“
Well, that's
frigging weird. I'm sitting at my desk in my study, not standing. And
I certainly don't know how to project my image using the Magic Mirror
spell.”

“
Well, however
you're doing it, it's great. Much easier than talking to you as a
disembodied voice. I've never liked that, to be honest.”

“
Hmm. I'll have to
investigate this when I get the chance. But for now, I'll call it a
bonus and move on. So, I wanted to talk to you both about maybe
setting up some sort of trade between your people and me.”

“
Trade?” Aiden
asked. “What kind of trade?”

“
Oh, you know. From
my side, vegetables mostly. Possibly beef as well. From your side, I
don't really know. I could use some clothing and other things like
that. Knitting, sewing. You know, stuff that I can't do for myself.”

“
Never learned to
sew, Simon?” Malcolm asked, amused.

“
Nope. I don't have
a clue when it comes to that sort of thing. I've tried to repair
holes in my clothing but it never goes well. Apparently I was born
with ten thumbs when it comes to fine needlework.” He laughed
at himself. “Thank God magic doesn't call for knitting
something. If it did, I'd be dead by now.”

The warriors both
chuckled.

“
I think we can set
something up,” Malcolm told him, becoming more serious. “We've
got some cattle, sheep and goats here now, but more meat would be
welcome. There are a handful of our people who do amazing work when
it comes to making clothes. One young guy has a knack for making
quilts, actually. They are amazing and quite colorful.”

“
Huh. Sounds good.
Kronk and I are going to increase the size of our garden and grow
extra produce just for trading purposes. We should have something to
offer in a few weeks. My earthen friend has a way of encouraging
plants to grow quickly.”

“
Just call us
whenever you want to trade, Simon, and we'll work out an equitable
arrangement.”

“
Thanks guys, I
appreciate that. So how's everything else going? What's it like
living in a castle?”

Aiden turned to look below
at the darkened courtyard.

“
Like a dream, to be
honest. I mean, Malcolm and I were raised in a small town. Neither of
us had ever even seen a castle in person until we came here.”

“
Yeah, but we
couldn't use swords or fight undead before either, could we?”
Malcolm asked him with a small smile.

Aiden snorted and frowned.

“
We didn't need to,
did we? Anyway, the castle is awesome. It even has working plumbing;
a system that was set up in the middle ages that still works now that
technology has failed.”

“
Really? That's
great. I have to admit, I miss having a flushing toilet,” Simon
told them. “Outhouses....ugh.”

“
Tell me about it,”
Malcolm said. “But this system works well. And the place is
huge. We have close to a hundred and fifty people here now but when
you walk around, you'd never even know it. There's room to spare for
a lot more folks to join. Unfortunately, this may be as many
Changlings as there are left in the world.”

That idea was depressing
and Simon felt a touch of despair as he considered it.

“
Imagine,” he
said softly. “From seven billion people to less than two
hundred. How the mighty have fallen.”

“
And we did think
that we were mighty, didn't we?” Aiden said sadly. “Top
of the heap, masters of all we surveyed. Now? Now we huddle together
against the darkness, waiting for some abomination to come shambling
out of the shadows to finish us off.”

“
I hear that.”

“
Okay, you two.
Knock it off,” Malcolm said with a fierce glint in his eyes.
“We aren't done yet. You, Simon, have been instrumental in
killing four primal dragons. Don't forget that.”

Simon started to protest
and the big man cut him off.

“
And don't give me
that 'aw shucks' routine either. If it weren't for you, we'd all be
dead. End of story. That is the reality.”

He glanced at Aiden.

“
But we aren't dead
yet and, for my money, we're going to survive this. So why don't we
proceed on that assumption and think positively about the future.
Okay?”

After some hesitation,
Simon nodded and Aiden clouted Malcolm on the shoulder, making his
armor ring.

“
Fine, Mary Poppins,
we'll do that. My man, the optimist. Go figure.”

Malcolm smiled a bit.

“
Well, why not? Doom
and gloom is easy. Optimism these days? Not so much. Simon, give us a
call whenever you want to trade and we'll proceed from there. Oh and
drop by soon, why don't you, and we can give you the grand tour.”

“
I will. Thanks. It
was great to see you both again. I'll talk to you soon.”

Both of the warriors
smiled and waved and Simon canceled the spell.

He was buoyed by the big
man's attitude and felt a surge of happiness.

He's right too, the wizard
thought. Depression is a killer. Life might not be all rainbows and
unicorns, but a positive outlook couldn't hurt.

Plus it was just
heart-warming to see his friends again. He missed human companionship
sometimes, even though he had Kronk and Aeris to keep him company.
He'd have to Gate to Nottinghill Castle soon.

Simon was tempted to call
Tamara and Sebastian but, as he stared at the blackness outside of
his windows, realized that it was quite late in England now. He
decided to wait until the next morning.

Instead, he got up and
walked across to his bookshelf, looking through his old fantasy
books.

“
Ah, there you are,”
he muttered as he pulled out a large, leather-bound tome.

The title along the spine
read: Mythical Beasts and Monsters. Although it was a book of
fiction, many of the descriptions had turned out to be remarkably
accurate.

The wizard sat down again
and began to flip through the thick book.

“
Dragons. Dragons,”
he murmured. “Where are the drag...ah, there you are.”

He had several of these
reference books that mentioned dragons, but this one had always been
the most descriptive. Just how the authors had come up with such
accuracy was a mystery, and a little creepy, but there it was. Simon
was just happy to have the book to help him out.

“
Okay, silver
dragon. Where are you?”

Neither Malcolm nor Aiden
had mentioned a dragon but then Esmiralla had said she'd spoken to a
woman, not a man, so that made sense.

The illustrations of the
many kinds of dragons were detailed and colorful and Simon felt a
touch of anger as he found pictures of black, brown and green wyrms.

The picture of the red
dragon gave him a chill though. If the primal red looked anything
like this armored monstrosity, he was in for one hell of a fight, if
and when he met it.

He flipped the page over
quickly and felt a bit of relief at the sight of the next pictures.
The illustrations of the good dragons were like a soothing balm on
his nerves.

Brass, copper, bronze, the
lawful dragons were laid out in glorious display. Somehow the artist
had caught a kind of nobility in their features and Simon was
saddened knowing that they had all been destroyed.

All but Esmiralla, he
thought. He felt suddenly protective of the silver dragon, as absurd
as that seemed. If she was the last of the dragons of Light, she had
to be defended. They couldn't lose her.

Simon thought of what a
symbol the silver dragon could be for his people. If the other
Changlings learned that a dragon was actually on their side, a
creature that up until now they had feared as an enemy, that could
send morale soaring. And that could only be a positive for everyone.

“
Ah, there you are,”
the wizard said quietly. “The silver dragon. Argentum draconem.
Huh. Was their primal named after the Latin word for silver or
vice-versa, I wonder? Weird.”

The picture of the dragon
was magnificent. Taking up a whole page, the creature's silver scales
seemed to glow and shine like hundreds of little mirrors. The horns
spiraled up above the heavy brows and, like Esmiralla's, appeared to
be carved from crystal.

“
The silver dragon
is second in power only to the gold,” he read aloud. “Using
the power of nature, the silver dragons attack with wind, lightning
and deep cold, surpassing the evil white dragons with whom they are
often compared. These dragons are also the only ones known for their
power to heal and are often found accompanying other dragons into
battle specifically as healers.”

That's interesting, Simon
thought as he rested his chin on his palm. So they can heal as well
as harm. Versatile.

“
Unfortunately
silver dragons are vulnerable to intense heat and do not fare well
against fireballs or other fire-based attacks.”

Oh crap. That means that
Esmiralla should avoid any fights with red dragons. He frowned in
thought. On the other hand, the red dragons could be harmed by cold
attacks. Huh. Sounds like they cancel each other out. So it's either
a win-win or a lose-lose. Damn it.

But he also knew something
about dragons that the writers of this book didn't: all of them were
vulnerable to their own strengths. The primal black dragon had
basically fried itself with lightning, its own weapon. The primal
green had choked to death on its own poison. So the red dragons had
to be damaged by fire.

He smacked the book
lightly with his palm. Didn't know everything, did you, boys?

Simon sighed and closed
the book. He rubbed his eyes, feeling a little disconnected and then
stood up slowly. He had a lot to think about but it would have to
wait until the morning; he was just too tired to focus at the moment.

With a wave of his hand,
he extinguished the candles in the room and summoned a globe of
light. Time for bed.

The next morning was much
more promising, weather-wise. The sun was shining through the windows
as Simon woke up and apparently one of the elementals, he guessed
Aeris, had opened the windows to let in the morning breeze.

He stretched slowly and
lay there enjoying the smell of the sweet, fresh air blowing into the
room. He stared up at the ceiling blankly, not thinking about
anything in particular. There was a list of chores and problems a
mile long that he needed to deal with, but for this short time he
just wanted to savor the simple pleasure of a new day.