The Dragons of Ash and Smoke (Tales from the New Earth Book 5) (43 page)

Jenny groaned loudly but
made no comment. Miriam hurriedly wrapped the cloth around the wound
and clamped her hands on top of it. Simon turned back just in time to
see a warm, golden light shimmer across the cleric's hands. He
watched as Jenny slowly stood up straighter and gave Miriam a
grateful look.

“
Oh, that feels so
much better,” she exclaimed as she wriggled her fingers.

Miriam released her arm
and tied the cloth around the wound securely.

“
Good. I want you to
go to your quarters and rest, Jenny. That healing will leave you
weakened for a few days; I drew upon your own energy to repair the
damage. So eat as much as you can and get some sleep. Change the
wrapping before you turn in and then leave it alone. Come by and see
me tomorrow and I'll make sure you are healing as you should. All
right?”

“
If you say so,
Miriam. And thanks so much.”

The cleric smiled at her
and watched as the warrior walked away.

“
Good job,”
Tamara told her. “We'll have to make sure that everyone knows
about these poisoned or diseased weapons before any future encounters
with goblins.”

“
That would be
helpful,” the cleric agreed. She pulled out another length of
cloth from her pouch and dropped it on the ground to soak up the pool
of stinking yellow fluid that had dripped from Jenny's wound.

“
This stuff is
nasty. I'd rather no one touched it.”

“
If you'll step
back, I can deal with it,” Simon told her.

With a surprised look, the
cleric moved away a few paces.

Simon concentrated on the
discolored length of cloth and willed it to heat up. The disgusting
object burst into flames and burned away in a few seconds, leaving
behind a sooty stain and a nasty stink that dissipated quickly.

“
Wow. Thank you,”
Miriam said with delight.

“
My pleasure. I
wouldn't want anyone else to be exposed to that infection.”

The cleric waved at the
group and headed off toward the nearest staircase leading up to the
top of the walls. As she disappeared into the night, a rumble under
Simon's feet signaled Kronk's return.

The little guy emerged
from the ground and smiled up brightly at the wizard.

“
Hello master! You
are well?”

Before Simon had a chance
to answer, there was a disturbance in the air a few feet in front of
him and Aeris came into view.

“
Oh, you were
scouting as well?” he said as he caught sight of Kronk.

“
I was, yes.”

“
Hey guys, welcome
back. I'm fine, Kronk. So what news do you have for us?”

Tamara moved toward them
and waited anxiously for the elementals' reports.

Aeris motioned for Kronk
to go first.

“
Master, the tunnels
that the goblins used to escape extend beyond the wall for perhaps
fifty yards. They went deep enough to avoid the wards. The group
hurried off to the southeast.”

“
I picked up their
trail in that direction,” Aeris cut in. “They didn't
waste time trying to conceal their tracks; just raced off through the
forest as a group.”

“
To where?”
Tamara asked desperately. “Where did they go?”

“
Several miles, lady
mage,” Aeris told her. “They disappeared below ground
again beneath a very odd structure. A ring of large stones that
appears to be quite ancient.”

“
Stonehenge?”
Simon asked, surprised.

Tamara looked at him with
a little smile.

“
Stonehenge is far
to the south, my friend. But there is an old site, possibly used for
magical ceremonies once upon a time, that is similar to that more
famous landmark. I've seen it once or twice.”

She looked at Aeris.

“
And you're saying
that the goblins are hiding beneath it?”

He nodded and glanced at
Kronk.

“
Aeris is correct,
lady,” the little guy said. “The creatures have burrowed
under this very old stone circle. I moved through the rock and
discovered a series of natural caves connected together about fifty
feet below the surface.”

“
And my brother? Did
you find him?”

Kronk shook his head
regretfully.

“
Lady, I did not
dare take a chance of searching for him. If I was discovered, the
goblins might have killed their prisoner. I felt it best to return
and report to my master and let him decide what we should do next.”

Tamara sagged a little but
nodded dejectedly.

“
Of course. That was
wise, actually.” She smiled faintly at both elementals. “Thank
you for your efforts.”

They bowed respectfully
and then waited, watching Simon.

“
Aeris, could you
find Malcolm and Aiden and ask them to join us please?” he
asked.

The air elemental
immediately flew off into the darkness.

Simon made a gesture and
the magic light he had created for the cleric moved to bob up and
down a few feet over his head.

“
I'd like everyone's
input before we move on the goblins,” he told Tamara and
Liliana.

“
I agree,” the
paladin said with approval. “We must make a coordinated effort,
both to rescue Sebastian and to destroy those creatures. I do not
know how they came to be here, but I can guess.”

At Simon's curious look,
she gestured skyward.

“
The dragons, of
course. I am willing to bet that the red dragons transported a group
of goblins to this country specifically to attack this castle and
take prisoners. The primal red must be frantic to destroy the last
remnants of humanity for the gods of Chaos. Information is important
and I would guess that your brother,” she looked at Tamara,
“was taken because he is a caster and probably has more
knowledge of our plans than an ordinary castle dweller.”

“
The dragons,”
the mage hissed. She glared up at the sky blazing with cold stars.
“It's always the damned dragons. God, there are only a handful
of us left. Why not just attack en masse and level this place? Why
pussyfoot around like this?”

Aeris popped into sight
next to Simon's right shoulder.

“
Lady, you are
joking, aren't you?” he asked incredulously.

Kronk was looking at her
with surprise.

“
I found the
warriors, by the way,” Aeris said to the wizard. “They
will be here shortly.”

“
Thanks.”

Tamara looked from the
elementals to Simon and back again.

“
Of course I'm not
joking. There must be hundreds of red dragons out there in the world
now. Why not just send them all against us at once?”

Aeris snickered and then
seemed to realize that he might sound insulting.

“
Forgive me, lady
mage. I meant no offense,” he said quickly.

“
None taken. Go on.”

“
Well lady, the
primal red dragon could not command that many dragons at once. It is
not possible.”

Simon was listening
intently. One thing he'd learned ever since the elementals had come
into his life was that they had knowledge of things that he never
would, and that knowledge was often triggered by circumstance. They
had surprised him more than once with information that they seemed to
pull out of thin air.

“
Why not?” he
asked Aeris.

“
Because, my dear
wizard, the red dragons are the most independent of all dragons. I
daresay that is why we saw only three dragons earlier today. Any more
than that and they would turn on each other. Remember that flight of
dragons that we saw over the tower not too long ago? It occurs to me
that they did not attack because they refused to cooperate with each
other.”

He paused and added, “And
then there is the small matter of how much they fear you.”

“
Fear us?”
Malcolm boomed out as he and Aiden appeared out of the gloom. He
laughed derisively. “Not likely.”

“
They don't fear
us,” Aiden agreed. “ A handful of Changlings aren't a
threat to the dragons.”

“
Forgive me, sir,
but I don't mean you,” Aeris said diffidently. “I meant
him,” and he pointed at Simon.

“
What? Are you
kidding me?”

“
He is not, master,”
Kronk said firmly. “Your name and your deeds are, I have no
doubt, known to all dragons by now. You have destroyed primals. Do
you not realize how terrifying that must be to a lesser dragon?”

“
But...” Simon
began to protest.

“
They're right,”
Liliana said, cutting him off. “We keep forgetting just how
intelligent dragons are. Yes, they are monsters, but they are also
thinking creatures. And they are very old. In all of their
experience, no one has ever harmed a primal dragon, let alone killed
not one but four of them.”

She stepped forward and
tapped Simon on the chest.

“
You, my friend, are
the boogeyman that gives dragons nightmares now.” She grinned
at him. “Congratulations.”

The wizard looked from
face to face and couldn't help laughing.

“
I'm sorry, folks,
but look at me. Malcolm, you or Aiden could squash me with one hand.
If I weigh more than a buck-fifty, I'd be surprised. And you think
that even a lesser dragon that averages fifty feet in length and
breathes fire is afraid of me? No offense to all of you, but you are
gravely mistaken.”

“
Look, can we argue
about this later?” Tamara asked sharply. “My brother is a
prisoner of those filthy goblins and we need to get him out of their
clutches right now!”

“
I agree,”
Simon said. “That's why I wanted all of you here together. You
are the leaders here as well as the most powerful of all the
Changlings in the castle.”

He looked around and
frowned.

“
Where's Keiko? She
should be here too.”

“
I am here, sir
wizard,” a little voice said from just beyond the circle of
light they were standing in.

The small woman shuffled
into view and bowed to all of them.

“
Ah good. Thank
you,” Simon told her with a smile.

“
Now, if any of you
have ideas on how to get Sebastian away from the goblins safely,
here's your chance to air them.”

The group began discussing
various ways of attacking the goblin hideout, but every plan was
stymied by the main fact that, according to Kronk, there was only one
entrance to the network of caves beneath the stone circle.

“
If we attack
head-on, the goblins are very likely to kill their prisoner,”
Liliana said after the various ideas had all been shot down.

The sky was beginning to
lighten in the east and the night was fading away.

“
We can't wait much
longer,” Tamara told them. “We have to assume that the
goblins are expecting an assault since we drove them off. They could
be on the move even now.”

“
That's true.
Kronk,” Simon looked down at the attentive earthen. “Could
you go back and discreetly keep an eye on the goblins? If they begin
to move away from their base, return and let me know, would you?”

“
Yes master, I can
do that.”

“
Don't take any
chances though,” the wizard added. “Stay hidden and just
watch them.”

“
I will, master.”

The little guy bowed to
the group and burrowed quickly out of sight.

“
And me?”
Aeris asked eagerly.

Simon hid his smile. He
knew how competitive the air elemental was.

“
You head back to
the stone circle too. Stay invisible and patrol the perimeter. Same
instructions as I gave to Kronk; watch for movement and come back
immediately if those creatures make a break for it.”

“
Will do. See you
soon.”

Aeris disappeared
immediately and Tamara sighed audibly with relief.

“
Thanks Simon,”
she said. “I couldn't bear it if those monsters got away while
we stood here twiddling our thumbs.”

“
We're hardly
twiddling our thumbs,” Malcolm protested. “I mean, we
can't just race off headlong and attack that nest, can we? Sebastian
would pay the price for that, surely.”

“
I know, I know,”
Tamara said as she began pacing again. “So what is the
solution?”

Before anyone could
answer, several people came into the courtyard through a narrow door
carrying trays. One of them, a heavy-set matronly woman wearing an
apron over a simple blue dress, led the way.

“
Yes, Nancy?”
Tamara said as she noticed the procession. “What can we do for
you?”

The woman looked at them
all merrily, her smile broad.

“
It's what I can do
for you, my dears.”

She gestured at the others
lined up behind her; two women and two men. All were smiling
affectionately at the woman.