The Dragons of Bone and Dust (Tales from the New Earth Book 7) (10 page)

“
Damn it,”
he said softly. “This is bad. Either he doesn't want to return
or the magic isn't working.”

Or he was destroyed in the fight with
Lacertus, his inner voice whispered insidiously.

“
Shut up,”
he growled at it. “Fine then. We'll try for Aeris instead.”

This time, Simon held up his staff
and concentrated so hard that his vision was tinged with pulses of
red.

“
Aeris, I
summon you!” he shouted, a note of desperation in his voice.

The echoes died and still there was
nothing; no response.

He folded his legs and sat down on
the hard roof with a thud.

“
Well,”
he said to the staff as he laid it down beside him. “That's it
then. Either they can't or won't come back. And if they don't want to
return, can I really blame them for that? It was a crazy, scary life
that we led; dragons, undead, monsters, even a frigging god.”

He snorted as he stroked Mortis de
Draconis absently.

“
Not a big
god, mind you. But a god is a god. Who the hell would even want to
expose themselves to that kind of insane danger again? I mean besides
me. And you, of course.”

He gave the staff a final pat, pushed
himself to his feet and picked it up.

“
Well, at
least I still have you,” he said to it. “And a big point
in your favor is that you don't argue. Aeris never seemed able to
break that habit.”

“
I've always
told you that he insulted me behind my back. See? You've never
believed me.”

“
That wasn't
an insult. It's true. You have a bad habit of bickering and it gets
annoying after a while.”

“
I do not!”

Simon spun around, looking for the
source of the voices behind him.

Kronk was standing beside the open
trap door to the roof. Next to him, floating a few inches off of the
ground, was the semi-translucent figure of Aeris. Both of them were
grinning at him.

“
You,
you...”

“
You're
stuttering, oh great and powerful wizard,” Aeris told him with
a shake of his head. “Sign of possible mental issues, you know.
You'll have to watch that.”

“
Be quiet,
Aeris,” Kronk growled, his bass voice at odds with his small
stature. “Master is the most stable human that I have ever
known. We surprised him, that is all.”

Simon sat down again with a thunk.
His staff rolled out of his hand as he stared at the elementals.

“
You came
back,” he finally managed to say in a strained voice. “You
really came back.”

Kronk pattered across the roof until
he was standing to Simon's right. He smiled warmly at him, his dark,
rocky face glowing with delight.

“
Of course
we came back, master. How could we not? I swore to follow you when
you first set me free and made me a friend, not a slave. And we
earthen never break a vow.”

“
And we airy
ones, as Kronk likes to call us, keep our word as well,” Aeris
added as he floated over to hover next to Kronk. “Besides, as
I've told you many times, my dear wizard, the air realm becomes
extremely boring and tedious over time.”

Simon spent a silent moment just
enjoying his friends' presence. He'd been sure that they wouldn't
come back; that they were sick of him and of their turbulent lives
here on Earth.

“
But here
you are,” he said out loud.

“
Um, yes.
Here we are.”

Aeris peered at him quizzically.

“
Are you
certain that you are all right? You seem a trifle...disjointed.”

Simon reached down and patted Kronk's
shoulder silently. The little guy's smile widened even further and
his fiery red eyes gleamed.

“
Disjointed?”
the wizard replied as he pushed himself to his feet again. “Yeah,
you could say that. It's been a bit of a crazy time, the last day or
so.”

Kronk easily picked up the staff and
handed it up to him. His strength was always surprising, given his
size.

“
Thanks,
Kronk. Listen guys, I'm so grateful that you decided to come back to
me.”

He looked at the descending sun.

“
But we only
have a couple of hours of daylight left and the tower is barely
habitable. Could you give me a hand to start repairing some of the
damage?”

Both of the elementals looked
surprised and looked around the roof.

“
How long
have we been gone, master?” Kronk asked with a frown as he
skittered over to the parapet and hopped up to its top. “It is
hard to judge time passing in my realm.”

“
Mine too,”
Aeris agreed and rose up a dozen feet. He spun in a slow circle.
“Looks the same from here.”

“
Three
years, guys,” Simon told them heavily. “It's been three
years. At least that's what Ethmira told me. Like your realms, the
elven world's time stream runs differently than that of Earth's. It
only felt like a few months to me.”

“
The front
gate has been shattered!” Kronk exclaimed indignantly. “The
tower courtyard is exposed! That will not do, master; not at all. How
is the tower's interior?”

Simon walked over to join the earthen
and looked down at the wall below them.

“
Not good,
my friend. The front door was destroyed, I assume in your fight with
Lacertus, and Mother Nature has had a good time over the past few
seasons. The main floor is a mess, my bed on the second floor is
ruined with damp, and there's dirt and dust everywhere. Fortunately
the doors to the storage rooms in the basement are still sealed, so a
lot of what was ruined can be replaced.”

He ran a hand through his hair and
leaned heavily on his staff.

“
At least I
have dried meat and fruit to eat, new candles and clothes, all of
that. And I have a couple of rolled-up mattresses stored in plastic
as well, so that's a relief. But still, the clean-up is going to take
a while.”

Aeris flew down to join them and the
trio spent a quiet few moments just looking around the tower.

“
Three
years, huh?” Aeris finally said. “Well then, we'd best
get to it. My dear wizard, if you have the strength for it, may I
suggest you summon back the earthen who used to inhabit the tower?
Not only will they be able to begin patrolling the outer wall again,
they can help us to clean up and repair the tower.”

“
I'm not
sure if that's a good idea,” Simon replied hesitantly. “I
mean, it's going to be dirty, boring work.”

“
Our
favorite kind,” Kronk said firmly. “No offense, master,
but Aeris is right.” He smiled at the air elemental. “For
once. We must make the tower safe and snug for you again. My brethren
will be happy to help, just as I am. Please summon them.”

He hopped down off of the parapet and
tip-tapped to the open trap door.

“
In the
meantime, I shall begin working.”

He looked back with a frown.

“
What are
you waiting for, Aeris? You heard our master; time is passing. Let us
get to work!”

He hopped through the opening and
disappeared below, leaving Simon and Aeris staring after him.

“
Um, is it
just me or is he more assertive than he used to be?” the wizard
asked.

“
Perhaps.
But you know Kronk; he's a mother hen. And he is devoted to you. And
this time he's right.”

The elemental flew over the edge of
the roof and floated there a moment.

“
So do get
on with it, my dear wizard. We have much to do.”

And with that, Aeris dropped out of
sight.

Simon took a moment to absorb what
had just happened and he found that he couldn't stop smiling.

“
Well,”
he said as he raised his staff. “Here we go again.”

In the end, it took longer than Simon
wanted, but less time than he expected, to repair and refurbish the
tower.

Once he had summoned the five earthen
who had previously patrolled and protected the grounds, things moved
along at a steady pace.

Kronk had been right; all of his
fellow elementals were thrilled to be back on Earth with something to
do. Simon welcomed each one back and gratefully sent them off to get
their orders from the little guy. After that, he did his best to
pitch in and help where he could.

The comfy chair, couch and his
mattress were taken away by several of the earthen and buried outside
of the wall. Along with the furniture, all of his blankets and
sheets, his clothing, towels; basically anything that could be rotted
by dampness or ruined by mold had to be disposed of.

“
Well, at
least my shoes survived,” Simon said as he watched the
elementals carry away all of the trash.

“
Fortunately
your dear friend Daniel thought ahead,” Aeris said as he
followed the wizard down to the storerooms. “You can replace
almost everything you've lost.”

“
Yeah,”
Simon replied as he summoned a magical globe to light up the
basement. “Everything except Daniel himself.”

He sighed with regret and entered one
of the storerooms.

All of the clothing, bedding and in
fact anything that was susceptible to rot was tightly wrapped in
plastic. So were the two replacement mattresses that were rolled up
and lying in a far corner.

“
Now you can
change out of that...outfit,” Aeris told him with obvious
disapproval as he looked at the leather clothing that Simon was
wearing.

“
Hey now,
there was no point in wearing a robe in the elven realm when I had no
magic to draw on,” the wizard said as he poked through the
large cabinets full of clothes.

“
Besides,
these leather outfits are both comfortable and protective. Although I
have to admit, mine have seen better days.”

Simon looked down at himself for the
first time since he had arrived home and laughed in surprise.

The pants were cut and slashed in
several spots and the tunic was torn as well. The leather itself was
filthy and it dawned on the wizard that he was as well.

“
Hmm, maybe
I should head out to the lake and wash up before the sun goes down,”
he muttered.

“
An
excellent idea,” Aeris said primly. “Dig up some soap and
a towel and take your new clothes with you. I think you will feel
much more like yourself when you're clean and dressed like a proper
wizard again.”

Simon glanced at the elemental and
Aeris winked at him. Both of them laughed.

“
You have a
point. Okay, let me find a robe and some underwear. Hmm, socks as
well. These boots that the elves gave me should be fine for now; I'll
just have to clean them later.”

He found everything he needed and
headed back upstairs. Aeris told him that he would move one of the
mattresses up to the second floor and Simon didn't question him; he
had learned long ago just how strong the elementals were and had no
doubt that Aeris could easily handle the load.

On the main floor, Kronk was
directing his cohorts as they scrubbed the floors and walls. He
himself was in the fireplace, sweeping out the old ashes and a bunch
of leaves. He waved cheerfully as the wizard headed for the door and
went outside.

They do love to keep busy, Simon
thought. Lucky for me.

The sun was going down but hadn't set
yet when he reached the small lake behind the tower. The water looked
as fresh and clean as ever, little minnows darting about in the
shallows, and Simon got undressed quickly. Once it got dark, the air
would cool down in a hurry and he wanted to be done before that
happened.

The water wasn't hot but it wasn't
cold either.

Just right, as Goldilocks would have
said, Simon thought and he grinned as he slipped into the lake.

He dove underwater to get thoroughly
soaked and then stood knee deep as he soaped himself down. His cuts
and scrapes burned as he washed them, but it would limit the chance
of infection and pain wasn't something that Simon paid much attention
to anymore.

When he was sufficiently lathered up,
he waded in again, ducked under the water and rinsed himself off.
Then he swam across the lake and back and got out. He was too tired
to do more. It had been a long and crazy day and between the escape
from the elven realm and the use of magic for the first time in
months, he was surprised that he could still function in a reasonable
manner.