The Dragons of Bone and Dust (Tales from the New Earth Book 7) (38 page)

“
Why
so generous all of a sudden?” Simon asked as he walked up the
front steps.

“
Because
I want you to focus on the reports, my dear wizard. I've observed
that when you are comfortable, you think more clearly. My people have
spent a lot of time scouting the planet for you; you can reward them
by paying close attention to their summations.”

“
And
here I was thinking that you were just being kind,” Simon told
him with a grin.

“
My,
my, whatever gave you that idea?”

Both of
them laughed as they entered the tower. Simon vigorously toweled down
his hair again and then hung the towel over the back of a kitchen
chair. He climbed the stairs while Aeris flew in the opposite
direction to get his juice.

When he
entered his study, the first thing that Simon noticed were the nine
air elementals floating above his desk. Several of them were writing
madly on sheets of paper while the others were chatting in their own
tongue, which sounded like the softly moaning wind. It was almost
eerie. The sunlight from the windows hit them and gave them a
dazzling array of colors as they bobbed and weaved. It was quite the
display.

“
Good
afternoon, everyone,” he greeted them with a broad smile. “I'm
very happy to see you all again.”

Those who
were writing dropped their pencils and all nine elementals bowed in
unison.

“
Good
day, sir wizard,” one of them said as she moved apart from the
rest. It was Brethia.

Those who
had been writing went back to their notes and Simon looked at them
curiously.

“
My
brethren are drawing some maps, sir wizard,” Brethia told him.
“Along with pictures, descriptions and additional annotations.
It will be easier for you to keep all of the facts straight if we
write them down.”

Simon
walked around the desk and sat down. He smiled in appreciation.

“
Good
thought. I like to keep records when I can. I admit that I'm terrible
at it, but I am getting better. Now, whoever is ready to start and
wants to go first, feel free.”

Each
elemental took their turn reporting on what they had found. Hours
went by and page after page of facts and figures were handed to Simon
as he slowly got an amazingly clear picture of what the new world
actually looked like.

“
The
apes are how big?” he asked one of the scouts who had scoured
most of what was once Africa.

“
At
least twenty feet tall, my lord,” the elemental replied.

She drew a
quick sketch and handed it to him.

“
Good
grief, look at those teeth!” he exclaimed. “Are those
spikes along its spine?”

“
Yes,
my lord. It is unfortunate that I cannot add color to the picture;
the adult males actually have bright red fur. Very pretty but
obviously used as a warning to their enemies.”

“
Obviously.”

The
reports continued. Aeris refilled Simon's pitcher of juice several
times and, as it got dark, he brought up some sandwiches.

“
Thanks
Aeris,” the wizard said absently. “I'm starved. What's in
them?”

“
Blueberry
jam, from the last batch. You said it turned out particularly well.”

“
It
really did. Thanks again. Guys,” he looked at the group of
elementals watching him solemnly. “let's take a break, okay?
I'm going to eat and walk around a bit; my butt's gone numb. We'll
start again in fifteen minutes or so.”

“
As
you wish, sir wizard,” Brethia said. “We will assemble on
the roof while you recover your strength.”

“
Thank
you.”

As the
group left, Simon held back a laugh when one of them asked Brethia
how a person's butt could actually go numb.

“
So
what do you think?” Aeris asked with a nod at the pile of
papers on the desk.

Simon
stood up and stretched, groaning loudly as his muscles loosened and
his spine crackled. He picked up a sandwich and chewed thoughtfully.

“
Think?
I think that your people are amazingly thorough. I also think that my
old world is almost unrecognizable now. Did you hear the part about
the western forests of North America? Trees five hundred feet tall?
Wyverns and eagles with thirty foot wing spans? Good God.”

“
I
heard most of it. I was popping in and out all afternoon, attending
to my regular chores. And I will read the notes when they are all
finished.”

Simon
walked around the study to ease his muscles a bit and stopped to peer
out of a window. The sun was setting, turning the western sky into an
kaleidoscope of pinks and purples.

Aeris
landed on the desk and looked at the scattered papers. He gathered
them fussily into a neater pile.

“
So
what's been the biggest surprise for you so far?” he asked.

“
The
biggest?”

Simon lit
all of the candles in the room with a wave of his hand and then
opened both windows. The heat of the day would dissipate quickly and
he wanted to catch the evening breeze. The tower was always cool, but
it got stuffy after a very hot day.

“
Hmm.
So far the biggest surprise has been from Orriss.”

“
Why?
Because of what he saw or the fact that he lived to return and tell
his tale?”

Simon
chuckled at Aeris' dry tone. He'd already come to the conclusion
that, while he had a big heart, Orriss was a bit of a klutz. He
tended to stumble into trouble seemingly at random and then somehow
stumble out of it again. The wizard couldn't quite decide if the air
elemental was blessed or cursed.

“
Both, I
suppose. I'm going to start a separate list on all of the new monster
species that are popping up in the world. It's getting out of hand.”

“
Old
species,” Aeris corrected him. “All of the monsters that
my brethren reported seeing during their travels are creatures that
existed in the ancient world, before the magic was drained away.
Perhaps the old gods are bringing them back to achieve balance or
maybe they are appearing spontaneously as the magic levels increase
in intensity.”

“
The reasons
really aren't important if the result is the same,” Simon told
him. “The monsters are here, they exist, and we'd better keep
that firmly in mind going forward. I have to admit though, the
encounter that Orriss had with the manticore was both terrifying and
hilarious in equal measure.”

“
He does
have a gift,” Aeris said, rolling his eyes. “How he's
lived this long is beyond me.”

Simon stretched again and then sat
down at the desk, adjusted his weight to try and get comfortable.

“
Sore ass?”

“
Aeris! Butt
is the more polite term. And yes, I have a sore ass.”

The air elemental snorted with
laughter.

“
So sorry to
hear that,” he said, his voice dripping with insincerity. “But
those are the limitations of the flesh. And being skinny. Now, if you
could float like I do, you would never have an ache or pain again.”

“
Oh, I'd
still have a pain,” Simon told him. “As long as you
stayed around.”

“
Funny
wizard. Anyway, I'm sure that the others will be back soon. How about
some tea? It's cooled off enough in here that it should refresh you.
And the corn is waiting to be cooked later if you still want it.”

“
That would
be awesome, Aeris. Thanks. As for the corn, I might save it for
tomorrow. These sandwiches are filling enough. Anyway, we'll be
wrapping this up soon.”

“
Hopefully.”

Aeris picked up Simon's empty glass
and flew out of the room just as the other air elementals floated
back in.

The wizard grabbed another sandwich
and started eating.

“
Oh, I
apologize, my lord,” Brethia said when she saw him chewing.
“Did we return too soon?”

“
It's fine,
don't worry about it. I'm feeling better now. It's been a long
afternoon. So Brethia, I do believe that yours is the last report?”

“
It is, yes.
As you have heard from my friends, much to our disappointment, they
discovered no new human groups or settlements.”

Simon rubbed his eyes and nodded
slowly.

“
That's
true. I was really hoping that we'd find a few people at least. I
mean, I know you all are thorough but it's a big planet. You may have
missed someone.”

“
Anything is
possible, my lord,” Brethia replied. “Doubtful, if you
will pardon my impertinence, but possible. However, unlike the
others, I had more luck.”

It took Simon a moment to process
what the elemental had said.

“
Wait, what?
You had more luck, meaning you found some people?”

“
I did. And
it was only by either happy chance or divine will that I discovered
them at all.”

Simon leaned forward and listened
intently.

“
Tell me all
about it, please.”

“
Yes, my
lord. Well, I was sweeping the western side of the...Rocky Mountains
I believe they were called?”

“
They were,
yes. Still are, in my mind.”

“
Ah, good. I
was traveling in a southerly direction, close to the west coast of
this continent, when I saw several undead dragons in the distance,
circling. They were diving down at something and then pulling back up
into the air again.”

“
You saw
dracoliches?”

“
I did, sir
wizard. As we have learned, these monsters rarely cooperate when they
hunt, so to see three of them attacking the same target was
extraordinary. I decided to check it out, just in case it was
significant.”

“
And what
did you see?”

Brethia retrieved a fresh sheet of
paper from the pile on the desk and began sketching as she spoke.

“
I went
invisible and rose up above them to get a better view. It was quite a
surprise, actually. Those stupid creatures were attacking the
entrance of a cave.”

“
A cave? Why
would they be attacking a cave?”

The elemental's hand was a blur as
she drew a picture. As always, Simon was amazed at the skill of her
kind. The drawings they created were almost photographic in their
quality.

“
It wasn't
the cave they were interested in, my lord; it was what was living
inside of it.”

She finished her sketch and handed it
to him.

Simon stared at it in amazement.

He saw a half dozen figures,
obviously people, looking upwards. A few were firing arrows that
trailed flames while another was shooting what looked like a dozen
smoking projectiles. Even without seeing their faces, the wizard felt
a kinship toward them and their situation.

“
What is
happening here, precisely?” he asked Brethia as he held up the
picture.

“
Some of the
defenders were launching fire arrows at the undead dragons,”
she replied. “I do not know what substance they were using, but
when it hit a dracolich, the fire would splatter against their bodies
and burn for several minutes. It did quite a bit of damage to their
bones and the monsters were not pleased.”

“
Good. And
this one?” he said, tapping on the person launching the glowing
spheres.

“
A magic
missile spell, my lord. And a powerful one at that. That person is
quite a decent mage, if I am any judge. A dozen missiles per cast is
master-level skill.”

“
Is it? I
didn't know that. I rarely use that spell.”

Simon grinned at the memory of his
early days as a wizard.

“
As I
recall, I was only able to summon six bolts at a time.”

“
Still
impressive, my lord,” Brethia reassured him. “Considering
that the spell is more of a mage specialty.”

“
Thanks. So
what happened with the battle? What was the outcome?”

The elemental appeared thoughtful as
she retrieved the drawing from Simon and added it to the pile on the
table.