The Dragons of Decay (18 page)

The wizard
stared at him for a long moment.

“
Why
on Earth would you ask that?” he finally replied.

“
I
don't know, master,” Kronk said with a quick shrug. “The
other humans are leaving the area. You will be left here with only
myself and Aeris for company. I just thought that you'd want to
remain close to your own kind.”

Simon
leaned forward, rested his elbows on the table and his chin on his
hands.

“
My
own kind?”

Aeris was
watching him a little wide-eyed and the wizard wondered whether both
of the elementals thought that he might head south with the others.

“
Kronk,
my friend, there
are
no others of 'my kind'. I'm a wizard, possibly the only one on the
planet. Sure, the others are Changlings just like me, but there is
very little else that we have in common. I've come to accept that I
am a magical creature, a different kind of mutation than the others,
I suppose, and that puts me outside of what a 'normal' human being is
now.”

He smiled
at them both.

“
I
have a hell of a lot more in common with you guys than I do with
other humans, so in that respect I
am
remaining with my own kind. So to answer your question, Kronk; no,
I'm not leaving. I can Gate anywhere the people of Nottinghill decide
to move to. If they need me, I'll be there. But to be honest,”
he paused and looked around the room, “I'm very fond of this
tower. As long as the gates stay closed, we are as safe here as
anywhere else on Earth. And I like the peace and quiet, to be
honest.” His smiled broadened. “At least I do when you
two aren't arguing.”

Aeris
opened his mouth to object, realized that Simon was joking, and gave
him a silent, wry grin.

Kronk
nodded once.

“
I
am glad, master. We too think of the tower as our home. I cannot
speak for Aeris, but I would be saddened to leave it.”

“
I
agree,” the air elemental said softly.

“
And
besides, we cannot move Sunshine in her current condition,”
Kronk added seriously. “I do not know if Gating a pregnant mare
would harm the unborn foal, but it might. I would not like to take
that chance.”

“
Definitely
not,” Simon agreed. “She stays put for now. I think
moving somewhere else would upset her a lot. Like most animals,
horses dislike change of any kind.”

The
evening wore on and Simon finally went to bed, still waiting for
Clara to signal him using the lodestone.

Must be
quite the meeting, was his last thought as he drifted off to sleep.

The next
morning, Simon toasted some bread in the fireplace, slathered it with
apple jelly he had received in trade with the good people of
Nottinghill and sipped his tea as he ate.

Kronk was
out with the horses and Aeris had decided to sweep the area around
the tower. 'Just in case,' he'd said.

Simon
pulled Clara's lodestone out of his pocket, but the egg-sized stone
was still dim and cool to the touch. She hadn't called.

What is
taking them so long, he wondered. He also wondered if maybe there
weren't as many people who were willing to leave their town as the
cleric had assumed. It could get ugly if that was the case.

He was
just washing up when he felt a flash of warmth and a gentle tingling
in his pocket. It was the cleric's lodestone.

“
Finally,”
he said out loud. He sat down at the table and picked up the mirror.
He'd carried it around the tower all morning.

Simon cast
the Magic Mirror spell, settled back in his chair and waited for the
mist to clear off of the reflective surface. When it did, he saw that
Clara was once again sitting in the barracks. She was alone and there
were faint purple bruises under her eyes. Her hair was untidy and her
expression as she gazed out of the window was one of profound
sadness.

“
Good
morning, Clara,” he said lightly.

Her head
barely moved as her lips twitched with the barest of smiles.

“
Good
morning, my friend. How are you feeling today?”

“
Great,
thanks. No residual effects from my long slumber over the past week.
I hate to say it, but you, on the other hand, look like you could use
some sleep.”

“
Do
I?”

She sighed
and turned away from the window. Simon watched as she picked up a
small bowl. Some water splashed over her wrist and then the wizard
was looking at Clara face to face.

“
It
was a...difficult meeting yesterday. Lasted until the wee hours
actually.”

“
Why's
that?”

“
Oh,
lots of reasons. People are afraid to stay and afraid to go. The
general consensus was that we have to relocate, but the problem was
getting people to agree on where.”

She rubbed
her temples and closed her eyes for a moment.

“
And
one person was holding out, adamant that he wasn't leaving no matter
what.”

“
Anyone
I know?”

“
Probably
not. His name's Henry. He only found his way to Nottinghill last
year. He's a general laborer, helps out where and when he can. I
don't want to sound unkind, but he's a bit of a layabout; does the
minimum, gets out of work when he can, tends to whine a lot.”

She
shrugged.

“
I
guess every large group has someone like that. Anyway, he was
comfortable here; always got enough to eat, loved the wine, found a
willing partner. So he wants to stay, even with the danger.
Unfortunately, his lady friend has no intention of staying. She's
terrified of another wight attack, as are most of the others. When
she told Henry this in front of all of us, he...kind of lost it. Took
a swing at her.”

Simon sat
up with a jerk. He'd never heard of any of the townspeople acting
violently toward each other. It was a chilling thought.

“
What
happened? Is she all right?”

Clara
laughed, a rather sad sound.

“
Oh
yes. Henry didn't realize the kind of reflexes that Malcolm and Aiden
have. Before he could even get close to touching Sheila, that's his
ex-girlfriend's name, the big guy dropped him with a clout to the
side of the head. He's lucky that it didn't cave his skull in. I
healed it immediately and now he's off somewhere, sulking I suppose.”

“
He
sounds like trouble, Clara,” the wizard said angrily. “What
are you going to do with him?”

“
Do
with him?”

She looked
into Simon's eyes with some confusion.

“
Why,
bring him along, of course. We don't have enough people as it is. We
can't afford to abandon anyone, even one as small-minded and
head-strong as Henry. Not without a damned good reason anyway. I'm
hoping that he's learned his lesson, but we'll keep an eye on him for
a while.”

“
I
don't know that I would be so forgiving, but it's your choice, of
course. So after all of this, have you decided where you want to go?”

“
Yes.
Well, it came down to two choices really. Northern Mexico or Florida.
I think either one would be a good choice. Someone mentioned
California but the weather there can be...unstable sometimes. And
there's always that old fear about a massive earthquake sending the
entire state into the ocean. So, what do you think?”

“
I
think that great minds think alike,” he said with a wink and a
grin. “I was going through my old atlas last night with my two
friends and we also thought Florida would be a good choice.”

Clara
laughed, sounding relieved and more like herself.

“
That's
good to know. So what's our next move?”

“
Scouting,”
Simon told her. “Instead of poking around using the Magic
Mirror spell, I'll summon some air elementals and send them south
along with Aeris. I can only have ten of each type of elemental
summoned at a time, so I'll call in nine of them and send five to
northern Mexico and the other four plus Aeris will scout out Florida.
He claims that it will probably only take a week, possibly less.”

“
Ah,
that's a wonderful idea, Simon. Better safe than sorry these days.
I'll tell the others. It will definitely make them less jumpy if they
know that their new home, wherever it may be, is reasonably safe
before they go.”

“
My
thoughts exactly. I'll get started right away and get back to you as
soon as I hear anything.”

“
Good.
I'll get everyone to start packing the essentials. No sense in
waiting until the last minute to get ready to leave. Oh, by the way,
how's that beautiful lady, Sunshine, doing?”

“
Resting
comfortably, according to Kronk. I'm going to be checking on her
daily from now on, and he's in there several times a day. Regular
mother hen actually.”

The cleric
smiled widely and looked more cheerful than she had a few minutes
earlier.

“
Gods
bless him. Now if there's any change or she goes into labor, don't
wait. Come and get me right away, day or night, all right?”

“
Will
do. Good luck with the packing. I'll talk to you soon.”

Clara
waved and Simon canceled the spell. He sat for a moment and thought
about what she had said.

Someone
trying to beat on a woman on this New Earth of theirs? Had they
learned nothing from what had come before?

He slammed
a fist on to the table and the two candle holders jumped and almost
tipped over. Simon took a deep breath and pushed back his hair.

Malcolm
and Aiden will keep an eye on that Henry guy, he thought, trying to
calm himself. And if they catch him at it again, somehow I doubt that
they'll stop at a smack to the side of the head.

With that
thought giving him some comfort, Simon got up and headed for the
stairs. He'd left the atlas in his study and the chair up there was a
lot more comfortable than the kitchen chairs.

Once he'd
settled into his seat, Simon stared at the center of the desk and
winced a bit, knowing what was about to happen.

“
Aeris,
I need you,” he said firmly.

A distant
echo of sound was followed by a flash of intense white light and a
crack of thunder that made his ears ring.

The air
elemental appeared and hovered over the desk.

“
You
know, your entrance could be a bit less...flashy,” he
complained to Aeris, who only rolled his eyes.

“
That's
the way it works, my dear wizard. I didn't make up the rules; I just
have to abide by them.”

“
Yeah
well, anyway, I was talking to Clara a few minutes ago.”

“
Were
you? Excellent! Have they made any decisions?”

“
As
a matter of fact, they have. Come over and look at this.”

He opened
the atlas and Aeris drifted over and hovered by Simon's right
shoulder.

“
What
did they choose?”

“
Florida
for one, so we guessed correctly there. And...” he flipped
through the pages until he found the correct one and tapped the map.

“
Northern
Mexico. Apparently they think the weather and soil there would be
suitable for a new town.”

“
Two
locations,” Aeris muttered to himself as he rubbed his chin.
“Interesting. So what do you want to do?”

“
I'm
going to recall the other air elementals that scouted for me before,
the ones that searched the major cities for signs of life. I wrote
down all of their names and summoning them should be easy enough.”
He grimaced. “Except for that damned thunder.”

“
Rules,
my dear wizard. Rules,” Aeris said smugly.

“
Yeah
right. I want you to take four of them with you and check out
Florida. The other five I'll send down to Mexico. You said it should
take about a week?”

Aeris
studied the map of Mexico and nodded.

“
Just
the northern part of this country?” he asked as he pointed at
the map.

“
That's
it.”

“
Then
yes, no more than a week, barring any unforeseen surprises. And there
may be some of those, as you well know.”

“
I
do, thanks. And I'm telling you now what I'll tell the rest later; no
heroics, right? You go, you scout, you report back. If any of you run
into something too dangerous, including, God forbid, dragons, then
get your ass out of there and back here. Clear?”