The Dragons of Decay (42 page)

The paladin simply seemed to be
staring blankly into space, lost in her thoughts. The wizard was
reluctant to interrupt her, but he had to find out how she and the
others she watched over were doing.

“
Liliana? It's Simon. Can you
hear me?”

“
Why do you always ask that?”
Aeris whispered with some irritation. “It's as if you think
everyone you call is deaf.”

“
Do me a favor and be quiet,
would you?” Simon snapped back, keeping his voice down.

Aeris looked offended but didn't
reply.

“
Simon? Ah so, the fallen
wizard returns as promised,” the paladin said in a hollow
voice. She sounded both exhausted and depressed and the wizard
noticed how pale and gaunt her features were.

Reminds me a bit of myself at the
moment, was his worried thought.

“
Returns? So you know what
happened to me?”

Liliana nodded and her lips quirked
with the ghost of a smile.

“
My patron goddess visited me
in a dream and told me. It is quite an honor, my friend, to be given
a second chance at life.”

“
I know. I just hope I don't
screw it up.”

“
Oh, I doubt that you will.”

She sighed and looked down from her
high perch at the wreckage-strewn street far below.

Simon watched her anxiously. He'd
never seen the woman look so...lost, and a feeling of anxiety pinched
his stomach.

“
What's wrong?” he asked
abruptly. “What has happened?”

“
Happened?” She laughed,
an unpleasant, hard-edged sound. “Am I that easy to read?”

“
Maybe just to me. I don't
know. But I've seen that look before, in the mirror, and it usually
doesn't mean anything good.”

The paladin's dirty blond hair was
loose and flew around her head like an aura. She pushed it back
impatiently with one hand while her other hand held tightly to the
sword on her hip.

“
They're dead, Simon,”
she said in a flat voice. “All of my people. Dead.”

“
My God! What happened? Dragon
attack or...?”

“
No, nothing so easy to fight
against.” She frowned up at the merciless sky. “You
remember that there were five others with me? All of the survivors
that I could find in and around Moscow?”

“
I do, yes.”

“
Well, Nina, a delightful young
girl and a dear friend, was out searching for supplies about two
weeks ago and had an accident. She fell through the rotted floor of
an old food store and was killed on impact when she landed in the
basement below.”

“
Oh damn. I'm so sorry,
Liliana.”

“
Yes, well, so am I. It was a
waste and a tragedy for all of us. But something about her death
seemed to cause a, I don't know how to describe it, a ripple affect
among the others. The winter has been especially hard, as you know,
and food has been scarce, so their spirits were low to begin with.
Nina's death seemed to exacerbate that mood. I told them about our
plan to join your friends in Florida, at least for the winter, but
not even that was enough to pull them out of this deep depression
that had set in.”

“
What happened?” Simon
asked, a feeling of dread making the entire conversation feel
nightmarish, unreal.

“
That's the problem; I do not
know for certain.”

She ground her heel into the roof
under her feet and the gritty, squeaking sound made the hair on the
back of Simon's neck stand up.

“
I left them in our shelter a
few days ago, to do a patrol and see if I could find any supplies
that we might have overlooked. The shelter was a new one. We had
begun moving once a section of the city was picked clean of food and
this time we found what I thought was an amazing new home.”

She smiled into the wind,
remembering.

“
It was under a private home on
the city's outskirts. Maybe it had been the residence of one of
Moscow's elite. I don't know. But it was buried deep, had its own
water supply and even a large tank of propane gas that was still
full! Perhaps the stove it was attached to wasn't considered
technological enough to not work in this new magical world of ours,
but it functioned! Gave us heat and the ability to cook what little
food we had.”

Liliana shook her head now and closed
her eyes against the bite of the winter air that swirled around her.

“
Unfortunately, none of us were
technical people in our old lives. We assumed that the system was
fine because it worked, you see?”

“
Yes.”

“
But either the gas leaked
accidentally while I was gone, and I had left in the early evening
when they had already bedded down for the night, or they deliberately
opened the jets on the stove but, either way, by the time I'd
returned...”

“
They were all dead,”
Simon said as the paladin covered her eyes. “Oh my God,
Liliana. What a horrible thing to happen. But surely it was an
accident?”

“
That's what I've been telling
myself for the past few days,” she replied in a voice drained
of emotion. “I can't believe that four rational, young people
would throw away their lives to despair like that. But, maybe they
did. Maybe I failed them, failed to see just how black their moods
had become. Who can say?”

She wiped her eyes impatiently and
glared up into the now dark sky.

“
But whether deliberate or not,
they are all gone now. Moscow truly is dead. I've buried them and
marked the graves and now, here I stand, speaking to the sky because
there is no one else to talk to.”

“
You're wrong, my friend,”
Simon said hurriedly. “There's me. And Clara and the rest of
her people. They would welcome you and, God knows, they could use
your strength and your skills as they rebuild their lives.”

Liliana smiled, a ghost of amusement
moving across her face.

“
I'm not so sure of that.
Misery seems to follow in my wake, sir wizard. I wouldn't want to
bring that sort of bad luck to their new settlement.”

“
Nonsense,” he said
harshly. “You've done as much as anyone could, given your
situation. What's happened is tragic, yes, but all the more reason
for you to have a new start, use your powers for the good of others,
as you always have. They do need you, Liliana. Trust me, they do.”

“
Do they?” she said
quietly, as if to herself. “Well then, if that is truly the
case, then I will join them, if they will have me. When can I leave
this city of sorrow?”

“
Soon, my friend. I'm not
strong enough yet to Gate there and then take you to join the others.
It may take me a week or so to rebuild my strength so that I can. Are
you able to hold out that long, alone?”

“
A week? Of course I can. After
all, I am still, in my heart, a Russian woman. We are strong because
we've had to be. I will wait for you to be ready, Simon. Do not push
yourself on my account. Get strong and fit and call me when you are.
I will be waiting.”

“
Thank you, Liliana,” the
wizard told her sincerely. “Again, I'm so sorry for your loss.
But take your own advice and rest and regain your strength too. Your
new job will bring its own set of challenges.”

She raised her head proudly, staring
into the darkness.

“
I look forward to it,”
she said with new spirit. “Thank you as well, my friend.”

“
Any time. We'll talk soon.”

And with that, Simon canceled the
spell and put down the mirror. His hand was shaking and he looked at
it in surprise.

“
Why am I shaking?” he
asked Aeris, who'd listened to the conversation without comment.

“
It's a mixture of fatigue and
shock from what the paladin told you, I think,” he said calmly.
“Finish your tea and try to relax. Now you have even more
reasons to get strong and well again, so take your time and focus on
that.”

The following morning saw the heavy
snow arrive in earnest and Simon had to slog though knee-deep drifts
to get to the outhouse. Visibility was practically non-existent and
he followed his own footsteps to get back to the door of the tower.

“
Well, that's just lovely,”
he said to Kronk and Aeris as he stomped in, scattering snow
everywhere. “How long is this supposed to last?”

Aeris was carrying the kettle from
the fireplace to the counter and poured water into the wizard's cup
before answering.

“
Two days, perhaps three,”
he said offhandedly. “But the worst of it will fall today, I
believe, and the rest of it will only amount to flurries.”

“
Well,” Simon said as he
pulled off his books and left them on the mat next to the door.
“That's something, I suppose. Have I mentioned lately...”

“
How much you hate the winter?”
Both elementals replied in unison and the wizard burst out laughing.

“
I'll take that as a yes. Okay,
okay. It's not like I can do anything about it anyway, right?”

“
No master, you cannot. Once
upon time, there were mages who could affect the weather, but they
were rare indeed.”

Simon hung up his coat and crossed
the room to sit at the kitchen table. He looked at the earthen
quizzically.

“
Really? There were actually
magic-users who could control weather?”

The little guy was carefully putting
another log on the fire and Simon watched, fascinated as always, as
Kronk stood in the center of the blaze to adjust the log to his own
satisfaction.

“
Oh yes, master. They were
highly valued. I remember hearing one wizard complaining about their
high fees. They were often called in during a drought or a flood, you
see, and they charged high prices for their services.”

“
Supply and demand, I suppose,”
Simon said vaguely as he sipped the tea that Aeris handed him.

“
Don't do that!” Aeris
snapped at Kronk and the wizard turned his head sharply around to
look down at the earthen.

“
Do what?” Kronk asked in
confusion.

“
You were about to jump up on
to the table and you are still glowing from the fire. Look, you're
scorching the floor where you are standing.”

Aeris sighed and glared at the little
guy.

“
Stay standing on the edge of
the fireplace, on the stone, until you cool down. Honestly, I don't
know how many times I've had to remind you of that.”

He turned back to pour the rest of
the hot water in the sink and Kronk scowled at his back and made a
vaguely rude gesture. Simon choked as he bit off his laughter and,
when the earthen looked at him, he returned the glance innocently.

“
Are you calling the lady
cleric back today, master?” Kronk asked a bit grumpily as he
waited to cool down.

“
That's the plan. I'm feeling
really good this morning, by the way. You guys are a big help in my
recovery.”

The earthen's mood changed
immediately and he smiled broadly.

“
Thank you, master. It is our
duty but I am pleased that you are improving. I think that the
paladin will do well in the warmer weather, don't you?”

He stepped tentatively on to the
wooden floor, nodded to himself, and leaped on to the table to stand
near the wizard.

“
I hope so. She's gone through
so much tragedy and Moscow has to be associated with sadness for her
now. A change of scenery is probably the best thing for her.”

“
It will be good for Clara and
the others as well,” Aeris suggested as he washed a few dishes
and set them on the rack to dry. He'd made Simon a breakfast of fried
smoked venison, and apples from their dwindling supply, and was just
finishing cleaning up.

“
If there are any threats to
the settlement, the paladin's powers and fighting skill will be
invaluable.”

“
You're right. Okay, I'm going
up to the study.”

Simon stood up and looked at Kronk.

“
Want to come along or are you
heading to the stable?”

“
I will come, master. I saw to
the horses earlier.”

The little guy jumped down and
tip-tapped after the wizard.

“
If you feel up to it later,
master, you should visit them as well. Your presence cheers them up
immensely and Sunbeam adores you.”

“
She does?” Simon asked
as he climbed the stairs carefully. He was delighted at the news.

“
In that case, it's a date. I
just dread having to slog my way through all that snow.”

They entered the study and Simon lit
the candles with a flick of his power. He felt very little weakness
as he did so and grinned at Kronk, who returned the smile.

“
Getting better, master,”
he said as he jumped up on the desk.

“
I know. Slowly but surely.”

“
Don't start without me!”
Aeris yelled from downstairs.

“
I won't,” Simon shouted
back as he settled into his leather chair. He took a moment to lean
back and close his eyes, simply enjoying the pleasure of his
surroundings.