The Dragons of Ice and Snow (15 page)

“
That
is the best that I can do, Simon. It would be unforgivable for me to
share more of my people's power, and I would be punished if I did
so.”

“
Would
you? Are you sure that even doing this much isn't risky? Don't get
into trouble on my account.”

She
made a reassuring gesture.

“
This
is permissible, sir wizard. I am certain of it. So,” her tone
because brisk, “what spell would you like me to alter?”

Simon
picked up the spell-book and flipped through it. Which one would
deliver a blast of sub-zero air to a dragon?

His
mind felt fuzzy again and he was having trouble concentrating. Which
one? Which one?

Suddenly
the book was gently but firmly pulled out of his hands and he saw
Kronk toss it aside.

“
Kronk?
What...?”

“
Forgive
my master, Anaposus. He has over-exerted himself today and needs to
rest. I hope you will allow him to choose a spell when he is more
alert?”

“
Yes,
of course,” the water elemental said, looking concerned.

“
Kronk,
I'm fine. What are you doing?”

“
You
are tilted in your chair, master. Your eyes are so red, they
practically match my own. You need to sleep. Right now.”

Simon
knew that tone. The earthen could be as stubborn as a stone when he
made up his mind and he'd obviously decided that the wizard was going
to get some sleep and that was that.

With
a resigned sigh, Simon looked at Anaposus.

“
Sorry.
When he gets like this, it's easier to just go along with him.”

The
water elemental nodded silently, apparently amazed by the sight of a
fellow elemental ordering a wizard around. If Simon wasn't so tired,
he would have thought it was funny.

“
Now,
off to bed you go, master. You may speak with your new friend later.”

Kronk
pointed imperiously at the door and Simon stood up meekly, swaying a
bit.

“
Fine.
I'll go. Bullied by a sentient rock,” he mumbled.
“Unbelievable.”

As
he slowly walked to the door, Aeris called after him.

“
Would
you like me to tuck you in, my dear wizard?” he asked. “Get
you some warm milk? Another blanket?”

“
Be
quiet, Aeris,” Kronk snapped and the air elemental subsided.

Simon
was too tired to even come up with a smart retort and he waved weakly
at Anaposus as he left the room.

He
hoped that it was just marking his staff and summoning the water
elemental that was causing his weariness. He didn't need to get sick
again.

Simon slept the rest of
the day and all night. When he woke up the next morning, his head
felt like he'd been drinking for a week.

Oh damn, he thought. I
am
sick. Great.

Kronk must have heard him
moving and entered the bedroom. He hopped up on the night table
beside the bed and watched until Simon caught his eye. The wizard
quickly covered his head with a pillow.

“
Good morning,
master!” the little guy said heartily.

Simon grunted, keeping the
pillow over his face in a vain attempt to stop his head from
pounding.

“
How are you this
morning?” Kronk continued.

“
I'm sick,”
the wizard mumbled through the pillow.

“
Oh, I'm sorry to
hear that, master,” the earthen said, suddenly concerned. “You
seem to become ill on a regular basis, don't you?”

“
Yeah, I noticed.”
Simon groaned faintly. “My skull feels like something's trying
to pound its way out of it.”

“
You must rest
today, master,” Kronk said firmly. “Stay in bed until
your head feels better. I will make you some tea.”

Simon shifted the pillow a
bit until he could just peek out at the little guy.

“
Thanks, Kronk. That
sounds nice.”

By the time the earthen
had returned with a steaming cup of tea, Simon was sitting up in bed,
a couple of pillows propping him up, and reading his spell-book. He
hadn't remembered bringing it to bed, but it had been sitting beside
him on his night table.

“
Here you are,
master,” Kronk said brightly and held up the cup.

The wizard reached down,
wincing slightly as his head throbbed harder for a second, and
gratefully accepted the tea.

“
Thank you, bud. I
just wish I had a spell to cure head-colds. But all I have is time
and rest.”

Kronk hopped up on the bed
and stood near Simon's legs.

“
If our friend the
cleric was closer, she could probably ease your discomfort, master.”

Simon sipped the tea,
letting the honey-sweetened warmth trickle down his throat.

“
Maybe she could.
But I don't want Clara to have to travel a couple of hours just to
use her powers to cure a cold.” He sighed heavily. “I'll
live, as usual. But I don't envy you and Aeris. I'm a bit grumpy when
I'm sick.”

“
You, my dear
wizard? Grumpy? Why, I never noticed.”

The air elemental flew
into the room as Simon was speaking and joined Kronk on the bed.

“
Very funny,”
the wizard said as he sipped more tea. “Aeris, did wizards back
in the old days get sick more often than most people? I seem to get
the flu and catch colds a lot more than I did before I Changed.”

Aeris' expression became
thoughtful as he floated on top of the blankets.

“
You know, now that
you mention it, they did. Wizards are powerful magically but weak
physically. I recall one young wizard complaining to her father about
being so delicate.” He shot Simon an amused glance. “The
man was rather stern and told her firmly that her powers were worth
her weak constitution. She wasn't convinced.”

Simon chuckled a bit
painfully.

“
Well, it's nice to
know that I'm not much different than they were. Damned inconvenient
though.”

He put the cup on his
night table and settled deeper into his pillows.

“
So where's Anaposus
this morning?”

Kronk nodded toward the
window. Simon noticed that the day was quite gray and a light rain
was drumming on the glass.

“
She's outside,
master. She noticed the rain falling earlier and basically raced out
of the tower to stand in it.” He looked puzzled. “I
believe she's dancing out there at the moment.”

“
Dancing?”
Simon grinned at the thought, even through his headache. “That's
something I never thought I'd see an elemental doing. But it's not a
surprise, I guess. Water elementals love water. That's a given.”

Aeris sniffed.

“
She isn't a child.
It's beneath the dignity of a being as old as an elemental to be
acting so...immaturely.”

“
Because you're
always so dignified,” Kronk said with a sly grin.

“
What? I'll have you
know that I'm always...”

The air elemental saw the
looks on the others' faces and rolled his eyes.

“
Fine.
Most
of the time I act my age. At any rate, she seems happy to be here.
The three of us spent the night patrolling the wall and spoke quite a
bit. She's definitely more approachable than Aquamastis. Clever too,”
he added.

High
praise coming from Aeris, Simon thought.

He
flipped through his spell-book, trying to decide which spell he
wanted the water elemental to alter.

“
No.
No,” he muttered as he flipped the pages. “No. Darn it,
I...hmm, hang on a second.”

He
stared at a spell that he'd never used before.

“
What
is it, master? You found one to turn into a cold spell?”

Simon
nodded and turned the book around so that the others could see it.

“
Fire
Blast?” Aeris read with a frown. “I don't know it. Have
you cast it before?”

“
Nope.
Never,” the wizard said as he read the spell again. “It
just seemed so, I don't know, impractical I suppose. It basically
does exactly what it says it does. You cast it at a spot and it
explodes in a burst of flame.”

“
But
that sounds useful,” Aeris said. “Why haven't you used
it?”

“
Because
you don't aim it at an opponent,” Simon told him. “You
aim it at a point that you hope your target will be. Fireball, Magic
Missile, those spells will track whatever you cast them at. This
spell won't. Not too useful if you cast it and by the time it kicks
in, your target has moved.”

“
Hmm,
I see your point,” the air elemental agreed. “Rather
impractical indeed. So why choose that spell to alter?”

“
Well,
it's the only one that I can see that would strike with intense cold.
It's a temperature-based spell. If Anaposus can change it, I'll just
have to learn to anticipate where my target is going to be and cast
it at that spot.”

“
And
if you make a mistake, you'll have wasted the spell.”

“
I
know. But if deep cold is a white dragon's weakness, then this is the
best choice, I think.”

Aeris
looked dubious and Simon offered him the spell-book.

“
Look,
if you have a better alternative, I'm all ears.”

The
air elemental stared at the wizard suspiciously, as if he thought he
was joking. But Simon continued to offer him the book.

“
I'm
serious. Anaposus will only change one spell. We'd better make sure
it's the right one, because we won't get another chance at this.”

Aeris
took the book, opened it and laid it on the bed. Both he and Kronk
leaned over and went through each page as Simon picked up his cup and
sipped more tea. He watched them and smiled.

Who
would have guessed that an earth and air elemental would become this
close, he thought affectionately. And if I mentioned it, they'd both
totally deny it.

His
smile widened. When the two had finished going through the book, he
put the cup to his lips to hide his grin.

“
Well,
what do you think?” Simon asked when he'd finished his tea.

The
elementals exchanged a look.

“
We
think your choice is the correct one, master,” Kronk told him.

Aeris
nodded slowly.

“
He's
right. But in a fight with a fast-moving dragon, your attacks are
going to have to be timed perfectly, my dear wizard. One miss and you
could be dead.”

Simon
felt the skin on the back of his neck tighten up and goosebumps
lifted the little hairs on his arms.

“
Yeah,
I know. I wish that Bene-Dunn-Gal was still around to write spells
on. Instantly casting a spell like that one would be a life-saver.”

The
three of them stopped talking as they heard a light humming coming
from the stairs. A moment later Anaposus entered the bedroom. She was
gliding across the floor and Simon was fascinated once again by how
she moved without using her legs.

“
Good
morning, sir wizard,” she said respectfully from inside the
doorway. “May I enter?”

“
Morning,
Anaposus. Yes, of course. Please, join Kronk and Aeris.”

She
slipped across the floor and up the side of the bed, strangely
leaving no wet marks on the floor behind her.

She
gave a pleasant nod to the other elementals and they returned it.

“
We
were just discussing which spell would be the best choice for you to
alter,” Simon told her.

The
water elemental glanced at the spell-book lying on the bed and then
at the wizard.

“
Yes,
I thought you might be. Have you made your choice?”

Simon
picked up the book, turned the pages until he found the right one and
handed the spell-book to her.

“
That
one. The Fire Blast spell.”

She
scanned the page carefully and nodded slowly as she read it.

“
I
see. A logical choice. An area effect spell is risky though, sir
wizard. If you miss...”

“
We've
thought of that,” Simon told her. “But none of the other
spells has the potential to do the deep cold damage that this one
does.”

“
Of
course.” Anaposus looked at the other elementals. “Would
one of you be so kind as to get me something to write with and some
paper, please?”