The Dragons of Ice and Snow (22 page)

“
Let's
hope so. I'd rather face a drake than a dragon, to be quite honest,”
Aiden said, gripping his mace tightly.

“
You
haven't cast any spells except for that globe of light,”
Malcolm said, looking curiously at Simon. “Any particular
reason?”

“
Yes.
Dragons can sense magic. The light spell uses so little power that I
thought I could risk it. But if I cast a Shield spell and one of them
is close enough, it will draw it like a bee to honey. It's best to
wait until we need it.”

“
Sensible,”
the big man said approvingly. “No need to stir up a nest of
snakes unless absolutely necessary.”

“
Exactly.”

Aiden
had moved to stand at the doorway and now he hissed a warning.

Both
Simon and Malcolm pulled back into cover, and looked at Aiden.

“
What
is it?”

“
Movement,”
he whispered. “I thought I saw a flash. Maybe sunlight on
scales? Not sure.”

Malcolm
stayed low and crept up beside his partner.

“
Where?”

Aiden
pointed and Malcolm looked in that direction.

Simon
waited impatiently. He couldn't see more than a few feet outside of
the building from where he was squatting.

“
Anything?”
he finally asked.

“
We
may have a survivor,” Malcolm said but he sounded dubious.
“Come over here, Simon and take a look. You know these people.
We don't.”

Simon
moved forward, staying low, until he was next to the big man. His
eyes followed Malcolm's nod and he gaped as he looked across the wide
open square in front of the theater.

From
between two wrecked buildings about fifty yards away, a figure was
walking toward their position. Armor flashed like silver in the
waning sunlight; armor covered in dents and dried blood. It was
Liliana.

Simon
was about to jump up and run forward when Malcolm grabbed his arm,
holding him down.

“
What
are you doing? That's Liliana!” he exclaimed, trying to pull
his arm from the big man's grip.

“
The
leader of this place?” Aiden asked in surprise.

“
Exactly.
And it looks like she's been in one hell of a fight. Let me go,
Malcolm!”

“
Wait,
sir wizard. One moment. We just saw a dragon fly past. If it spots
her before she reaches cover, it will attack. Call her over but stay
hidden. That way, if there is an attack, you can give that damned
dragon a surprise greeting.”

Simon
stared at him. Malcolm was obviously thinking clearly. If he'd been
alone, the wizard would have simply rushed out impulsively.

“
You're
right, my friend. Thanks.” He glanced down at the armored hand
holding him in place and the big man let him go with an embarrassed
grin.

“
Sorry.
I didn't mean to grab you like that.”

“
I'm
glad you did.”

Simon
moved up right into the doorway.

“
Liliana?
Liliana! Over here!” he called out, wincing as he voice echoed
off of the surrounding buildings.

The
paladin raised her eyes wearily in surprise and saw Simon and the two
guardsmen.

“
Simon?
What are you doing here?” she answered and increased her pace a
bit. The wizard saw her grimace as she did so and then noticed that
she was limping.

“
She's
hurt,” he said to the two men.

Aiden
nodded.

“
We'll
have to get her back to Clara as soon as we can.”

“
First
things first,” Malcolm said sternly. “Let's find out what
the hell happened to her and her people.”

Liliana
kept her eyes on Simon as she made her way across the open square. He
kept looking up, expecting to see a dragon arrowing down from above
like an attacking eagle, but the sky remained clear.

When
she finally made it to the theater, Liliana leaned against the door
frame and closed her eyes a moment. Her breathing sounded labored and
painful.

“
Are
you okay?” Simon asked, and then realized what a stupid
question that was.

Liliana
opened her eyes and smiled at him slightly.

“
Okay
is a relative term, my friend. I am alive, so that is something. My
people, on the other hand...”

Her
voice trailed off and Simon watched two tears slip down her cheeks,
cutting furrows in the dirt on her face.

“
Dead?”
Malcolm asked gently.

She
looked at him blankly and then nodded once.

Before
she could continue, Aiden spoke up.

“
Maybe
we should get back downstairs? Liliana can rest and we'll be less
exposed.”

“
And
trapped in here if the drakes return,” Malcolm reminded him.

“
There
will be no returning drakes,” the paladin said grimly. “I
could not save my people, but at least I avenged them.”

The
guardsmen stared at her with obvious respect.

“
In
that case, let's get you downstairs where you can at least sit down,”
Simon told her.

She
nodded and began to limp toward the stairs, waving off Aiden's offer
of assistance.

“
I
can walk on my own,” she snapped at him and led the way.

The
three men exchanged glances and Simon just shrugged. They followed
her slowly.

Once they were down in the
living quarters, Aiden drew a bucket of water from the well and
filled a glass. He offered it to the paladin who accepted it with
thanks. Malcolm had found an overturned chair and had set it upright
for her to sit down.

Liliana sipped the water,
her breathing slowly returning to normal. Simon grabbed another chair
and sat down facing her. He summoned a light sphere again and set it
to hover up near the ceiling.

Aiden moved to guard the
door while his partner stood nearby, arms folded, watching her
intently.

“
Can you tell us
what happened?” Simon asked her when she had caught her breath.

The paladin nodded, moving
her left arm in a circle to loosen it up and wincing a few times.

“
Two of my people
were out scouting with me this morning,” she began. She stared
at the floor as she spoke, her eyes dull. She sounded like she was
drained of emotion.

“
Routine, really. We
scout out the neighborhood every day to make sure it remains clear.
They headed west and I went east. Maybe they got careless. We hadn't
seen any dragon activity for weeks. I don't know what happened, but
about an hour or so into my patrol I heard the dragon.”

“
A dragon? The one
that tore open your door?” Malcolm asked.

Liliana nodded.

“
Yes. That door
weighs over a ton and it was ripped apart like it was paper. When I
heard the first roar, I raced back.”

Her hands clenched into
fists.

“
I was too late. My
fault. I had gone too far from the outpost and could not get back in
time to save my people.”

“
Do not blame
yourself, lady,” Malcolm said. His tone was so fierce that she
looked up at him in surprise.

“
No one can run
quickly in armor,” he continued and tapped his breastplate.
“You were out doing your job. You are not the one who led the
dragon to this place. Taking the blame on to yourself is futile.”

She was listening closely
and nodded reluctantly.

“
Perhaps. The
results were the same. By the time I got back, the dragon was gone.
The last of the drakes was streaming out of the building.”

Her expression became so
fierce that Simon flinched and sat back.

Liliana caught his
movement and looked at him. She managed a smile and made a reassuring
gesture.

“
Sorry, my friend. I
never knew how much I could hate until today.”

She glanced down at her
armor and Simon followed her look. To his surprise, the metal was no
longer dented and splattered with dried blood. It gleamed like it had
been freshly polished and was undamaged.

The paladin rested her
hand on her chest and sighed loudly.

“
Apparently the gods
don't hold my hatred against me. For whatever that's worth.”

She stood up slowly and
walked back and forth a few paces. Simon watched wide-eyed. She was
no longer limping and the gray of fatigue had faded from her skin.

Liliana sat down again and
gave them all a twisted smile.

“
Well, isn't that a
lovely gift,” she said bitterly. “My people are
slaughtered but the gods see fit to heal their paladin. Wonderful.”

She leapt to her feet and
glared up at the ceiling.

“
What good does this
do me now!” she roared. Her rage echoed around the room and the
guardsmen watched her with identical expressions of compassion.

She collapsed on to her
chair and covered her eyes.

“
What good does this
do me now?” she whispered.

Simon wanted to place a
reassuring hand on her shoulder but he had a feeling that it would be
rebuffed, so he waited, his heart sore as he watched Liliana's grief.

“
How many drakes
attacked?” Malcolm asked finally, when she finally sat back and
was staring blankly at the floor again.

“
How many? I don't
know. Five? Six? Doesn't matter. They are all destroyed. Once I
finished off the straggler near our front door, I tracked down the
rest. My people had been...consumed by then. No remains were left to
be buried. But none of those creatures will report back to the dragon
that sent them. Let them believe that my people survived and fought
them off. It will at least give them pause.”

“
Five or six?”

Malcolm looked at Aiden,
who shook his head in mute amazement.

“
Lady, we have never
faced a drake, but Simon has. From what he's told us, just battling
one of those beasts would be too much for even a group of people.”

Liliana stood up again and
drew her sword. It rang like a bell and glowed a ghostly white.

“
The gods' favor,”
she said with a sneer. The sword was deadly sharp and runes ran down
its length from hilt to tip. “This weapon sheers through drake
flesh like a hot knife through butter. The beasts weren't that much
of a challenge.”

Malcolm snorted.

“
Your modesty
becomes you, lady, but I doubt that it was that easy.”

The paladin sheathed her
sword and looked around the room.

“
Easy? No, it was
not easy.”

She focused on the two
guardsmen.

“
I did not catch
your names?” she said pointedly and looked at Simon.

He jumped up, feeling a
little embarrassed.

“
Sorry, Liliana.
With all that's happened...anyway, this is Malcolm and that's Aiden.
They are the leaders of the guardsmen in Nottinghill.”

“
Nottinghill?”
The paladin looked perplexed for a moment and then nodded. “Ah,
of course. Clara's town, yes?”

“
Yes.”

Malcolm stepped forward
and shook her hand firmly.

“
It is an honor,”
he said sincerely.

The paladin managed a
smile.

“
The pleasure is
mine,” she told him and nodded at Aiden, who saluted from his
position at the door.

Liliana walked over to the
pump and dipped her glass into the bucket of water. She drank it down
and glanced around at the others.

“
Water? Or something
stronger? I'm sure I can dig up a bottle of vodka in all this mess.”

“
No thanks,”
Simon said. The guardsmen shook their heads.

“
So how did you
manage to show up when you did, sir wizard?” she asked. “I
hadn't expected to see you for some time, perhaps only if or when we
found your lost spell-book.”

Simon looked at her
blankly for a moment and had to quickly reorganize his thoughts.

“
Oh, right. That.
Well, it was just bad timing, I suppose. Or good timing. I'm not
sure. I discovered a new spell that I think will do major damage to
white dragons.”

Liliana stiffened and she
focused intensely on the wizard.

“
So I called you
this morning, well, morning in my time zone, and got no answer.”

He frowned at the thought.

“
It's weird, you
know. I can usually reach anyone, awake or asleep, with my Magic
Mirror spell. But when I called you, I got nothing. That's what
convinced me to come. I thought...”