The Dragons of Ice and Snow (49 page)

Tamara seemed very
interested in the proceedings. Simon had only spoken to her and her
brother Sebastian a couple of times, so the magical communication was
still a novelty to her. Plus, she hadn't spoken to any other group of
Changlings outside of her own people since London had been destroyed
four years before.

Simon watched the four
faces in the mirrors as they settled themselves for the meeting. The
British mage was a very tough looking woman. Young and tall, she wore
her yellow hair cut short at her chin in a ragged bob and there was a
crooked, diagonal scar across her right cheek and one on her chin.
Her eyes were very blue, but hard, like sapphires. She rarely smiled.

“
Okay, I hope you're
all comfortable, because this might take a while.”

There was a general murmur
of agreement.

“
Good. First of all,
Daniel, would you say hello to everyone? Sorry, but I'm hoping that
you can actually hear and see each other, so let's test it.”

“
Certainly,”
his old friend said in a jocular tone. “Good day, everybody. My
name is Daniel. I'm a friend of Simon's from before the fall of the
old Earth. Nice to speak with you.”

The wizard watched the
others to see what their reactions were. Clara smiled and nodded,
while Liliana sat up and seemed to be listening intently. Tamara
frowned.

“
Can you all hear
him? See him?” Simon asked.

Everyone assured him that
they could and he proceeded to introduce each one to the others.

“
Okay folks, I need
your feedback. We have a major problem that has to be dealt with and
I need ideas. So, this is what's been happening.”

He proceeded to explain
about the attack on the dwarven capital and the mutation of the
dragons. Daniel, who of course had told Simon about it, sat patiently
and listened, as did Clara. The other two women, however, reacted
with varying degrees of shock and anger.

“
They turned dragons
into two-legged freaks?” Tamara hissed. “How? How did
they do that?”

“
I'll get to that in
a minute,” Simon assured her.

“
Hang on a second,”
Daniel interjected. “You found out how it's been done?”

“
Yes, I did. Clara,”
he said as he looked at the cleric, “have you had any contact
with the dwarves? At all?”

“
Nothing. I wish we
had. But there hasn't been a sign of them.”

“
If the dwarves are
half the proud fighters that you've told me they are,” Liliana
said tightly, “you will only see one again if they win this
battle for their home.”

“
I'm afraid that's
true,” Simon said heavily. “They either can't or won't
retreat from their capital, which means that they can't help us with
what's to come.”

“
Help with what?”
Daniel asked.

“
I'm coming to that.
Okay, so you know about the dragonoids, as I've taken to calling
them. Now, over the past several weeks, I've had my little friend
here,” he nodded at Aeris beside him, who bowed as four sets of
eyes turned to stare at him, “scouting north from Moscow to the
high arctic. Since Liliana and her people were attacked by the white
dragons and their servants, the drakes, and since my research
indicates that the primal white is the next most powerful dragon in
their hierarchy, I've wanted to know where the thing had its lair.”

“
I'm assuming that
you were able to locate it?” Tamara asked. She had tented her
fingers under her chin and was staring at Simon with cool detachment.

“
In a manner of
speaking. That's primarily why I've called you all together. Tamara,
have you had any dragon attacks in London recently?”

She looked away for a
moment, concentrating with lowered brows.

“
No, none,”
she told him after a moment. “In fact, we haven't seen a patrol
or been attacked for months. It's been a relief to my people, I can
tell you.”

“
I'm sure. When I
first observed London in my mirror last year, I saw you and your
group being attacked by a red dragon.”

“
Yes, I remember you
telling me that. And?”

“
And, since then, do
you know how many attacks or sightings have taken place over your
city?”

She looked away again.

“
Sebastian,”
she called. “How many dragons have we spotted over the last
year or so? About ten, isn't it?”

“
Nine,” a
man's voice answered her. “Seven reds, two whites. And no
sightings in about three months.”

“
There you have it,”
Tamara told the wizard. “My brother is better at keeping track
of that sort of thing.”

“
White dragons?
You've seen white dragons?” Liliana asked loudly.

“
We have, yes. Why?”

The paladin didn't reply.
She was scowling at nothing and Simon spoke up to fill the sudden
silence.

“
Liliana and the
white dragons have a violent history,” he told them all while
looking at the mage. “She lost all of her people to those
monsters. One of the reasons I wanted you involved in this
discussion, Tamara, is because London is the closest city, with
Changlings living in it, to the white dragon's territory. After
Moscow, of course. And if you've seen them in the skies over your
home, it may be that they have taken over your territory.”

“
Why would they do
that?” Clara asked, speaking for the first time.

“
Because after the
deaths of the black and green primals, the dragons had to be
redistributed,” Daniel cut in. “Spread out to cover more
ground. Their mandate from the dark gods is still to wipe out mankind
as quickly as possible. While we exist, those beings cannot enter
into our realm. They want us removed and they want us removed now!”

“
Well, screw them,”
Tamara said harshly. “We aren't going anywhere.”

“
You've got that
right,” Liliana said, her eyes alight with anger.

“
I agree,”
Clara said calmly.

“
I think we're all
agreed there,” Simon added. “If they want this world,
they're going to have to pry it out of our cold, dead hands. And good
luck with that.”

“
Nice pep talk,
wizard,” Tamara said with a small smile. “But I'm still
waiting for the other shoe to drop. What did your pet elemental find
up in the frozen wastes?”

Aeris stiffened but
remained silent.

“
He is my friend,
Tamara, not my pet. I'd appreciate it if you'd remember that.”

She looked at him coldly
and raised an eyebrow. Simon held her gaze until she nodded once.

“
Very well. I
apologize. My brother and I are mages. We don't deal with summoned
creatures, so I don't really know how the whole thing works.”

“
Of course. Now, to
answer your question, this is what happened earlier today.”

Simon told them, as
clearly and simply as he could, about what Aeris had discovered. He
told them about seeing through the elemental's eyes for the first,
and hopefully last, time. And then he hesitated and watched Liliana
closely as he told them all that two of the humans who were being
held, waiting to be merged into abominations, were from Moscow.

It went about as badly as
he had expected it would.

Liliana shot to her feet
and glared at him.

“
My people?
My
people
? They
are using those I thought dead as ingredients in their mutations?”

“
I'm
afraid so,” Simon said.

“
This
is inexcusable. This cannot be borne! We must do something,”
she exclaimed as she began pacing back and forth like a caged
lioness.

“
I
agree!” Tamara said loudly. “It's an abomination. Wait.”
She looked away again. “Sebastian, get over here!”

While
Liliana paced and began cursing in what Simon assumed was Russian,
Clara had slumped back in her chair and covered her eyes with her
hand. Daniel was white with shock but he seemed focused on his
friend's face and was watching him carefully.

The
mage's brother slid into view in the mirror. Tamara was sitting on a
couch and he sat down next to her and nodded once at Simon.

“
What
is it?” he asked quietly. “What's happened?”

He
looked much more friendly and open compared to his formidable sister,
and Simon thought he might be younger, although with Changlings you
never knew.

Tamara
quickly told him what the wizard had said and, like Daniel,
Sebastian's face paled.

“
My
God,” he said, wide-eyed. “Fusing humans and dragons?
That's insane.”

“
But
according to Simon, that's what is happening and he has no reason to
lie,” Tamara said. “But something just occurred to me.
Haven't we lost several people over the past two months or so?”

Sebastian
frowned at his sister and she scowled.

“
What?
It's hard for me to keep track! We've got how many living here now?
Thirty? I can't be expected to remember everyone's face and name.”

“
Twenty-seven.
A good leader...” Sebastian began to say, but Tamara cut him
off.

“
I
don't need another lecture about leadership, thank you. I know
everyone loves you and hates me and frankly, I don't care. The only
reason they expect us to lead is because of our magic. Take that away
from us and someone else would run this show, which would be just
fine by me.”

“
Sorry,
folks, don't mean to interrupt or anything,” Simon said, trying
to be delicate. “But did you say that you've lost some people?”

Tamara
motioned for her brother to speak and he nodded.

“
Yes.
Five people in the past seven weeks. Two pairs that went out on
patrol and never returned and one guy, Andrew I believe his name was,
who went scavenging and didn't come back.”

“
Did
you look for them?”

“
Of
course! There aren't so many of us that we can afford to lose a
single soul. But there was nothing. No blood, no bodies. It's like
they were just plucked...”

His
voice trailed off and Sebastian looked at Simon with horror.

“
Oh
no. You don't think...”

“
That
they were snatched by dragons?” Tamara interjected harshly.
“Well, if he doesn't, I sure as hell do.”

She
gave her brother a firm push on his shoulder.

“
Get
out there and warn each of them. No more patrols right now. No more
scavenging or wandering. I want everyone to stay close until further
notice.”

Sebastian
was nodding but he hesitated before leaving.

“
They're
going to want to know why, Tammy.”

His
sister snorted with irritation.

“
Fine.
Tell them that we've gotten word from our allies,” she nodded
toward Simon, “that the dragons have started sending drakes in
on the ground, to search the ruined cities. Since that's probably
what's happening anyway, you won't have to lie. Just don't tell them
the real reason that we're being hunted.”

“
Got
it. Okay. Take care, Simon. If you need our help, let us know.”

The
young man waved and left the wizard's sight.

“
Good
call,” he told Tamara, who just shrugged.

“
I
may not enjoy leading or remember their names, but humanity's ranks
are getting pretty thin and we can't afford any more losses.
Especially if they end up like those up north.”

“
Agreed.”

Simon
pushed back his hair and looked at each person, one at a time.

Liliana
had stopped pacing and was now sitting forward, watching and
listening with narrowed eyes. Clara had wiped her eyes and now seemed
to be waiting to see what was going to happen next.

Tamara
was back to staring coldly out of her mirror, while Daniel still
appeared to be in shock.

“
How
you hanging in there, old man?” Simon asked him with a weak
smile.

“
By
a thread, old buddy,” his friend replied in a subdued voice.
“Bad enough that the dragons are mutating into humanoid shape,
but using Changlings to do it? Well, all I can say is that if anyone
thought that the lords of Chaos were anything but evil, this should
settle things for them.”

“
I
never doubted it,” he replied.

Simon
leaned forward and tried to watch everyone at once.

“
Guys,
I called you all at the same time for one reason. I need help. We
need help; the human race, or what's left of it. This has got to
stop, right now. I think that we've all accepted the fact that we're
fighting against gods, and dragons, and monsters, and whatever the
hell else this New Earth has to throw at us. We're trying to survive
in an insane world where reality keep changing, where technology is
gone and magic rules the day. And I get that. I do. I watch the skies
like all of you, waiting for the next attack, trying to strike back
when and where I can. And if I die in that fight, well, so be it.”