The Dragons Revenge (Tales from the New Earth #2) (40 page)

“
Good
idea, master. I will see to the horses while you eat. Aeris should
return soon and we will be ready when he does.”

Kronk
headed outside and Simon started making sandwiches. He hoped that the
air elemental wouldn't take too long. It was almost noon.

By
the time Aeris returned, Simon and Kronk had finished their
respective tasks and were sitting on the front steps waiting for him.
Fortunately for the wizard, the sun wasn't shining directly on him.
He'd had enough of it for one day.

The
air elemental popped into the front yard and zipped toward the two of
them.

“
So
you did wait. Good,” he said with relief.

“
I
told you we would,” Simon replied shortly. “Why would you
think otherwise?”

“
Because,
my dear wizard, you get excited when you think you're going on an
adventure. I was afraid that you would forget and go racing off into
the depths.”

Simon
stood up and brushed off his robe.

“
Well,
I didn't. I hope Clara was happy to get a new lodestone.”

He
grabbed his pack and slipped it over his shoulders and then slung
Bene-Dunn-Gal across it.

“
Oh
she was. I mentioned your plan to check out those tunnels and she
told me to tell you to be careful.”

Simon
stared at Aeris in exasperation.

“
You
told her? Oh for... You know how she worries. She has enough on her
plate taking care of Nottinghill and her people without fretting
about me. Next time, be more discreet please.”

“
Yes,
oh mighty one,” Aeris said with an exaggerated bow. “How
was I to know it was a secret?”

The
wizard sighed loudly and closed the front door.

“
Never
mind. Let's go while I still have the location fixed in my head. Both
of you grab hold.”

Kronk
jumped up, grabbed the bundle of torches and tucked it under his arm.
Then he put his free hand on the hem of Simon's robe. Aeris moved
closer to the wizard and grabbed part of his sleeve.

Simon
chanted the Gate spell, checked on the elementals one last time and
uttered the word of command.

“
Invectis
!”

As
they materialized in the dark tunnels, Simon tripped over some loose
rubble and almost landed on his face. He caught his balance just in
time and teetered precariously for a minute on his toes.

“
Whoa,”
he muttered. “That was close.”

The
tunnel was warm but not hot and the place was so dry that Simon could
feel his nostrils pinching closed as he sniffed the air. It smelled
dusty and stale, like an abandoned attic. He didn't much like it.

“
Are
you all right, master?” Kronk asked anxiously from behind him.

Simon
looked around and could barely see the little guy's dark body against
the rock-strewn ground in the darkness. He quickly cast the Light
spell and a bobbing globe of clear white light rose from his hand to
hover a few feet over his head.

“
I'm
fine, thanks. Aeris?”

“
Fine,
fine,” the air elemental said absently as he looked around. “I
don't really care for traveling under the earth, you know. It feels
like the weight above us is going to come crashing down at any
moment.”

“
Nonsense,”
Kronk told him flatly. “These tunnels have existed for
millennia and will exist for many more to come, I am sure.”

“
Yes?
Why don't I find that very comforting?”

Simon
let the two of them squabble as he picked his way across the loose
rocks and examined the nearest wall.

Kronk
had underestimated the size of the place. The walls had to be at
least thirty feet high. They were lost up in the gloom beyond the
reach of the wizard's globe of light. The tunnel was also wider than
the earthen had guessed; twenty feet or more.

There
were numerous carvings and pictograms etched into the rough walls.
Simon was fascinated as he ran his fingertips over the rock. Tiny
figures were cut into the wall, unknown characters, writing of some
sort.

He
stepped back to get a better sense of the scope of things. The
markings extended out of sight in both directions and the wizard was
awed at the obvious age of the place.

When
he turned and checked the ruts worn into the ground, he tried to
imagine how many wagons or carts or whatever kinds of vehicles had
used this road over how many years to wear deep tracks into solid
rock. He couldn't even guess.

“
Do
you think anyone uses this path any longer?” he asked the
elementals, his voice echoing up and down the tunnel.

They
turned from their discussion to look at Simon and then at the road.

“
I
do not think so, master,” Kronk told him. “The dwarves
use their drilling machines to travel, now that magic has returned to
the world. But I would guess that they last used it many years ago,
since they had no contact with the surface world for thousands of
years.”

Aeris
rose up and turned slowly in a circle.

“
It
feels very old, doesn't it?” he asked in a hushed voice. “With
all of these fallen rocks, the dwarves must have abandoned this road
long in the distant past.”

Simon
squatted down and picked up a random piece of stone. He turned it
slowly in his hands, small bits of crystal and minerals glinting in
the dark rock.

“
So
which way is up and which is down?” he asked Kronk as he
dropped the rock and stood up again.

The
earthen pointed.

“
That
way leads deeper, master. The intersection that I showed you is down
that way as well.”

“
Okay,
let's go,” Simon said. He adjusted his pack and staff more
comfortably and began walking, carefully watching the ground to avoid
tripping on loose rock.

Kronk
skipped ahead, avoiding the rubble with ease while Aeris flew above
it, his head constantly swiveling to look right and left.

It
took a few minutes, but they finally reached the four-way
intersection that Simon had seen in the mirror.

“
Overshot
it a bit, didn't I?” he remarked dryly as he stood in the
center of the road and looked in each of the four directions.

“
You
made it in one piece, master. That is what matters.”

Simon
smiled a bit at Kronk's encouragement.

“
And
you didn't end up embedded in a stone wall, so there's that,”
Aeris added dryly.

Simon
looked at him, wide-eyed.

“
Wait,
that can actually happen?” he asked with a touch of fear.

“
Kronk?
Would you like to answer our dear wizard?” the air elemental
said to the little earthen.

The
little guy hesitated and gave Aeris a nasty look. Simon waited,
wondering why Kronk was being asked to answer the question.

“
Well,
yes, master. It has happened. Once or twice.”

“
It
has? When?”

“
Many
years ago, I was serving the family of a very powerful wizard. His
young son...”

Kronk
paused and turned away.

Simon
looked at Aeris, whose expression had surprisingly changed to one of
pity. He shook his head mutely.

“
Forgive
me, Kronk,” the air elemental said. “But you are the one
with the first-hand knowledge here.”

“
Yes,
yes. I know.”

The
earthen looked up at Simon.

“
The
young son attempted to Gate from the work room, where he had summoned
me as practice, to his chambers high in the wizard's tower. The spell
was beyond him, but perhaps he wanted to show his rather intimidating
father that he was more powerful than he actually was. But for
whatever reason, he cast the spell. I would guess that he did not
picture his target clearly. At any rate, he stumbled on the spell
and...ended up entombed in the wall of the work room.”

Simon
stared at him in horror.

“
Oh
my God,” he whispered. “That's awful.”

“
It
was, master. Part of his leg and an arm were all that could be seen
protruding from the wall. I was pulled back into the realm of earth
as he died, for he was the one who had summoned me initially. I never
saw the father's reaction, but I can only imagine that he was
devastated. It was his only child.”

“
I
mentioned that story, my dear wizard, to prove that this Gating that
you are doing willy-nilly is more dangerous than you seem to
realize.”

Simon
pushed back his hair and nodded solemnly.

“
Point
taken. Thank you both. And Kronk, I'm sorry you had to relive such a
sad memory.”

The
earthen kicked a loose stone and it skittered across the road.

“
It
was very long ago, master. All of those people are long dead. Do not
be concerned. And Aeris is correct. You are skilled enough now to
cast Gate easily, but always picture your target location clearly.
Your miss today was fortunately without consequences.”

“
Okay.
You've both made your case and I am properly chastised. But we're
here in one piece so let's make the best of it.”

Aeris
floated off toward one tunnel that rose steadily away from the
crossroads. Kronk headed in the opposite direction, where a tunnel
dipped quickly and disappeared into the darkness.

Simon
stood in the center of the four tunnels and looked around, spotting
many more glyphs and pictograms on the walls than he'd seen earlier.
One in particular caught his eye and he walked across the road to
examine it more closely.

As
he approached with the light bobbing along above his head, Simon's
eyes widened. It was a crude picture, cut deeply into the stone, of
what was obviously a dwarf.

He
had a long beard and was wearing armor. He held an axe above his
head. But it was what he was fighting that caught the wizard's eye.
It was a horrible combination of wolf and man. Jagged teeth and long
claws were the prominent features on the furry monster, but it was
the fact that it was standing on two legs and lunging at the dwarf
that was particularly disturbing.

“
A
werewolf? Wow. They actually exist?”

He
reached out and ran his fingers over the carving and then stepped
away, a feeling of revulsion overcoming him.

Simon
turned back and moved to the center of the crossroads again. Neither
of the elementals were in sight and he took the opportunity to check
out the size of the chamber.

He
glanced upward and, with a wave of his hand, sent his globe of light
up toward the ceiling. It was a lot higher than he'd realized and,
once the upper reaches were revealed, Simon saw that the ceiling was
also covered with symbols and pictures. Cobwebs coated the carvings
and made them hard to see and the wizard recalled his light after a
few minutes of fruitless squinting, trying to make out what was
inscribed there.

Kronk
tip-tapped back up the road and joined Simon. The elemental reported
nothing of interest except that the tunnel dropped steeply into the
depths beyond the crossroad.

“
I
wonder what's taking Aeris so long?” the wizard muttered as he
tapped a foot impatiently.

“
Probably
got caught up in exploring, master. That is what the airy ones are
best at.”

Simon
wiped some dust off of his sleeve and began to answer Kronk and then
stopped. Dust wasn't only covering his sleeve, it was sifting down
from the ceiling and coating his body, the little earthen and the
tunnel itself.

“
What
the...?” he exclaimed as he waved a cloud of fine grit away
from his face.

Kronk
looked up at the ceiling with a perplexed frown. The dirt falling on
his face didn't bother him at all.

“
Something
is disturbing the tunnel, master,” he said, stating the
obvious.

“
Yes,
I noticed. But what?”

The
little earthen cocked his head to the side and opened his eyes wide.

“
Do
you hear that, master?” he asked in a hushed voice.

Simon
stopped slapping dust off of his robe and stood still, barely
breathing.

There
was a distant sound, barely audible, that seemed to be coming from
the tunnel that Aeris had disappeared into. It was odd, rhythmic.

“
It
sounds like someone's pulling something, you know?” he said to
Kronk.