The Dragons of Argent and Silver (Tales from the New Earth #6) (14 page)

“
That was my guess,
master. Perhaps not, thought. This magic is new to me.”

The haunting cry was
repeated, but the echoes around the glade frustrated the group's
efforts to locate the source.

“
It sounds...weird,
don't you think?” Simon asked as he turned in a slow circle,
scanning the starry sky.

Aeris snorted in disgust.

“
It's a dragon, my
dear wizard. Isn't that weird enough?”

“
I don't mean that,
wise guy. I mean, even for a dragon it sounds strange. Could it be
injured maybe?”

The answer appeared
abruptly, right over their heads.

A flash of bright light
and a streak of fire lit up the sky and a glittering vision soared
into view.

“
It's Esmiralla,”
Simon gasped. “Oh, I'd forgotten how beautiful she is.”

The silver dragon banked
and glided down in a tight circle toward the clearing.

“
She is that,”
Aeris whispered reverently and Simon was reminded that the air
elementals had once almost worshiped the silver dragons.

“
Master?”

The wizard continued to
watch the dragon, lost in her splendor. Her silver scales glowed in
the darkness and, even at her size, she flew with a delicate touch
that he'd never seen in any of the chaotic dragons. Maybe it was
because she was the first female dragon that he had ever seen, except
for the monstrous queen.

“
Master!”
Kronk repeated, tugging at his pant leg.

“
Yes Kronk, what is
it?” Simon asked irritably, tearing his gaze away from
Esmiralla.

He looked down at the
little guy and the earthen pointed across the field.

“
We have been
deceived,” he stated flatly.

“
What?”

Simon followed Kronk's
pointing finger and then stumbled backwards so quickly he fell over.
His shield had faded and he landed on his back hard enough to knock
the wind out of him.

He lay gasping like a fish
out of water while Aeris looked down at him in confusion.

“
What exactly is
wrong with you now, oh great one?” he asked curiously.

The wizard couldn't seem
to catch his breath and simply pushed himself up a bit and pointed.

The three of them stared
upward with a mixture of shock, fear and awe. The smoke had finally
blown away, but instead of a simple hole in the ground, a towering
figure stood there, dwarfing the trees of the forest beyond it.

“
I live again,”
a bass voice made of glass and steel said. The meadow trembled in
response.

Esmiralla reached the
ground, back-winged and landed delicately near the towering figure
that took up half of the field.

“
Greetings, my
lord,” she said in her oddly feminine voice.

She folded her silver
wings gracefully over her back and lowered her head almost to the
ground.

Towering over Esmiralla
was a creature that Simon could not believe even existed.

Stretching at least a
hundred feet long from horned head to wickedly spiked tail, it was a
dragon. Its eyes were as sapphire-blue as the silver dragon's, but
slanted like a cat's. Its scales were blazingly bright, metallic but
neither silver nor white. A pale forked tongue flickered in its
fanged mouth, tasting the air like a monstrous snake.

The strange creature
looked down at the bowing silver dragon and Simon thought that it
looked confused. Its heavy brows came together and it tilted its head
slightly.

“
Esmiralla, isn't
it?” it rumbled.

“
Yes, lord. I am
grateful that you remember someone as unimportant as I.”

“
Rise, child. You
need not bow to me. And you are not unimportant. We are equals, you
and I.”

She raised her head but
kept her eyes focused on the ground.

“
We are far from
that, my lord. But I will not argue with you. We have much to discuss
but first, allow me to present to you the one who made your rebirth
possible.”

She swung her head around
and fixed Simon with a steely gaze. The wizard had managed to stand,
still wobbly, and met her eyes as calmly as possible.

“
Simon O'Toole,
wizard, it gives me great pleasure to introduce you to one of the
greatest of my people, Argentium, also known as the argent dragon. My
lord, this is the wizard who enabled me to recall you from the Void.”

“
Ah.”

Argentium took one step
toward the wizard. The ground shook so violently that Simon almost
fell down again and was only saved by Aeris grabbing his sweater by
the shoulder and Kronk bracing his knees.

“
Thanks guys,”
he whispered.

He craned his neck back
and stared almost straight up. The argent dragon's head towered
thirty feet above him and blocked out the stars overhead.

The dragon peered down at
him, his huge jeweled eyes glowing against the darkness.

“
So I have you to
thank for my resurrection, human?” he asked, his voice making
Simon's body quiver.

“
I have no idea,”
he shouted back, hoping the dragon could actually hear him. “I
was just told that Esmiralla was using her magic to separate herself
from my consciousness. You are a...surprise.”

There's a hell of an
understatement, Simon thought wryly.

“
What is this?”

Argentium whipped his head
around and stared at the silver dragon.

“
Am I hearing this
correctly? Did you use subterfuge to summon me back to the mortal
realm?”

Esmiralla backed up a step
and seemed to wilt, her wings drooping under the argent dragon's
glare.

“
I...my lord, it was
necessary. I did not know if this wizard would agree to give up a
part of himself to bring you back.”

“
Necessary? How was
it necessary? Did you even bother to ask him?”

“
Wait!” Simon
shouted. “Hang on a minute!”

Amazingly both dragons
turned to look down at him. Esmiralla actually had to move over a
step to see him around Argentium's body.

“
What was that about
giving a part of myself? What part?”

He looked down at his
body, but his limbs were all intact and all he had to show for the
ceremony were a few bruises. He wasn't even bleeding from a scrape or
cut.

Esmiralla hesitated and
Argentium glowered at her.

“
Tell him,” he
commanded sternly.

“
Yes, my lord.
Wizard...Simon, please understand. I needed the dragon egg and the
two kinds of draconian blood to reassemble Argentium's essence. But
we dragons are physical beings. We are immortal but not
indestructible. We are magical but not natural spell-casters. So I
needed a piece of a mortal, a mortal who could use magic. You are the
strongest spell-caster in this world, and the only good wizard, so
you were the logical choice.”

“
So you just used
me, is that it?” he said loudly, trying not to show his anger.
It was threatening to overwhelm him and he did not want to lose
control.

“
And killing the
primal red dragon? Was that planned or just a happy coincidence? If
you hadn't needed me for this ritual, would you have merged with me
and saved me from the explosive death of the primal?”

“
No,” she said
and hung her head. “No, I would not have. I needed you alive
for the ceremony. Alive and healthy.”

“
And the cost? What
did you take from me?”

“
Something you will
never miss, I am sure. A trifle really.”

“
Tell him!”
Argentium repeated in a thunderous voice.

“
A kidney. One
little kidney. You have two, after all. The second one is more of an
evolutionary afterthought. You will be fine.”

Simon gaped at her in
total shock. He looked down at the elementals and they stared back,
their expressions mirroring his own.

“
You violated me,”
he said, barely able to speak. How the dragons heard him was a
mystery, but they obviously did.

“
Now, now. It was
hardly a violation,” Esmiralla said quickly. “I
merely...”

“
You ripped out one
of my organs, you crazy bitch!” he screamed at her.

The silver dragon reared
back, her expression changing to one of fury.

“
You dare speak to
me like that? You dare!”

“
Silence!”
Argentium roared.

His massive head whipped
around and slammed into Esmiralla. Impossibly, the silver dragon was
lifted off her feet and flung into the forest to land with a
resounding crash. Trees and leaves were thrown in all directions.
Sleeping birds and animals suddenly began screeching and calling,
their confused cries filling the night. The ground bucked as if an
earthquake had struck and the wizard almost lost his footing again.

Argentium turned his head
and extended his neck downward to stare at Simon. His eyes and maw
filled all of the wizard's sight.

“
I cannot undo what
that fool has done, wizard. Would that I could. She brought me back
for the right reasons but in absolutely the wrong way. I am shamed
beyond words. What can I do to make amends?”

Simon was shaking, still
trying to wrap his mind around what the silver dragon had done to
him. He looked up at Argentium, feeling numb.

“
Nothing.
Just...leave me. Take that treacherous creature and go away. I never
want to see either of you again.”

Argentium sighed, sending
a hot wind whipping past the wizard and blowing leaves and grass into
the air.

“
As you wish. But
know this: if you have need of my aid, you simply need to call upon
me and it is yours. I shall take the fight to the dragons of Chaos
and their masters, I assure you of that. Be well, wizard. And, even
though this was done against your will, thank you for giving me life
once more. I shall not waste it, I promise you.”

Simon could only nod. He
had nothing more to say to either of them.

“
On your feet,”
the argent dragon snapped at Esmiralla. “Get up and follow me.”

The wizard could see the
glowing form of the silver dragon struggling to stand in the middle
of the wreckage her fall had created. When she was on her feet again,
Argentium leaped upward. His massive wings flapped once and carried
him away into the purple sky.

Esmiralla hesitated a
moment and she turned her head to look at Simon. From a hundred yards
away, their eyes seemed to meet and all the wizard saw was sorrow and
regret. It didn't touch him at all.

She looked up, leaped
toward the starry sky and was gone.

All that was left of the
nightmarish experience was the remnants of the bonfire, crushed
beneath the weight of the argent dragon. The grass of the field was
churned up and a wide swath of trees at the far edge of the clearing
had been torn out by their roots and flattened by the silver dragon.

“
What a mess,”
Simon said to fill the sudden silence.

The forest had quickly
become quiet again and the moon was slowly descending.

“
Come along, master,
and have some tea,” Kronk urged with a gentle nudge against
Simon's leg.

“
Yes, let's head
inside, my dear wizard. You have earned a good rest.”

Simon had to smile at
their concern. He might have been betrayed by Esmiralla, but he could
always trust these two.

“
Yeah, okay guys.
Let's go. I need time to think this all through.”

Back inside, Kronk quickly
built up the fire while Aeris began preparing the tea. Simon went
upstairs and got changed.

Esmiralla's departure from
inside of him had apparently reset him back to his old self and he
couldn't get out of his clothing fast enough. He flung the sweater
and jeans into the laundry basket with disgust.

The wizard stared at
himself in the full-length mirror of the wardrobe for a few minutes.
His lean body looked pretty much the same as it always did, fresh
bruises aside, and he ran his hands over his chest and stomach.

“
So she took my
kidney,” he said softly. “Funny, I feel exactly the same
as I always have.”

He met the mismatched eyes
of his reflection and stuck out his tongue. As always, it made him
giggle like a school boy.

“
Yep, same old nerd.
I guess I'll live.”

He looked at himself one
more time and shrugged.

“
Goddamned dragons.”

Simon grabbed a random
robe from the cabinet and slipped it on. The soft blue woolen garment
felt so natural against his skin that he sighed loudly with relief.
It seemed that he could breathe freely again.

The young man in the
mirror seemed pleased as well, and blue had always been his favorite
color.

“
Okay Simon,”
he said and shook a finger at himself. “You may be one kidney
short, but it's time to get back to business. At least that crazy
dragon is out of your head.”