The Dragons of Argent and Silver (Tales from the New Earth #6) (19 page)

That hadn't occurred to Simon and he
stuttered as he tried to reassure the Haladanin.

Galder watched him for a long moment
and then barked a loud guffaw of laughter.

“Be at ease, wizard. I was joking
with you.”

Simon laughed a bit uncomfortably but
with some relief.

“I sense no evil in you,”
Galder continued. “And I trust my senses. So we will accept
your generous offer when we are done. Now then, your final question?”

“Right. Okay then. What I wanted
to know goes back to something you said earlier.”

The bear-man listened intently.

“You said that the lords of
Justice Changed me, just as the gods of Chaos Changed you and your
people.”

“I did, yes.”

“But how do you know this?”

“Ah, I see. Now that is a very
good question.”

Galder pushed himself to his feet and
suddenly towered the wizard. All of the candles in the room were lit
and by their flickering light, the Haladanin looked more like a bear
than a humanoid and Simon was suddenly afraid.

But he needn't have worried. Galder
walked over to the door and began to reequip his weapons, motioning
for his daughters to do the same. He spoke as he got ready to leave.

“The truth is that we Haladanin
may have been formed by the dark gods, but we are lawful creatures.
We follow the Light, not the Darkness, wizard and, perhaps because of
this, I have been visited in my dreams by visions of the lords of
Justice. Or perhaps it is one of their heralds that I have seen. Who
can say? But the truth has been revealed to me and my eyes are open.”

He adjusted his sword and clipped his
quiver to his belt. Then he slipped his bow over his shoulder and
looked at Simon.

“I know about the struggle
between the forces of Good and Evil. I know that if the dark gods
win, we are all doomed. And I know, simply by speaking with you this
day, that you fight for the same ideals that we do. So, we are
allies, yes?”

“Absolutely,” Simon assured
him as he stood up.

He walked to the door and waited for
the visitors to head outside. Then he followed them out and down the
stairs to the front yard.

“Good. Yes, it is good to have
friends, Simon,” Galder said, using the wizard's name for the
first time.

Simon smiled gratefully.

“It is, especially in this new
world of ours. Thank you for coming. I look forward to a long and
rewarding relationship.”

“As do I, my friend.”

Galder's hand engulfed Simon's as they
said their farewells. The wizard bowed to the two daughters, who
giggled shyly and waved.

“We will speak again soon,”
the Haladanin leader assured him.

Simon nodded, pictured the former town
of Nottinghill as he had last seen it and called upon his magic.

“Gate,” he said and watched
as the three visitors faded away.

“Well now, that was fun,”
he said.

“
You look a tad
queasy, sir wizard.”

Simon held on to the rusty
railing and tried focusing on the horizon, the only thing that was
holding steady.

“
I've never cared
for boats,” he said through gritted teeth. “Even large
ones. And, no offense, but the smell of rotting fish isn't helping.”

The deck of the Defiant
rolled slowly as large waves tipped the ship up and down. The weather
wasn't exactly stormy, but the deep waters this far from land were
never really calm.

“
It's a ship, my
dear wizard, not a boat,” Aeris reminded him pertly.

Easy for him to say,
hovering above the rolling deck, Simon thought resentfully.

“
Aye, that it is.
Buck up, sir wizard. We'll probably be attacked soon. That should
take your mind off of your stomach.”

The speaker, a tall,
heavy-set woman wearing canvas trousers, a patched shirt tied at the
waist and high leather boots with brass buckles, laughed at her own
joke.

Simon gave her a sour
look, which only made her laugh even more.

Deborah Martelli, born and
raised in Verona, Italy, was the captain of the Defiant. The wizard
found her heavy Italian accent to be quite lyrical. Plus she had an
infectious laugh and he soon found himself joining in. It helped him
to forget his queasiness, which was a blessing.

Captain Martelli had
called Tamara at Nottinghill Castle for help via one of the mages on
board and Tamara had called Simon. It had been a week since he'd met
Galder and his daughters and the wizard was happy to volunteer his
services. He'd forgotten about his lack of sea legs.

“
You've been on a
ship before?” Deborah asked when he'd arrived a few moments
before.

He had Gated to the front
section of the ship's deck and she had met him and the elementals
there.

“
Once,” Simon
replied.

He looked around at the
old cruise ship, now home to over a hundred people, and shook his
head.

“
But the ship I was
on wasn't quite so...weathered.”

The captain grinned.

“
You're being kind,”
she said.

She slapped the railing
that ran around the entire deck.

“
Aye, she's seen a
lot, has my Defiant, but she's a good strong girl nonetheless. Good
bones. Her hull is intact and our mages move her when she needs to be
moved.”

She motioned for Simon,
Kronk and Aeris to follow her and began walking toward the stern of
the ship. The wizard stayed close to the railing, just in case.

Kronk was looking in every
direction, obviously fascinated.

“
Ever been to sea?”
Aeris asked him quietly.

Simon followed the captain
but listened to the conversation behind him at the same time.

“
Never. It is quite
a unique feeling, this rocking sensation, isn't it?”

“
I suppose so. You
aren't afraid of falling overboard?” Aeris teased him.

“
Of course not,”
Kronk said dismissively. “I would sink to the bottom of the
ocean, burrow beneath it and return home. It would not be a problem.”

Aeris made a sound of
disgust and Simon held in his laughter. Kronk had won that round.

“
Come along, sir
wizard,” the captain called. “Walking slower won't help
your delicate stomach.”

“
I don't think I
like sailors much,” Simon muttered.

Aeris gave him a sardonic
look but held his tongue.

The Defiant had been small
as cruise ships went. She could hold a maximum of a thousand
passengers and several hundred crew. At one time she must have
gleamed like a jewel on the ocean, but now her white paint was dingy
and spots of rust were evident on every metallic surface.

When Simon had caught up
with the captain, she had reached the rear of the ship and was
standing next to a slight young man who was wearing an incredibly
bright yellow robe. It was probably the most obnoxiously cheerful
color that the wizard had ever seen and he could feel his eyes
starting to water as the robe reflected the sunlight of midday.

“
Ah, you made it,”
Deborah said to Simon as he arrived.

He rolled his eyes and she
winked at him to show that she was joking. He smiled in spite of his
'delicate stomach' and decided that he was going to like this sailor,
at least.

“
Allow me to
introduce you to one of our resident mages. Barnaby, this is Simon
O'Toole. Simon, may I present Barnaby Wilde.”

The mage turned and Simon
was looking into mismatched eyes almost identical to his own; one
blue and one brown. Both the wizard and the mage jumped a bit as they
reacted to the coincidence.

“
Wow, look at that,”
Barnaby said. “You have my eyes.”

“
Well, actually I
have my eyes and you have yours, but I see what you mean,”
Simon replied.

Both of them stared in
silence for a minute and then burst out laughing.

“
That was probably
one of the dumbest things I've ever said,” Simon said as his
laughter subsided.

Captain Martelli was
looking at each of them in turn and appeared to be a little bemused.

“
What's so funny?”
she asked when they had calmed down.

“
We both have
mismatched eyes, Deb,” Barnaby told her. “What, you
didn't notice?”

She shrugged.

“
I don't judge
others on their eye color, I judge them by their deeds. But I suppose
that's interesting.”

She didn't sound
interested and Simon almost started laughing again.

Instead he took a moment
to actually look at the mage, beyond just his eyes.

Barnaby was quite small
and slim. He couldn't have been much taller than five feet and Simon
felt like a giant beside him. His shoulder-length hair was a
yellowish blond and almost matched his robe, something that the
wizard doubted was a coincidence. His blue and brown eyes were huge
in his narrow face and his delicate features were almost feminine.

But it was Barnaby's voice
that was a surprise. It was a mellow baritone that could have
belonged to someone twice the mage's size. It was a bit disconcerting
to hear it emanating from such a small person.

“
Finished sizing me
up?” the mage asked with a crooked smile.

“
Oh jeez, sorry
about that,” Simon answered. He knew that he must be turning
red.

Barnaby only chuckled.

“
Don't worry about
it. It's the voice, isn't it? Yeah, I know. A high wind could
probably blow me away and yet I sound like a wrestler. Go figure.”

“
Barnaby, let's
socialize later, shall we?” the captain said, suddenly all
business. “Any sign of pursuit?”

“
Not at the moment,
but I'm keeping an eye out. We have scouts on watch, as well as
Deadeye up top.”

The mage looked upward and
Simon turned, following his gaze. He hadn't noticed it but there was
a sort of tower rising from the center of the ship, crudely built of
metal struts and bits of strapping. On top of it was a small circular
platform and he could just see someone standing on it.

“
Deadeye?”

“
That's what we call
her,” Deborah told him with a pleased smile. She was staring up
at the lookout as well.

“
Kristine's her real
name. I've never met anyone with keener sight. She's excellent at
spotting trouble a long way off, so we call on her when we need the
best.”

Barnaby had turned to
stare behind the ship again. He muttered something and made a motion
with his hands. Simon could feel him working with magic and watched
with interest.

“
What's he doing?”
he asked the captain quietly so he wouldn't disturb the mage.

“
Moving the ship,”
she replied in the same low voice. “Barnaby and the other mages
are our only means of locomotion. Without their magic, this ship
would be dead in the water. We're fortunate that such talented people
chose to join up with us.”

“
I'd love to hear
the story of how all of this,” he waved at the ship as a whole,
“came together in the first place. And how you came to be
captain.”

“
That part isn't
very interesting,” she told him wryly. “I had my own tour
boat in
Camogli back
before the dragons came. Was a good little business too. Made enough
money for the comforts; you know, wine, women and song. All of that.”

Simon
smiled at her tone but his mood quickly became somber.

“
And
then the dragons came.”

“
And
then the dragons came,” she repeated with a nod. “And my
lovely little boat along with that jewel of a town, Camogli, went up
in flames. And I Changed from a frumpy, middle-aged sailor to this,”
she looked down at her tall, muscular body, “amazon. I must
admit that I don't mind this part. I was always fighting the battle
of the bulge back in the old days, plus my breasts were...less than
impressive. Now these babies...”

She
patted her chest and Barnaby turned to look at her, rolling his eyes.

“
Will
you please stop admiring those things in public, captain? It's a
rather vulgar habit, you know.”

Simon
bit his lip to keep from laughing, while Deborah looked down her nose
at the mage.

“
I'll
have you know that, unlike yourself, there are some people on board
this ship who appreciate a nice pair of t...”

“
Movement
to starboard!” a woman shouted from the lookout tower.

Captain
Martelli was suddenly all business.

“
Where
away?” she shouted as she ran toward the right side of the
ship.

“
Go
after her,” Barnaby told Simon. “I have to stay here and
keep the Defiant moving. It was nice to meet you.”

“
Same
here. I'm sure we'll talk again soon.”

Simon
raced after the captain, Kronk and Aeris right behind him. He'd
forgotten his queasiness entirely.