The Dragons of Argent and Silver (Tales from the New Earth #6) (36 page)

“
I will. Have fun.”

“
Always the
comedian,” Aeris answered sourly and left the tower.

Simon laughed to himself
and settled into his chair to wait. He suspected that it was going to
be a long night.

After an hour of silently
staring into the fire, Simon got up and went upstairs to his study.
He scanned through his bookshelf and pulled out one of the reference
manuals that he'd saved from the old days. He tucked the large tome
under his arm and returned to his comfy chair.

He summoned a mage light
and set it to hover just behind him so that he could read
comfortably. The book on his lap had a black leather cover and was
quite heavy. Across its spine was the title in gold lettering:
'Malevolence: A Study in Black Magic'.

This was one of Daniel's
choices for Simon's library.

How did he know that I'd
need this one day, the wizard wondered. How?

It was a question he had
asked himself numerous times over the past five years. Daniel had
been a visionary and his choices had saved Simon's life more than
once, but he was still amazed at how much the man had foreseen.

He opened the tome and
began skimming through it. The entire book was rather horrible. There
was page after page of incantations that he would not have understood
back in the old days. Now though he could read them, more or less,
but the gut-churning magic associated with the spells was absolutely
alien to him and he knew just by looking at them that this power was
totally inaccessible to him.

“
Just as well,”
he murmured in disgust as he flipped through the pages.

He found a large section
filled with illustrations and settled deeper into his chair as he
examined each one.

The artist who had drawn
these pictures had been a master. He or she must also have been
somewhat perverse.

“
Skeleton,”
Simon muttered.

The picture showed the
standard bony figure that could have been found in any medical book,
but with an evil twist. The naked skull was weirdly warped and the
monster was holding up a rusty sword. Twin flames burned in the empty
eye sockets and its mouth gaped open in a mindless scream.

He flipped the page and
shuddered.

“
Ghoul.”

This picture was somehow
worse than the skeleton, even though they were very similar. The
difference with the ghoul as that it was covered in bits of dried
skin that flapped off of its bones. And it had eyes inside its
leering skull. Eyes without lids which made the ghoul look even more
insane, if that was possible.

The next few pages were
filled with a rogue's gallery of undead monsters, all hand-drawn by a
master artist. Zombies, wights, wraiths; they were all there and all
horrible.

What makes it so much
worse is knowing that they are actually real, Simon thought grimly.
Real and out there somewhere.

He closed the book with a
snap and set it on the side table.

“
So how do I stop
those things?”

“
Sir wizard?”
a gentle voice spoke from behind him.

Simon looked over his
shoulder and saw Brethia flying down the stairs.

“
Yes Brethia?”

“
Sir, could you come
up to the roof please?”

The wizard stood up and
hurried over to meet her at the steps.

“
What's wrong?”

“
It...will be easier
for you to see it, my lord. Please.”

“
No problem. Let's
go.”

It only took a minute to
get to the roof. Simon pulled himself up the final rungs of the
ladder and stepped out into the cool evening air.

He instantly saw Brethia
and Orriss bobbing side-by-side in the light breeze that was wafting
over the tower. They glowed slightly, making them easy to spot.

They were at the eastern
edge of the roof and Orriss motioned at Simon urgently the moment he
saw him.

“
Sir wizard, this
way,” he called out.

“
What is it?”
Simon asked as he joined them.

“
My lord,”
Brethia said as she pointed downward. “We spotted an anomaly
and wanted you to see it.”

“
An anomaly? Where?”

Simon leaned over the
parapet to look at the open area between the outside wall and the
forest. The ground there was monochromatic in the weak moonlight, but
he could see it fairly well even in the dark.

He gasped as he realized
that the ground was actually heaving, pulsing up and down like a
living thing. Leaves and small plants in the clearing were shaking
and flying in all directions.

“
Good God, it's as
if it's breathing, isn't it?”

“
Yes sir,”
Brethia agreed. “I have never seen anything like it. Perhaps
you could send Kronk or one of the other earthen to check it out?”

“
I'd love to, but
they are away on a mission at the moment. Damn it.”

“
That is
unfortunate,” Orriss said as he watched the weird movement
below. “In that case, I can go down and get a closer look, sir
wizard.”

“
Not a chance,”
Simon told him quickly. “No one leaves the safety of these
walls. A lot of bad things are happening right now and I won't take
any chances with anyone that works for me. Clear?”

Orriss bowed slightly and
Simon thought that he looked a little relieved.

“
Clear, my lord.”

A glowing figure suddenly
shot straight up and over the parapet

“
What in the Four
Winds is happening?”

It was Aeris.

“
Good question,”
Simon replied as he stared at the moving ground beyond the wall. “I
have no idea.”

Aeris joined him while
Brethia and Orriss moved back politely.

“
Kronk hasn't
returned, obviously,” the air elemental commented.

“
Obviously. Bad
timing, I guess. We could really use his help right about now.”

“
I'm guessing that
you want us all to stay within the warding?”

Simon nodded and leaned
forward, resting his forearms on the low parapet. He squinted at the
movement in the clearing.

“
What could be
causing that?”

“
I have no idea, but
I don't like it. At all.”

The wizard looked at him
and then nodded toward the area of the outer wall closest to the
disturbed area.

“
Touch my shoulder.
I need to get down there.”

“
Um, okay,”
Aeris said in confusion.

Simon focused on the wall
below.

“
Gate,” he
said.

The teleport took less
than a second and the pair were suddenly standing on the wall looking
over the land that stretched off toward the distant trees.

“
Ah, that was
handy.”

“
Thanks. Now, what
is that?”

The shadows and thin
moonlight were confusing to the eye and Simon just couldn't focus
well enough to make out any details.

“
Screw this,”
he snapped.

“
What?”

The wizard stood up
straighter and stretched out his left arm.

“
Mortis de
Draconis,” he said loudly.

The staff appeared in his
hand and Simon nodded in satisfaction, leaning on it. Then he made a
gesture with his right hand and a globe of silver light materialized
in front of him, shining brightly. He motioned at it and it rose
several feet above his head.

Simon summoned two more
blazing mage lights and sent them to join the first one.

“
Okay, let's shed
some light on this mystery,” he said and sent the trio of
silvery globes over the wall toward the still-churning ground.

The mage lights began
rotating around each other as they moved and their area of
illumination became much larger. The ground a dozen feet below them
was lit up brightly and Simon could make out fine details as they
moved.

“
Much better,”
he muttered and Aeris nodded silently as he watched the lights
through narrowed eyes.

“
Where are Stennos
and Osteros?” Simon asked as he kept his eyes on the slowly
moving lights.

“
Patrolling the
wall. Don't worry; they won't let anything creep up on us while we're
investigating this thing.”

“
Good. One worry at
a time.”

The three lights
approached the weirdly moving ground, about fifty yards out from the
wall. Simon lifted his hand a bit and they rose up higher and merged
into one intense globe of radiance, as bright as a spotlight. The
ground was lit up in all directions and the wizard could finally see
the mysterious area.

“
What the hell?”

The ground was slowly
spinning in a clockwise direction as if it had been turned to mud.
There was a vibration that could be felt even from the wall and Simon
and Aeris could hear a low, grinding sound, like rock scraping on
stone. Twigs and branches snapped and were pulled out of sight as the
earth was stirred as if by a giant invisible spoon.

“
What could be
causing that?” the wizard wondered.

“
It's new to me,”
Aeris told him, puzzled.

Simon looked from side to
side, spotted the closest rune and moved quickly over to it. He put
his right hand on it and raised his staff.

“
Let's strengthen
this while I'm down here.”

Mortis de Draconis pulsed
and drew in magical energy. Simon felt it channel up his left arm,
concentrate in his chest next to his heart and then drain away down
his right arm and into the rune cut into the stone on the wall. A
muted blue pulse of color lit the wall for a brief moment and then
faded again.

“
There,” he
said and rubbed his eyes. His legs felt a little weak but it passed
quickly.

“
Are you all right?”
Aeris asked.

Simon forced a smile,
nodded and went back to watching the moving, churning ground out in
the clearing.

“
Master?” a
voice called out.

“
What the...?”

The wizard looked around
in the dark for Kronk but couldn't see him.

“
Kronk? Where are
you?”

He heard a tip-tapping
sound and realized that the earthen was jumping up a ladder somewhere
nearby.

“
Here, master,”
the little guy said loudly as he hopped up on to the wall in front of
the parapet and hurried over to Simon.

“
You're back,”
Aeris said and pointed out at the moving ground in the distance. “Any
idea what that is?”

“
Yes. Master, you
need to strengthen the wards on this wall,” the little guy said
urgently.

“
I just did. Why?”

Before Kronk could answer,
all sounds faded around them. The ground became still and the bright
mage light broke apart into its three separate globes again. They
began to vibrate and then all three shattered in showers of sparks.

“
What?” Simon
whispered.

“
Master, they are
coming!”

A massive explosion
deafened the wizard and he stumbled backwards, almost falling off of
the parapet. Aeris zipped around him and pushed him upright, holding
on to his robe firmly until Simon found his balance.

He thanked the elemental
and raised a hand, creating a new globe of light. Then he sent it
streaking across the clearing toward the source of the explosion. Its
radiance grew in strength as it flew until the area was brightly lit
again. But now, instead of a field heaving mysteriously, a huge hole
had opened up in its place. Fumes and smoke billowed out of the
crater and Simon gaped as he saw countless bony arms groping for a
handhold.

“
The undead,
master.”

“
Yeah, thanks. I can
see that,” Simon told him loudly, his ears still ringing. “How
many?”

Kronk didn't answer right
away and when the wizard looked down at him, he shrugged.

“
All of them,
master,” he answered gravely.

“
Oh crap.”

Simon looked back at the
field and felt a chill race up his spine. The hairs on his neck and
arms stood up and he stared in horror at what he was seeing.

Dozens of bodies were
climbing out of the hole. No, not dozens; hundreds.

The undead horde was
erupting out of the ground like ants swarming out of an anthill.
There were figures that were just bare bones held together with
gristle, emaciated monsters with putrid chunks of flesh stuck to
their frames, and fresh corpses with gaping mouths and rotting eyes.
But no matter what kind of monster they were, all of their eyes
flickered with purple fire and all of them watched the tower
malevolently.

“
That light,”
Simon said.