The Dragons of Ice and Snow (25 page)

“
Clara?
Hi, it's Simon.”

“
Ah,
good day, my friend,” she answered with a smile. “Just a
minute.”

She
continued to wander through the town until she came to a crude bench
beside the narrow road and sat down in the sun.

“
So,
how are you today?” she asked, looking around the area while
she spoke.

“
I'm
good, thanks. Sorry to bother you, but I have a question relating to
your powers as a cleric.”

“
Really?”

Clara
sat up straighter and her smile was replaced by a serious expression.

“
Very
well. What do you want to know?”

Simon
paused, trying to think of the best way to phrase the question, when
Ana made a gesture to catch his attention.

“
One
moment, Clara,” he said and raised an eyebrow at the elemental.

“
Perhaps
I could ask the lady about this subject?” Ana offered a little
hesitantly. “If you approve, that is.”

The
wizard had to smile at her obvious attempt to help without stepping
on his toes.

“
Of
course I approve. You do have more experience with these powers, by
the sound of it.”

He
motioned for Ana to stand next to him so that she could look into the
mirror. Aeris flew over to hover by his other shoulder.

“
Clara,
I have someone here who would like to speak with you. She might be
able to ask these questions better than I can.”

“
Really?
Hang on a moment. I want to get the mirror in my quarters.”

“
Certainly.”

They
watched while the cleric hurried through the village and into the
town hall.

A
few minutes later, Clara was sitting on her sofa, mirror in hand and
staring at Simon and the elementals.

“
Clara,
this is Anaposus. Ana for short. Ana, may I introduce Clara, the
leader of Nottinghill.”

“
More
of a figurehead, actually,” the cleric said with a smile. “I'm
pleased to meet you, Ana.”

“
The
honor is mine, lady cleric,” the water elemental said as she
bowed deeply.

“
So
Simon, you are getting quite the full house now, aren't you?”
Clara said, teasing him. “And after telling me how much you
preferred living alone.”

Simon
reddened a bit.

“
I
know. It just sort of...happened, I guess.” He looked at Ana.
“She does seem to keep the boys a lot calmer though.”

“
Hey!”
Aeris protested. “I don't think I like being called a boy. I'm
quite old, you know.”

“
Fine,”
Simon said. “Gramps then. Anyway, Ana and I were talking about
what happened in Moscow and...well, I'll let her talk.”

“
Lady,”
the water elemental began, “the paladin, Liliana, claimed that
when Simon tried to contact her before his journey, she blocked his
attempt. I have worked with clerics and paladins in the ancient past.
One of my masters was a friend to several. But never have I heard of
them being able to block or negate spells. This woman also asserted
that you too could do this; stop a wizard from contacting you. So our
question is, can you do that?”

Clara
looked a little mystified.

“
Why
would she say that?” she muttered.

“
You
mean it's not true?” Simon asked.

The
cleric looked at him.

“
Of
course it's not true. Clerical prayers and magic spells are totally
different. I could no more block your communication spells than you
could block my healing powers. They are quite simply incompatible.”
She shrugged. “I know that the source is the same, the gods of
Light, but that is the only thing that they have in common.”

“
So
you are saying that the paladin lied, lady,” Ana stated flatly.

Clara's
eyes widened.

“
I
am, aren't I? But that's not possible. A paladin cannot tell a lie.
Their oaths to the gods prohibit it. If they tell even one falsehood,
their powers would be stripped from them.”

“
Wow,
that's a bit harsh, isn't it?” Simon asked.

“
Is
it? My friend, a paladin is well nigh unstoppable in battle. They
heal themselves as they fight, automatically. Their weapons and armor
are imbued by the gods with powers over evil. They are the ultimate
warriors against darkness. And all of this power is given to them for
one simple vow; to be virtuous. That means speaking the truth, aiding
the helpless and, something that might be harder for some than for
others, remaining celibate. Now, is it so much to ask?”

Simon
thought about it. Put like that, it sounded like more than a fair
trade. And he had seen Liliana heal right before his eyes. Her limp
had disappeared. Her armor had been repaired and shone like new. It
had been an amazing sight.

“
I
believe that the question we must ask ourselves, then, is this,”
Ana said to both him and Clara. “Why would she risk these
powers to lie to Simon? What would be the benefit?”

The
cleric and the wizard looked at each other for a moment and then
Clara turned to the water elemental.

“
What
do you think?”

“
Me?
Well, lady, I don't think my opinion matters. However, since you
asked, I believe that the paladin is hiding something.”

“
Yeah,
that makes sense,” Simon said thoughtfully. “But what? I
don't think for a second that she harmed her own people. And I saw
the results of her battle with the drakes when she got back to her
outpost. So what the hell could she be hiding?”

“
It
all comes back to that dragon, sir wizard,” Ana said.

He
nodded. “It does, doesn't it?”

“
What dragon?”

Simon looked at Clara.

“
Oh sorry. I thought
I mentioned seeing a dragon when I was in Moscow.”

“
You did. But didn't
you say that it flew by and didn't attack?”

“
Yes. However,
thanks to Kronk, I think that there's more to it than that. I think
that the dragon landed somewhere in the vicinity, right after it flew
over us.”

“
But...” Clara
seemed baffled. “If that's the case, why weren't you attacked?”

“
Exactly the
question that Ana and I have been asking ourselves.” Simon said
flatly. “The dragon landed and a few minutes later, Liliana
appeared, injured and blood-splattered from her fight with the
drakes. What is the connection?”

There was a long silence.

“
Is it possible that
the paladin has somehow allied with this dragon?”

Clara peered out of the
mirror while Simon and Ana turned to stare.

“
What?” Aeris
asked, holding up his hands. “I know it sounds absurd. I'm just
throwing it out there. Dragons aren't mindless beasts, you know, as
much as we'd like to think they are. The primals aren't the only ones
with brains. They are simply the eldest and most powerful.”

“
You know, you've
come up with some odd ideas in the past, but this? This is beyond
nuts,” the wizard said in disbelief.

Aeris scowled but before
he could respond, Clara cut him off.

“
Wait, Simon. Before
you dismiss the idea out of hand, let's consider it for a moment.”

“
What? A paladin
making an alliance with a dragon? That's insane.”

“
Is it? As Aeris has
pointed out, they are not simply beasts. They are individuals. Who
knows what each dragon's motives are?”

Ana was shaking her head.

“
Forgive me, lady,
and you as well, Aeris, but it is impossible. The dark gods created
the dragons by spawning their queen. She in turn passes their orders
along to her children, the primals, who do the same to their minions.
They are all connected. If a dragon should betray its maker, as crazy
as that sounds, the primal would know instantly. They are the trees
and their offspring are the leaves. They are linked one to the
other.”

“
Exactly,”
Simon added. “When a primal dies, as we've already seen, its
'children' die with it. Cut off the head of the snake and the body
dies. Sorry Aeris,” he added. “It was an intriguing
thought, but it's impossible. No dragon would ally itself with a
paladin.”

“
Yes, well, I was
just throwing a theory out there. Does anyone have another?”

Simon heard the sound of
knocking and looked around. It was coming from the mirror.

Clara got up, putting down
her mirror for a moment and then returned to view.

“
I'm sorry, guys,
but I have to go. One of my people slashed her leg open with a hoe,
apparently. I have to heal her right away. Listen, if you come up
with any more theories or anything happens, call me. Okay?”

“
Will do, Clara.
Good luck.”

She smiled and Simon shook
the mirror to break the spell.

“
Well, at least we
accomplished one thing,” he told the elementals. “We
learned that Liliana actually did lie to me. The next two questions
that leap to mind are: why, and has she lost her powers?”

“
If she has, alone
in that ravaged city, then she is in great danger,” Ana told
him.

“
Yes, I know.”

Simon absently tapped the
back of the mirror where it lay on the table.

“
I wonder if I
should call her? I mean, we don't actually know why she lied, do we?
There could be a perfectly logical explanation. I don't like the idea
that she may be trapped in Moscow without her powers.”

“
My dear wizard,
sometimes I feel despair when you talk like that.”

Aeris fixed him with a
look of pity.

“
You yourself have
connected that woman with a dragon. What the connection is, we don't
know. But we do know that she lied to you, breaking her oath as a
paladin.”

The wizard looked at him
blankly.

“
So?” he
asked.

“
So?” Aeris
zipped forward until he was floating almost nose to nose with Simon,
who jerked back in surprise.

“
You. Can't. Trust.
Her! Don't you see that? Added to that is the fact that she doesn't
want your help. She told you that herself.”

“
I must agree with
Aeris, sir wizard,” Ana said, sounding regretful. “Perhaps
her motives are pure, we don't know, and it is tragic that her people
were killed, but you cannot force aid on someone who doesn't want
it.”

Simon stood up and walked
across the room to stand at the doorway.

He stared out at the
beautiful day, weighing his options.

Nothing was clear.
Certainly Liliana had been firm in her wish to be alone. And she had
lied to him. Why? For what purpose? Could she be in league with the
dragons?

He shook his head. No,
that he would not believe. Her rage at the deaths of her friends had
been genuine, of that he was sure. So what exactly was going on?”

The wizard turned around,
walked back to the kitchen table and picked up his spell-book. His
slipped it into a pocket of his robe, went back and picked up his
staff and looked at the elementals.

“
I'm going for a
walk,” he told them. “I need to clear my head, think
things out.”

“
That sounds like a
good idea,” Ana said with a gentle smile.

“
Did you want
company?” Aeris asked, cocking his head to one side.

“
No thanks. I'm
talked out. I just want to let things percolate in my mind for a bit.
See you both later.”

Simon went down the steps
and turned left. He walked around the tower and out of the back gate,
waving at one of the earth elementals who was walking the walls.

The little figure waved
back and then the wizard was walking alone toward the lake.

His favorite route when he
wanted to be alone and think was to wander slowly around the little
lake. But today, for some reason, he decided to hike to Heather's old
house.

There was a faint path
through the woods and the deserted cottage was only an hour away, so
it seemed as good a destination as any.

It was a relaxing walk and
it seemed to take less than the usual amount time for Simon to reach
the home of the late herb witch.

Heather had been perverted
by the dark gods and had been Changed into a wizard. She had allied
with the primal green dragon and had come close to killing Simon.

Through some good luck and
guesswork, he had manged to destroy them both but it had been a near
thing.