The Dragons of Ice and Snow (26 page)

Now as he entered the
clearing in front her dilapidated cabin and stood looking around, a
cold shudder running down his spine. He had almost died here.

The herbs which Heather
had grown were running wild around her untended garden. He was
pleased that they could still be used, but it gave the place a crazy,
haunted look.

He made his way carefully
around bushes and stalks of greenery, a minty sweet smell in the air.
It took him a few moments to reach the cabin and, when he did, he
leaned on his staff and studied the building.

Why am I here, he
wondered. This place had almost been the sight of his own death. It
held no fond memories for him.

Simon glanced up at the
roof of the small cottage. It was rapidly being covered with dead
branches and pine needles and would probably collapse in a few years
unless cleared off.

Let it collapse, he
thought. I certainly don't care if it does.

He pushed back his hair
and wiped his sweaty palms on his robe. Then, taking a deep breath,
he shoved open the door of the cabin and walked inside.

The squeal of the hinges
was shockingly loud as he entered and Simon winced, looking around
furtively as if waiting for someone to jump out at him. But the place
was deserted.

Shelves on the walls were
filled with flower pots and small gardening tools, all covered with
cobwebs now. There was a hole in the roof with a thick branch poking
through it. It let in enough light so that the wizard could see
easily enough.

Why am I here, he asked
himself again. But of course the answer was clear enough.

Heather had betrayed her
own kind and had allied with the dark gods. She had wanted power, and
power she had been given.

In return, all she had to
do was to turn on her own people and give Simon up to the dragons.

He smiled humorlessly.
Easy enough, he thought. Just a simple trade. Yeah, right.

The similarities to
Liliana's actions was chilling. But not the same, he told himself
hurriedly. No, not the same.

The paladin hated the
dragons, that was pretty obvious. And yet...

Simon shook his head. His
thoughts were going around in circles. Time to head home.

He looked around one last
time, determined that he would never come back to this sad,
depressing place again, and a little flash of light caught his eye.

What?

He crossed the room,
stepping over broken pieces of furniture and some scattered piles of
leaves. On a high shelf, something was gleaming in the darkened room.
He reached up cautiously and unhooked the object from the nail it had
been hanging on.

He stepped back until he
was standing under the hole in the ceiling and examined the small
piece of metal.

It was a medallion or
amulet of some kind. It was hanging on a delicate silver chain and
was the size of a silver dollar.

Simon ran the tip of his
finger over it curiously. One side was filled with minute writing,
runes which he couldn't read. He flipped it over and his breath
caught in his throat.

It was a stylized icon of
a dragon. Coils twisted around and around leading to a snarling head
in the center. He was reminded of old pictures of Chinese dragons;
long, snaky creatures that seemed to swim through the skies rather
than fly. Indeed, the small engraving had no wings that he could see.

The dragon's eyes were
green chips, tiny emeralds perhaps. Long whiskers hung from its snout
and its teeth were bared.

Simon continued to stare
at the amulet as he wandered back outside. He stood in the sunlight,
squinting at the medallion and trying to read the runes.

But it was useless. He'd
examine it more carefully at home. He slipped the chain into his
pocket, pulled the staff off of his back and chanted the Gate spell.
With one last look around, he cast the spell and headed home with
some relief.

Good-bye Heather, was his
final thought.

When Simon returned home,
he was surprised to find that Aeris had made him dinner. Venison
stew. As he walked into the tower, the smell made his mouth water and
he looked at the fireplace to see a pot hanging over the fire,
bubbling cheerfully.

The air elemental was
stirring the stew gently and looked up as the wizard entered.

“
Ah, good timing,”
he said. “If you'd taken any longer to get back, it might have
burned.”

“
Aeris? You're
cooking? You?”

“
No, it's just an
illusion. Of course I'm cooking. I do know how.”

Simon leaned the staff
beside the door and wiped his feet before crossing the room to peek
into the cast iron pot.

“
Stew? Wow, it
smells fantastic.”

“
Really?”
Aeris said with some surprise. “I mean, yes, of course it does.
Now, get cleaned up before dinner. It's almost ready.”

“
Yes Mom,”
Simon said under his breath, grinning to himself as he turned toward
the sink.

“
What was that?”
the elemental growled.

“
Nothing. I'll get
washed up.”

“
You do that,”
Aeris said firmly and then began stirring the pot again. He whistled
under his breath and Simon suppressed another broad smile.

While he was eating, both
Kronk and Ana showed up. The earthen said that he had finished
planting the spring crops and that Ana had helped 'encourage' the
ground water to dampen the earth so that the seedlings got off to a
good start.

“
Our new friend is
proving very useful,” Kronk said enthusiastically as he smiled
at Ana.

She dismissed his comment.

“
I simply want to
help wherever I can,” she told them. “Look at Aeris. He
made dinner for you tonight, sir wizard. Some might see that as
beneath the dignity of an elemental.” Aeris bristled a bit and
then stared as Ana continued. “But I do not. He is being a
useful member of this household. Can I do anything less?”

Aeris was left smiling
gratefully.

“
I appreciate your
chipping in.” Simon told her. “My mother used to say
'many hands make light work', and she was right.”

He took his plate to the
sink, left it there to soak for a bit and sat down again, a full cup
of tea in front of him.

“
I'm glad you're all
here,” he told the trio. He fished into his pocket and pulled
out the amulet, still dangling from its silver chain, and set it down
on the table in front of them.

“
What do you guys
make of this? I found it in Heather's old cabin today.”

“
You went back to
that accursed place?” Aeris asked incredulously.

“
Yeah. I wanted to
walk for a bit and I just, I don't know, ended up there. It was
pretty creepy, to be honest.”

“”
That is the
home of the wizard that tried to kill you?” Ana asked him.
She'd obviously heard the story by now.

Simon nodded silently.

She bent over to look at
the amulet, along with Kronk and Aeris and then reached for it.

“
May I?” she
asked the wizard, who gestured for her to pick it up.

“
Thank you.”

She held it at arm's
length so that the others could examine it too. They were staring at
the runes and exchanged a few glances and then Ana flipped it over.

There was a collective
gasp from the three of them as they saw the image of the dragon. Ana
fumbled the amulet and almost dropped it.

“
I found it hanging
on a nail inside the cabin. Any ideas on what it is or what it's used
for?”

Aeris accepted the amulet
from Ana and ran his hands along both sides of it. Then he handed it
to Kronk, who did the same.

Simon took it back when
they were done and then put it down on the table again.

“
Well? Thoughts?”

Aeris gestured at Ana and
she stared at the amulet as she began to speak.

“
That thing has
power, sir wizard. We can all feel it.”

She glanced at the other
two, who nodded.

“
But what that power
is, whether for good or for evil, I cannot say.”

“
Aeris?” Simon
said. “What are your thoughts?”

“
My thoughts?”
He looked uncertain. “I think that I agree with Ana. There is
power here, but it is...ambiguous? Yes, that's it. It is not
directed. It simply is.”

“
Simply is? Simply
is what?”

Aeris sighed in
frustration.

“
It is there, my
dear wizard, to be used. It is neither good nor evil, white or black.
It is gray. I believe that if you can tap into the power of this
object, you can use it as you see fit.” He shrugged.
“Considering that you found it in the lair of an evil wizard,
that is hardly surprising.”

“
Huh. Good point.
Kronk?”

“
Master, I am not as
attuned to magic as my friends here,” he said hesitantly. He
looked at Aeris who made an encouraging gesture.

“
What I
can
say is that considering the image on the medallion, it must have some
power related to dragons. The question is, how is it related? Is it
made for communication? For offense? Defense? There is no way to know
until you decipher those runes.”

He looked up at Simon.

“
Have you deciphered
them, master?”

The wizard picked up the
amulet and ran a fingertip over the writing.

“
Nope. I don't have
a clue about what this says. I am suspicious though. Heather was
evil. She conspired with dragons. So, an amulet with the picture of a
dragon on it that was in her possession makes me nervous. It may have
been made to be used by anyone, but I doubt if she used it to grow
daisies or make pretty music.”

“
There might be a
way to learn what it says, sir wizard,” Ana told him
thoughtfully.

“
Really? You know
someone who can read these runes?”

“
No, I don't. But
you do.”

Simon looked at her,
puzzled.

“
I do? And who is
that?”

“
The elves,”
she answered simply. “The elves are a fount of knowledge. There
is no language that they do not know, no runes that they cannot
decipher. You've told me that you had dealings with them before. If
that is so, why not ask for their help now?”

The wizard rested his chin
in his palm and looked past the elementals, suddenly reminded of his
friend Daniel and feeling a bit guilty. It had been a long time since
he'd remembered his best friend. Sure, he'd been busy and his life
was crazy, but still.

“
You might be right,
but there's one problem. I can't enter the elven lands. And if I
could, I couldn't return or I would probably die of old age. Time
runs differently between the two worlds. It happened to my friend,
Daniel. He retreated to the elvish realm when our world was attacked
by the dragons. When he came back to visit me here, he aged decades
in minutes. It was...a very sad day for me.”

“
Ah, yes, I see.”
The water elemental seemed a bit perplexed. “But why do you
have to travel there? Why not simply call them?”

“
Call them,”
Simon repeated flatly. “I can't just call them!”

“
Why not?”

“
Because I...”

Simon's voice trailed away
and he sat still, dumbfounded.

Why couldn't he call
Daniel? He had the Magic Mirror spell. If that didn't work, there was
the simpler Magic Mouth spell. Why hadn't it ever occurred to him to
try to contact the elven realm?

He looked at Kronk and
Aeris and was gratified to see them looking as stunned as he felt.

“
I think,” he
said hesitantly, “I just assumed that because time moved at a
different rate there, that my communication spells wouldn't work. Or
that they couldn't cross the boundaries between Earth and other
planes of existence.”

“
I see. To be
honest, Simon, I do not know if it will work either, but surely it
can't hurt to try?”

The wizard had to chuckle
at her proposal.

“
You're right. It
can't hurt to make the attempt. Okay, let's give it a shot.”

He drank some tea and
pushed back his hair nervously. Then Simon picked up his mirror and
chanted the spell.

“
Should I try to
contact Ethmira or Daniel?” he asked, looking at Kronk and
Aeris.

“
You know your old
friend much better than the elven maid, master,” the earthen
suggested.

“
I agree. Elves
are...tricky. Prickly sometimes. Your friend would be a better
choice,” Aeris added.

“
Hmm, good point.
Okay.” He took a deep breath. “Here goes.”

Simon pictured Daniel's
face, not as he had been once but after he had aged and changed into
someone the wizard had barely recognized as his old friend.