The Dragons Revenge (Tales from the New Earth #2) (11 page)

“
Good.”

She opened the door and
Simon shivered at the blast of cold air that blew into the room.

He grabbed his coat and
followed her out into the fading daylight. At her questioning look,
he waved toward the front gates.

“
I have to lock the
gate after you leave,” he said and Ethmira nodded her
understanding.

They walked quickly across
the front yard, Simon's shoes slipping on the snow. At the gate, the
elf turned to look up at the tower.

“
You have a
wonderful home here, my friend. I'm sure that your little companions
will be back with you soon. Until then, keep your gates and doors
locked.”

She touched the wall next
to the gate and closed her eyes for a moment.

“
Your wards are
still in effect and you should be safe enough until you regain your
magic.”

“
Ah, good to know,”
he said. It hadn't occurred to him that the wards he'd cast on the
wall around the tower might have faded when he lost his magic.

“
Now I must go. Be
assured that we are watching and will aid you when and where we can.”

“
Thanks again,”
Simon told her sincerely. “And thank your people for me. You've
been the best of friends and I am very grateful.”

He hesitated a moment and
added, “And say hello to Daniel for me, won't you? Tell him,
well, just tell him that I'm okay.”

Ethmira smiled warmly,
waved once and slipped out of the gate.

Simon watched her run
lightly across the snow and disappear into the darkness of the forest
before he put a shoulder to the gate and closed it firmly.

He managed to engage the
stiff locking mechanism and seal the gate before he slipped and slid
back to the tower and hurried inside.

He locked the door and
took off his coat. Then he added another log to the fire and sat down
in front of it to warm up.

Patience, he thought.
Yeah, I'll be patient.

He was suddenly reminded
of how he felt as a child on Christmas Eve, lying in bed and trying
to sleep, but unable to keep thoughts of the next morning's presents
out of his mind.

He'd tried to be patient
then too. It worked about as well as it was working now.

Thoughts tumbled around in
his head as he watched the fire, feeling his toes start to warm up
finally.

At last he blew out all of
the candles except one, picked it up in its holder and climbed the
stairs. Tomorrow was another day. But whether he'd be opening any
presents in the morning or not, he didn't know.

But impatient or not,
Simon was exhausted by the day's events and slipped into sleep
quickly, his last thoughts vaguely hopeful.

The next morning, Simon
woke up slowly, his mind groggy and his legs aching. When he peeked
out from under his blankets, he saw that the frosted window was dark
and gloomy-looking.

Cloudy day, he thought
dully. Great.

The room was shadowed and
he could feel the coldness in the air. He missed having a furnace. At
least the heat would be steady all night.

I wish Kronk was still
here. Not only was he good company, but the little guy never slept
and would keep the fire burning all night, ensuring that the tower
was warm and toasty all winter.

With a resigned sigh,
Simon thought about getting up and standing on the cold floor in the
dark. He grimaced and glanced at the candle standing on the table
next to the bed. He frowned at it.

I'll have to take it
downstairs and get the fire going before I can light it.

He sighed again and
flipped back the covers. He began shaking immediately and looked down
at the goosebumps running across his body.

Maybe I should start
wearing pajamas to bed, he thought and grumbled as he put his
reluctant feet on the cold floor.

He stood up and quickly
slipped on a robe before grabbing the candle holder. He glared at the
candle in sudden frustration.

“
Just light, for
cripes sake,” he said to it angrily.

And the wick burst into
flame.

“
Holy crap!”
Simon exclaimed and almost dropped the holder.

He stared in disbelief at
the flickering candle for a minute, a slow grin stretching across his
face.

“
It's back. Yes!
It's back.”

He laughed out loud, blew
out the candle and lit it again with a flick of power.

“
Merry Christmas,
Simon,” he said, giggling like a schoolboy. “God bless
us, everyone.”

Forgetting the chill in
the air, he put on his slippers and hurried downstairs.

After building up the
fire, he ran outside to use the outhouse and then returned to make
his breakfast. As eager as he was to attempt to summon Kronk and
Aeris again, Simon knew that he needed to take it one step at a time.

Food first, then he'd have
to find the spell in his spell-book and memorize it. With the spells
that the gods had given him wiped away, he would have to learn each
spell again before he cast it. And then it would fade from memory and
he'd have to learn it again.

I wonder how many spells I
can memorize at once, he thought. When he'd started learning to use
magic, he could only keep one spell in mind at a time. With practice,
it had grown to two and then four.

But it was only when the
gods of Justice gave him all of the spells that a master wizard would
know, that he was able to call up incantations at will. Somehow he
suspected that he was starting at square one.

He shrugged unconsciously.
If that's the way it has to be, then so be it. Better to have to take
baby steps than to have no magic at all.

When he was done with his
tea and oatmeal, Simon went upstairs to his study and lit all of the
candles on the table and in the wall holders, both for the light and
the sheer joy of being able to use magic again. Then he sat down at
his desk, opened his spell-book and found the summoning spell.

He read through it slowly,
concentrating on each word to make sure he had them firmly locked
into his memory. He closed the book, stood up and walked across the
room to his work table.

Simon stared at the center
of the table and took a deep breath.

Okay, he thought with a
mixed feeling of excitement and trepidation. Here we go.

He intoned the spell in a
steady, measured voice and hesitated when he was done. The spell hung
in the air around him, throbbing with potential.

He swallowed noisily and
cast the spell by using the word of command.

“
Invectis!
”
he said in a firm voice.

Simon
felt a pulling sensation as the magic was drained from his body and
channeled into the spell. He waited but nothing happened. Instead of
disappointment, the wizard smiled slightly. He'd summoned elementals
before and now the spell was waiting for him to specify which one he
wanted to appear.

“
Kronk,
I need you!” he said loudly and stared intently at the open
space on the table.

There
was a muted rumble in the distance, as if something was shooting
toward the tower from deep underground. With a loud crack, the table
shook violently and standing in the middle was a little figure made
of dark stone.

The
elemental looked around, a expression of amazement showing clearly on
his rough, rocky features. Then Kronk caught sight of Simon, who was
watching him with a wide grin.

“
Master!
I'm back!”

“
That
you are, my friend,” Simon said happily.

Kronk
suddenly laughed, a rare occurrence, and raised his hands over his
head.

“
I'm
back, I'm back, I'm back!”

He
threw back his head and guffawed with joy. Simon sat down at the
table and simply stared at his friend. The little guy's reaction was
all that he could have hoped for, and he himself was beyond
delighted.

“
Welcome
back, Kronk. I'm so sorry you were banished back to your world.”

Kronk
tip-tapped over to Simon and stood next to his shoulder. He stared
intently at the wizard, patting his arm repeatedly as if to reassure
himself that he was really there.

“
It
was not your fault, master. The more powerful of my people told me
that your magic had been taken by those evil gods. Is that so?”

“
That's
what happened, I guess. Ethmira told me that, when she showed up
yesterday to help me regain the power.”

Kronk's
eyes, two dark pits with tiny red flames flickering deep inside,
widened.

“
The
elven maiden came to help?” Simon nodded. “That is
wonderful, master. It is good to know that they are willing to help
you.”

“
Well,
I certainly appreciated it,” Simon told him dryly. “Anyway,
forget that for now. How are you doing?”

“
Oh,
I'm fine, master. I was just so worried about you. And the horses, of
course.”

Kronk
caught himself and looked concerned.

“
The
horses! I must check on them right away.”

“
They're
fine, Kronk. I've been taking care of them.”

“
Yes
master, I'm sure you've done a fine job,” the elemental said,
sounding less than impressed by Simon's assertion. “But I
should see to them anyway.” He hopped off of the table and
started for the door, speaking more to himself than to the wizard.

“
They'll
need to be fed and watered. The stable should be cleaned. Oh and I'm
sure that the tower needs a good dusting. And the fire probably needs
tending.”

Simon
watched him leave the room and heard him jumping down the stairs step
by step, still mumbling to himself. The wizard couldn't stop grinning
foolishly and wiped tears from his eyes.

Still
the same old Kronk, he thought. Thank the gods for that.

He
decided to leave the little guy to his self-imposed duties. Simon had
never once asked Kronk to do anything around the place. The elemental
had simply taken on tasks by himself, to the point where the wizard
could concentrate on his studies.

He
had made himself indispensable, Simon thought gratefully. I'm so glad
he's back.

The
casting had made him more tired than he'd expected but he could rest
later. He wanted Aeris back as well, caustic though the air elemental
could be. So he stood up, went back to his desk and sat down to
memorize the summoning spell once again.

With
the incantation firmly in mind, he stood by the work table and
chanted the spell one more time.

The
spell hovered around him, crackling slightly like an electrical
discharge

“
Invectis!
”
he barked and knew the magic was waiting for him to call forth the
elemental.

“
Aeris,
I need you,” he said firmly as he watched the center of the
table.

This
time, a mutter of thunder echoed through the tower and Simon squinted
his eyes. He knew what came next.

There
was a loud bang and a flash of light that was blindingly white. A
smell of ozone wafted bitterly into his nostrils and Simon sneezed
violently.

“
Well,
it's about time,” an irritated voice said from the table top.

Simon
coughed several times and blinked to clear his eyes.

“
Good
to see you too, Aeris,” he replied.

The
air elemental hovered an inch or so above the table, hands on hips.
He was semi-transparent with features much more human-like than
Kronk's. Right now those features were set in a frown.

“
What
took you so long?” he asked Simon with a touch of bitterness.

The
wizard was used to Aeris' attitude and way of speaking, but was still
surprised by his lack of pleasure at being returned from his realm. A
realm, Aeris had told him once, that he very much disliked.

Simon
sat down and rested his arms on the table. He stared at the elemental
and matched his frown with one of his own.

“
What
the hell is that supposed to mean?” he asked with a touch of
anger. “You think that I've just been sitting around, leaving
you in the air realm for laughs?”

Aeris'
face cleared and he looked a little embarrassed.

“
Well,
I mean...” he sighed. “I apologize, my dear wizard. I'm
sure you've had your struggles since I was sent back. I was worried,
actually.”

Simon
knew what it took for the elemental to apologize. And to admit he was
worried? The wizard was amazed.