The Dragons of Ash and Smoke (Tales from the New Earth Book 5) (19 page)

Simon looked around for a target. He
decided to start off with a basic, less powerful spell, like
Lightning. It was flashy and effective to a certain degree, but
didn't use a lot of energy. The bonus was that the incantation was a
real tongue twister for such a simple spell.

“I don't see any dead trees
around,” he said, using his hand to shade his eyes as he
scanned the edge of the field.

Aeris rose up several feet and spun in
place.

“There,” he said loudly and
pointed. “Just to the right of that big maple.”

The wizard turned in that direction. He
spotted the old tree, a pale birch that was leafless and sagging, its
bark hanging from it in strips.

“Got it. Poor old thing has seen
better days, hasn't it?”

“Haven't we all,” Aeris
muttered.

Simon ignored him. He riffled through
his pages of spells until he found the proper one.

Yep, he thought. The chant is as
jaw-cracking as I remember. No wonder I rarely cast the damned thing.

As he was reading, Kronk was chatting
quietly with Aeris.

“Did you happen to hear our new
neighbors speaking when you were down there?” he asked.

The earthen had pulled up a few blades
of grass and was twisting them idly in his blocky fingers, apparently
enjoying the feel of the soft plants in his hands.

“Speaking?”

Aeris frowned and stared sightlessly
across the field.

“Now that you mention it, no. I
didn't. A few grunts and growls but no actual words; at least none
that I recognized. Why?”

Kronk nodded at Simon.

“I was just thinking, that's all.
A universal truth when it comes to casting spells is that they must
be spoken aloud. Master is trying to condense that process and that's
fine, but he will still utter a word or words when it comes to using
magic. If these bear people are mute, or have not developed their own
tongue, they may not be able to cast spells. At all. That would,
perhaps, make them a lot less dangerous.”

Simon looked up from his notes and
smiled.

“Less dangerous than a bear that
stands eight feet tall, carries a weapon and is intelligent? That's
reassuring.”

Aeris snickered while Kronk put his
hands on his hips and returned Simon's look.

“Oh master, you know what I mean.
If they are a purely physical threat, then that is something that you
could handle fairly easily, don't you think?”

“Maybe. I wouldn't want to get
too cocky though. Okay, I've associated the spell with a keyword.”
He held
Mortis de Draconis firmly in
his left hand and pointed at the gnarled old tree with his right.
“Let's see if this idea actually works.”

He focused his power,
imagining the spell, seeing it, feeling it build up in his mind.

“
Look
at the staff,” Kronk whispered to Aeris.

Mortis de Draconis was
glowing and throwing off small blue sparks and Simon had to try hard
to focus and not be distracted by it.

The magic gathered around
him unseen, but heavy, like the feeling of a storm racing in from the
horizon. His body was shaking with the effort of containing it.

Now Simon, his inner voice
seemed to shout at him. Damn it. Now!

“
Lightning!”
he cried and the staff shuddered in his hand, ringing like a bell. A
massive streak of light burst out of the clear blue sky and shot
downward to envelop the tree. The old birch exploded and a
ear-splitting thunder clap rolled across the field.

“
Holy
crap,” Simon said in the silence that followed. He stared at
what was left of the tree.

The birch had shattered
and pieces of smoldering wood had been flung in all directions. Simon
and the elementals hurried over and stamped on the burning debris.
The last thing they needed was a forest fire.

“
Well,
that was certainly impressive,” the wizard commented as they
double-checked to make sure that none of the pieces was still
smoking.

“
Agreed.
But the staff was a little more...active than I would have liked,”
Aeris replied as he looked at Mortis de Draconis.

“
You
are determined to dislike this thing, aren't you?” Simon asked
him as he held up the staff. “It's a tool to be used, not
something to be feared. Now, can we move on?”

“
Fine.
So what's next?”

They walked back to the
center of the field as a group.

“
Since
an offensive spell worked, I think I'll try something defensive now.
Hang on.”

Simon went through his
notes again, resting his staff against his chest as he shuffled
through the pages.

“
So
you weren't impressed?” Kronk asked Aeris as they waited.

“
Oh,
I was. But you and I both know about enchanted weapons and the like.
And how things can sometimes go awry when using them. The dwarven
king may have had the best of intentions when creating that staff,
but did he really know what he was doing? Or did he perhaps imbue it
with too much power?”

“
Meaning
what?” Simon asked as he found the spell he was looking for,.

“
Meaning
that I wonder if he himself remembered that the king holds more
magical power when he ascends to the throne than he did when he was a
'regular person'. It comes with the position. If Stanis Ironhand had
a measure of skill as an artisan and enchanted his creations with
magic with that skill, perhaps creating an object like the staff
after becoming king imbued it with more power than he had intended.”

“
I
hadn't thought of that,” Kronk said as he looked at the staff
speculatively.

“
Guys,
I think you're missing the point here.”

Simon held up the staff,
admiring its gleaming length in the midday sun.

“
The
staff works, it does what it is supposed to do, and that's all. True,
Stanis did say he added a couple of old enchantments to sort of help
me along, but they weren't anything too powerful or, God forbid,
nefarious. He is my friend after all.”

Aeris flew closer and
examined the staff, bobbing and weaving in the wind.

“
What
enchantments?”

Simon tapped the symbols
inlaid into the metal of the staff.

“
These
ones. I don't read dwarvish, but he said that one is an enchantment
so that I can never lose the staff. If it's misplaced, all I need to
do is call for it and it will return to me.”

“
Handy,
don't you think?” Kronk said to Aeris, who nodded grudgingly.

“
And
the other?”

“
The
other? Well, it sounds a bit weird, I know, but apparently it is a
spell that makes dragons more vulnerable to my power, when channeled
through the staff.”

“
So
that is why you named it Killer of Dragons, master,” Kronk
exclaimed in wonder, his wide eyes fixed on the staff.

“
Exactly,
my friend. It just seemed appropriate.”

“
Mortis
de Draconis,” Aeris muttered, still looking suspicious.

“
Still
not convinced?” Simon asked him teasingly.

The air elemental backed
off and then shrugged.

“
I'm
fairly convinced that the king wasn't trying to do you any harm when
he created the weapon, but that's about all. Time will tell if it is
actually harmless.”

“
I
suppose. Okay, let's try a defensive spell now. We can debate the
merits of the staff later.”

The wizard repeated his
actions from the first spell. The forces gathered around him, Mortis
de Draconis warmed under his hand and focused his power and then,
with a little hesitation, Simon cast the spell.

“
Shield!”
he exclaimed and with a rush of air that blew his hair in all
directions and swirled his robe around his legs, an opaque ball of
energy snapped into place around him. It extended out to six feet and
cut off the summer breeze and even the smell of the plants and trees
from the forest.

Inside the shield was
silence. Kronk and Aeris had been engulfed by the protective barrier
as well and looked around them with interest.

“
Beautiful,
master,” Kronk complimented him. “It is even more perfect
than your old Shield spell.”

“
I
have to agree,” Aeris said as he flew up and tapped the barrier
over their heads. It sparked and darkened slightly at his touch. “Air
is penetrating the shield, as it should, but it seems to be filtering
out all other elements. I'd guess that you could stand in the midst
of a cloud of poison unscathed using this spell.”

“
Good
to know, but let's hope we never have to try that,” Simon
answered dryly. “I got enough exposure to poison dealing with
the primal green dragon, thanks.”

He stretched and canceled
the spell with a wave of the staff.

“
Good
enough for now, guys. I'm dying for some tea.”

He started walking back
toward the tower, Kronk and Aeris following closely behind.

“
I'm
going to spend the rest of the day condensing all of my spells. My
idea worked so I think I'd better get this done as soon as possible.
Just in case.”

“
Just
in case of what, master?”

“
Who
knows, Kronk? It's a scary world out there. This faster way of
casting spells might just give me an edge, so let's make sure that I
can take advantage of it.”

He grinned back at his
friends.

“
And
tomorrow, we go furniture shopping in Russia. Now that's something
I'm looking forward to.”

The following morning,
Simon stumbled out of bed feeling hungover. He assumed it was from
all of the work he'd put into his spell casting shortcuts the day
before. Everything felt fuzzy and disconnected and he almost fell as
he staggered down the stairs to the main floor.

“
Good morning,”
Aeris said brightly. He was just hanging the kettle in the fireplace.

Simon looked at him
blearily and grunted. He sat down at the kitchen table with an
audible thump and dropped his head on to his arms.

“
Well now, that was
a lively greeting. Feeling a bit under the weather?”

With some effort, Simon
raised his head and rested his chin on his palms.

“
I'm not sure,”
he said weakly. “It has to have something to do with the spells
I worked with yesterday. But I don't get it. Except for the two
outside, I didn't actually cast anything. All I did was kind of link
the normal incantations to a single keyword. It wasn't that hard.”

“
Wasn't it?”

Aeris floated over to the
table and hovered above it, looking at the wizard intently.

“
You are as white as
cream, you know. And I'll have to correct you. You
were
using power when you created those new linkages. It takes energy,
your own reserves, to twist the magic and bend it to your will. Yes,
you do it naturally as a wizard, but it is still your body, your
soul, if you will, that powers the effort. You've just spent six
months convalescing. You aren't back to your old self yet. Even you
must see that.”

He
shook a stern finger at Simon.

“
And
now you've pushed yourself into a relapse. We have been down this
road before, my dear wizard. How many times does it take for you to
collapse before you realize that you have limits?”

“
I...”

Simon
weighed Aeris' words and began to nod reluctantly.

“
You
may be right. I honestly thought that linking the spells to a keyword
wasn't using very much power, if any. I felt fine when I went to bed
last night. But today? Ugh.”

Aeris'
cross expression faded and he looked vaguely amused.

“
I
understand. Magic can sometimes have a delayed effect. Just looking
at you, I'd say you don't have enough strength to light a candle
right now. Certainly, we won't be Gating to Russia today.”

Simon
sighed and closed his eyes.

“
You've
got that right,” he muttered. “Do me a favor and take the
kettle off of the fire, would you? I'm going back to bed.”

He
stood up, feeling as if he was carrying an extra hundred pounds on
his back and slowly began to walk back to the stairs.

“
An
excellent idea. I'll bring you up a snack in a few hours,”
Aeris told him encouragingly. “Get some rest. Kronk and I will
keep an eye on things while you do.”

“
Thanks
Aeris. You're a life-saver.”

“
I
do try,” the elemental said under his breath as he flew toward
the fireplace. “When he lets me.”