The Dragons of Ash and Smoke (Tales from the New Earth Book 5) (31 page)

“
I'm not surprised.
Okay then, this way.”

Aeris had been right about
Kronk's reaction to the wizard's broken nose. When the two of them
appeared back in the tower, the little guy was poking at the fire. He
turned with a smile to greet them and Simon saw his face fall and a
scowl replace the happy grin.

“
What has happened,
master?” he asked and jumped up on to the kitchen table.

As Simon sat down
unsteadily, Kronk tapped across the tabletop and looked at his face
closely. Then he whirled around and glared at Aeris, who had stayed
away from the table and was hovering in the middle of the room.

“
What did you do?”
the earthen rumbled at him accusingly.

“
Told you so,”
the air elemental said to Simon. He watched the earthen warily.

“
Easy, Kronk,”
the wizard said. “It wasn't Aeris' fault. We popped in too
close to a bull and it did what bulls do, that's all.”

“
Aeris should have
known better, master,” Kronk replied angrily. “He is the
renowned scout, is he not? His instructions for your Gate spell
should have been more precise. You,” he spat at Aeris, “are
slipping, getting sloppy because you are living here so comfortably.
Back in the old days, one of your people would never have made such
an obvious mistake and put their master in harm's way. Shame on you.”

“
Hey now, that's a
bit harsh,” Simon said sharply. “I told you, I don't
blame him.”

Kronk stiffened at the
rebuke and then calmed down a bit and nodded reluctantly.

“
As you say, master.
Perhaps I
was
being a
bit too hard on him.”

“
No you weren't,
actually.”

Both Simon and Kronk
looked at Aeris in surprise. He flew over to join them, staring down
at the tabletop.

“
Kronk is right. In
the old days, a mistake like that would have gotten me banished in
shame back to the realm of air immediately, no questions asked.
Maybe,” he paused and shrugged. “Maybe I am too
comfortable here. Getting soft. There is no excuse for allowing you
to be injured, my dear wizard. None.”

He looked up and met
Simon's eyes.

“
I will do better; I
swear I will.”

“
Hey, I know that. I
do. Don't beat yourself up.”

Simon couldn't remember
seeing the air elemental look so distressed before and he gave Kronk
a stern glance. But the earthen was staring at Aeris with such a look
of concern that what the wizard was going to say died on his lips.

“
I did not mean to
say that,” Kronk said to Aeris. He sounded a little
embarrassed. “I was angry. You know how I worry about our
master. You are a wonderful scout, you really are. We all make
mistakes, myself included. Do not take it to heart.”

Aeris smiled at him
tentatively.

“
Thanks Kronk, but
you had a good point. I may have lost my edge. The good news, such as
it is, is that we found the cows and we've decided on a way to
capture several of them. And from now on, our dear wizard will cast
his Shield spell whenever he Gates into new territory, just in case.
Right?” he added with a look at Simon.

“
Absolutely.
Sometimes it takes a hard knock,” the wizard touched his
swollen nose gingerly, “to get something through my head. Well,
consider me warned. So something good did come out of this.”

He began to get up and
groaned softly.

“
Sit. Stay,”
Aeris ordered as he sailed across the table and over to the counter.
“I can read your mind. You want tea, yes? Or coffee?”

“
Coffee. Definitely.
Thanks.”

“
Good. Kronk,
perhaps you can take our wizard's staff and put it in its place and
then get him his indoor shoes?”

The little guy's
expression brightened. He always liked being useful.

“
With pleasure.”

He hopped down and looked
up at Simon.

“
I will take the
staff, master. You should move to your comfy chair and I will get
your soft shoes.”

“
Thanks guys. I
don't need the shoes though, Kronk. Thanks. Just take these ones and
put them away.”

Simon handed the earthen
his staff and slipped off his shoes. Then he got up stiffly, creaking
like an old man, and hobbled over to his chair in front of the fire.
When he collapsed into it, he sighed with contentment, resting his
sore head against the back of the chair.

Now that he had a moment
to think, Simon felt foolish. Imagine, living in the world they lived
in now and Gating blindly into God knew what. How incredibly stupid
was that? Aeris didn't deserve the blame; he did.

“
Don't fall asleep,”
the air elemental said from the counter and the wizard caught himself
just as he was drifting off. He turned his head to look over at
Aeris.

“
Why not?”

“
Concussion. You
have suffered some head trauma, my dear wizard. Stay awake for a few
more hours to be sure that you don't have any side-effects. You know;
double-vision, memory loss, slurring of speech. All that.”

“
Since when did you
become such an expert on human health?” Simon asked curiously.
He sat up a bit to try to stay awake.

Aeris floated over to the
fireplace and hung the kettle over the fire.

“
Since when did I
know how to set a broken nose?” he replied. He flew back to the
counter to ready the wizard's cup. “Hello. I'm thousands of
years old, remember?”

Kronk snorted a laugh as
he made his way back to the chair and jumped up to stand on the wide
arm.

“
He has a point,
master. I mean no offense, but I have noticed that occasionally you
forget that we have existed, and have known many humans, for a very
long time.”

Simon smiled and shrugged
wearily.

“
That is true. It's
just that you guys are my friends. I never had a lot of friends back
in the old days, but the ones I did have were people that I simply
liked, no questions asked. Young, old, male, female; it never
mattered. Their history was what made them interesting. Yours does
too. It's just that you two have a heck of a lot more of it than
anyone I've ever known.” He winked at Kronk. “And of
course, the fact that you're both cute as buttons doesn't help
either. It makes me forget your age sometimes.”

The earthen's smile
widened.

“
I don't think I'm
cute,” Aeris protested. “Ruggedly handsome, perhaps, but
not cute. Definitely not.”

Kronk rolled his eyes and
Simon suppressed a laugh.

“
Whatever you say,”
he said as he watched Aeris putter at the counter. “I'm too
sore and tired to argue.”

When the coffee was ready,
the air elemental carried it over to Simon, who accepted it
gratefully.

“
Ah,” he
sighed with pleasure after the first sip. “I needed that.
Thanks so much.”

“
No problem.”

Aeris moved to float over
the other arm of the comfy chair.

“
I was wondering
something, master,” Kronk said as he watched the wizard.

“
Hmm?”

“
You said that
you've worked out a way to capture some cows?”

Simon nodded as he enjoyed
his coffee.

“
We have,”
Aeris answered. He looked across the chair at the earthen. “Why?'

“
I was just
wondering how you plan to do that.”

“
Go ahead,”
Simon said to Aeris as he snuggled deeper into his chair. “It
was actually your idea anyway.”

“
It was?”
Kronk asked.

“
Hey, don't look so
surprised. I have good ideas, sometimes.”

“
I know you do,”
the earthen replied flatly. “You also have some bad ones, like
letting our master Gate blindly into a herd of wild cattle.”

“
Let's not get
side-tracked,” Simon cut in hurriedly, forestalling another
argument. “Just explain it.”

“
Yes, of course.”
Aeris said with a cautious look at Kronk. “Okay then, here it
is. Since we don't have the expertise to round up cattle, or the
manpower for that matter, we've decided to use our dear wizard's
talent instead.”

“
How?”

“
The Shield spell.
He will simply cast it around a cow at a distance. Then we can
approach the animal safely and Gate it back to the pasture behind the
tower.”

“
I'm going to try
for cows with calves if I can,” Simon added. “If they are
close together, casting a shield around both will be no problem.”

“
Hmm. And what about
the bull that watches over the herd? It has already damaged you,
master.”

“
Well, personally I
think that the shield alone might scare it off,” Aeris told the
earthen. “However, if it doesn't, I will lead it away long
enough for our wizard to Gate the cow away.”

“
You will?”

Aeris smiled at Kronk's
surprise.

“
Of course. I can
stay ahead of an angry bull, and if I can't, well, there's very
little that the animal can do to harm me.”

“
Don't be too sure,”
Kronk cautioned him. “Changed animals like the stallion, Chief,
are imbued with magic. The bull may very well be able to damage an
air elemental.”

That thought seemed to
give Aeris pause and he frowned, staring into the dancing flames in
the fireplace.

“
Good point. I'll
just have to make sure it doesn't catch me, that's all.”

“
Master, this plan
sounds very risky.”

Simon pushed himself up a
bit and rested his cup on his lap.

“
I know, my friend,
but I can't think of another way of catching the cows that we need.
Can you?”

Kronk's answer caught him
by surprise.

“
Yes master, of
course I can.”

“
What do you mean,
of course you can?” Aeris asked sharply.

“
I mean I can, that
is all.”

“
Really?”

Simon watched the little
guy nod firmly.

“
Okay then, tell me
about it.”

“
Certainly, master.”

Kronk hopped down and
moved to stand in front of the fireplace. He picked up a few wood
chips from the pile of logs next to it and set them one by one on the
floor.

“
Master, you have
six earthen at your disposal if you count myself and the five who
walk your outside wall as sentries. Between us, we can capture your
cows for you.”

He pushed several chips
closer together.

“
All we need is to
find a group of cows in one spot. They do not need to be tightly
packed, only in the same general area.”

He put another chip off to
one side of the group and pointed at it.

“
Even if the bull is
here, there will be no problem. The six of us can instantly raise a
barrier of rock around the group,” he tapped the chips, “and
wall them away from the rest of the herd, and that bull. We can then
tighten the barrier around them until the cows are close enough
together for you, master, to Gate the entire group back here. It will
be faster and easier and one Gating will limit the amount of fear the
beasts are subjected to. I would not want them traumatized if it can
be avoided.”

Simon smiled gently at the
little guy's concern. He really did have a big heart.

Kronk looked up at them
with a shrug.

“
That is my plan,
master,” he finished simply. He picked up the wood chips and
tossed them into the fire.

The wizard watched the
little guy admiringly.

“
Sometimes I
underestimate you,” he told him. “You are a very clever
fellow, do you know that?”

“
No master. As was
mentioned earlier, I have been around for a very long time. Age may
not grant one wisdom, but it does grant experience. This plan seems
more sensible, Aeris. No offense.”

The air elemental shook
his head.

“
None taken. I like
it.”

Simon stared at him with
some surprise. Aeris was usually more competitive than this and he
had an idea that the air elemental was still feeling guilty and was
letting Kronk have a win to placate him. Personally, the wizard
thought that Kronk's plan was the better one.

“
I do too,” he
said to them both. “I especially like the idea of not scaring
the cows too much. They are simple creatures and I don't want to
freak them out any more than necessary.”

He finished his coffee,
heaved himself to his feet and plodded over to the sink.

“
Okay, I know that
it's early but, concussion or not, I'm beat. I'm going to bed. If I
die in my sleep, I won't blame either of you.”

“
That isn't really a
good idea,” Aeris protested.