The Dragons of Ash and Smoke (Tales from the New Earth Book 5) (41 page)

Above
them, the archers moved to cover their advance, but in the bright
light that burned above the area, there was no movement from the
goblin warriors on the roofs and it was obvious that all of them were
dead.

“
Strange
that none of those mages raised a shield,” Tamara told Simon as
they advanced together across the courtyard. Both had dropped their
own shields to walk side by side. “It's a fairly simple spell.”

“
For
you and me, perhaps, but it's quite possible that goblin casters
don't use it.” He looked up at the bodies that hung from the
top of a building they were passing. “Maybe they consider it a
sign of weakness or whatever? Who can say. I may not like this
slaughter, but these creatures are vicious and brutal. And they
attacked you, not the other way around. I doubt if we'll ever
understand them, and I'm not at all sure that I want to.”

“
I
have to agree.”

The
small buildings that were held by the goblins were windowless and
squat; square and heavy, the buildings were no more than a dozen feet
high and twenty feet along each side.

“
What
are you using these things for anyway?” Simon asked Tamara.

She
stared blankly at them and turned to Malcolm.

“
Are
we using these buildings for storage?”

The
big man frowned and looked at Aiden.

His
partner shook his head and Malcolm rolled his eyes.

“
Apparently
we don't know,” he told Tamara dryly.

She
had to laugh and turned back to Simon.

“
There's
your answer; no one knows.”

He
chuckled.

“
It
doesn't really matter. I just wanted to know if any of them had a
cellar.”

The
mage simply shrugged.

Simon
sighed and took a moment to look around the courtyard.

The
castle was huge and he imagined hundreds of people living here back
in the middle ages. The people here now had every chance to flourish,
if these damned monsters would just leave them be.

“
Kronk,
I need you,” he said loudly, startling Tamara,

The
ground in front of him erupted and the little guy climbed out into
the light.

“
Yes
master? What may I do for you?”

“
Where
did you go?”

“
I
took a few minutes to try to follow the goblins' trail back to
wherever they came from.”

“
Any
luck?”

“
Southeast,
master. I didn't get too far before you recalled me.”

He
looked up at the floating air elemental.

“
Could
you continue to follow their tracks? If master approves, of course.”

“
I'd
love to,” Aeris replied. “May I?” he asked Simon.

“
Yes
please. Just stay invisible and don't take any unnecessary risks.”

“
Now,
now, my dear wizard. Where's the fun in that?”

And
he disappeared with a small pop of displaced air.

“
Great,”
Simon said under his breath. “Kronk, do me a favor and see if
either of those two buildings,” he pointed to them, “have
a basement. There are goblins inside both of them and a spell-caster
in the one on the right, so be careful.”

“
Yes
master, I will check right away.”

The
little guy slipped into the ground and Simon saw several of the
people standing around staring at the small hole in wonder.

“
Handy
allies you have there,” one of the guardsmen told him.

“
They
are that,” he agreed absently as he concentrated on the
buildings, listening intently. He wondered whether the hostile cleric
could sense Kronk as he moved underground.

Liliana
had huddled up with Malcolm, Aiden and the half-dozen guardsmen that
were with them. They were speaking quietly, apparently planning their
assault. Simon left them to it; he was no tactician and they would be
the ones taking the biggest risks.

A
few minutes passed and a muted rumble signaled Kronk's return.

The
little guy popped out of the ground several yards away and gestured
frantically at Simon.

The
wizard trotted over and knelt down next to him.

“
What
is it?” he asked quietly, well aware that the group behind him
was watching them both.

“
Master,
I did not want to set off a panic but the goblins are gone.”

“
What?”
Simon hissed. “How can they be gone? They can't pass through
the wards.”

“
They
did not, master. They went under them. Goblins can tunnel almost as
well as dwarves and, at a guess, I'd say that their magic-user
enabled them to dig even faster than usual.” He shrugged. “But
however they did it, they are gone, master. Their tunnel leads off in
the same southeastern direction that Aeris is scouting. He may
discover them.”

“
Damn
it. Can you follow them underground without being spotted?”

The
little guy's eyes gleamed redly in the darkening night. Simon's light
above the courtyard was slowly fading.

“
Of
course, master. I'd be happy to.”

“
Stay
well back! Don't be seen.”

“
I
will be fine, master. I will report back as soon as I can.”

And
Kronk smiled and disappeared beneath the surface again.

Simon
pushed himself to his feet, ran a hand through his hair and returned
to the others.

“
What's
going on?” Tamara asked sharply.

“
They're
gone,” Simon told them as he waved at the buildings. “All
of them. Somehow they managed to dig deep enough to avoid the wards
and escape.” He pointed to the southeast. “That way.”

“
Gone?
They can't be gone!” she protested loudly. “What about
Bastian? We needed one of them to tell us where he is!”

The
rest of the group reacted in various ways. Malcolm and Aiden were
both scowling silently, while Liliana gripped her sword hilt so
tightly that it squeaked. Keiko was, as always, blank-faced and
serene and Simon wondered if anything ever bothered her.

Meanwhile.
Tamara had begun pacing back and forth like a caged tiger. Aiden
watched her, his scowl changing to a look of concern, while Malcolm
sent his guardsmen to check out the two buildings, cautioning them to
be careful and watch for traps.

Liliana
gave herself a shake and visibly let go of her anger. She walked
around the pacing Tamara and joined Simon.

“
Now
what?” she asked with a worried glance at the mage.

“
Now
we wait. Both Aeris and Kronk are on their trail and it won't do any
good racing off without more information.”

“
Tell
that to Tamara,” the paladin murmured. “If we only had a
way to at least confirm that her brother was still alive, that might
keep her from doing something precipitous.”

“
Hmm.
That's not a bad idea,” Simon mused. “I wonder...”

Simon approached the
pacing mage and cleared his throat loudly. He didn't want to set her
off by saying the wrong thing.

Tamara stopped and turned
to glare at him.

“
What?” she
snapped.

He met her eyes calmly and
waited until she was completely focused on him.

“
There may be a way
to determine if your brother is still alive,” he told her in an
even tone.

When her eyes lit up, he
held up a cautionary hand.

“
Maybe. It's just an
idea.”

“
I'll take it,
whatever it is.”

“
Okay then. I'm
guessing that you tried to get in touch with Sebastian after he went
missing? Yes. And you were blocked? Okay. Have you tried again since
then?'

“
Many times. Each
effort is blocked. Those damned goblins are good at it.”

“
We'll see. I've
been using Magic Mirror for a long time, compared to most of the
Changling casters, and I've noticed some stuff. For one thing, it is
difficult to tell if your target is being blocked or is,” he
hesitated, “dead. I doubt if most people can tell the
difference. No offense.”

Tamara had flinched but
looked intrigued at Simon's statement.

“
Interesting. I
didn't know that. I...just assumed that he was being held and his
location was being blocked by magic. So he may be dead after all.”

Her shoulders slumped at
the thought and Simon took a chance and patted her arm reassuringly.

She looked at him and
smiled a bit.

“
So you want to try
to contact him and see if he's alive or not?”

“
I do. And maybe I
can actually force a way through any blocking that's going on. Let's
see, shall we?”

Tamara looked at the
others and noticed their looks of concern.

“
Hey guys. Sorry for
the mini meltdown. I'm a little crazed by this whole situation.”

“
Understandable,”
Malcolm assured her stoutly. “I would be too.”

The others nodded.

“
Okay Simon,”
the mage said heavily. “See what you can learn, would you?”

“
Will do. I'm going
to need to be alone for a minute,” he told her and walked away
from the group, thinking hard.

If Sebastian was alive, he
was probably being held in a warded room, he thought. That way, he
wouldn't need a spell-caster watching him twenty-four hours a day.
And wards can be broken with the proper use of force.

Ah, I love a challenge, he
thought with a touch of dark humor.

He grounded his staff,
gripped it tightly and brought Sebastian's face to the forefront of
his mind. Holding tightly to that image, he channeled his magic into
Mortis de Draconis until the staff shook with power.

“
Magic Mouth,”
he muttered and released the spell.

He never used the Magic
Mouth spell anymore. It was a purely auditory spell; there were no
visuals. But Simon had a feeling that such simple magic might allow
him to push all the harder to connect with Sebastian, focusing his
will like a laser beam on its target.

He felt the spell trying
to find the mage, searching the ether for some sign of him, some
presence.

A tug, like the faint
nibble a fisherman feels when a fish plays with his bait, tickled
Simon's mind. Another one.

He swallowed and held his
breath. Was there something there? Or was it just his imagination?
Damn it, Sebastian! Be there. Be alive, my friend.

And the fish took the
bait.

The snap of a connection
made Simon stagger and Sebastian's presence was suddenly all around
him.

“
Sebastian?”
the wizard said tautly. “Can you hear me?”

“
Simon?”

The mage's voice was weak,
breathless, but he was alive.

“
Yes, it's me. Where
are you?”

“
Oh thank God,”
Sebastian said and Simon could hear the relief in his voice. He
seemed on the verge of tears.

“
I was sure that
you'd all given up on me.”

“
With a sister like
yours? Never!” the wizard said lightly, masking his fear.

Sebastian chuckled weakly.

“
I may not have much
time,” he said. “My jailers don't leave me alone very
often, so listen carefully. I am in a cave somewhere to the south of
the castle. And it's a natural cave, Simon. These creatures did not
dig it out. Maybe that will help you to find me. The light here is
bad, so I can't make out many details. And frankly, my eyes are so
swollen that I can barely see anyway.”

“
You've been
beaten?” Simon asked in sudden anger.

“
That's a nice way
to put it. Yes, I have. And I will be again, as soon as my hosts
return. In fact...”

There was a long moment of
silence.

“
Damn, I can hear
them coming back. Break this connection, Simon. They can sense magic.
And tell my sister that I'm still alive and would love to stay that
way.”