The Dragons of Ash and Smoke (Tales from the New Earth Book 5) (45 page)

The dragons were flying
almost nose to tail in a broad circle that brought them to within a
couple of miles of the castle. However, they seemed to be
concentrating more on the ground below them than on Nottinghill.

“
They have to be
watching the goblins, don't you think?”

Aeris shrugged as he
bobbed and weaved in the wind.

“
A fair guess, my
dear wizard, but who knows? They are dragons, after all. I've never
understood them and I never will.”

“
You're a big help,”
Simon told him and headed back to the stairs.

“
What did I do now?”
the air elemental asked innocently as he followed along behind.

Back down in the
courtyard, the main group was still waiting for any sign of Kassus.
Everyone was looking decidedly strained and Tamara was pale and
fidgety. She had stopped pacing though and was in quiet conversation
with Keiko. Simon wondered what they were talking about that was so
engrossing.

A shaking under his feet
that grew to an obvious rumble got the wizard's attention.

“
I think Kassus is
coming back,” he said loudly.

Everyone stopped talking
and began looking around. Simon focused on the hole that the
elemental had left behind when he disappeared. He assumed that Kassus
would probably come back that way. And a few seconds later he found
that he was correct.

The hulking elemental
climbed out of the hole noisily, rock snapping and crashing beneath
him. Simon saw Tamara's face fall as she saw that Kassus was alone.
She looked frantically at the wizard, who motioned for patience. He
could tell that the elemental was concentrating on something below
him.

Kassus stepped back from
the deep hole, now an actual pit in the ground, and everyone else
moved back as well. He was, after all, quite large and dirt and sand
cascaded off of him and sprayed everywhere.

He raised his blocky right
hand slowly, staring at the pit, and an oblong slab of rock about
seven feet long and four feet wide, rose from the hole to hang in the
air above it. Kassus gestured and the stone slid away from the hole
and then gently settled down on to the ground.

“
What is that?”
Malcolm asked curiously.

The elemental snorted
loudly and snapped his fingers, a sharp, crackling sound. In
response, the stone shattered like an egg and thin sheets of rock
fell away to litter the ground.

Tamara gave out a weak cry
of recognition and ran forward because, lying in the middle of the
pieces of broken rock, was Sebastian.

The young man began to
cough and splutter as he sat up with a groan. He was covered with
white dust and sweat and was trying hard to breathe.

“
Someone get some
water!” Tamara said loudly as she knelt beside her brother. She
slipped an arm around him to help steady him and used the hem of her
robe to wipe some of the rock dust out of his puffy eyes.

“
Tammy? Is that
you?” Sebastian asked as he squinted, trying to see. Besides
the dirt in his eyes, the morning sunlight must have been blinding to
him after being trapped underground in the dark for hours.

“
It's me, Bastian,”
she said as she hugged him tightly. “It's me. How are you? Are
you injured?”

Someone came running with
a flagon of water and a cup and Tamara accepted them gratefully.
While she offered her brother water, Simon focused on the great
earthen.

“
Thank you, Kassus,”
he said. “I wasn't sure whether you would be able to reach my
friend or not. We are very grateful to you.”

Tamara looked up as her
brother carefully sipped some water.

“
Yes, we are beyond
grateful. If there is ever anything we can do to repay you...”

“
There is not, lady
mage,” Kassus rumbled. “I was pleased to aid this wizard,
for whom I have great respect. And my people despise goblins. They
are great enemies to the dwarves and our admiration for the rock folk
is vast.”

“
Speaking of the
goblins, they sealed their lair,” Malcolm told the elemental.
“Any thoughts on how we can reach them now? We were thinking
that they might try to tunnel away, or maybe even assault the castle
again.”

“
They will not,”
Kassus replied with obvious satisfaction.

“
Why not?”
Simon asked him in confusion.

Kronk climbed out of the
large hole behind the earth elemental and trotted over to join the
wizard and Aeris.

“
Because they are
all dead, master,” the little guy said.

Simon stared at him in
disbelief and Kassus nodded once in confirmation.

“
The little one is
correct. You gave me permission to summon aid if I felt it was
necessary, sir wizard, and so once I have ensured the safety of the
mage, I decided to rid the world of this group of accursed goblins. I
called upon a few of my fellow earthen and we cleaned out that nest.
Their cleric proved to be quite powerful, so it was at least an
interesting battle. Short, but interesting.”

“
All dead?”
Sebastian gasped as Tamara helped him to his feet.

He looked like a ghost. He
was covered with caked-on dust and his eyes were red against the
white dust on his face. He peered up at Kassus.

“
You killed them
all?”

The large earthen looked
down at him, eyes like twin flames.

“
We did. Does that
displease you? Perhaps you would like me to return you to your
prison? That can be arranged.”

“
Whoa. Whoa!”
Aiden said quickly as Sebastian backed up several steps and Tamara
scowled at the elemental.

“
Everyone calm down
here,” the warrior continued. “I'm sure that Bastian is
very thankful for the rescue. Aren't you?” he added
emphatically to the mage.

“
Yes, of course I
am,” Sebastian said and then coughed several times. “It's
just that I would have liked to have learned why they were here in
the first place; who sent them and what they really wanted, that's
all.”

He sipped more water and
Kassus' glare softened. The earthen actually looked thoughtful.

“
I understand. Then
forgive me for not leaving one alive. Did you learn nothing from them
when they questioned you?”

Sebastian smiled at his
sister as he handed her his empty glass, then looked back at the
elemental.

“
Not really, no.
Honestly, their questions really didn't make sense, because they
asked me things for which I had no answers.”

“
Like what?”
Tamara wondered.

“
Well, mostly
questions about him,” he replied and gestured at Simon.

“
Me? They wanted to
know about me?” the wizard asked in disbelief. “You're
joking.”

“
I wish I was. The
bastards punctuated every question with a slap or a kick or a punch.
Lovely manners they had.”

Keiko had faded away from
the group but now reappeared carrying a wooden chair. She set it down
behind Sebastian and helped Tamara lower her brother on to it.

“
Thanks Keiko,”
Sebastian said with a relieved sigh. “Legs are a bit wobbly at
the moment.”

She smiled and Simon saw
her blush.

Aha, he thought. She isn't
emotionless after all. I believe she has a thing for Sebastian.

“
What did they want
to know?” Malcolm asked the mage.

Miriam had knelt down next
to Sebastian and offered him a moistened cloth. He smiled at her
gratefully and carefully wiped off his face. The cuts and bruises
that were revealed under the dirt looked very painful and Tamara
hissed between her teeth.

“
Easy, Tammy,”
her brother said with a crooked grin. “I'm okay. I think I
could sleep for a week and I wouldn't mind a decent meal, but I'm
fine. Better off than I expected to be, to tell you the truth.”

She swallowed her anger
and tried to smile in return.

“
As for what the
goblins wanted to know,” Sebastian said to Malcolm. “Well,
that's the weird part. It's as if they weren't given specific
instructions on what they needed to learn. So I got questions like
'how many elemental servants does the wizard have' or 'what is his
most powerful spell'. And my favorite, 'how did he kill the primal
dragons'. Ridiculous really.”

“
And what did you
say?” Simon asked him.

“
What could I say? I
answered truthfully to all of them. I don't know, I don't know and I
don't know! You'd think a bloody cleric would have known I was
telling the truth, wouldn't you? But no, they just kept coming back
every few hours repeating the same stupid questions.”

“
Ah, I think I
understand now,” Keiko said quietly, surprising everyone. When
she saw the group staring at her, she bowed her head in
embarrassment,

“
You understand?”
Tamara asked gently. “You understand what, Keiko?”

The little woman shrugged
and seemed to be struggling to answer.

“
Take your time,”
Sebastian said to her warmly. “We'd really like your insights,
if you'd like to share them with us.”

Keiko looked at him and
took a deep breath. She looked from face to face and finally settled
on looking beyond the group at the far wall.

“
It is just that it
sounds like the goblins were sent here to gather information, but
never expected to actually take a prisoner, certainly not an
important captive like a mage,” she added with a nervous smile
at Sebastian.

“
I would guess that
they just happened upon him and captured him on the spur of the
moment. Then they weren't quite sure what to do with him after they
had him.”

“
Makes sense,”
Liliana said reflectively. “I don't think these goblins are
very bright. Unless they were told exactly what to do, they would
have to wing it. Bad idea in this case.”

“
Yeah, the lore on
goblins doesn't paint them as geniuses,” Simon said with a
laugh. “Maybe it's just as well that they were stupid; it might
have saved Sebastian's life.”

“
I'm not
complaining, I assure you,” the mage said tiredly.

Miriam gave him a sharp
look and then she stood up and turned to Tamara.

“
I'd like to get
Sebastian to the infirmary to treat his wounds. I'm a bit concerned
about infection after what Jenny went through last night.”

Tamara's face paled and
she nodded quickly.

“
Absolutely.
Bastian, can you walk? We should get you taken care of.”

“
Yeah, I think so.”

With his sister on one
side and the cleric on the other, Sebastian stood up and looked
around at the group.

“
Thank you all for
your help and concern. And especially you, Simon, for sending me such
effective aid,”

He looked up at Kassus and
sketched a salute. The earthen bowed ever so slightly.

“
Anytime, my
friend,” Simon told him. “Now go and get some rest.
You've more than earned it.”

Everyone watched as the
trio slowly made their way back inside, Sebastian now limping
noticeably.

“
He's in rough
shape,” Aiden said as he watched.

“
He'll be fine,”
Malcolm told him. “Miriam knows her stuff.”

“
I will take my
leave now, sir wizard,” Kassus said abruptly. “My
brethren have already returned to the earthen realm.”

“
As you wish,”
Simon replied. “Thanks again for your help. Not only did you
save my friend, but you got rid of the threat at the same time. Well
done.”

The large elemental
actually bowed to the wizard and seemed to be pleased with his
praise.

“
It was my pleasure.
Feel free to call upon me and mine at any time. We are at your
service.”

“
I'm honored,”
Simon answered formally. “And I thank you for that.”

Kassus nodded once at the
group, stepped into the pit and sank out of sight. A minute later,
the ground began to shake and stone was pushed up from below. The
hole filled in and the ground was left even once again.

“
Efficient,”
Liliana said with approval.

Simon smiled down at
Kronk.

“
Yes, the earthen
certainly are that. Could you seal those tunnels that the goblins dug
earlier?” he asked the little guy.

“
Oh, of course,
master! I should have thought of that myself. I will be right back.”

He vanished underground
leaving behind a little cloud of dust.

“
Aeris, would you
head up to the wall and check on those dragons? I'm curious to see if
they've sensed what happened to the goblins.”

“
Ah, good idea. I'll
go see.”

He shot straight up and
Simon squinted into the sunlight, losing him in the glare.

“
So now what?”
Malcolm asked. “It seems that the immediate danger is passed,
at least from the goblins. I think we could all use some sleep, to be
honest.”