The Dragons of Ash and Smoke (Tales from the New Earth Book 5) (47 page)

“
Yes,
but they overextended themselves. They have kept her somnolent since
she birthed the primals and laid her eggs. Now, if Pyrathius has
broken that spell, she will never allow herself to be chained by
their power again.”

The
silver dragon's voice deepened and Simon's level of fear increased.

“
Do
you understand what I am saying, young wizard? She must now be
destroyed as well as her last primal child. Who knows what she can
accomplish now that she is awake and in full control of her powers?
She may even be able to begin laying eggs again, because I believe
that it was the Chaos lords who limited her amount of offspring.”

“
Oh
God, this just keeps getting better and better,” Simon groaned.
“So what should I do?”

Kronk
hopped up one step and patted his knee consolingly.

“
Do?
Do whatever you wish,” the silver dragon told him. “I am
not here to tell you how to deal with your problems, Simon O'Toole. I
have warned you, which is more than enough. I will say that you
should contact your friends and pass on this information to them.
After that? Well, that is up to you. Farewell.”

And
Simon felt the connection fade away.

“
Hey
wait! I need to ask you...”

But
it was too late. She was gone.

“
Damn
it!” he hissed and slammed a fist on the stone steps.

“
Master?
What has happened?”

Simon
sucked on a bleeding knuckle, grumbling.

“
Master?”

The
wizard sighed and looked at the little guy.

“
We're
screwed, that's what's happened,” he told him. “Tear down
the tents and pack your bags, folks. We're done.”

“
I
do not understand.”

Simon
ran a hand through his hair several times and stared across the yard
to the outer wall. One of the earthen was walking slowly along it on
patrol and he watched it for a minute, his mind empty of thought.
Then he stood up with a grunt.

“
Come
on inside and I'll tell you,” he told Kronk.

Back
in the tower, Simon put on the kettle again while the earthen tapped
over and jumped on to the table.

“
Where's
Aeris?”

“
I
do not know, master, but if this is important, perhaps you should
call him home?”

“
Yeah,
good idea. Aeris! I need you!”

The
air elemental appeared in the center of the kitchen table accompanied
by a burst of bright light and an ear-splitting crack of thunder.

“
God,
I hate that,” Simon muttered as his ears rang.

“
Oh,
I'm back. Good morning, my dear wizard. Why have I been recalled this
time?”

Simon
kept preparing his tea, thinking dark thoughts.

“
Where
were you?” Kronk asked Aeris, who was watching Simon curiously.

“
Hmm?
Oh, I was patrolling the area around old Nottinghill. The bear-people
are hard at work with their hives and are planting a few crops.
Fascinating to watch, actually. I really think we should attempt to
contact them one day soon. They are obviously quite intelligent.”

“
Yeah?
Well, if they are Changed humans, that isn't too surprising is it?”
Simon commented bitterly and picked up the boiling kettle.

“
What's
up with him?” Aeris asked Kronk.

“
He
has had some bad news. I am not sure what it is, but the silver
dragon is involved.”

The
air elemental's eyes widened and he gasped.

“
Esmiralla?
But that's wonderful.” He looked at Simon. “You spoke
with her?”

The
wizard made his tea, sat down at the table and looked at both
elementals. He sipped the hot liquid, set down the cup and sat back.

“
She
called me, actually. To warn me. But considering her news, I'm almost
sorry that she did. Ignorance is bliss, they used to say.”

“
Please
tell us what the silver dragon said, master,” Kronk asked
calmly. “Perhaps we can help.”

Simon
had to smile at the little guy. He meant well but his offer was
beyond absurd.

“
I
don't think anyone can help, my friend,” he said heavily. “But
this is what she told me.”

And
he proceeded to tell them what Esmiralla said, almost word for word.
When he was done, Simon picked up his cup, sipped his tea and watched
their reactions.

“
The
dragon queen, awake after millennia of sleep.”

Kronk's
voice was filled, not with fear, but with wonder.

“
Can
you imagine it?” He seemed to be speaking to himself. “She
has woken up in a new world. Gone are the great magic-users of the
past, her main enemies. But almost all of her children are dead as
well. Is she angry? Or afraid? Who can say?”

Aeris
looked at him with a frown.

“
Wake
up, dreamy,” he snapped at the earthen. “This creature is
insanely powerful. If she chose to, right now, she could flatten this
tower with little effort, wards or no wards. There is no force in
this world, or even beyond it, that can stand up to her.”

He
looked at Simon.

“
She
has no weaknesses, my dear wizard. Your tactics that worked so
brilliantly against the primals will not work on her. She is
invulnerable and uncontrollable. That is one of the main reasons that
the dark gods locked her into an endless sleep in the first place.”

“
You
seem to know a lot about her,” Simon said with raised eyebrows.

“
My
people are more knowledgeable about magic and dragons than any of the
other elemental races; you know that. Granted, our knowledge of the
dragon queen is based more on rumor and conjecture than fact, but we
believe it to be accurate.”

“
But
how can it be when no one has ever actually seen her?” Kronk
asked him in a reasonable tone. “And do not get angry; it is
simply a question.”

Aeris
had bristled at the earthen's query but settled down and seemed to
give it some thought. Finally he nodded reluctantly.

“
You
do have a point there, I must admit. And perhaps that is our one
hope,” he added with a look at Simon. “Maybe we are wrong
about her. Yes, let's hope so anyway.”

“
Not
much of a straw to grasp at but I'll take it,” the wizard said,
shaking off his dark mood. “Where there's life, there's hope.
So Daniel used to tell me. Speaking of whom, I'm going to call him
later today and tell him about this. But first,” he stood up,
“I have to call Tamara and give her the news. I'm not sure what
they can do to prepare, but they should at least be informed.”

“
But
master,” Kronk interjected as Simon walked to the stairs. “If
you tell them of the dragon queen's rise, won't you also have to
explain where you got your information?”

Simon
stood at the bottom of the staircase and stared across the room at
Kronk.

“
Damn.
You're right. I'll have to tell them about Esmiralla.”

Aeris
flew across the room with Kronk following along behind him.

“
Don't
worry about that,” he said as he reached the wizard. “I'm
quite sure that the silver dragon knew you would have to, what is the
expression? Let the cat out of the bag? And tell other humans about
her. She did say they needed to be warned, didn't she?”

“
That's
true. Okay then, I guess I have little choice. Let's go.”

And
the three of them headed upstairs to the study.

The
conversation with Tamara took quite some time. First Simon had to
convince her that he'd actually been in touch with a dragon that
wasn't an enemy. That took a while. Sebastian was with her when he
used his Magic Mirror spell and his calm, rational point of view
helped to make his sister see reason. Once she had, Simon dropped the
news on them about the dragon queen. And that was when Tamara really
got upset.

“
I
can't believe it,” she exclaimed.

As
seemed usual when she got upset, Tamara began pacing around
Sebastian's bedroom. That was where she was when Simon had reached
her.

“
We
just got my brother free from the clutches of goblins and were
starting to plan on how to deal with the red dragons and their
primal, and now you tell me that their queen has risen? Simon, what
have you done?”

Apparently
his image was standing in the room with them, and Tamara stopped and
glared at him.

“
What
have I done? What are you talking about?”

“
You
do realize that this whole situation is your fault, right?”

Simon
was speechless. All he could do was to stare at the mage in the
mirror, trying to understand what she was accusing him of.

“
Tamara,
are you insane?” Sebastian asked harshly. “If not for
him, I would probably be dead right now. And Nottinghill's population
soon after, I should think.”

“
I
know that, Bastian. I'm referring to the dragon conflict as a whole.
Simon, if you hadn't killed the four primals, would the leader of the
red dragons have been desperate enough to wake up his queen?”

“
I...I
have no idea.”

“
Really?
Well, considering how egotistical dragons are, by all accounts, the
primal red has just put himself under the command of his mother, for
God's sake! How frantic must he have become to do that?”

“
Forgive
her, Simon,” Sebastian said. He was in bed, looking pale and
hollow-eyed, but he was sitting up and his voice was strong.

“
She's
apparently decided to play the blame game instead of looking for a
solution to our problems.”

“
Solution?”
Tamara's voice went up an octave and Simon winced. He wondered if
she'd start attracting bats.

“
You
heard him,” she screeched. “The queen has no weaknesses.
She's invulnerable. We can't fight her. What part of that wasn't
clear?”

“
Look,
even Aeris admits that his people are only speculating on that
point,” the wizard said quickly. “There's no such thing
as invincibility. Even the dark gods have their weaknesses. And if
that's the case, how could they create something that cannot be
defeated?”

“
See?”
Sebastian gestured at Simon's likeness. “He's making sense. Now
get a bloody grip, sis. We're supposed to be the leaders here; let's
try to keep our heads and lead, shall we?”

Tamara
looked from her brother to Simon and back again. She took a moment to
breathe deeply and gave herself a shake. Then she caught the wizard's
eye and smiled slightly, looking a little shamefaced.

“
Sorry,
Simon. I don't know what got into me there. Of course I don't blame
you. I think the entire human race would be dead and buried by now if
it wasn't for you and your efforts.”

“
Apology
accepted, of course,” the wizard replied with an understanding
smile. “Although I'd say that was an exaggeration. And don't
sweat it. You're still getting over the abduction and safe return of
your brother. I'd be rattled too if I was in your shoes. Hell, I'm
rattled enough as it is, to be honest.”

“
So
where do we go from here?” Sebastian spoke up.

He
pushed himself into a more comfortable position on the bed with a
grimace and Tamara moved around to help him.

“
Thanks sis. Simon?
Is there something we should be doing, like, right now?”

“
Now? Damned if I
know. I'm going to call my friend Daniel in the elven realm when
we're done talking. Maybe he or the elves have some ideas about this.
I mean, we can't even begin to try to deal with the dragon queen
until we know where she is and what she can do. The elves have seers
who look into our world all the time; maybe they've seen something.”

“
Sounds like we're
grasping at straws, but any help we can get, I guess,” Tamara
said as she sat down heavily on the side of her brother's bed.

“
Meantime, keep up
your patrols, and your spirits,” Simon told them encouragingly.
“Esmiralla has given us early warning, so let's use it to the
best of our ability.”

“
We'll double our
patrols and strengthen our wards,” Sebastian promised with a
look at his sister. “And we're going to take your idea about
warding the cellars and use it. Seal the place up as best we can.”