The Dragons of Ash and Smoke (Tales from the New Earth Book 5) (52 page)

“
I think it's a
trick,” Malcolm growled. “To put us off, make us lower
our guard.”

“
Why though?”
Aiden asked calmly. “What would be the point? That horror could
have leveled this castle if he had wanted to. But he didn't. Instead
he tried to make a deal. And not just with a random human either, but
with the person responsible for killing his siblings. I think it's a
stretch to assume it's a ruse.”

Keiko simply nodded her
agreement with Aiden.

“
Liliana? What do
you think?” Tamara asked.

The paladin was resting
her chin on one mailed fist and listening to each of them. She sat up
and tapped a knuckle lightly on the table.

“
Personally, I'm
inclined to believe him, at least to a point.”

“
You're kidding,”
Malcolm said. He stared at her with wide eyes. “You? Accept the
word of a dragon? My God, if there is anyone in this room who hates
the evil dragons more than I do, it's you. And you believe him?”

“
I still hate them,”
Liliana responded coldly. “And I always will. But maybe it's
because of my exposure to the silver dragon. Our conversations
together. I've learned just how intelligent and far-sighted a dragon
can be. Granted, Pyrathius is evil to the core, but he has a mind and
he has emotions. He isn't just an unthinking killing machine.”

“
And why do you
think he really wants to ally with us?” Aiden asked.

“
I should think that
was obvious,” the paladin said as she looked from person to
person. “He's terrified.”

Tamara snorted and Liliana
looked down the table at her.

“
You disagree?”
she asked levelly.

“
I do. Come on, did
you see that thing? It was large enough to use this entire castle as
a bed! It is the most powerful thing that I have ever seen. And you
think it's afraid? What could possibly scare something so large?”

“
Something even
larger,” Simon answered her.

Everyone turned to look at
him and he shrugged at them.

“
What else? Look, I
agree. He's evil. It almost drips off of him like sweat. But he has
also been alive since mankind first climbed down from the trees and
started walking upright. At a guess, I'd say that any creature who
has lived that long is very much attached to the idea of continuing
to live. He doesn't want to die. It's as simple as that, in my
opinion.”

“
Interesting
thought,” Sebastian said. He had curled up in his chair and
looked half-asleep, but obviously he had been listening closely.
“Could it be that the longer you live, the more attached you
become to life? I would have guessed the opposite.”

“
We can discuss
philosophy some other time, Bastian,” Tamara said irritably.
“So okay, let's say that he does actually want help to defeat
the queen. What then? I'm guessing that we're all agreed that the red
dragon will turn on us as soon as that happens, right?”

“
Undoubtedly. We are
prey to him,” Liliana said with a frown. She wasn't looking at
anyone. Instead, she had removed her mailed gloves and was examining
her fingernails absently.

“
Let us not forget
that for his masters, the Chaos lords, to return, all of humanity has
to die. We are the lock on the door, so to speak, and they want us
gone. Once the queen is out of the way, Pyrathius will slaughter us.”

Simon nodded in agreement.

“
She's right. We may
share a common enemy right now, if the primal is telling the truth,
but if we do manage to defeat the dragon queen, he will be after our
blood. I don't doubt that for a minute.”

The discussion continued
for another half-hour or so, but no one had any ideas about how to
deal with a treacherous dragon as powerful as Pyrathius.

Keiko was looking from one
person to the next and, as the meeting was winding down and Sebastian
seemed to be nodding off in his chair, she tentatively held up a hand
as if she was back in school.

Tamara smiled and motioned
for her to speak.

“
I had a thought,”
the tiny woman began in her unassuming way.

Sebastian grunted and
seemed to wake up. He squinted down the table at her and tried to
focus.

“
What thought,
Keiko?” he asked, his voice thick with fatigue.

“
Just this: is not
this primal dragon taking a big risk asking us to help him defeat his
own mother?”

Malcolm let out an
incredulous laugh.

“
A big risk? How is
our helping him a risk? It's ourselves we have to worry about, I'd
say.”

“
Yes, I agree,”
Keiko said in an even voice. “That is not what I am saying. I
mean, if we by some miracle manage to destroy the dragon queen, will
not the primal dragon die as well? As I understand it, when a primal
dies, all of its lesser dragons fall too. Well, doesn't that also
apply to the queen? If she goes down, doesn't that also kill her
offspring?”

She folding her hands on
her lap and sat back with a delicate nod.

Total silence followed
Keiko's questions and more than one person looked a little confused.
Obviously such an outcome hadn't occurred to them.

“
Simon?”

The wizard looked down the
table at Tamara.

“
Yes?”

“
You're our resident
dragon expert. What do you think?”

Simon looked at Aeris who
winked at him discreetly. It helped to ease the tension that had
built up inside of him.

“
I wouldn't say that
I'm an expert, but if you want my opinion, then I think that Keiko
has got a valid point. The dragon queen is the fount from which the
life of her children flows. Cut off that fount and they will die. All
of them. The primal has to know this.”

“
Then what the hell
is he doing?” Malcolm asked with a scowl. “He's risking
his own destruction by attacking his mother. Is he that frightened of
her?”

“
Maybe he is,”
Aiden mused as he rubbed his chin. “Fear is a great motivator.
Maybe he thinks that if he doesn't try to deal with her, then his
death is assured. But if he manages to trap her again, as she has
been since time immemorial, then he will be safe and can continue his
war against us.”

“
I believe that you
have nailed it, Aiden,” Liliana said firmly. “I doubt
that Pyrathius believes that we can actually kill the queen. But if
we help to weaken her to the point where he can lock her away again,
he will have achieved what he wants to achieve. Then he steps on us,
allows the dark gods to return and rules over the Earth. A win-win in
his mind.”

“
Has anyone wondered
what the dragon queen is thinking about all of this?”

Every head swiveled around
to stare at Aeris where he floated next to Simon.

“
Excuse me?”
Tamara said.

The elemental looked
abashed but lifted his chin and looked at each of them.

“
I said, aren't you
curious about what she thinks? She is the mother of dragons, right?
That means that she is at least as intelligent as the primal red is;
probably more so. And now she's free and her son, the last of her
children, is trying to lock her up again. As a mother, how do you
think she feels?”

“
Who cares?”
Malcolm asked as he folding his massive arms, his armor squealing.
“She's a dragon. And she's evil. I don't give a damn about her
or what she thinks. Why should I?”

That seemed to be the
general opinion and Aeris finally shrugged.

“
Fine. I was merely
wondering.”

“
Well, if that's
everything for now,” Tamara said as she stood up, “then
let's adjourn. We all need some rest.”

The group began to chat
amongst themselves and several people got to their feet. Simon stayed
seated and stared at Aeris.

“
What is it?”
the elemental asked quietly. “Did I sound that stupid when I
asked my question?”

“
Far from it,”
the wizard answered as his mind raced. “I think your question
might have been the most insightful one of the entire meeting.”

“
You do?”
Aeris sounded both surprised and flattered. “Well, thank you.”

“
No, thank you.
You've given me an idea.”

The elemental immediately
looked worried.

“
Now, now, my dear
wizard. Don't do anything foolish.”

“
Hey, no worries.
It's me.”

Aeris grumbled and
muttered something that Simon was fairly sure wasn't very flattering,
but he let it go.

He stood up and walked
across the room to where the others were gathering.

“
Okay everyone, I'm
out of here. If you need me, Tamara or Sebastian can give me a call.”

“
Thank you, Simon,
for your help,” the mage said. She shook his hand warmly while
the others murmured their agreement. “Having a face to face
chat with a primal dragon goes above and beyond the call.”

The wizard had to smile.

“
Apparently it's
part of my job description now. Goes right under the 'knows how to
write computer code that no one will ever need again' section.”

Everyone laughed and Simon
took that opportunity to signal Aeris to touch his robe. He waved at
the group, raised his staff and Gated home.

Kronk was waiting when
they got back. He was obviously irritated about Simon and Aeris
leaving without him but just nodded when the wizard told him that
Tamara had needed his help. He reported that the animals had calmed
down once the illusion of the dragon had disappeared. He also had a
surprise for Simon.

“
Look master,”
he said proudly. The earthen jumped up on to the counter and held out
a small metal pot.

“
What is it?”

“
Milk!” Kronk
exclaimed. “The mother of the calf now has excess. Her baby has
begun eating some grass and doesn't need as much any more.”

“
And exactly how did
you manage to milk that behemoth?” Aeris asked incredulously.

“
Err, it's
complicated,” the little guy replied vaguely. “Let us
leave it at that.”

Simon smiled broadly.

“
That's excellent!
Thanks so much.”

He had collapsed on to his
chair in front of the fire and had been getting ready to head to bed
but now jumped up and went to the sink to fill up his kettle.

“
I think I'll
celebrate with a cup of coffee. My first one with milk in it for,
what is it now, six years? Seven? Yikes.”

“
It will keep you
awake,” Aeris warned him.

“
Bah. Don't spoil it
for me. And I'm tired enough to collapse right now. Some caffeine
won't change that.”

“
Suit yourself. I'm
going out to check the perimeter. Enjoy your treat.”

The air elemental
disappeared with a loud pop and Simon stuck out his tongue at the
space where he'd been.

“
Spoil sport,”
he muttered irritably.

He hung the heavy kettle
over the fire and began to prepare his cup.

“
So what happened in
England, master?” Kronk asked as he watched Simon's
preparations.

“
Oh, you know, the
usual. The people of Nottinghill were evacuated from the castle and I
had a chat with the primal red dragon who had decided to pay them a
visit. We had a lovely talk and then he left. Now everyone's back
home. That's about it.”

Kronk stood on the counter
with his mouth hanging open. Simon snorted with suppressed laughter
and the little guy scowled.

“
That was not very
nice, master,” he said as he put his small fists on his hips.
“You will have to explain things better than that.”

“
Sorry, bud. I'm not
trying to be mean. Let me get my coffee made first and then I'll
explain.”

And so he did. Once Simon
was sitting down in front of the fire, sipping his first decent cup
of coffee in years, he told Kronk the whole story. The earthen stood
in front of the fireplace and listened in amazement.

When he was done, the
wizard felt his exhaustion settle over him like a heavy blanket and
he closed his eyes. His head was beginning to ache, a sure sign that
he was overtired.

“
I will take your
cup, master,” Kronk offered.

He accepted the cup and
hopped up on the counter and left it in the sink.

“
So, do you believe
the primal, master? About wanting help to defeat the queen?”

“
About that? Yes, I
do. About afterward? Not a chance.”

“
Good. It would be
foolish to take the word of a dragon,” a voice said from behind
them.

Simon and Kronk turned to
see Aeris floating across the room.

“
The perimeter's
secure. So, you at least know enough to reject Pyrathius' offer of a
truce, right?”

Simon rubbed his face and
leaned his head back against the chair.