The Dragons of Decay (31 page)

“
Yup. Ready when you are.”

He stood up and took off his coat,
tossing it in a corner along with his backpack.

“
Won't be needing those down
south. So who's coming along on the first Gate? Six max including
me.”

Aeris had been hovering in the
background and now flew forward. Before he could speak, the wizard
grinned at him.

“
Yes, and you too,” he
said.

The elemental smiled in obvious
relief.

Clara walked quickly over to the
group of townspeople who were standing near the belongings across the
room. Almost everyone seemed to be gathered now except for Virginia
and her three friends and it was obvious that they were as ready as
they were going to be.

Simon remembered the guy named Henry
who hadn't wanted to leave and had acted violently toward his
girlfriend when she'd said she wanted to move south.

I wonder which one he is, he thought
as he considered the group. He knew most of them by sight but very
few by name and no one stood out as a total jerk.

Oh well, maybe he's learned his
lesson. A smack on the head from Malcolm could have taught him better
manners.

Clara came back followed by Malcolm
and Aiden. Two women, one carrying a little boy, the other a delicate
little girl, were with them.

“
Malcolm and Aiden want to go
in the first group, for security,” the cleric told him as the
big men grinned down at the wizard. “We'd like to get the kids
down as soon as possible. Patty will take her son, and Madeline will
bring her daughter. Shelly and her daughter will go in the second
group.”

The cleric looked at Simon as if
waiting for his approval and he bowed elaborately, which made her
laugh.

“
Excellent choices, my lady
cleric,” he said and the entire group laughed. The two children
smiled innocently, too young to really understand what was happening.

“
Patty and Madeline,”
Simon said more seriously. “Have you told your kids about
what's going to happen?”

The pretty blond woman, Patty,
ruffled her son's hair as he watched the wizard with wide eyes.

“
Of course. All the kids are
excited. The first time they Gated, when you saved us during the
wight attack, was scary, but then when Tommy got over the initial
shock, he acted like it was some sort of amusement ride.” She
laughed fondly. “Trust me, they won't be scared this time.”

“
Terrific. Okay, I guess you
all know how this works? Right, so Malcolm, touch my shoulder, grab
Aiden, etcetera. Everyone just make sure you're part of the chain.”

The group shuffled around for a
moment and Aeris moved to hover by Simon's right arm, holding his
sleeve.

“
All set?” he asked and
everyone nodded. “Great. Here we go.”

He chanted the Gate spell, winked at
Clara and focused on the site of the new town. Then he invoked the
spell and the void took them away.

The rest of the day pretty much
followed the same routine. Simon transported all of the townspeople
except for Virginia, Anna, Eric and Gerard, who volunteered to stay
one more night to give the wizard a chance to rest before Gating the
rest of the people's belongings down south.

Simon did transport food, clothing
and enough blankets for everyone to sleep on. The evening was warm
and Aeris predicted that no rain was due to fall in the area for
several days.

By the time that Simon had Gated the
last of his loads for one day, Kronk and his fellow earthen had
finished the wall around the site. He walked the perimeter with
Clara, feeling exhausted but not ill from all of the magic use. They
were both suitably impressed by the wall and watched as the
elementals finished installing the gates and the main drawbridge.

Kronk promised to build the second,
smaller drawbridge the next day and dig out the trench around the
town. He told the cleric in a serious tone that the sound of all of
that excavation would keep the children awake all night and that they
needed their sleep.

“
Thank you for your
consideration, my friend,” she replied gratefully. “We
are so very thankful for your efforts on our behalf. I just wish we
could express that in more than words.”

“
That is unnecessary, lady,”
the little guy replied with a deep bow. “We live to serve. You
are a friend of my master and that is enough.”

He grinned broadly then and added,
“And you are my friend as well. I have never had a human friend
before my master. I find that I like it.”

They had all laughed at Kronk's
obvious delight and then walked back to the main group.

Torches had been planted in the
ground as the sun went down and the hum of conversation was constant.
The three children were running delightedly through the long grass,
watched fondly by the adults who were choosing where they were going
to sleep. A large bonfire was burning in the exact center of the
future town, more for its comfort than its heat, although people had
used it to boil water for tea and hot chocolate.

“
It all looks so...alive,
doesn't it,” Simon muttered to Clara as they watched the scene.

“
I agree. Can you feel the
difference in them already?” she asked as she looked from face
to face. Most of them were smiling.

“
They're so much more vibrant
now. They've been given a new lease in life, my friend, thanks to
you.”

“
No need to thank me,”
the wizard said as he watched the children wrestling and laughing
together. “After all that they've been through, your people
deserve this. Besides, you all have a lot of work ahead of you. Let
them enjoy this brief respite before the heavy lifting begins.”

Clara poked him sharply with an elbow
and he squeaked in surprise.

“
Stop being so practical all
the time,” she stated with a wide grin. “Enjoy this
moment for what it is. And no matter what you say, Simon, it's as
much your doing as ours, if not more.”

“
Fine. You win,” he told
her, chuckling. “I have to get back. I told Virginia and the
others that I'd spend the night in my tower and see them bright and
early tomorrow. That storm is getting closer and we're running out of
time.”

The cleric nodded, suddenly serious.

“
I know. Go ahead and get your
rest and we'll see you tomorrow.”

She gave him a gentle squeeze on the
arm and then went over and joined the others.

“
You all set?” Simon
asked Aeris, who was hovering nearby.

“
Of course. You need to eat and
rest. Tomorrow you have to transport the bulk of the town's
belongings. And that will be quite the chore.”

“
Thanks for reminding me,”
the wizard said, feeling even more tired just thinking about it.
“Okay. Grab hold and let's go home.”

When Simon woke up the next morning,
he slowly got up and sat on the edge of the bed. His sleep had been
refreshing but for some reason, he was nervous about the upcoming
day. Something felt wrong.

He lit the candle next to his bed and
stood up, stretching and groaning. Then he turned and went over to
dig through his drawers and cupboard, trying to decide what he should
wear.

He cursed under his breath. It was
hard to see which sock matched which and he moved back to his bed and
picked up the candle. As he raised the light to sort through his
clothes, Simon stopped. A cold chill crept up the flesh of his back.

It's too dark, he thought with a
twist of fear and looked at the window.

There was no sunlight streaming in
through the frosted glass. The day beyond was almost as dark and gray
as evening and the ice covering the window allowed very little light
to seep into the room.

It's cloudy. Oh damn.

He grabbed a pair socks at random,
slipped them on and then threw on a robe.

“
Aeris!” he yelled just
as the elemental shot through the door and they almost collided.

“
The storm is coming!”
they said at exactly the same time.

“
Yeah, I noticed,” Simon
said hurriedly. He blew out the candle and set it down. Then he
summoned a magic light and stared at Aeris.

“
You told me that we'd have one
more day before it hit,” he said sharply, trying not to sound
accusatory.

“
I know I did,” Aeris
replied contritely. “But weather is changeable and often
unpredictable, my dear wizard. I gave you an estimate but it wasn't
set in stone.”

“
Great. Well, no use in whining
about it now.” Simon hurried out of the room and down the
stairs. “How long before it hits?”

“
Hours. I can't say for sure
how many, but do not waste any time. I made you some tea and toast to
hurry you on your way.”

Simon got downstairs and went over to
the counter. He ate quickly, standing up, and then went out to answer
the call of nature.

As he walked back from the outhouse,
trying not to slip on the ice-crusted snow, he stopped for a moment
and stared up at the ominous clouds that were piling up at an
alarming rate.

The day was as dark as twilight and
the wind had amped up several notches and was howling like a tortured
soul.

It's going to be close, he thought
and glanced at the arch over the main gate. Let's hope that the new
wards hold back any attack, if wights will actually be swarming in
the wake of the blizzard. I'd hate to come home to find the place
infested with monsters.

Back in the tower, he got into his
winter coat and boots, slipped some gloves into his pocket along with
his spell-book and grabbed his staff.

“
You ready?” he asked
Aeris.

The air elemental was banking the
fire in the fireplace. He turned and flew quickly across the room to
join the wizard.

“
Ready. Let's get moving.”

He held on to Simon's coat and the
wizard rattled off the Gate spell. He took one last worried look
around at his home and then invoked the spell and watched as it faded
away.

They appeared in the barracks to a
chorus of relieved cries. Virginia and her three friends were
standing next to the pile of furniture and essentials, watching him
with wide eyes.

“
Morning, guys,” Simon
said with a strained smile. “Good to see you all. As you may
have noticed,” he looked at the shadowy light trying to pierce
the windows, “the storm had decided to show up a bit early, so
we have to get a move on.”

“
We noticed,” Virginia
told him nervously. “We've combed the village and all of this,”
she waved at the pile, “is what is needed down south. If we've
missed anything, well, to hell with it.”

The wizard smiled at her and nodded.

“
Agreed. Okay, here's the
thing. Each load can't be any larger or bulkier than six adults.
Weight doesn't seem to be a factor; it seems to be that volume is the
most important when it comes to Gating. So let's separate it all into
loads and I can start moving it out.”

The five of them moved as quickly as
they could, getting the goods organized as the wind howled by the
building, becoming louder and more violent by the minute.

Simon took a moment and looked from
Aeris to the nearest window and back again.

“
How bad is it going to get?”
he asked under his breath, with a quick glance at the others. They
were dragging things around and joking and talking together.

“
Very bad,” Aeris replied
quietly as he moved to hover next to the wizard. “It will be
worse than the last storm. I can't say if wights or other creatures
will be using the weather for cover, but considering how bad it will
get, it is quite possible.”

“
Wonderful. Okay, thanks.”

“
We're done here, Simon,”
Eric called out and the wizard walked over and joined them, checking
out the size of the loads.

He moved several pieces of furniture,
and isolated a massive chest of drawers to one side by itself. He
looked at it quizzically.

“
Do your people really need
this behemoth?” Simon asked Virginia. It was very heavy.

She shrugged and patted the drawers.

“
Well, it's the biggest piece
of furniture we have and, luckily for us, since you say weight
doesn't matter, we stuffed the drawers with as much clothing as we
could. So yes, I'd say we need it.”

Simon sighed and nodded reluctantly.

“
Okay. In that case, I'll take
it first.”

He counted the separate piles and
winced. This is going to be hard, he thought.

“
So, a dozen loads, is it? Does
anyone want to Gate down with me or...?”

“
We've decided to stay until
the end,” Anna spoke up in her delicate, quiet voice. Simon
smiled at her and she returned it nervously. “If the storm hits
before you're done, we need to be together to hold the barracks
against an attack. If there is one.”