The Dragons of Decay (53 page)

He waited and watched curiously as
Ethmira said something to Daniel and led the way out of the clearing
and into the surrounding forest. The pair walked under huge trees
with pale trunks as big around as giant redwoods. The ground was
almost bare with only a few scattered saplings growing here and
there.

Aeris watched over his shoulder with
interest but remained silent.

After a few minutes, the forest
stopped abruptly at the base of a wall of stone that jutted up and
out of sight. The foot of a mountain perhaps, Simon thought. It was
like a wall of rock and at the bottom there was a gap, an opening
that led into darkness.

“
A cave,” he whispered.
Aeris nodded in agreement.

The mirror went dark as Daniel and
Ethmira entered the cave and Simon watched nervously, waiting for
them to emerge into the light again.

Eventually, the image brightened and
the wizard drew in a sharp breath.

His friend had walked into massive
cavern. Sunlight was blazing down from many small holes in the
ceiling and, as Simon watched, Ethmira picked up a torch from a
bundle near the tunnel entrance, lit it and proceeded to light
torches that were placed all around the walls.

The floor was covered in fine sand
and there were many piles of bags and boxes, supplies obviously. The
cave itself was the size of a cathedral and the ceiling soared
overhead, at least fifty feet above them.

“
So this is your refuge?”
Daniel asked Ethmira, his voice echoing around the cavern.

“
It is,” she replied as
she walked the perimeter, lighting torches. “And this is simply
the first chamber. The cave goes deep into the mountain and has room
for as many of my people as wish to join us.”

She put her torch in a bracket on the
wall and crossed the cavern to rejoin Daniel. She pointed at the
piles of supplies.

“
I've been stocking this place
with essentials for a long time now, just in case we needed to
retreat here. No dragon can squeeze through that entry tunnel and the
light up there,” she pointed over their heads, “is
funneled down through dozens of feet of solid rock. Not even a primal
dragon could force its way in here.”

Daniel nodded in approval.

“
Wonderful,” he said. “I
can't conceive of a better place of safety. When are you going to
contact your new council and have them join us?”

“
Right away. There is an aviary
further in with small tunnels that allow our birds access to the
caves. I've moved several here over the past month or two to get them
used to their new home. I'll head in now and send off a few to get in
touch with my fellow councilors. Make yourself at home, my friend.
There are bedrolls stacked over there and food there.”

She pointed at a small alcove that
Simon had missed as he'd watched her light the torches in the cave.

“
There is a well with clean
water in the nook there, if you are thirsty. I won't be long.”

“
Thank you. Take your time. I'm
a bit tired actually so I just want to sit down and recover my
strength.”

She grasped his shoulder and gave him
a warm squeeze and a smile before turning away and walking off.
Daniel smiled after her but Simon felt a flash of anger as he watched
her performance.

“
She's quite convincing, isn't
she?” Aeris whispered.

Simon had to agree.

Daniel walked across the cavern,
picked up a bedroll and found a spot along the wall to open it. He
sat down on it and leaned back against the rocky wall with a sigh.

“
You can talk now,” he
said in a weary voice. “We're alone.”

“
So you can still feel it when
I'm trying to communicate?” Simon asked, not very surprised.

“
Of course. Strangely enough, I
don't believe Ethmira can. At any rate, you've called back quickly,
so I assume that you and your friends have made a decision?”

“
We have and, as you might
expect, they've all elected to join me in the coming battle. What I
need to know is where and when you want me and my friends to be so
that an elf can escort us across to the elven world.”

Daniel remained silent for so long
that Simon thought that he might have dozed off. But the man finally
stood up, slowly, and walked across the cavern to the nook where
Ethmira had said there was a well. As the wizard and Aeris watched,
the man drew up a bucket of water from the shallow well, poured some
into a cup that he'd grabbed from a low shelf nearby and then
re-entered the main cave.

There was a click inside of Simon's
head and then he was staring directly at Daniel's face.

“
There you are,” his old
friend said. “Hang on and let me sit down again. I'm quite
tired.”

“
Of course.”

Once he was comfortable, Daniel
glanced around the cave and then met Simon's eyes again.

“
Now, before we make any
arrangements, why don't you tell me what's going on?”

“
Going on? What do you mean?”

“
Don't look at me with those
big innocent mismatched eyes and try to con me. I've known you too
long, old friend. It's obvious that you don't want to speak in front
of Ethmira and I'd like to know why.”

He might have been tired, but there
was steel in Daniel's voice and Simon knew better than to
prevaricate.

“
Okay then, since you've asked.
But first, answer me this. Did Ethmira or another 'elder' cast a
glamor on you two before you left for your recent scouting mission?”

“
A glamor?”

Daniel stared at him blankly for a
moment and then smiled.

“
Oh right. Didn't I mention
something like that to you once? If I did, it must have been an idea
that I drew from old legends. I mean, come on, Simon, you know better
than that. Elves can't cast spells.”

“
Damn it,” the wizard
muttered. He looked away from the mirror toward the ocean again,
trying to remain calm.

“
So why ask me about a glamor?
What's this all about?”

“
Are you sure you're alone?”
Simon asked in a low voice.

His friend turned his head in the
direction that Ethmira had left and nodded.

“
Completely,” he replied,
but Daniel also dropped his voice almost to a whisper. “So what
is happening?”

“
I believe,” Simon
hesitated and then rushed on. “I believe that Ethmira is a
traitor. And I think that she's been one for a very long time.”

Daniel stared at him with wide eyes
and then looked back toward the far side of the cave, checking to
make sure the elf hadn't returned.

“
So you think that an elf, an
elder of her people, would side with dragons?” he hissed.

The wizard only nodded silently and
then his friend sighed and closed his eyes.

“
How did you know?” he
asked simply.

Simon's mouth dropped open.

“
Wait a second,” he
gasped. “You believe me? I mean, you know too?”

Daniel opened his eyes and glared at
his friend.

“
I may be many things, Simon,
but stupid isn't one of them. The elves could never conceive of one
of their own betraying them and siding with the dragons, but we
humans have a long history of betrayal behind us, don't we? And of
course there was the turning of your herb witch neighbor, Heather,
against us to teach us a lesson. Yes, I know. Or at least I've
suspected. Little things betrayed her, but it was the attack of the
brown dragons directly on the elves that sealed my belief.”

“
I don't understand. What about
the attack?”

Daniel sighed.

“
Simon, not even a dragon could
enter this world without elvish aid. The primal brown and its
servants were allowed to cross over with the compliance of an elf.
Ethmira, I would assume.”

He turned his head sharply, staring
across the cave for a tense moment, and then relaxed again.

“
Nothing. But look, this is
neither the time nor the place to discuss this. Let's do so face to
face. I will arrange for an elf to meet you there in Florida
tomorrow, your time. They will bring you all across and then
transport you here.”

“
Who are you speaking to,
Daniel?” a voice called from across the cavern and Simon felt a
swooping feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was Ethmira.

His friend simply glanced up from
looking into the cup and waved her over.

“
Simon's called back,” he
said calmly. “He and his friends have decided to join in the
fight.”

He shifted slightly and then Ethmira
was looking out of the mirror at Simon.

“
Ah, hello, my friend,”
she said warmly and the wizard forced a smile on to his face.

“
Hi Ethmira. Sorry if I'm
calling at a bad time but...”

“
Not at all. As you may have
noticed, we've moved to a new location. It's much more secure and I'd
say we could hold off a dragon attack for quite some time.”

“
That's great news. Anyway, I'm
late for another meeting here, so I'll leave you and Daniel to make
plans for our trip to your world. It was good to talk to you again.”

“
And you. Simon. Hopefully
we'll be speaking face to face soon.”

“
Hopefully. Take care, Daniel,”
he said with a significant look at his old friend, who smiled
neutrally in return.

“
You too. See you soon.”

Simon broke the connection and put
the mirror into his lap. It was only then that he realized that he
was shaking like a leaf from head to toe.

“
Are you okay?” Aeris
asked him as he noticed the wizard trembling.

“
No. No, I don't think so.
Betraying your friends, your family? It's just about the worst thing
that I can think of, especially if it can lead to their deaths. And
yet, there's Ethmira all sweetness and light as she secretly twists a
knife in the back of her own people. Frankly, it's sickening.”

“
It will only get worse,”
the elemental told him ominously. “How will you react when you
meet her in person?”

Simon stood up with a grunt and
slipped the mirror into a pocket of his robe. He brushed some loose
grass from the material and turned toward the town.

“
I have no idea. Play it by
ear, I suppose. A more pressing question is, should I tell Liliana
and the others about my suspicions?”

Aeris floated to the wizard's left as
they walked back.

“
What possible good would that
do?” he asked practically. “They will only be distracted
at a time when they should be focused totally on the mission to come.
If and when it becomes necessary, you can tell them then.”

Simon rubbed his eyes, waved to the
guard as they entered the town and nodded.

“
Yeah, I guess that's so. Okay,
I'll hold off for now. Let's go ahead to the hall and start casting
the wards. That way I'll have a chance to rest longer before
tomorrow.”

“
And whatever that may bring,”
Aeris added bleakly.

“
Run, damn it! Run for the
forest! I'll hold it off!”

Virginia and Anna didn't wait; they
bolted for the trees while Eric and Gerard stood behind Simon,
looking up at the immense silhouette of a brown dragon as it arrowed
down toward them out of the sun.

Liliana stood next to the wizard, her
sword in one hand and a plain wooden shield on her other arm.

Simon looked at her and then back at
the two young men.

“
For God's sake, will the three
of you move! I can't concentrate if I have to worry about you too.
Now run!”

The paladin hesitated, looked at his
face and then turned, pushing Eric and Gerard ahead of her.

“
You heard the wizard; move
your asses!” she barked and almost carried them out of the
clearing.

With a sharp stab of relief, Simon
cast his Shield spell, raised his staff and waited.

The brown dragon roared as it dropped
like a stone out of the sky, its jaws wide.

“
Eat this, you bastard,”
he muttered and cast the Magic Missile spell.

Eye-searing globes of silver light
burst from the end of his staff and hit the target he'd been aiming
for; the gaping maw of the descending monster.

Five, ten, a dozen bolts of pure
magical energy slammed into the dragon, shooting down its throat to
explode deep inside of it. The creature literally exploded in
mid-air, torn apart from the missiles.

Simon flinched away as large pieces
of dragon rained down on him, along with huge droplets of liquid that
immediately began to dissolve the grasses and small plants around
him.

Fortunately his shield held up under
the gruesome rain and he turned back to scan the skies for more
dragons.

There was no sign of any other
enemies though, and he turned away and followed after the others,
canceling his shield once he was under the sheltering branches of the
trees.