The Dragons of Decay (57 page)

“
But I believe your story.
However, I have some questions that I'd like answered, if that's
okay?”

“
Of course. You deserve
answers. After all, you believed that I was a traitor up until a few
moments ago. If it will set your mind at ease, then ask your
questions.”

He nodded his thanks.

“
I only have a few. How did the
primal black dragon sense you the first time you visited me? You said
that the longer you remained in the world, the more chance that
monster would have of sensing you. But we figured out that dragons
can't feel the presence of elves any more than they know when humans
are nearby. So why would you tell me that? And later, you said that
you and Daniel were covered by a glamor that only lasted a short
time, but there really aren't such things as glamors, are there?”

Ethmira's face showed her dawning
understanding as Simon spoke and she smiled wryly when he was
finished.

“
So that is why you thought I
was a traitor, because you believed I lied to you,” she said
flatly.

“
More or less.”

“
Well, when we first met, I
wasn't sure of you. I knew only what Daniel had told me; that you
were his friend, that you were trustworthy and that you needed some
help. That's why I crossed over with the key to his box that you
discovered. You are quite correct when you say that dragons can't
sense us, but they can sense magic being used. And when we open a
portal between our two worlds, a huge surge of magic takes place as
the energy moves from one world to the next.”

She made a vague gesture at the room
around them.

“
Our ancient world has very
little magic now, Simon, and so when we open the way, the power is
sucked into this world from yours. And dragons can sense that quite
easily, I'm afraid. So when I journeyed to meet with you the first
time, I drew the attention of the primal black dragon by entering
your world. And when I opened the portal for the return trip, that
pinpointed my location exactly. That is why the dragon appeared and
why it almost caught me.”

“
And the glamor?”

Ethmira laughed and shook her head,
looking at Daniel fondly.

“
My friend, sometimes I wish
that you could actually use magic. There are so many things you do
not understand.”

He looked surprised.

“
Such as?”

“
Such as the fact that elves
may not cast magic, but we are magic. And we have a natural
camouflage that we call a glamor that we can trigger when scouting or
going into battle. No, it does not shield us from dragons; as Simon
said, those creatures cannot sense us magically. But it does give us
some protection. It confuses the eye, makes us harder to target and
to hit. Unfortunately, it does not last that long.”

She turned to look back at the
wizard.

“
When we aided you in your
battle with both the primal black and white dragons, we used our
glamor abilities each time. It probably kept more of us alive that
might otherwise have died. And if we use a glamor when others are
nearby, like I did with Daniel the time I brought him over to meet
with you, they are imbued with it as well.”

“
Oh for the love of...”
Daniel said in exasperation. “Why didn't you explain that to
me?”

“
You never asked, my friend.
Why didn't
you
ask us?”

“
Miscommunication,
obviously. Damn. I am so sorry for doubting you, Ethmira,”
Simon said. His sense of relief was like a breath of fresh air. He
had been fond of the elf from the moment he'd met her and knowing
that she hadn't betrayed her own people was incredibly comforting.

“
There
is still one thing left to clear up,” Liliana said, her voice
still hinting at suspicion.

Ethmira
looked at her calmly.

“
Of
course. Whatever you'd like to know.”

“
The
elders,” the paladin said harshly. “Your elders were
ambushed and killed while being taken secretly to a place of safety.”
She looked around the room. “Here, I assume. How did the
dragons find them?”

And now
Ethmira truly looked grieved. She made a helpless motion and sat back
in her chair, her delicate features becoming pale.

“
They
did it themselves,” she said in a voice barely louder than a
whisper.

“
What?
But why..?”

“
It
was against all of our protests,” the elf continued. “They
gathered those of us who had positions of command and stated their
case. If the primal brown dragon could be convinced that the most
powerful of all of our people had been destroyed, it would let down
its guard, its suspicions would fade and it would be ripe for an
attack. They also made sure that they took as many of the lesser
dragons with them as possible That not only decimated the ranks of
the dragons, it also helped convince the primal that it had killed
off its greatest threats. Now it rests, smug in the knowledge that
the elves will soon be conquered and this world made its own. After
that, it plans to rejoin the primal red on your world, likely
thinking it can force one of my people into opening a portal for it.”

“
I
still don't understand,” the paladin said. “If you mean
to seal this world and trap the dragons here, why would the elders
sacrifice themselves? It makes no sense.”

Ethmira
turned her head heavily and looked directly at Simon.

“
Because
of him,” she said simply.

Simon
gasped in shock and then jumped up so quickly that he knocked his
chair over.

“
Me?
They died because of me? What are you saying?”

“
Be
easy, my friend,” the elf said with a reassuring gesture. “I'm
not blaming you for their deaths. I am saying that they had enough
hope and faith in you that they willingly sacrificed themselves
believing that you might be able to save this world. Sealing the
realm is a last resort, and we will do it if we have to, but the
elders hoped, with your history of victories over the primal dragons,
that you might have a plan to destroy the brown dragons that would
allow our lands to remain free.”

Simon
righted his chair and sat down heavily, feeling as if someone had
knocked the wind out of him.

“
So
my question, sir wizard, is this: do you have a plan to kill the
primal brown dragon?”

The wizard
looked around the table from face to face. Virginia and her friends
were watching him hopefully. Liliana was stone-faced but alert and
Daniel simply smiled at him compassionately, knowing him well enough
to be able to guess at his feelings.

Finally he
looked at Ethmira. They locked eyes and the question seemed to hover
over them like a spell waiting to be cast.

He sighed
and nodded.

“
Yes,
I do,” he said quietly.

Eric and
Gerard cheered and Anna clapped her hands excitedly. Daniel nodded
approvingly while the paladin simply closed her eyes with relief.

Virginia
leaned toward him across the table and searched his face with her
eyes.

“
You
don't have a lot of conviction in your voice, my friend,” she
told him. “How good is this plan of yours?”

“
Honestly?
I think it's insane,” Simon told her with a shrug. “But
it may have a chance, thanks to what Ethmira just told me about the
elders and the possible state of mind of the primal brown right now.”

He emptied
his glass, refilled it and drank thirstily. His mouth and throat had
dried up completely.

“
What does the dragon's state
of mind have to do with anything?” Daniel asked with a frown.

“
If there's one thing I've
learned from facing the first three primal dragons is that they are
arrogant beyond belief,” Simon told him. “That's not
surprising, I suppose, considering how ancient and powerful they are.
And now, if the primal brown believes that there are no more
significant threats to it and its followers, maybe we can use that to
lure it into a trap.”

“
A trap,” Liliana
repeated flatly. “You expect to be able to trap a monster
that's bigger than one of the old jumbo jets? Well, my friend, I'll
give you points for nerve, at least.”

“
Thanks,” he replied with
a grin at her expression of disbelief. “It's good to have your
support.”

The paladin gave him a grudging
smile.

“
So what do you want to do,
Simon?” Ethmira asked him. “We won't be safe here for
long. It's possible that draconic scouts might have spotted Pharra
when she brought you here; they do pass over this section of the
forest on occasion.”

As if to reinforce her statement, a
distant sound echoed through the room from the corridor. It was a
high-pitched screech that Simon couldn't identify.

Everyone looked around and Anna
shuddered.

“
What was that?” she
asked in a small voice. “A dragon?”

“
I don't know,” Ethmira
said and stood up abruptly. “Let's find out, shall we?”

The entire group got up and shuffled
around the table to the door. The elf led the way back toward the
main cavern and they all entered and moved to stand in the center of
the large space, listening intently.

The sunlight filtering through the
holes in the ceiling was cut off for a second and then brightened
again and everyone looked up.

“
Something just flew by over
the hill,” Ethmira said tensely.

Another screech rang out, this one
from above them. It was cut off abruptly and then a deafening roar
echoed through the cavern and Anna and Gerard clapped their hands
over their ears.

“
Dragon,” Liliana spat
and scowled upward as if she could see through solid rock.

“
Dragon, yes,” Daniel
said but then he cocked his head to one side, looking perplexed. “But
something else as well. It sounds like there's a battle going on up
there.”

Ethmira looked at the group.

“
Can any of you use a bow?”
she asked hurriedly.

“
I can,” Eric
volunteered. “I've gone out with the other hunters after game.”

“
Excellent. Anyone else?”

“
I prefer the sword, but I can
use a bow if the situation calls for it,” Liliana told her,
sounding less than enthusiastic about it.

“
Good. Could you both come with
me, please? I have a cache of weapons stored near the meeting room.
If we are facing dragons, lady paladin, I doubt that your sword will
be of much use. A bow, especially one of elven make, can penetrate
even a dragon's hide.”

Liliana's eyes lit up at the thought
and she smiled grimly.

“
Lead the way,” she said
and the three of them hurried from the room.

“
I'm going out to the entrance
to see what's going on,” Simon told the rest of the group.
“Daniel, I don't mean to be insulting, but your...physical
condition slows you down, so if you would, I'd like you to remain
here until I get back.”

“
He means I'm an old man,”
Daniel said grumpily.

Virginia chuckled but looked at him
sympathetically.

“
Fine, I'll wait here. Keep
your dead down.”

“
I will,” the wizard
replied with a wink. “Be back in a bit.”

He glanced quickly at Virginia, Anna
and Gerard and nodded and then trotted out of the cavern and down the
tunnel toward the entrance.

When he spotted daylight ahead, Simon
slowed down and cautiously crept forward, looking up until he got a
glimpse of blue sky through the branches of the trees. He stopped
just inside the tunnel and scanned the forest, looking for any
movement.

Everything was quiet but he felt a
sense of unease. The trees seemed to be engulfed in a brooding
silence and the wizard instinctively held up his staff and rattled
off the incantation for his Shield spell.

“
Invectis
,”
he whispered and saw the air around him quiver in response. Then he
looked up again, watching the sky.

Sometimes
instinct is all we have to rely on, Simon thought later when he'd had
a chance to reflect on why he cast a shield at that exact moment. But
whether accident, fate or sheer dumb luck, it saved his life that
day.

He heard a
hollow, reverberating sound above his head and to the left, like wind
being sucked up through a massive tube and turned to see what the
sound was.

A huge
gout of black, smoking liquid sprayed down over him, drenching the
rocky walls and the sandy ground and sending up intense fumes of gray
smoke. It was followed by a massive roar and the huge head of a brown
dragon shot down toward him, its mouth gaping open.

All Simon
saw was row upon row of six-inch fangs as he reacted by throwing
himself backwards down the tunnel. The dragon's head slammed into the
gap in the rock and filled the space from one side to the other. It
squirmed and snapped at him in a frantic effort to reach him and
green blood ran down the sides of its scaly head as it tore skin off
in an effort to rip him apart.