Free The Dragons of Bone and Dust (Tales from the New Earth Book 7) by J. J. Thompson Page A

years and he wanted them back in
his life.
    As long as they want to come back, he
thought with a tinge of concern. After that fight with the godling,
maybe one or both had had enough of him and his crazy life. Simon
wouldn't blame either one if they had. But he had to know, and he
decided to try to summon them while the sun was still up. The night
was a lonely and dangerous time on the New Earth now; better to get
this done before it got dark.
    He had found that the main floor was
a total mess. The door had been open to the weather for three years,
after all, and an amazing amount of leaves and trash had found its
way in.
    Not to mention a few animals, he
thought and sighed again. Raccoons probably. Maybe skunks or
squirrels as well. Every cupboard had been opened and his pots and
pans, as well as plates and silverware, was strewn across the floor.
His clothes hanging in the standing closet near the door were
tattered and moldy, and smelled damp and rotten. They would all have
to be thrown out.
    Oddly, his old kettle was still
hanging in the fireplace. It looked a bit rusty, but he could clean
it up with a little elbow grease.
    Unfortunately, the couch and his
comfy chair were write-offs. Both were rotting and had mold on them
as well and he felt a pang of regret at the thought of destroying
them. Nothing had brought Simon more pleasure than sitting in that
chair in front of the fireplace, curled up with a cup of tea. He
would be snug and warm, and Kronk and Aeris would usually be with
him. That was always the image that came to mind when he thought of
home.
    He pushed himself away from the
parapet and began to pace around the top of the tower, thinking hard.
    The chair can be replaced, he told
himself. Furniture isn't important. What makes a place truly a home
is more than bricks and mortar, furniture and decorations. It's the
people that you share your life with there; your friends and family.
    “ Right,”
he said loudly. “Time to see if I still have either of those
left in my life.”
    The one thing that Simon had found
intact on the main floor was something that was more valuable to him
than all the comfy chairs in the world. He looked at the staff in his
right hand as he leaned against it and smiled with renewed relief.
    “ Mortis de
Draconis,” he said to it. “I don't know how you made it
through all this in one piece, but am I happy to see you.”
    The staff glowed in the sunlight, its
length of pale metal and wood covered in dwarven runes. Whether
because of magic or simple good fortune, the weapon had been lying in
a corner almost invisible under a pile of dry leaves. Picking it up
and wiping off the dirt had made Simon feel almost like himself
again.
    “ You and me
against the world again,” the wizard told the mute staff. “Now,
let's see if we've still got the old mojo.”
    He moved to the center of the roof,
grounded the staff and took a deep breath.
    “ Kronk, I
need you!” he cried, his voice echoing down through the tower.
    The sound faded away and Simon looked
around expectantly.
    Nothing.
    No sense of the earth elemental's
presence, no feeling of power in the air. Nothing had happened at
all.
    After waiting for a few minutes, the
wizard moved the staff to his left hand, wiped his sweaty palm on his
pants and transferred it back to his right.
    “ Damn it,”
he said softly. “This is bad. Either he doesn't want to return
or the magic isn't working.”
    Or he was destroyed in the fight with
Lacertus, his inner voice whispered insidiously.
    “ Shut up,”
he growled at it. “Fine then. We'll try for Aeris instead.”
    This time, Simon held up his staff
and concentrated so hard that his vision was tinged with pulses of
red.
    “ Aeris, I
summon you!” he shouted, a note of desperation in his voice.
    The echoes died and still there was
nothing; no response.
    He folded his legs and sat down on
the hard roof with a thud.
    “ Well,”
he said to the staff as he laid it down beside him. “That's