Free The Dragons of Ice and Snow by J.J. Thompson Page A

“this is just a temporary camp. My people need to rest up
from the attack and from my healing. It took much out of them. In a
day or two, we will head back to our permanent base, which is buried
deep and very secure.”
    “ Oh.
Okay.”
    Simon
was a little surprised by the paladin's wish to stay in such a
dangerous place. But it's their home, he thought. And to them, maybe
it's not as bad as you might think.
    He
shrugged.
    “ Well,
it's your choice.”
    “ It
is indeed. Thank you for calling me, Simon. I was so worried that
you'd come to harm. It is good to know you survived.”
    “ I
feel the same, Liliana. I wonder, if it's all right with you, if I
could call back in a week or two. You know, just to see how you're
all doing?”
    She
actually managed a gentle laugh.
    “ I
was going to suggest that. Call me in about two weeks. I may even
have your spell-book for you. In any case, I'd like you to keep in
regular contact. We Changlings are few and far between, and getting
fewer by the day. If and when you decide to move against the primal
white dragon, I want to be there. That monster owes more than its
death can possibly repay.”
    Her
voice was suddenly savage and Simon shivered at its deadly tone.
    “ That
sounds good. All the best, my friend. I know you know your city best,
but please, keep your eyes up and your head down.”
    “ Of
that, you may be sure. Good bye, sir wizard.”
    “ Good
bye, lady paladin. And good luck.”
    She
nodded and smiled and Simon waved his hand across the mirror to
cancel the spell.
    He
set it down on the desk, relaxed into his chair and let out a long,
tired breath.
    “ Well,
that was productive,” Aeris said as he bobbed in the air near
the mirror.
    “ It
was, for sure. I'm so relieved that she's okay. And that most of her
people are too.”
    Simon
closed his eyes and rubbed them with his fingertips.
    “ Mostly
I'm happy that they didn't betray us. Heather's treachery was hard to
take. I hope we never have to face more like it again.”
    “ With
the dark gods, I wouldn't count on that, my dear wizard. They are
masters of lies and deceit. A weak person who is offered power can
make an easy recruit for them, now that the world had changed.”
    “ True
enough.”
    Simon
stood up, stretched and walked over to the window on the far side of
the room. He opened it, hissing slightly as a chilly, early spring
breeze blew past him.
    But
he stood there and just breathed in the cold clean air and watched
the sunlight play on the barren treetops of the forest around his
tower.
    I
can see some buds already, he thought with delight. I think it's
going to be an early spring. Good. After last winter, it would be
welcome.
    He
ran his fingers through his hair and took in a last breath. A faint
smell of earth, and the sweetish scent of rotting leaves pinched his
nose and he sighed with pleasure.
    Who
wouldn't be encouraged by the awakening of nature after a long
winter's sleep?
    He
closed the window and went back to his desk. Time to lock that Gate
spell into my memory forever, he thought. I won't be trapped again by
my own stupidity.
    Don't
make promises you can't keep, a little voice of self-doubt whispered
from deep inside of him, sounding a bit like Aeris.
    Simon
told it what to do with itself, sat down and opened his spell-book.

Chapter
5

    Spring
did indeed come early that year and Simon and the elementals, mostly
Kronk, began to prepare the garden for planting.
    They
dug up the furrows, picked out the rocks that every year seemed to
sneak into the dirt just where they wanted to plant seeds, and then
waited for the days to warm and the earth to soften up enough to
begin their planting in earnest.
    Aeris
did contribute one thing to the exercise. On his own, he traveled to
the late Heather's deserted cottage and returned to report that her
spices and herbs were growing wild on their own and would be
available to harvest later in the year.
    “ Excellent,
Aeris,” Simon had told him. “Well