Free The Dragons of Argent and Silver (Tales from the New Earth #6) by J.J. Thompson

of us
remain behind, to keep an eye on her?” Brethia asked.
    “ If our wizard wants
us to continue to track her, he'll send someone back,” Aeris
replied, still watching the distant queen. “Personally, I agree
with Orriss; I'm sick of this place.”
    “ In some ways, she
is a tragic creature, isn't she?” Brethia commented
sympathetically, nodding at the smudge on the horizon.
    “ She is indeed. But
she's also one of the most dangerous monsters in the world. Either
way though, she is no longer our concern and hopefully never will be
again. Let's head back.”
    Brethia nodded and
vanished.
    Aeris waited a final
moment, looking around at the bleak landscape.
    By the Four Winds I hate
the desert, was his last thought as he left for home with an enormous
sense of relief.

    It was after sunset when a
distant rumble of sound shook the tower lightly. Simon was sitting in
front of the fireplace on the main floor, staring pensively into the
flames. The evening wasn't cold but he found it easier to think while
he watched the fire leap and snap as it burned.
    He sat up at the vibration
that rippled through the building and listened carefully. Kronk, who
had been pushing the logs around in the fireplace to get a better
flame, jerked upright and looked at Simon.
    “ Did you hear that,
master?”
    “ Felt it, actually.
I think our wayward group of elementals is coming home.”
    Simon clenched his teeth
and stuck his forefingers into his ears. He knew what was coming.
    Three flashes and three
bangs of thunderous sound followed seconds later and he blinked back
tears as his eyes throbbed from the blinding lights.
    He looked around and saw
Aeris, Brethia and Orriss floating above the kitchen table.
    “ We're back!”
Aeris said cheerfully as Simon stood up and walked over to sit at the
table.
    “ You don't say,”
he muttered as he wiped his eyes. “Could you not tone down that
damned entrance once in a while? It's a bit overdone, don't you
think?”
    “ Please forgive us,
lord,” Orriss said quickly. “It is not our choice.
It's...”
    “ Your ruler. Yeah, I
know. Don't sweat it, guys. I'm just a bit cranky these days.”
    He managed to smile at
Orriss and shook a finger at him.
    “ And there's no need
for that 'lord' stuff. Simon will do or, if you insist, sir wizard.
Okay?”
    The elemental bowed while
Aeris rolled his eyes and Brethia grinned.
    “ Of course, sir
wizard. I forgot.”
    “ No problem. So I'm
assuming you guys have good news?”
    Both of the male
elementals turned and looked at Brethia, who smiled even more widely.
    “ We do, sir wizard,”
she replied and made an odd, hand-wringing motion.
    An orb about the size of
an orange appeared between her hands, glowing with a greenish tinge
that made it look diseased.
    “ That's it?”
Simon asked in a hushed voice.
    “ It is. Frozen from
our return trip, but that was the best way to transport it anyway.”
She looked around. “Do you have some sort of container that I
can put it into before it begins to thaw?”
    Simon stood up quickly and
stepped over to the cupboards. He rummaged around for a few seconds
and pulled out a large glass.
    “ Here you go. Drop
it in this,” he said as he put the glass on the table.
    Brethia lifted the frozen
globule of blood a little higher and let it drop into the glass. It
tinkled and bounced once, then settled to the bottom and began to
slowly melt.
    Simon sat down again and
stared at the glass for a moment, then looked at the elementals with
a grin.
    “ Guys, that was an
amazing accomplishment. Really amazing.”
    The three of them seemed
very pleased with themselves.
    “ Thanks,”
Aeris said. “Are we the first ones back?” he added
hopefully.
    “ I'm afraid not,”
Simon told them and watched the three translucent faces fall.
    “ Hey, come on, guys.
Your job was so much harder than the others were. Incendus and Aethos
had tough targets but the dragon queen is both incredibly powerful
and insane. I'm actually