The Dragons Revenge (Tales from the New Earth #2) by J.J. Thompson Read Free Book Online

thought wryly.
    “ Well, the big guy
needed some exercise,” he said, stretching the truth a long
way. “And I wanted to see how the village was doing. Besides,”
he glanced up at the cold blue sky, “we could be looking at a
long period of frigid weather. It might be my last chance to ride
down for quite some time.”
    She nodded, accepting the
flimsy explanation equably.
    “ Well, it was great
to see you again. I'm sure you and Clara have a lot to talk about.”
    She picked up the now
empty bucket.
    “ I'll take this back
to the storage shed,” Virginia said and gave Simon a one-armed
hug.
    “ Thanks for your
help,” he told her with a warm smile. “Say hi to the
others for me, will you?”
    “ Of course I will.
If you decide to stay over, come by and see us.”
    “ We can't stay,”
Simon said with real regret. He nodded at the stallion. “Chief
gets nervous if he's away from his harem for too long.”
    Virginia's guffaw of
laughter rang through the cold, still air.
    “ Lucky guy,”
she said, chortling, and patted the munching horse, who whickered at
her as he ate steadily.
    They parted company then
with mutual waves and Simon entered the hall again.
    His visit with Virginia
had cheered him up immeasurably and had, at least for a short time,
made him forget his own problems. But walking back toward Clara's
quarters, his loss of magic and the chance that he might no longer be
a wizard slammed back into his consciousness. By the time he reached
her door and knocked on it softly, his depression had settled back in
again.
    “ Come in, Simon,”
he heard Clara call out and he opened the door and walked inside.
    The cleric was sitting on
the couch again and smiled at him tiredly as he entered. She patted
the sofa next to her and Simon hung up his coat and walked over to
sit beside her.
    He was reluctant to hear
any bad news but braced himself to learn the truth.
    “ So, any luck?”
he asked quietly.
    Clara had dark circles
under her eyes and her face was pinched with exhaustion. Whatever had
happened, it had taken a lot out of her.
    She shrugged at his
question.
    “ It depends on your
definition of luck, I suppose. The news is good and bad. I did have
a...visitation, I suppose you could call it. Our gods of Order are
distressed by the attack on you. For one human to be singled out by
their opponents is extraordinary.”
    She smiled a bit.
    “ You angered the
dark ones by destroying one of their most powerful servants. The
black may have been the weakest of the primal dragons, but it was
still one of only five. Now they are lessened. So at least we can
celebrate that victory.”
    She settled herself more
comfortably into the couch and looked at him closely.
    “ I have some
questions, my friend, about the dragons that attacked your tower.”
    Simon crossed his legs and
leaned back.
    “ Sure. What did you
want to know?”
    “ You told me about
the attack, but you didn't give me many details. I'd like to know
exactly how those creatures attacked. Did they try to tear down your
home or..?”
    The wizard went through
the assault in his mind.
    “ Now that you
mention it, I actually remember thinking how odd it was that they
didn't do exactly that. So in answer to your question, no they
didn't. They circled the tower, blasting it with fire and brushing it
with their wings, but they didn't actually hit the building
directly.”
    Clara nodded.
    “ Yes. That's
interesting.”
    “ Is it? Why?”
    She looked at the window,
seeming to watch as several dust motes floated lazily through the
beaming sunlight that lit the room.
    “ Because of what the
gods believe has happened to your powers.”
    Simon's stomach clenched.
Here it comes, he thought.
    Clara looked at him and
then smiled compassionately. She took his hand in both of hers and
squeezed it reassuringly.
    “ It's not as bad as
you believe it is, my friend. At least, I don't think it is.”
    She dropped his hand and
sat back, speaking slowly and