The Dragons of Decay Read Free

elementals stood on the center of
the table and watched.
    “Kronk, if we kept a fire going
in the stove all the time,” and the wizard nodded at the big,
cast-iron stove on the far side of the fireplace, “do you think
that it would help heat the tower? I mean, I only use it to bake
bread and the occasion pie every two weeks or so. Maybe during the
winter, we should just keep a fire lit in it at all times?”
    The little earthen looked at the heavy
stove doubtfully.
    “Well, we certainly could,
master, if you wish. But the fireplace is connected by ducts to the
rest of the tower. The main chimney draws off the smoke and the vents
move the warm air through the walls. The stove would only heat this
room, and only for a few feet around it. It would be a waste of wood,
to be honest. But if you want me to do that, I would be happy to.”
    Simon chuckled at the little guy's
tone.
    “No, that's all right. It was
just a thought.”
    He ate his food quickly and then sat
back and sipped his tea.
    “So, any thoughts on the
situation with Daniel and the elves?” he asked his friends.
    The pair exchanged looks and Kronk
motioned for Aeris to speak first.
    The air elemental seemed reluctant to
say anything, which was unusual for him, but nodded slowly.
    “Yes, I suppose I have one. Your
idea about your slow aging allowing you to enter the elven realm and
return without harm is a good one, my dear wizard.”
    “It is? I'm surprised that you
think so.”
    “Why? I may not have thought of
it but that doesn't make it any less valid.” He paused and
frowned down at the table. “Of course, we don't know that it will work. And the consequences if you are wrong would
be...unfortunate.”
    “ Yeah,
that's one word for it,” Simon said dryly. “But I'm
willing to risk it, if that's what it takes. But just for kicks,
let's say that I can journey there and back and survive. What can I
do against the primal brown dragon and its followers? What are its
strengths? What are its weaknesses? How many browns are there? Did
the leader bring eggs with it when it entered the elven realm? So
many questions.”
    He sighed, a
long slow exhalation.
    “ You
are worried, master,” Kronk said, looking at him sadly with
those glowing red eyes.
    “ More
worried that I've ever been, my friend. And not just about Daniel and
the elves. What about the consequences if the brown dragons actually
do wipe out the elven race? Daniel said that there were hundreds of
dragons crisscrossing the skies over there. Maybe thousands.
Thousands! How is that even possible? We know that the dragon queen
only laid so many eggs back when she birthed the five primal dragons.
And that she apportioned out a certain number of eggs for each of
them. How many, we don't know. But surely the primal brown dragon
wasn't given thousands of eggs? I just don't understand where they
are all coming from.”
    There was a
moment of silence and then Aeris made a show of clearing his throat.
    “ Just
spit it out,” Simon told him bluntly.
    “ Um,
yes. All right. I think that the source of the eggs is fairly simple
to figure out, my dear wizard.”
    “ It
is?”
    Both Simon
and Kronk stared at the air elemental and Aeris actually looked a
little abashed.
    “ Well,
don't keep us in suspense,” Kronk told him. “What do you
think?”
    “ Think?
I think that the brown dragons retrieved the eggs from the primals
that our wizard destroyed.”
    Seeing
Simon's look of surprise, Aeris shook a little finger at him, but
smiled a bit at the same time.
    “ You
really should have destroyed the eggs of the black and green
dragons,” he said. “The way you destroyed the white
dragon's eggs. I believe that the primal brown dragon or its servants
swooped down and made off with those eggs and kept them for itself.”
    “ Wait.
Can it do that? Wouldn't eggs given to the primal black dragon hatch
into more black dragons?”
    “ Why
would they?” Aeris said with a shrug. “We know that when
needed, a