The Dragons Revenge (Tales from the New Earth #2) Read Online Free Page A

said to Aeris.
    “ What's weird?”
    “ The Magic Mouth
spell. It just sort of...lost power. I didn't know that could
happen.”
    A loud clunk made the
wizard look across the room, just in time to see Kronk push the door
closed behind him, jump up and slide the bolt into place.
    “ Didn't know what
could happen, master?” he asked as he tip-tapped over to the
table and jumped up to stand next to Aeris. “Oh and the wall
has been repaired. My friends went back to the earthen realm with my
thanks.”
    “ Good. That's good,
Kronk. Thank you.”
    Simon finished his tea and
got up to make some more.
    “ I was just saying
to Aeris that the Magic Mouth spell I was using to talk to Clara just
faded out. Have either of you ever heard of a spell doing that?”
    The two elementals
exchanged looks and both shook their heads.
    “ Not me,”
Aeris said firmly. “Spells don't fade unless the caster is
destroyed. Once their power is removed from the world, any spells
they've cast disappear over time.”
    “ Really?”
Simon made his second cup of tea and sat down again. “That's
interesting. I didn't realize that could happen.”
    Kronk remained silent and
Aeris shrugged.
    “ The power flows
through the wizard,” he said. “Take away that conduit
and...”
    The air elemental stopped
speaking and frowned. An almost identical expression crossed Kronk's
face.
    Simon looked at them.
    “ What's wrong?”
he asked.
    “ I'm not sure,”
Aeris said in confusion. “I feel...strange. It's like...”
    His eyes widened in sudden
fear and he reached out toward the wizard.
    “ Simon!” he
cried out and abruptly faded away.
    The wizard leaped to his
feet, staring at Kronk.
    “ What happened?”
he asked frantically.
    Kronk stared at the spot
where Aeris had been hovering a moment before.
    “ I don't know,
master. Something feels wrong. I..."
    The little guy froze in
place for a moment and then looked up at Simon with an expression of
anguish.
    “ Master!” he
called and then he was gone.
    “ What the hell is
going on!” Simon roared as he looked around the room
frantically.
    He was alone.
    It's an attack of some
kind, he thought to himself. This must be what Clara warned me about.
The elementals must have been returned to their own realms. Simon
refused to believe that they had been destroyed.
    He knew that once a wizard
had summoned an elemental, all he needed to do to call them back was
to say their name. So he backed away from the kitchen table, stared
at the place he wanted his friends to return to and spoke loudly and
firmly.
    “ Kronk, I need you.”
    A minute passed but
nothing happened.
    “ Kronk! Return to
me. Now!”
    Nothing.
    “ Aeris? Can you come
home please?” he asked plaintively.
    It wasn't working.
    The summoning spell. All I
need is the summoning spell to get them back, he thought, feeling the
first touch of panic.
    He went through the list
of spells in his mind, or at least he tried to. But there was nothing
there. It was like reaching for a memory that was simply not there
anymore.
    Just like when he'd first
begun using magic; his mind was a blank slate. Back then, before the
gods of Justice had given him the knowledge of every spell a
high-level wizard knew, he had to memorize each spell first before he
cast it, and then it would fade from his mind again.
    Simon walked back to his
chair and sat down abruptly, thinking it through.
    Was that it? Had the evil
gods erased the spells from his mind? That thought worried him but a
second thought close on its heels chilled him to the bone.
    Or had they cut off his
access to magic entirely?
    How to test it? Maybe if I
use Bene-Dunn-Gal, it can boost my power.
    Simon looked across the
room to where the staff leaned against the wall next to the door.
    He stood up and quickly
walked to the staff. He picked it up and knew at once that something
was wrong.
    Sheathed in bronze and
made of heavy wood, the staff had always felt as light as a feather
in his hand. Now he had