Read Online The Dragons of Bone and Dust (Tales from the New Earth Book 7) by J. J. Thompson - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: J. J. Thompson
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Dellis Varna.
All he had left was the pack and the quiver tied to his belt.
“ Damn it,”
he said bitterly. “I'd finally become comfortable with a weapon
and now I've lost it.”
Worse still, it was one less
connection with the elves and Ethmira and he felt the loss keenly.
With a tired shrug, he tried to let
it go and thought about his one true weapon instead.
“ Mortis de
Draconis,” he said with a smile. “Slayer of Dragons. Oh,
I've missed you.”
His hand itched for the feel of the
staff again. Just another reason to stop standing around like an
idiot and get back home.
“ Okay. Here
goes.”
Simon closed his eyes, concentrated
as hard as he could, and fixed a picture of his tower firmly in his
mind.
He held it there until he could
almost see it when he opened his eyes again. It was locked into place
and he nodded once. Time to go.
“ Gate!”
The sensation of being sucked into
the nothingness of the Void was something that Simon hadn't missed.
It wasn't painful but it felt, somehow, alien; like something that
human beings were never meant to be exposed to. But it was certainly
efficient.
Simon slowly counted to ten in the
icy blackness, the usual amount of time it took to get anywhere using
a Gate. On ten, light exploded around him and he stumbled forward,
almost falling as his eyes adjusted. He stood still and waited to
regain his equilibrium, swaying a bit like a near-sighted drunk. When
he could see again, he looked around slowly, trying to get his
bearings.
And there it was. He was standing in
the middle of yet another field of waving grass. It was after noon to
judge by the position of the sun and the grass was a richer shade of
green. The breeze was sweeter and warmer and it all felt very
familiar.
Across the field, a hundred feet
away, a square, gray stone tower surrounded by a high wall stood
proudly against the blue sky. He was home.
“ Home,”
he whispered. “Home again. Oh man, you look good.”
The light-colored stone of the wall
and tower glowed so brightly that Simon had to shade his eyes as he
tried to take in the details of the building. It looked the same but
he couldn't really tell from where he stood. But instead of rushing
forward, he advanced slowly, taking it all in.
The thick grass pulled at his legs as
he walked and he was careful to watch his footing. Insects hummed and
buzzed around him and everything felt so normal; it was as if he had
never left at all.
Three years, Ethmira had said. He'd
been gone three years. But looking at the tower, it felt more like
three hours. Things looked exactly the same. Or did they?
When he got to within a few dozen
feet of the main gates, Simon stopped abruptly. He had thought that
they were standing open when he first arrived, but they weren't. They
were broken. Smashed outward and barely hanging off of their rusted,
iron hinges.
“ Crap,”
he hissed angrily. “Lacertus' doing. I forgot that he crashed
through them when he chased after me.”
But why hadn't Kronk and the other
earth elementals who worked for him fixed them? Why leave them sadly
twisted and broken like this?
Simon carefully slipped in between
the gates and moved into the yard that surrounded the tower. And
stopped again.
“ Goddamn
it.”
The ironclad door of the tower was
gone, ripped off of its hinges. He looked around and spotted it lying
forlornly in the uncut grass against the surrounding wall.
The edges of the doorway were ragged,
pieces of the rock wall broken off. The interior was exposed and he
could only imagine how much damage had been done by the weather over
the past three years.
He'd worry about that later. What
suddenly struck him were thoughts of his livestock, especially his
three horses; Chief, Tammy and Sunshine, and Sunshine's offspring;
Sunbeam. He rushed around the tower to the right, hurrying to the
stable behind the building.
Empty. The stable door was open and
the place itself smelled dusty with disuse. There was no sign of
All he had left was the pack and the quiver tied to his belt.
“ Damn it,”
he said bitterly. “I'd finally become comfortable with a weapon
and now I've lost it.”
Worse still, it was one less
connection with the elves and Ethmira and he felt the loss keenly.
With a tired shrug, he tried to let
it go and thought about his one true weapon instead.
“ Mortis de
Draconis,” he said with a smile. “Slayer of Dragons. Oh,
I've missed you.”
His hand itched for the feel of the
staff again. Just another reason to stop standing around like an
idiot and get back home.
“ Okay. Here
goes.”
Simon closed his eyes, concentrated
as hard as he could, and fixed a picture of his tower firmly in his
mind.
He held it there until he could
almost see it when he opened his eyes again. It was locked into place
and he nodded once. Time to go.
“ Gate!”
The sensation of being sucked into
the nothingness of the Void was something that Simon hadn't missed.
It wasn't painful but it felt, somehow, alien; like something that
human beings were never meant to be exposed to. But it was certainly
efficient.
Simon slowly counted to ten in the
icy blackness, the usual amount of time it took to get anywhere using
a Gate. On ten, light exploded around him and he stumbled forward,
almost falling as his eyes adjusted. He stood still and waited to
regain his equilibrium, swaying a bit like a near-sighted drunk. When
he could see again, he looked around slowly, trying to get his
bearings.
And there it was. He was standing in
the middle of yet another field of waving grass. It was after noon to
judge by the position of the sun and the grass was a richer shade of
green. The breeze was sweeter and warmer and it all felt very
familiar.
Across the field, a hundred feet
away, a square, gray stone tower surrounded by a high wall stood
proudly against the blue sky. He was home.
“ Home,”
he whispered. “Home again. Oh man, you look good.”
The light-colored stone of the wall
and tower glowed so brightly that Simon had to shade his eyes as he
tried to take in the details of the building. It looked the same but
he couldn't really tell from where he stood. But instead of rushing
forward, he advanced slowly, taking it all in.
The thick grass pulled at his legs as
he walked and he was careful to watch his footing. Insects hummed and
buzzed around him and everything felt so normal; it was as if he had
never left at all.
Three years, Ethmira had said. He'd
been gone three years. But looking at the tower, it felt more like
three hours. Things looked exactly the same. Or did they?
When he got to within a few dozen
feet of the main gates, Simon stopped abruptly. He had thought that
they were standing open when he first arrived, but they weren't. They
were broken. Smashed outward and barely hanging off of their rusted,
iron hinges.
“ Crap,”
he hissed angrily. “Lacertus' doing. I forgot that he crashed
through them when he chased after me.”
But why hadn't Kronk and the other
earth elementals who worked for him fixed them? Why leave them sadly
twisted and broken like this?
Simon carefully slipped in between
the gates and moved into the yard that surrounded the tower. And
stopped again.
“ Goddamn
it.”
The ironclad door of the tower was
gone, ripped off of its hinges. He looked around and spotted it lying
forlornly in the uncut grass against the surrounding wall.
The edges of the doorway were ragged,
pieces of the rock wall broken off. The interior was exposed and he
could only imagine how much damage had been done by the weather over
the past three years.
He'd worry about that later. What
suddenly struck him were thoughts of his livestock, especially his
three horses; Chief, Tammy and Sunshine, and Sunshine's offspring;
Sunbeam. He rushed around the tower to the right, hurrying to the
stable behind the building.
Empty. The stable door was open and
the place itself smelled dusty with disuse. There was no sign of
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