The Dragons of Ash and Smoke (Tales from the New Earth Book 5) by J.J. Thompson Page A

nothing to say.
    “ Hi,”
Simon said to them both. “How are you doing?”
    Kronk hesitantly
tip-tapped across the tabletop and reached out to pick up the
wizard's hand. He stroked it slowly, his shocked expression fading
into a broad grin.
    “ Master,
it is you,” he whispered. “You are home.” He looked
closely at Simon's face. “Are you well?”
    “ Very
well, my friend,” the wizard replied and patted the earthen's
blocky shoulder. “Very well indeed.” He looked at Aeris.
“And I'm pretty sure that I'm not 'mentally diminished',”
he added with a wry grin.
    “ Ah,
so you heard that,” the air elemental said and looked a little
lost for words.
    “ What's
this? Nothing to say? That's not like you, Aeris.”
    “ No,
it isn't, is it?”
    He floated over to join
Kronk and finally smiled at Simon.
    “ You
look well. In fact, with your hair grown back, you look exceptional.
What was it like?”
    “ What,
staying with the dwarves?”
    Aeris nodded and Simon
looked at them both and shrugged.
    “ It
was...good. I mean, they healed me and named me dwarf kin. I owe them
a lot. But living underground for months can be a bit depressing. No
sunlight, always surrounded by rock.”
    He smiled at Kronk who had
released his hand and was listening closely.
    “ I
know it's natural to you, my friend, but for me, after a while it
began to feel like I was locked up in a very comfortable prison.”
    The earthen returned his
smile and nodded.
    “ I
understand, master. Not everyone is suited to live in the deep
places. And you look like you could use some sun, to be honest.”
    He looked Simon up and
down again and sighed contentedly.
    “ But
you do look fine, master. Just fine. We owe the dwarves our thanks.
My people admire them and this just confirms our opinion of them. It
is regrettable that they refuse to meet with us.”
    Simon sipped his tea and
felt his body relaxing.
    “ That
may change. Some of the dwarves seem to admire the earth elementals
too and, who knows, they may initiate contact some day soon.”
    “ That
would be wonderful, master.”
    “ So,
my dear wizard, you are home again,” Aeris said with
satisfaction. “That is good. It's been quite dull and routine
since you left.”
    “ Yeah,
I heard some of the dull when I came in,” Simon said dryly.
“Are you two constantly at each other's throats or what?”
    “ Oh
no, master. Hardly ever,” Kronk told him with a quick glance at
Aeris. “Once in a while we, what is the expression? Butt heads?
Yes, that is it. But we both have our duties and life goes on fairly
quietly.”
    “ Uh-huh.”
    Both elementals looked
suspiciously innocent and Simon worked hard not to smile. He finished
his tea, got up and put the kettle over the fire again. He leaned
back against the counter and looked around the room. He still missed
his old comfy chair in front of the fireplace, and his sofa. The
wooden furniture built by Kronk and the other earthen after the fire
in the tower was functional, but not very comfortable.
    “ Have
you spoken with any of the people from Nottinghill?” he asked
the elementals.
    Both shook their heads in
unison.
    “ I'm
afraid not,” Aeris answered him. “Your lodestones were
destroyed when you fell to that red dragon, so there was no way for
them to contact us. I believe those two mages from London have
learned to use the Magic Mirror spell, but they haven't used it to
call us here.”
    “ Perhaps
they do not wish to speak to servants,” Kronk told him. “Not
all humans care for elementals like our master does.”
    “ I'm
sure it's not that, guys,” Simon insisted. “Tamara and
Sebastian aren't like that. They've probably been too busy, settling
in to their new home.”
    He made another cup of tea
and sat down again.
    “ I
wonder what the place is like?” he said wistfully. “Imagine,
living in a castle! That must be pretty cool.”
    “ But
master,” Kronk said with a perplexed look. He waved at the room
around them. “You