realized how much life and sound that
Kronk and, to a lesser extent Aeris, had added to his life. If they
were still around, he knew that Kronk would even now be chattering
inanely about his day, while Aeris would drop the occasional
sarcastic comment and Simon would be sitting there trying not to
laugh.
Amazing how two beings not
made of flesh and blood could be so full of life. And more
interesting than most people that Simon had ever met, he thought
dryly.
I miss them, was his
simple thought. If he needed any more incentive to find those dragon
hearts and regain at least some of his magic, that thought was it.
He stood up and added
several more logs to the fire.
Tomorrow, he thought. Cold
and snow notwithstanding, tomorrow he'd start his search. Simon was a
little amused in a sad way to think that even a loner like himself
could miss anyone as much as he missed his two little friends.
What do you know? Simon
O'Toole actually has a heart.
He laughed aloud at the
thought and then stopped as the sound echoed around the room,
emphasizing his solitude.
He pulled his blankets
tightly around him and headed for the stairs.
Yeah, tomorrow.
The next morning, Simon
woke from a troubled sleep to a freezing room. The windows were
frosted over and, when he finally convinced himself to roll out of
bed and make his way across the room, it took a few minutes to force
them open so that he could see outside.
“ Oh gees,” he
muttered. “Can't I ever catch a break?”
It was snowing. No, that
hardly described it. It was an absolute blizzard.
The snow was coming down
sideways in an almost gale-force wind and was so thick that the
wizard could barely see further than a few feet from the tower.
Great, he thought. Then he
sighed in resignation and closed the windows again. This should be
fun.
It took some time to get a
roaring fire started in the fireplace and warm up the tower and Simon
puttered around the kitchen area, making oatmeal and tea for
breakfast while he huddled inside a heavy blanket.
Once he had warmed up and
eaten, he decided that waiting was not an option. The longer he put
off searching for the dragons' hearts, the deeper they would be
buried. And who was to say that it wouldn't snow again tomorrow? And
the day after that?
No. As unpleasant as he
was sure it would be, today would be the day to at least start the
search.
He glanced down at the
robe he was wearing and smiled a slightly twisted smile. And that
meant a change of wardrobe.
Simon picked up a lit
candle by its holder and headed downstairs. In the basement, he lit
several other candles that hung from the walls and looked around.
The cellar was the same
size as the tower above, forty feet square, but on each wall was a
closed door made of heavy, waterproofed oak that led to his storage
rooms.
Although none of the doors
had a label on it, Simon had mentally given them their own names.
There were two that he
called 'Cold Storage' rooms. This was where he kept the harvest from
his crops that he and Kronk had collected during the growing season
and some of the foodstuffs he'd received by trading with Nottinghill.
There were bags of wheat
flour, bushels of apples and corn and many other easily-stored
vegetables. Even so, the two rooms were almost empty because they
were as large as the main room he was standing in.
The third storage room he
called 'Dry Goods' and the only reason it existed was because of his
friend Daniel.
Simon paused and gave
thanks yet again for Daniel's foresight. Through his world-wide
exploration of old tombs and ruins, his friend had discovered that
the end of the modern world was at hand. He had taken over the
building of the tower and paid for it with his own money and the only
thing he'd asked Simon for in return was the chance to visit now and
then.
Well, except for a brief,
and quite sad, visitation in the summer, when Daniel had returned
from the elven lands to speak to Simon, he had never seen the tower.
And now I
Kronk and, to a lesser extent Aeris, had added to his life. If they
were still around, he knew that Kronk would even now be chattering
inanely about his day, while Aeris would drop the occasional
sarcastic comment and Simon would be sitting there trying not to
laugh.
Amazing how two beings not
made of flesh and blood could be so full of life. And more
interesting than most people that Simon had ever met, he thought
dryly.
I miss them, was his
simple thought. If he needed any more incentive to find those dragon
hearts and regain at least some of his magic, that thought was it.
He stood up and added
several more logs to the fire.
Tomorrow, he thought. Cold
and snow notwithstanding, tomorrow he'd start his search. Simon was a
little amused in a sad way to think that even a loner like himself
could miss anyone as much as he missed his two little friends.
What do you know? Simon
O'Toole actually has a heart.
He laughed aloud at the
thought and then stopped as the sound echoed around the room,
emphasizing his solitude.
He pulled his blankets
tightly around him and headed for the stairs.
Yeah, tomorrow.
The next morning, Simon
woke from a troubled sleep to a freezing room. The windows were
frosted over and, when he finally convinced himself to roll out of
bed and make his way across the room, it took a few minutes to force
them open so that he could see outside.
“ Oh gees,” he
muttered. “Can't I ever catch a break?”
It was snowing. No, that
hardly described it. It was an absolute blizzard.
The snow was coming down
sideways in an almost gale-force wind and was so thick that the
wizard could barely see further than a few feet from the tower.
Great, he thought. Then he
sighed in resignation and closed the windows again. This should be
fun.
It took some time to get a
roaring fire started in the fireplace and warm up the tower and Simon
puttered around the kitchen area, making oatmeal and tea for
breakfast while he huddled inside a heavy blanket.
Once he had warmed up and
eaten, he decided that waiting was not an option. The longer he put
off searching for the dragons' hearts, the deeper they would be
buried. And who was to say that it wouldn't snow again tomorrow? And
the day after that?
No. As unpleasant as he
was sure it would be, today would be the day to at least start the
search.
He glanced down at the
robe he was wearing and smiled a slightly twisted smile. And that
meant a change of wardrobe.
Simon picked up a lit
candle by its holder and headed downstairs. In the basement, he lit
several other candles that hung from the walls and looked around.
The cellar was the same
size as the tower above, forty feet square, but on each wall was a
closed door made of heavy, waterproofed oak that led to his storage
rooms.
Although none of the doors
had a label on it, Simon had mentally given them their own names.
There were two that he
called 'Cold Storage' rooms. This was where he kept the harvest from
his crops that he and Kronk had collected during the growing season
and some of the foodstuffs he'd received by trading with Nottinghill.
There were bags of wheat
flour, bushels of apples and corn and many other easily-stored
vegetables. Even so, the two rooms were almost empty because they
were as large as the main room he was standing in.
The third storage room he
called 'Dry Goods' and the only reason it existed was because of his
friend Daniel.
Simon paused and gave
thanks yet again for Daniel's foresight. Through his world-wide
exploration of old tombs and ruins, his friend had discovered that
the end of the modern world was at hand. He had taken over the
building of the tower and paid for it with his own money and the only
thing he'd asked Simon for in return was the chance to visit now and
then.
Well, except for a brief,
and quite sad, visitation in the summer, when Daniel had returned
from the elven lands to speak to Simon, he had never seen the tower.
And now I
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