Dragon Tamer - Book 1

Chapter 54

Marcie started down at the body of the dead Daygon.

In the several weeks since he had fallen, the small creatures had laid their eggs and maggot and beetles of all kinds crawled over and through his blotchy and discoloured flesh.

She barely recognised him as the Daygon who had escorted Dafne to and from the Daygon's home in The Juggernaut. Thinking this she realised that she had not asked Dafne how they got through Cathels wall. As all she had heard about it was that it divided the land from coast to coast and ensured the Daygon did not get through. She made a note to ask Dafne or the Daygon how.

She turned her attention back to the body.

She stayed well enough back so the smell and the flies did not cause her to expel what remained of her lunch. For the second time. Dara stayed close to her side, scenting the air with a small curl to his lips that spoke of the body's unpleasantness.

Marcie marked the spot where he lay with a cross shape on the nearest tree with her knife and retraced her steps, marking the trees as she went, Dara trotting dutifully alongside. She was unsure as to the death writes of the Daygon and so left them to enact their rituals when they could be trusted to leave quietly.

She and Dafne had spoken and both believed that it would be unlikely for them to keep from attacking the outsiders and vice versa. And they believed that it would be hard to ask them all to remain inside until the traders came and left again, hopefully with the outsiders, so they had both been trying to conceive of a place to keep them separate and out of the prying eyes of the villagers. So far they'd had no luck.

Marcie thought of her home. But it was too far away from the village and Dafne wanted to remain close enough to keep an eye on them and it was too far for her to go if something were to happen, "Not that it would" Dafne had snapped, "But I would nay be as good as ah am if I wont a little paranoid every now an then".

Marcie had secretly been relieved, having become used to living almost entirely on her own, she did not look forward to sharing her home with anyone.

She wandered back to Dafne's house at a slow jog, watching the uneven ground. Dara bounded easily alongside, leaping off trees and opening his wings just a little to catch the air and cause him to glide over the worst of the tangled forest floor. She never would have found the body of the Daygon if he had not led her there, his memory for places was impeccable. If he had been there once he could easily make his way back there in a heartbeat, she relished his ability to do so, thinking of all the ways it would aid her hunting expeditions.

Dara said goodbye to her near the forests edge, stretching his neck to rub her chin with his nose then leaping back into the forests cover.

Marcie let herself into Dafne's home and checked on Sebastian. He lay curled on his side and Aldren and Jin stood tense over him, from their faces she could tell something had happened.

"Whats wrong?" she asked, Sebastian was breathing alright and he looked stronger than he had in a long time and yet he was curled in on himself and trembling slightly.

"He woke up like this" Jin explained, "He wont talk to us..." he trailed off.

Marcie stayed for a few moments but Sebastian refused to speak and stayed curled up and shaking. So she went to speak to the Daygon, passing Dafne coming up the basement steps, she did not see Marcie and so, for a moment, Marcie saw how tired Dafne was, the dark circles, the sagging cheeks, skin even paler than usual.

When she became aware of Marcies presence her face hardened over, the lines smoothing out and the vacant look in her eye vanishing. She nodded at her and Marcie continued on to Dafne's bedroom where the Daygon were staying, wondering if they were using her room, where must she be sleeping? If at all.