Dragon Tamer - Book 1

Chapter 76

Merrick stared at the blistered and bubbling flesh of his hand and a fresh whimper sputtered out of him.

Ryna gaped at the wound in disbelief then turned with characteristic outrage in Marcie's direction,

"You bi-" she stared but stopped with a gasp then clutched Merrick's uninjured hand.

He blinked away tears and tore his gaze away from the ruin of his flesh to look in Marcie's direction and saw at once what had halted Ryna's expletive.

Marcie, on her knees, next to her fathers body.

The Cripple Junca had once been a strong and large man, while the drink had consumed his body until he was but a third his original size, had bleeched the colour from his hair to a thin and patchy white, had pulled at his skin until he was both skeletal and also bloated, it was still, unmistakably him.

Merrick bit back the pain and stepped closer to his childhood friend, pulling Ryna, reluctantly, behind him.

"Marcie" he said softly. No response.

"Marcie" he said a little louder.

She twitched.

"Marcie come away from him come on" he found himself saying, unsure as to the correct response to a parents death,

Marcie remained where she was, unmoving.

Suddenly, she reached forward, ever so gently and touched the backs of her fingers to her fathers cheek.

A tiny whisper fell from her lips that, had Merrick been listening closely, could have been "Father".

Ryna, forgetting her previous hostility, stepped forward and crouched down next to Marcie, keeping her gaze away from the corpse, she slipped her arm through Marcie's,

"Marcie" she said gently, "Come along now dear, there's nothing to see here, come along, let go to the tavern hmm? Get us some mead hmm? Come on, there you go"

She levered Marcie off the ground by her arm with a grunt then led her obediently in the direction of the tavern, whispering to her constantly while Marcie gazed at nothing, a terrifying lack of anything in her eyes.

Merrick took one last glance at his uncle's remains before he turned and followed the women.

Ryna led Marcie up the tavern steps,

"Come on dear, only three steps, come on, one, two..." she continued talking quietly under her breath to her unresponsive rival, leaning round her to pull open the door and lead her inside.

It was very similar to what she had been witness to Marcie doing with her father when he was still in the relatively early days of his drunkenness, directing him much like a simpleton or a very young child. Although, Ryna grimaced, Marcie had usually been escorting her father out  of the tavern not into it and she had been much younger when she had ventured out to bring him home each and every night.

Marcie slipped quietly onto the first chair Ryna found and leaned her head on the wall, eyes staring at nothing.

Satisfied she was not going anywhere, Ryna turned to Merrick and inspected his hand, he flinched when she grabbed his wrist and examined the blisters, prodding one of them, much to Merricks displeasure.

Marcie showed no reaction, Ryna watched her closely.

"Go get it seen too by Justyna" Ryna instructed quietly, She disliked the witch and Justyna had just enough knowledge of healing beyond child birthing to see to such wounds,