Dragon Tamer - Book 1

Chapter 24

Marcie felt numb. She knew it must be Dara's feelings that made her this way.

Her own feelings, she had no idea what they were. Mostly an sense of bewilderment and shock.

With the mother Dragon's departure the temperature in the cave dropped, winter was well on its way, all that kept Marcie warm at night was snuggling up with Dara.

The tiny Dragon was sad and subdued, he just stayed in the cave, curled in on himself. Hoping to break him out of it, Marcie took him out hunting with her, as she stalked sliently through the bush, bow and arrow at the ready he seemed to perk up, even catching himself a large rat. 

After finishing off his kill, he spread his bat like wings and soared through the branches, banking and swerving and calling to Marcie who ran close behind in his wake, she laughed when he flipped over a low hanging branch and almost lost his rhythm. She ran all the way back to the cave and Dara flew straight up onto the ledge whilst Marcie scrambled up the cliff face, Dara grinned at her from the top, feeling very smug. At the top she put her hands on her hips and mock glared down at him, sending him disapproving thoughts, then she instantly changed them to playful. Dara had only a second to react before Marcie grabbed him and began wrestling with him, the same way she sometimes wrestled with the children in the village, after a while she found out that Dragons were ticklish and Dara sent up squeals of protest. 

They played up on the ledge till the light began to fade, and then neither of them wanted to go back into the cave.

Somehow the dark opening seemed frightening and ominous again, now that its main occupant was gone, it had the feeling abandoned homes often had, a feeling that the ones dwelling there had left and taken all the comfort with them. 

So they sat and watched the sun set over the trees, Dara settled down next to Marcie, his head on her knee, just watching as vivid oranges, yellows and pinks streaked the sky in a last ditch attempt to force the sun to stay above the horizon.

Only when Marcie started to shiver in the late autumn chill did she gather Dara up and made her way into the cave where it was more sheltered but still as cold.

She set put her bedroll and snuggled down under the blankets, Dara pressed up beside her and shivered through the night.

The next morning Marcie gathered her pack and her kills from the day before, said goodbye to Dara and started back to the village.

She had thought long and hard about it while she had been unable to sleep and realised that it simple wasn't possible to stay in this cave forever, no matter how much she wanted to. For one thing; she was completely unprepared for winter and for another thing she finally had her father back, and she wasn't going to waste another minute of their time together, she just prayed that he hadn't relapsed since she left.

Dara cried when she told him she had to go but she explained to him that she had to go back, she had a responsibility, but he just cried harder, she almost cried with him.

She set off, hunting as she went, that way she'd have some game to show the village.

She went slowly, savouring the crisp autumn air and the weak sunlight that sometimes filtered through the leaves and warmed her face as she walked.

It would have been perfect had she not had a constant nagging feeling that she was being watched. She changed her route several times, and even doubled back on herself but the feeling remained.

She set up camp that night cautiously, finding a large hollowed out tree and bedded down surrounded by old dry wood.

In the morning the feeling had lessened slightly but it was still there, she ate a few berries and some edible grass for breakfast and stared out quickly. She was only a few miles away from the hollow tree when the prickling on the back of her neck told her that whoever was watching...whatever was watching her was back again.

She stood still, listening hard, then she turned around and focused on the trees and bushes and vines, trying to make out anything in the thicket. She felt a strange pressing on her instincts, a feeling she couldn't explain, but she sensed that there was something in front of her, hidden by the barely passable foliage.

Suddenly the presence shifted to her right, her head jerked in that direction, and then it moved again so it was behind her, she spun around and then held still, her senses straining. She very slowly slid her pack off her shoulder along with her kills, and wrapped a hand around her bow, her eyes flickering around, following the presence. She lifted a hand cautiously over her shoulder and slid an arrow from her quiver and notched it, she pulled the string back as far as it would go, the wood creaked as it was put under strain, the tip she kept pointing down, her arm poised to jerk it into place at a moments notice. She waited patiently, following the progress of the presence in her minds eye.

She didn't know why but she felt certain she knew where the who or the what was going to be and so in one movement she had the string by her ear and loosed. The arrow shot straight into the undergrowth and thudded against something wooden, the sound of the thunk was swiftly followed by a frightened squeal and Dara tumbled out of the bush at her feet.

Marcie gasped, dropped her bow and arrow and grabbed Dara in a tight hug. Relief washed through her as she realised that she had missed him and he was unharmed, then she realised in a panic that she was on a hunting trail and anyone could stumble across them, she snatched up her pack and her bow and held Dara tight as she sprinted through the trees, leaping over logs, bushes and stumps and dodging between tree trunks, branches and vines. She didn't stop until she no longer recognise any of the trees around her, at which point she dumped Dara on the ground unceremoniously and crouched over him,

"What in the Goddesses name do you think you are doing!?" she asked him angrily.

Dara was confused, when she had been running he had thought it was a game and had been happy and excited and now he couldn't work out why she was angry, he blinked at her,

"You don't follow me, you understand! You do not come back with me, you stay in the cave" she said,

Dara felt her anger and shrank away from her, she carried on,

"Its dangerous Dara! dangerous, you must stay where they can never find you!"

He whimpered, eyes pleading, she felt regret from him, regret that he had made her angry, immediately her rage was snuffed out and she realised it was fear that had fuelled it. She reached out to him and he flinched until he realised she only wanted to pat him so he allowed it, still oozing sadness,

"I'm sorry Dara, so sorry" she said gathering him close, "But you must understand, the village is dangerous and I don't want you to get hurt, that's why I need you to go back"

She felt that he understood but he wasn't happy about it, his tail wrapped around her wrist and held tight, she squeezed him,

"Im sorry, it breaks my heart to leave you, but i must. I cant take you with me and I can't stay, okay?"

Dara just stayed quite and nuzzled his head under her chin.

A while later he gave her one last glance over his shoulder before loping away through the undergrowth and Marcie hefted her pack back onto her shoulders and carried on in the opposite direction.