Dragon Tamer - Book 1

Chapter 56

Marcie left Breen's house, a smile upon her lips and skipped back to Dafne's.

The house under the hill felt empty without her, somehow loosing much of the majesty and beauty that made it so homely.

The Daygon were talking urgently to each other in their own language when she entered, The prince seated on the edge of Dafne's bed, he was wearing his leathers again and appeared back to full health, the white strip in his hair and the carefully sewn up rips in his leather jerkin the only signs that barely weeks previously he had been wolfs dinner.

They fell silent when she entered, waiting for her too speak.

"I can take you too your fallen comrade now" she told them,

All three nodded at the same time and stood up at the same time, the prince paused and closed his eyes for a moment to collect himself, maybe he was not as well as he seemed but then the moment passed and he indicated the open door, "After you my lady, lead on" he said.

Svetatessa and Kesuvanna fell in step behind him, 'flanking' she believed it was called.

They looked around very carefully as they entered the treatment room and she caught Kesuvanna taking a deep sniff as if he could sniff out the man behind his Princes mutilation, he said nothing so she assumed he had not caught anything, hopefully.

She led them outside and into the forest, watching for the marks she had carved and feeling Dara above her, keeping an eye out as he had done for most of the night, he felt tired to her, an ache in his wing joints that nagged at him, she expressed her concern but he brushed it off and focused on keeping watch with an intensity that forced her out.

She shook herself then realised that she was had not bought a light or shovels, she turned and mentioned it to the silent Daygon.

Kesuvanna shook his head with an amused smile, "You are as ignorant of our ways as a new born" he said, before she could be offended he carried on, "We will dig the earth with our hands as is respectful to our fallen part'etar. As for a light..." a shaft of moonlight pierced the trees at the moment and caught all three Daygon's eyes causing them to glow with the light of the moon, much as the cats who wandered the farm's eyes did, "...We need no light by which to see" he finished.

Marcie turned away from these strange people with a shudder, but then laughed to herself, they were no stranger than she was for seeing in the dark. She continued on, the cat eyed Daygon following silently.

The smell alerted them before the girl did. The sickly scent of the earth taking a vessel back into her fold.

Svetatessa felt her heart grow heavy.

Her prince brushed past the girl and stood staring at the remains before falling to one knee and bowing his head, she and Kesuvanna followed suit with the girl standing watching them with her ever curious gaze.

Once the right amount of time for reflection was passed they rose from their crouches and surveyed the scene. They stood in silence for a while unsure of what to do, but not wanting to appear so to The Forgotten girl who shifted impatiently from one foot to the other. The prince was the first to approach the vessel, "We need something to cover it with" he said in the lost language of these people.

The girl pulled off her furs in one movement, and held them out a little hesitantly, underneath she wore a mans shirt and trousers, an unusual look for one of her peoples women to wear but one Svetatessa approved of. 

The prince laid the mottled furs over the stinking critter infested mass and then pointed to a patch of earth free of tree or root a little away from the vessel, "There" was all he said.

She and Kesuvanna did not hesitate, they laid down their weapons and made their way to the patch and began to dig at the ground with their hands.

She saw the girl step forward, possibly to assist but the prince caught her eye and shook his head, so she took a seat on the ground as far away from the vessel as she could without loosing them in the darkness. She wondered at the girls sight, clearly these people were not as blind in the night as their flatland counterparts.

The orb of light was alighting upon the horizon when they finally finished digging the pit, Svetatessa leaped out of the hole and held out a hand for Kesuvanna and once he was up they both held out hands for their prince to grab.

The pit dug, they returned to the vessel and, with mouths and noses firmly closed, they lifted the remains within the borrowed furs and carried it over to the pit where they lowered it as best they could before dropping it the remaining distance.

The girl had been dozing against a tree, arms wrapped around her knees but she jerked awake when the vessel landed with a thud on the cold bottom of the pit.

She stood, stretched and went to stand by them as they stared down at their deceased part'etar.

There came scuffing from the trees and the two remaining horses trotted softly to the graveside, standing with heads low in silence attendance, the girl stared at the horses in amazement, then leaned over and whispered, "What was his name?"

Svetatessa hid her annoyance at having to impart such common knowledge but she liked this girl and so said, in equally hushed tones, "He has no name now, he is returned to the earth and as such no longer exists as he once did"

Then she and her brethren crouched as one and began piling the dirt back over the vessel that was no longer their part'etar, committing him back to the earth from whence he came.