Chapter 50

Sebastian and Duruin did not get better. Their rate of sickness appeared to be happening at the same time, neither were worse than the other, and yet both were dying.

Dafne had not slept, she remained vigil at their sides, appearing to need no rest, testing concoctions to ease their symptoms and replacing bandages all the while.

The hours passed into the second day and the two men did not improve.

Dafne could feel their time bleeding away, she felt it as a dread which built in her heart. As always, it was trying to tell her something; tell her that these men needed to live? Or that something terrible would happen if they did not. Probably the latter. Otherwise why would 'She' have warned Marcie to save them.

And yet the brief glance she took when she went with the Daygon to treat the Kes'Koon had shown her enough for her to guess.

It was all linked with this accursed war. The war that brewed silently, that not one person truly wished to be apart of.

Something was happening, something awakening.

A Dragon Tamer had been chosen. The old guardians resurfacing to see it through to the end.

Everything would change again.

Marcie awoke after a much needed rest. She felt replenished, garbed in fresh shirt and trousers she felt surprisingly well, she felt she should have been worse hurt, considering her ordeal.

Dafne left her no time to contemplate this and set her to work immediately, washing bandages and mopping Sebastian's sweaty brow as his temperature rose dramatically.

Sebastian drifted in and out of consciousness, his pain was numbed with herbs, so in his waking moment he blinked in confusion and tried to speak. Again, Marcie found herself whispering nonsense to him to fill her own time as well as his.

Dafne left Marcie to tend to the outsider and Svetatessa to her prince and went into her back rooms. She located the room hidden to all except her by a false wall and entered its depths.

Ignoring the mystical artefacts and trinkets; she headed straight into the middle of the room where a shaft of unfiltered afternoon sunlight fell directly onto a small plinth holding a shallow bowl made from pink glass. Dafne pulled a large vial of clear liquid from one of the pockets of her apron and poured the contents into the bowl, watching it expand and grow until it filled the bowl to the brim.

Then she took a small piece of cheese from another pocket and placed it onto the floor. A tiny mouse shuffled excitedly out of a hole in the wall, it sniffed the air and then scurried forward to nibble on the cheese by Dafne's foot.

The poison worked quickly and the mouse stopped moving after only a few bites. Dafne picked it up, it fit in the palm of her hand, and produced a small knife from her sleeve.

She stabbed the mouse directly in its heart, feeling a little sorrow at the needed death of the tiny creature, then squeezed its blood onto the surface of the water in the bowl.

Immediately the blood dispersed and the water turned the pink of the bowl before fading into an almost mirror image, except a mirror that did not show the present.

Dafne discarded the mouse and, placing her hands of either side of the bowl, leaned over it until her nose nearly touched the water.

Deep in the bowl she saw the outsiders burn their comrade as was their custom and saw the Daygon bury their prince as was their custom, then she saw the Mes'calla mourn the death of her son and saw her take up her spear of wrath and strike it upon the ground so that sparks erupted from the end, declaring war. She saw the Daygon horde ride from the Juggernaut and saw the human army ride to meet them on the plains that separated their two nations and the sky above them turned black and blood rained, and a high fierce scream of delight pierced the black sky and resounded in her ear drums wiping the image clean.

But it was not done with her, it showed her Marcie, dear, sweet Marcie, who looked at her, not with fear but with love and fascination, who had so great a burden to bear, but one that only she could carry, and what she saw caused her to rip herself away from the bowl in horror. She fell to the floor, old bones weak and head pounding as the magic screamed at her for breaking the connection.

When she was able to walk again she left the room and the accursed bowl and marched out of her home to the edge of the forest.

Checking there were no prying eyes near, she held out her hand and whistled.

A few seconds past before there came the sound of flapping wings and from out of the trees there flapped a pure white owl, with eyes as black as night.

White Wisdom settled itself on her arm, gently so as to not scratch her with its claws and cocked its head in her direction, its black eyes unfathomable.

Bringing her in close, Dafne whispered into her ear in the old language,

"Raise all the creatures of the air and the burrow to keep their ears to the land and sky. Something is awakening, and stretching its wings. It means harm on a scale we may have never seen before. Tell them all" She moved to let the bird fly, then paused, bringing her in close again, she added,

"And tell that excitable newbie as well, but ask him to keep it from Marcie as best he can"

Then she held out her arm and the bird took flight, disappearing quickly into the trees.

Knowing now; what she had to do, Dafne marched with purpose back into her house,

"Marcie, come ere girl" she said as she walked past, she did not wait for a reply but left Marcie to catch her up, which she did easily, girl had real long legs she did.

Dafne led her down the cellar steps to the stand among the pots and jars,

"What is it?" Marcie asked, despite her long sleep, she looked drained; it cant be easy to watch a friend die.

"I need to tell ya somethin Marcie" Dafne started, "An ya probs wont understand it, but I need to tell ya, its important it is"

"Alright"Marcie said slowly,

Without further ado, Dafne turned to the door that had remained locked for many years.

"What is in there?" Marcie asked, voice hushed,

"You'll see" Dafne said, she reached into one of her pockets and pulled out the key and pushed it into the lock. She felt Marcie tense behind her.

She turned the key slowly, feeling the old lock protest, then give way with a clunk.

She pushed it open, then stood back, she stared straight ahead, silently telling Marcie to go in ahead of her.

Marcie watched Dafne take out the key and place it reverently into the lock, she turned it and opened the door, pulling it wide she stepped back.

Hot damp air rushed out of the dark doorway, sticking to her clothes and hair instantly. She sucked in a breath and got a nose full of a rich earthy scent that reminded her of the forest in the warmest of summers.

She glanced at Dafne, her eyes wide, "What is it?" she whispered,

Dafne just motioned with her hand, her eyes unreadable.

Consoling herself that Dafne would not willingly place her in harms way, she licked her dry lips and stepped forward, so she was standing on the eve of the doorframe, then she stepped through it, feeling cool stone steps under her feet. Dafne came and stood behind her, closing the door so they stood in complete darkness, so that even Marcie's eyes could see nothing.

Dara's alarm felt very far away now. She sensed he might be near, and got a faint glimpse of the village from the sky, and then what she thought was the roof of Dafne's hillside home. He was close by, and anxious for her. She didn't blame him.

Dafne placed her hand on her shoulder,

"Keep goin" she said calmly, her hand pushing gently,

"Where are we going? Your scaring me." Marcie said quietly, her teeth chattering, despite the heat.

"You'll see" was all she said.

Marcie felt her way carefully down the seemingly never ending steps, Dafne's hand guiding her.

She wondered if she had ever been so terrified in her life.

Her breath came out in sharp gasps as the air became thicker and more heavy.

Meeting a fearsome dragon would almost be welcome at this stage.

After what felt like an age, Dafne's hand tightened on her shoulder and she barely stopped herself from stumbling as the ground evened out and she came to the end of the great staircase.

The air felt different down here, wherever here was, Marcie felt that she was in a great open cavern, the openness of the space felt very reminiscent of Dara's cave, but not so comforting.

She felt Dafne move away from her, and almost cried out, begging her not to leave her alone.

But then a small pin point of light appeared. A small green light.

So small that Marcie wondered if it was just a fabrication of her mind trying to see things in the total darkness. But then another small green light appeared and then another until there was a small cluster of hovering green lights, illuminating a frail old hand, more lights spread from the hand until Dafne's whole body was illuminated by the lights; more appeared, spilling out from Dafne's raised hand, filling the air, drifting across the ground, illuminating the trees roots the covered the earthen floor, so thick Marcie did not know where to tread.

The lights carried on spreading, revealing the walls of the great cavern, also covered in tree roots, some so big Marcie would only be able to scale them with a ladder or rope.

Dafne held her hand aloft and the lights swirled around in a frenzy, revealing more of the cavern until they showed the center piece of this marvel.

Marcie's eyes widened as they beheld the enormous tree at the apex of the space. So great its many roots rose well above her head, feeding its huge body that was wide enough to dwarf The Hall in the village, by far the largest structure Marcie had ever seen. She craned her neck to see the branches of the great tree spreading over the high ceiling of the cavern, and then trailing down towards the ground, covered in many tiny elongated heart shaped leaves that appeared a coppery red colour in the strange green light.

She stared in wonder at the spectacle before her.

"I call er leeben" Dafne said quietly, also gazing at the tree, "The Daygon call her Mes'soon. The Queen tree. Mother o The Forgotten Forest"

Marcie barely heard her,

"How..."she started to say, then trailed off as she realised the depth of the question.

"Each of er roots" Dafne continued, casting a hand around her, "Is a tree in this ere great forest, she stands at its centre, the heart."

Marcie stared at the host of roots, too many to count, too many.

"Why did you show me this?" she asked quietly, "Why now?"

Dafne sighed deeply, then turned and looked at her,

"This tree...it as many gifts. One o them is ta heal any illness or injury"

Realisation dawned, "It can save them?" Marcie breathed,

"Yeh, she might. If thats what she wants"

Marcie stared back at the huge behemoth; seeing it in light of Dafne's statement,

"It could save so many people" she whispered,

She suddenly glared at Dafne accusingly, "Why don't you use its power all the time!? Why not use it to save luce's baby that died a few years ago? Why not cure fathers bad leg? Why not-" She felt what she said next as a punch to her gut-"Why not...my mother..."

Dafne looked away from her,

"Ya don understand girl" she said quietly, her face turned away, grief evident in her voice,"I could not use its power to save everyone. Ya see er leaves, thats all the leaves she got, she wont grow no more, not ever, she run out of leaves...I dunno, but I dun wanna find out what happens then. I could save everyone who is hurt or ill, but what then? When does it stop eh?" her voice rose, the sadness gaining, she wrung her hands, "When does it stop eh, when is it right fer me ta use it? Every time someone gets the sniffles? Every time Hanson Cutter falls out a tree and breaks a bone or somin? Nah, ize got ta know, know it in ere." she beat her breast with a closed fist, staring at her tree, the lights illuminating the paths of the tears on her face, "Ize got ta know...which ones...are important enough...ta live" she trailed off.

In the silence, a breeze Marcie couldn't feel, caught the leaves of the huge tree and in a great display of rustling, so alien in the silence of the cavern, the leaves and branches leaned, and swayed in Dafne's direction, seemingly trying to comfort her in her moment of anguish. Dafne sucked in a rattling breath,

"She helps me, helps me ta decide...who lives...an who dies"

"It...talks to you?" Marcie asked,

"Nah, not talks, but...she makes me feel...what shes feelin" Taking a deep breath Dafne turned back to face Marcie, looking her straight in the eye, she said, "Ah reckon its similar ta ow you an yer Dragon communicate girly"

Marcie stared, her heart very nearly skipped a beat, she breathed faster.

"You do know" she said, staring at her mentor, her mentor who let her mother die and who knew her secret, "You know bout Dara"

"Dara is it? Well, I guess ya had yer reasons fer namin him that, cant say I like it, but if he gotta have a name, it works fine ah guess. An yer, I knew the second yer met his momma. She-" she indicated the tree-"knows everythin that goes on in this ere forest ya see, keeps me well informed"

Marcie couldn't help the fear that took her over at Dafne's words. She knew!

But she was struck by something,

"Back then...you warned me to help him" she said, watching Dafne closely for a reaction, "Your voice went funny and you said, 'save him', was that...her..."

"Yer that was her, cant say she does that often, but she needed ta get yer attention" Dafne said, briskly wiping her tears away, her moment of vulnerability behind her.

"How did you get this...connection?" Marcie wondered,

Dafne shrugged,

"Yer know the legend, I sought it out ta cure my husband from his sickness. He wasn't a good husband, only when it suited im, but he could be ever so good ta me, an I would ave travelled to the ends o the earth fer him. And I did in the end, I travelled here...not in time ta save him though."

"What do you mean? What legend?" Marcie asked confused,

"Yer know, the legend of the first settlers. The farmer an his wife an kids and servants" she said briskly.

"What? But that was...there was..."

Dafne watched her carefully,

"That was hundreds...no...thousands of years ago" Marcie tried to remember her numbers, she thought in terms of grandparents and tales told by the elders of things remembered from years past,

"It was so long ago..." she breathed,

"The villagers, they be right when they call me a witch" Dafne said, her lip curled in distaste, "Ah might not like it but...I got magic, that fer sure"

"But...you cant be the first settlers wife...you cant be..."

"An why not?" she challenged, "You might live as long as me now you an the dragon are bonded, although knowing you an how much trouble ya get into, ah doubt ya will make it as far as me"

"Magic"Marcie whispered,

"Yep, magic. The villagers fear it but it be the reason fer their existence, so they should be bloody grateful shouldn't they"

"So you are my ancestor?" Marcie asked, still trying to make sense of this information.

"Yep. My kids married the stable hands and the servants and then their kids married the children the servants had between themselves and we all spread out from there"

Marcie stared about her, this cavern seemed so much more, powerful, now she knew Dafne was bonded in some way to the incredible tree at its centre. She marked the way Dafne appeared to belong there, between the huge old roots with tiny green lights hovering in the air around her.

"What does all this mean?" she asked.

Dafne seemed to relax slightly, she glanced around then found an old root that was the right height and seated herself upon it, Marcie copied her, choosing the root opposite her, which was quite high up and required her to climb onto it then sit so her feet dangled.

"It means that I and Leeban can save the prince. And avert disaster"Dafne said,

"Save the prince?"

"Yep, his is a death ah can prevent" she said,

"And...Sebastian?"Marcie asked,

Dafne paused,

"Yer know what ah said, I cant save all everyone"

"But...what if it was him I was meant to save" Marcie pondered,

Dafne shook her head,

"It doesn't work that way girly, ones a prince an ones a servant, a nobody"

"But-"

"Marcie! I seen it, if he dies, there be war, war on a scale yer cannot imagine!" Dafne said loudly, her voice ringing across the cavern,

Marcie paused,

"War" she said, testing the word,

"Yes child, an it will come to The Forgotten, it never has before, but this time...this time it will destroy everything. An I canny stop it,but I can try and stop this one thing, the death of the prince, he will be the catalyst for Armageddon. But only if he dies." Dafne said, her shoulders slumped, and Marcie thought she caught a glimpse of the burden the old woman bore.

"I cant just sit back and watch Sebastian die" she said,

"Yer have to child, something's are more important"

"Its not fair!" she said hotly, her temper rising, "That I have to watch people die...and it cant...I cant do anything..." all at once she felt sad, the sadness of a child bereft of a beloved parent and an adult woman watching someone she knew succumb and knowing that his death would bring about more pain to those close to him.

Dafne watched her with compassion etched into every line of her face, lines that were not usually visible, "It is not easy child...to watch those you love in pain and to watch them die. Its somethin yer... yer never really get used to"

Marcie sucked in a breath to keep the tears at bay.

"Now..."Dafne said, she held up a hand towards the tree, palm up.

All of a sudden the leaves started rustling again, the branches swaying, the sound rose and rose until it resembled the crashing of a horrendous thunderstorm; Marcie clapped her hands over her sensitive ears and screwed her face up to the noise.

When the rustling had reached its peak it began to quieten; and, from way up in the branches, a single leaf, detached itself and began to fall. Alternatively spinning like a top and gently fluttering on the air it tumbled and span and drifted until it came to rest on Dafne's hand.

Dafne held the precious scarlet leaf out to Marcie,

"Now, we can-" she started to say but she was cut off, when another leaf fell and tumbled off its perch, Dafne turned towards it and held out her hand, her expression unreadable.

When the leaf landed on her palm she held the two leaves up,

"Does it take two leaves to save the prince?" Marcie asked curiously,

Dafne shook her head

Marcie's heart lifted,

"Then..."she started to say,

"She wants me to save them both" Dafne said, her voice a mixture of disbelief and surprise,

She looked towards the tree, as if wanting answers. But the tree remained silent, nothing stirred except for the lights.

She looked at Marcie and her mouth curved into a smile, "Lets go" she said,

Marcie needed no other prompting, she jumped off the tree root and bounded up the stairs, the oppressive heat no longer a drain on her energy, she felt Dafne scramble up behind her, but she did not stop until she reached the top. Dafne panted and wheezed when she got there then looked back to where the green lights were slowly drifting to the ground and winking out of existence like stars in the morning, until the tree was swallowed up by the darkness.

Marcie reluctantly closed the door and Dafne locked it with the key and slipped it back into her pocket.

Marcie breathed deeply and properly for what she felt was a long time, the sweat cooled on her skin and she swept her damp hair away from her face.

Dafne ordered her to boil some water and she ran off to find a kettle, she returned to find Dafne propping the two patients up on many pillows. She poured the hot water into two drinking bowls and then carefully added the leaves to them both. She handed one to Marcie and they quickly rushed it to the prince.

Svetatessa watched them like a hungry hawk,

"You spoke with the Mes'soon?" she asked, a spark of hope in her voice, "She has agreed to help?"

"Yeah, now lift his head up so we can save im eh" Dafne barked and Marcie held the bowl to the princes lips, she dribbled a little onto his tongue,

"Careful! Don't waste it" Dafne hissed,

The prince swallowed pitifully, and Marcie gently poured more into his mouth, at which point he began to drink in great gulps, and had the bowl drained in a few minutes. Svetatessa let loose a great sigh of relief when he had finished and picked the princes hand up to kiss it and place his knuckles on her forehead, in some sort of gesture Marcie couldn't hope to decipher, but it did not appear to be romantic in nature.

She hurried over to Sebastian, he appeared a lot worse than the prince, however his eyes were open and they flicked over to her when she neared and she saw the pain in them.

"It will be alright." she whispered softly to him, "This should save you" she held up the bowl to his lips, and watched as he drank the whole thing and then abruptly relaxed into his pillows, his eyes closing.

"Why save him!?" Kesuvanna the other Daygon, his leg wrapped in bandages and leaning on a cane, stomped over to the bed and loomed over her,

"He is the cause of all this!" he used his cane to point to the bed his prince lay upon,

"The Mes'soon declared he should live" Marcie told him, standing so she could put herself between the two men,

"The Mes'soon!" the Daygon said disbelievingly, "Why would she save this Cu'tama? Why? When my prince would be dead because of him" he spat on the floor,

Dafne puffed out her chest threateningly, "Spit on my floor again boy an ill make ya lick it off. Yer do not question the Mes'soon, she got a reason fer everythin"

Not to be cowed the Daygon bared his teeth in a snarl, "Maybe we should question, the Kes'koon did the same thing, acting strangely, shedding its leaves for Cu'tama and Cu'rana, you may have stopped it making mistakes but what if it is only the beginning and the Mes'soon is not sick as her brother was."

Dafne's face twisted into a snarl to match the Daygon and she hissed between clenched teeth,

"Yer listen ere boy, she ain't sick, ah would know, this here the first leaves she shed in nigh a hundred years, just be grateful she shed em at all or yer prince would be dead!"

Before Kesuvanna could retort, Svetatessa came up behind him and barked at him in their own language, he went to snarl something her way but clearly thought better of it and stomped over to sit with his prince.

"Gonna have to move them away from each other" Dafne muttered, she glanced at the speck of phlegm tarnishing her immaculate floor and grumbled under her breath as she rooted around in her pockets for a cloth.

"What happens now?" Marcie asked, dabbing at Sebastian's head with a towel,

"Now, we wait" Dafne said, then she walked over to the male Daygon and dropped a cloth into his lap,

"Clean up yer spit yer pig" she snapped at him and bustled about attending to her patients.