Chapter 70

It may have been merely days later. But for Marcie it felt like years.

She measured time by how the pain lessened slowly over the years until she felt her body move and it did not send spasms of pain though all her extremities.

It was at this point that she thought it might be safe to open her eyes. The act of pulling her eyelids up required so much effort she almost gave up halfway, but when she finally opened them she blinked slowly as the light from the crystals wavered then solidified.

She admired the remarkable way the great glass structures glowed from within, some more than others, all seemingly a different shade or hue.

She stared at these shapes until she felt brave enough to try and move.

She started with her fingers, stretching them and flexing the joints. They felt weak and creaked like old floorboards but they worked.

Then she moved her arms, and was surprised when she felt them disturb the water she lay submerged in.

She was so surprised in fact that she scrambled and splashed, finding her feet then on the bottom of the seemingly shallow pool and grabbing a ledge and pulling herself up it till she was on solid ground.

Lying panting beside the body of water she found herself weak again and instead of waiting for herself to recover she rolled over and pushed herself up into a sitting position, holding herself up on trembling arms she tried to speak,

"D-"she tried and found her voice hoarse and dry. She swallowed and tried again,

"Dara?" A little better, still weak, she coughed,

"Dara? Where are you?"

In response, a great scrambling came from some distant dark corner, and a nightmare black shape unfolded itself and slunk into the light, nearly filling the cavern.

Marcie felt her heart sink.

The great hulking shape that Dara had become, lowered his great head and breathed in deeply.

Marcie held herself very still.

Dara padded carefully around her, his bulk sending tiny tremors through the ground. His huge spiked tail swished too close for comfort and she flinched. He circled her then settled down, bending his legs until his belly rested on the ground in front of her and lowering his head till it was eye level with hers.

She could not read anything in those huge black eyes.

The huge dragon made a huff sound and lay his head, very carefully, on her lap. The weight was enough to keep her legs pinned but not to crush them.

She kept very still. His eye rolled around to watch her, she looked back at him.

Tentatively, she reached out and lay her hand upon the space between his eyes, just under his great horns, he closed his eyes.

Marcie gently, felt around with her mind, and felt him as a faint presence,she focused on it and gently coaxed it 'closer', until she felt a tug of awareness from the presence. Dara sighed softly and suddenly she could feel him just as she could before, except much more, he seemed bigger in her mind as well as out of it, his presence so huge she struggled to arrange her own thoughts for a moment until he settled down and she could hear herself think.

She could tell that he was still in pain, a whole body ache that she felt herself. Some of his scales still had not grown through and the patches of raw skin wept and itched, her teeth felt raw and she ran her tongue around them just to make sure they were still there as the sensation of them missing was so strong.

As they shared their respective pains, Marcie felt Dara slowly relax, he shifted his huge body until he was curled around her, his scarily spiked tail came a little too close again and she kept a wary eye on it. He settled down more, his head became heavier on her legs so she carefully shifted them out from under the weight. He did not seem to mind and simply shifted closer, huffing with exertion before slumping into instant sleep.

As his eyes closed Marcie felt herself become overwhelmed with tiredness. With nothing better to do she lay her head down in the dusty floor of the cavern and fell asleep as soon as her eyes closed.

A few days later, Marcie stretched herself up on her tiptoes, lifting her hands to the ceiling of the cavern, then reached down to touch the ground, feeling her body protest, sweat dripped from her face but she held the pose for a few minutes before standing straight and relaxing.

Dara was still sleeping, he awoke for a few hours at a time but always returned to exhausted slumber afterwards. Marcie felt she had slept enough and so went off in search of the pool she had been submerged in.

She found it at the very back of the cavern where the ceiling sloped downwards to meet the floor, so the crystals seemed to grown from it like great strange shaped fungi.

The pool itself seemed to be fed by water that dripped off the crystals that hung above it, the silence of the cavern was punctuated by the steady drip drip of the droplets.

The pool had perfectly smooth sides an uneven bottom and was so clear she thought it was full of the glowing crystals until she put her finger in it to gauge the temperature and the image rippled.

When it smoothed over again she saw her own image, dirty face, red tired eyes and messy hair, she grimaced.

Stripping out of her soiled clothes she soaked and scrubbed them in the pool, then lay them over one of the low hanging crystals to dry and they began to climb into the pool, when she caught sight of her reflection though she paused. There, the mark on her chest, it had grown.

Last she had looked it had been at her collar bone, a flame like pattern, branching over her right breast. Now it was at her shoulder.

She traced the pattern with her fingertips and felt a tingle in her right hand.

She carefully climbed into the bath, concentrating so the water heated slowly around her as she did so, she grabbed a cloth and a wedge of dry soap and set about scrubbing every inch of her skin until she started to feel clean again, she dragged her fingers through her hair until it was untangled and ran the soap through it until it was soft and silky. Then she let herself float in the pool for a very long time, enjoying the feeling of weightlessness.

When Dara awoke Marcie led him to the entrance of the cavern, he slunk after her but stopped in the shadow

She stepped to the edge of the cliff and examined the forest that lay spread before her. It was exactly the same.

Somehow she thought it would look different, would have changed somehow. It felt like an age since she had seen the sky and let fresh clean air fill her lungs, the heat hit her as well, it was cool in the cave but outside the hot season was in full swing, laying like a blanket over everything.

Marcie wiped her brow on her sleeve then beckoned for Dara.

He placed a single paw in the light, left it there for a moment then retracted it.

"Come on now" Marcie said

Dara placed a single claw in the light again then drew it back and shuffled around to show her his rump and sat down.

Marcie shouldn't help but giggle,

"Come on, its not that bad"

But the dragon did not respond. All she felt from his was stubbornness.

"What are ya scared?" she teased,

Dara turned his head to regard her scathingly then turned away, Marcie rolled her eyes,

"I guess ill just have to leave you here while I go hunt then" she said and started to climb down the cliff face. She was just below the ledge when she heard a loud and very exasperated sigh and then the cliff trembled under her hands and a large dragon squinted over the ledge at her, she grinned back and continued her descent.

She reached the ground and looked up to see Dara, she could just make him out.

"Come on down" she shouted up to him, and when he did not respond, "Is the big scary Dragon scared of heights all of a sudden?!"

The cliff remained silent so Marcie started walking away slowly.

A great tree shaking roar caused her to turn as a huge black shape leapt into the sky. Unfurling wings twice as wide as he was long.

He flapped them wildly for a few moments, jerking higher and higher until he seemed to get the hang of it and then glided around the open sky. He let loose a roar of pure joy and Marcie felt it all the way through their bond causing her to laugh aloud.

She felt Dara gain more confidence as he climbed higher. He leveled out and tilted his left wing tip haltingly so he could circle. He jerkily trailed around and then wobbled out, he was doing well.

Then he somehow twisted around and lost control, falling down backwards, wings flapping uselessly, screaming all the way.

He crashed into the trees with a earth shaking thud, trees tore themselves out of the heaved ground and fell upon him where he lay.

Marcie scrambled to the downed dragon, laughter bubbling out of her lips. He radiated embarrassment and she felt no pain, more tiredness and disappointment.

Dara scratched around trying to turn over, after several attempts he managed to heave himself up onto his fore paws, his wings draped on either side, too exhausted to tuck them away.

His gappy jaws hung open as he panted from exertion, when he had recovered his breath he swung his head in Marcie's direction and fixed her with a mournful look, she could not hold it in any longer and cracked up, wiping real tears from her eyes, clutching her stomach as laughter racked her body.

Dara snarled at her unhappily then heaved his huge body around and slumped on the ground.

After her laughter had dried up, Marcie joined him, resting her back against his shoulder, one arm laying across his wing membrane, marvelling at the sheer size of this creature who shared her mind.

After resting, Marcie convinced Dara to try again.

It did not take much.

Once his strength came back he was anxious to prove he could do it.

However, he quickly realised he would have to take off from the ground, a much harder task than jumping off a great height and catching the air in his wings.

Marcie fed him the rest of the game she had caught to give him enough energy.

He wolfed it down then used his claws and tail to clear a large area in the trees, slamming the trunks with his tail then ripping them away, Marcie standing a good and safe distance from the carnage.

"That should be enough" She called, and Dara whipped his spiked tail around in a circle to clear any lingering debris.

Then he looked at her uncertainly, Marcie mimed flapping her arms then jumped. Something she had witnessed birds of prey do.

Dara lifted his wings doubtfully, he stretched them wide then tucked them in and stretched them again, seemingly warming them up.

When he was satisfied he beat his wings experimentally.

Dust plumed.

He beat them again, faster this time.

A cloud of dust and debris rose into the air.

His wings beat the air again and again.

The leaves on the trees rustled and swayed, the dust cloud grew and swelled, creating tiny whirlwinds. Marcie pulled her shirt up to cover her nose and mouth as her eyes watered.

Dara panted and strained and tensed his hindquarters ready to jump.

He leapt into the air.

And landed back on the ground with a thump.

He growled low in his throat, his whole body tensing now, his wings hit the air faster and faster. He stretched his wings further and further after every flap, until, finally, on the last colossal downwards stroke of his wings that rent bark from nearby trees, he jumped.

His wings flapped, once, twice, holding his bulk in the air as he strained.

Then.

He started gaining height.

His great wings lifted him higher and higher, out of the trees where he was able to awkwardly angle his body, tilt his wings ever so slightly and catch the air, swooping over the trees, the top branches tickling his belly as flew past.

Marcie coughed dust out of her throat and whooped wheezily.

She ran to the cliff side and hurriedly scrambled up the rock. When she cleared the edge she screamed Dara's name and whooped again. Dara wobbled dangerously and had to find his rhythm again, he chided her in their mind space and Marcie acquiesced smugly.

She showed him images of the birds she had seen in flight. Dara seemed a little put out at being compared to the tiny creatures who's feathers he often had to scrape out of his teeth but paid attention non the less.

He attempted to tilt his head down wards to dive then come out of it quickly but ended up crashing into a very large, very old Iron Wood.

The tree was, fortunately, very strong and Dara was able to grab the trunk in his claws and hold on. He caught his breath then, unsure how to continue, sent a questioning thought to Marcie.

Marcie sent back a mental shrug and suggested jumping with wings out spread to catch the air.

Dara did not like that idea and held onto the Iron Wood even tighter.

Marcie sat down on the cliff to wait for him.

After a while, Dara realised that he had to do something.

So he did just as Marcie suggested and spread his wings out and leapt from the tree, twisting as he did so.

Somehow, it worked.

His wings caught the air just right and he was able to gain height once again.

He flew for so long that the sun went down and night settled upon the forest, uncomfortably warm.

As the last of the light faded, Dara's excitement could no longer stave off his exhaustion and he managed to land, somewhat more gracefully then previously, on the  cliff ledge. He scrambled on the rock for a few moments, then was able to tuck his wings in carefully.

He lowered his head to Marcie and she hugged his neck tightly.

Her own tiredness, she was still worn out from the last few days, was heightened by Dara's own.

So she stumbled back into the cave, Dara shuffling along behind her, whenever she would have stopped he would nudge her with his snout and she carried on.

When at last she could go no further she sat down heavily and waved her hand at him to continue,

"Ill just sleep here" she told him.

He sighed dramatically then grabbed hold of her shirt in his teeth, very carefully, then he lifted her up.

Marcie yelped in protest and tried to wriggle as her feet left the air but Dara twisted his neck around and deposited her on his back. In the junction between his shoulders and neck was a groove that perfectly fit her rump.

After the small heart attack she was too tired to protest and so, made herself comfortable, wrapped her arms around his neck, closed her eyes and promptly fell asleep.

Dara carried his precious load slowly to the back of the cavern and lay himself carefully down so as not to jolt her. Then he too fell fast asleep.