First ~ Second ~ Third
The sun was barely beginning to creep over the horizon when Marquis himself woke Taryn up the next day.
"Good morning!" the Marquis said loudly, throwing open the door so fiercely that it banged against the wall. His heavy boots thunked on the rugs as he strode into the room, followed by a storm of other, lighter feet behind him.
Taryn curled up tightly beneath the covers, hoping to hide himself away, but soon hands outside of his cocoon grabbed the blankets and yanked them off.
The boy yelped from the sudden cold and shot up.
"Hey!"
Before Taryn could do or say anything else, the Marquis tossed him a bundle of clothes with enough force to knock him backwards onto the mattress.
"Here," The Marquis said. "Get dressed."
Then, he went to the window, flocked by a group of servants. He appeared to scan the courtyard below and didn't look at Taryn when he said, "You will be accompanying me today on my rounds."
Taryn scowled at the Marquis' back and pulled the blankets around his shoulders. "Why?"
The servants stared at him, and Taryn met their looks with a glower of his own. The Marquis glanced back at him, frowning, but only said, "Each day that I have left you here alone, you’ve managed to attract danger and, in complete disregard of good sense, have gone so far as to leave the security of the grounds to seek it out."
"I didn’t--"
"Am I to believe the-- the bird--" the Marquis fumbled on the word-- "Was within the bounds of my courtyard, then? And that you did not crawl over the wall in order to find it?"
Taryn flushed and examined the embroidery on the clothes the Marquis had tossed him. "I wasn’t looking for it," he mumbled. "I just found it."
"Yes, and I expect that if I were to leave you to your own devices, you’d soon just find other trouble. No. Today I'd rather you accompany me. At the very least," he added dryly, "If something should happen, I won't have to travel far to find you."
Taryn said nothing, but thought uncharitable thoughts. He dragged himself from the fleeting warmth of the bed and dressed behind the screen Holly and Briar had gotten for him. Beyond it, he heard the Marquis mumbling orders to the other elves, who responded in frantic whispers.
I wonder what's got them so upset? he thought.
When he finished, the Marquis led him outside.
The knights were in the courtyard, readying the shaggy, white deer. One brought the Marquis his mount, avoiding looking in Taryn's direction. For a moment, the Marquis visibly relaxed, stiffness in his demeanor melting away as he held out his hand for the deer to nose. Taryn watched him stroke the deer's white neck before swinging himself effortlessly onto its back.
"What's his--?" Taryn bit back the words, remembering how faerie-creatures were sensitive about names. "What do you call him?"
The reminder of his presence brought the stiffness back into the Marquis.
"He is called Ashur," The Marquis said shortly. "Come here."
Taryn obliged, and the Marquis pulled him up onto the deer, in front of him. To Taryn's dismay, there was nothing for him to hold on to; the deer had no proper tack, just the blanket across its back they were sitting on, and the reins that the Marquis held.
"Hold onto his neck, if you lack the balance to sit up," said the Marquis gruffly. Then, like an afterthought, he added, "I will not let you fall."
The other knights finished readying themselves, and the group set off. Instead of speeding down the road as usual, though, the group left the grounds at a brisk walk. For a moment, Taryn wondered if it was on his account; perhaps the Marquis was keeping them slow so he wouldn’t fall down.
Then he noticed the gardeners. There were dozens of gardeners out, and other servants as well-- which might not have been unusual except that they were all at the walls, holding clippers and long sticks with blades at the end. They snipped and sheared and where they went, they left behind giant piles of ivy to be cleaned by the elves carrying baskets.
"What are they doing?" Taryn said, though the answer was self-evident.
"Tending the grounds," the Marquis said with fierce satisfaction.
Taryn wanted to argue, to tell them to stop, but knew it was pointless. He sighed as they passed by; it seemed as though the Marquis intentionally slowed their passing so that he could better see the large piles of ivy, and how bare the walls now were.
Only once they were beyond the gates did the Marquis shout a command, and the group of knights finally tore down the road at their usual speed.
* * * * *
The ride on the deer was much smoother than Taryn had imagined it would be, especially once the knights all began to gallop at speed, but he still struggled to stay upright. It came to the point where whenever it appeared he was sliding off, the Marquis would push him back into place.
After the fourth or fifth time, the Marquis, visibly irritated, simply grabbed him and held on, keeping the reins in his free hand. Taryn shied away from his touch, but the elf seemed to take that to mean he was falling again, and righted him.
"Tell me," the Marquis said, projecting his voice to be heard over the wind and the sound of the knights' jangling armor. "Do you not know how to ride at all, or is it the deer that’s confounding you?"
Taryn’s face burned. “I’ve ridden before!” Taryn said. He did not add, ‘with you, when you first brought me here’ for fear of ruining his defense.
"Clearly not enough," the Marquis said. Then, quietly, he added something else Taryn couldn’t quite make out.
"What?" Taryn said.
"Riding lessons," the Marquis said. "If you are to stay here, you may as well learn something useful."
Taryn blinked, surprised, but said nothing.
They rode over the grassy hills, occasionally shaded by some sparse spatterings of trees, but mostly under the growing light of the morning sun. As they rode, Taryn found his eyes drawn to the Forest, the place that all the elves here seemed to fear. It was smaller in the distance, but still it seemed to loom over him. When he looked away, he felt its presence in his mind. The road seemed to run parallel to it, though at a safe distance, and so the distant trees acted as a wall, blocking off the east.
The farther away from the castle they got, the worse the feeling of unease became. It was ridiculous, Tayrn told himself. Why should he feel so worried? He was surrounded by knights, and though the Marquis didn’t seem to like him much, Taryn was now certain the elf would rather chop off his right hand than let Taryn get hurt under his watch-- it would stain his honor, or break his vow, or whatever it was the elven logic he followed said.
But all the same, the unease weighed on him, and he found his eyes being drawn to the east. He bit the inside of his cheek and tried to focus on the road directly ahead of him, and on trying to stay upright on the deer.
Eventually, another village came into view, nestled in a small valley between hills. From the view of the top of the hill, Taryn could see the white road encircling the village-- not a single building was located on the outer side-- and he expected the Marquis to take them down, straight into the center where he could see a flat, empty space that must have been the square.
But instead of going immediately through the village, the group turned at the fork and followed the road around the outskirts. Around the village were broad-leaved trees, different from the sorts in the Forest, and thick brambles.The heavy shade cast by the trees kept the road startlingly cool.
The Marquis led the troupe part way around the village until they came to a small clearing beside the road. There, the bushes gave way to a space of short grass and a strange black stone.
The stone was taller than Taryn by a full head, though still much shorter than everyone else, and the top of it tapered away into a pyramid. The sides of it were glassy smooth, and the jet black was shot through with streaks of white and gold that, when the breeze blew the leaves above just right, made it blaze in the sunlight.
The Marquis slid off the deer, though the other knights stayed mounted, and approached the monolith, removing his gauntlet as he did. With very little ceremony, the Marquis pressed his ungloved hand against the face of the monolith. Waves of golden light rippled from his hand through the stone, shimmering like the sun hitting water.
Then it was over. He donned the glove, mounted the deer, and they were off again, back the way they had come.
"What was that?" Tayrn said.
"None of your concern," the Marquis said. Then, he led the group back around and through the village proper.
A few people who were out early waved as they passed, and Taryn caught more than a few curious looks sent his way, but no one tried to stop them, and the group passed through without issue.
"That was Temmen," the Marquis said, once they were on the road again. "It is the closest of the nine villages under my purview to the castle and the forest, as you can see." He gestured his head to the not-so-distant tree line.
The second village was as eventful as the first, as was the third. Every village had one of the stones, and every time time was much the same. Sometimes, the stone was like the first and just outside of the village. Other times, the stone was inside the village at its own little shrine. In one, the stone was at the center of the town square, another, it was in the headman’s back yard. A few times, the headman or headwoman of the village ran out to meet the Marquis before he could ride off, and they spoke quietly away about adult things Taryn couldn’t quite make out, and that the Marquis had no desire to explain to him.
They passed through several villages that day, each growing larger and more established the further away they were from the castle, which seemed somehow backwards to Taryn.
It was at the seventh village-- a village so big that Taryn had to reshuffle it in his head as a town-- that they discovered the dragon.
The village was larger than the one near the farm back home. Back home, the village nearest the farm was too small to be listed on most maps, and when it was, it was just called "Hamlet" even though nobody who lived there called it that. The farther town, Kravish, was five times the size and had actual roads big enough for carts to go through, and had houses that were big enough for people to have their own rooms instead of just one or two to share. Taryn had thought Kravish was one of the most civilized places he'd ever see; it had a fountain in the middle of town! The height of sophistication.
The seventh elven village put Kravish to shame. Their roads were cobble, their homes tall and painted and made of both wood and stone, with glass windows and real roofs, not just peat and grass on top for goats. The road was lined with stone walkways, and there were rose-covered arches alongside the buildings, and it seemed every place had flowers growing out front in porcelain pots and planters.
In the center of the square was a large fountain with water pouring from statues of eleven women holding jars, and a worried looking cluster of people talking near it. In the center of the group was an elfman with a long, red and gold robe, a furry hat, and a black sash. He was the one people were clustering around, and when the Marquis and his knights approached, the robed elf left the chattering group to meet them.
The Marquis sighed and dismounted, though the other knights remained on their deer.
"Stay here," the Marquis told Taryn, as he had done in the previous villages where someone wanted to talk to him.
This time, there was no furtive conversation away from the group. Before the Marquis had even left his mount's side, the well-dressed elfman-- the mayor, Taryn guessed-- was there gesturing with his hands and nearly shouting.
"Lord Marquis, you’re here for the dragon? Please tell me you’re here for the dragon!"
"Dragon?" said the Marquis, Taryn, and several of the Marquis’ knights all at once.
"We’ve felled it-- it's blocking the southern road right now. Several of my men are there, but they can’t hold it off much longer--"
The Marquis didn't wait for him to finish; he had already mounted the deer again and was urging the group onto the southern part of town.
* * * * *
In the stories Taryn had heard, dragons were fearsome creatures the size of mountains. They were black with red eyes, or maybe green like lizards. They ate people, especially princesses and little boys who didn't say their prayers at night, and if they were intelligent at all, it was a cruel sort of cunning as opposed to any true higher thinking.
The dragon on the road outside the seventh village was almost disappointing.
For one thing, with its wings folded up, it was only a little larger than a horse. Its hide was a collection of mottled browns and tans, with an occasional patch of rusty red mixed in and, in some places, bright red rivulets of blood where its hide had been pierced. When the Marquis and company arrived, the creature was already surrounded by several elves who jabbed at it menacingly with spears, and pitchforks. The dragon kept itself low to the ground, cowering like an injured dog, and Taryn's heart immediately went out to it.
"It's so scared," he said, not realizing he was speaking aloud.
"Stay put," the Marquis said. He dismounted and went to speak to the leader of the spearmen. The other knights followed suit, leaving Taryn alone among the deer.
At their approach, the dragon seemed to realize things were about to get worse for it. It reared up, swiping out with its claws and causing the men to leap back. It gave a mighty flap of its wings, sending up dust and dirt and leaves and causing one of the spearman to falter and fall over. The dragon roared, and Taryn half-expected it to breath fire like in the stories, but all that came out was a little wisp of smoke.
Then, the dragon’s orange eyes met his, and the world seemed to come to a standstill.
Images and sensations flashed through Taryn's mind; the cold wind against his skin, the sight of mountains rising up at his sides and vanishing behind him, his shadow on the hills passing below. Trees below -- he recognized the vast Forest feared by the elves, but the dragon didn't know that. Just that he couldn't land there easily-- too many trees. Then came exhaustion-- sudden and unrelenting, the pure exhaustion of someone who had never flown before and didn't know about things like stamina. He felt the dirt road beneath his feet when he came down, smelled the dust his landing kicked up. Too naive to be cautious and too tired to care, he flung himself onto the coarse ground and fell asleep.
Then came the fear, then came pain. He was being hurt-- why were these things hurting him?
"He's just a baby," Taryn said. He didn't really notice himself sliding off the deer. He barely registered that he was approaching the Marquis and his cluster of knights; his mind was in the air, flying among the mountaintops back home-- not his home, but the dragon's. His family was there-- no, her family was there. She had promised she wouldn't wander too far. . .
In front of the group, though Taryn didn't notice, the dragon had frozen in place, staring.
"Stop them," Taryn said, voice faint. He tugged on the Marquis' shirt, eyes wide and only half-seeing what was happening on the ground, and he was resoundingly ignored.
Then, like the snap of a rubber band, his mind returned from the skies. He blinked and shoved the Marquis with his entire weight, shouting, "Stop! Leave her alone!"
"Child, get back," the Marquis snapped. Even with the full force of his weight, Taryn was too small to do anything more than jostle him. The Marquis pushed the boy away with ease.
"She's a baby!"
"She'd gladly tear you apart the moment you were near enough to reach. Dragons are vicious, no matter their size." To one of the knights, he said, "Get him out of here, take him back to the castle."
"No!"
Taryn ran, dodging the gauntleted hands reaching for him. There was shouting, from the Marquis, mostly, but much of it was lost by a sudden roar from the dragon.
She's helping me. The knowledge nestled neatly inside Taryn's mind as clearly as if the dragon had spoken the plan out loud. She's distracting the spearmen and knights; nobody can hear the Marquis shouting. In fact, all attention had returned to the dragon, and so focused were they that the spearmen didn't notice Taryn shoving through their ranks from behind them until it was too late.
He ran in front of the dragon and faced the men, his back to her. Behind him, there was movement, and he knew without looking that she was arching herself up, squatting on her hind legs and spreading her wings a little. Not all the way-- she didn't want to risk one of them spearing her through and tearing her only means of getting home, but enough to look big. That's what the others were always telling her, Nikreet, you're so small, if you're ever in trouble, you have to look big!
The Marquis pushed his way to the front of the men. He stared a Taryn, then beyond him at the dragon. His face was pale, and he looked nearly as afraid as he had when Taryn had shown him the bird. Around them, all the men had fallen silent.
"Child," the Marquis said, his voice hoarse. "Don't move."
This struck both Taryn and the dragon as amusing. Did he think she couldn't see them?
But the Marquis crept forward, slightly crouched with his hand held out, like he thought Taryn might grab it, like he might pull him away from the dragon. On some level, Taryn knew he was being brave, trying to save him the way he had tried with the dead man and the bird, but any kind of sympathy or gratitude was swept away by the dragon's sudden anger.
She curled her tail around Taryn and hunched over him, reminding him strongly of a broody hen. She lowered her head so that she was about level with him, and she growled at the Marquis, her teeth bared. She would not let one of those horrible elves take this nice boy away.
The Marquis didn't move, but the elves around him did. They raised their spears, making as though to attack, and Taryn shouted, "Stop! Listen to me!" He looked to the Marquis and added, "Please."
For a moment, the Marquis looked at him, as though he had grown a second head and started speaking in tongues. Then, he seemed to collect himself. He stood back straighter and raised his hand, gesturing to the others. Slowly, clearly uncertain, they lowered their weapons.
"Explain," the Marquis said, his voice sounding steadier than before, but barely.
"She was lost," Taryn said. Words tumbled from his lips frantically as the dragon poured out her thoughts. "She's from the mountains. She'd never flown by herself before-- it's her first time alone. There was a wind storm, and she got lost. That's why she's on this side of the mountains; she didn't mean to come so far. She was too tired to stay in the air-- that's why she landed in the road. She doesn't want to eat anybody, she didn't want to cause trouble, she was just tired. She was asleep when they attacked her first."
The Marquis turned to look at the group of spearmen. At some point in the chaos, the Mayor and dozens of other onlookers had turned up, hovering a safe distance away. The Marquis gestured for him to join and said, "Is what he said true?"
"Sir?" said the leader of the spearmen.
"Was the dragon asleep in the road when you found it? Or was the boy making things up just now?"
"Hey!" said Taryn, indignant. The dragon-- Nikreet, her name is Nikreet-- nosed him gently on the back of the head, and Taryn calmed a little. She knew he was telling the truth.
"It's true," said the Mayor. Several people beside him nodded in agreement. "My own runner was the first to find it blocking the road."
"And has it attacked anyone? Any cattle?"
"Not yet," someone said.
"Only if you count us," said one of the spearmen.
They started it! thought the dragon. With the thought came a low growl that made several of them flinch.
"She says you started it," said Taryn.
The Marquis looked back at Taryn, no longer looking shocked or frightened, but tired. "What do you propose we do?"
"She just needs another nap," Taryn said.
"Not in the middle of the road!" said the Mayor.
"She can move," Taryn said.
The dragon nodded her head towards the field just off the road. The grass over there looks nice and soft.
"Is anyone using the field right now? She say that looks like a good spot."
The Mayor and Marquis exchanged looks.
"I. . . suppose it's alright," said the Mayor, clearly uncertain.
"Great!" said Taryn. He thought he would walk over with her, but to his surprise, she lifted him up in her forepaws and carried him off the road, trundling along on her hind legs. He heard the noises of surprise behind him-- apparently none of the others had expected it either-- and when she had found a comfortable place, she placed him down gently so that he was sitting on the grass. Then, she tucked her wings closed and curled up around him like a dozing cat, her head resting beside his legs, her tail looped around across his lap.
She was asleep almost immediately, and Taryn couldn't help but smile. Back home, his friend Casey's family raised dogs, and Nikreet reminded him so much of their puppies; running around and playing until they suddenly dropped dead asleep where they were. For a moment, he leaned back against her, feeling the strange warmth in her side-- was that where the fire was made? She had smoked a little earlier. She was probably too little to breathe fire just yet.
Back on the road, there was movement among the watchers. Taryn imagined them all complaining to the Marquis, arguing about whether or not they should try attacking the dragon again while it was asleep. But when he did, she began to stir in her sleep, and he quickly began thinking loud, reassuring thoughts.
After a time, the Marquis broke from the group. He came alone; apparently nobody else was bold enough to try approaching the dragon, even as it slept, not even his cadre of knights. He no longer looked frightened, just formal and stiff like normal, and when he came to them, he took confident strides until he stood near enough to look down at them.
"Are you alright?" he said.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Taryn said. Then he frowned. "You're not going to try to hurt her now, are you?"
The Marquis shook his head. For a moment, he had a strange look on his face, and when he spoke, the words were halting. "No. No, I. . . think I understand now. My apologies. For doubting you earlier."
"It's okay," Taryn said. "Do you want to wait with me?"
The Marquis hesitated. Then, stiffly, like someone unused to sitting on the ground, he lowered himself into the grass.
The two sat together for a while, saying nothing. At some point, Taryn must have dozed off, because one moment, he was appreciating the warmth around him, and the next, he was being jostled awake; the dragon Nikreet was getting up. Quickly, Tarn scrambled away, not wanting her to squash him on accident, and he went to stand beside the Marquis.
Watching the little dragon wake reminded Taryn strongly of watching a cat. She stretched her front legs, then her back, and she spread opened her wings and gave a few experimental flaps. Both Taryn and the Marquis hurried back so as not to be buffeted by either the air or the wing itself. After, she swiveled her head to them, blinking sleepily.
In his mind, Taryn felt a nudging question. There were images of mountains and a whole clan of other dragons-- enormous, colorful beasts flying through the air and draped around massive caverns, and the undercurrent of home home home.
Join me?
"I can't," Taryn said.
She nosed his face, and he wrapped his arms around her head.
You sure?
"Yeah, I'm sure."
She was disappointed and half tempted to carry him away regardless. Taryn giggled-- there was no threat, there was no fear. He pushed her away, and she gave one last wuff of air, snorting into his hair.
Fine, fine. But if he ever changed his mind. . .
Then she crouched. She waggled her rear and half-spread her wings, getting her balance right, and then whoosh! There was a gust of air powerful enough to knock him and the Marquis over, and when he looked up, she was in the air, flapping wildly and getting farther away by the second.
The two watched her go from the grass until she was finally gone, not even a speck on the horizon, heading back to the eastern mountains.
"I like her," Taryn said. "She was nice."
The Marquis said nothing, but offered his hand and helped him up. Together, the two headed back for the road.
In the time since the dragon had settled down for her nap, the crowd on the road had grown. Taryn had never seen so many people in one place before; it seemed as though the entire town had turned out to watch Nikreet go. When they approached, the people drew back.
"The dragon is gone," the Marquis said, projecting his voice. "You may all return to your affairs."
The crowd was dead silent. There was movement, but it was people craning their necks over one another to look at them. At first, Taryn thought it because of the Marquis: he was nobility, maybe people were odd about that. But then he noticed that all of them were staring at him.
Shyly, he gave a little wave.
The crowd burst into frantic whispers.
Taryn looked at the Marquis, who looked back, eyebrows raised slightly.
"What?" Taryn said. "What did I do?"