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Marley Stonebender: A Short Story

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Marley Stonebender should have known a creature with that many teeth would have a taste for meat. And that, in most circumstances, proved fine in the wide scheme of things. But the gapping grin revealing those teeth was anything but friendly and Marley felt quite partial to the meat attached to his old bones. From the creature's back a pair of tattered membranous wings unfurled, and Marley dodged to his left as it feinted forward, testing his reflexes. The runemaster swung his staff with the accuracy of one more use to wielding a hammer than a long stick. The tip of the wood whistle harmlessly passed its head and the creature snarled, foul green mucus dripping from its many-fanged maw. He considered casting a rune. But before he could …show more content…

"Let's head back to the road. A cold ale and a warm hearth await us in Northpoint," he said using his staff to leverage himself up the slope. "Mayhap, we will find some clues amongst the town folk." He topped the rise to find Drogan already seated on his black Theracan stallion, Zed. The pair of ponies pulling the harpers' small wagon, contentedly nibbled on the neberil dried scruff and tender new shoots of grass. The runemaster turned to Jayf as he mounted the buckboard of the wagon. "Will you ride into town with me or take the Dragon Paths and meet us later?" "I will take the Dragon Paths, perhaps a scout about the area to see what can be seen from another prospective." He dipped his head toward Marley and with a quick wave to Drogan he vanished. "I will never get use to the way the dragonkin... do what they do and while I am at it, I will never understand where he goes when he disappears." Drogan said as he pulled his horse around to walk next to the wagon. "Next time Jayf offers to take you upon the Paths, you should do it. Although it can be unsettling, you will emerge with an expanded view of our world." Marley tried to keep his own aversion to the Paths out of his

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