Anya's Freedom

by Lisa Daniels

  “I’ll see what I can do.” He crouched beside her for a moment, taking her hand in his. The tender gesture made her smile and press her head against the crook of his arm for a moment. She dropped the relationship bomb on him. She didn’t believe in faffing around, or delaying the obvious. She did want to keep some secrets to herself, but if her three new friends could read body language, it would be hard to lie.

  Friends. How strange. The notion illuminated her, filled her up like a blossoming flower. They were friends. Even without anyone explicitly stating the word, the way they acted around her was just so… casual. As if they had never considered for a second leaving her out of things.

  A roar in the distance made them all frantically scour the scenery, tracking the source of the noise.

  A deafening bellow drowned out the ambient sounds in the background, and Durza froze. “Oh, shit,” he said.

  A huge, brown and black dragon came soaring over the tip of one of the mountains, spewing orange flames.

  “Well, she doesn’t technically belong to anyone,” Morgana said, gesturing to Jackie. “So she’s up for grabs by any dragon with the Scent.”

  “Fuck,” Durza muttered, as the dragon swooped closer, making a direct line towards Jackie.

  Chapter Four

  “Can’t you claim me?” Jackie’s heart bounced in her mouth as the brown dragon closed the distance, now telegraphing his intent to grab her by stretching his talons.

  “I can. But I still have to fight this fucker.” Durza grimaced. “Um. Jackie, I won’t set you free. Sorry.”

  Jackie suppressed a sudden, insane desire to laugh. “No problem. Can I help?”

  Durza shook his head before launching himself off the cliff in human form, morphing into a huge, cyan-colored dragon, the second time she’d ever seen him shift. His light brown eyes fixated upon the incoming dragon, and Elzara and Andrea stepped out of the cave, gaping at the unfolding spectacle.

  The approaching dragon instantly blasted Durza with fire, but he shook it off, unfazed, and they collided mid-air, screeching and hissing. Jackie’s hands lifted up to her mouth. She hoped Durza would win. She liked him and the easy arrangement they had with one another. She’d just completed giving out her first Quest. She’d just been given the deal to help her not be so bored on High Mountain. And now all that could be dashed away in moments.

  “Should this even be happening? Isn’t he attacking a Quest Giver, that dragon? Will Durza be okay?”

  “Ssh. There’s something not right with that dragon.” Morgana took some deep sniffs, even as Durza and the invader tussled mid-air, sometimes gripping, sometimes flapping away and charging one another like jousters. “Smells like old socks.”

  There was a brief pause.

  “Uh, socks?”

  Morgana waved her hand irritably. “Or maybe he smells like someone who isn’t in control of himself. Yes. This one’s under a mind-altering spell. Probably failed a Quest somewhere. Look, he’s trying to avoid Durza now, and is going for Andrea. And she’s claimed.”

  The invader dragon tumbled past Durza, taking huge, hasty flaps towards Elzara and Andrea. Elzara barked something at the princess, who retreated inside, and then she transformed as well into her blue dragon form as the enemy crunched into her. Durza let out a shriek of rage as the dragons rolled and caused rock to tumble from Elzara’s cave, and she snapped away at the intruder, who was now screaming, whipping his neck from side to side like a lunatic.

  Suddenly, the invader tussled himself free and again made a direct line to Jackie. Before Jackie could exclaim, before Durza had the time to gather enough speed, the dragon had swiped at Jackie, encasing her in his talons. She yelled and beat her fists uselessly against the scaly prison, her heart a hammer against her chest, the adrenaline in her blood spiking. No. She couldn’t be taken now. Not when she finally had a plan! “Bastard!” Jackie growled, her temper flaring, seeing the world below her through the gaps in the talons, along with desperation. No. It couldn’t end like this.

  The befuddled dragon above her said no words, he only screeched and spewed flames, flapping in an erratic, stomach-lurching way. The wind struck Jackie’s cheeks and bitter tears swelled up, before she chomped them down, breathing fast, trying to think of a way out of the problem.

  Trying to think of a way to return to Durza, Morgana, and Elzara. To be there for that poor knight if he succeeded in his Quest and obtained the potion for whatever loved one of his that had fallen ill.

  Argggh! In a fresh wave of anger, she beat her fists against the dragon. She didn’t want to leave! The dragon juddered and shot unevenly forward. She heard the familiar growls of Durza – he was on the dragon!

  The flash of relief was quickly overtaken by a dark realization. If he injures the dragon too much, I’ll…

  The dragon released her from his grip, completing her dire prediction. She tumbled through the air, hurtling towards the ground hundreds of meters below, the wind tearing at her clothes, the scream yanked out of her mouth. Instinctively, she splayed her arms as the drag behind her increased. The wind dominated all sound in her ears as the world rushed up to meet her.

  This is it. It’s all over…

  A flash of blue angled to her from the right. Elzara! The dragon had folded her wings, trying to position herself to snatch Jackie out of the air. The ground raced closer, promising to break all her bones. Elzara let out an extra burst of speed, her wide blue eyes fixed in determination on Jackie.

  Meters from the ground, Elzara snagged Jackie and continued flapping forward, as Jackie’s stomach turned upside down, and the talons enveloped her, protecting her from death. She sobbed in frightened relief as the dragon set her back on the cliff above, and Morgana instantly fussed over her, shaking.

  “Just as well Elzara launched herself off when she did.”

  “Future potion,” Elzara gasped in response. “Not even close. Shame it doesn’t seem to work all the time, or we would have seen that dragon long before.”

  “Can’t be perfect,” Morgana said, shrugging.

  In the distance, the brown dragon fell from the air like a stone, crashing into the forest below. Durza flapped back towards them, his movement unsteady, and he landed hard on the cliff before shifting and collapsing in a bruised heap.

  Elzara shifted as well, groaning as she clutched her back.

  Jackie shrugged off Morgana’s probing hands and hugged Elzara first, who squeaked in protest, “My back!” before shambling over to Durza, who rejected her offer of a hug, but allowed Jackie to hold his hand.

  “I’m glad you’re okay,” he wheezed, face twisting up in pain. Jackie shook her head.

  “You’re a fucking idiot. You’re a dragon. You know how dragons work.”

  She flicked him on the head, and he said, “Ow.”

  “She’s not wrong,” Morgana said, scratching at her nose. “Look. I’m going to rummage around my place, see if I can find a flying artifact. Obviously having you up on High Mountain without the ability to fly might be an issue in the future.”

  Jackie laughed, before kissing the back of Durza’s hand. His liquid brown eyes stared into hers, and his breath-taking face welled up in a mix of affection and concern.

  She covered up her embarrassment by saying, “So, still want me to be a Quest Giver?”

  Durza coughed out a laugh. “We can talk about that later.”

  “Yes. We can.” Jackie sighed, looking around at her friends. Even Andrea, in her annoying princess way, was more of a friend than the people Jackie knew in the past. Peel that girl away from the rest, she could be okay.

  Fuck it. Jackie would try this thing out. She’d stay for Durza. For the others. For herself.

  Just as long as she didn’t get carried away by another dragon first.

  It did mean a lot of work needed to be done. Midlife issues to sort through. Dragons to handle. Not messing up those ritual words.

  And, most importantly – trying to be happy.

  She kiss
ed Durza on the forehead and his expression brightened. Elzara grinned beside them, and Morgana nodded approvingly, her dark hair flowing in the wind.

  “Let’s get you home and patched up,” Jackie said, letting Durza loop his arm over her shoulder. Together, they stumbled home.

  Home. What a nice word. Full of promise and a future. Jackie grinned as she stepped out of the light of day, and into safety.

  The End

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  Taja’s Dragon

  By: Lisa Daniels

  Chapter 1

  Nothing out of the Ordinary

  Taja pulled the bundled-up items to her chest and tried to speed up, despite the crowd around her. The market was always impossibly busy at this time of day, and the acting stable master knew it. Still, he had told her not to be late after giving her all of the chores. Hating that the real stable master had been needed at the noble’s country mansion for a few months to deliver two new foals and take care of them, Taja took comfort in the fact that it wouldn’t be much longer before he returned. She just had to hold out for another week or two and then everything would go back to normal.

  Her blonde hair shone like sunshine, a few stray strands dangling beside her face as the young woman pressed forward. It would be her twenty-first birthday soon, but she had no expectations. The stable master was the only person in her life that actually seemed to care about what happened to her, and he would not be back in time. Not that she wanted to celebrate. The stable master had been like the father she had never known, so she just wanted him to come back so the nightmare that had been her job without him would end. One of the other stable hands had taken to harassing her in the stable master’s absence, and the acting master wasn’t about to do anything to stop the boy. Taja had plenty of experience keeping boys like that away, but it was wearing on her. That and her mother’s steady decline into the bottle. Taja didn’t feel sorry for herself. She just needed that one ray of sunshine back that had made life worth living.

  Taja was not a tall woman, just barely over five feet tall. The first impression people had of her was that she resembled a large doll. Despite working outside, her skin was pale and soft. Her large brown eyes were surrounded by thick lashes that combined with her unnaturally yellow hair, hinting that she was perhaps not fully human. The perfect symmetry of her dainty features was striking, and it had gotten her into plenty of trouble when she was young. It was only after she met the stable master that Taja had calmed down and started trying to make a better life for herself. That had been three years ago. Until that point, she had been a complete mess, sleeping with any boy who would give her gifts and expensive items. Her mother had used her daughter as much as possible, turning expensive gifts into high debts with many of the taverns. The stable master had given the young woman something worth living for outside of her different types of abuse.

  It was times like these as she was darting through the crowds that Taja was really thankful for being so small. She was able to more easily slip through spaces between people.

  Still not fast enough. I’m going to be late. Her mind was already calculating her distance and current rate of speed. Moving her legs a little faster, she shifted to the outside of the crowd. It was risky, particularly since she would be moving so close to the carriages and horses, but it was the only way she was going to get through the crowd in time.

  As soon as she reached the outside of the crowd, Taja’s speed more than doubled. With a grin on her face, the young woman hurried past the throng.

  Without warning, one of the people moving in the opposite direction stepped into her. He had been trying to step out of the way of a noble lady, and did not notice the young woman trying to get by on the other side.

  Taja lost her balance, and fell. Instinctively, her arms tightened around the things she had brought, trying to keep them from spilling all over the road. Scrambling to get up without dropping anything, Taja looked up. A horse was making its way quickly right toward her.

  With a little gasp, the stable hand tried to crawl out of the way without getting the things dirty.

  “Seriously? Is that stuff more important than your life?” The voice was unfamiliar, but warm. The accent was light, but it was obvious that the owner of that voice was not from the area. And he was clearly male. Taja felt a pair of hands on her waist and she was suddenly lifted off of the ground. Clutching the items to her chest, she couldn’t believe that someone had stopped to help her. Her mind registered the miracle as a warm and firm body pressed against hers. The sound of the horse’s hoofs rumbled past her as she tried to fully comprehend what had just happened.

  As soon as the horse was past, she heard the rider calling it to stop. The warmth moved away from her body as she tried to get a hold of herself.

  An angry voice was so close to her, and Taja knew it was the rider. “Do you know what you almost did to my horse?”

  Taja turned to look, to apologize, but someone else spoke first. “Are you a fool or an idiot? Oh, yes, I see, you are one of the noble. A bit of both, then.”

  Taja’s eyes went wide as she turned to look at the man who had pulled her from the ground. Her gaze went back to the noble, and his expression read the way she felt. Neither of them had heard a noble insulted so publically before. Her head turned and she saw the people in the crowd starting to watch them.

  The noble had found his voice. “How dare you insult me!”

  “Ah, you make it all too easy. A woman is knocked into the street, and you yell at her for what, exactly? Being in danger? Blaming the victim is easy, but it is also very clear who the villain is in these cases.” He tilted his head to the side. Taja couldn’t see his features very well, but his stance suggested that the man was accustomed to power. He was not tall for a man, but standing this close to him she could tell he was about 5 foot 8 or 5 foot 9. His body was not bulky, but remembering what he had felt like as he held her, she knew that the man was muscular. Sinewy, her mind supplied.

  The man’s clothing was very nice, which meant that he was at least upper class, if not something higher. His hair was an inch or two long, a style that she had never seen before. Though it was a dark brown color, it shone, highlighting the fact that he was clearly more than just a commoner.

  The noble moved his hand like he was about to strike when the young man held something up at him. Taja couldn’t see what it was, but from the look on the noble’s face, the man who had rescued her was far above the noble’s level.

  With her concern growing about who the man was, as well as knowing that she was again at risk of being late no matter how quickly she moved, Taja slipped into the crowd and continued toward work.

  The rest of the trip back to the stables went much smoother, and Taja made it back with a little time to spare. The acting stable master frowned down at her, eyeing her muddy clothing, but there was nothing he could say since she had returned with everything before the items were needed.

  Knowing that smiling at him would only anger the man, Taja lowered her head and inquired, “What would you like me to do next, sir?”

  Apparently she had struck the right tone and posture because the man had no insults for her. When she risked looking up at him, she saw his beady eyes looking around. Unlike the stable master, this man was clearly out of shape. His stomach hung over his pants in a way that suggested his body was trying to escape the confines of clothing. His hair was long and greasy. This was pretty normal for stable hands given what they did, but it generally took a full day’s work to look as bad as the man did early in the morning. It was clear from the man’s features that he was once handsome. Time and his ego had led to his decline, a fact that had not improved his personality
. He couldn’t have been older than early forties, yet he acted like an old man with a grudge against life.

  “Damaris, sir,” the simpering voice of the boy who had been harassing her grated on Taja’s ears. The look of annoyance on the acting stable master’s face nearly matched the way she felt.

  Damaris turned to the stable hand, his expression one of barely contained rage at being interrupted. The stable hand saw his mistake and immediately started to bow to the man. His hair was a dirty blond color that might have been nice if he tried to keep it clean.

  Taja doubted the boy cleaned more than once a month, a fact that had often helped her as she could smell him coming. The boy was 17 years old and very self-assured, although Taja had no idea why. His face was always covered in pimples and scabs. His nose was nice, but the way he grinned made him look very unattractive. The boy also had a very uncommon name – Semaj – as if his parents were trying to force a better future on him than he was ever likely to have. Semaj’s personality alone would keep him down his entire life.

  The boy was bowing lower. “Damaris, sir,” he simpered, “I was wondering if you would like for the two of us to work together.”

  Damaris looked down at the stable hand, then turned his gaze to Taja. “I bet you would like that, wouldn’t you?” His question was directed at Taja.

  Fighting the urge to violently shake her head, Taja tried to keep her voice level. “I only want to complete my work today to your satisfaction, sir. If you wish for me to work with others, I will make sure to be more efficient.” If she had flat out denied wanting to work with Semaj, Damaris would have put them to work together just out of spite. If she had said she wanted to work with the boy, Damaris would have some very nasty words, and probably some physical punishment for showing interest in the boy. As it was, all Taja did was hint that she didn’t mind, but the choice was entirely up to Damaris.