Chapter Five
“She’s found us,” Faye said. “Must have been unhappy to find you’d escaped.”
“You’re telling me,” Aizen said, his yellow eyes wide in alarm. Faye extracted the unstrung Ice Bow from her sleeve and prepared herself for action. She didn’t want to be turned to ice again, to lose another few centuries or more in the grasp of this horrid, tiny ice witch. They heard her cackling through the halls, her voice magnified by some sort of spell.
“Now, now, me dearies, where’s me dragon, where’s me little princess that escaped…? I’ll find ye… oh yes, I will!”
“She’s fucking crazy,” Aizen said, actually shivering in fear. “And insanely strong!”
Faye privately agreed. Any witch who could cast this kind of spell on a whim was not someone you wanted to mess with. Only the enchantments protecting the treasury had prevented them from following the same fate, but as they walked along, Aizen’s movements became sluggish. He glanced down at his feet in horror, realizing that the ice had started creeping up his veins.
“I’m being frozen!” He checked Faye, who still strode with relative ease over the floor. “But you’re not.”
Faye shrugged. The warmth from the bow emanated inside her. “It’s my weapon. It’s shielding me. I –” She turned to face Aizen, and stiffened when she saw the ice shooting up his body, wrapping around his throat, mouth, nose and eyes, before expanding outwards into a solid block. Whatever words he intended to say were frozen on the tip of his tongue, and Faye realized she was horribly, irrevocably, alone.
She examined him for a moment before squeezing her Ice Bow. It gave a reassuring melody and an extra wave of heat in her skin.
“Not these statues up here,” the witch’s voice came out in a sing-song way, followed by that girlish snigger. “Or these ones here! Oh, where are you, little dragon, little princess?” A short pause. “Perhaps I’ll make the whole castle my own, as revenge for your escape. Always thought I’d need a change of scenery. It does get rather boring when no one wants to visit you anymore…”
Faye prowled carefully through the castle, which she still knew like the back of her hand, careful, calculating, barely making a sound, except for her breaths and the chime of her feet when she stepped down too hard.
The ice witch’s voice kept drifting back, taunting her, mocking her ability to do anything.
“So many dragons here! Why, I could make a whole army of dragon souls. Mm… yes…”
Stepping into the banquet room, with the empty tables covered with blue tablecloths, Faye spotted the ice witch. Alicifer saw Faye walk in and her eyebrows popped up in surprise. “Oh! There’s the little princess!” She gave a gurning smile. “Not frozen? You know, I’ve been wondering for a few days now how you could have broken the curse. You showed no magical spark all that time… and now suddenly, you break it?” Before she finished speaking, she shot out a bolt of blue energy towards Faye. The princess blocked it with her bow, which chimed in anger. Now Alicifer stared at the bow. “What’s this?”
Faye didn’t bother answering. She retracted with her arm, and a shining blue arrow materialized in the bow’s notch. Alicifer gaped, before letting out a squeal as the bolt shivered towards her. She flung up a shield, but the arrow ignored the shield as if it was made of nothing, and she needed to dodge frantically. The arrow continued following her, and she was only able to stop it by vanishing at the very last second and reappearing elsewhere. “Skies, child, how did you get your hands on one of those?”
Alicifer appeared furious rather than frightened. She jerked out her fingers, and Faye felt a strong, invisible tug on her bow. She resisted, and shot off more arrows, making the witch curse. While Alicifer was busy dodging, Faye had the time to charge up multiple arrows at once, before fanning them through the room.
A shard of ice slammed into her hand, making Faye gasp. She dropped the bow and it instantly slithered to the woman’s palms. However, the witch couldn’t stay still, unable to stop the arrows directly. She teleported a few meters at a time to dodge.
“Wish I’d mastered long distance teleportation,” Alicifer panted. “Why are these arrows still following me?” She attempted to draw the bow back to fire at Faye, who was pinned to the floor, but nothing happened. “Why aren’t you freezing?”
Faye didn’t know, but the warmth in her grew stronger. With a supreme effort, she yanked her hand away from the ground, whimpering in pain, before rolling to her feet and charging after the witch. She rolled and dodged more bolts, calling for the bow to return to her.
The bow cried out in a mournful note, clearly trying to move out of the ice witch’s hands.
“Oh, you’re one of them,” Alicifer said in utter disgust. “The royal family that once married one of my ancestors, getting the touch of ice. Took you long enough to defrost, didn’t it?”
Faye didn’t have time for banter. She launched herself at the woman, who dematerialized, and several of Faye’s arrows hovered in confusion before she willed them to keep chasing the witch. It seemed that the massive ice spell the witch had cast, along with her quick teleports, drained her of energy. But if she decided to teleport through the walls, well, that was it. Faye focused on the Ice Bow, her neck tendons straining until, with a cry of triumph, the bow ripped itself from the ice witch’s hands and happily spun back into Faye’s.
“Shit,” Alicifer said. Her attempts to resummon the bow no longer worked. Her ice shards were now effectively blocked by the bow.
“I do hope killing you releases the curse,” Faye said, redrawing the bow and firing. “And if not, well, I kind of want to kill you anyway.”
“Oh, bother,” the witch said, before snapping her fingers. The ice started melting from everything, and she turned herself into an ice block as the arrows smashed into it.
“What do you want, girl?” the witch said from within the block. “Riches? A nice prince from my collection? Speak up. I know when I’m beaten.” Alicifer appeared rather exhausted as she said this, wiping her brow inside the ice.
Faye walked closer to the exhausted witch, her eyes crackling in fury. “Remove the curse from every single person you’ve ever cursed. Return Aizen’s dragon soul. And take up residence elsewhere. That includes the people in this castle and the people in your little cave.”
“Bother,” the witch repeated, appearing cross. “That’s me entire livelihood gone. I’ve been collecting them for a few hundred years, me. Breaks me heart to lose it.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t be putting out a fake Quest, then,” Faye snapped. “Earn your collection by reputable means. Offer an actual reward for people to risk themselves. And maybe you’ll get more visits.”
“Hmph.” Alicifer thought this over for a moment.
“Or you can die,” Faye offered.
The witch rolled her eyes. “Fine. Take yer stupid frozen friends. Be mean to a poor old witch.”
Faye snorted, but kept her bow trained on the witch. She ignored her throbbing, pierced hand, which had been so frozen, the blood inside didn’t bleed out.
With a lot of muttering and grumbling, the witch kept to her forced deal, unfreezing everyone in the castle, returning Aizen’s soul, and promising to unfreeze everyone in the cave.
“I’ll be checking tomorrow,” Faye warned, allowing a blue bolt to shimmer. “If you double cross me, I will hunt you down and kill you. I will tell everyone in the world how to kill you, and you won’t be safe anywhere you go.”
Alicifer glared with malice at Faye, but nodded, before limping out of the castle, summoning an ice broomstick which took a few moments to assemble, mounting it, and flying off into the distance.
Instantly, Faye walked through the thawing corridors back to Aizen in the throne room. He, his parents, and the few servants in the room lay gasping, still feeling the shock of cold over their bodies.
She ran to Aizen’s side and touched him on the shoulder. “I dealt with it. You’ll have your soul back.”
Aizen shivered, before smiling at her in incredulous delight and grasping her close. “You did? Oh, you wonderful creature.” He planted cold lips on hers, and she sighed into the touch. Happy to help him. Happy to be here.
She needed to check in on the cave tomorrow and help out Anthony and the rest. She was going to be pretty busy, she suspected, over the next few weeks. But she certainly wouldn’t mind sticking along with Aizen for longer.
“Why do you have the Ice Bow, princess?” Aizen’s father barked. He sounded rather weak from the freezing. Faye’s hand began to throb harder – she needed a healer soon.
“Uh, let me explain, father,” Aizen wheezed, getting to his feet. Faye stood by his side, smiling.
Ready to take steps into her future. Ready to help the others in the cave adapt. And maybe, sticking next to Aizen, pursuing the fledgling relationship they’d started to develop, she could finally come to terms with what had happened, and the future she now existed in.
The Ice Bow hummed contentment in her hand.
I’m ready.
The End
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Taja’s Dragon
By: Lisa Daniels
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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.
He gave a huff, then looked between them. “Semaj, I dare say you are trying to get someone else to do your work. Panding duty for you for your hubris.”
Semaj’s face fell as he realized that he would not be able to see Taja again for at least a day, perhaps more. It was clear that he wanted to argue, but there were worse things than panding. “Yes, sir. I will make sure it is done well.” He tried to use the same flattering words that Taja used, but there was bitterness in them. Damaris missed the boy’s expression and had already lost interest in the whole affair. He wiped his grimy hand on his nose as he looked down at Taja, who still stood in readiness to do as he said.
“Go home, Taja.” She had to fight to keep her eyes trained on the ground. His words were a shock, but she knew that he could easily change the orders. “You look like a pig who escaped the slaughter house and found a river of mud.” He laughed at his own words and walked away. Taja grinned. Damaris wanted to make sure she knew that he wasn’t doing it out of any satisfaction derived from what she had done, but because of the way she looked. Considering she would usually look much worse than she did after falling in the road, Taja knew the real reason he was sending her home – he was too lazy to figure out what she should do.
It doesn’t matter, her thoughts were very clear. The acting stable master didn’t care if she was there or not, but it gave her the time she needed to finally recover from being overworked for months on end. Her heart was light as she turned toward the door to leave.
A hand grabbed her upper arm and forced Taja to turn around. “I am waiting for you, Taja.” Semaj was too close, his blue eyes looking down at her too eagerly.
With a smile, Taja told him, “You can do so much better than me, Semaj. Even your name shows that you will do well someday. Why don’t you focus on the women who deserve your attention instead of an old lady who works in the stables?” She smiled up at him.
The young woman had to fight the shudder that tried to pass over her body as his eyes took in her body again. He wanted her to know that he was thinking about what she looked like under her clothing. “I can clean you up, make you feel young again.”
Taja slipped out of his grasp with a dainty laugh, “You know that you are in a worse state than I am right now. I dare say you will want to wash up as soon as you get home after all of your work for the day.”
She knew very well that he had done virtually nothing, leaving the work to others, but the look on his face showed that he didn’t understand the real meaning behind her words. “Perhaps if you were willing to wash me, I would enjoy bathing.”
She frowned at him, “That is the duty of your wife, not a stable hand. You had best be careful or you will give me the wrong idea.”
Semaj stepped toward her. “Maybe I want you to get the wrong idea.”
She turned and moved away as his hand shot out again to grab her. “Semaj, you are such a tease. Now if you will excuse me, my mother needs me-”
“I need you.” His voice was firm.
On the other side of the barn several older servants entered. Their voices carried across the barn, forcing Semaj to adopt a different pose. Taja frowned at the boy and shook her head. The men saw it and immediately headed over to talk to the pair.
“Taja, is Semaj bothering you again?” The first man to approach was smiling, but there was concern in his voice.
“Indeed he is, sir, but it isn’t anything I can’t handle.” She bowed at the man. He worked with the lord, so his concern meant something, but she also knew that he would not be there if anything happened.
He gave her a quick bow. “Well, you let me know if he becomes too much and I will have a word with Damaris.”
She bowed low. “Thank you very much for your concern. I shall keep that in mind.” Taja knew full well that Damaris would do nothing if the matter was brought to his attention. She just had to wait for Braylon to return, then everything would be fine.
As she raised her head, she gave both of the newcomers a gracious smile and said, “Have a very pleasant day.” With that, she turned and left.
From a little distance, she heard the men talking as they walked in a different direction. “She really is a pretty young thing, isn’t she?”
“Yes. It seems a bit harsh to put a beauty like her in the stables, but can you imagine what it would be like if she were inside?” They both laughed. “It has been enough of a challenge just having her working close to the lord’s home. We’ve had to make sure that the young master doesn’t find out about her because he will certainly try to…” their voices trailed off.
Taja sighed. It was always the same, people always thought of her looks first. It was like she wasn’t even a person, just a plaything for others to use as they saw fit.
Suddenly a warm voice went through her thoughts. “Seriously? Is that stuff more important than your life?” “Blaming the victim is easy, but it is also very clear who the villain is in these cases.”
Taja shook her head, trying to clear out the images and any residual feelings. The man hadn’t gotten a look at her, or he wouldn’t have done what he did. He would have kept a hand on her, making sure she could not escape. Anyone who could intimidate a noble the way that man did was in a high position indeed. He would certainly have required payment for what he had done.
“My life is worth less than that,” the young woman muttered as she walked toward home, “but it doesn’t mean I don’t hope for better.”