Chapter Three
Daylight bloomed, and with it, so did the possibilities. Durza and Jackie were rather cuddly, spending a lot of time grinning and giggling like a lovesick couple.
It was unlike her normal self. She clung onto that feeling for as long as she could, allowing her heart to open to Durza’s affection, before it closed up again and she got down to business.
Still, she couldn’t ignore the covert glances he gave her, and sometimes she greeted them back with a smile.
Outside, Morgana gave Jackie a little locked chest with ten of the proxy healing potions inside it. The black-haired witch appeared incredibly proud of her efforts and ingenuity when it came to brewing.
“They say my great-great-great-grandmother on my cousin’s side was the legendary witch of the Old Kingdom,” Morgana said, “before the kingdoms formed. Before we had proper humans around. She was the best potion maker. Came up with most of the recipes we use today.”
“I have to hand it to you, your skill is scary.” Jackie pretended to bow before the witch. Morgana smiled at Jackie, before slipping her a tiny pink potion.
“That’s my rapid heal. Go on. Drink it!”
Giving her thanks, Jackie drank the contents of the little glass and felt the chaotic energies swirling in her system, invigorating her veins. She actively felt them regenerating on the spot as the liquid worked its way through, and she sighed. “Incredible.”
“It won’t help you escape, mind,” Morgana said. “So I think I’m okay giving you that. Durza’s quite attached to you. Seems to think you’re some kind of miracle. You sex him already?”
Jackie burst out laughing at this, even as she saw a few Questers making their way along the rickety bridges. “Yes. I’ve, uh, sexed him. I think I scared him off, actually. He wasn’t expecting me to be quite so… experienced.”
“Oh ho? Now this, I have to hear,” Morgana said, dragging Jackie over so that they both sat with their legs dangling over a precipice, the wind lustily flicking around them. Her green eyes shimmered with interest, and Jackie shared her experience with the famous gigolo of her kingdom.
“You were a naughty princess! I thought all your types were the same, but I couldn’t be more wrong, could I? Try not to suck my friend too dry. He needs to function, sometimes.”
Jackie chuckled. She never got to talk like this with other princesses. The words for them were venomous, packing in blasphemy and wilting the ears of innocent minds. “I can’t hold any promises. He’s quite tasty under all those clothes. Just as long as he doesn’t shift into a fucking dragon halfway, I’m good.”
“Ah, girl. That’s… oh,” Morgana groaned, grinning at the same time, “No, that’s an awful visual!”
Jackie laughed harder, her cheeks reddening from the effort of her stomach contracting. “Yes, I’m already regretting that one myself. Let’s just stay away from there, can we agree?”
“You know, I’ve lived among dragons for almost a century, and I still don’t know how they transform. Is it magic? A spell? Is it comfortable? Painful? They never talk about it.” Morgana nodded to herself as a Quester drew nearer. “Wait. I think this one might be coming for your potion. I can smell it. Smell it good.” She tapped her large nose, licking her lips. “You remember the ritual words?”
Durza discreetly peeked his head out of the cave, and Jackie caught it out of the corner of her eye, which made her doubly nervous. She wasn’t used to being nervous and silently berated herself for it. “Yes, of course.” She felt an unusual pressure to do well. To prove to these people that even a princess could be a Quest Giver. And not merely the reward from a Quest.
Sure enough, the weary traveler stopped behind Morgana and Jackie. “Greetings,” the knight said, wheezing through his silvery visor, gauntleted hands resting upon his knees. “I’ve heard it from a mystic that there’s a new Quest in this domain, one that’s worth the time.”
“Greetings, Quester,” Jackie said, hoping she didn’t stumble over any of the words, “I have a Quest, if you’re willing to hear it. I need six things. First is powdered unicorn horn from the Strathian breed found in the Lost Forest. Second are the petals of the stygian flower, located in the City of Night. Third is the gloamfly, only found in the Swamp of Illusions. Fourth is the tear of an innocent, trapped in a diamond phial. Fifth is the greenest blade of grass from the Troll Meadows, and last is a crystallized soul, found where the darkest secrets lie.” She paused. Yes, I’ve said it right. I’m good. “Only then will you have my reward. The Potion of Healing. With it in your blood, you can heal those you love.”
The knight bobbed his head. A flicker of desperation shot through his face. “Yes. I accept this Quest. Is there a time limit?”
“Take as long as you need. It will not be easy, Quester.”
“Thank you.” The knight bowed to Jackie, making her feel rather proud of herself. He thanked her again, and waddled off to the rope bridge, whilst Morgana leaned on her palm, grinning roguishly.
“Look at you! We’ll make a Quest Giver of you yet.”
“I have a question. What if they just, like, refuse to take a Quest and just overpower us?”
“The potions break if harm happens to the Quest Givers,” Morgana replied. “There are traditional fail-safes for all Quest Givers. No one in their right mind would do such a thing.”
That didn’t exactly reassure Jackie. All it’d take was someone tipping the edge of insanity to make things go wrong. She needed protection – like what she saw Morgana wearing on the night she and Andrea were found in the swamp.
Durza came along to them at last, beaming with obvious pride. “See? I told you she’d be good.”
“Hmph. Well, Durza, she’s a good soul, but she’s a princess. If you don’t give her what she wants, it won’t work out in the long run.” Morgana clapped Jackie’s shoulder. “And this one thirsts for knowledge. I can smell it. She might be willing to give up her dream of returning home… if you can prove that her home is here in High Mountain.”
Jackie blinked rapidly, surprised at the witch’s words. I wouldn’t put it like that. Though she was adrift, unsure where the tide pulled her, and unsure where she wanted to go. She missed home, but any day the situation might spill over into death and destruction. They barely managed the peace as it was, because danger always knocked on the door, bribing the officials, digging a way into the royal family. But here on High Mountain, although surrounded by beautiful views, with a dragon who transformed into a human and kept her company at night – she still didn’t quite belong.
Neither with the princesses, or with dragons. Nowhere, really. Morgana sensed her sadness, or maybe saw it with that strange future potion, and said, “You’ve been lost for a while, haven’t you? And just been pretending that everything’s fine.”
Not wanting to answer with words, because she felt as if they’d well out her throat and through her eyes as tears, Jackie nodded. Durza’s expression softened at this.
“What can I do to help? If you’re really unhappy here… I can take you back. I mean, I was a little selfish – we wanted to find someone to be a Quest Giver for Morgana’s new potion for a while. But I did take advantage of that.”
“There’s no point in me going home,” Jackie replied, her heart heavy, weighing down her soul. “I’m past prime age. Or getting there. I’ve been removed from society long enough that I’ll have to do catch-up to get anywhere. And I don’t even know what the political landscape’s like. It changes quite fast.” She rubbed her hands, staring down the cliffs and mountains where plants grew precariously out the sides, wafting in the gentle breeze like dancers, resembling the essence of her dreams.
She snapped and acted irritable like the best of them, but it was no compensation for the disconnect. Not even seizing moments with people like Durza and trying to forget the world around her existed helped.
“Then what can we do? There’s no point keeping you here as a Quest Giver if you have no motivation to go home. I mean, that was the deal we struck. It won’t work.” Durza let out a heavy sigh, his brown eyes full of concern. His kind, clever face sent small pangs of guilt into Jackie’s otherwise locked heart.
One day at a time. “Well. I may as well give this whole Quest business a try. And, if you want me to stick around – even have a relationship – my needs should be satisfied. They are quite simple. Books. Access to knowledge. And the promise of artifacts and gear like Morgana’s. Because I feel quite squishy without that protection. I don’t have magic in my bones. Well… natural magic,” she said hastily, seeing Morgana’s aggressive eyebrow twitch. Okay. Don’t tell Durza about the regeneration potion in her blood.
“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.