Blue Crystal - The Heavy Price

Day 14

Jessica Wildness sat in her tower watching the people far below.

Black Beard’s men opened the door and food was brought in. The one was young and cute. His armor looked too big for him, but he was making it work. The other looked old and hardened by war and life. His grey beard covered most of his face and wiry hair come out of his ears. Grey nose hairs mixed with the beard almost like one.

Jessica looked at the food, it was fruit and milk. She smiled at them not saying anything. She was hoping that by keeping quiet she would avoid some issues that had arisen in the past. Also, she didn’t want them to know she didn’t understand them. She was gaining information. Drake’s parents knew she was there. She knew Drake would not leave her there. He would find her, like before. She just had to hold out until then.

She ate the fruit and slipped the milk. It was off. A thick curdle of whitish goo. She spat it back into the cup. But she didn’t have anything to rinse her mouth with.

“Gross, gross!” she groaned to herself.

She ate some fruit to try and get rid of the bad taste, but it only helped a little.

“Why give me sour milk?” she asked the universe.

Black Beard himself come into the room. He spoke to her and then two men came in. They began packing up her stuff.

‘So, they are moving me’ she thought.

She made sure she had the important things on her. Most of her things were still in the castle. She had no weapons or other things to help her escape. She didn’t like that she was being moved again. It would make finding her harder. She knew she was not being taken to the Dragon Rider’s. She was moving moved so that Drake couldn’t find her.

Jessica was put on a horse and led even further into the countryside. They passed a farm houses and went right into the wild. Nothing but grass and trees. Not even a road for the horses to walk to. They walked for about four hours before stopping at a river.

Jessica was thirsty and so was everyone else.

They drank and filled their water bottles. Then headed out further into the countryside. Being quiet for so long was not easy for Jessica. She longed to talk. They went to a big hill and camped on top. A chain was put around Jessica’s waist and locked, then around a tree. It gave her about three meters to move about around the tree.

‘Great if there is a snake, I’m food.’ She groaned to herself.

She was brought food and water. She was not sure what she was being given but the burnt piece of meat was not appetizing. However, she was hungry.

She ate the burnt piece of meat and drank water. The fire was warm, but she wasn’t close enough to really benefit from its warmth. She sat with her back to the tree and watched the flames.

One started humming, and another joined in. They all seemed to know the tune. Then one started singing, he had a beautiful voice, his back up however didn’t. So, a beautiful voice sang, and a frog echoed. When it got to the chorus everyone sang, loud voices with a belly ache cut thought the night. The hill was indeed haunted that night by the song of men.

Jessica laughed. She couldn’t help it. They danced around the fire, holding each other’s elbows and making kicking gestures in sync. Between their singing and dancing Jessica was very entertained. But her body hurt from being on horseback all day.

* * *

Autumn left the castle while it was still dark. She needed to find Jessica for the queen. Finding Jessica had been her plan all along. She had found Rachael on the street of Point. A road Jessica had been on. She found Sugar in the City Point and she was now once again looking for Jessica. She didn’t know why but this Jessica was important. She had even heard the Dragon Riders’ ruling prince talking about her.

She walked the cold stone road of the City Point. It was sunrise and people were bathing. The smell of food and animals mixed to make the smell of the city. Busy, dirty people grumbled about. There were stories that the queen was weak and that the attack on the castle was successful. The queen was dead.

“What now?” he asked his gossiping friend “I will ask around.”

Autumn overheard.

Autumn shock her head. There was a reason the Terra tribe was the least intelligent. She listened to the women dressing their children and trying to be neater and nicer than their neighbors. The men moaned about why it was important that they were better than their neighbor. However, some were worse.

She followed Jessica’s sent to the north road leaving the City Point. A watch tower looked recently used. But with all the people coming for the queen’s peace conference it was possible some of the queen’s men were using it.

She approached and realized it was abandoned. Only hours before she arrived.

‘Why move her?’ she questioned.

She filled her water skin and headed after her.

Autumn did not miss the distinct smell of the Skiopia royalty.

‘Why were they here, yet they didn’t bring her back to the castle?’

In fact, she was sure she could smell the whole of the Skiopia army there too. She suspected foul play and so decided that once she had Jessica, she would approach them with this information and see what the ruling prince and princess would do.

Autumn walked until night. Then she transformed into a dark blue panther with silver eyes. She carried her clothes in her mouth. As she approached the hill, she heard wailing like those of people attacked by spirits. She hesitated… she couldn’t small anything that implied danger. But the gut gurgling sounds kept coming. Getting louder and louder as if the situation was completely out of control.

She was drawn by the smell of labiatae. She shook her head and tried to focus. But it was too strong. The smell pulled her from her very core. The singing on the hill faded as she was drawn away by the labiatae.

‘I will go quickly’ she told herself, as she gave in and went to it.

The plant was huge, it’s leaves undisturbed. It sparkles like little stars. She rubbed her face against it.

‘Mmmmm’

She chewed on its leaves enjoying the sweet nectar inside. Autumn lost track of time as the plant engulfed her. Enticing her and encouraging her in with its ever better smell and taste.

*Labiatae is a very strong catnip. Which no cat could turn away from. These creeping plants were rare and after being in a mine most of her life she had no immunity to it.

Autumn woke up dazed and out of it. She couldn’t walk straight nor see straight. She wobbled along drooling. The green gob dripped from her mouth. She fell over. The stars twinkled above her getting brighter and dimmer depending on which one she looked at and which eye she used.

She had no sense of urgency or remembrance of what it was she was doing. An orange bug crawled passed her.

“You’re zonked.” he said.

“Why are you talking to me?” Autumn asked.

“Because you can’t do anything about it.” He stated full of himself despite his size.

“Is that a challenge?” Autumn asked.

“Oh yes! Please try catch me.” He teased sarcastically.

Autumn moved onto her paws. But she couldn’t stay on them.

The orange bug laughed.

“Hey, come look at this!” he called into the night.

Orange bugs started appearing from everywhere. They sat on branches and on the stones. All watching her.

“Come on then!” he challenged her.

Autumn tried again to stand but she couldn’t. She saw a large rock.

‘If I can’t get to you myself, I will crush you with that rock’ she thought.

She wiggled and wormed on her back through the mud created by her excessive drooling.

“Running away!” the bug taunted.

‘Just you wait’ she thought.

She wiggled and wormed in the other direction. Heading for the rock. Motivated by the desire to kill the wretched bug. When she finally reached the rock, she had forgotten why she was there.

“Scaredy cat!” The bug called.

Autumn looked at the bugs. She looked at the rock. She tried to push it, but her paws were making very little difference. She changed back into her human shape and pushed the rock. It tumbled over and began to roll. Picking up speed it crashed through the labiatae. The bug disappeared. She lay in the dark, covered in mud. Her head slowly began to clear. Her human form was more resistant to the labiatae. But experienced the after affects as if waking from a drunken stupor.

The triples she was seeing started to become two, and slowly one. She realized she was laying naked in the mud and her clothes were not around her.

‘What happened?’ she asked herself.

‘Talking bugs?’ she remembered.

‘Where did I leave my clothes?’

She could smell the fire from the camp on the hill. It had died down. Dots of red briefly glowed in the air.

Autumn didn’t want to approach without her clothes. But she couldn’t change back into a panther either, because of the labiatae’s effects on her. Autumn wished for the first time that she had waited for the queen’s men who she had left behind when running ahead.

‘I need clothes.’

She tried to retrace her steps but the closer she got to the labiatae the more difficult it was even in her human form.

She decided to fetch Jessica then find her clothes.

Still covered in mud that was an odd green color she climbed the hill. Mostly human slightly animal.

The fire was but embers and warmth. A woman was laying against a tree.

She had red hair! Her clothes were beautiful like that worn by the rich or by royals. She was chained to the tree. Even though a rug was over her legs Autumn could see she was cold.

A man turned over, groaning in his sleep.

Autumn froze.

He continued sleeping.

There were a lot of men for one prisoner. Twenty-two soldiers traveling at speed out of the City Point. With a red-haired prisoner!

Autumn found the keys and unlocked the chains holding Jessica.

* * *

Jessica Wildness awoke. A naked woman covered in green mug loomed over her.

‘What the?!’

Jessica was now wide awake. The silver eyes of the woman looked at her expectantly.

She forced an awkward smile.

The woman pulled her to her feet with unexpected strength. Her chains had been unlocked and she was free. The naked woman took her hand and led her down the hill.

The ground was so cold that ice was forming. She could hear the soft crunch as she ran with the naked woman. Then Jessica noticed that the naked woman had paws instead of feet.

Jessica halted. She rubbed her eyes and stared at the dark blue fur that covered the paws of the naked woman.

“What!” Jessica blurted.

The cat woman covered her mouth and looked around concerned.

Jessica saw a bush with something brown hanging in it. There was dried mud and what looked like a giant’s snakes’ pattern in the mud. Jessica looked at the mud woman.

‘Did she lose her clothes in that thicket?’ Jessica puzzled to herself.

She marched over and tugged on the brown jacket. A bunch of orange bugs scattered as she pulled it free. She could now see a pair of pants. Black and bundled deeper in the bush. She reached for it, but a large orange beetle fought her for it. It lifted its legs and waved its spikes at her. Jessica stomped on it. Then she stomped on it again for good measure. She picked up the pair on pants.

A rustling sound from above her made her look up. Orange bugs gathered all around her. Rubbing their mandibles, they made an intimidating sound. Jessica moved backwards but something bit her. She moved forwards and an orange beetle landed on her and took a bite.

“Ouch!” She objected.

The bugs began to swarm her. Jessica grabbed the pants and ran, pulling free from the thicket. Once free she jiggled and jumped about brushing the biting bugs off her. Then she vengefully chased down the scurrying beetles and stomped on them killing as many as she could before they found refuse in the thicket.

She picked up the clothes and marched over to Autumn who had kept her distance.

“Thanks for the assist.” she said sarcastically.

Shoving the clothes into Autumn’s arms.

The mud coved woman dressed in the pants and put the jacket on. She kept saying something. Jessica presumed it was a thank you.

She rubbed the bites. The beetles had taken little bits out of her. Some were bleeding.

Autumn took her hand and led her to a small dirt path. There she ran ahead leaving Jessica to walk the path alone in the dark.

Jessica could feel the air. A blizzard was brewing. She needed to find shelter. As she ran the path trying to keep warm, she thought about the strange woman who had freed her from the men the Dragon Rider royalty had left her with.

‘Who was this strange woman, who had no clothes, was covered in mud and instead of feet she had paws? Was this woman sent by Drake? Or was she just a silvered eyed good Samaritan?’

Snow began to fall bring her attention back to the danger of being out in the open during a blizzard.

She couldn’t see any lights or anything that could provide shelter. She was in an open place with nothing but the elements to keep her company.

‘Light a fire’ she told herself, but she hadn’t seen any wood or twigs she could light one with.

She kept running. The mud woman hadn’t saved her just to die in the cold. She was on that path for a reason.

The snow melted as it touched her face.

The dress she was wearing was ruined and the shoes on her feet were not comfortable running shoes. She slowed to a walk. She was tired. Then a creature of the night appeared, a large dark blue panther with silver eyes. It blocked her path. Jessica froze, heart pounding.

‘Death my mauling’ she thought ‘What a way to go.’

Then the creature turned into the muddy woman.

Jessica’s eyes grew big.

“You’re a shape shifter!” she announced.

The woman took her hand and led her, while running through the snow. Finally, they came to a cave where they took shelter. A small fire was already burning.

“Whose camp are we invading?” Jessica asked.