SOMD Ch33: Fly! (Patreon)

At first, Alice barely registered the alarms. The high wind that always came off the harbor slowed down among the trees of the forest before it hit the village itself. It sounded like sharp whistles. 

She only truly took note when her customers stopped one by one and started looking around with anxious expressions. Then she caught the bare hint of a whistle. 

"What is that?" she asked. "One of the ships out to port?" 

She had just finished her business with the woman who wanted the blue bolt of cloth. Alice had no way to order it, of course, but one of the other customers had dropped off something very close to what the woman wanted. Alice would have traded it to her for a much lesser price had Numi not poked her nose out and told her that the purple color was more expensive for some reason.

That had saved Alice a blunder that would have cost several silver coins. But now the bolt of cloth was forgotten in the woman’s arms as she stared at Alice. Then, her eyes widened. "Oh, you’re new here. You don't know, Matilda," she turned and called. 

Meanwhile, more customers were starting to melt away, and more than a few of them were looking back over their shoulders towards the direction of the port. 

At her name, Alice saw the barkeep from the saloon walk up. Her face was pinched, and she took in the situation at a glance. 

"She doesn't know," the woman repeated to Matilda.

"Know what?" Alice said. 

 Matilda the barkeep, took in the situation at a glance. "Then don't just stand there, help her gather up her supplies and put it back into the shop. We don't have long. Hurry now," she said, and grabbed the collar of a 10-year-old boy who was scampering by. "Freddy, help her." 

"Know what?" Alice asked again, growing annoyed. She stood but was afraid to move quickly, lest she upset Prim's balance, or somehow shift her overcoat, and reveal Numi. 

"The mining company's passing through," Matilda looked around as if to get more help, but the other customers had all but melted away. Within a few moments, the streets had all but emptied. Even little Freddy had thrown a few of Alice’s shirts into the store and scampered away. 

"Hurry," Matilda said, "we must get these things in quickly." 

 And without further ado, she grabbed an armful of linens. 

Alice had more questions burning at the tip of her tongue, but she could recognize that something about this was dangerous. She quickly started gathering up things as well, mostly the baubles, which she didn't particularly care for, but those were the most valuable. 

“The alarms are getting louder. We need to go faster," Matilda urged.

"What about the table?" the woman with the bolt of cloth asked. 

Matilda shook her head. "No, there's no time. Let's just put it up against the outer wall here and hope that they don't do anything about it. Though, I'm afraid it may be destroyed." 

That caught Alice's attention as she returned and gathered up another armful, this time of sturdy clothing meant for children. The table was looking bare now with only a few items left. "Why would they destroy it?" 

"Hurry," someone from down the street yelled, "they're coming!" 

"Damn," without further ado, Matilda grabbed up one end of the tablecloth. 

Seeing what she was up to, Alice helped, and they swept the rest up into an untidy pile and together, brought the entire bundle inside. 

"I need to go, my children," the woman with the bolt of clothing said.

"Of course, Sandy, be safe," Matilda said. “I’ll explain things to her.”

Alice started to go back to the table, but Matilda grabbed her shoulder, stopping her. 

"Listen to me," Matilda said, "The mining company is coming through."

"I’ve heard that already," Alice replied. “I don’t understand why it’s important.”

"They do this every few weeks, though... only the System knows it's been more and more often.” She stooped and shook her head. "It doesn’t matter. Get into your store now and close every shutter. Then when you hear them, you turn away from the windows, shut your eyes, maybe even put your hands over your ears." 

Prim hissed lowly in Alice's ear, and Alice could only stare at the woman.

 "Excuse me?" Alice asked. It was the only thing she could think to say. She might have even suspected that Matilda was pulling a prank on her if not for the woman’s serious expression and the reaction from the rest of the villagers.

Matilda continued. "The mining town is very secretive about their own business, don't you see? They're going to pass through here, and you're going to hear noises—people talking, and sometimes... other things. If they catch somebody out... whatever happens to them, it isn't in your best interest to pay attention. I can see that you have cracks in the walls, and some of your shutters are askew. Do not peek through them," she said with emphasis. "They have mages and sorcerers who will be able to tell if you do. Every once in a while, someone silly thinks that they can spy on the mining facility's business. Don't give them any excuse to trouble you."

Her words made ice wash down Alice's spine. 

Matilda must have seen the look of fear on Alice's face because she nodded. "Good girl. You understand. Good girl. I need to return to the saloon. Quickly now, listen to what I've said and shut the door behind me. Go." She all but pushed Alice forward. 

Alice did as she was told, shutting the door and pressing her back against it. 

In the distance, she heard people scrambling, running, all while the whistling alarms grew louder. 

The shrill noises were much like what horse traders blew into to announce that there was a herd running down the street, and that everyone should get out of the way. Alice had seen it once, the morning after Numi hatched. 

Only, this seemed to be a whistle that everybody should hide and keep to their own business. 

"Alice?" Prim asked. "What do we do?"

Alice was torn. That part of her that had been a General Laborer wanted nothing to do with this so-called mining company, and knew that it was best to listen to and do what the higher classer told you to do. 

But that part had been growing dimmer ever since she had become She of Many Dragons. Now, she felt scared... but also insulted. Who were these people to tell her what to do and what not to look at?

Ah, but they had sorcerers... which meant that they had ways of seeing that normal people couldn't. 

She made a snap decision. "Everyone, you're to fly out of this building, into the forest. Get away, as far away as you can from these people."

"I will stay," Prim said, but Alice hardened her heart.

"No, you will not. You're at most risk. They have sorcerers with them, and the last one saw straight through your illusions."

"But—"

"No buts," Alice said sharply, and she strode away from the door to start closing the shutters. She didn't know why she bothered trying. A lot were cock-eyed, or just ill-fitting due to not being maintained. Frustrated, she turned back to her dragons.

 "I need you to lead the rest," she told Prim. "Numi, you need to help Fixie fly. She's young yet."

 "She can ride on my back," Numi said, and went to drag Fixie away from where she was patching a crocheted blanket.

Iggy bristled. "Are we to let this mining company bully us?"

"No," Alice said, firmly. She barely recognized her voice, it was so hard. "No, as soon as you get away, you're to fly up. Way up, so up high that you look like birds from the ground. That should be good enough to not be noticed.” Hopefully, the sorcerer couldn't fly, or at least not fly faster than her dragons. “Then, you're to peer down and tell me what these people are doing, and why they're being so secretive about it."

Abruptly, she felt the fierce approval of all of her dragons.

Alice walked to the back of the store and opened up the door. "Go now," she told her dragons, and they obeyed her at once.

Iggy looked like he was smiling on his way out.