SOMD Ch38: Expedition 3 (Patreon)

Alice was on pins and needles until Iggy announced that he saw Prim and Numi returning. There had been no outcry from the mining camp. That was no great surprise, because it was now the small hours of the night where even the most steadfast guard would feel sleepy. Alice surely would be too, if she weren't a ball of anxiety.

Her two dragons returned, looking unhurt. Numi especially, looked smug.

"Well?" Alice asked in a breathless whisper.

Prim spoke first. "I found where Dolly. We are lucky as she is on the side of the barracks that is close to the fence."

"And I found a way through the fence," Numi said, "and some coins, and lots and lots of gold."

That stopped Alice short. Prim looked at her in surprise, too.

"It's everywhere," Numi continued. "There are small caches buried in the ground, hidden under rocks and stuff." She opened her mouth and spat out a lumpy yellow ball. It was unlike any jewelry that Alice had seen before. It reminded her of bits of wax that had been fused together.

When she picked it up, it was unusually heavy. "Are you sure this is gold?"

That was a silly question, and of course, Numi with her assessment skill would know. "Yes, well, it's unprocessed, so it's not quite as valuable as normal gold yet, but I smelled plenty of that and more, in the magician's barracks—"

"No, you can't go in there," Alice said, sternly.

"Oh, I know. They can see through illusions, and they might have traps. I looked at the locks on the door, and it is way too advanced for me... for now," Numi said. "But once I get a few more levels, I'd like to give it a try. I don't think that they trust each other very much either, because there were caches all around the house, too. See?" Numi opened her mouth again, reached in, and pulled out... an amulet. "This was in one of them that was buried at the fence line close to the fancy house."

It was the same type of amulet that Alice had taken from Mabel. And now that she thought about it, she should have brought that first one with her... but this would work too.

"You two are a wonder," Alice said, so grateful for her dragons that it almost hurt.

"What are you going to do?" Prim asked.

Alice put the amulet over her head, either it was inactive, or, more likely, she was unable to sense its type of magic. Though, it did feel a bit warm as it rested against the skin of her collarbone.

"What else?" Alice said, "I'm going to contact Dolly and see what kind of information I can get from her."

With that, she changed her visible class to Apprentice Cook. Most of the Guards had non-Guard classes, and Cook would stand out less than Apprentice Merchant.

With that, she gestured for Numi to show her the way forward.

****

It did not take as long as Alice feared to make her way around the outside of the mining camp. Soon, Numi was excitedly showing her a gap she had found in the thick foliage that served as an effective boundary fence. The trees grew unnaturally close together — she couldn’t even stick her arm in at most places. But Numi had found a spot that had been cleverly cut out, with low branches obscuring the hole. Footsteps in the mud on the outside showed that it was well used.

“No doubt,” Numi said, “they leave to hide more treasure out in the forest. Then return.”

She sounded unusually excited about this.

Alice nodded and looked to Prim who, as usual, sat on her shoulder. “I need you to make me look like a guard.”

“Of course.” A moment later, she felt Prim’s illusion magic fall over her like a cloak.

The illusion was one of a large, bulky man. But Alice was still very much herself and slight of build. That made it easy to squeeze through the gap.

She straightened once she was on the other side, looking around. There was no one within sight. 

“Remember to stride,” Prim whispered in her ear. “All of the guards take big, long steps.”

Alice felt her heartbeat thudding in her chest, but she strode forward. Still, doubts assailed her. Was she taking an unnecessary risk? Was this worth it? She had been friends with Dolly for years, and yes, Dolly had wobbled away from that friendship, betrayed her, and was now reaping her rewards. 

But she was very likely also a valuable source of information. Alice could not simply ignore that.

Focusing on her goal, she let her anger drive out her fear as she strode across the night-dark landscape.

There were a few shadowed figures of guards in the distance, doing their own patrols. They turned their heads to glance at her, but then looked away, bored. 

Alice made a beeline to the barracks, ducked around the other side, and waited.

“Do you see anyone coming? Did anyone notice me?” She asked.

Prim fluttered off her shoulder, and though she couldn’t see her dragon as she was under camouflage, she heard the slight scrabble of claws against wooden roof shingles above. Soon, Prim returned to land lightly on Alice’s shoulder. 

“No one paid you any mind. Two of them are talking, but they seem friendly with each other, not suspicious. I think the ones that saw you might have mistaken you for someone else.”

Alice let out her breath. “Then show me where Dolly is.”

Prim directed Alice to a spot along the back wall on the fence side of the barracks. It was indistinguishable from the rest, except for a light X that had been freshly clawed int the wood. Alice knelt and told Prim to extend her camouflage around herself as well.

“Dolly,” she whispered, harshly. 

There were visible gaps in the rough wall, and she could hear the sound of regular heavy breathing of people asleep, and more than a few snores. It was so dark inside the barracks without any lamps lit. She couldn’t see anything at all.

Receiving no answer, she knocked lightly on the wood and repeated louder, “Dolly!”

One of the breathing noises turned into snorts. “What’s that? Who?” Came a muttered woman’s voice.

“Dolly, it’s me.”

Suddenly, the woman’s voice was much more awake. “Alice? You’re here?” 

Now she was speaking a bit louder, she was easier to pinpoint. Her voice came from above Alice’s head. Dolly must be on a cot raised off the ground.

“Shush,” Alice warned. “Get down here. Is anyone else awake around you?”

There was a slight shuffling sound and Dolly’s voice came close. She was just on the other side of the gap. “No, no one else is awake. They’re all exhausted. Alice! What are you doing here? Did Brandon send you? He must have!”

Alice almost said, ‘Who?’ But then she remembered Brandon was the name of Dolly’s noble lover. 

“No,” Alice said fiercely. “Is Brandon here too?”

“He shouldn’t be, but it’s gone all wrong. Alice, I can’t believe you’re here. Wait.” Dolly’s breath audibly caught. “Are you working for them? The mining company?”

Alice took a breath to answer, but Dolly cut in before she could. “Alice, please, I beg you… you must go back to the city and go to Brandon. Tell him… tell him that I’m here.”

“I don’t have to do anything,” Alice said, annoyed. “You stole from me. You tried to send the guards after me.”

“Because you had that thing, that monster with you!” Again, her breath seemed to stutter as she remembered. “You are with the mining company, aren’t you? They said… they said they had dragons with them and that’s why no one escapes alive. Is that you? Do you control the dragons?”

How could she have allowed herself to forget how exasperating dealing with Dolly could be? Even when Dolly wasn’t completely fixated on herself, Alice had to fight to get a word in edgewise. 

“I am not with the mining company,” she said.

Dolly leapt upon that at once. “Then prove it. Go tell Brandon that I’m in this horrible place—"

Alice took a breath and focused hard to keep a leash on her temper. She had dealt with Dolly for years, and as exasperating as she was, Alice knew how to turn the conversation the way she wanted.

“Dolly, I need to tell him more than that. You know how nobles are. They don’t listen to General Laborers like us. What can I tell them to convince Brandon to come and help you?”

“He will! He loves me.”

Alice couldn’t keep back her scoff.

That was a mistake. She could practically hear Dolly puff up in indignation. “You don’t understand, you’ve never given him a chance—" Her voice had gone strident and the nearby snoring from bunkmates stopped. Both Alice and Dolly fell silent, waiting. Within a few moments, the snoring continued. Though Alice wouldn’t be surprised if there were people who had awaken but were silently listening. 

Dolly continued, softer, but still angry. “You can be just as bad as the worst nobles. You pre-judge everyone based on classes— no one can help our classes. Well, Brandon sees beyond that. He’s never thought of me as just a General Laborer. When I was thrown out because of you—"

“Because of me—“ Alice started to repeat, outraged, but Dolly bowled right over her.

“He took care of me. He set me up in an apartment and gave me everything I needed — told me I never had to work as a General Laborer again, because he loved me. It’s my fault I was caught by those terrible men and brought here. Not his!” There were tears in her voice now. “He must be out of his mind with worry…”

Or he got tired of furnishing her lifestyle and called the false Workers to come and take her off his hands, Alice thought but did not say.

Once she may have felt deep sympathy for Dolly’s situation, but the fact she blamed Alice for being thrown out of the noble’s estate — and she would have very well known the risk for getting the guards involved with Alice — wiped that all away. 

So she focused on gathering information.

“Then give me something I can use,” she asked, she hoped, quite reasonably. “Surely Brandon can’t come and save you all by himself. He’ll need the support of his family, won’t he?”

Dolly sniffed and spoke in a watery tone, “Yes… I… I don’t know much. No one explains themselves to a General Laborer.”

That, Alice knew well.

Dolly continued. “The mine workers keep talking about sending gold to a dark master. I don’t know who that is, but after all the fuss after the last attack on the city, surely the nobles will care. Brandon will care, and he’ll get his brother to help. He’s a protector.”

Oliver. Yes. Alice remembered him well.

She sighed and shifted around. “Dolly, what do they have you do here. Are… are you safe?” She asked, and silently wondered why she hadn’t begged Alice to take her away yet. Perhaps she just didn’t trust her. 

Instantly, Dolly’s tears vanished, and she scoffed. “Oh, I’ll be working in the mines like everyone else. And if I work here enough, I may have my class changed as miner. Please, you must tell Brandon to come and save me before then.”

Alice rolled her eyes. “I will, but I must leave now. Don’t tell anyone I’m here, or when I find Brandon I’ll tell him you’ve been seeing another General Laborer.”

“You wouldn’t!” That actually seemed to scare her. It was the least she deserved, in Alice’s opinion. “Tell me you wouldn’t, Alice. You’re just being cruel—“

“I guess whether I do or don’t is up to you,” Alice said, and then left.

Prim again slipped the illusion of a male guard around her, but this time she didn’t have to remind Alice to stride like she had somewhere important to be. Alice’s anger spurred her forward. 

Most of her anger, though, was directed inward. She didn’t know why she thought she would be able to get anything of value out of Dolly. She’d said it herself: Who tells a General Laborer anything?

Though… she was a bit glad to find that Dolly was still a same, dramatic, self-centered mess. Whatever had happened to bring her here — accident or intent — hadn’t broken her.

No, her biggest concern was that she was worried her class may change with too much work done in one class. 

That was a legitimate concern and one of the few ways General Laborers could move upward. Though surely being a Miner was better than staying at the very bottom of all classes.

With Prim’s illusion as a guard wrapped around her, no one took notice of Alice’s ‘patrol’. She slipped back into the shadows and through the gap in the treed fence. Numi and Iggy waited on the other side for her.

Overhead, the moon was starting to set. Soon, it would be the beginning of dawn. She had to get as far away from the mining camp as possible before the sun came up. Not only would she risk being seen, the people back in the town would expect her to open the store soon.

I don’t think anyone will buy from Fixie, she thought wryly to herself.

Maybe her thoughts were too focused on the store and not enough on the danger around her. Because she had only gotten about fifty feet away from the fence before she found herself nearly face-to-face with a wood dragon.