SOMD Ch26: A New Life (Patreon)

After a few moments, Alice changed her mind and took another side street that headed downward, back toward the harbor. 

It wasn't easy. The destruction was painfully stark everywhere she looked. Buildings had fallen into the street, and she had to back up another block before she could continue on. And out on the harbor, when she got glimpses of it, she saw that several smaller boats and larger ships had suffered damage — some in the process of sinking and others still ablaze. 

But despite the chaos, the city was starting to come back to life. The low and mid classers, in particular, were emerging from their homes and beginning the long process of cleanup and rebuilding.

And as she once again got back towards the harbor, she saw that many fishermen had come out and were assessing the damage. They were driven by their need to return to the sea and catch for their dinner. Alice passed by several who were discussing the state of their ships  and opportunities to work on others. With Alice walking past them, and Prim cloaking herself and Iggy and Spark in illusion magic, no one gave her a second look.

But that doesn't mean we're safe, she thought, now I know some magical classers can see through Prim’s illusions. 

Wanting to make sure all her dragons were with her, she slowed down until she caught a flash of green between fallen debris. Numi was managing to keep up.

Finally, she reached the harbor itself and looked around.

Out on the sea, several larger ships were still out of commission, including one that was half-submerged and blocking other vessels from leaving.

However, the long pier that extended far out into the harbor was entirely intact, and it was bustling with activity. Large ferries with huge paddle wheels were docked, and people ran to and fro — some with clearly hastily packed belongings on their back or in their arms.

It seemed that Alice was not the only one who wanted to get out of the city. Maybe they were worried about another Dark classer attack, or maybe they had already been on their way out and the attack had simply interrupted them. Either way, Alice didn't stand out for being there.

Each ferry seemed to have its own busker assigned to their gangways, and they were gleefully yelling out prices and destinations, as well as any extras that the ferry might have. 

"All aboard to Southern's Foot! Three hours there, three hours back, round trip!" one announced.

"Non-stop to Wilseyville! Complimentary dinner and overnight too!”

“Several rooms available!”

“Two coppers across the harbor. Avoid the streets!" another called out.

Every destination was completely unfamiliar to her. Alice had only vaguely looked at a map once or twice and wasn't exactly sure how to read them. All she wanted was to get as far away as possible. 

One ferry caught her attention. It was gleaming with fake copper and gold gilt, and the people who were lining up for it were dressed very fine. 

The young busker at the front saw her looking and, with an eager glint in his eyes, said, "You heading to Cobblestone Creek?"

"How far is that from here?" Alice asked.

"Three days. And it's the most luxurious ride you'll ever have, or your coins will be returned! We have the best beer and food, much better than what's over there," the boy said, jerking his chin over at another ferry, which was much larger but seemed a little more rundown. It also had quite the line standing before it, waiting to embark.

"How much?" Alice asked.

"Only three gold," he said.

That price was very dear. Alice didn't let it show on her face, however, but just nodded and said, "I'll think about it," and moved off.

She thought she caught a bit of disappointment in the boy's eyes, but he immediately rallied and started barking at the next person.

She had no idea where Cobblestone Creek was,, but three days away sounded very nice to her. Alice discreetly made her way to the side of the pier. And if she concentrated, she could hear Numi deftly scuttling underneath the planks. 

Alice pretended to bend down and tie her shoe, and the little green dragon came up to her. 

"I need five gold," Alice said.

Numi spit them up at once from her spatial storage. It was nearly every gold piece she had.

Returning to the young salesman, Alice said, "How much for a private room?"

The salesman brightened. "Four gold, miss."

"I have five gold. Give me your best suite,” she said.

****

Alice had never so much as placed a foot on a rowboat before, yet it turned out that she was not at all prone to seasickness. In fact, she rather enjoyed the rolling motion of the boat—something that increased as soon as the ship got out of the sheltered harbor.

The coins that she had put down had bought her an expensive suite. Although it was smaller than the luxurious hotel room, it had included a private, though tiny, bathroom. In fact, if she wished, she only needed to leave in order to join the guests in the grand dining hall for meal service.

The suite also came with a giant porthole that was larger than she was tall. During the rougher times, the tips of tall waves actually splashed up against the bottom of the porthole. Alice wasn’t afraid and could sit by it and watch the waves go by in the ever-changing sea for hours. In fact, that was what she did.

Prim was just as content to sit and watch the waves as she was. Unfortunately, though, her first dragon was often hungry. She had laid several eggs within the last few days, and her body needed to replenish itself.

Alice snuck as much food as she could from the meals into her pockets and brought it back to her friend. It reminded her a lot of her first days with Prim and how she had snuck into the estate kitchens.

And of course, she dared to put in an order to the kitchens for an additional midnight meal sent up. It cost a truly outrageous price, but with the coins that Numi had scraped together within the last few days, she had what she needed to provide her dragons with some additional comfort.

Iggy and Spark supplemented their diet by hunting for themselves. At first, they went after the rats Iggy insisted were scuttling within the bowels of the ship.

Unfortunately, he had none of Prim's concealment skills, or even Numi's uncanny ability to squeeze into cracks, so he had to choose his time wisely and be careful. Spark wasn't much better. The little bits of lightning element that had so served him during the fight with the dark classers beast now made him very visible. In fact, when Alice turned down the lamp at night, she could always see where the little sub-aspect was because he carried an unearthly glow about him, visible just under his scales.

She still had never heard Spark speak once. It seemed that whenever the little sub-aspect wanted anything, he would relay it silently through Iggy.

However, the two of them acted like brothers and often tumbled and played around the cabin, with much admonishment from both Alice and Prim to keep quiet. The last thing they needed was for a nosy neighbor from the next cabin reporting that Alice had hidden animals. So, while they hunted and burned off their energy, they had to be extraordinarily careful.

The night of the first day of their journey, Alice waited for night to fall. All was quiet, and the clock read past midnight. The passengers were asleep, especially the ones that had decided to take care of their anxiety of the sea by drinking wine. The corridors were clear, and Alice risked a visit up to the top deck with her dragons.

It was a misty night, with the cold wind driving into her face, and she couldn't see more than an arm's length past the bow for all of the fog.

Once free, however, Iggy and Spark, sprinted off into the night and were quickly lost in the gloom. Alice was worried about them for a few moments, for she couldn't even see the glow of Spark's scales. But if she concentrated, she could tell instinctively where they were, and she knew that her dragons could do the same for her. They would never be lost from one another.

The two dragons quickly discovered fishing. There was some kind of run on a nightfish that apparently came up to the surface in the dark. The two returned with their catches in their claws—Iggy had two fish wiggling in each hand, and Spark had all of his limbs and even his tail wrapped around one fish that was just as big as him. The thing was thrashing so hard that it knocked Spark this way and that in the air.

"Why don't you just electrocute it?" Iggy asked.

Spark, of course, didn't reply, but with a flash a moment later, the fish became still.

Then the two dragons deposited their catch in front of Alice's feet. Not being a squeamish girl, and having done some work in the kitchens before as a General Laborer, she quickly grabbed the fish by the gills and looked them over. They were fat and healthy.

"I've never seen anything like this before," she said, inspecting them closely. "They almost look like trout, but look at the silver in their scales." She held one up, and it glinted in the dim deck lights. "Unfortunately, I don't have any way of cooking them. I can't exactly start a fire in the cabin. Or explain where I got them," she said with a laugh.

"Why don't you tell them you used those?" Prim pointed with her slim head toward the corner of the open deck. At this time of night, it was filled with empty patio furniture, tables, and chairs for guests to sit on and drink.

The deck itself was painted with lines for shuffleboard and other games. Alice had come up to the deck once or twice in order to breathe air outside of the stuffy cabin, but she had not participated in any of those games, being much too afraid that anything she said would give herself away.

All the other guests were treating this voyage like a vacation, or perhaps a way to rest and relax before they worked their business at the next port. For Alice, this ship was a means of escape.

She pushed those thoughts aside and concentrated harder on where Prim was pointing. There in the gloom was an open-topped barrel, and sticking out of it were several fishing poles. The lines and hooks were laid out neatly nearby for any guests to try their hand at catching a fish.

Alice had never tried a fishing pole and tackle, but Prim was right—that made for a ready excuse.

"That will be perfect," she said, and picking up the fish, she brought them down to the kitchen level.

The bakers and at least some of the cooks started early. They seemed startled that she had come down to their level at all, and even more so that she had delivered fish to them with her own two hands.

"Miss, you should have rung for a servant. Any one of us would have happily brought the fish down for you—Wait a minute, are these Jolly Silvers?" The man’s voice went from horrified to amazed as he took one of the fish and held it to the light.

"Jolly Silvers?" she asked. "I don't know. I've never seen anything like it, but they were eager to bite the hook."

That sounded like something a fisherman would say, right?

"Aye," the man said, distracted, then glanced around at the others. "Perhaps we should send some of our own to work the decks at night, if this is an example of what even a lady could catch."

The Cook next to him slapped his arm, and looked at Alice meaningfully, and the man shut his mouth, horrified.

Alice nodded. "My father taught me to fish," she said, hoping that would be a ready enough excuse.

"Of course, Miss," the man said. "I suppose you want them fried and sent up to your room?"

That was an oblique enough request for her to leave and let them work, and Alice was more than agreeable. "Yes, prepare them however you're able," she said, though she still felt a little guilty about interrupting their own work for her needs. At least her dragons would be well fed tonight.

****

Afterward, she returned to her cabin to see Numi sprawled out on the bed, wings, arms, and talons in all directions, and looking utterly miserable.

Alice went to her side and stroked her poor green dragon. Out of all of them, Numi was the one who suffered from seasickness. If she were not already green, she most certainly would have turned so by now. As soon as the ship had left the harbor and the waves began to roll under the bow, Numi had begun to cough up coins.

Now her spatial storage was completely empty, as was her stomach because she flat out refused to eat anything.

"Oh, Numi, dear," Alice said as she pulled the dragon onto her lap. "You should have come up to the deck with us. The air would have been good for you, I think."

"No," the dragon groaned, "I think the rolling would be even worse up at the top, and I can't stand the thought of it." She closed her eyes.

Alice gestured to Prim toward the stack of coins that sat nearby on a table. Prim handed her a copper, and Alice tried to coax Numi into taking a bite. Eventually, Numi gave in, taking a reluctant nip of the coin as if it were a disgusting cookie. She refused a second try.

"At least some food is better than none," Alice said, though she watched her carefully and hoped that she would be able to keep the partial coin down this time.

Soon enough, there came a knock at the door.

At this point, everybody was practiced in what to do. Iggy and Spark went over to Prim, who raised her wings as if to shield them. Alice scooped Numi up and deposited her with them, while Numi protested every movement along the way.

Alice shushed her, then glanced over her shoulder to make sure that Prim's illusion was firmly on. Where had once been a squat dresser with an empty top now showed a vase of flowers to conceal the dragons.

Alice opened the cabin door, accepted the food, and provided a generous tip of two silvers. It was a bit more of a tip than what she had come to consider as usual, but considering it was the dead of night and the kitchen folk had stopped their work to attend to her, she thought it was justified. Telling the Attendant that she could set up her table herself, she closed the door and brought the fish bake in.

Despite the fact that she was tired enough for bed, the fish smelled divine. They had deboned the fish, breaded the filets, and fried them.. Then they had placed them on a bed of potatoes, which was roasted in oil and salt, and added a nice spring salad on the side.

Alice had yet to get used to how much fresh greens were always available to the higher classers.

Prim's illusion dropped immediately, and she, Iggy, and Spark flew over to hover around the plate even before Alice had managed to set it up on the table, though Spark held back the most.

Meanwhile, Numi groaned out her complaints over the smells.

Feeling bad for her, Alice first dished out all of the portions equally to everybody, then took her poor limp dragon and brought her to the porthole window, opening it as much as the cabin would allow to let the fresh air in.

"I hate these waves," Numi complained. “Why must the ocean be so wavey?”

Alice patted her. "It will all be over with the day after tomorrow," she promised.

Numi, who had been hanging her head outside the window, pulled back and looked at her with squinted, bulbous eyes. "Do you promise?"

"I do," Alice said, even though deep inside, she crossed her fingers, hoping that the ship would not be delayed.

It was almost staggering how much these dragons looked up to her.

Quickly, Alice went back to her late-night dinner before the other dragons could eat her portion too. The Jolly Silver filet was one of the finest meals she’d ever had..

****

Thankfully, Alice did not have to renege on her promise. In fact, the ship made better time than they had anticipated and pulled into the port early on the third morning. The country outside the porthole was nothing like she had seen before. Sitting in her chair and taking in the view, Alice could not stop staring..

The country was unexpectedly rugged with sheer cliffs and huge pine trees that seemed to all crowd against each other, thick as wheat. The harbor itself was small, with only a few dinghies here and there, bobbing in the water, and a few spare carts to carry people and supplies onward. There were practically no buildings whatsoever.

There didn't seem to be much of a population, but there would be no suspicious nobles after her, no one who would even know her face, and most importantly, no rumors of her being a dragon tamer or a dark classer to follow her.

It was rugged and raw.

But for her purposes, it would be perfect.

"A new life," she said to herself.