SOMD Ch27: Disembarking (Patreon)

The problems came, of course, with disembarking.

Already, the tiny harbor was abuzz with activity, filled with incoming and outgoing carts and people readying themselves for the arrival of all the guests -- and the coins they'd surely be bringing in.

How was she going to get past all these people with her dragons?

At least Numi had started to recover as soon as the ship reached the calmer harbor waters. She had even joined Alice and was looking out the window with interest.

Following her gaze, Alice again took in the thick carpet of evergreens that covered the sharp harbor cliffs. She got an idea.

"Prim," Alice said, "Can you illusion yourself and the others into a flock of birds, then escort them all to those trees?"

Prim cocked her head in thought. "I can," she said, "though we will have to fly quite close to one another. And if there is another Sorcerer or Wizard... my illusion may not hold up." She hung her head, guiltily.

"You just have to level up, dear," Alice said. "There's nothing to be done about the magic classes until then."

It was Iggy who objected. "But if I leave you, you'll be without any defenders. I will not allow that."

Turning, Alice gave her dragon a stern look. "It would be more dangerous for me, if you were spotted. You're much too big now to hide up the sleeve of my tunic."

Iggy had grown in length and muscle, and she didn't think he would be able to even fit across her shoulders comfortably.

Iggy looked like he wanted to object, but Alice continued, "I've lived as a General Laborer for years before you hatched, and I've taken care of myself all that time. Besides, we will only be separated until I leave the harbor. Then..." she trailed off, unsure what she was going to do because the town -- if there was truly any town at all -- was not visible beyond the harbor.

Boarding a ship to a distant port seemed like a very good idea to escape the city and most importantly, the attention of the nobles. But now she was here, she found she was lost.

Take it one step at a time, she told herself.

Again, her gaze was drawn past the window and to the impossibly tall trees. There wasn't an oak or an elm to be seen. All were some sort of pine with furry reddish bark and seemed to stretch to scrape the sky itself.

"I will join you under those trees," she said, pointing.

Iggy grumbled for a moment then said, "At least take Spark."

Alice glanced at her newest dragon. He was so quiet -- not even uttering a chirp or a grumble -- that it was unfortunately easy to overlook him. While he had grown somewhat during the battle with the lightning beasts, his actual level had not changed. Alice suspected any experience he earned was fed straight to Iggy.

His body was still thin and whip-like. Blue, with bright scales that looked like lightning running up and down his sides and his back ridges.

But he was small enough to ride along in her sleeve, just the way Numi had.

And though Alice would like to pretend that she was tough, she could admit she would feel a lot better with at least one dragon along.

"Yes, take Spark," Prim said, "And I will return to conceal you."

Alice hadn't agreed, but Iggy acted like she had. He turned to Spark. "You are to guard Alice with your life and deal maximum electrocution to anyone who threatens her."

Spark bobbed his head up and down in a lizard-like way, then swam through the air to Alice.

Seeing this was not an argument she would win, Alice pulled down the cuff of her left sleeve, and Spark settled in. His scales were warm to the touch, and involuntarily lifted the hair on her arm as if the little dragon carried a constant electric charge. He flipped around past her elbow then came back around again so the tip of his nose rested underneath her wrist.

He was like a hidden knife.

"That's settled then." She reached to the window and opened it as wide as it would allow. "Go to the trees and wait for me."

Iggy, Numi, and Prim did as they were told. A moment later a small flock of seagulls seemed to erupt into the air just outside. Unlike the real gulls, which wheeled and dived with excited calls about the harbor, this flock went immediately to the distant trees.

Alice watched them anxiously with crossed fingers, hoping that no strong magical classers would happen to look up at the wrong moment and see through Prim's illusions.

There was no outcry from either the dock or the harbor beyond

A knock came at her cabin door, and Alice nearly jumped out of her own skin.

"Yes? What is it?" she asked.

A voice from the other side of the door sounded apologetic. "Miss, are you ready to disembark?"

Disembark? Oh no, it was too soon. Yes, she had Spark but what if her description had gone out and someone recognized her leaving the gangway?

What was she to do? Alice glanced anxiously back at the window and saw that the three false seagulls had made it to the stand of trees. Prim would be coming back soon.

Stop being silly, she told herself sternly, you are no longer a General Laborer. You are now someone of importance -- or pretending to be. Either way, they will wait for you.

It was so, so easy to slip into old thought patterns. Turning back to the door, Alice squared her shoulders.

"I am nearly finished packing. Give me ten minutes."

"Of course, Miss," came the immediate reply from the other side of the door. Alice found it interesting that the speaker had not tried to open it. Perhaps they feared intruding on her privacy. "Do you require assistance with your luggage?"

What luggage? she thought, looking down at the same clothing she had worn for days. Though of course she had washed them in the sink and dried them in the sea breeze from the window.

"No, I will take care of that myself," she said and hoped they didn't ask how or why. Perhaps they would think she had some kind of magic token or bought spells with her. Something that would allow her to shrink luggage or hide it away entirely.

"As you wish, Miss. If you have any questions, please ask the steward's desk at the end of the hall. Otherwise, we do require that all guests disembark before the chime of the noon hour."

Noon? How lazy were these high-classers anyway?

Alice thanked the man again and cast her attention back out the window. It was easy to pick out a single lone seagull winging its way straight toward the ship from land. The others cawed and turned at random, but this one was on a mission.

She worried Prim was not being careful to blend in enough. But then, as she watched, the seagull seemed to dim and become more difficult to see with every passing moment. Prim was slowly blending the illusion of the seagull in with the sky around herself to avoid catching anyone's eye.

Clever Prim.

She held the window open to allow the soon invisible dragon to enter.

****

Less than ten minutes after that, a stately woman with red hair who held barely any resemblance to Alice made her way down the gangway.

The Porters at the end only asked if she needed assistance with any tagged luggage.

With Alice's voice, the woman assured them no, and kept on walking past them with a stone face that betrayed neither fear or nervousness.

No one called out to her or tried to stop her. She blended in easily with the rest of the disembarking crowd.

At the end of the pier, Alice was approached by several hopeful men who had Carter or Merchant tags. The Merchant gave her a surprised look as he read her tag as an Apprentice in his class, but still asked, "Do you need a lift to the city, Miss? I have the finest cart with the smoothest ride there."

"No," I will find my own way," Alice said.

She continued until she came to the Vendor who had set up a booth and was grilling meats. Though it was early, and she'd already had breakfast, the smell was divine.

"Miss, I have kebabs that come fresh off the grill." The vendor pointed to a delicate dish that would be appropriate for a lady.

Alice gestured to the steaks sizzling to the side. "I will take four of those. Wrap them up, please."

"Four--?" He blinked and then looked around as if trying to see if Alice had any bodyguards with her. Then he shrugged, likely realizing he didn't want to insult his customer.

The cost for all four was one silver, which Alice thought was fairly cheap compared to some of the expensive meals in the city. She received them bundled in wax paper, and though they were hot, she quickly continued on her way.

Prim subtly changed her appearance so that instead of carrying the steaks, she appeared to be carrying a satchel bag. Though there was nothing she could do about the smell.

Alice slipped from the main dirt harbor road into the forest.

Alice had never been in a proper forest before and vacillated between worry and wonder about how the trees seemed to lean over her. The sounds of birds, the feel of springy grass that had never been trodden by shoes. Flowers of all colors peeked up here and there, all arching toward patches of sunlight that filtered down through shifting branches.

Once her dragons found her, any anxiety over deep shadows fell away.

“Where do we go next?” Numi asked as she scuttled up and down the thick trunk of a tree. She was equally delighted by the forest – though her happiness came from the fact she was on solid land again.

“We need to head toward the direction of the city,” Alice said. “I want to know what it’s about and get a room for the night.”

But first, she found a small clearing where the dew had dried from the soft grass. Then she and her dragons had a picnic from the steaks Alice had bought.

Iggy and Prim shared one, as did Alice and Spark. Numi was completely ravenous now her nausea had passed and took an entire steak for herself.

Alice ate ‘dragon style’ with her fingers as she didn’t have any utensils or a knife. IT served her well enough.

Once Prim finished, she fastidiously cleaned her claws and jaws on the grass before asking, “What will we do in the town?”

“I suppose I will need to find some gainful work,” Alice replied.

As one, the dragons perked up their heads and stared at her.

“Why?” Numi asked bluntly. “We have so many coins now – we haven’t even touched the ones I got from that pushy nobleman.”

Oliver, she meant. Alice wondered how long it had taken for him to discover his coin pouch was missing, and if he figured out it was her. She felt a little bad for that, but only a little.

“We can’t go through life stealing from people,” Alice told her.

“It’s not stealing when people drop coins on the ground,” Numi said. “Though I suppose if the town is supposed to be small, I’ll run out of streets to search.”

“Then when that happens, we will simply take the next ship to another town,” Iggy said. Spark nodded by his side.

Alice hesitated. “That seems like a very unsettled life.”

But deep inside she was intrigued by the idea.

She had spent all her adult life in the noble’s estate, and her childhood had not been much different. To see the wide world, to be free to move among the towns and explore… it all sounded very romantic and unlike herself at all.

She shook her head. “Let’s see what this city offers, first.”

“Well, if we are to find our way there without the road, you will need a dedicated scout,” Iggy said with a sly look toward Prim. Clearly, he was thinking of another sub-aspect.

“No,” Numi said, “I will need an assistant soon because moving around is expensive.”

“The next dragon will be whatever Alice chooses,” Prim said.

Alice started to say she didn’t have an aspect token… but then she checked and realized that wasn’t true.

It wasn’t hard to guess where it had come from: Iggy and Spark had done a lot of work fighting the Lightning Beasts, and fishing on the ship. Prim had contributed too, by using her illusions.

But could she afford another mouth to feed? She’d rather know the situation in the city, first.

They had one steak leftover. Alice wrapped it up in the wax paper for when the dragons inevitably got hungry again in a few hours.

They continued with Iggy and Spark both acting like scouts to make sure the way was clear. Flying ahead, they were able to navigate the group using deer trails up a steep ridge. Alice found the hike most invigorating and thought she would always be able to enjoy the forest… as long as her dragons were with her.

Finally, they reached the crest of the ridge. On one side, back toward the way they’d come, lay the harbor with the sparkling blue expanse of the sea beyond. From there, the ferry looked smaller than a child’s toy. IT was already pulling away back toward the city where they’d come.

Alice turned and looked in the other direction. Their new city was not far away at all, at the bottom of the ridge and nestled against the banks of a winding river. Dirt roads were cut through the forest to and from the town.

It was also smaller than she’d hoped – a humble cluster of buildings, many with trails of smoke coming out of the chimneys. The whole thing seemed to be no bigger than one of the neighborhoods of her old city.

Alice’s heart sank: How was she to find any meaningful work here? Perhaps her dragons had the right idea.

“Well,” she said, not wanting to let any of her doubt show. “Let’s see what this is about.”

With Iggy and Spark leading the way, they started to pick their way down the ridge.

They had to follow trails cut by wildlife, but as Alice was not in a hurry, they took their time.

She paused at one turn where the land leveled out.

“What is it?” Prim asked.

“Do you hear something strange?” Alice asked.

Prim was quiet for a moment. “The birds?”

“No.” Alice looked up and then around, frowning. “The trees.”

“What about the trees?” Numi asked. “They don’t seem that interesting to me. There aren’t any coins at all.”

“No, the trees are crying.” The words slipped out before she could realize how silly they sounded.

Prim and Numi stared at her, and even Spark who’d been bringing up the rear, looked at her in disbelief.

Iggy, who had been flying ahead, turned when he realized everyone had stopped. “This way!”

“Let’s stop for a minute. There’s something over here.” With that, Alice turned down a secondary trail – one that led to a thicker stand of trees.

“Alice, I still don’t hear anything,” Prim said.

But Alice shook her head. There was something strange about these trees – something that called to her.

They came to a bunch of dead foliage about waist-high. Annoyed, Alice pushed through it. Beyond lay a bed of green grass… grass that moved, waved, and ripped Alice had fully stepped free of the annoying shrubs.

Then, before her eyes, the grass stood up on end and seemed to take a shape of its own. Even the branches of the encircling trees bent down as if drawn by magic.

Suddenly, a dragon made of wood rippled into view right in front of them.