SOMD B2 Ch2: Long Abandoned City (Patreon)

Without Natura, it would have been impossible to follow the hidden road. It seemed to wind almost randomly throughout the forest. They kept having to stop to reassess because there would be no indication when it would change direction.

Natura paused to sniff and paw at the ground a little bit. They all came to a halt as Natura paused to sniff and paw at the ground a bit.

"It shifted again?" Alice asked. They'd left the meadows a long time ago. It seemed that trees had no problem taking root and growing in the middle of what once had been a road. And with the trees came more prickly bushes.

"Yes, there were once old streams here and that has shifted the path." Natura shrugged her wings. "This road was not built with nature in mind, so nature is slowly eroding it away, as it ought," she added with a sniff.

"At least the way forward is somewhat flat," Alice said, and checked her legs. Unfortunately, as she found out, flat did not mean without nettles. She'd had a terrible time with burrs sticking to her socks.

Thankfully, her dragons with their hard scales were immune, though Numi had collected a few thorns between her long toes before she elected to ride on Alice's free shoulder.

Of course the burr bushes, thorn bushes, and nettles seemed to bow out of Natura’s way.

With mild exasperation, Alice wondered if she should request that her next aspect be one with the ability of flight.

Natura was her largest dragon, though she had not taken to the air yet. She was still very young. The others had flown almost straight out of the egg, but they were of different types and much too small to carry Alice with them.

Iggy, the largest of her original aspects, had a body about the length of her torso. Though... he tended to swim through the air, and Alice did not think he would make a very comfortable seat.

Numi could fly, though she preferred to scuttle on the ground like a lizard.

They are growing larger with each level, Alice thought fondly. Perhaps one day I will be able to ride Prim.

Natura found the hidden road again and they trudged on.

Then, during the latter half of the day, they came to a ravine... or what Alice first thought was a ravine.

Sharp canyon walls rose up on either side. The hidden road ran straight through it.

They walked on, looking between the canyon walls, which were thick with ivy and trees. Numi suddenly stopped in place, sniffed loudly, and then trilled, jumping off Alice's shoulder to glide to the ground. The moment she landed, she scuttled over to pointed to the nearest wall.

"Alice, these are buildings!" 

"What?" 

"Oh yes," Natura said as if it were obvious. "These are not natural at all." Then she walked to one of the canyon "walls" and pulled some of the thick ivy aside to expose a gap for an old square window that had been cut into rock.

"I can smell things inside! Metal and glass!" Numi said. "Though they are very, very old."

Alice frowned and backed up to take a long look at the building walls. Many of them had thick growths of full-grown trees balanced on what would be the rooftops.

"These must have been abandoned for hundreds of years," she told Prim quietly.

"Even longer," Prim agreed.

Numi danced from foot to foot. "Alice, can I search? There must be all sorts of things inside old houses. Maybe valuable things."

"It smells like dragons here," Iggy said.

That stopped everyone short. They turned to look at the red dragon.

"It is not a fresh smell," Iggy rumbled. "But I can tell that they were once here."

Suddenly, the close-in building walls took on an ominous cast. "Dragons lived here?" Alice repeated quietly. “Then this is where the coin may have come from.” She stepped forward to gaze into the old window that Natura had uncovered. It was too dark to see inside, and all she could smell was mildew from water that had seeped in a long time ago. "This window is the size fit for a person."

"Perhaps some dragons moved in after the city was abandoned,” Prim said.

"And they left again," Alice muttered.

"What should we do?" Prim asked.

Alice chewed her bottom lip. "We've come through the wilderness to find dragons. Even if there are none around now, perhaps we can find out where they've gone. Besides," she added, "it is almost dusk, which means we need to find a new camping spot before night falls."

"The meadow outside is full of those nasty nettles," Numi added. "They'll get all into my toes."

"And into my socks. I don't want to sleep on the ground." Alice looked longingly at the building. "I don't suppose any of these places still have usable beds, but it would be nice to sleep somewhere sheltered with a roof over my head."

"If we are to camp here for the night, I should hunt," Iggy said. "I have seen evidence of a herd of deer."

Alice glanced at her dragon. "You think you can take on a full deer?"

Iggy puffed up his chest. Behind him, Spark did the same—a vibrant blue, smaller mirror image.

"Leave it to me," Iggy said.

"Do not take a doe," Natura said. "Many of them will have a fawn on their side this time of year. That is simply not fair."

"I will take a very large buck. The best I can find," Iggy said.

Alice nodded and he and Spark swam through the air and away.

It didn't take long for Alice to find a suitable building. It was simply a matter of clearing away the thick growths of ivy and years of branches—Natura helped, with her powers over plants—until they found a doorway.

The wood that once barred the way had rotted some time ago. Unfortunately, as Alice suspected, there was no bed. It also looked like creatures had made nests there many times over the years. But there was a room in the back that was fairly clear. Using a leafy branch to act as a broom, she was able to sweep out any lingering debris. 

By the time she was done, Iggy returned with the exciting news that he had in fact downed a deer. It wasn't too far away. It was a two-point buck. Young, but certainly adult enough for Alice not to feel bad, and for Natura not to put up a fuss. Several electric burns marred the hide and Spark perched on one of the antlers, looking very proud of himself.

Alice swallowed, reminded again of how dangerous her friends could be, but then she took out her knife and got to work. 

She spent years of her life being a General Laborer, which meant doing any task that required a strong body and not a strong mind. Though she certainly had not been allowed to cook for her noble family, she had dealt with breaking down and butchering animals before.

The buck was too heavy to drag into the little home, but that was okay. Iggy helped to start a fire nearby, and soon they had several slabs of meat roasting on sticks. 

The buck, however, had been a large animal. Even with five hungry dragons and Alice herself, there was no way they could go through all the meat before it spoiled. 

Alice looked down at the carcass. "I hate to see this go to waste."

"None of it will be wasted," said a large, slithering voice from the darkness. 

Alice whipped around. Iggy, who had been completely caught by surprise, let out a strangled half-roar and sent out a spit of flame in the direction of the voice. 

The fire landed in front of a large blue dragon. Though the flames landed within a foot of his long, pointed muzzle, the dragon didn't flinch. The light from the fire glinted against his eyes. They were milky white.

The dragon was blind.