Ashes

9 - Ashe

I hadn't gotten much sleep before Mr. Harrinson shook me and Kathryn awake in the early hours of morning. We were both curled up on my bed, the paper and book still between us. For some reason my hand was positioned as if I was holding the pen, but the actual pen was nowhere in sight.

I didn't regret staying up later with Kathryn. I had gotten to know her more, which I was quite happy about, considering we would be spending the next few weeks together.

The sun was not yet in the sky, and wouldn't show for another few hours. We needed all the time we could get as a head start, and Morata's inhabitants were early risers.

I hurried to finish the last preparations. After pulling in a loose gray shirt and dark leggings, I added a corset as an afterthought. I only owned one, and wore it for certain occasions. One, when I needed to look nice, and two, when it could serve as a spot to stash knives and money. Obviously, I was using it for the latter. Because it was early as hell, I decided to fasten it rather loosely. There's no use strangling myself before a long day that might involve running.

I shoved a wad of various types of money down the front of the corset, and then tucked a small, sheathed knife in as well. It paid to be prepared.

Apparently, in the time it took for me to get dressed, Kathryn had dragged her brother out of bed and gotten the two of them in something that resembled ready to go. I found both of them standing outside my door.

Kathryn, despite staying up several hours later than her brother, was bright eyed and attentive. Caine, well, her was still rubbing sleep from his eyes.

They both stared at me expectingly. I think Kathryn was looking for me to take the lead and say something and Caine was just doing whatever his sister was. I don't think he was fully awake yet.

"Alright," I said brightly, "Ready to illegally smuggle my extremely illegal pets out of the city?"

Kathryn eagerly nodded at the same time her brother say "no".

"I'm taking that as a 'yes you both are'" I said as I turned on my heel and marched downstairs.

Mr. Harrinson and his husband were waiting in the kitchen for us. There was a sack on the counter where I had left it last night, though it looked more full than before.

I examined the contents as Katherine followed me I to the kitchen, Caine trudging tiredly behind. The sack contained plenty of nonperishable food, mostly dried meat and fruit, healing herbs, harmful herbs, herbs that could be used for other things, and, for some reason, more money. I assumed that one, or both, of the Mr. Harrinsons had added the last bit.

This sack was only the essentials. We had already packed a minimal amount of clothes and dragon-related supplies into our one and only rickety wagon. How that ancient thing was going to survive the journey, I did not know. At the very least, it should get us and the dragons out of the city.

"Ready to go?" Mr. Harrinson asked. He smiled, but I could see a hint of worry in his eyes.

I nodded and turned to the siblings behind me. Wordlessly, a slightly more awake Caine shrugged, answering for both of them.

"Yep, looks like we're all ready. Is there anything else we need?" I asked the Mr. Harrinsons.

Both shook their heads. Peeking out the window, I could see the sky lightening from almost pitch black to a dark grey-blue. We needed to leave soon. In less than an hour the streets would change from silent and empty to bustling.

...

It had taken half an hour, much more time than I had hoped, to shove all four of the dragons into the wagon and get them to stay quiet. Rune took up a good half of the space, and the other three dragons were squashed miserably into the remaining area, sharing it with a few boxes of supplies.

As I hitched the horses to the heavy wagon, I mentally thanked the goddess that the one wagon we had was a covered one. If it hadn't been, we would have probably had to leave hours earlier and try to convince the four squirming dragonets to stay still under a blanket. And that would not end well.

Finally, it was time to leave. This had taken longer than planned, so I was itching to get started. Caine and Kathryn were already sitting in the splintery wooden bench at the front of the wagon, with the elder of the two, Caine, holding the reins. Kathryn sat beside him, wrapped in several layers and holding a steaming cup of coffee that Mr. Harrinson had given her for the road.

It was a chilly morning, which in all honesty was a good thing. We could wear a few layers of clothes and that made our bags lighter. I had elected to throw on an extra tunic and a coat over my original outfit.

When we finally left, waving goodbye to the Harrinsons as we rolled down the cobbled street, the edges of the sky were tinted pink and it had considerably lightened. I hated goodbyes, so I tended to avoid them. I was going to be back at some point anyway. Still, as the two waving figures faded in the distance, I regretted not giving the closest thing I had to father figures more than a hug and a short "bye".

Ah well, it couldn't be changed now. I settled into a comfortable position behind the bench that Kathryn and Caine sat on. I'd pulled a box in front of the curtain that separated the front of the wagon from the space in the back. The dragons were in a completely covered space that would prevent them from being seen.

Still, they'd never been out of their little cavern before, so they were rightfully confused. They were still sleepy, but it was only a matter of time before they got cranky, hungry, or just plain confused and came crying to me. It was why I'd elected to sit behind the bench instead of with Caine and Kathryn. I had easier access to the back of the wagon this way.

Morata wasn't a huge city, but it was a few miles until we would reach the outskirts, and then we would have a few hours of driving before we got to a secluded stretch of the road. After that, we could go pretty much anywhere, though preferably somewhere unpopulated. I'm conclusion, we had about four hours until we were somewhere safe, which, with four dragonets stuffed into a cramped wagon, was definitely nerve-racking. Subconsciously, my knee started bouncing. It was going to be a long ride.

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So. I have not updated this in a LONG time. I'm sorry for that but I've been prioritizing my mental health and it's been a wild couple months.

Anyways, I will continue writing this. It might be a little slow, with long gaps between updates as I get my shit together, but unfortunately that's a sacrifice I need to make in order to work on my mental health.

Sorry about the wait for this update, I'll try to publish the next one sooner.