The trio left the alleyway as soon as they knew no people would see. Devon remained in the lead, his long legs keeping him in front of the other two. The docks were already bustling as the ships began to come in. They were being tied and walkways were being lowered so that the cargo could be transported.
"Alright just act like a dock worker. If a ship with the tree on the sails show up we'll definitely notice," Devon whispered. The other two grunted in acknowledgment and split in their own separate directions.
Thalia lurked, joining a line to help get baskets of fruit off a ship. She was far enough down the line that she could see everything else coming in so she felt no worries about not seeing the particular sails they were looking for.
Noah got closer to one. He helped to unload cattle from a ship. The animals wobbled on the ramp and a few jumped to avoid it, nearly crushing Noah in the process.
Devon had not chosen a ship but instead chose multiple. As the traders came in Devon was helping to pull them the rest of the way and tie them down. His arms were already burning with the effort. His rough hands would definitely have rope burn if he did this for much longer.
The trio worked and worked and then Thalia saw it.
In the distance two large ships with spikes jutting from the hall and a large tree drawn on the sails. The mark was distinct though the details she recalled seeing in the artwork before could not be seen from far away. She could also make out the red color on the sails. Blood red seemed like a bold choice for an underground dragon smuggling system.
Thalia was so focused on the ships coming in she dropped a crate of fruit on the toe of her boot. It narrowly missed her toes. A few of the udilla fruits inside the crate fell out, rolling a few times before getting caught in a groove and stopping. Someone shouted to scold the one who dropped the crate so Thalia quickly picked it back up and carried on passing the fruit, keeping her eyes on the incoming ships.
Devon saw it too and got ready to haul one in. He silently hoped the others could get away from their posts because this would be their only chance to get to wherever the dragons were being taken.
During a break in fruit-passing Thalia hurried away from the line, stopping by Noah's boat. He struggled with a pig and suddenly made eye contact with the brunette girl. Thalia beckoned with her hands for him to hurry up. The pig who's lead was currently in Noah's hand leapt, landing on his foot. Thalia winced watching as Noah's face contorted with pain. He struggled not to cry out, instead taking advantage of it and limping over to Thalia.
They both made it just in time to see Devon and one other worker tie up the ships. They hid close to the next nearest ship watching as men dressed in fancy armor and colors jumped off the ship. One by one more men came out of the hull. Behind each set of two men were cubes with big blankets thrown over them to conceal the contents. The cubes were placed on a slab of wood with wheels, so clearly the contents were heavy.
Thalia moved to follow only to be blocked by Noah's hand on her stomach. Her brown eyes burned holes into the boys soul but he remained calm, pointing to the still flowing numbers.
"Just wait until there are less. They won't notice us then," he whispered.
Thalia decided to listen, pressing back against the wood of the smaller ship behind them. Devon shot a glare to Noah over her head but deep down Devon knew it was smarter to wait.
The men started coming less frequently and that's when the trio rushed as quietly as possible to file behind one of them. They could all hide behind one of the cube easily so long as no one got behind them. They walked on their tip toes to reduce the amount of noise that came from their footsteps. The walkways were stone, the bottoms of their boots much studier than normal shoes. They would have tapped quite distinctly if none of the riders knew how to walk silently.
The walk lasted a few long minutes before every uniformed man came to a halt, the carts they were dragging slowly coming to a stop too.
"We need to hide," Thalia whispered, "get in one of these things."
"T we might not be able to-" Noah started.
"Just go!" she tried not to yell, instead gritting her teeth to block a lot of the noise. Noah lowered his head and slinked towards a cube. Devon did the same. Thalia went for the one she had been hiding behind, lifting up the cloth to find a way in.
Inside, a sleeping dragon. It's scales were a pretty shade of purple while its underbelly was the same beige as Thalia's shirt. It wasn't a very big dragon but big enough to carry a rider. Thalia would guess that back at the academy this kind of dragon would be an agility or a shooting dragon.
The cube was a cage with many tiny holes. Thalia gritted her teeth in annoyance until she noticed the small door at the bottom of the side she was looking it. She rushed to open it. It wasn't very big, probably not even meant for an adult human, but Thalia was willing to squeeze through.
She pushed her head through first, feeling the metal graze her hair slightly. She tucked her arms as close to her body as possible in order to bring her shoulder in but she still felt the cold metal drag across her arms as she pulled her upper body in to the cage. Her hips were harder to get through but with one small twist to the side she made it, yanking her lower body in. Thalia shut the tiny door to make it look like nothing had even happened, taking up a place in the middle half of one of the walls.
Across from her was the dragon. She could see it was breathing very lightly. Its mouth was open, drool trickling off of its pink tongue slowly. Thalia's heart sank just looking at it.
Was this what Tuuka looked like when he had been brought in? Her brave, strong Tuuka, reduced to a drooling unconscious piece of cargo. The image of the stormcutter laying in a cage too small for him, poison no doubt running in his blood, nearly brought her to tears.
The cart started with a jolt, breaking Thalia's depressing train of thought. The wheels below rumbled as they turned along the pavement. It carried the dragon and the girl even further but neither could tell you where exactly they were. Thalia hated it. She could not see anything outside. She could not see what was going on around her. When the cart stopped for a second time she had no idea why, Thalia could only sit there and wait.
Much to her surprise she heard more voices. She heard orders being shouted but couldn't make out the exact words. She heard wings and the sound of armor and chains clanking together. She held her breath prepared for the cloth to come off and have to fight for her life but instead a set of dragon claws clamped down on the sides of the cube. Her heart skipped a beat as she felt the whole cage be lifted up in to the air.
Thalia had always liked flying, but this was different. This felt completely different. She felt like a prisoner even though no one in charge of these cages knew she was in there. For a moment Thalia wondered how the boys were doing. Devon especially, he seemed to have something against small spaces.
Thalia frowned realizing that she knew virtually nothing about Noah despite all the time she had been spending with him. She knew Devon in a more personal way while Noah seemed to just be there to help her. Noah was very compassionate and, based on all the protests with the plan, he seemed to be very calculating.
But did he have fears? Did anything make him uncomfortable? Thalia made a mental note to spend more personal time with Noah when they got back. She did consider him a friend, he was good company.
The cage shook as the dragon adjusted its grip, nearly sending Thalia flying against the bars. She held on tight as to not shift her weight too much. The dragon carrying the cage adjusted again and then threw the cage down hard. Thalia bit her lip to avoid making any sound as she bounced off the metal slightly.
Before she even had much time to recover the ground started to move. They were on a cart again being pulled towards who knows what. The road seemed more bumpy this time. Thalia heard doors being opened and tensed, taking out her sword from under her coat.
The cart slowed to a stop and a hand reached under the cloth, unlocking the cage without even looking. Big mistake. As soon as the cloth came off Thalia burst out, taking down the closest guard. He was dead in an instant, his armor weak with many unprotected spots.
However, no one seemed shocked. Thalia was tackled to the ground, her clothes sliding under her as she was pushed on the stone. There seemed to be six men on her at once. The dragon inside had been unconscious, surely they were not so cowardly as to need six men to transport a poisoned sleeping dragon.
She wriggled her head to move it just forward enough that she could look at the other cages. A few did not have the cloth taken off but Devon had still gotten unveiled. Seven men were on him, holding his limbs out but using their knees to press in to his back. Those not holding his arms or legs pushed down on his head, pressing it against the smooth stone ground. She could see his face twisted in anger trying to pull away but no part of him could escape the smugglers grasp.
Two snaps came from the same direction Thalia had entered. The grip on her head was released allowing her to move her neck out of the wildly uncomfortable position. She tried to see if the rest of her body would be freed but no other part of her moved, only her head.
"You sons of bitches," She snarled, trying to glare at the men holding her down but it really only strained her eye. She couldn't bring her pupil all the way to the corner to see them well enough for that.
Not one of them responded, only looked towards the doors. She looked over, nearly gasping at what she saw.
A green monitor dragon with frills on the top of its head. Two large ears were perched on the sides of its small green skull, positioned just off to the side of its small black horns. It's pointed nose curved down at the end which left more space for larger nostrils. Beside it, its blonde rider walked with confidence. The rider extended a pale hand to reach under the cloth of a nearby cage an unlock it. She yanked the cloth off, allowing Noah to break free but instead grabbed his shoulder before he could do any damage.
"You really are the most predictable person I know, Thalia," the rider smiled sweetly but venom oozed from her voice.
"Avis?"