Chapter Two Hundred and Sixty-One - Airtime Naptime

Chapter Two Hundred and Sixty-One - Airtime Naptime

Chapter Two Hundred and Sixty-One - Airtime Naptime

Amaryllis glared at the cards on the table.

Then, with slow and careful solemnity, I lowered my hand next to those cards. Flush, I said.

The corner of Amaryllis eyes twitched. You didnt cheat, she said.

Id never, I said. That would be unfair and mean, only bad friends cheat.

And you never even tried to bluff.

Im not good at lying, I admitted.

How? Amaryllis asked. She let her own hand fall next to mine, a bunch of cards with numbers on their tops and coloured shapes in their middle splaying out across the table. How?

I guess I got lucky?

Amaryllis stood up suddenly, her chair squeaking back. Im going to go read. At least the pages in my books dont have Dirts own luck on their side.

I held back a giggle. It wouldnt be nice to laugh at Amaryllis. She was making an effort to be a good sport about losing too, even though this was the fifth round she lost. We werent even betting anything, mostly because I insisted that gambling was wrong.

We had started playing with four of us. Amaryllis and Captain Risa explaining the rules, and Awen joining in even though she didnt seem to get it, entirely.

The captain had to run off to do captaining stuff, which was fair, and I think Awen just found the game a bit boring.

Which meant that now I was all alone at the card table.

Sighing, I picked things up and shuffled the deck idly for a moment before fitting it back into its box. It was the captains deck, so I didnt want any of the cards bent or stained or anything.

I leaned back into my seat and glanced out of the nearest porthole. We were moving, that much was obvious. Mountains surrounded the Little Atlas on all sides, their sheer walls passing by at a slow crawl. The cargo ship felt like it was heavy, big, and cumbersome, despite the amount of lift it needed to stay afloat.

The Beaver could likely fly circles around this ship, but we werent in the Beaver.

I was a little bored, which was a nice change of pace from the high-energy excitement Id been going through nearly every day for such a long while. Still, I wanted something to do. I couldnt practice most magics in a confined place, and it might be rude to cast spells in someone elses ship besides. Training physically was right out. The passenger quarters were small and a bit cramped, and already pretty warm.

Standing up, I moved towards my little room. Maybe I could flop down in bed and just take a nap? That felt very unproductive, but at least it was something to do.

I saw Amaryllis engrossed in a book in her room, then I crossed by Awens quarters and saw her on her back, staring at the ceiling.

Maybe I wasnt the only bored one?

I walked to Awens door and knocked. Bored? I asked.

Awen tilted her head up. Yeah, a little.

I stepped in, then sat on the edge of her bed. She scooted over, so I flopped down next to her, put my feet up on the bed, then stared up at the ceiling too. Im bored too.

There's nothing to tinker.

I cant make friends with the crew because theyre working.

Awen bobbed her head. Boring.

Yup.

If I leaned my head back a bit I could see out of the porthole in her room. It was mostly cloudy skies, but once in a rare while a mountains peak would float by. Do you know anything fun about the capital? I asked.

Thats too bad, Awen said as she joined us and sat next to Bastion. We didnt get to talk much.

Do you think you could show us the capital from above? I asked.

That should be doable, yes, the captain said. She stood up. If you want anything to eat, Captain Bunch, Miss Bristlecone, then there should be some left in the mess. Ill be moving to the topdeck, I need to keep an eye on the crew as we come in for docking maneuvers.

Those are pretty tricky, I said. Can we eat on the top deck?

As long as you stay out of the way, you should be fine, she said.

I stood right after the captain, then stretched until my toes and ears both shivered in delight. Im going to grab a bite and see the sights! I said.

I guess Ill come with you, Awen said as she stood up too.

Oh! I didnt say hi to Bastion! I waved to Bastion. Hi Bastion.

The sylph grinned. Hello Broccoli, he replied. Sleep well?

It was a good nap. Been a while since I had one of those. What about you?

Well enough. I think I might have a hard time sleeping on anything that isnt an airship. Im growing quite used to the constant rocking.

It is nice, I agreed. Will you join us later? I bet you know the capital really well! You too, Amaryllis.

Ill see it in due time, Amaryllis replied. You enjoy yourselves.

Ill finish up my meal first, Bastion said.

I nodded, then with a final wave goodbye, skedaddled. The mess, as it turned out, was a section at the rear of the ships bottom deck where a small kitchen was tucked away. I think the stove used the same flue as the engine above to spew out any smoke it created. The chef, a big burly fellow (for a sylph) with a big apron and a bigger smile, was more than happy to give Awen and I a pair of bowls full of still-piping-hot stew and some wooden spoons to eat it with.

Awen and I moved up to the top deck where sailors were busy spooling ropes, adjusting sails, and chatting amongst themselves. Mostly it looked as if the Little Atlas crew was doing busywork while staying sharp in case they were needed.

I guess that on a bigger crew, that was going to happen a lot. Moments of hectic work when they were nearing or leaving port, but then long drawn-out times when there wasnt much to do.

We moved up to the foredeck. The ship didnt have a figurehead, which was really a shame. Still, we installed ourselves by the rails there and blew across our stews while a chill wind breezed by. I had the impression that we werent all that high off the ground, relatively speaking. It was likely all the mountains around us providing all of that chill.

Goldenalden appeared before us as we went around a particularly sharp mountain top.

Whoa! I said as the city stretched out before us.

Id been to some pretty big places in my admittedly short time on Dirt. Awens home city was pretty big, sprawling out across a large patch of arid land. And Port Royal was quite large, the way it was split on multiple levels lending it a sense of grandness. Even Fort Sylphrot was pretty big. That city was built up rather than out.

Goldenalden was so much bigger. It spilled out over the sides of a mountain that looked as though it was shaved off at the top. Plateaus all around, built on dozens of terraces that formed walls.

That wasnt to mention the actual walls around the city.

It was obvious that whomever had designed it had added more walls as the city grew. There was a maze of stone walls cutting all across the city, but none were as impressive as those on the exterior, huge slabs of stacked stone with guard towers every hundred metres or so.

They didnt compare to the Gray Wall, but they were still really cool!

There wasnt just one port, but at least five of them that I could see. With airships big and small docked in place, and dozens of them dotting the skies around the city and either moving towards or away from it. And that wasnt including the military airships. Small, boxy ships like the ones that escorted the Beaver back in Granite Springs were constantly moving around the city, like schools of metal fish in the sky.

At the very top of the city was a castle, an imposing, blocky building with towers all around it, all topped with golden roofs.

Pretty, isnt she? Captain Galebane asked as she walked up next to us. She looked proud, and for good reason.

Its gorgeous, I said. I cant wait to see it for myself!

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